Kidney Thief
Smash Journeyman
Finding what character you want to play in smash is like dating. Some find love at first sight, get married early and never look back. Others need to have a few characters before they know what they want in a fight. And the more time you spend with a character, the stronger your bond becomes. This thread will help you pick a main you'll want to keep for the rest of your melee career.
I've been playing melee competitively for a while now and I've been asked the same question a few times from new players who want to join in. I've decided I'd write a guide since there's a huge demand and I've helped some people in my community pick their own characters, so I feel qualified enough. I'll improve this guide over time too, as I become a better player and acquire more knowledge about the game. Suggestions are greatly appreciated too. It's also a great opportunity for me to expand my languages and become better at writing English stuff.
First you need to understand that when you start playing, it's possible that you use a character and you'll change your mind later. So if you end up picking a character, and you hate him a few months later don't be afraid to change. However every time you make a change, you commit to spending time on your new character that could have been used to improve your gameplay. I can't stress how important this is. Instead commit to one to three characters at most and spend at least 90% of your game on them if not more. If you change characters too often you'll be a lot worse than the people who have put the same amount of time into the game than you.
This guide will address the needs of newer players who intend on being top players eventually. If you don't care about winning, then this guide isn't for you. Next to every character I will put a percentage on how popular a character is in tournament play. They won't be up to date by the time you read my guide, but it should give you a general idea on who's a popular choice. Even at the time I'm writing this the percents are one month old.
To be continued...
I've been playing melee competitively for a while now and I've been asked the same question a few times from new players who want to join in. I've decided I'd write a guide since there's a huge demand and I've helped some people in my community pick their own characters, so I feel qualified enough. I'll improve this guide over time too, as I become a better player and acquire more knowledge about the game. Suggestions are greatly appreciated too. It's also a great opportunity for me to expand my languages and become better at writing English stuff.
First you need to understand that when you start playing, it's possible that you use a character and you'll change your mind later. So if you end up picking a character, and you hate him a few months later don't be afraid to change. However every time you make a change, you commit to spending time on your new character that could have been used to improve your gameplay. I can't stress how important this is. Instead commit to one to three characters at most and spend at least 90% of your game on them if not more. If you change characters too often you'll be a lot worse than the people who have put the same amount of time into the game than you.
This guide will address the needs of newer players who intend on being top players eventually. If you don't care about winning, then this guide isn't for you. Next to every character I will put a percentage on how popular a character is in tournament play. They won't be up to date by the time you read my guide, but it should give you a general idea on who's a popular choice. Even at the time I'm writing this the percents are one month old.
FOX (18.5%)
You will need to get good at pressing buttons, like real good. There's no avoiding it you'll end up losing to players who use Peach and Jigglypuff sometimes, and what's worse is that you'll probably have pressed ten times more buttons than them. You'll need to plan your actions in advance because in most matchups you'll be the one who's expected to do the offense. You'll need to understand that the game has 60 frames per second and within each of these frames an action can be taken. And as a Fox player, every one of these 60 frames within each second counts. This will be your mindset at all times while playing. And while some matches will take some time, most of the games you will play will be fast paced so don't use this character if you have arthritis. You'll need to think quickly about what the absolute best option is in every scenario. Fox is a character that can adapt easily to a situation he's never seen before because he has so many options. You're the man with the plan. You'll be the big bully that can push the opponent into doing whatever you want him to do. If you want to put pressure on your foe and stay up close there's nothing he can do about it. Want to play ultra campy and shoot lasers all day? He has to respect it. It doesn't mean he has to let you do it, but at the very least he will play your game if his name dosen't start with the letters Fox or Falco. At first you will self destruct many times and it may be embarrassing or even frustrating in tournaments, but once you get the hang of it you won't do as many mistakes. Your recovery can be edgeguarded quite effectively by most other viable characters, but in return you have plenty of options to edgeguard other characters especially with your shine spike. Your range is pretty mediocre, however fox's speed is so great that is should not be an issue, however you still need to take that into account. His short hops are very useful, but they are one of the hardest to pull off. You combo decently, but be prepared to be combo'd and chaingrabbed by every other character in the game with relative ease. You're a glass cannon, very powerful in the right hands, but once you get hit, you get hit hard if the other player knows what he's doing. He's the best character to use no questions asked if you're willing to sit in your room alone for endless hours just to know how to press buttons.
