Veril
Frame Savant
I've played Lucas since Brawl first came out in the states. Despite his flaws, I've stuck with him, making a lot of mistakes along the way.
When the tier list first came out, I didn't assume that it was far off. I just thought that Lucas had incredible potential with his wacky momentum altering tricks. So I experimented, and experimented, and messed around with zapjumping and all sorts of psi-m tricks and magnet pull manipulation. I though I knew all sorts of things everyone had missed. Of course, I was wrong. I ignored the advice of players better than myself, and it slowed down my game. More than anything else, I should have been focused on knowing of and compensating for Lucas' weaknesses.
Lucas is not a statistically good character. The reasons for this are spread out on this forum and I don't feel the need to reiterate all of them. Weaknesses can be worked around, and sometimes even turned into strengths. For example, some say that Lucas is easy to edgeguard. This is completely false if you have a second jump left. Since I've basically mastered wavezapping I nearly never get koed off the bottom or even spiked successfully. Beyond that correct angling of PKT2 can bypass an edgehog easily and relatively safely. Oh, and there's the rope snake. Don't forget that. Another good example would be his laggy grab. It sucks, hard. So pivot grab. Not great but... better.
People ***** about the deathgrab a lot. I hate it too. But it isn't nearly as bad as an IC grab. Not getting grabbed is actually easier than it sounds with Lucas, f-tilt, pk-fire, autocancel properly, and you'll be much safer. If you do get grabbed, make sure to DI right and spotdodge ASAP. Still a ****ty situation, but it doesn't make Lucas a non-viable character.
Lucas has poor approaching ability, but good spamming. I could go on.
The tier list is valid. Period. The people who make it know what they are talking about. You have to take advantage of the psychological effects of the tier list rather than letting them bog you down. Lucas has many poor matchups, this is a good reason to have a secondary. Skill is more important than character ability but... a hard counter is a hard counter is G&W. Of course, G&W isn't the only one, just the worst. If you don't have a secondary, you better have a ton of experience. At the same time, few people have experience vs. good Lucas players. Lots of people get grab-happy because everyone knows about the death grab. An opponent might get sloppy if they expect an easy win, and then panic when they see you aren't about to get 3-stocked.
The fact that Lucas is fun to play is so important, it provides the incentive to make him a better more viable character. We want him to win, we want OUR Lucas to be great even if Lucas himself isn't. You have a significant psychological advantage in a match if you have the advantage, use it. Recognize the faults, maximize the advantages, f*** with people whenever possible. pk-fire.
-Veril
On a side note, Lucas is insane for teams... I'll post something on that eventually.
When the tier list first came out, I didn't assume that it was far off. I just thought that Lucas had incredible potential with his wacky momentum altering tricks. So I experimented, and experimented, and messed around with zapjumping and all sorts of psi-m tricks and magnet pull manipulation. I though I knew all sorts of things everyone had missed. Of course, I was wrong. I ignored the advice of players better than myself, and it slowed down my game. More than anything else, I should have been focused on knowing of and compensating for Lucas' weaknesses.
Lucas is not a statistically good character. The reasons for this are spread out on this forum and I don't feel the need to reiterate all of them. Weaknesses can be worked around, and sometimes even turned into strengths. For example, some say that Lucas is easy to edgeguard. This is completely false if you have a second jump left. Since I've basically mastered wavezapping I nearly never get koed off the bottom or even spiked successfully. Beyond that correct angling of PKT2 can bypass an edgehog easily and relatively safely. Oh, and there's the rope snake. Don't forget that. Another good example would be his laggy grab. It sucks, hard. So pivot grab. Not great but... better.
People ***** about the deathgrab a lot. I hate it too. But it isn't nearly as bad as an IC grab. Not getting grabbed is actually easier than it sounds with Lucas, f-tilt, pk-fire, autocancel properly, and you'll be much safer. If you do get grabbed, make sure to DI right and spotdodge ASAP. Still a ****ty situation, but it doesn't make Lucas a non-viable character.
Lucas has poor approaching ability, but good spamming. I could go on.
The tier list is valid. Period. The people who make it know what they are talking about. You have to take advantage of the psychological effects of the tier list rather than letting them bog you down. Lucas has many poor matchups, this is a good reason to have a secondary. Skill is more important than character ability but... a hard counter is a hard counter is G&W. Of course, G&W isn't the only one, just the worst. If you don't have a secondary, you better have a ton of experience. At the same time, few people have experience vs. good Lucas players. Lots of people get grab-happy because everyone knows about the death grab. An opponent might get sloppy if they expect an easy win, and then panic when they see you aren't about to get 3-stocked.
The fact that Lucas is fun to play is so important, it provides the incentive to make him a better more viable character. We want him to win, we want OUR Lucas to be great even if Lucas himself isn't. You have a significant psychological advantage in a match if you have the advantage, use it. Recognize the faults, maximize the advantages, f*** with people whenever possible. pk-fire.
-Veril
On a side note, Lucas is insane for teams... I'll post something on that eventually.
