Random Smash Tidbits
Volume 1 - Issue 4
For this issue of RST I’ll touch on different methods of using your controller and control stick that aren’t well known. These simple tricks make life easier in many instances and don’t take long at all to pick up.
Previous Issues
-RST: Issue 1
-RST: Issue 2
-RST: Issue 3
Tidbit #1: Ledge Hop Double Laser
Why is this a RST: I’ve been working on my Falco’s technical game for over a year now but being able to shoot two lasers on the same (low) height had always escaped by grasp, that way until about 3 months ago when someone told me an easier way to do it.
What it is: I usually would press either away or down followed by Y and then B twice to ledge hop double laser. The problem was no matter how fast I went from Y to B I always had one laser go to high to hit anyone. The solution? Press down on the control stick, quickly followed by up, and hit B the moment after you press up. Try it, it’s easy as pie.
Uses: Two lasers when coming up from the ledge is always better than one, especially when they both occur on the same height.
Tidbit #2: Fox’s Short Hop Double Laser
Why is this a RST: I could never ever seem to be able to double laser with Fox until about a year ago when 1337 explained to me an easier way to do it, since then I’ve never had any trouble.
What it is: At first I would always try short hopping with Y followed by quickly pressing B twice. This sometimes worked, but was madly difficult and highly inconsistent. To fix this problem, instead of short hopping with the Y/X button, instead do it with the control stick, you can then calmly hit B twice just after you short hop.
Uses: It’s two lasers in one short hop instead of one! That doubles your damage output.
Tidbit #3: Falco and Fox's Shine Bair
Why is this a RST: I could never, ever seem to figure out how Fox and Falco players managed to move their fingers fast enough to immediately do Bair’s out of their shines. That was until DaShizWiz at Melee-FC Diamond explained to me this simple little trick to make it easier.
What it is: I would usually shine like normal for Falco, then quickly try pressing Y then back on the C-stick. Boy did I feel stupid when I found out the easier method to performing this someone clutch technique. Instead of jumping with Y/X, jump with the control stick out of the shine. Then you have a choice, you can either quickly roll the control stick back and press A, or, you can use the C-stick and press back, whichever works best for you.
Uses: Are you kidding me? Falco’s Bair out of the shine is amazingly sexy every time I see it. It works great against characters once they get in the mid percentage range and they attempt to avoid Falco’s shine combo’s by DI’ing behind him. If they try to DI behind you simply hit them with a Bair, its so easy.
Tidbit #4: Fox’s Running Up-Smash
Why is this a RST: There are two ways to do it, you’ve probably heard of the first, I doubt most have heard of the second.
What it is: I spent an entire game watching Mew2King’s fingers trying to figure why he sometimes switches a “claw” position. While I haven’t fully figured out the mystery, I did uncover one method he uses to make his life easier. The first method, the one that most people use, for performing any running Up-Smash, is just a simple quarter turn on the control stick and a well timed A to correspond. This method works great for most people, but if for some reason you don’t like it, here is the alternate, Mew2King, method. As your running, put your thumb on the C-stick and your index finger on either X or Y. Then time pressing the two together. The advantage of this over the normal method is that you have a smaller chance of messing up. The disadvantage is that switching your fingers into a claw position may seem cumbersome at first.
Uses: Running Up-Smashes can frequently catch your opponent off guard, but if you find yourself messing up whenever you try the control stick method, then give Mew2King’s patented Smash “claw” position a try. This method also works for jump canceled grabs.
Tidbit #5: Rapid B Pressing
Why is this a RST: Still, do this day, I search for a method that will let me press B more efficiently. Until I do my Doc/Mario/Luigi/Ice Climber game will continue to suffer. Here are two methods that have somewhat helped me improve my ability to press B quickly.
