Beginner looking for (specific) tips

[Papyrus]

Hi Melee boards! After witnessing the godly hype that was Genesis 3, I've finally decided to start playing Melee on a competitive level. I've been enjoying the game as a casual and a spectator for many years, so I know how the game works, it's just a matter of learning everything myself. So, on to the things I need tips about.

1) Wavedashing and SHFFL/L-canceling. Currently, I am trying to learn how to apply these basic techs. While practicing, I'm usually 60-80% consistent with Wavedashing, and 40-50% accurate with L-canceling (I haven't attempted a SHFFL yet). What I want advice is 1) any tips for practicing beginner tech in general and 2) if I should wavedash with the L button or the R button. Normally I wavedash with L, but I'm considering using R.

2) Approaching as Marth. From what I understand he has a lot of options, but I don't really know what they are, how to apply them, or follow up. It would be nice if I could get tips from a fellow Marth main. (If you want a specific MU, then I would like Falco as his lasers give me a rough time when I try to get close)

3) Appropriate times for chain grabbing fast fallers. I know chain grabbing Fox on FD is good, but are there other fast fallers or stages where chain grabbing can be put to good use?

 

[Flippy Flippersen]

1)
Which button you use for wavedashing or l canceling is preference both l and r are perfectly fine buttons. Just try and do it with both buttons and see what you like better.

2)
Marths approaches are a bit tricky since you mostly just want to be at a range where your opponent doesn't really get good options other than retreating until he reaches the end of the stage where he simply has to get messed up. Throwing out moves is mostly to punish your opponent for trying to get close anyway or to make him respect your space. They aren't directly for approaching. Moves that are notably great for keeping your opponents from going ham are tipper dtilt, cc grab, fair and retreating nair. As for dealing specifically with falcos lasers, you have to aim to be at a distance where you can react to his jump with an aerial but far enough away that shffl dair doesn't hit you and you can simply swat him for attempting to laser. (of course since falco is also moving keeping this space consistently is gonna be hard but just having it as a goal should at least give you a general gameplan.
(this is just the most textbook way of playing marth, there are other ways and this is not the objectively right way it is just the one with the easiest to follow reliable gameplan)

3)
chaingrabbing falco on fd after 10% is also pretty good and on stages that aren't fd chaingrabbing until the opponent escapes to the platforms to start techchasing them with upairs uptilts or even following them on the platforms with grab is pretty good too.

 

[Dolla Pills]

Regarding learning tech, if you're not using the 20XX hack pack I would recommend looking into it. You can set color overlays that will tell you whether you l canceled or whether you got the proper wavedash timing, so that would probably be useful when starting out. Also when practicing l canceling don't forget to practice hitting an opponent and hitting a shield as well because that puts you in lag which makes the timing different.

 

[GenNyan]

1) It will be easier for your of wavedash out of shield if you use different triggers for shielding and wavedahsing, so keep that in mind when deciding.

2) If you're dashing, Marths head dips down and you'll duck under high lasers. Also remember that a laser only does a few %, and getting hit by a few isn't the end of the world; what you're really trying to avoid is followups after the laser, so practice moving as soon as possible after you get hit by a laser. If he shoots lasers too close you can just smack him out of it. The best thing is probably just playing against a lot of falcos, in all honesty.

3) Whenever you can, really. Get spacies to the center of Stadium for easy chain grabs, and when Fountain's platforms go away it becomes like a mini-FD.

 

[Papyrus]

To everyone who has given me advice thus far, thanks. I've started L-Canceling while playing, and it seems to make a difference (even though all of my matches have been getting destroyed by people that know what they're doing). I have two things that didn't come to mind when I posted this thread that I need advice on:

1) Integrating Wavedashing into my play. I'm aware of the possible applications, such as going back to edgehog, mix ups, and faster movement in general. However, unlike L-Canceling, I'm finding it hard to remember to Wavedash without devoting at least some of my focus to doing it, which usually leads to a punish from my opponent. So I guess my main question here would be this: How do I practice Wavedashing when actually playing against a real opponent?

2)Finding my (real) main. As of now, I main Marth. I like his range, his move set, I basically love this character. But like every noob at my skill level, I haven't done a lot out of getting destroyed, and some of my performances have made me consider switching. Here are the characters I've been considering:

A)Fox. I'm aware of the high skill ceiling Fox has, but I've used him a few times, and while I wasn't particularly good with him, he felt fun to play as. I'm a big fan of shine and laser, and I like his recovery better than Marth (at least, when I didn't mess it up by doing illusion instead of Firefox and falling to my death). My concerns here are that I feel like I would be just another Fox among the hundreds out there, and that I don't know if I have the time/patience to learn the myriad of tech that Foxes have to learn.

B) Falco. Pretty much same deal as Fox, but I like Falco better as a character. I also really dig the upward knock back on Falco's shine and his down air.

C) Dr. Mario. I know he's not typically considered viable, but I don't plan on going to anything bigger than a local (unless I randomly get super good at Melee). This character has a special place in my heart, as I mained him when I first got the game. But, again, I know the doc isn't exactly the best character in the game,

Currently I'm leaning towards staying Marth, but I wanted to ask here to see if anyone had something different to say. Keep in mind I like playing aggressively, styling (if I manage to pull it off), having efficient edgeguarding tools, and occasionally mind gaming my opponents into combos.

 

[GenNyan]

The only way to learn to wavedash against actual opponents is to do it against them. A lot. Its ok to focus completely on the wavedashes, and you'll probably get super destroyed while you're doing it. Thats ok. You don't even need to wait for "good opportunities" to wavedash, I learned how to integrate it into my play by basically spamming it at every opportunity until I learned when not to use it. After doing that for a little while, you won't even have to think about it anymore. Whenever you learn a new tech, you'll probably get slightly worse in the short term, but if you stick with it you'll get massively better very quickly.