Delphiki
Smash Champion
I wrote this guide back in February '07 in order to inform new players about the metagame. The original was over-winded and somewhat badly written, so I rewrote many key parts and omitted things that weren't necessary. This Second Revision should help a good amount of that. Hopefully it will be helpful to a lot of you who wish to know how the professionals think and why they play the way they do.
An In-Depth look at the Metagame
Many players have wondered what advanced players think, how they compete at the levels they do, and why they take seemingly odd (and sometimes seemingly stupid) choices…..
Many players have wondered why it is that they can defeat many players, and yet still some players seem to always be beyond them….
Many players have wondered how it is that they can become stronger, and move past their current limits to become highly skilled Smashers.
That information I hope to help unveil for all those hundreds of up-and-coming smashers for whom we are indebted to maintain this community. All of the information which I will give here is already known to most advanced players, and most amateur and pro-am players as well, albeit to a lesser degree. The purpose of this article is to provide you all with that same information which will allow you to drastically improve both your strengths and shortcomings. I hope that the material provided within will allow those players with incomplete knowledge of the professional level of play with a more complete understanding of this game.
I also highly recommend LuInSpectra’s “7 Habits of a Competitive Smasher”.
== A Look at the Metagame: How it Changes, and Why ==
The metagame, in short, is the knowledge of all possible tactics which can be applied in any situation. All the technical and mental possibilities coupled with possiblities and tendencies. The professional player has a thorough knowledge of techniques and tactics, and can assimilate new circumstances as quickly as they occur. It is this combination of knowledge and possibility that we call the metagame.
We must remember that the metagame is advanced along with our understanding of the game itself. Because of this, the metagame is fluid and changeable. Individual metagames are based upon what techniques are used - so each region, however small or large, has an at least somewhat different metagame from each other region. Examples include West Coast/East Coast, Japanese/American, or Mexican/Canadian/European. It has been said by a very large number of players that the key to advancing one’s skill is to play players outside of your normal opponents. This keeps the metagame fresh as players gradually become accustomed to employ and combat new playstyles.
What I have been describing is an open metagame (conversely a closed metagame is one which does not often incorporate new tactics). Due to an open metagame’s fluid nature, a change is necessarily met with a counter tactic. It is precisely this system of checks-and-balances which continues to keep the metagame fresh. No tactic can be overpowered or broken as long as it has a practical counter.
Here I must stress a very important factor in deciphering the metagame: it is not enough that the technique is possible; instead any given technique or tactic can only affect the metagame as much as it is used. For example, a relatively unknown tactic whose only claim to fame is from gamestore tournaments has no effect upon the metagame. However even a technique only half as effective as it can have a huge effect on the metagame if it is widely and effectively used. It is the combination of effectiveness and prominent use which furthers the metagame.
== Characters and their Potentials ==
With the basic nature of the metagame itself out of the way, I turn to another point: that of the metagame of the playable characters. Of a total of 26 characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee, only about half of them see regular tournament play. The time which these characters spend in the limelight somewhat corresponds to the amount of potential they are known to possess. That is, the characters thought to be the best are used the most. This potential is that character’s metagame.
Now of course you may be thinking of that last sentence. What they are known to possess. It must be admitted before any speculation can occur that many characters possess undiscovered abilities. In recent times many characters have grown more popular due to powerful discoveries which strengthen their metagame. This has occurred countless time in the past, and with the upcoming release of Brawl, will happen hundreds of times to come. But while most or all characters may have room for improvement, they are imbalanced in their capabilities. And so there are characters who are little known and have many tactics which are not widely known, and characters with whom there are few tactics to be discovered.
The higher tier characters have any number of tactics which are widely used and very powerful, from waveshining, float canceling, Ken comboing, and Sheik's F-tilt to Fair. The only room these characters, and others like them, have to advance are in situational circumstances. The lesser known characters also have this room, but they have even more, in things that are rarely if ever talked of - for example, Pikachu and Pichu's back aerials can actually move them THROUGH the platform if used correctly. Their Thunder Jolt can be used to edgeguard vertical recoveries, and can chaingrab with F-throws if done properly. Examples like these are much ore common in lower tier and underused characters than in others.
