touhouconfessions:

Original

Protips so you can become awesome at toohoos:

• Practice individual spellcards (on TH08 and 13), or at least stages. Practicing individual segments will allow you to spend more play time on the parts you want to get better at, and less time on parts you already know how to do. Not to mention it can get tedious having to spend about 10-15 minutes having to play stages 1-4 just so you can work on that midboss spell card on stage 5.
• Practice panic-bombing. A last-second bomb can mean the difference between a 1CC and a game over. Bombs can save lives, but lives can’t save bombs.
• If you find it awkward to play with the keyboard, consider investing in a controller. I personally use a Sega Saturn controller with a USB converter, and it works wonders. I’m sure you can find a good pad for about $10-20. Or if you have an arcade stick that you can hook up to your computer via USB, you can try that as well. Try out different input devices, see which one is most comfortable for you.
• Watch replays. Replays can show you useful tactics that you may not have thought of otherwise, whether it’s the files themselves or YouTube videos.
• Make replays, so you can review your plays, see what you’re doing wrong, and show your performance to others so they can help you out.
• And above all, practice regularly. You don’t have to sink like 6 hours per day into practicing—that would be way overdoing it! About 15-30 minutes per day (i.e. on a lunch break, or after doing homework) is sufficient enough, maybe about an hour or two if you’re determined and have plenty of free time.