TheTTimeLives
Smash Cadet
Everyone who regular plays Zard realizes that he struggles against projectile characters, namely Falco and Link. His size and floatiness make it hard for him to avoid many strong projectile games without playing in an overly linear and ineffective fashion.
But the largest difficulty that Zard faces in surmounting this issue is an aspect of the system rather than the balancing of the projectile characters themselves.
In Project M (and I dunno which other Smash games), if you are hit by a projectile you will be forced to face toward the projectile. Conceptually, this was probably intended to be a buff for those who have been hit by the projectile, allowing them to more immediately pursue the pressurer. But (at least in this game), there isn't any actual benefit to this occurring, as all forward moving options are available with no extra lag regardless of the direction you face.
IN FACT, this acts as a nerf to characters that use reverse facing aerials (like Zard's RAR Nair) to pressure and get in on difficult zoning. Because they are safely flipped to face the opponent when the projectile lands, reverse approach characters like Zard are forced to rely on linear shield/dodge tactics and less effective aerials. If Zard absolutely needs to turn back around, he must sacrifice his second jump to flip back around by mid-air jumping away as quickly as possible, also sacrificing valuable space and time against characters whose projectiles are most often very safe (Falco's laser, Link's boomerang, Ness's PK Fire...)
It's also worth mentioning that most characters who use reverse facing aerials to approach have forward aerials that are deliberately not designed as go-to approach options (Zard, DK...) and are further hurt by the system oversight relevant to their overall design.
So what do you guys think? Do you/Don't you think a change in this overall system mechanic would be valid?
But the largest difficulty that Zard faces in surmounting this issue is an aspect of the system rather than the balancing of the projectile characters themselves.
In Project M (and I dunno which other Smash games), if you are hit by a projectile you will be forced to face toward the projectile. Conceptually, this was probably intended to be a buff for those who have been hit by the projectile, allowing them to more immediately pursue the pressurer. But (at least in this game), there isn't any actual benefit to this occurring, as all forward moving options are available with no extra lag regardless of the direction you face.
IN FACT, this acts as a nerf to characters that use reverse facing aerials (like Zard's RAR Nair) to pressure and get in on difficult zoning. Because they are safely flipped to face the opponent when the projectile lands, reverse approach characters like Zard are forced to rely on linear shield/dodge tactics and less effective aerials. If Zard absolutely needs to turn back around, he must sacrifice his second jump to flip back around by mid-air jumping away as quickly as possible, also sacrificing valuable space and time against characters whose projectiles are most often very safe (Falco's laser, Link's boomerang, Ness's PK Fire...)
It's also worth mentioning that most characters who use reverse facing aerials to approach have forward aerials that are deliberately not designed as go-to approach options (Zard, DK...) and are further hurt by the system oversight relevant to their overall design.
So what do you guys think? Do you/Don't you think a change in this overall system mechanic would be valid?