I think there are two characters in particular who have much more potential in them than all other twenty four characters combined. These characters are Samus and the Ice Climbers. The technical possibilities lying behind Samus are incredible and undeniable, from Super Wavedashing, Double/Triple Missiling, Repeater Missile, Bomb Jumping, and many others besides. The Ice Climbers possess just as much potential, I believe. They alone hold the unique ability to control two mostly independent characters simultaneously. While desynched the Climbers offer up an incredible amount of combo potential which is completely unprecedented in all other characters. It is my strong belief that for these reasons these two characters will begin shortly a rise towards the top of the tier lists.
At this point you may be considering is usually thought to be the end-all, be-all measure of any character’s metagame: the tier list. Unfortunately the tier list is only as good as our current knowledge. It may, however, very well be an accurate judge of the temporary level of the metagame, as far as the relation of characters in general. The tiers do not take heavily into account specific cases, but are instead intended to give an unbiased view at how a character will perform, on average, against other players of equal skill using a diverse assortment of characters. In this short address to the tier lists, I must stress both their subjectivity and fluidity. The tier lists are, at best, temporarily accurate, but not impeccably so.
== Tournament Regulations and their Effects ==
Super Smash Bros. Melee enjoys a vast tournament scene which spans the entire globe, and enjoys much communication through the use of our beloved Smashboards. However, tournament rules may differ slightly between areas and tournament directors (these differences are known as house rules). Fortunately most major tournaments feature few variations in singles and doubles formats, most of which are based on MLG rules. Most community hosted tournaments feature only slight changes from them. All rules however, share a common goal. That goal is to restrict the metagame by banning certain techniques and eliminating certain possibilities. These limitations are placed upon anything which is heavily favorable to certain situations and heavily unfavorable to others. They are applied as little as possible, and only in cases which would heavily alter the metagame and leave it much less diverse. Rules are created to promote diversity and entertainment value.
Banned tactics are either uncounterable or can be countered only by very few characters. If not banned, these tactics would force players to use these overpowered tactics to win, or limit themselves to certain characters and playstyles which would counter these overpowered tactics. The most common banned tactics are those which cause a player to indefinitely lose control of their character or stall a match for a long period of time. These tactics would limit the metagame and are banned for that reason.
Also, many of the stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee are banned from tournament play. It should be noted that many tournament directors are lenient, and house rules on stages should also be made known at all tournaments. The stages which are most commonly banned are those whose features benefit specific characters so much that make them almost unbeatable on that stage. Also, stages which feature prominent divisions of areas (such as Hyrule Temple, Brinstar Depths, Princess Peach’s Castle, Onett, Eagleland, Yoshi Island 64) and encourage ‘camping’ are banned, because they force specific tactics once a player is camping. A few more are banned because of random possiblities (Icicle Mountain, Green Greens, Brinstar Depths, Big Blue). Stages which are regarded as neutral, as not too heavily benefiting a small number of characters are random stages and are the host of most tournament matches. Most tournaments feature six random stages in singles, and seven in doubles.
In combination with Advanced Slob Counterpicks, tournament rules serve to balance out many characters and tactics and lend diversity to the metagame.
== The Competitive Smasher ==
What is surely the most important aspect in any competition is the metagame of the individual player: the current capabilities of the player (both technically and mentally) and his or her ability to adapt to new and unforeseen changes in the metagame.
A players ability can be usually fitted into two categories: technical and mental. The technical category is composed of knowledge of the game itself, combo ability, proper control of your character, and mastery of all advanced techniques such as SHFFLing, teching, Smash DIing, Auto Smash DIing, and pivoting. The mental category is composed of knowledge of the metagame, the ability to evaluate one’s opponents, and mindgames. Mindgames are the foreknowledge of your opponent's actions and the ability to create and exploit those actions with your own.
