Alright, I'm interested in seeing how other people play Mega Man, so I'm doing some video studying today. Before I start, don't take anything I say too seriously, as I'm not a pro or anything, but I enjoy video study (it's a lot like sports film room studying or listening to recordings of your own music). These are mostly knee-jerk reactions to what I see and I
definitely don't play perfectly either. I do this to myself to get better every once and a while (after saving replays), so I thought I'd take a look at the videos of other players and see what I can learn.
Thank you for posting these videos. Please don't take offense to anything I say... I try to be as constructive as possible. You all are great players and we're all learning this new game. You're putting yourself out there for everyone to see, so serious props to you.
Going from most recent --> least recent (because I think you've had more time w/ the game to actually develop a play style... or something like that)
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AirShad
Captain Falcon 1:
0:28 - Pellets --> grab isn't really a great option. The lag on the 3rd pellet prevents the grab from coming out fast enough. I know it worked the first time... but just for future reference.
1:30 - Air dodging close to the ground can really hurt. The lag on air dodging is pretty significant which led to what happened next.
2:40 - Nice. Whether that was great spacing or just "lucky" that the falcon kick ran out. You reacted appropriately and it was nice.
I like what you're doing with the pellets and you keep your distance well. Captain Falcon's speed is giving you trouble and you're a bit predictable with your rolls and air dodges. Spot dodging & straight up running are decent options that you could've utilized more.
Captain Falcon 2:
0:10 - I like that start. It's pretty unexpected to go so high with Rush at the start of a match and it seemed to catch him a little off guard.
1:00 - Yeah, uptilt is a little unsafe to be throwing it out there.
1:20 - Fully charged mega buster! Love it. (I need to use my FSmash more...)
1:25 - When you're starting to get juggled a bit in the air. Remember that you don't have to go back to the stage right away. Drift away from the stage and recover later.
This looked better than the last match. You held your own... the spike just got you. Unpredictability is just using more of your options. Vary your approaches and escapes. When you use more options, your opponent has a tougher time picking just one to predict. Mega Man doesn't really have a lot of combos. Metal Blade pseudo combos into a lot of the other moves in that it doesn't move particularly fast and you can get to your opponent as they get hit. Check out the Advanced Techniques thread and mess around with the metal blade.
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@
Kuraudo
Robin 1:
Start - Damn. Going to town with those FAirs. Very well done. (So close to 0-death)
1:54 - That was a sick recovery. I haven't been able to pull off the crash bomb assisted recovery too well, but it looks like you had that one timed exactly as you wanted it.
3:34 - upthrow? Backthrow gets him off stage
When going off stage, if you go off facing the stage, your back air is a more potent aerial with greater range.
Robin 2:
0:24 - I'm confused by the crash bomb usage here. It's like you're trying to play the mid-range projectile game, but why crash bomb instead of MB or lemons?
1:00 - Not a fan of throwing out uptilts to fish for a kill. (I like how you used it to get the kill though. Good punish on the landing lag)
1:23 - Is it just me... or did he just not take the ledge that was there. I haven't played enough Robin to know how his Up-B works next to the ledge.
Something you might consider, since you're using a lot of your MB's as items, is z-dropping the MB. Produces some fun mind games. Otherwise, a solid game. Again, I think you could get a little more mileage out of your BAir as an edge-gaurding weapon as it comes out fast, but your DAirs are solid.
Marth:
1:28 - You probably know this because of the result, but if you decide to use Rush that early to recover high, I think you should commit to it. Otherwise, you're falling down to the ledge pretty open.
2:15 - Great BAir kill.
2:25 - I'd use Rush to safely use that DAir.
3:45 - Nice read
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When you started to play a little bit more defensively, I suggest using more lemons. Also, there were a couple punishes that you opted for grabs where maybe an uptilt/upsmash could have been a little more punishing.
Diddy:
1:28&1:30 - He's asking for it. Give him the upppercut.
1:45 - Man... you love that run off-->wall jump --> DAir. I want to start doing some of that now.
3:19 - Leaf shield approach made me laugh. In a good way.
4:30 - It seemed like you rediscovered your lemons and decided to admire it for a bit. When Diddy's playing that spacing game with his peanuts, why not walk/SH towards him and shoot to approach.
6:15 - Yup. I agree with the leaf shields. Your opponent didn't seem to have an answer the first few times, so keep on going.
You got a little too DAir happy off of your ledge jumps and I think it became a bit predictable (leading to the last throw).
All in all, you play the most agressive Mega Man that I've seen. I'm a lot more defensive spacing w/pressure with interspersed aggression to make them respect that I can go in at any time that I want. Using diagonal MB's (non-item) is just a unique approach option that most characters have a hard time dealing with (it's similar to Robin's elfire in that it comes in at a high angle). It also leads to hit-confirm type play where if it hits, you can go in and be aggressive, but if it doesn't, you just back off. I think you could get a little more use out of your lemons & BAir in the mid-range game, but if you're playing close-up I understand the lack of lemons.
