I seem to have a habit of rolling to get into offensive position and over-relying on rolling defensively.
I'm sure I'm not the first one to have had this problem--does anyone have any methods they used to break this habit? I guess it all comes down just not rolling but it seems like that's a bit harder a
Can anyone also explain how to get proper spacing offensively without utilizing the inefficient roll? Dashing? And what about the dash lag?
What are the pros and cons of rolling, if any besides the basic dodge?
Rolling as a fundamental has these pros and cons:
Pro:
smaller hurtbox
some invincibility frames
a reliable distance
ending animation faces the opponent (when used as designed)
Cons:
Rolling distance has no variance
Ending lag
Limited options out of roll
Rolling has more benefits than disadvantages, but the three disadvantages are actually very debilitating. They almost outbalance the pros. The first two Cons are why high level players are able to punish and abuse the rolls since they can intuitively know when you'll be vulnerable and where to strike. The third con makes it so that you can't keep pressure up offensively (if you always roll behind your opponent, they'll catch on and you'll never land a hit) and you can stop someone from rushing down on you if they know you'll be rolling away.
Offensive spacing is a fundamental that really takes practice and knowledge of your character to maximize. When approaching an opponent, you can dash, walk, short hop, full hop, roll (not an ideal choice, but it's there) and for some characters Side-B to close in the distance. Each of these options have different options to use out of them, (You can dash-grab, dash-attack, slide into OoS options or run through with a dash, while short hops can be empty, approached with F-air or N-air and even fast falled into a dash for example) which means practice is necessary to know how your opponent handles a situation and what tools you should use to get around them.
Defensive Spacing follows a similar notion but in reverse. You can roll away, dash dance (Start dashing one way, and then immediately dash the other), dash into a pivoted attack, use retreating aerials (short hop backwards and use an attack as you are rising), block and spot dodge.
All of these options have their uses, and the best way to inquire on these would probably be on a question-basis. Othewise, you'll have a long page of text (much like this one) that could very well miss something. Play some matches, practice 'achievement' focused habits (This match I plan to use a retreating aerial 5 times. Winning doesn't matter, only my achievement) and hit us up with questions on specific approaches (or retreats) that seem to vex you.