Advice(Joey Minnesota)

[jbergey_2005]

Ok, Finally actually finished a match. I was Joey Minnesota taking on Madman Boone. This was a very good match, I was usually ahead a little in momentum and energy the whole way through however. I guess my problem is I tried all of his finishers, tried the STF 4 times. I pretty much dominated from the 30-50 minute mark and could not get a submission or pinfall. Once I used and connected with Minnesota's 75%(to get a pinfall) finisher move, yet didnt get the pin it no longer gave me the option to use. I was therefore trying to get pinfalls from 5-20% moves the rest of the way and could never get the match won. We were both at exhausted(0 percet) around the 25 min mark. I just wish I could have watched this match live. Impressive game I must say, I just wish I could finish. Am I doing something wrong? Was I just unlucky? Is this a very rare occurance? The match was rated A* so I wasnt that discourage athough I felt I deserved a win. PS...I forgot to mention, the match ended in a 60 minute draw

[Big Poochie]

I had a similiar problem for my first several games. I ended up with a lot of 60 minute draws. What I finally figured out was that I was being too impatient, and trying to go too big too soon. IMO, the game often seems to make you think you're further along in the match (ie have done more wearing down) than you really have. You switch to the big moves too soon and blow a lot of energy, then get the heck countered out of you by your supposedly "dead" opponent. My revised strategy is to work more conservatively. I use plenty of low-level weardown moves, interspersed with rest holds to suck away any momentum the opponent might have built up. Then gredually switch in the Medium level moves, which is where I do most of my damage. Many of them have very good hit percentages (making them hard to counter), yet still do plenty of damage. Once the target is well-tenderized (empty momentum, no energy), and I'm set (Full momentum), it's time for the Unbreakable Sleeper. I'm playing with Samoan Machine and that's his submission finisher. If you miss (and you will, probably a couple of times at least), back off and work the lower-level moves to get things set up again. That;s my .02 anyway. I'm still quite new to the game, and I'm sure more experience will cause my strategy to evolve further.

[Adam Ryland]

[QUOTE=jbergey_2005]Am I doing something wrong? Was I just unlucky? Is this a very rare occurance?[/QUOTE] It's always wise to give yourself a good finisher before a match. 75% success rate may sound good, but remember that means the opponent is going to kick out of one in every four that you hit, possibly more. Using your weak finishers like STFs is a good move, but you shouldn't expect to get too many wins with them, especially against a tough old veteran like Boone. So your strategy was not flawed as such, it was more that by not giving yourself a better finisher, or at least a selection from different places, you were making things very difficult for yourself. The finisher (i'm assuming you're talking about the Empire Spiral) may have disappeared because you no longer had the physical strength to complete the move.

[jbergey_2005]

Ahhh, That would make sense why I lost his finisher. Thanks!