A top-level player must possess mastery of both of these categories in order to compete at a very high level of play. A variety of playstyles are a result of the intermixing of the two categories, as some players choose to play very technically and aggressive with little mindgames, whereas others have or use less technical skill but play a patient game which takes advantage of mental ability. The ability to intermix styles is one benefit of mastering one’s ability.
However, even players who possess similar styles may be in other ways very different. These differences create the metagame of the player. All players have both shortcomings and strengths which can be discovered and exploited very similarly to how one would shift one’s play style when playing against a different character. For example, a highly aggressive Falco player must be fought much differently than a highly aggressive Peach. Character and style alone are one thing, but combined and mixed can be very deadly.
Also, a player’s metagame is much more fluid than a character’s. First of all, most players use multiple characters. Each of those characters may also possess different playstyles which the player will utilize. A highly skilled player may have more than ten, fifteen, or perhaps even twenty possible styles of play! Also, they can switch these styles in-battle and between battles. It is then of utmost importance to have a fluid metagame. This is done by having both multiple characters and multiple styles to choose from within those characters. It is also necessary to have the conscious ability to switch between those styles at a moment’s notice in order to adapt to changing battle situations.
On the mental side of the player’s metagame, we find a final and very important aspect of play: evaluation. The ability to quickly analyze an opponent and find weaknesses in his or her play is very important. The quicker these analyzations are complete, the quicker the analyzer can begin to be wary of strengths and take advantages of weaknesses. Analyzing is a constant process however, and is done by both players. A player may notice that his strategy has been taken advantage of, and as such must switch to different tactics in order to stay ahead of his opponent. This process of analyzations, self-analyzation, and change is monumental in the mindgames of high level play. Suddenly, an attempt at a failed technique may be either a feint or an honest attempt at that technique, while the aggressor knows that the defender can in fact counter it. That knowledge allows the aggressor to feint and watch his opponent’s reaction. The constant process of analyzing and countering is of paramount importance for any competitive smasher, and it is the players who possess both these mental ability and the technical abilities to follow them up who is the victor.
== How does this knowledge help me? ==
Finally, we near our conclusion. Sure, this information is good to know, but how can it help me become a better player?
All of the information which I have given here is already known to most advanced players, and many amateur and pro-am players as well. The purpose of this article is to provide you all with that same information which will allow you to drastically improve both your strengths and shortcomings. This section in particular will allow that.
As I have previously stated, both technical and mental levels of play are instrumental in obtaining a high amount of skill. The player must evaluate, inspect and second guess himself in order to achieve complete knowledge of one’s advantages and disadvantages. This is a constant process - the negligence of it can only harm the player’s ability. You, the reader, may already have begun doing this even as this information is revealed: “Do I miss L-cancels or fast falls? Are there any matchups which I have trouble with? Are my mindgames often effective, and how can I improve them? What stages are my best and worst?” Questions such as these reveal weaknesses in one’s game. However, we must also ask: “What are my most effective mindgames? What types of openings and what attacks do I usually use to obtain kills? How can I make those openings happen more often?” Positive and negative questionings are necessary. The mores ways you can think, the better off you are.
By questioning both our strengths and weaknesses we become a better player. The metagame is a basis of knowledge which must be constantly updated and expanded with ever-changing conditions of battle. A river of enemies, a lone ship battles against the currents of skill; an upstream battle which strengthens the crew. Super Smash Bros. Melee is a never ending competition of ability which grows bigger constantly, and has not stopped growing since the games release, more than 5 years past. In fact the community is at it’s strongest today, with hundreds of professional and amateur currently competing, and the endless rain of new ability which feeds the river of skill and knowledge which makes up the community we have come to cherish. Through the endless effort of ourselves we will improve our skill! Through the encouragement of others we can continue to improve both the community and preserve the fluidity of the metagame! To continue Smashing! To play and never give up against seemingly insurmountable odds will keep this amazing game at a climax which will not recede for many years! Add to this the upcoming release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and we see that this phenomenon, no, this lifestyle which we call Smash will not, and can not recede as long as this community flourishes!
