How do i get good with Hugo?

[Mark_Maverick]

Everytime i want to learn a new character i do the following.

Traning mode to check moves and try some possible combos
Go as far as i can on trial mode
practice a bit with the AI in traning mode with diferent dificulty settings
go trough arcade mode on diferent dificulties

but i just can't get good with Hugo. His attacks take waay to much time to come out(except the grab), ♥♥♥♥ even his Ex Hand Clap takes a while and can be countered.

Also if i jump i'm you are kinda ♥♥♥♥♥♥ because not even HP + down works.

I also tried him online a bit(not expecting to do well of course) to see what other players do against him. They spam projectiles and of course if you jump you get hit by a anti-air, if i use focus they usually land a second hit if i go foward or stay in the same place and if i go back they spam other porjectiles and repeat the process. i can't just simply walk because he is slow as ♥♥♥♥.

What am i doing wrong? Should i just give up on Hugo and try another character?

[VoidedWarlock]

Learning a character is more then just the combos you have to learn how they punish cerrtain things that an opponent would do against them i.e fireballs jumpins normal attacks focus attacks etc.

Playing against the ai in training mode isn't very helpful. Watch your replays and see what you struggled against when playing your opponents and go to training mode to figure out how to deal with it. If its fireballs your having trouble with go to training room and use the record and replay function to have the dummy through fireballs at you from full screen and figure out how to get around it. You could do this with every move or strategy you don't know how to beat

you can beat fireballs by holding a focus attack and then dashing forward to close the gap or if your close enough to your opponent let the focus attack hit them. I think hugos elbow attack has armour so you could use that to absorb fireballs and walk forward. you could also just walk forward and block. Look on youtube for hugo usf4 videos to give yourself some ideas and see how the character is played.

[Tuhnu]

The problem with practicing dealing with zoning in the training room is that you can't make the AI react to what you're doing. You can make it throw fireballs and then just hold up-forward to jump over every one of them and no match online will play out like that.

I'll say this: if you like Hugo, play him. Find a way to make him work for you. Watch how other Hugos play, follow the top Hugos on the leaderboards, watch Hugo replays on youtube (channels "xblackvegetax" and "yogaflame24"). On top of that and maybe even better is to watch tournament Hugos (Alucard in CEO2015, for example).

Also make sure that when you watch others play, watch actively. What I mean by this is to try and see what they're doing, at what range, what they're trying to accomplish with everything they do. If you just watch someone play, it won't really make you better unless you try to understand why they play like they do.

Another simple thing to pay attention to is spacing. Obviously being full screen is bad for Hugo and you don't necessarily want to be right next to your opponent either. I'm no Hugo expert but I'd imagine being just in range for s.mp and claps is a good position to look for. That way you're just in the optimal range for the opponent to want to jump at you (and get anti aired by your shootdown backbreaker because you were ready, right?) and you can keep pressuring them with s.mp and claps.

Again, take my Hugo advice with a grain of salt since I really am not a good Hugo player. Still, I hope this helps you somewhat. Best of luck!

[Mercy meta is best meta]

Hugo is a grappler so it's recommended that you look up some basic information on playing that character archetype too. For example if you watch some Zangief players you'll pick up some things. Some notes about Hugo (and other grapplers):

• Slow
  
• High HP
  
• High damage
  
• 1 frame command grabs (untechable)

General grappler playstyle: Get in, use command grab. Hit people trying to jump with your normals by doing nothing more than being in range of your command grabs.

It's hard to give advice without knowing what level you're at. Hugo's stHP has 1 hit of armour, for example. How useful that information is depends on yourself. Another example: You can OS his Ultra 2 off a meaty clap.

[n00bdragon]

One of the most important things to learn with a grappler is that your command grab is a threat, not your entire game. You can't focus on just getting in and grabbing because it's too easy to counter. You need a gameplan that doesn't involve grabs at all and the ability to win off just that, then when you spot an opportunity where your opponent is just blocking too close you grab them and get a boatload of free damage.

Hugo in particular has a few important tools that you need to learn:
- Hugo's claps are the core of his game play. They are the ultimate safe pressure. All of them are safe on block and on hit they are so positive that a heavy can link into medium which can link into a light. They also move Hugo forward and their projectile hitboxes, which come out too slowly to block most fireballs tossed at you, do a great job of stuffing projectiles being tossed at the same time you decide to clap. Also, a blocked light clap can be followed into SPD for a brutally tight frame trap
- Hugo's normals are a tier above most characters other than Dhalsim. His MP has incredible reach, HP has armor, MK is any other character's sweep. His jab and short are slow but have great range, which you should exploit to the maximum. If you're in range of your opponent's jabs just throw them. Outside of that exploit the better range of your normals or start a clap.
- Hugo's overhead, (down down MK), is actually able to travel over most fireballs. You can use this to approach an opponent who is trying to zone you out with projectile spam.
- Shootdown Backbreaker is probably the best AA move in the game. It's fast and its hitbox is really good. Learn to use it liberally against people who use jumps to escape from what they think is a SPD.

[Monk]

Originally posted by Yuns and Roses, Esq.:

• 1 frame command grabs (untechable)

pretty sure those are 2 frame

2op: Watch Alex Valle' and Tokido's Hugo