Natch
Smash Ace
As per the topic title, I'm going to stop using Lucas in tournil, and even in friendlies until I get better with my day old Snake.
The reason?
I'm going to start playing to win, and Lucas doesn't win.
I've been a dedicated Lucas main for about 8 months now. More or less since the game came out. While my skill as a player is not the best, how well I know Lucas is pretty much the peak of how you well you can know any given character, sans matchup experience. I don't have intricate knowledge of every single matchup, but I know enough to quickly figure out my options.
My first tournament was on the 28th of Sept. I lost the first round, and lost the next match in the loser's bracket. This has happened for all of the tournaments I've been to so far.
It was after the 4th tournament I decided to drop Lucas. During the tournament-after I had been eliminated-I started talking to DSF. Yeah, DSF. I live in SoCal, so seeing him at tournies is kind of common. Anyways, we talking, and he was telling me that I'm not going to get good by using Lucas. If I don't win any rounds, I won't be able to get tournament experience, which is really the only way to get good at Brawl. Lucas is garbage, pick a better character. That sort of thing.
There was an after-tourney Brawl fest, and after we had all migrated and were walking to the apartment room thingy is was at, I was still talking to DSF. About Brawl. He randomly asked "So what about School?"
I paused, and remember that my friends tell me I talk about Brawl too much.
"What about it? Homework is gay."
After he laughs about how he didn't "get" me and how he "lost", he starts calling me the next Mew2King. Mew2King 2.0. Mike Haze/Hays joins in on this too.
Yes, I'm serious. No, I thought he wasn't serious.
Well, apparently, he was serious. It turns out I'm strikingly similar to Mew2King prior to him being good. This basically amounts knowing a downright pathetic amount of information about this game, and using a low tier character.
At the next tournament at UCLA two days later, he's sort of "parading" me around. Not really calling attention to himself or me, but whenever I'm talking to him, he immediatly tells the other person/people he's talking to I'm the next Mew2King, M2K 2.0(There was a 6.0 joke because I'm so ****ing tall at 6'4), the Mew2King of West Coast Vs. the Mew2King of East Coast, the M2K of California. A few times, he asks me a random question-What about "insert character here" mainly.
A whole bunch of stuff.
I'm not ****ting you when I say I'm not making this up.
So, I've decided to learn Snake. He'll work well for me-I'll learn his traps and use them to a frightening degree in about 6 months or more. While that is a lot of time, it took me about that long to lknow Lucas like I do now.
Now, I'll still use Lucas. Just not as much. Assuming DSF is right, and I do become a super-pro like M2K(I'm seriously unsure about my abilities, but if DSF says I can, I sure as hell have a chance), I'll use Lucas to CP some characters, and go through the first rounds of a tournament as needed. Beyond that, mostly Snake.
So, as a final parting gift to you guys, I'll give an analysis of Lucas, and why he's so low on tier list. These things are probably known to most/all of you, but a refresher is never a bad thing.
Lucas is a character with a lot of utility. He has a lot of options, and they work well enough. He has big downfall. He's not like Ganon, who's heavy and slow. Or Link, who has a crap recovery. His recovery is great, his mobility is good, he's got an adequete weight, if a little on the light side.
His main downfall is that he's a character with many options, but all of them end up being not as good as the options of the high tiers. He has nothing like GaW Bair, Snake's Ftilt, MK's Tornado-those are virtually garunteed options that work on all characters regardless of circumstance. Everything he has is sub par, and the good things he has aren't enough to launch him the high tiers.
Now, to be more specifc.
Lucas has the following "Garunteed" options. There are more, but these are his most reliable IMO.
-PK Fire
-Nair
-PKT1
-Ftilt
Used smartly, you can use all of these moves and rarely be punished. PK Fire requires spacing. Nair will shield pressure, and can be "DI'd" left or right and punish rolls 100% of the time-only problem is getting in close-this means you need to approach to do it. Your aerial mobility is also great enough for you to land outside of their range. PKT1 is only applicable when you are edguarding with it, it becomes a 100% safe option. If you space Ftilt beyond the range of their Shield Grab, their only safe options are to Jump or Roll. Ftilt has IASA frames, and comes out on Frame 6. Shields take 7-9 frames to drop. With this knowledge, even jumping out of Shield becomes an iffy option. Just keep Ftilting.