What it is: If you are like some people and were not blessed with quick fingers, I’ll share with you two methods that may help make your thumb faster, or at least appear that way. The first is practicing other games, I would most recommend any of the Mario Party series as they often times have mini-games that require you to press B quickly. Alternatively, if you want to get your fingers to move faster in general, I would also recommend Stepmania. These recommendations aside though, and since this article is about what you can do with your controller, I’ll share a method that B-Run (M3D’s younger brother) shared with me at GS2 over 2 years ago. Simply place your controller on your knee and shake your knee with and up and down motion while also pressing up and down with your thumb. The extra presses added by your knee can help make up for any deficiencies you normally have. I’ve had small success with this method and use it from time to time, but more recently I’ve take the words of both ChuDat and Cactuar to heart when I asked them how they press B so fast. Simply put, it’s a rhythm. I haven’t quite found the rhythm yet for my Doctor Mario, but I’ve been getting better keeping this in mind, so use their advice as much as you want.
Uses: With Mario, Doctor Mario, and Luigi (after you load it), you can gain extra height with their Down-B tornado attacks by rabidly pressing B. Pressing B faster gives you more height. The same is also true for the Ice Climber’s Side B attack, and when you have two Ice Climbers together you can gain insane height, almost as much as their regular Up-B recovery.
Tidbit #6: Marth's Double Fair
Why is this a RST: It took me forever to learn to do and it wasn't until some helpful advice from JV and Joe Bushman that I started to do it successfully.
What it is: The key to doing the double short hop Fair with Marth is using your thumb to hit the A button instead of moving it all the way to the C-Stick. Of course, I realized this after awhile but was still terrible at performing it, that was until Joe Bushman explained another aspect of it after observing my controller. Many Smashers have the habit of spamming a button, hoping to do the attack at the earliest possible frame, the thing is though, for this move, I would recommend learning the timing of the technique, so don't spam the A button, instead, press it twice, with just the right amount of space between presses.
Uses: Marth's double Fair is amazing for comboing opponents and frequently you can chain a character from one side of a stage to the other using only this move. In addition to this, the short hop double Fair can't wreak havoc on shields. If the opponent tries to shield grab after the first Fair, they will usually end up dropping their shield just in time to get hit by the second Fair. Not to mention the second Fair (when you L-cancel it), allows you to recover and either retreat, grab, or attack again usually before the opponent gets out of their shield (its usually best to simply roll away if you are getting pressured by someone spamming Marth's short hop double Fair).
Volume 1 - Issue 4
For this issue of RST I’ll touch on different methods of using your controller and control stick that aren’t well known. These simple tricks make life easier in many instances and don’t take long at all to pick up.
Previous Issues
-RST: Issue 1
-RST: Issue 2
-RST: Issue 3
Tidbit #1: Ledge Hop Double Laser
Why is this a RST: I’ve been working on my Falco’s technical game for over a year now but being able to shoot two lasers on the same (low) height had always escaped by grasp, that way until about 3 months ago when someone told me an easier way to do it.
What it is: I usually would press either away or down followed by Y and then B twice to ledge hop double laser. The problem was no matter how fast I went from Y to B I always had one laser go to high to hit anyone. The solution? Press down on the control stick, quickly followed by up, and hit B the moment after you press up. Try it, it’s easy as pie.
Uses: Two lasers when coming up from the ledge is always better than one, especially when they both occur on the same height.
Tidbit #2: Fox’s Short Hop Double Laser
Why is this a RST: I could never ever seem to be able to double laser with Fox until about a year ago when 1337 explained to me an easier way to do it, since then I’ve never had any trouble.
What it is: At first I would always try short hopping with Y followed by quickly pressing B twice. This sometimes worked, but was madly difficult and highly inconsistent. To fix this problem, instead of short hopping with the Y/X button, instead do it with the control stick, you can then calmly hit B twice just after you short hop.
Uses: It’s two lasers in one short hop instead of one! That doubles your damage output.
Tidbit #3: Falco and Fox's Shine Bair
Why is this a RST: I could never, ever seem to figure out how Fox and Falco players managed to move their fingers fast enough to immediately do Bair’s out of their shines. That was until DaShizWiz at Melee-FC Diamond explained to me this simple little trick to make it easier.
What it is: I would usually shine like normal for Falco, then quickly try pressing Y then back on the C-stick. Boy did I feel stupid when I found out the easier method to performing this someone clutch technique. Instead of jumping with Y/X, jump with the control stick out of the shine. Then you have a choice, you can either quickly roll the control stick back and press A, or, you can use the C-stick and press back, whichever works best for you.