Good luck to all my fellow smashers, and may the best player win!
How to Play
An In-Depth look at the Metagame
Many players have wondered what advanced players think, how they compete at the levels they do, and why they take seemingly odd (and sometimes seemingly stupid) choices…..
Many players have wondered why it is that they can defeat many players, and yet still some players seem to always be beyond them….
Many players have wondered how it is that they can become stronger, and move past their current limits to become highly skilled Smashers.
That information I hope to help unveil for all those hundreds of up-and-coming smashers for whom we are indebted to maintain this community. All of the information which I will give here is already known to most advanced players, and most amateur and pro-am players as well, albeit to a lesser degree. The purpose of this article is to provide you all with that same information which will allow you to drastically improve both your strengths and shortcomings. I hope that the material provided within will allow those players with incomplete knowledge of the professional level of play with a more complete understanding of this game.
I also highly recommend LuInSpectra’s “7 Habits of a Competitive Smasher”.
== A Look at the Metagame: How it Changes, and Why ==
The metagame, in short, is the knowledge of all possible tactics which can be applied in any situation. All the technical and mental possibilities coupled with possiblities and tendencies. The professional player has a thorough knowledge of techniques and tactics, and can assimilate new circumstances as quickly as they occur. It is this combination of knowledge and possibility that we call the metagame.
We must remember that the metagame is advanced along with our understanding of the game itself. Because of this, the metagame is fluid and changeable. Individual metagames are based upon what techniques are used - so each region, however small or large, has an at least somewhat different metagame from each other region. Examples include West Coast/East Coast, Japanese/American, or Mexican/Canadian/European. It has been said by a very large number of players that the key to advancing one’s skill is to play players outside of your normal opponents. This keeps the metagame fresh as players gradually become accustomed to employ and combat new playstyles.
What I have been describing is an open metagame (conversely a closed metagame is one which does not often incorporate new tactics). Due to an open metagame’s fluid nature, a change is necessarily met with a counter tactic. It is precisely this system of checks-and-balances which continues to keep the metagame fresh. No tactic can be overpowered or broken as long as it has a practical counter.
Here I must stress a very important factor in deciphering the metagame: it is not enough that the technique is possible; instead any given technique or tactic can only affect the metagame as much as it is used. For example, a relatively unknown tactic whose only claim to fame is from gamestore tournaments has no effect upon the metagame. However even a technique only half as effective as it can have a huge effect on the metagame if it is widely and effectively used. It is the combination of effectiveness and prominent use which furthers the metagame.
== Characters and their Potentials ==
With the basic nature of the metagame itself out of the way, I turn to another point: that of the metagame of the playable characters. Of a total of 26 characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee, only about half of them see regular tournament play. The time which these characters spend in the limelight somewhat corresponds to the amount of potential they are known to possess. That is, the characters thought to be the best are used the most. This potential is that character’s metagame.
Now of course you may be thinking of that last sentence. What they are known to possess. It must be admitted before any speculation can occur that many characters possess undiscovered abilities. In recent times many characters have grown more popular due to powerful discoveries which strengthen their metagame. This has occurred countless time in the past, and with the upcoming release of Brawl, will happen hundreds of times to come. But while most or all characters may have room for improvement, they are imbalanced in their capabilities. And so there are characters who are little known and have many tactics which are not widely known, and characters with whom there are few tactics to be discovered.
The higher tier characters have any number of tactics which are widely used and very powerful, from waveshining, float canceling, Ken comboing, and Sheik's F-tilt to Fair. The only room these characters, and others like them, have to advance are in situational circumstances. The lesser known characters also have this room, but they have even more, in things that are rarely if ever talked of - for example, Pikachu and Pichu's back aerials can actually move them THROUGH the platform if used correctly. Their Thunder Jolt can be used to edgeguard vertical recoveries, and can chaingrab with F-throws if done properly. Examples like these are much ore common in lower tier and underused characters than in others.