FALCO (14.1%)
First off if you use Falco you're probably a cool guy. If you weren't well now you've just gained +10% in the cool department around other smashers. Most of what applies to Fox also applies to Falco, so read it if you haven't already. However they have major differences in their play styles. The first thing that comes to mind is how the shine works. Falco's shine sends you upwards instead. Falco's run speed is a bit more slow and your wavedash is relatively small (which comes with the advantage of having more traction on the ground and therefore more precision in your movements). Just like Fox his aerial mobility is garbage, so when you get in the air you'll have to plan for it on the ground. Falco's style is even more balls to the wall than Fox. You'll press buttons like crazy and a lot of people won't cheer for you because they are tired of seeing space animals everywhere. But those who know how the game works will respect you because they know how hard it is to play a good Falco compared to what you actually see on the screen as a casual player. With Falco you will dictate the whole match with your gun. If you like to be in control all the time, even when you're not in control, this is the character for you. You're slightly more powerful than Fox on stage, but good luck getting back when you fall off. Your recovery is just barely better than the one Ness has. Every fraction of a millimetre counts. And even if you're close enough to get back your enemy will make damn sure you don't come back. Matches will go by very fast because you kill quickly and die quickly. If your motto is go hard or die trying this is the guy for you.
MARTH (14.1%)
It all comes down to Spacing with this guy. He's got the smallest johnny of the whole cast in his pant so he bought a sword to compensate. You have the range of the god Zeus himself on your attacks, and they string into each other in very nasty ways. And sometimes you won't even need to sting stuff together, you'll just need a tipper at 20% and boom stock gone. He's got everything to keep you out of his range but once he swings, he swings for a while. You'll want to use your moves as a finite resource, just make sure you don't waste too many of them. No one can compete with Marth's range, not even with his grab range. Zoning will become your middle name. Marth's biggest weapon isn't his sword, it's the fear he puts in his opponents when he swings his sword. You'll be good at medium range against everyone, and even from far range against characters with no projectiles. You'll have a good game against everyone, but Sheik will give you a run for your money. You'll have to work for that win, but it's still doable so don't give up at first. You can also do amazing combos, especially on characters with a faster falling speed. You'll have fun for days fighting against a Fox or Falco. People will respect your character choice, you'll never have to hear "Pick a high tier" of your life. Currently Marth is the third most used character. You'll have to be prepared to fight people with the same tool kits you have. As with many dittos, Marth will be a bit jank, but don't worry about it. If you love spacing, which you should if you use Marth, you'll enjoy the matchup a lot.
SHEIK (12%)
Do you want to get good at a fast rate without having to worry about a random low tier guy having a good match up against you? Use Sheik. Want to play defensively without having to play a slow match? Use Sheik. If you pick sheik you will have a solid character that can teach you everything you need to know about the game just like Fox and Falco except you'll still be able to use your fingers in 30 years. The only thing you'll have to worry about are the Ice climbers, and currently only 3% of players use them in tournaments so you're good. Besides Sheik has a few matchups that are so strongly in her favour, she's the reason some characters go from somewhat viable to impossible to win a tourney with. You won't get cheered against usually but don't expect to be a fan favourite either. You're a neutral. You're just another brick in the wall. Someone who wins without attracting too much attention to themselves. You'll play Sheik defensively in most of the situations because you'll lack approach options, so players will have to adapt to what you feel like doing at the moment when they feel like coming to you. Low tier mains will look at you as if you were the grim reaper. If you care about your morals and the general fairness life should have you'll never get good with Sheik. The more you hate the other character on the screen the better. You'll have to learn your chaingrab percentages and practice them in training mode, especially on other Sheik users.
C. FALCON (8.5%)
Do you consider yourself a button junkie? Are you the type to bring the hype? No one gets as much attention as a good falcon. If a C.Falcon main was the second best player in the world, no one would care about Mango. Why? Because you'll have to be about as good as a Fox player with your button mashing, but most of your matchups are harder than the one Fox has. Don't ever co-main Fox and Falcon because you'll never use Falcon. If you're a crowd pleaser and you think you can sacrifice some W's for style points, C.Falcon is for you. With that said you'll have a few hard matchups but nothing you'll be unable to fight by any means. Many Falcon mains just give up, so you'll need a strong willpower and a love for the game that no other character user has. People won't even care if your opponent plays their main, they'll cheer for you anyway. Having secondary could be beneficial, but it's not really needed. Besides you'll be so used to being the people's champion that downgrading to any other character just won't "feel right" It is said that there's a curse afflicted to solo dolo Falcon mains. They can't get in the top 5 for the world's biggest tounraments. Will you be the chosen one to break the curse?