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@
Luigisama
Lucina 1:
2:00 - If they're gonna shield the Crash Bomb, throwing out an FSmash will do more shield damage, punish if they do get hit by the crash bomb, and is relatively safe due to its range.
3:00 - That would've been SO COOL if the FSmash hit. Would've lost my mind.
4:08 - uptilt at low percentages is really unsafe. The hit stun is less than the lag, so they get a free hit after you land it (even if it is sweet spotted).
4:30 (and this kind of applies to 3:15 as well) - Wall jumping off the top of your up-B can net you a little bit more height and a ledge grab. You seemed to try and do it the first stock and it missed just a bit, but I don't know if you could've saved your up-B a little longer to get closer to the wall for a wall-jump or not.
In general, I think you could've used more metal blades (and it did feel like you were experimenting with some stuff, which is great!)
Lucina 2:
5:38 - Nice ledge trump --> BAir. Love it.
5:48 - I'm a little curious why you went down so far off the ledge. It kind of seems like you wanted to do a ledge-drop --> jump --> d-Air... but I might be reading too much into it.
6:47 - Nice.
7:30 - Yeah... a little too much leaf shield for me. But I get the sentiment... I want to learn how to use it effectively as well.
A lot of good stuff. BAirs were on point. At the mid-range, crash bombs don't seem to be a great choice to repetitively use. Even if they do get hit by it, there's another step to actually getting damage off of it. MB's are a little more straight forward.
Lucina 3: (second video)
0:33 - Nice. I like the DTilt follow after the FAir. You give the impression that you're retreating after landing the down throw--> FAir but come right back.
1:08 - Ahh, here comes the Metal Blades.
See how it pseudo combos into a lot of things? It can be used to start a lot of your offensive game.
2:20 - Yeah... when she has your Metal Blade, you can't pull out another one. It's an annoying property of Mega Man's projectiles (same thing happens with the crash bomb if it's on the screen).
Oof. Tough loss. So close to killing with that down smash. You did really well in this match. I've found short hop BAir's tough to completely land against grounded opponents (I usually only get 1 or 2 of the hits to land if I do end up hitting my opponent). On to the next one!
Lucina 4:
1st stock: Yeah... I went through it and didn't really have a lot of comments. It was well played on both sides. I guess the only thing I have is that when your opponent is trying to edge guard you that low, try recovering high. You'll be way out of their reach and on the stage before they are.
5:10 - Real nice offensive pressure here. This is the offense that you're looking for.
5:30 - Pellets are nice, but you can afford to play a little riskier when your opponent is stuck with a crash bomb. FSmash away!
5:55 - Oof. Yup. She saw it once, and then adjusted. Probably would've been better to be satisfied with landing the first FAir and got back on the stage.
Well done. Starting to look real good. Throwing out things that are a little bit unsafe (FSmash & UTilt/USmash) that hurt you a little bit, but it's a risk & reward thing that is a balance that comes with more playing.
For an offensive game, I'd watch Kuraudo's videos up above. He/she does a great job of being aggressive. Defensively, I think you're on the right track. A little more MB's (experiment with it both as an item and as a normal special) and pellets (jump when you want to retreat and it becomes a lot safer) will improve your defensive game. I agree, it feels like playing against a Mega Man boss... so jump and shoot constantly and try not to get hit like in a Mega Man game. It's not like your powers are going to run out in this one.
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@
Ryu_Ken
First minute: Man... that Yoshi is just dancing around doing whatever he wants. You're holding your own, but you seem like you're either standing still or full-on retreating. Try dancing with him a bit. Retreating with some back-airs and showing off your horizontal movement might have discouraged him from constantly pressuring you. Also, retreating aerial lemons are a great spacing tool as well.
1:12 - You liked that USmash --> BAir and wanted to do it again, didn't you.
1:40 - Got a little roll happy here for my taste. Rolls are good, but started to get a little predictable and it slowed you down compared to the more simple walking/running in that direction. Roll-->DTilt looks really cool and is a lot of fun to do, but it can get predictable.
You are on the right track, more pressure would've helped stave off his relentless attacking. When using the jabs/FTilt on the ground, jump afterwards. That way you can be a little bit more mobile without dealing with the lag of the last shot. I'll be honest though, that Yoshi was fun to watch.
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Phew. That was fun. Mega Man looks really strong, guys. Great work.
I hope my comments help, and if you have any questions about any of them, definitely ask me. I learned a lot from all of your videos, so a big thank you.
~Locke
PS: Iggy, SS guy, and Cain. I watched but kind of ignored your videos because they were before the international release. I hope you don't mind (and I bet your play style with Mega Man has changed somewhat since then?).
PPS: Cain. Downright dominance on that Marth though. Fun stuff.
