Keep Losing? Try this...

[Ulevo]

A good refresher for the old, and a nice introduction to the new. Definitely a worthwhile read.

 

[Playat]

This tactic doesn't help me. I'm always tempted to attack my opponent and its so hard not to get hit so often but I'll try it anyway

 

[nogalicious]

I dig it. Good post. It's funny because I came to a couple of these same realizations last night when I was playing my friend. The whole "getting lost in my own flurry of attacks" and watching my character instead of his.

 

[XxOblivion77]

Is this alright if I post this at Brawl Central?

Great guide, I helps a lot.

 

[Truce]

Even though a lot of this might seem like common sense, I gaurantee that lots of people don't think about this stuff seriously enough. A very useful thread, I've already improved my game a bit by taking some of it to heart.

 

[MidniteBlaze]

Very well said...now if only I was that technical with the game and could actually minimize my hit taking...

 

[xjamz650]

"dont get *****"

yea it was a good thread for noobies...and u brought something to my attention the things i do have priorities over certain attacks..knowing how to play a character or for those people how to play "their character"

but when all sed...just "dont get hit"

 

[Crystanium]

I've tried this in online battles, and sometimes it comes in handy. I say this, because in multi-battles, there is more than one person. Still, I've went up against my friends and have won a number of rounds with good scores. It's funny how the basics increase your chances of becoming victor, yet very few take this into consideration.

 

[GriN]

Very nice read, I enjoyed it alot. Will be watching myself and the smaller hits i take from now on =]

 

[feddieboy]

Awesome. I learned a lot.

 

[ashes]

Excellent advice. I recently came to very similar conclusions (though i like how you worded it because it really drove it into my mind) for my playing style but have been my spacing and timing by practicing against level 9 cpu instead of L3 or less. so thanks for that tip, i will try it. but even against the L9 cpu's I have seen alot of improvement in my playing by spacing and reacting to my opponents.

 

[C.S. Dinah]

The only way I'll know I'm good in smash is to go to a tourney.
If I even reach the first round I must be a bad ***
This is probably the best thread I've read, Great thread.
Spacing=2nd round in Tourneys f I'm lucky

 

[Falconv1.0]

The big pros keep making a big deal about using turtling techniques and how to not ****ing get hit, why do people ignore them. >.<

 

[In the Fray]

Excellent read.

 

[thesultan2112]

nice article, i always tell my brother to watch his spacing

 

[xXZeroXx]

It was a nice thread, I think it will help my gameplay from now on

 

[Recognize]

Why is this thread still alive? Its already been sticked in one of the threads...

 

[Equus]

Great advice! I'm new to tourney-style brawling, so I was guilty of some of the things you listed. I've used your advice on random wifi matches, and I can see how much my game has improved. Thanks!

 

[cwjalex]

Why is this thread still alive? Its already been sticked in one of the threads...

agreed, close itttttttt

 

[Dr Phil xX]

the basics really are what make you better, without a strong base you have nothing to build upon.

 

[joshskelton90]

Too long, redundant, basically just a stupid wall of text IMO. Yuma was right, this thread is bad.

 

[Emblem Lord]

STFU and GTFO.

This thread = pure gold.

 

[Rapid_Assassin]

Too long, redundant, basically just a stupid wall of text IMO. Yuma was right, this thread is bad.

You are bad. If you don't see how this could be helpful, you probably suck.

 

[Recognize]

agreed, close itttttttt

Was that sarcasm? Sorry I couldn't tell...

 

[Shirum]

I think the length was good. As mentioned, Isai's jab of "Don't get hit" is often ignored. Long things tend to be perceived as important. It was written fluidly, and I think the examples helped. I wouldn't want it abridged. I know I took several statements here in the past the wrong way ("committing to attacks," for example). It's very effective as it is.

Not intending to get into the scuffle on this thread, but -- thank you, Alex.

 

[Naybewon]

I think this is a very interesting thread, and I thank the OP for taking the time to write it all down.

 

[Shiranui117]

Wow... I never woulda thought of this... I just try and combo more. I TRY and watch my opponent, but I'm just so offensive, I just blindly rush in and get my butt handed to me.

 

[Pure-???]

so true. the small hits add up. you can get hit once or twice, but over all, make sure you avoid taking damage.

 

[Roger Racebannon]

How can people think this thread is bad?

If they do, they should share THEIR methods of improving with us.


Thanks, OP.

 

[Sudsy86_]

Tremendous, OP. You're pretty much dead on.

Enough evidence for the OP's point is considering how often players lose to even the mediocre Ike users. They choose to execute a pre-meditated idea instead of improvising to your understanding of your opponet and his character. Most, after performing a poorly timed attack, just deal with Ike's godly power and die; then they either sit back, do nothing but call Ike cheap, or use Ike, a slow character with a ton of lag, and think their average understanding of the game ( more specifically with how to execute one strategy with Ike), and get trounced by smarter, more careful players.

