The TRUTH About Your Tekken 8 Rank (ft. PhiDX) 

Just tell me I'm bad, instead of finding different ways to say it.

I remember Maximilian Dood has said in one of his videos, "Just because you're losing, does that mean you're not learning anything of value from that? No." This advice has stuck with me in having a better mindset. As a freelance illustrator, this quote reminded me of one of the things my lecturers stressed upon during my time in college and it was, "even the masters will tell you they're not perfect. That they're STILL constantly learning". Having the mindset of "okay what did I learn/how do I get better" is infinitely more helpful (and healthy) than constantly thinking "why can't I WIN more".

"Rank doesn't matter. I'm a first dan and I'm beating Emperor players" > Played professionally since tekken tag 1 > Reached Tekken God Omega in Tekken 7 > Has a team acronym before his name because he's a sponsored player Rank matters for newbies who want to know where they're at. Especially those who cannot travel and therefore cannot match their skills with competitors. As long as you're not cheating it, whatever your rank is will be a source of pride until you become a veteran where then you will realize that your skills have transcended the concept of ranks. Your name then becomes your rank! Knee's rank isn't "Tekken God of Destruction". Knee's Rank is "Knee!"

I have played many Tekken games, but 8 is the first one I'm actually sitting down and learning the terminology, combos, frame advantages, and matchups. Thank you for the information, i am proud to say I'm Shinryu rank.

I play Ranked for the mental chess matches. I notice when ppl use less variety in their characters. I notice the moments ppl panic. I notice when they gain confidence. All the moment to moment mind games makes it fun for me.

The crazy thing is that people treat quick matches as if they’re ranked. I use “quick match” to spar, meaning I’m just practicing new things, and then I have people PLUGGING!! They plug, one and done, or refuse to rematch. The mentality of some people in this game is crazy to me.

I think I needed this video. I done broke a few remotes being hard stuck cause I want to increase in rank. Ima just play and learn the game to the best of my ability and the rank will come secondary or as a product of my improvement.

Love this collab, and I’m glad content creators like you and PhiDx are making strides with bridging the gap between casual and competitive players. Keep cooking up this content 👏🏾💪🏾

Love this video! I feel like you guys did a good job encouraging a more healthy mindset people should adopt when playing not only Tekken but in a lot of other games as well! Imma show this to a friend of mine

I've been playing Tekken since Tekken 3 and I just got to Tekken King with Jin a few days ago, but holy hell it was an absolute nightmare to get promoted. I had to get demoted and re-promoted about 9 times before I finally got to Tekken King, and while I was super pissed at my losses and constant demotions, I realized that those losses taught me a lot more about the game and helped me gain matchup knowledge on OP characters (especially considering that almost all of my matches in that entire session were against Dragunov, Feng, Xiaoyu, Azucena, Jun, and King); the replay feature is also a God send since it helped me learn how to break certain grabs and which moves are unsafe, even if they look like they put pressure on your character. I personally believe that all of the demotions and losses you face will humble you and really force you to be better at the game.

This is my 1st Tekken game that I’ve personally owned and played on my own, and the first time that I’ve seen where there’s a lot of discussion in ranks and how “your rank means you’ve actually played the game” and other stuff. Ive grown to just simply enjoy the game itself and ignoring the whole “you’ve only started real tekken at X rank”. The climb to yellow, where you can actually lose points and be demoted, was both a hurdle, but also extremely fun, because I was sitting there playing the game, and just absorbing all the info that I got with each match. A lot of those matches were filled with “Wait how did I do that in heat?” “How in the hell did he do that?” “Ohhhhhh I get it”, and it was great! The process of learning the game, even with all the losses and beatings I was taking in quick match, made it so I could have a fun time in ranked, even when losing points. And now, I type this comment up, sitting only at Eliminator, approaching the halfway point nearing Garyu, and while I’ve had a couple bad days in ranked, it’s still been a good time. For someone like me, garyu is my own personal god of destruction. Obviously it’s a long ways away from it, and it definitely doesn’t mean I’ve become some kind of pro, but it’s a testament of how far I’ve come in the journey for a game that’s barely 3 months old at this point. It’s my own goal and that’s within reach, despite plenty of people reaching it only taking a couple days, or even hours. The last thing is, you have to make sure to actually *enjoy* the process of learning your character, the little bits and pieces of the game and take pride in where you stand. Whether it be as a Strategist, a Garyu, or hell even a god of destruction, take pride in learning the game and enjoying it and never obsess over it, and that can take you a long way. (Jesus I didn’t realize I wrote this much…)

The tekken collab we all NEEDED!!! God bless you two!

