>>15892906
Focus on doing simple things first. What are my moves? How do I throw? What other system mechanics are there? etc. Knowing your moves will help you to establish a general game plan. If your character has long reaching normal attacks and a fireball, they can probably keep the opponent out for a long time if played correctly. If they have short range moves, they will prefer to be up close and personal with the opponent.
When you know what your moves are, apply them in various situations so that you can find what moves works best in what situation. I doubt a low attack that doesn't reach above the ground is a good idea to hit an airborne opponent with, but it's certainly a good move to hit a grounded opponent with. Likewise, an upward angled attack isn't a good move to use when checking your opponent out at distance largely, but it might function better for when your opponent is jumping in.
Knowing what your opponent is capable of and how best to respond is also a core skill. If you block a move that can be punished, but you don't punish, you're effectively letting them get away with murder, especially in games that have chip damage. You also have to know how to punish moves effectively, which comes about by knowing your moves and applying them correctly.
There's also knowing what your opponent will do and how best to respond to it. Players will fall into patterns and those patterns can be used against them. If you're using fireballs a lot and your opponent jumps over them all the time, you can use that to your advantage. Do a fireball, they jump, then you hit them out of the air.
This stuff doesn't come quick, but spending some time in practice, maybe reading a wiki or two so that you can practice and apply these moves and you should at least be competent. Also playing against others helps a lot.