You do see a lot of Ike matches, right? I know I am.

 

[GI Monk]

I am new to smash. Complete n00b. I just recently started myself on a strict regiment so that i can beat my best friend who is (at least to me) GODLY at this game. I started off just palying against a bunch of level 9s with no real improvement.


This post did help me.


Ignore anyone who says different.

 

[Germanydabassist]

I agree for the help on this post.
I'm having a friendly tournament with my buddies, and I typically overreact when I'm fighting. This will help me slow down and maybe not overreact and constantly dodge my way into fsmashes.

 

[HRNUT (Honey Roasted)]

The majority of players never improve that noticeably because they tend to focus on the wrong aspects of the game. They focus on their particular character and what moves they feel are good for their character, while ignoring the biggest hurdle that is preventing them from making giant leaps of improvement: the basics. These are the fundamentals that can be applied to every character in any smash brothers game.

When playing with various people I frequently hear someone say after just losing a stock, "****, I should have done ______" and they ponder what they should have done differently in that particular situation. What they SHOULD be thinking is, "how did I let myself get up to 150% before that last hit removed a stock"

When people ask Isai (undisputed best ssb and great ssbm player) what they should be doing differently he replies, "don't get hit". Because Isai is known for his eccentricity, most players laugh and shrug this invaluable piece of advice off. Azen is also noted for saying "don't jump into the ****" which is essentially the same piece of advice.

Friends, do not make the mistake of taking these words lightly. Think about them carefully. That being said, I believe these are the two most important aspects of any smash brothers game:

1) Spacing
2) Minimizing Risks

Spacing - One of the most common mistakes I see is that players will focus most of their attention on their own character, while looking at their opponent with their peripheral vision. This should be the opposite...why do you need to look at your own character that intently? You know what you are going to do...what you don't know is what your opponent is going to do. You can't space yourself properly if you aren't looking at your opponent.

The biggest hurdle to proper spacing is movement. Try watching a random youtube brawl video and notice the use of only THREE types of movement.

a)rolling
b)jumping towards the opponent
c)dashing

Let's say characters (A) and (B) are facing each other with a space in between them: (A)_______________(B) . Character (A) decides to perform a short hop aerial that has little lag towards (B). Most players will either roll or dash away. You can block as well, but let's say (A) is Marth who is spacing himself at a distance that you can't shield grab afterwards. What many people fail to consider is simply WALKING a half an inch away. Now you are in a position to execute any command at your disposal. By rolling, or dashing away...you cannot immediately execute another command until the rolling/dashing animation has finished. You have to realize this isn't a demonstration on what you should do in a particular situation, but it is only meant to illustrate the benefits of walking to properly space yourself. Walking can also be used to avoid dash attacks. Smash brothers registers such fine movements on the analog stick that many times it is hard to notice any change in movement and your opponent may just interpret that situation as a missed dash attack when in reality you spaced yourself by moving slightly out of its range. This also applies to jumping. When you do an aerial attack toward an opponent, you don't need to jam your analog stick all the way towards them. Brawl allows you to have a lot of aerial control so that you can allow yourself to hit them with the very tip of your attack, thus protecting your body as much as you can.

Now that you are no longer harnessed by the movement constraints of the predictable scrub, let's look at two common glaring instances of poor spacing. When an opponent has either fallen on the ground, or is hanging on the edge in a position that they are able to do a "get up-attack" , you constantly see people getting hit by their opponent attacking out of those defensive positions. People tend to face the dilemma of not wanting to get hit, but also wanting to be close enough to punish their attack. All this requires is carefully walking to the safest distance. Unfortunately, most people get hit...take the 7% (i don't know how much it really is) damage and shrug it off. Who cares it's only 7%. But it is these small attacks that add up to the final blow that takes your stock off.

Poor spacing leads to another big problem I see: spamming/committing to attacks. When players poorly space themselves and find themselves close to their opponent in a position they had not predicted, the mashing of buttons ensues. Avoid this at ALL costs, every command should be carefully executed and intentional. Furthermore, if you properly spaced yourself there is no need to panic and hit random buttons since you are at a safe distance from them (you ARE at a safe distance right?).

Also, you should never fully commit to an attack if your opponent has reacted differently than you intended. What I mean is you should never have a preconceived notion of what you are going to do, regardless of what your opponent is doing. You are probably thinking that you don't do this...but we are all of guilty of doing it one time or another. Let's go back to that first example of the two characters facing each other. Let's say as Marth you intend to do a f-air toward character (B) but at the last second you see (B)'s shield go up. Many players are unable to quickly make another decision so they decide to commit to their first intention of doing a fair, in which they will most likely get shield grabbed. Now let's turn the tables and say I am player (B) who is holding the block. Let's say that the Marth notices the shield go up and adjusts his attack so that the fair goes through the block and ends up on the opposite side of character (B). I don't know how many players I've done this to who still tries to shield grab despite me being on the opposite side of them. This is because they had the notion that they were going to shield grab and were unable to adjust when Marth ended up on the other side of them. Do not fall into this trap of committing to attacks too often. You should constantly be adjusting what you are doing in reaction to what your opponent is doing.