Definitely hope to see you two doing this again!

Started the game a couple weeks after launch with almost no fighting game experience. I hit emperor a while back and the thing I consider to be my main strength and that carried me is mind games. It's the only thing that carried over from other games and it's also the thing I enjoy the most in competitive games. Once I learned to pilot my character in a way where it essentially became an extension of myself, that's when the mind games kicked in and my rank skyrocketed several tiers.

I genuinely love the way you express your thoughts.

I enjoy this back and forth between my two fave content creators. I hope in the future, we can get you both on the screen instead of one at a time.

You're really knocking shit out of the park man. Keep up the phenomenal work

Maaaaaaan I wish people were having these conversations back when I started playing years ago. I've lived through these experiences, but never really talked to anyone about them, and so it's really great to hear these topics being discussed!

You, Maximillian Dood and PhiDx got me into fighting games. Seeing the evolution in all your contents has been a journey I've been proud to be a part of

Man I really did need to hear this video today. I’ve been so hard on myself about rank and acting like I haven’t truly been grinding but I have been getting better day by day and sometimes you need to take a step back and remember to have fun learn and keep striving to be great. Thank you dawg 🖤

Very good video guys! I watch both of you so this was a treat! As a Fujin ( Would have been Raijin but 4 pluggers in a row on promo) I'm really working on my different wake up tools, my punishes, and ultimately my defense! Great dialog between you guys and I would love to see more of this!

Thanks for some good content on ranks with the actual legend PhiDX! Keep it up man 🙌

Loving all this new content keep it up!

This video really speaks to me, I put so much value on that silly emblem and not the play that got me there, and justified me changed approach to ranked as my game lagged behind, that spending the time to build the necessary skills to compete as the best player I can be. It's been nice getting into your channel and videos over these last few weeks. Especially as a fellow long time Howarang main. So thank you, for the videos and the effort with Tekken 🤘🏻

I agree quick match is not as hard as ranked, I think it helps with fighting opponents that are potentially way stronger than you. I played nothing but quick match for a week at Garyu rank, and pretty much just got destroyed by several purple and blue ranks. And when I went back to rank, I was destroying everyone because I have literally dealt with hell already

Thank you both for this video. I've been thinking the same thing in regards to a mindset shift. I think it could be very helpful. What actually help me think about this recently was Goku from the latest DLC and Kakarot. The conversation that Goku and Pan have about Goku's wins and losses. It inspired me to try to shift my mindset so that I can enjoy what I play a lot more & it's been working. I hope a lot of people can adopt a more healthier mindset so that they can enjoy the games they play more & I think this video could help people do that. Thank you. Enjoy the video and have a nice day everyone.

10:22 I agree. I'm Tekken Emperor with Yoshi in ranked, but I don't really know how to KBD. I also just got into frame data here in Tekken 8. Back then, I'm just basing everything on experience on what can be punishable.

I already saw the recording of this video on Phi's stream . So I'm just here for the algorithm .

I just got this video on my feed, seeing you for the first time and gotta say, your voice makes me go HOT DAMN

tekken starts when you turn the game on. getting better along the way is tekken and having fun

What you all were saying was relatable. I am enjoying the progress of getting better than focusing on my title. It's one big roller coaster. Still just trying to have fun when I can.

I've started following him. His content is educational, and helped me understand the game. It was hard to get into Tekken before, but now everything is clicking. 😊

I think the difference between low and high ranks is the ability to adapt. Lower ranks get used to doing a certain script or flow chart when they get shut down they don't usually know what to do after that. So they keep doing the same thing over and over without ever adapting so they get stuck.

A big thing I’ve come to learn playing Tekken over the years too is you are going to have bad days. Days where you just get obliterated by seemingly everyone you face and that is something that’s normal in any game. What’s important is to not dwell on it and think it’s a skill regression and let it hurt your enjoyment of the game.

