My bio is in sig, now here is my tip on first moves. Now many people base their first moves on different criteria and things. Here are some basic ideas. Unofficial btw.
- I love making simple, yet effect first moves. The reason is, people of the RP are quite generic and stale, they tend to perform the same predictable and easy counters. If I create a swamp under someone, you pretty much have different counters that the opponent will likely perform. They might release added weight into the swamp to harden and petrify it. They might spew water to launch themselves upward. By having a good idea of what the opponent might do and predicting their counter, you can have a specific move ready for their counter attack. This allows you to constantly have the upper-hand and forces the opponent out of their comfort zone, this could lead to potential mistakes for quoting or taking advantage of.
- Another idea is the old first move, "distract-attack". Done a lot, so it tends to lose its flavor. Many people tend to combine it with genjutsu, or sound jutsus. By having the opponent distracted for a brief second, and then send a move, you gain the upper-hand, but also put the opponent at risk for making a mistake. How many times do you see people fail to counter genjutsu? Genjutsu is not all tho, things like bright lights, flash bombs, ground shaking, etc, can all be used in this idea of attack. I like to use bright flash, and then send a lightning attack my opponents way, sometimes even behind them. This is done the most, and can be a great tool.
- The activation first move, this is something I'm starting to do as well. You can set yourself up for preparation for the battle. It depends tho if you want to activate your defenses or offenses, if I'm fighting a fast opponent, I will likely lower my weight, and set up traps underground that remain dormant (defensive), or you can try to set up your offense, things like activation an armor, specific jutsus (I have a lot of those for earth), canon wise you can clones, etc. I always recommend to set up in a way where you can have an advantage in offense and defense, Minato excels in this, by just releasing kunais around the area, he instantly becomes a threat offensively, but has a good defense as well.
- Another first move is, the famous attempt at the "one shot". Now if you are OP as hell, you might be able to do this without any drawback. However, if you are someone who doesn't have as much power, if you try to give it your all out so soon, and the opponent might successfully counter, you are left vulnerable, since now the opponent knows your best attack won't work. Going for the one shot is awesome if you have done correctly, even if the opponent happens to somehow counter it, there could be a chance they are harmed or immobilize. I don't recommend trying it out much, for tho it can make you seem like a king, it can also make you seem like a fool.
- Terrain manipulation for first moves, once again I like this. Change up the terrain, make it tough on the opponent to move, or react. Great to use against fast opponents, and can even set you up for an attack. I like drowning the area in water, then turn it into flammable water, cause an explosion. Earth excels in this a lot.
These are some basic ideas for a first move you can look into. I also like to combine all of them, in one move, which can be done. For example I can distract and attack the opponent, with a basic move, making it predictable for me to know how he might counter. Always be one step ahead of the opponent, this is a mind game, and realize most fights are won off of mistakes as well.
