Bingo, the biggest mistake beginners make is focusing completely on combos and damage. Footsies, understanding your buttons, Anti airing, and utilizing your normals and specials to maintain and control space to your advantage are more important and will have you doing better in matches than the flashiest combos ever will. I can't tell you how many players in SF4 that I've stomped with nothing more than basic footsies, pokes, counter pokes and anti airs. The matches I've had in SF5 so far have gone the exact same way.