I haven't watched the video yet but I am a Red rank hard stuck Garyu (Hwoarang main). This is also my first Tekken I played seriously (less than 10 hours in 7) only bought it cause on sale right before 8. Can't wait to see what is said about my rank.

Something I’ve been telling myself to cope w/ ranked anxiety is “The rank is only there to balance the game.” We hear it all the time but focus on improvement and rank will come with time, because as you get better the game will try to place you versus other stronger players. At the end of the day it is a matter of perspective. It is much healthier to look at it like “The ranked system exists to provide a more balanced and fun experience,” rather than “I can’t hit ___ rank therefore I am bad.”

After taking Tekken 7 seriously and playing previous Tekkens, I do try to humble myself knowing that I have a lot to get better at. Listening to you all makes it more enjoyable about the journey of just finding new players, playing each and saying GGs to each other is fun and rewarding. Happy to hear this convos between y'all two. I hope y'all Collab more in the future.

i hit fujin a couple of days ago and to me that was so satisfying. its the first tekken that i really got competitive in, and even though it's not as high as other people's, i still was excited when i hit that rank. 100hrs, 1-3 hrs per day, (give or take), i never gave up and kept learning all the match ups that i lost and looked up guides on how to improve.

It is great to watch videos like this, while doing reaction training, so I really only rely on my peripheric vision to identify moves 😄

So happy to see dude working with all these FGC content creators frrr

Aye I’m happy with the rank I am MR never played a tekken game before but I go hard taking notes and what not on anakin. Hoping to get better enjoy tekken yall✊🏽

I needed to hear this, thanks guys ❤🎉

I have been looking to see how I can go as Reina, with this Tekken being the first I have attempted at being more competitive. It has been quite a challenge, and so far I got to Destroyer. Even though it's not as high as most but I am proud of how I am progressing. I can't do Electrics and Hell sweep consistently, but I put in different ideas and moves which have helped me, especially given Raiden Forward is what everyone expects with Reina. I still do Raiden Forward but I have been working in other WRA transitions, some counterhits and seeing if I can find ways to capitalise on openings I can make. It is a big challenge but I learn slow, but when i learn, and I see I am able to do better and it feels good when I can see I am doing better at the game.

I tripled demoted from Shinryu on Wednesday evening, and it took me a MONTH to get to said rank, and the follow day promoted back. So thought it was pretty cool bc it shows I did in fact get better when the day before was telling myself I was horrible and a terrible player that learned nothing. /:

I’m the video you said you were giving vague answers but the answer is just way more nuanced than I think people wanna hear. Dope video man

I’m currently moving up several characters one color at a time and am finishing up yellow to move into gold and lord, this range of ranked is honestly the most fun i’ve had with the series because it’s so UNHINGED. it’s that weird space where everyone kinda is starting to understand but haven’t mastered it but also therefore willing to test out random shit and just pop off for no reason. high level tekken is fun to watch because it is so skilled base but goddamn low ranks are the wild west. the streets are on fire and we’re all on an express train to hell. absolute degenerates.

The best way to view rank is a way of measuring what you’re learning vs what you need to learn. I always try to reflect on what I could have improved on to win rather than the rank I’m at. Did I miss a punish? Did I utilise my movement? Did I whiff too much? If I’m making mistakes why, and with what frequency? Your rank is reflection of your consistency and your ability to improve, don’t take it for an exact measure of skill but rather a signpost of where you can improve. Above all have fun, chasing ranks can be demoralising especially when you get stuck at a certain level - but remembering why you started playing in the first place will keep you focused on improving.

I haven’t even played Tekken 8 and I still agree with this video, very well articulated ❤️

I'll be honest I'm "stuck" at Tenryu because I don't grind the game enough. All I do is play people 2+ ranks higher than me or someone who's on their eighth character in Eliminator at 170K Tekken power. It's hard to have better than 50/50 win rate when you're literally matched with people who are supposed to beat you every single match.

I just called it quits at fujin. I seemed to plateau here & don’t necessarily want to get too technical/labbing with the game anymore because i like the mix of fighting thats in the purple to blue rank range. I have seen the higher fights & that just to strict for me

Great conversation. Subscribed. Also I've only got A+ overwhelming in about a month on Tekken8. I couldn't get A rank on anything other than rage art and Aggressive in Tekken7. For about a year.