I think there are two characters in particular who have much more potential in them than all other twenty four characters combined. These characters are Samus and the Ice Climbers. The technical possibilities lying behind Samus are incredible and undeniable, from Super Wavedashing, Double/Triple Missiling, Repeater Missile, Bomb Jumping, and many others besides. The Ice Climbers possess just as much potential, I believe. They alone hold the unique ability to control two mostly independent characters simultaneously. While desynched the Climbers offer up an incredible amount of combo potential which is completely unprecedented in all other characters. It is my strong belief that for these reasons these two characters will begin shortly a rise towards the top of the tier lists.
At this point you may be considering is usually thought to be the end-all, be-all measure of any character’s metagame: the tier list. Unfortunately the tier list is only as good as our current knowledge. It may, however, very well be an accurate judge of the temporary level of the metagame, as far as the relation of characters in general. The tiers do not take heavily into account specific cases, but are instead intended to give an unbiased view at how a character will perform, on average, against other players of equal skill using a diverse assortment of characters. In this short address to the tier lists, I must stress both their subjectivity and fluidity. The tier lists are, at best, temporarily accurate, but not impeccably so.
== Tournament Regulations and their Effects ==
Super Smash Bros. Melee enjoys a vast tournament scene which spans the entire globe, and enjoys much communication through the use of our beloved Smashboards. However, tournament rules may differ slightly between areas and tournament directors (these differences are known as house rules). Fortunately most major tournaments feature few variations in singles and doubles formats, most of which are based on MLG rules. Most community hosted tournaments feature only slight changes from them. All rules however, share a common goal. That goal is to restrict the metagame by banning certain techniques and eliminating certain possibilities. These limitations are placed upon anything which is heavily favorable to certain situations and heavily unfavorable to others. They are applied as little as possible, and only in cases which would heavily alter the metagame and leave it much less diverse. Rules are created to promote diversity and entertainment value.
Banned tactics are either uncounterable or can be countered only by very few characters. If not banned, these tactics would force players to use these overpowered tactics to win, or limit themselves to certain characters and playstyles which would counter these overpowered tactics. The most common banned tactics are those which cause a player to indefinitely lose control of their character or stall a match for a long period of time. These tactics would limit the metagame and are banned for that reason.
Also, many of the stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee are banned from tournament play. It should be noted that many tournament directors are lenient, and house rules on stages should also be made known at all tournaments. The stages which are most commonly banned are those whose features benefit specific characters so much that make them almost unbeatable on that stage. Also, stages which feature prominent divisions of areas (such as Hyrule Temple, Brinstar Depths, Princess Peach’s Castle, Onett, Eagleland, Yoshi Island 64) and encourage ‘camping’ are banned, because they force specific tactics once a player is camping. A few more are banned because of random possiblities (Icicle Mountain, Green Greens, Brinstar Depths, Big Blue). Stages which are regarded as neutral, as not too heavily benefiting a small number of characters are random stages and are the host of most tournament matches. Most tournaments feature six random stages in singles, and seven in doubles.
In combination with Advanced Slob Counterpicks, tournament rules serve to balance out many characters and tactics and lend diversity to the metagame.
== The Competitive Smasher ==
What is surely the most important aspect in any competition is the metagame of the individual player: the current capabilities of the player (both technically and mentally) and his or her ability to adapt to new and unforeseen changes in the metagame.
A players ability can be usually fitted into two categories: technical and mental. The technical category is composed of knowledge of the game itself, combo ability, proper control of your character, and mastery of all advanced techniques such as SHFFLing, teching, Smash DIing, Auto Smash DIing, and pivoting. The mental category is composed of knowledge of the metagame, the ability to evaluate one’s opponents, and mindgames. Mindgames are the foreknowledge of your opponent's actions and the ability to create and exploit those actions with your own.