These are all options that are garunteed assuming you can space yourself. His other options are more situational, but can be still be used.
Knowing this, the key to maximizing your Lucas is to use all of your options. Brickwall as much as possible. I know Lucas inside and out, and I've devised that
Keep away, keep away, keep away. Basically, camp. Lucas has among the most unique projectiles in the game.
Use them and keep the opponent in the optimum spacing area.
PK Fire Brickwalling:
This is very very common, yes. But what you should be doing is using PK Fire every time they approach. Make sure you are beyond being punished due to landing lag, and you will find matches to be easier. The goal is to do this every time you can. Even if you KNOW they can shield and get past it somehow, still use it. If they want to approach you, they have to jump through the same hoop every single time. Remember, if they shield it, you still didn't lose anything. Every fight against a Pit? Even when you shield his arrows, it still feels like you're losing. You're approaching on his terms, not your's.
PK Freeze Pressuring:
Again, known. However, it's still useful. At long range, use this to force them to approach. Use it when they're at long range period. When they approach, PK Fire them.
Nair Shield Pressuirng
Once again, we know this. Keep spamming Nair until it pokes. Use Jab too, to get them back into the range of PK Fire.
You should not be concentrating on winning the match, but keeping up your Pressure game and Brickwalls. Do this, and you'll probably win. Also, as a last thought.
LEARN YOUR KILLING OPTIONS AT ALL PERCENTS
Lucas has a good ability to poke and deal damage. If Fsmash just isn't doing the job, go back to Jabs, Nairs, and PK Fire. I'll name a random percent. 140. From here, Grab, pummel 4-5 times, then Dthrow. This is a garunteed kill on the majority of the cast. If the throw fails to kill, then just move on to Fairs, Ftilts, and Bthrow.
If a kill move fails to kill, using it a second time will most likely not work unless you don't plan to use that move to kill later on. The staling effect of moves in Brawl is ridiculous. Whenever I fail to kill, I do not use the kill move again, and go right back to damage dealing until my kill move is fresh, or until they're in the range of another kill move.
Well, that's about it. I'll still use Lucas-I love him too much to not use him. However, tourney play is most likely never gonna happen with him from here on out. Only for CPs, at that.
The reason?
I'm going to start playing to win, and Lucas doesn't win.
I've been a dedicated Lucas main for about 8 months now. More or less since the game came out. While my skill as a player is not the best, how well I know Lucas is pretty much the peak of how you well you can know any given character, sans matchup experience. I don't have intricate knowledge of every single matchup, but I know enough to quickly figure out my options.
My first tournament was on the 28th of Sept. I lost the first round, and lost the next match in the loser's bracket. This has happened for all of the tournaments I've been to so far.
It was after the 4th tournament I decided to drop Lucas. During the tournament-after I had been eliminated-I started talking to DSF. Yeah, DSF. I live in SoCal, so seeing him at tournies is kind of common. Anyways, we talking, and he was telling me that I'm not going to get good by using Lucas. If I don't win any rounds, I won't be able to get tournament experience, which is really the only way to get good at Brawl. Lucas is garbage, pick a better character. That sort of thing.
There was an after-tourney Brawl fest, and after we had all migrated and were walking to the apartment room thingy is was at, I was still talking to DSF. About Brawl. He randomly asked "So what about School?"
I paused, and remember that my friends tell me I talk about Brawl too much.
"What about it? Homework is gay."
After he laughs about how he didn't "get" me and how he "lost", he starts calling me the next Mew2King. Mew2King 2.0. Mike Haze/Hays joins in on this too.
Yes, I'm serious. No, I thought he wasn't serious.
Well, apparently, he was serious. It turns out I'm strikingly similar to Mew2King prior to him being good. This basically amounts knowing a downright pathetic amount of information about this game, and using a low tier character.
At the next tournament at UCLA two days later, he's sort of "parading" me around. Not really calling attention to himself or me, but whenever I'm talking to him, he immediatly tells the other person/people he's talking to I'm the next Mew2King, M2K 2.0(There was a 6.0 joke because I'm so ****ing tall at 6'4), the Mew2King of West Coast Vs. the Mew2King of East Coast, the M2K of California. A few times, he asks me a random question-What about "insert character here" mainly.
A whole bunch of stuff.