The “improving but demoting” is SO FREAKING TRUE. I literally said every time I learned something new I feel like I got WORSE. Lmfao. Sure enough though, practice practice practice and I got used to it and I finally ranked up and I know it was because of my skill and practicing as opposed to just mashing and praying.

This was a really good conversation. I'm garyu and kinda stopped because it took me forever to get there lol.

I best be seeing some matches from you and Phi in the next upload Lotus! lol

What they're saying is so true ... I'm a Tekken King myself and my offense and mix-ups are so overwhelming but my defense is BUNS according to how I'm rated ... probably because I parry so much as Devil Jin taking damage instead of block punishing... But when it comes to ranking again ... I have the highest rank of all my friends and we've all been playing Tekken since T2 ... but they can still win some sets against me sometimes because of the mental mind games and gimmicks lol

Generally it is a good mindset to not care about ranks and just try to improve but I disagree on 'ranks don't matter' or 'tekken ranks are a bad/not a display of your skill'. Why is it that a lot of people can't get out of red ranks or other color blocks? That is because that's right where they belong with the current skillset. You see and feel the shift in playstyle and knowledge when you enter new ranks (for example red to purple). In my own Tekken journey, being stuck between ranks helped me realise my current limit and that if I wanted to break that, I had to learn new things. Also I think there is nothing wrong with giving yourself a pat on the back when you reached a specific rank/goal you aimed for ;)

I feel like what separates some people is fundamentals too, My Paul is Flame Ruler and in Tekken 6 I normally main Asuka but in T8 i dont know how to do her combos at all, but i got her to Garyu rank just with regular pokes and throws

This a great video man imma take my demotions with pride 😂😂😂😂😂😂 as long as I finish my combos.

Tekken 8 is my first tekken and I've just been treating ranked more like casual just having fun, enjoying people's custom outfits, seeing people's combos and slowly ranking up. I've made it to garyu pretty steadily just playing for fun

Awesome vid! As someone who's played League for 14 years and bought Tekken 8 on March 3rd as my first fighting game, it was really interesting hearing PhiDX's hardstuck Plat struggles. I agree that visible rank doesn't mean shit. I've been Diamond for 10 years. I've lost lane HARD to Silver scrubs and shit on GM players. Focus on your own gameplay, identify your mistakes, and learn to fall in love with the grind.

I see PhiDX, I click

When i reached the blue ranks in T8 it really felt like more classic tekken experience, suddenly im playing with youtube guys like Frame Whisperer etc😂 In a way its more relaxing in these ranks cause there not much random ‘throwing it out there’ chaos but i see theres also a slight difference between characters that people play and how they approach them. For example, Tekken King Asuka is not much of a problem to fight, but a Kishin Bryan? 9/10 a fundamental genius that gives you much harder time, i really enjoy the differences.

Bto this came out at the perfect time - my ego was sweilling being in high blues, and then i get a train ran on me by people who are all using my character. I really had to take a step back and analyze everything and this really put it in perspective. I genuinely deeply appreciate this

I definitely live in the low ranks but I do focus on learning why I lose and focus on one aspect per session. My combos are limited and my spacing seems to be one big ? But once I figure it out I know I’ll grow. Did the same in SF and it’s crazy how actually learning the game helps you rank up 😂

I feel like the better you get at anything the worse you think you are because you start to realize all the things your missing. Alot of times it feels like the true game starts when you hit the top 1%

12:22 i was having this being stuck at red rank feeling like i wasnt getting better that i must have just hit my skill cap. Till one day i just started wining day after day and jumped from ganryu to flame ruler.

I'm hard-stuck at red ranks for the moment, can't seem to get past Tenryu, but i'm working on it!

Oh snap, a collab with the homie PhiDX🔥✊🏿💯

I'm currently in Tenryu (last red rank) I only played the early times of Tekken 7 (i stopped around eliza release). but I really love the feeling of improving and I do! I use the rank system just to measure myself (do I improve or not?) and start to determine what I can do better. I'm currently practicing more movement and when I reach purple I will start learning to side step. Don't value yourself with ranks! but rather use it as threshholds! I don't feel bad for being red ranked. I was stuck in orange for 1-2 weeks -> I improved! I am stuck in red ranks for 2 weeks now -> I'm improving and reaching purple! My WR is only 40% with Reina but I started with 30%ish. I do improve! and ya'll do too don't let your rank determine what you will be cuz your rank is never permanent time and effort will help not the number of your points

I barely made it to Mighty Ruler with Reina. Haha FF2 spam meme aside, Reina is pretty difficult I gotta say. Tons of stuff to keep track of. If I could make it to Fujin in the future, that would be mind blowing for me.