Minimizing Risks can probably be best illustrated with an example. Let's say Marth and Sheik are facing each other and Sheik is blocking. Bad Marth players are notorious for spamming his forward smash, but in this situation, it is the most risky command you can perform. The Sheik has 5 options while holding block. She can:

1) continue holding block
2) roll left
3) roll right
4) spot dodge
5) jump

Assuming that Sheik chooses at random what move to do, the only way you are going to connect is if she jumps. That means at random, you have an 80% chance of being punished for this decision. This usually translates to mainly relying on moves that don't have a lot of lag, but defensively this concept is invaluable. If you just got hit off the stage and your opponent is waiting for you to get back on, many players will try to time an aerial so they hit the person trying to edgeguard them. You take the risk of being sent even further off the stage, whereas it is MUCH less risky to wait for them to approach you and air dodge back on the stage.

On a side note, doing these things alone probably won't win you games. You need to find creative ways to hit your opponent. Forget about terms such as "mindgames", which gets thrown around way too often. Just worry about playing smart. The majority of youtube brawl videos I see look more like turnbased RPGs than smash brothers. One person attacks, then another person immediately approaches and attacks, and on and on. You need to be able to have enough control over your game that you can prevent yourself from immediately executing a command. This is why rolling works so well against so many players. Players are unable to pause even for a moment in their flurry of attacks and movements.

In order to combine these principles effectively, most people must abandon bad habits which initially will most likely make you perform worse. This also means that you will probably have to slow your game down. Furthermore, playing against computers nonchalantly reinforces committing to attacks, spamming, and poor spacing because they do not tend to punish you for your mistakes. You may have heard the popular phrase, "practice makes perfect". I do not agree entirely with this adage, but feel that Vince Lombardi was closer to the truth: "practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect". If you are going to practice against a computer, I find the most effective way to do this is by playing a level 1-3 (no higher) CPU and take it seriously. Make every move hit, and make sure every move is intentional. Don't worry about combos and flashiness. Worry about being in complete control of your character. Move around, put yourself in awkward situations. You don't have to constantly be attacking as if you were recording a combo video. Slow your game down and you will think of different things to do in different situations.

In summation...don't get hit.

question is, what do you do about someone who has projectiles when you don't...i play marth and i cant do anything when someone is spamming besides approach them, i have to make a quick move or i'll wear down my sheild or take alot of damage from projectiles...?

 

[Emblem Lord]

Do you think spacing no longer applies even when facing a projectile spammer?

Space yourself so that you are close enough that you outrange them at close range and they can longer safely spam projectiles.

 

[IronSquirrel891]

hey thanks for the post man. this'll be helpful in refining my tech, (been playing fo a really long time, but I dont participate in tournaments and what have you).

 

[Jayo]

Great post man.

I find that sometimes even the best players need to go back to the basics and retrain themselves.

If you foundation is not strong, building something on it is pointless because it will jus crumble eventually

Good ****

Click the Signature

JLB​

 

[SummerObsession]

question is, what do you do about someone who has projectiles when you don't...i play marth and i cant do anything when someone is spamming besides approach them, i have to make a quick move or i'll wear down my sheild or take alot of damage from projectiles...?

Emblem lord is correct, spacing should do the trick. You could also try WALKING towards them and do neutral A swipe or Ftilt to destroy there projectiles. Perfect shielding also works to prevent shield degeneration.

This thread helped my game when I first read it. I've incorporated walking into my games and it is infinitely useful. Thanks for posting it.

 

[LUVTOY77-ROGUE WIREFRAME]

You know I've heard a lot of people say you shouldn't practice with level 9's, and I agreed, not really knowing why, but seeing it was true (??),and now I do see! Level 9's just go at you constantly, which is basically what you were trying 2 say NOT to do throught the whole 1st post! I don't get 2 practice with other people much :/ none of my friends really like the smash games (crazy idiots, I know), and the only others I have are my lil' bro's who don't do much at all (sometimes they can manage a jump, but it's impossible for them to do a b-side move hahaha)--and I have wi-fi, but only 1 friend on there (haven't bothered asking for friend codes online haha), and idk which of our connections it is but the games always end up real laggy--so...I guess I kinda went on about meaningless crap, but yea practicing with lvl. 9's isn't the best...!

 

[chili]

A very enlightening read. Thanks for taking the time to write all this.

 

[adumbrodeus]

Awesome post...

*subscribes*

I intend to reference to this a lot.