A top-level player must possess mastery of both of these categories in order to compete at a very high level of play. A variety of playstyles are a result of the intermixing of the two categories, as some players choose to play very technically and aggressive with little mindgames, whereas others have or use less technical skill but play a patient game which takes advantage of mental ability. The ability to intermix styles is one benefit of mastering one’s ability.
However, even players who possess similar styles may be in other ways very different. These differences create the metagame of the player. All players have both shortcomings and strengths which can be discovered and exploited very similarly to how one would shift one’s play style when playing against a different character. For example, a highly aggressive Falco player must be fought much differently than a highly aggressive Peach. Character and style alone are one thing, but combined and mixed can be very deadly.
Also, a player’s metagame is much more fluid than a character’s. First of all, most players use multiple characters. Each of those characters may also possess different playstyles which the player will utilize. A highly skilled player may have more than ten, fifteen, or perhaps even twenty possible styles of play! Also, they can switch these styles in-battle and between battles. It is then of utmost importance to have a fluid metagame. This is done by having both multiple characters and multiple styles to choose from within those characters. It is also necessary to have the conscious ability to switch between those styles at a moment’s notice in order to adapt to changing battle situations.
On the mental side of the player’s metagame, we find a final and very important aspect of play: evaluation. The ability to quickly analyze an opponent and find weaknesses in his or her play is very important. The quicker these analyzations are complete, the quicker the analyzer can begin to be wary of strengths and take advantages of weaknesses. Analyzing is a constant process however, and is done by both players. A player may notice that his strategy has been taken advantage of, and as such must switch to different tactics in order to stay ahead of his opponent. This process of analyzations, self-analyzation, and change is monumental in the mindgames of high level play. Suddenly, an attempt at a failed technique may be either a feint or an honest attempt at that technique, while the aggressor knows that the defender can in fact counter it. That knowledge allows the aggressor to feint and watch his opponent’s reaction. The constant process of analyzing and countering is of paramount importance for any competitive smasher, and it is the players who possess both these mental ability and the technical abilities to follow them up who is the victor.
== How does this knowledge help me? ==
Finally, we near our conclusion. Sure, this information is good to know, but how can it help me become a better player?
All of the information which I have given here is already known to most advanced players, and many amateur and pro-am players as well. The purpose of this article is to provide you all with that same information which will allow you to drastically improve both your strengths and shortcomings. This section in particular will allow that.
As I have previously stated, both technical and mental levels of play are instrumental in obtaining a high amount of skill. The player must evaluate, inspect and second guess himself in order to achieve complete knowledge of one’s advantages and disadvantages. This is a constant process - the negligence of it can only harm the player’s ability. You, the reader, may already have begun doing this even as this information is revealed: “Do I miss L-cancels or fast falls? Are there any matchups which I have trouble with? Are my mindgames often effective, and how can I improve them? What stages are my best and worst?” Questions such as these reveal weaknesses in one’s game. However, we must also ask: “What are my most effective mindgames? What types of openings and what attacks do I usually use to obtain kills? How can I make those openings happen more often?” Positive and negative questionings are necessary. The mores ways you can think, the better off you are.
By questioning both our strengths and weaknesses we become a better player. The metagame is a basis of knowledge which must be constantly updated and expanded with ever-changing conditions of battle. A river of enemies, a lone ship battles against the currents of skill; an upstream battle which strengthens the crew. Super Smash Bros. Melee is a never ending competition of ability which grows bigger constantly, and has not stopped growing since the games release, more than 5 years past. In fact the community is at it’s strongest today, with hundreds of professional and amateur currently competing, and the endless rain of new ability which feeds the river of skill and knowledge which makes up the community we have come to cherish. Through the endless effort of ourselves we will improve our skill! Through the encouragement of others we can continue to improve both the community and preserve the fluidity of the metagame! To continue Smashing! To play and never give up against seemingly insurmountable odds will keep this amazing game at a climax which will not recede for many years! Add to this the upcoming release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and we see that this phenomenon, no, this lifestyle which we call Smash will not, and can not recede as long as this community flourishes!
Good luck to all my fellow smashers, and may the best player win!