I'm not ****ting you when I say I'm not making this up.
So, I've decided to learn Snake. He'll work well for me-I'll learn his traps and use them to a frightening degree in about 6 months or more. While that is a lot of time, it took me about that long to lknow Lucas like I do now.
Now, I'll still use Lucas. Just not as much. Assuming DSF is right, and I do become a super-pro like M2K(I'm seriously unsure about my abilities, but if DSF says I can, I sure as hell have a chance), I'll use Lucas to CP some characters, and go through the first rounds of a tournament as needed. Beyond that, mostly Snake.
So, as a final parting gift to you guys, I'll give an analysis of Lucas, and why he's so low on tier list. These things are probably known to most/all of you, but a refresher is never a bad thing.
Lucas is a character with a lot of utility. He has a lot of options, and they work well enough. He has big downfall. He's not like Ganon, who's heavy and slow. Or Link, who has a crap recovery. His recovery is great, his mobility is good, he's got an adequete weight, if a little on the light side.
His main downfall is that he's a character with many options, but all of them end up being not as good as the options of the high tiers. He has nothing like GaW Bair, Snake's Ftilt, MK's Tornado-those are virtually garunteed options that work on all characters regardless of circumstance. Everything he has is sub par, and the good things he has aren't enough to launch him the high tiers.
Now, to be more specifc.
Lucas has the following "Garunteed" options. There are more, but these are his most reliable IMO.
-PK Fire
-Nair
-PKT1
-Ftilt
Used smartly, you can use all of these moves and rarely be punished. PK Fire requires spacing. Nair will shield pressure, and can be "DI'd" left or right and punish rolls 100% of the time-only problem is getting in close-this means you need to approach to do it. Your aerial mobility is also great enough for you to land outside of their range. PKT1 is only applicable when you are edguarding with it, it becomes a 100% safe option. If you space Ftilt beyond the range of their Shield Grab, their only safe options are to Jump or Roll. Ftilt has IASA frames, and comes out on Frame 6. Shields take 7-9 frames to drop. With this knowledge, even jumping out of Shield becomes an iffy option. Just keep Ftilting.
These are all options that are garunteed assuming you can space yourself. His other options are more situational, but can be still be used.
Knowing this, the key to maximizing your Lucas is to use all of your options. Brickwall as much as possible. I know Lucas inside and out, and I've devised that
Keep away, keep away, keep away. Basically, camp. Lucas has among the most unique projectiles in the game.
Use them and keep the opponent in the optimum spacing area.
PK Fire Brickwalling:
This is very very common, yes. But what you should be doing is using PK Fire every time they approach. Make sure you are beyond being punished due to landing lag, and you will find matches to be easier. The goal is to do this every time you can. Even if you KNOW they can shield and get past it somehow, still use it. If they want to approach you, they have to jump through the same hoop every single time. Remember, if they shield it, you still didn't lose anything. Every fight against a Pit? Even when you shield his arrows, it still feels like you're losing. You're approaching on his terms, not your's.
PK Freeze Pressuring:
Again, known. However, it's still useful. At long range, use this to force them to approach. Use it when they're at long range period. When they approach, PK Fire them.
Nair Shield Pressuirng
Once again, we know this. Keep spamming Nair until it pokes. Use Jab too, to get them back into the range of PK Fire.
You should not be concentrating on winning the match, but keeping up your Pressure game and Brickwalls. Do this, and you'll probably win. Also, as a last thought.
LEARN YOUR KILLING OPTIONS AT ALL PERCENTS
Lucas has a good ability to poke and deal damage. If Fsmash just isn't doing the job, go back to Jabs, Nairs, and PK Fire. I'll name a random percent. 140. From here, Grab, pummel 4-5 times, then Dthrow. This is a garunteed kill on the majority of the cast. If the throw fails to kill, then just move on to Fairs, Ftilts, and Bthrow.
If a kill move fails to kill, using it a second time will most likely not work unless you don't plan to use that move to kill later on. The staling effect of moves in Brawl is ridiculous. Whenever I fail to kill, I do not use the kill move again, and go right back to damage dealing until my kill move is fresh, or until they're in the range of another kill move.
Well, that's about it. I'll still use Lucas-I love him too much to not use him. However, tourney play is most likely never gonna happen with him from here on out. Only for CPs, at that.
