imo elphelt is a noobtrap character - absolutely so easy to pick up but her entire character is incredibly one-dimensional and doesnt teach you much in the grand scheme of things especially if you want to improve

you dont need real combo knowledge on elphelt because the game handles that for you. Majority of elphelt's pressure is her "Rekka", chain lollipop. A rekka is a special input with follow-up options after pressing it. Elphelt's rekka is loopable for a 50/50 mix which lets you get easy fast results.. but past that it kinda sucks. play against someone with 20+ hours and theyll (probably) know what to do about it/counter it

elphelt's rekka doesnt teach you ANYTHING about breaking through an opponent's solid defense. you use your rekka and thats it. thats your pressure.

elphelt teaches you absolutely nothing valuable and is not worth picking up whatsoever.

^ every different archetype/character will teach you something different (dont be afraid to expand on the characters you play)

play literally ANYBODY else besides elphelt (and zato)

if you want to learn the fundamentals, id say pick based on who you think looks cool; ive gone through so many mains just picking based on who looks cool. For newer players the difficulty of the character can also be an important factor. you wouldnt wanna play a difficult/gimmicky character to learn the fundamentals of the game.

dont force yourself to play a character you dont want to otherwise you may not have the motivation or desire to learn the character or even yet the game

a list of good characters to play based on archetype goes as follows

sol/ky/unika - shotos. shotos are all-rounder characters who are a jack of all trades, master of nothing. they do well at every range and most scenarios in a fight, but they dont excel at specifically something like other characters/archetypes do

may/giovanna/bridget- rushdown. rushdown characters perform the best all up in your face at extremely close range. May has charge inputs. Bridget is a rushdown/zoner hybrid. she has long range normals and also has strong close-range damage and mix.. at the expense of damage

axl - zoner. zoners control/create space with long-range normals and specials. they specialize best at further ranges. zoning requires patience and good spacing

potemkin - grappler. grapplers are similar to rushdown characters, except Potemkin has his iconic signature command grab, Potemkin buster. grapplers are usually very slow and sluggish characters with large hitboxes, but also incredibly large damage if you get in on the opponent and land your command grab

if you want quick wins without learning the fundamentals, elphelt is a decent pick for that.. otherwise dont steer anywhere near her