Great Vid

Tekken is the only game where my patience is so strong when it comes to losing because Im always looking at how I can get better. But grinding, losing, and being stuck at Garyu is frustrating to me some days... But I realize that I need to iron out my own weaknesses and bad habits. All my online friends on Playstation are Mighty Ruler or higher and they ALL beat my ass, but over time Ive been able to win rounds and a couple matches against them. They are constantly giving me tips on what Im doing. Most of them are legacy players from Tekken 5 to Tekken 8. I love fighting games so Ive never mained a single one. But Tekken 8 is going to be a game I play for a LONG time and is the only fighting game Im playing since it came out, so my frustration would naturally surface more because Im taking it more seriously. I play Reina. Not the easiest to pilot for me but feels really rewarding when it comes to figuring her out. I really have noticed my progression. My friends told me not to think about my Rank and focus on getting better and knowing myself as a fighter... hard to do when I see them all at the ranks they are, but its true. I need to learn myself, my strength and weaknesses and learning more about Tekken.

I'm at Kishin for my rank as a Jin main. I haven't been grinding out rank these last few weeks, but I can say that with this discussion they made I feel a bit more proud of myself who's played Tekken for 16 years. I use to be that guy who raged & never wanted to understand the how & why am I not getting any better. It takes alot to tell yourself what you should work on especially when Tekken in general is not an easy game. It takes dedication & time to get better.

I took me all of tekken 7 to get to mighty ruler. (First one to take seriously) got to battle ruler and I feel good, of course I can be Fujin or higher. Having a good state of mind helps getting over ranked.

I beat a lot of purple ranks lol but I literally got stuck in Tenryu. I think it’s been about 2 weeks since I got here. Demoted instantly, promoted very next match and I’ve been stuck in tenryu ever since. Can’t demote, can’t promote 😂

As a tenryu i can hang with purple ranks and can win a good 3rd of the time, i struggle against blue ranks and above but can get some rounds in or even a win if im lucky sometimes. I can also tell you there is a noticeable difference between garyu to tenryu as thats the start of having to learn intermediate fundamentals and techniques, by the time you hit tenryu you are consistently matching with higher level players every time So far im gonna not play ranked until my friends catch up to me 🤣 once i see they touch tenryu im going back into ranked like leeroy jenkins

climbing in ranked CAN be a signifier of improving, but you can also improve and learn in many ways that dont involve a ranked queue

W vid and conversation 🔥🔥

As a brawler (a marauder on a good day) I appreciate this. I suspect I’m secretly world class. Top 8 at EVO is within arms reach. ⚡️😤⚡️

I feel like when i hit might ruler i got stuck and what i did was stayed on quick match and tried to fight might rulers and up and I practice one combo *I play reina* and one punish which was *Down Foward 4* and now im fujin-Raijin right now after practicing.

This my first tekken since tekken 3 so i am very new to tekken never played ranked or anything just played tekken 3 with my dad for fun as a kid. With that being said ive made it to fujin today and im very very very satisfied with that rank. Ive learn so much but id say the biggest thing that ive taken from purple rank is to know when to punishment and to knowing when its not your turn to attack. Im done ranking though until they fix the plugging problems but i know i need to learn alot more but knowing when to punish and what to punish with and waiting to take your turn back is vital to getting out of purple. Plus to say im 90% above players and this is my first tekken in 20 year is accomplishment for sure. I dont agree with some of this video though to say someone isnt good when they are 90% or high is wild i get what they are saying though always room to improve but 90% or higher is good in my eyes id even say to be in purple rank your pretty good.i wonder how many new comers to tekken are in fujin or higher and or if its majority players that have played previous tekkens

I started playing Tekken about 3 weeks ago so I'm new to Tekken and I'm learning every day. I recently started ranking and it's annoying that several people just leave after one game. Should I be doing the same?

