If you watch replays of yourself fighting, you might be able to see mistakes that you've made, and then you can decide to improve in that area. It's much easier to look at your playstyle objectively through replays, so you can see where you're screwing up. It's nice, because KOF XIV records replays of all your matches under the player data section. Watch a few replays, then come up with plans to improve.

It's also possible that if you watch replays of yourself, you'll realize that you're truly terrible and have no chance of improving, and thus, should give up. Or, if you don't see any mistakes at all, you're probably a narcissist, and a terrible person to be around. If that's the case, please seek help.

Seriously, not having capitilzation makes you seem like you know nothing. Learn your grammar.

Actually, what I mean is being able to get results off landing hits. You don't need to learn ridiculous max mode combos, but learn a few two-in-ones for basic situations, with and without meter, and become confident with using them.

Close Heavies can lead into practically anything, including supers, and you can often get them off an anti-air, a punish, or after rolling behind them or something. Know at least one meterless combo, and one combo into super attacks, so you can use meter effectively.

Low lights are harder to combo with, but you'll hit with them more often. Doing lights into a light special will get you pretty far if you can perform the combo every time. If you can combo them into a super attack, even better.

The biggest thing about capitalizing is being ready to land a good hit, and having the knowledge and confidence to follow it up with something.

However, if you mistime your 2-in-1, you might get hit with an invincible super or something between hits, or get punished afterwards if you try to combo into something unsafe, so be careful. If you're too scared of capitalzing off hits, you can always run away, poke, or play an easier video game.

If you stand in one place for too long, you look amateurish and stupid. If you're gonna sit in the same spot for a while, at least learn to tea-bag.

It's important to know how to use every movement option properly. It starts with walking, which everybody seems to forget about, because they'd rather just be jumping around the screen at high speed. Walking is safer, and helps you space properly, which is super important. The goal of movement should be to get you into the right position at the right time. It's not to just run away or look cool.

The more you move around, the harder it is for your opponent to hit you. Also, even if you don't actually know what you're doing, it looks more professional if you're bobbing in and out unpredictably. If you manage to fake it, you might scare your opponent into thinking you're better than you are, which will let you set up offense easier.

Remember, your opponent can't hit you if you're not there, but also, you can't hit your opponent either if you're not close enough. Don't stand around like a punching bag and let your opponent jump in on you an attack you.

Running forward can even work defensively, as in: Run Under Anti-Airs, which are too advanced for this guide. But remember jumps have a very specific arc, so for jump attacks to work properly, they have to know where you're standing to hit you. So, don't be standing there.

Also, rolls are better in this game than in 13. Feel free to use them. They are punishable at the end, but don't let that discourage you from using them from time to time. If you roll when they think you're gonna stand still and get hit by their attack, you can really frustrate them and make them consider quitting the game and doing something different with their life.

This kind of overlaps with the previous section, which shows how bad I am at writing guides.

It's important to remember that every attack has range. This includes your attacks and your opponent's attacks. Which means, if the opponent is not in range of the attack, they won't get hit with the attack. I know this seems very advanced, but it's important to understand. If you're confused, re-read this paragraph until you understand.

The two biggest spacing (and relationship) mistakes in my opinion are:
1: Being too close
2: Being too far

If you're too close, you'll appear clingy. Also, it means your opponent can easily hit you with attacks. It also makes you very predictable, and your opponent is able to hit you with reversals if you attack, or throw you if you don't. Be close only when you can do it on your terms, and when you're ready to start an offense. Even after knocking the opponent down, you don't always want to be incredibly close. The key is to be unpredictable. If you're just far enough away to cause the opponent's attacks to miss, and for your attacks to counter-hit them, that can be good. You want to be able to hit your opponent, but you don't always want them to hit you.

If you're too far away, you can't hit with anything! It can seem easier to be a bit too far away, so that none of their attacks hit, but in that case, your attacks usually won't hit either. Don't be a coward. Learn to walk forward. Be in the "Danger Zone," and pressure them so your attacks will hit. For many characters, you should spend a good amount of time walking back and forth around the area where both of you can hit. If you're playing against a projectile or long-ranged character, be willing to bulldog them, and just keep moving forward gradually until you can hit them.

With air attacks, too, you don't need to be as close as possible. Hopping up and doing a long-ranged kick can protect you and knock the opponent out of a lot of their attacks.

Be confifdent, and make sure the distance you're playing it is the distance you want, not the distance they want. They may accuse you of being controlling, but ignore it.

Of course, it's very easy to just be slightly off in spacing, so an attack misses when you try to get it to hit, and then your opponent punishes you with their own attack. When that happens, give up. You're a failure. If you can't learn the intricacies of fighting game movement, how to flow like water, and how to overpower your opponent by just shuffling back and forth until they cry, you should just play an RPG or something, you casual.

You don't have to sit there and take attacks. If you don't wanna get hit, just leave.

Or, you could hit them back.

Thankfully, most attacks in this game are not fully invincible during their entire duration. Thus, it should be entirely possible to hit them in the middle of their attacks, if you use a faster attack, jump over their attack to hit them, or find some other way to circumvent their attacks.

If an opponent jumps at you, you're allowed to hit them out of the air. It's not cheating.

if your opponent does a special move that moves towards you, you can poke them out of before it hits. It's disrecpetful, but allowed under tournament rules.

Don't just mash buttons when your opponent is attacking, but know that you can stuff their attacks if you time stuff right. Throwing out pokes like standing light kicks or anti-air attacks preemptively will prevent a lot of offense, and frustrate your opponent. They're not entitled to a jump-in attack and a full max combo for 80% of your health and a mix-up and vortex afterward, even though society says they are. They have to earn it.

Don't just try to get your offense and combos and stuff. Make sure that they don't get theirs. Even if you're a terrible scrub who doesn't know any combos, your opponent can't win if they don't get any of their hits in. So, don't let them.

All pros use training mode. For many, it's the only mode they ever use. They never go to online mode or versus mode. They never even go to tournaments, because it would require them to use a different mode. They are pros because they know the game inside-and-out, and are really really good at beating up a defenseless training dummy with 100% damage max-mode combos. Be like them. Be a pro.

If you look at frame data, you don't always get the full picture. Something might be -10 on block, but still be safe against most stuff because it has enough pushback. Record the dummy to try to punish stuff on block using reversal recording.

Also, set the training dummy to a character you use a lot, record them doing moves you like to use, and then try to find ways to beat said moves. Then, you'll be a pro, because you know how to defeat yourself, which even daigo umeharra and tokido can't do, probably.

Don't just use it for combos, but use it to find good pressure strings or ways to punish stuff. It's easy to come up with a strategy or set-up that seems unbeatable, but if you set the CPU to try it, you can discover just how many holes it has. Then, you can cry, because fighting games are hard.

Training mode can also give you bad habits, because most opponents are not the training mode dummy, and it's harder to get all those cool combos and stuff in a real match. So, if you love training mode a lot, make sure you never play any other modes.