GENERAL INFORMATION AND TERMINOLOGY

MINDGAME AND MOMENTUM

To me Tekken is like 30% knowledge, 20% execution and 50% a bizarre way of rock-paper-shotgun. Every strategy, every thought and every move has its own upsides and downsides to it. If you get angry and/or frustrated you pretty much already lost. Its hella difficult to get back into your game when you start to question irrelevant things, start arguing about nonsense or cheapness (imo another kind of nonsense, see below 'cheapness'). Try to stay calm, have fun as much as you can, enjoy the game and play to learn, not to win. That way chances are good to learn how to get better, how to counter specific things and keep up your momentum and creativity. A frustrated opponent is easy to beat as he will get hectic, goes for unnecessary risks, etc. Don't be that guy. It only hurts your own experience.

GAMEPLAN

A gameplan is a general idea of what to do in the long run and what to aim for. You always want to have some kind of idea what youre going to do next.

GENERAL STRATEGIES

Rushdown: Rushdown may sound pretty straight foward, but in fact, it isn't (in most cases). It is a very offensive playstyle focusing on pressuring the opponent. It's done most effectivly with short attacks, jab strings, etc. with low frame disadvantages (or even advantages) on block. Of couse that is not always safe, in fact it often has risks bound to it the opponent can use (so learn how to). If you get intimidated by it, they won the mindgame and you're losing creativity and momentum, even worse get frustrated (and we all know how a frustrated player can lose the capability of playing good).

Turtle: A very defensively playing opponent (turtle) focuses on blocking and avoiding your attacks and waits for mistakes and/or frame advantages. A turtle rarely goes offensive, when it's not safe to do so. Turtles pretty much try to read the opponent constantly and use the first rounds to prepare. Turtles get harder to beat with every round, as they learn how to counteract you.

Frametraps: Let's start with an example right away (see the 'frames' section below and the 'notations tab' for better understanding):
Miguel's 1 is +1 on block. Blocking it may lead the opponent into an attempt of counterattacking, usually with some sort of fast attack. If Miguel throws out his b+1 right after the jab, it may catch the opponent for a counterhit, leading to a sweet 70 damage combo.
Short and general: Leading your opponent to attack while punishing that attempt right away.

Training your opponent: You can 'train' your opponents into reacting to your apparently bad habits. Another example:
Paul's f,f+2:1 is a somewhat safe mid-mid poke with decent range, pushback on block and enough damage to make your opponent want to block it. If Paul uses it a couple of times in the first 2-3 rounds the opponent will most likely get used to it and simply blocks mid whenever he sees it coming. Mixup time! Paul's f,f+2,2 variation is despite its pushback highly unsafe, but since you opponent expects the usual f,f+2:1 chances are good to land a hit on the launcher, leading to a 66 dmg combo (+14 is the first elbow hits, even more at a wall).

Character specific gameplans: Some characters are more versatile than others, some excell at certain playstiles. Using the strenth of a character while minimizing the risks is often key to success.


CHEAPNESS

Oh dear. That cheap weapon throwers, that cheap lowkick round enders, that cheap throw abusers and that cheap 4-spamming katarinas... everyone knows them, nobody likes them and its often called cheap. Why? Because it takes next to zero effort, is boring to watch, uncreative but most importantly: It frustrates people who tend to get angry about it instead of learning how to counteract to it. In fact, the game does not know 'cheapness'. It only knows winning or losing. Arguing about that kind of playstile just does one thing: It kills your fun. Don't let it get into your head. Instead look it up in the movelist, see its weakness and smash the next one trying it to the ground.

READING OPPONENTS

Everyone has habits, everyone leans towards a certain part of the movelist, everyone is in his (or her) way predictable. Use that to your advantage. Learn from your opponent in every game possible. If you play 20 games in a row agains a better player than you are, the last match will certainly be harder for him that the first one, even if he smashes you every single time. If you can spot bad habits or weaknesses: Use them and punish.

JUGGLING / AIR COMBOS

Juggling (or doing air combos) is the art of lifting your opponent into the air, followed by more attacks for guaranteed damage (and also for wall carry, see below). It's the safest way to damage your opponent because they cant do anything about it, once they are lifted up in the air. It's a core concept of Tekken and therefore one of the most important things you need to know about your character.

WALL CARRY

Advanced juggling with the goal to reach a wall for even more follow up damage.

WALL GAME

A wall behind your enemy and his opponent sitting in his face is a sticky situation. Less possible movement, often pressured by fast attacks can limit your opponents actions. But wait, theres more! While limiting your opponent's actions it increases yours. Your opponent can't backdash, so whiffs are easier to avoid, making certain moves way better. There's even more to it, you say? It is! Some moves do 'wall splat', meaning your opponent will hit the wall and be briefly stunned, taking extra damage and gets vulnerable to follow up attacks. A strong wall game can be intimidating, so keep away from them and try to get your opponent in that situation

FRAMES

The game funs* at 60 frames per second. Frames are used to describe the time for something to happen. It's a measurement of time.
Example: A simple left jab (1) usually takes 10 frames to connect. if player A does a 10-frame jab and player B does a 14 frame kick, player A will interrupt the kick and land the jab. Now it gets a bit tricky. Every move has its own properties of how long it takes to be ready for a follow up (different for hit, block and whiff). Next example: Player A jabs (1) on the blocking player B. Because that jab has the property of being +1 on block, player A recovers 1 frame faster than player B. that is called a frame advantage.
Because blocking takes 1 frame to work and the fastest moves in the game are at 10 frames everything up to -9 on block is considered "safe" despite being at a disadvantage. To learn the properties of the moves and to learn what move can punish another move is a huge part in Tekken.
*= totally indended