PEACH (6.9%)
How much do you hate wavedashing? If your answer is that you hate it so much you'd rather learn float cancel aerials, this character is for you. You'll sacrifice your manliness for easy wins at low level. Despite being the queen of peaches, she throws turnips instead go figure. Peach has amazing survivability but moves slowly. You'll need to imagine yourself playing a weaker flying ganondorf that can throw vegetables. Well not literally but you get the point, she can't run away much on the ground. The fun thing is that you won't need to run away however because other players will see you as a wall of concrete and they'll ask themselves how the hell can I pass through this wall, let alone do it 10-20 times per match. Your dash dance is pretty good so work with what you have. Stage position is everything with Peach. You'll never be a good Peach if you don't count your steps. I'm not saying you need to be scared to move or actually count one two three in your head, but you'll need to be aware of the way stage positions work. Moving is your secret power. By the way, new fox players will love to practice their waveshines to up smash on you in friendlies and there's nothing you can do about it lmao. Generally speaking if you want to go in, you need an opening. Usually that's pretty easy but against a good Marth it's not, so just be patient and teach the veggies how to fly. You can press down on the yellow stick on the controller once in a while and you'll do the washing machine. And that washing machine must have some metal blades in it because it can do up to 86 damage if your enemy is Tom the crouch cancel happy Samus. Besides you'll laugh so hard when your ennemy gets a stitchface to the brain box. Just watch out for Doc, he'll cape it right back at you.
JIGGLYPUFF (4.7%)
On a scale of one to never, never is how often people will want you to advance further in tournaments. You're the hype killer. You're the chill pill, the polar opposite of Capfal. Think of yourself as an evil creature that laughs at other's torment. Your goal as a Jiggs main is to make others understand how miserable life can be. Fox can shoot lasers all day at you but by when the night comes his right hand will be so tired he won't be able to ****. Peach can do her tralala in the airs all she wants, but you'll have a better aerial mobility anyway. Marth players are so used to have better range than others they won't see your back air coming. I could go on but you get the picture. You're the bad guy. Make the most out of it. The best part for you is that you don't need much technical skill to use her. You can just press a button once in a while at it'll probably work. If you prefer playing smash with your left hand this flying head's for you. Just make sure you don't run into another Jiggs because that matchup knowledge is straight up from the brawl books. You may want a secondary to deal with Fox too, but once again if you're more skilled than your opponent you're gonna win anyway.
SAMUS (4.1%)
A surprisingly popular character and with good reason. You get hipster points for using a character a bit lower on the tier list, you have a 50:50 matchup against fox and you'll get way more Fox practice than he'll ever get Samus practice. You'll need to be the most patient person on earth, because every damage percent counts with this character. Think of the games as a chess board. Fox will go too fast to play chess, he still thinks we're outside playing basket ball. Remind him what game he's playing with your missiles and your insanely slow but good recovery. Most people will start a depression when they watch you recover with your slow and methodical bomb jumps. Especially those like Dr. Mario who can't do squat about it except maybe throw a few viagra pills and hope one of them hits you. Ultimately you should be able to come back anyway because you're a woman in a metal suit. If you enjoy a slower paced game that still requires good reflexes, technical skill and good decision making, Samus is for you.
ICE CLIMBERS (3%)
Out of all the unique characters in the game, Ice climber's one of the two most unique in the game with Yoshi tied. If you want to have many options for many situations, Ice Climbers is a good choice. Not only will you have to know your A B C-stick's, but you'll have to play the game with a cool head. If you want to master the game to its fullest, Ice Climbers is definitively the character that will keep you the most entertained all the way through. Every game with an ice climbers is different, heck every Icies main plays incredibly different from all the other Icies because there are so many ways to make it work. This is truly a character where you can implement your own style into very deeply. Use your imagination and try new stuff. However be prepared to spend tons of hours learning everything they have to offer. They may not need Fox level button squeezing but it's not easy either to master the required tech skill compared to say Sheik for example. You gon' need a large brain on your shoulders to make the Ice climbers work. He drops down a few tiers once nana dies, but you'll still need to put some work on your solo popo in addition to knowing how to play with both of them at the same time. If you pick this character, you'll be so busy learning him you won't have time to put on other characters to truly learn them with a deep understanding if you plan on going far. The only person I've ever seen with a somewhat decent secondary would be Nintendude and even then his climbers is much much better. And your worse matchup (Peach) gets easier the better you become. Wobbling will be an important skill to learn, but if you want to go for style points you can always learn to wobble with your middle finger.