I feel like a mighty ruler in Tekken 7 is a Fujin in Tekken 8 but I may be wrong. It's kinda strange though cause offence is so overwhelming in this game you can fight against Fjuin who plays like green ranks.

great video

Watched this live, was good vibes. Tekken players just need to calm down and as Phi said "its not that deep."

I am a victim of throwing my head at the wall till i get the results i desire. I have tried making changes recently and it has helped, but it really is a wall to climb trying to break bad habits.

Not caring about ranked me out in a lot of areas. It helped me focus more on learning the match-up and winning being a byproduct of that than JUST focusing on winning for points. It also just makes playing ranked a lot more fun.

@15:27 Funny because I always find quick matches much more challenging than ranked. My win percentage in ranked is like 84% in QM it’s 71%

So, the whole point of the video: Don’t focus on the rank, focus on improving and being a better player…thank you ❤

Yeah haha I only got to shinyru cuz I liked the dragon badge, ranked is so tiring and its so much more fun improving with my friends

Bro I appreciate y’all man. I dropped Victor because I got a lot of shit from people because he’s a cheesy character. I’m going to be myself and play with whoever I want too 😤

AYYYYY THE PHIDX COLLAB

The one thing I love about tekken/fighting games compared to other competitive games is that no matter the rank you can still enter most tournaments and still show off your skills

I just got demoted from Bushin to Raijin, taking it as a learning lesson

As frustrating as it is to lose in ranked I've found myself proud of the growth I've made between Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 simply because of how much more I understand and know how to play Leo now. Before I dropped Leo for Kunimitsu but I still enjoyed the character even though I didn't know my best offense and defense. Now I'm just struggling to put into practice punishes and not falling into the flow chart I've made for myself so I'm not readable online

I agree because as a warrior rank in quick matches I’ve beaten TekkenKings afew times. I need to be better with my defense

As a perpetual fighting game beginner, and my first Tekken, this is the most beginner friendly fighting game I’ve ever experienced, despite its complexity. I say that cuz all you guys are “real” players, and I know that experienced players and beginners are often playing completely different games. The amount of recourses Tekken 8 to get acquainted with it is amazing. That being said, the heat system feels tailor made for beginners, but in the wrong way. The right way is the offline arcade mode, Ghosts, training modes, interactive replays, combo tutorials, the almost too meticulous move list, the simple way to remap/bind buttons, and somehow the way ALL of these separate things seem to flow together. With heat tho, as soon as I took half a health bar while mashing a few buttons I was like, “Oh that’s sus, Ive never been THAT good”. I may be in-experienced, but I know what training wheels feel like. The momentum swings relative to skills are CRAAAZY, so for legacy Tekken players I’d imagine it’s frustrating. Also, as cool as heat shenanigans are, because of how easy it is, it’s the first thing that loses its luster. I picked yoshimitsu, and I’ve been having a blast just doing all his crazy shit against the cpu. It makes me way happier to get slammed out of the air cuz my dumbass was helicoptering with Yoshimitsu too long, than to do a VERY basic heat combo and see positive results. The other characters I played I because of the story, and as soon as I figured out there heat stuff, that’s all I did. I think heat actively discourages exploration because of how obviously effective it is. Idk what or how, but this needs to be tweaked. Having said all this, I’ve never wanted to get better at a fighter more, and has opened my eyes wider to the genre. I’m grateful for Tekken 8 despite the LEGITIMATE problems, especially from a monetization and modding philosophy standpoint.

I think this was the best you ever articulated what you meant when you constantly say you're trash.

When you stop caring is when you start improving. I've played drums for 26 years and for the first 20 I frustrated myself because I had dreams of becoming the greatest drummer ever and every time I didn't nail something it was the end of the world (exaggerating slightly for effect, but you know what I mean). When I finally got fed up with that and started viewing drumming as a hobby where all I wanted to do was to have fun playing the drums, I started improving much quicker because even just practicing a "boring" exercise on my own was suddenly enjoyable. Do not care about the rank, try to have so much fun every time you boot up the game that you can't wait for the next opportunity to play again.

All my opponents have perfect spacing and always predict the exact moment i input forward and their attack can connect How do i lab supernatural foresight?