Uses: Are you kidding me? Falco’s Bair out of the shine is amazingly sexy every time I see it. It works great against characters once they get in the mid percentage range and they attempt to avoid Falco’s shine combo’s by DI’ing behind him. If they try to DI behind you simply hit them with a Bair, its so easy.
Tidbit #4: Fox’s Running Up-Smash
Why is this a RST: There are two ways to do it, you’ve probably heard of the first, I doubt most have heard of the second.
What it is: I spent an entire game watching Mew2King’s fingers trying to figure why he sometimes switches a “claw” position. While I haven’t fully figured out the mystery, I did uncover one method he uses to make his life easier. The first method, the one that most people use, for performing any running Up-Smash, is just a simple quarter turn on the control stick and a well timed A to correspond. This method works great for most people, but if for some reason you don’t like it, here is the alternate, Mew2King, method. As your running, put your thumb on the C-stick and your index finger on either X or Y. Then time pressing the two together. The advantage of this over the normal method is that you have a smaller chance of messing up. The disadvantage is that switching your fingers into a claw position may seem cumbersome at first.
Uses: Running Up-Smashes can frequently catch your opponent off guard, but if you find yourself messing up whenever you try the control stick method, then give Mew2King’s patented Smash “claw” position a try. This method also works for jump canceled grabs.
Tidbit #5: Rapid B Pressing
Why is this a RST: Still, do this day, I search for a method that will let me press B more efficiently. Until I do my Doc/Mario/Luigi/Ice Climber game will continue to suffer. Here are two methods that have somewhat helped me improve my ability to press B quickly.
What it is: If you are like some people and were not blessed with quick fingers, I’ll share with you two methods that may help make your thumb faster, or at least appear that way. The first is practicing other games, I would most recommend any of the Mario Party series as they often times have mini-games that require you to press B quickly. Alternatively, if you want to get your fingers to move faster in general, I would also recommend Stepmania. These recommendations aside though, and since this article is about what you can do with your controller, I’ll share a method that B-Run (M3D’s younger brother) shared with me at GS2 over 2 years ago. Simply place your controller on your knee and shake your knee with and up and down motion while also pressing up and down with your thumb. The extra presses added by your knee can help make up for any deficiencies you normally have. I’ve had small success with this method and use it from time to time, but more recently I’ve take the words of both ChuDat and Cactuar to heart when I asked them how they press B so fast. Simply put, it’s a rhythm. I haven’t quite found the rhythm yet for my Doctor Mario, but I’ve been getting better keeping this in mind, so use their advice as much as you want.
Uses: With Mario, Doctor Mario, and Luigi (after you load it), you can gain extra height with their Down-B tornado attacks by rabidly pressing B. Pressing B faster gives you more height. The same is also true for the Ice Climber’s Side B attack, and when you have two Ice Climbers together you can gain insane height, almost as much as their regular Up-B recovery.
Tidbit #6: Marth's Double Fair
Why is this a RST: It took me forever to learn to do and it wasn't until some helpful advice from JV and Joe Bushman that I started to do it successfully.
What it is: The key to doing the double short hop Fair with Marth is using your thumb to hit the A button instead of moving it all the way to the C-Stick. Of course, I realized this after awhile but was still terrible at performing it, that was until Joe Bushman explained another aspect of it after observing my controller. Many Smashers have the habit of spamming a button, hoping to do the attack at the earliest possible frame, the thing is though, for this move, I would recommend learning the timing of the technique, so don't spam the A button, instead, press it twice, with just the right amount of space between presses.
Uses: Marth's double Fair is amazing for comboing opponents and frequently you can chain a character from one side of a stage to the other using only this move. In addition to this, the short hop double Fair can't wreak havoc on shields. If the opponent tries to shield grab after the first Fair, they will usually end up dropping their shield just in time to get hit by the second Fair. Not to mention the second Fair (when you L-cancel it), allows you to recover and either retreat, grab, or attack again usually before the opponent gets out of their shield (its usually best to simply roll away if you are getting pressured by someone spamming Marth's short hop double Fair).
