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The online world of Tekken 7 can be a fun place to visit, but as is the case with any online game, it can chew you up and spit you out if you're not prepared. As such, we've put together this quick guide to hopefully help level out your expectations before you eagerly hop online.

Playing online can feel a lot different

This is the very first thing you should be aware of before playing anything online - especially fighting games. Even against opponents with a very strong connection, you'll no doubt notice that there's a very slight delay which applies to everything that you do. If you've been playing plenty of Tekken 7 offline, then this input delay may be enough to throw you off completely.

As with most things, though, you'll get used to the delay with practice. Try setting up casual matches with friends for quick, back-to-back battles so that you can get a feel for online play. It's also worth mentioning that you can practice with input delay in training mode. Simply head into the menu and tweak the delay to suit your needs.

Practice isn't always enough, however. There'll be times when matches stutter and you'll suffer from very noticeable lag. Even the very best Tekken players are going to struggle in this environment, so it may be a good idea to only accept challenges from those who have a green or blue connections in order to minimise delay and keep gameplay as smooth as possible.

Try not to pay too much attention to rankings

As you win matches in Tekken 7, you'll gradually move up through the online rankings. On the surface, this means that players with higher ranks have won more battles, and are theoretically better at the game than those below them. However, this isn't always the case. 

Especially at this point, with Tekken 7 still being new, the online rankings don't always tell the whole story. You'll no doubt come across players who are actually very skilled at the game, but they're only just starting out online, meaning that they'll have a low rank. In time, the rankings will become less jumbled as the better players start to float towards the top of the leaderboards. 

Nevertheless, as a general rule, it's always wise to assume that your opponent is at least as skilled as you are.

Yes, you're going to fight spammers

Have you ever watched professional Tekken players and imagined that Tekken 7's online modes must be full of people who can fight that well? If the answer is yes, then you have to seriously alter your expectations. At lower ranks, you're going to come across players who know one or two seemingly effective moves and do nothing but use them over and over and over again.

Now, if you're a beginner, these attacks are likely going to catch you out time after time - but don't be put off. In Tekken, there's a way around every single move - it's just a case of learning how to deal with it. For starters, watch where the attack hits and try to block appropriately. That spinning kick that Kazuya does? The one that sweeps you off your feet? Block down and you'll negate it completely. You'll even open Kazuya up for a quick attack of your own.

Ultra aggressive play is very common

Again, the vast majority of people who play Tekken 7 online are not going to be as skilled as professional players. In fact, most players, particularly at lower ranks, are going to do very little but attack, attack, attack, and attack some more. Because ranked mode only allows for a maximum of two matches before you're forced to find a different opponent, aggressive play is very common. Two matches don't give you long to work out your opponent's play style, so sometimes, attempting to steamroll your enemy is actually the best course of action.

That said, players of a higher skill level are going to see straight through this aggressive approach and wait for the perfect opening to strike back with a deadly combo. There's no guaranteed way to win in Tekken 7, so you need to adapt to each match as quickly as you can.

As for dealing with super aggressive players, doing nothing but block is usually a bad idea. Putting up your guard for an entire round does nothing but invite yet more pressure from your opponent. Try to be patient by all means, but don't let hesitation throw you off. When your opponent does something that clearly leaves them open, it's time to get stuck in.

You're going to win some, you're going to lose some

This may seem obvious, but having the ability to wreck the computer in arcade or treasure battle doesn't mean that you're going to dominate the online world of Tekken 7. Spend any decent amount of time online and you're going to quickly realise that there are distinct levels of skills on display - and you're going to fall into a particular bracket whether you like it or not.

Sometimes, you'll absolutely destroy your opponent like you're Neo in The Matrix. You'll see through everything that they try to do and wipe the floor with them. Other times, you'll win or lose by the tiniest of margins. You'll understand what you did right or wrong, and you'll hopefully learn from the experience. And, of course, there'll times when you get kicked to bits. Your opponent was clearly more experienced than you, and even if you replayed them 100 times, you'd still struggle to win a match.

The most important thing to remember when playing online in Tekken 7 is that it's a learning experience. Whether you win or lose, the key is trying to understand what you're good at, and what you're not so good at. And a lot of the time, losing is actually going to benefit your growth more than anything else. If you can look at a loss and pinpoint what went wrong, then you're already a better player than you were a second ago.