GANONDORF (2.7%)
Forget Peach being a concrete wall, you're a heavy metal wall. If you feel like playing Ganondorf, you'll need to make tons of good reads. Falcon needs reads on tech chases, you'll need reads on almost every move you whip out. Honestly Ganondorf is the one character you'll just know in your heart right away if you like him or not. There's truly no in between. If you can't predict the future very well, this character isn't for you. You'll also need godlike mind games because even if you have many tools to work with, they are pretty situational. Your hits will make your opponent rethink the whole "don't get hit" strategy. Everything hurts big time. You don't have a weak move, even your jab is used as mosquito repellent. You also won't get many combos, but when you end up getting many stomps in a row the other player will feel like punching you in the face. Most players who use this character are more in the game to have fun and to style than to win because Fox will just wreck you. Your hard matchups are Fox, Falco, Sheik and Captain Falcon. That's basically 53% of the players in a tournament give or take depending on your region. On the other hand you'll have a good amount of decent matchups so it's not horrible. No one wrecks noobs as badly as a good Ganondorf no matter what the matchup is. You'll make it known to them right away that they have no chance of winning against you. People will have no choice to respect your moves when they get up close. Your job is pretty similar to marth's job but you'll get to focus on other aspects of the game as well. You have good range on your attacks, but when you swing with your attacks, you'll swing for a while usually. That's when you're vulnerable and others will go for the hit. However many players are not aware of how to fight ganon and they'll just try to run over you. You can't bank on this in larger tournaments tho because there will be patient players that know how to deal with you. In conclusion, ganon would be a great choice if his weaknesses weren't the most popular characters.
Luigi (2.3%)
It takes a special kind of person to make Luigi work in tournaments. You'll need to be a mellow, go with the flow kind of guy because it's hard to predict what will happen when you use Luigi. Extra points if you have dreadlocks and a Bob Marley hat. You'll be pretty slow in the air too because Luigi loves to inhale helium on a daily basis. This of course comes with some good and some bad. The bad news is that you won't be able to chase your opponents in the air effectively, so you'll have to go to the ground to do so. The good news is that you are the best character in the game to break combos. Not only are you floaty like Jiggs and Peach, so you don't get combo'd that much in the first place, but your aerials are very fast. You can punish greedy combo happy people like myself with a good nair. You can break poorly spaced combos with your dair. You can space opponents behind you with your elastic legs using your bair just like the Mario twins. You pretty much have options at any given time in the air and they string into each other in an almost ridiculous way. You'll be the most soap bar character on the map when you're on the ground thanks to your amazing wavedash. You can slip in and out of the enemy's defence, especially if it's a slower character. But if you don't do it in a smart way, you'll eat a foot to the face. You need to move with wavedashes in general and do micro movements with dashes. You'll need to be lucky too on your side B's, so don't expect to win every single game based on skill despite that it takes skill to be a Luigi. Sometimes you'll just have to roll the dice and hope for the best.
Doc (2.1%)
No Gimmicks allowed. Dr. Mario is the character you never knew you liked until you tried him. Because The D.O.C's strategies is a mix of everything, you'll need to be equally good in all aspects of the game. You're pretty much a jack of all trades but master of none. You have good combos and follow ups, you have good power on your attacks, you have average air mobility, you have ok speed, you have quite a few chaingrabs. Your weight, wavedashes, grab range and traction on the ground are all somewhere in the middle. Basically there are only two things for you to watch for using this character. Your range sucks, and your recovery sucks even more. It's not too bad however because when you're on stage, you're the alpha male. You're one of the most dominant apes of the tribe. Let me explain myself, first you have pills. Pills are great because they will allow you to control space. The one who controls projectiles gets to chose where the opponent needs to go to be safe. And second you have the cape, and that thing gets rid of quite a few projectiles as long as you don't do it in a situation where you can get punished for it considering it's one of those Marth moves (good range but you'll swing for a while so you can get punished) Of course there are characters that have the upper hand on this, the best example would be Falco. He's going be the one in charge of projectiles because he's Falco and he does what he wants against the whole cast. Another example is Link, you can't cape his bombs unless you're facing backwards from him when you cape. And it won't accomplish much to do that because he's just gonna pull more bombs because he has no desire to be close to you. That's how a good Link rolls. Generally speaking though, you'll have to make it rain some Xanax once in a while. If you use Doc you will only have two hard match ups and that's Sheik and Marth. Both are doable if you're Shroomed or if you know what you're about so a secondary isn't required, but it'll save you some trouble. All of this doesn't matter because you're a solid counterpick against the most annoying character of the game. (1 missed rest should almost always be a K.O) If you pick this character you'll have fun for days caping Foxes to death. You also have an almost even matchup against space animals so it's entirely possible to win a tournament with a degree in pill throwing. You just gotta work for it and never give up.
Mario (0.93%)
If you think Dr. Mario is too exiting and you want something more plain, then Mario's for you. He's got less power than the superior mario which is perfect if you really enjoy being weak. His game is more focused on getting back to stage instead of pushing others off stage. If you really hate projectiles you'll be really happy to know that your fireballs are nearly useless compared to the pills. Your cape has less range upwards and downwards which is super useful to miss your edgeguards. On the other hand, Mario has great combos, and if you want to be super famous and have your own combo video then this is your best pick. Also you have better costumes and colours which is super useful in an actual battle.
To be continued...
Last edited:
