Same as the Mario thread I just bumped...
So I went into the mountains...
Into the lands of gods and demons...
And never continued my thread expedition...
Due to the massive delay (years) but the success of my trips...
Here's is a Thread Copy-Paste I made on the site called "Smashmods" which was for Mario in Project: M. It applies a lot to Mario in Melee, so figured it's worth re-pasting here.
Hope it helps someone/enjoy.
Development Acceleration Thread Series
Warning, wall of text will very little to no TDLR
I figured I’d take some time to do something for the forum community. I’m not sure how helpful it will be, but if even 1 person gets something out of these threads, I’m satisfied and it was worth it. If this helps a lot of people a bit, then that’s just extra awesomeness.
So if you think there’s anything I’ve missed that might help someone, or if there’s something I cover that isn’t needed, let me know. I simply want these threads to be the most helpful they can be.
Given my leet writing skills, my leet smash skills, and my leet coaching or teaching skills, I have an interesting set of credentials and feel like it’s my duty to give something like this to the community.
Purpose
These threads are to provide a form of guide series aimed towards increasing the rate at both learning characters from the beginning and improving with them indefinitely.
There will be no charts regarding move collision effects or frame data in these threads. Nothing about character match-up comparisons or stage counter-picking lists. This isn’t for or from statistics or data in any way. Those concepts and details can be discussed and mentioned elsewhere on the character forums unless brought up in discussion here at some point, but won’t be in the opening post.
Both Melee direct crossed characters and from scratch PM characters will be presented the same way in their respected threads and discussed the same. Many players new to smash or coming from Brawl are not familiar with Melee characters and could use this as a means of catching up to what those characters are bringing to PM completely. Veteran Melee players can either use this as a touch up on their game or a refreshment of going over what they know and chance of relearning what they may have forgotten or not given enough attention to before.
The Melee characters will likely be in more depth, and will provide an example of the depth hoped for when the PM characters are completed. As well, there is something new that every character is getting from the PM general game itself, and the Melee game is ever-changing so there is always something new to learn for even advanced and knowledgeable players.
These threads are meant to cover everything that a player will either inevitably learn about the characters that will benefit from on their personal path to learning the characters their own way.
These threads are meant to go into specifics of application and understanding about everything each character can do, but on a universal level that will aid in simply pointing out ideas utilizing the tools a player will find in the character and smash learning process at all levels.
Almost all of what’s covered in a specific character thread applies in some way to all other characters, so all threads will be useful no matter what character you play or how you play them. I’m simply going to cover the central parts that have the greatest significance to the character that each thread is directed to. Reading all threads could be beneficial to all characters, but only the focal point will be covered in each.
Developing Faculties
There will be two main topics generally covered that should fulfill most of what this thread is for.
1 : Technical Faculties
These cover everything from difficult but necessary muscle memory requirements to the diverse application of simpler and easier actions that are all very essential.
2 : Mental Faculties
These cover all the things to watch for throughout the course of a match relating to your interactions with your opponents and how to manage yourself accordingly.
Faculty Development will be the core of this guide. To develop as a player with a character, you first must gain access to all the tools you’ll need to do so on a technical and mental level. Your ability to consciously and accurately perform the actions you intend to do is a branch of littered stepping stones along the path to becoming the best you can be with that character and in this game. There will always be room for these to grow, but these must come first at least to some extent before you can use your own creative uniqueness and inventive play to its fullest.
A lot of these will vary from player to player, based off preference, style, habit and the centre of commitment, though it is encouraged to both new and old players to continuously insure that they are natural options and as comfortable to perform when asked upon at any and all times.
For new players, it’s a basic outline or collection of options in directions they may want to take their game. Things they will find along the way.
For old players, it’s for further development or refreshment to either reinforce what is solid, or to bring something they’re missing, into their game.
Before the character specifics, here are a few quick pointers that can be looked back to at any time. For players finding a creative spark, inspiration, success or leaping ahead, and just as much for players getting stuck, bored, frustrated or having trouble improving. Hopefully these will provide help at most times.
1: To improve means to become different towards what is better. To become different means to change. Therefore, improving is only possible through changing. It’s an overlooked universal truth, in a way, and often avoided because changing implies the risk of becoming worse and can usually feel uncomfortable, at least at first. Though the idea is simple to get around that discomfort. In that if the change is making you worse off but you see the potential, stick with it, where if it’s not showing any signs of possibility, change it again, and if a change brings improvement, keep it.
There is no moment that passes in which you can’t get something from, no matter how great or minor. If you feel flustered in any way because you can’t find some way to improve at the time, or are moving slower than preferred, that idea and sense alone is what you’ve taken from the moment, and that counts for more than you may think. It may just have less immediate improvement compared to potential. Use your mind as a mirror, reject nothing, grasp at nothing, receive but do not keep.
2: Have fun. Do what you have fun doing, and make fun in doing whatever you’re doing. Fun isn’t an objective thing you can find and attain, it’s how you yourself are perceiving and enjoying whatever you’ve attained or are attaining. If you’re losing a lot of matches to players you don’t want to lose to, find enjoyment in searching for ways to beat them rather than focus on the stocks at the end of the matches themselves. If you have no players to play that give you a challenge and you want more, learn to teach them how to beat you with proper and pure intentions and that will help you more than anything else.
What you take from a match means more than what happens in the match itself. When the match is over, the match no longer matters, only the matches ahead. The matches ahead will only be affected by what the now non-existent match has left you with, here and now. It’s also often overlooked that teaching can be the best way to learn, so falling back on that is a good thing.
3: If you want to make something a part of your game, that means you have to actually take a part of your time, effort and attention and put it there. Just as you make this game a part of your life by taking time to do so. In terms of improving, much, if not all of what can be shared with you is something you would eventually learn on your own. All a teaching or helping hand is, is an opportunity for you to possibly skip the trial and error phase by learning what is shown. You are the one that learns, something cannot be taught to you and produce results.
Every win, loss, reading or conversation is an opportunity, much of it you may know, much of it you may not. This means it takes your own effort to practice on your own, as well as being open and asking questions if someone else may think or do something a certain way. A community that communicates will thrive, collectivity is necessary to improve both personally and as a group. Remember, everyone is in this together, but that takes participation with others as well as on your own time to bring yourself to where you want to be.
Credits and Contributions.
None of the content in these threads can be credited to me directly. It’s all because of the players involved in the creation of Project M since its beginning, all of the players involved in the development of the play for each smash game, along with every players commitment and contributions to the community for the last decade and more, and the community as a whole. As well as any players that add to the discussion and content of these guides themselves.
If anyone has interest in other characters or can contribute towards the other threads, they’re linked here.
Please contribute everything you can, as I am by no means capable of innovating, remembering and wording everything possible that would fit in these guides. At least at an efficient rate anyway. Thanks.
Fist Batch includes these characters.
Falcon : Proves as a well known and very distinct character that almost directly transferred from Melee. Will provide a nice layout and template for the future potential guides of other characters.
Wario : A character that lacks clarity of use but has enough distinct qualities to be easily discussed and explained in an understandable way. Should also be fun to layout in this format.
Mario : Similar to his Melee counterparts but with a nice mix of new and old traits that are fairly straight forward yet still flexible. Plenty to him and should be a good character to start with.
Wolf : Interesting character with unique new concepts along with still somewhat familiar aspects to the most commonly used Melee characters. Will have a lot of depth to decipher and discuss.
Hope this helps someone, somewhere, sometime, somehow. Best to everyone.
[size=x-large]
Development Acceleration Threads
[/size]
WARNING : Wall of text with very little to no TD;LR
I figured I’d take some time to do something for the forum community. I’m not sure how helpful it will be, but if even 1 person gets something out of these threads, I’m satisfied and it was worth it. If this helps a lot of people a bit, then that’s just extra awesomeness.
So if you think there’s anything I’ve missed that might help someone, or if there’s something I cover that isn’t needed, let me know. I simply want these threads to be the most helpful they can be.
Given my leet writing skills, my leet smash skills, and my leet coaching and teaching skills at all levels in the game, I have an interesting set of successful credentials and unique insights. So I feel like it’s my duty to give something like this to the Project M community.
[size=medium]Purpose[/size]
These threads are to provide a form of guide series aimed towards increasing the rate at both learning characters from the beginning and improving with them indefinitely.
There will be no charts regarding move collision effects or frame data in these threads. Nothing about character match-up comparisons or stage counter-picking lists. This isn’t for or from statistics or data in any way. Those concepts and details can be discussed and mentioned elsewhere on the character forums unless brought up in discussion here at some point, but won’t be in the opening post.
Both Melee direct crossed characters and from scratch PM characters will be presented the same way in their respected threads and discussed the same. Many players new to smash or coming from Brawl are not familiar with Melee characters and could use this as a means of catching up to what those characters are bringing to PM completely. Veteran Melee players can either use this as a touch up on their game or a refreshment of going over what they know and chance of relearning what they may have forgotten or not given enough attention to before.
The Melee characters will likely be in more depth, and will provide an example of the depth hoped for when the PM characters are completed. As well, there is something new that every character is getting from the PM general game itself, and the Melee game is ever-changing so there is always something new to learn for even advanced and knowledgeable players.
These threads are meant to cover everything that a player will either inevitably learn about the characters that will benefit from on their personal path to learning the characters their own way.
These threads are meant to go into specifics of application and understanding about everything each character can do, but on a universal level that will aid in simply pointing out ideas utilizing the tools a player will find in the character and smash learning process at all levels.
Almost all of what’s covered in a specific character thread applies in some way to all other characters, so all threads will be useful no matter what character you play or how you play them. I’m simply going to cover the central parts that have the greatest significance to the character that each thread is directed to. Reading all threads could be beneficial to all characters, but only the focal point will be covered in each.
[size=medium]
Developing Faculties[/size]
There will be two main topics generally covered that should fulfill most of what this thread is for.
Technical Faculties
These cover everything from difficult but necessary muscle memory requirements to the diverse application of simpler and easier actions that are all very essential.
Mental Faculties
These cover all the things to watch for throughout the course of a match relating to your interactions with your opponents and how to manage yourself accordingly.
Faculty Development will be the core of this guide. To develop as a player with a character, you first must gain access to all the tools you’ll need to do so on a technical and mental level. Your ability to consciously and accurately perform the actions you intend to do is a branch of littered stepping stones along the path to becoming the best you can be with that character and in this game. There will always be room for these to grow, but these must come first at least to some extent before you can use your own creative uniqueness and inventive play to its fullest.
A lot of these will vary from player to player, based off preference, style, habit and the centre of commitment, though it is encouraged to both new and old players to continuously insure that they are natural options and as comfortable to perform when asked upon at any and all times.
For new players, it’s a basic outline or collection of options in directions they may want to take their game. Things they will find along the way.
For old players, it’s for further development or refreshment to either reinforce what is solid, or to bring something they’re missing, into their game.
Before the character specifics, here are a few quick pointers that can be looked back to at any time. For players finding a creative spark, inspiration, success or leaping ahead, and just as much for players getting stuck, bored, frustrated or having trouble improving. Hopefully these will provide help at most times.
3 Points
[size=medium]1[/size] To improve means to become different towards what is better. To become different means to change. Therefore, improving is only possible through changing. It’s an overlooked universal truth, in a way, and often avoided because changing implies the risk of becoming worse and can usually feel uncomfortable, at least at first. Though the idea is simple to get around that discomfort. In that if the change is making you worse off but you see the potential, stick with it, where if it’s not showing any signs of possibility, change it again, and if a change brings improvement, keep it.
There is no moment that passes in which you can’t get something from, no matter how great or minor. If you feel flustered in any way because you can’t find some way to improve at the time, or are moving slower than preferred, that idea and sense alone is what you’ve taken from the moment, and that counts for more than you may think. It may just have less immediate improvement compared to potential. Use your mind as a mirror, reject nothing, grasp at nothing, receive but do not keep.
[size=medium]
2[/size] Have fun. Do what you have fun doing, and make fun in doing whatever you’re doing. Fun isn’t an objective thing you can find and attain, it’s how you yourself are perceiving and enjoying whatever you’ve attained or are attaining. If you’re losing a lot of matches to players you don’t want to lose to, find enjoyment in searching for ways to beat them rather than focus on the stocks at the end of the matches themselves. If you have no players to play that give you a challenge and you want more, learn to teach them how to beat you with proper and pure intentions and that will help you more than anything else.
What you take from a match means more than what happens in the match itself. When the match is over, the match no longer matters, only the matches ahead. The matches ahead will only be affected by what the now non-existent match has left you with, here and now. It’s also often overlooked that teaching can be the best way to learn, so falling back on that is a good thing.
[size=medium]
3[/size] If you want to make something a part of your game, that means you have to actually take a part of your time, effort and attention and put it there. Just as you make this game a part of your life by taking time to do so. In terms of improving, much, if not all of what can be shared with you is something you would eventually learn on your own. All a teaching or helping hand is, is an opportunity for you to possibly skip the trial and error phase by learning what is shown. You are the one that learns, something cannot be taught to you and produce results.
Every win, loss, reading or conversation is an opportunity, much of it you may know, much of it you may not. This means it takes your own effort to practice on your own, as well as being open and asking questions if someone else may think or do something a certain way. A community that communicates will thrive, collectivity is necessary to improve both personally and as a group. Remember, everyone is in this together, but that takes participation with others as well as on your own time to bring yourself to where you want to be.
[size=medium]Credits and Contributions[/size]
None of the content in these threads can be credited to me directly. It’s all because of the players involved in the creation of Project M since its beginning, all of the players involved in the development of the play for each smash game, along with every players commitment and contributions to the community for the last decade and more, and the community as a whole. As well as any players that add to the discussion and content of these guides themselves.
If anyone has interest in other characters or can contribute towards the other threads, they’re linked here.
Please contribute everything you can, as I am by no means capable of innovating, remembering and wording everything possible that would fit in these guides. At least at an efficient rate anyway. Thanks.
Fist Batch includes these characters.
[size=medium]Falcon[/size] : Proves as a well known and very distinct character that almost directly transferred from Melee. Will provide a nice layout and template for the future potential guides of other characters.
[size=medium]
Wario[/size] : A character that lacks clarity of use but has enough distinct qualities to be easily discussed and explained in an understandable way. Should also be fun to layout in this format.
[size=medium]Mario[/size] : Similar to his Melee counterparts but with a nice mix of new and old traits that are fairly straight forward yet still flexible. Plenty to him and should be a good character to start with.
[size=medium]
Wolf[/size] : Interesting character with unique new concepts along with still somewhat familiar aspects to the most commonly used Melee characters. Will have a lot of depth to decipher and discuss.
Hope this helps someone, somewhere, sometime, somehow. Best to everyone.
[size=x-large]Development Acceleration Thread : Falcon[/size]
Aside from a few things, this thread is fairly straight forward and the concepts covered are generally applicable and central to all characters. Falcon makes a good back bone and I’ve often considered Falcon to be a character that everyone should play at least to some extent. He has a very universal game that all characters play, but he’s limited to it. The way that he lacks a lot of options that are essentially part of almost every other characters games, means he has a very profound and very direct way to be played and this is what makes him such a good disciplinary practice character. He doesn’t have much flexibility in some senses, but is extremely flexible with what he has. This is what makes him so single dimensional yet dynamic at the same time. A perspective that’s needed to understand all components in the game.
[size=large]Basic Technical Faculties[/size]
Falcon has very simple and very effective mobility and speed. His dash and aerial momentum choices give him great movement control on any part of any stage. These are the things that set him apart from most other characters. This manoeuverability aspect alone is what makes him so effective. Therefore, the majority of the technical practice priority with Falcon should generally involve increasing and maximizing his speed, to keep him active and threatening while still safe at a distance.
[size=medium]
1: Dash Dances and Short Hops[/size]
This is a core part of movement in the game for most characters. It’s the technique base that’s key in the transitional game, from the neutral game to approaching or evading. Dash Dancing and Short Hop Aerials are at the centre of how Falcon can utilise his greatest strength and advantage, speed.
Aerials
The ability to short hop fast fall aerials very quickly from further than almost all other characters is what makes Falcon’s neutral game and pressure game so threatening. Become comfortable at using all aerials on grounded opponents from all distances, out of all positions from dashes or from your shield. Get a feel for the timing off of techs out of your other moves so you can land these aerials accurately.
Have access to all of your aerials on command, it’s possibly the most necessary offensive kit available for Falcon. This will help not only with punishes, pressure and chases, but combos themselves.
The reason Falcon can combo across stages if they don’t escape properly is because all of his best attacks can be used while moving, and this is how he moves with them. After you become comfortable using aerials on grounded opponents, using aerials following up into combos will be smoother as it’s less strict on timing. However, the flexibility of timing aerials in combos is completely different and must be comfortable to apply as well. Get used to delaying and rushing different aerials at different times to extend or optimize your combos.
Dashing
The dash game, or dash dancing part of the game is the neutral game where Falcon can most easily establish himself as a threat. To DD does not mean to run back and forth repeatedly in and out of range. That’s at its simplest form and only the starting block.
To DD means to be able to control your exact position on the ground at all times, accurately and instantly. The dash game includes the basic DD, but also involves everything from going for Grabs, into and out of your Shield, Pivoting, Moonwalking, Wavedashing and even using Aerials or empty jumps in the mix.
What the end goal of practising the dash game or neutral game implies, is that those options are in fluidity and motion, never faltering whether you’re in a tight spot or have free space. Every action among all of those options, when not on offense or defence, is the dash dance game and neutral game. For Falcon to be at full potential, each of these has to be fluent and fast with no unintentional spaces between. The accuracy will come with time, but if any of those options aren’t comfortable or are still weak and being worked on, then there is a piece missing that can be filled to strengthen his strongest trait.
Speed
This same idea applies to his chasing game as well. His speed allows him to follow techs and evasion with his aerials and grabs just the same. Sometimes smashes and tilts might come to use, but those won’t come into play as reliably as continuing with his speed game is still ideal. Off of pivots it opens up a lot, but his aerials and grabs take priority. Things like Side B and Down B cover a lot of area, and though unreliable, they’re a coverage tool each with unique traits that will come to use occasionally and shouldn’t be completely unused. The reward can be high for landing them, and that’s enough reason to try if you feel you should.
Falcon has overall universal speed as his greatest advantage and to be comfortable and fluent with this will help more than any other technical aspect. All combos, approaches, set-ups and everything else in Falcon’s game will come smoother when his neutral game alone is perfected. If looking to increase your speed with any character, this should take priority when practising the technical side of the character. For Falcon this is simply amplified due to its central importance for him as a character.
Basically, just make sure you’re going fast. This alone can get you into the position you want, bait them to do an action, and punish that action accordingly. You don’t even need any buttons with Falcon, just the analog stick, it wins games.
[size=medium]
2: Wavedashing Out of Shield[/size]
WDOOS is a universal technique in smash that should be comfortable to do no matter what character you play, but it gets a special mention for Falcon.
This is Falcon’s primary OOS option and needs to be as comfortable to a Falcon player as jumping, or Falcon will always be in more trouble than he should be. When you’re in your shield near the opponent and there is no guaranteed way to punish them with anything out of it, this is the best action you can use or fall back on. It’s the quickest and safest way to neutralize yourself and do your next action out of, whether that means to approach, evade or simply returning to equal grounds.
It will often be the manoeuver to go to because Falcon lacks any base of solid options from his shield otherwise. He has no fast and space covering aerials or moves that knock opponents away that he can immediately use out of a jump from his shield. His spot dodge is also very slow, and worse yet is that it keeps you in one place which is not something you want to do when speed is his best trait. That same lack of movement applies to being in your shield for more than you need to. His roll is decent and you might find it’s actually something you’ll have to do more so than most characters just to get out of pressure situations. However, wavedashing is always preferred as it allows for flexibility and is his quickest way to return to his dash game.
Get accustomed to dashing into your shield, as you’ll need to be able to shield at any point during your dash game. Then get accustomed to wavedashing out of it in either direction, returning to neutral as soon as you get the opening for your dash game. Shielding is your best defensive option aside from your speed, so learning to use a wavedash out of it to return to your strongest position as quick as possible is a priority for all Falcon players.
Be sure that when you’re finishing a wavedash or waveland, you’re inputting your next action as soon as you can. If Falcon has any standing animation between your wavedash and your next move, you can act faster. You need to keep your speed up as Falcon, especially if you’re using this to get to safety. Don’t allow yourself to get in the habit of using actions and pausing for brief periods throughout your movement game. Maximize your speed by eliminating the scattered halting in your game so you can move smoothly at the speed you have the potential to. The same goes for shielding, it stalls you and if you let it stall you for more than you need to, you’re not keeping as mobile as you possibly can.
Stalling on the spot after wavelanding and wavedashing happens to be a common place to get the habit when first applying this technique. Make the idea of acting immediately out of a WDOOS, aerial or other actions, become a part of the techniques themselves. When you’re acting as soon as possible out of wavedashes, you become much more difficult to catch.
[size=medium]3: Pivoting[/size]
This is possibly the most underappreciated technique in Melee, as it has only recently seen much light even in that game. It’s simple, effective and Falcon can use this more diversely than almost anyone.
Pivoting is simply using an action out of the standing animated frames between dashes during a Dash Dance. Considering Falcon’s initial Dash animation is so fast and covers so much area, giving him an amazing Dash Dance, his flexibility of when and where to do a Pivot is greater than most of the cast. Meaning he can perform any action, anywhere at any time, if it’s within his Dash Dance which happens to be huge.
When doing an actionless Pivot, as in doing a pivot without any other inputs aside from the directions themselves, you’ll do a neutral Pivot. The animation will be Falcon standing up facing the direction he was going, then turning towards the direction you were pivoting. The same actions can be performed during each set of direction facing positions, but the second instance of standing is easier to act out of as it has more leeway for timing.
The second instance is likely where Pivot Dtilts and Utilts will be most comfortable and realistic to apply in game. Dtilt has more range than other attacks and range is an important property of Pivoting as you’re moving away from the target to perform the attack. Utilt also has range and has very little recovery, so when used after moving away is generally safe and covers a lot of area. Though it’s possible to perform those out of the initial Pivot input, the sensitivity is higher than Melee’s and it was difficult even in that game.
Become comfortable at least in doing Pivot Ftilts on the initial Pivot frames, as it is the fastest decent range attack possible out of a Pivot and has the fastest recovery. Pivoting jumps are essential as all aerials have some application when used this way.
Pivot Grabs are very easy and are very important for many characters and Falcon is no exception. Starting with Grabs and moving to Aerials and Tilts is generally probably the best way to bring these to a functional level. Falcon’s Smashes are slow but also serve a purpose, be sure to be comfortable between using Smashes and Tilts to not do one when meaning to do the other. This is possibly the most difficult part of the technique.
Timing, sensitivity and the punishment possible for performing it incorrectly are all discomforting, but it’s usually a necessary process to make this a comfortable natural option.
[size=medium]4: Edge Movement[/size]
Off Stage
Know which aerials you can perform when simply walking off the edge and using them, known as Drope Zone aerials. Become comfortable with your offstage game in regards to how much flexibility you have when jumping off either the ledge or the stage itself, attacking, and returning to the edge. Whether it’s to land weak or hard hits, or multiple aerials to cover space or combo, get familiar with what you can do and how far you can go out of your way to attack while still making it back. Along with having a good feel for your offstage coverage, be very comfortable with sweet-spotting the edge with your Double Jump, Up B and Side B.
Just like on stage, Falcon’s speed at going great distances is something that can be used to chase even far off the stage. His recovery goes only so far, so just be comfortable with how far you can go until you no longer need to think about whether you can come back or not. You want this to be comfortable and natural to you the way your neutral game is so you’re never uncertain of yourself and never missing something that you didn’t know you could or couldn’t do. Go as far out of your way as you can to test the limits as much as you can and force this to become normal so you can use it to your best. Limiting your opponents offstage options as Falcon can be done with his speed coverage off the stage.
A great tool Falcon also has offstage is Walljumping. The more comfortable you are with both getting to walls when offstage and acting out of the wall jumps themselves, the better. There are many stages with walls that drop very low so this is essential to his offstage arsenal.
The Ledge
Just like you want to be mobile and moving at all times, and just like the way Wavedashing out of shield is the best way to return to Falcon’s great neutral game or switch from defence to offense, Wavelanding onto the stage works the same. Using aerials from the ledge is safe coverage and has its moments, but it’s still limiting yourself. Wavelanding onto the stage enables your dash game the fastest and it’s the safest way up from the ledge as you can act defensively if needed afterwards too. Be sure to act immediately when the WD ends to maximize your speed.
Wavedashing backwards to edge is the quickest way to get on the ledge. You can do this out of a dash towards the edge by turning around before the wavedash. Falcon’s moonwalk can help him get there quickly as well. Having access to all of the methods for getting to the edge will keep your options around the edge flexible from on stage as well.
[size=medium]5: Platform Movement[/size]
Given Falcon’s incredible aerial mobility both in horizontal and vertical speed, he has access to use any platforms on any stage to some effect. Get used to how Falcon’s jump heights relate to the platforms on all stages so you can comfortably time aerials properly when meaning to land on or off one afterwards. Some of your chasing and combos will lead to platforms so it’s necessary to be fluent with all terrain.
Wavelanding both on and off of platforms will provide more options for directional changes in your platform game. Get familiar with the timings and spacings of your forward and backward single and double jumps in relation to what’s most effective or easy to Waveland from. Insure that you’ll stay agile when navigating all parts of the stage. Simply Wavelanding on a platform while chasing or baiting will open a lot of options. If chasing, you can set yourself in a neutral position with access to all your tools, but on the same vertical level as your target. If in the neutral game or evading, you’re fast enough that if the opponent attempts to catch you with something for being on the platform, you can jump across to another or back to the ground without being easily punished.
Ledge cancelling aerials is something Falcon can easily do and gives him access to a lot more tricks and baits. His horizontal momentum during jumps allows him to cancel all of his effective aerials and give him his double jump to continue in the air very quickly. This keeps him mobile and doesn’t leave any easily pierced holes as he gains access to all his aerial options instantly, which are all threatening and not usually worth it for the opponent to trade with him. Either using a couple aerials extremely fast together, or using an aerial and continuing without being punishable the way missing an aerial otherwise would be, both bring a lot to Falcon’s options and can be applied in a variety of ways throughout his game.
The same concept of walking off the stage into aerials, or Drop Zones, applies with platforms on the stage as well. Get a feel for the timing of all aerials when meaning to hit an opponent on the ground below you, as well as in the air on the way down. Combining these, you can Waveland off and Ledge cancel off into drop zones too.
[size=large]
Basic Mental Faculties[/size]
Falcon thrives off of making his opponent think he knows their next move, so they do something like hesitate to act, or react instead of consciously consider their options. Hence a stock can end so quickly if Falcon makes a couple small predictions. Opponents who understand this will play accordingly, as they know if they stop this, they stop Falcon. Controlling the flow of the game by constantly being aware of when Falcon flips the switch can counter it by simply not letting it begin. Because of this, Falcon can be considered a momentum based character. This is the battle Falcon fights, all else is secondary.
[size=medium]
1: Movement Application[/size]
This ties right into every part of every characters game, but this is how it applies to Falcon. Your goal should be staying safe at a distance while capitalising fully when you get opportunities. This will force your opponent either to act first and come to you, or play defensively away from you to give you the room you want.
To gain full stage control at a neutral position, there are two main parts for Falcon.
A) Aerials
Not many characters gain an advantage by trading hits with Falcon’s aerials, and very few can or will attempt it. Falcon’s fast enough that he can Uair between his opponents actions and Knee to punish anything too slow to recover. When someone is airborne, it’s a lot riskier for them as they’re limited while moving and landing, and Falcon can get there because he can get anywhere.
Pay attention to how opponents act within a dashing short hop distance from you. If they’re feinting aerials in hopes of catching you approaching, see if they’re using aerials rising or falling, if they’re backing up or moving closer, or if it’s a mix. Unless they’re approaching you fully with their aerial, there’s potentially an opening that you can pierce. Landing something like a Stomp will lead to plenty at any % and position, so watch for those opportunities if the opponent has any consistency and pattern of distant jumping play. Keep a note of what it will cost you to get hit, and if you can get more from taking that chance of hitting them, go for it.
If you catch an opponent with something like this, it may easily steer them away from feinting jumps from that distance. When this happens, they’ll spend most of the time on the ground near this distance. You want to stay in a relatively close range so you can catch them with these aerials, and the same applies to when they’re on ground. The reward for landing a Stomp at any time is often worth the risk, and if you’re paying enough attention to when your best opportunities are, it will often play out the way it’s meant to.
Don’t be afraid to fake aerials yourself. If short hopping towards an opponent seems questionable, test it with an empty SH then double jump away or to a platform. If you were right in that they were ready for your jump-ins, you’ll know they were expecting it, but doing this makes it seem like you’re not going to aerial directly since you faked it. This can either make them let their guard down about it for later, or think you’ll fake it and they’ll act that way even when you finally do it, or they’ll play even more safe about it since it looked like you attempted it.
The best thing you can do if they’re always ready for it is try to make them act otherwise based on what you’re doing. Faking this is a good way of changing the pace of play they’re expecting and trying to play. As well, naturally, if they fall for the fake and react to it, you can punish them for it. Always be ready to punish reactions to your baits.
B) Grabs
When you’ve established that your aerials are a threat and that you can punish anything they do wrong even from a distance they think is safe, they may be grounded more as a result. Here, they have their shield and much more directional control to help with countering your aerial approaches and baits.
This leads to your ground game as well. When they have access to their shield, any time you approach them, there is a chance they’ll simply block it. If you can scare them enough into not using attacks against you when you’re approaching because of your aerials being so good, or they start shielding more in fear of them, then it’s safer for you to approach with grabs as they’ll less likely be hitting you out of them. You dash grab is fast and can be used to follow even aerials you land, but using it directly as an approach is the other side of your approach and punish game.
Faking aerials into either double jumps or wavelands will let you see how liberal they are with their shield without the risk of you being punished for it. This will give you a clearer idea of how and when to use your grabs out of the neutral game. Stomps and grabs have huge rewards for landing properly, so often you might find it favourable to go out of your way on complete guesses to get these. Not only will it give you good results if landed, but it can continue with establishing yourself as a confident threat to your opponent at any moment.
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2: Landing and Following Hits[/size]
Falcon may be very fast and able to punish plenty, but it’s difficult to forcefully get anything to work on opponents that aren’t giving those opportunities. He doesn’t have enough fast and lasting offensive tools that simply overpower other characters. This is why he needs to keep his distance to be safe, and needs to get a lot out of his chances when he gets them.
In this way, much of Falcon’s first connections are out of either well established play into forcing the opponent to be defensive so he can chase them around freely for a short time, or off a prediction usually around his bait and punish game.
If Falcon goes for something that isn’t a punish, it has to be properly predicted or he can be punished plenty for it. If the opponent isn’t playing defensively or evasively and goes straight after Falcon during his own aggression, it can backfire on Falcon very easily. Falcon is easy to punish hard since he has no instant escapes or attacks, so it’s best to learn to pick your moments than it is to try power housing through when you think it’s simply worth it to get some hits in.
A) No Combo
The chances he gets don’t have to be guaranteed hits. The chances he gets include any time an opponent thinks he’s going to get hit or grabbed and acts accordingly, when in fact you weren’t going to. This involves them either using their shield, moving a certain way or attacking in hopes to stop your approach or chase. This is the game you want to play and bring out of your opponents, as these are the opportunities you can punish. Always pay attention to what actions they do both before and after other actions, as these can be easy to spot and that means easy to predict and punish.
It’s easier to predict and punish when you’ve forced them to play as if you were taking all your possible chances, rather than simply playing aggressively. There’s a difference and that’s what you need to establish.
Otherwise you may be stranded in a neutral game of chipping at each other, or a clustered up battle, which even then you can only land your aerials out of predicting their moves in the moment. There is no reason for you to take the risk of being close when you can do just that from a safe distance unless they’re playing scared because you’ve established yourself with a couple good predictions already. Up close, you’re plenty effective, it’s just dangerous if they’re playing like you aren’t.
After a landed hit, if it doesn’t combo, you’re still left with very good options. Either they’ll shield and you can grab again, or they’ll double jump and you can aerial them, or they’ll aerial and you can punish it, and so on. Rush in sometimes, wait it out other times, but keep yourself on the offensive by at the very least faking you’re continuing the approach with jumps in or dash dances towards them. If they react in one of those defensive ways, you’ve done exactly what you needed to do and can now play the close range aggressive game, just be ready to punish them if they do react.
B) Combo
If you have a guaranteed hit lined up, get comfortable with extending it in different ways. Whether that means using the light part of attacks, grabbing them, or delaying the timing of aerials so you can land quicker after hitting them, giving you a chance to follow up with another afterwards. You have time to hit them freely until the end of their hit-stun duration, so don’t rush a follow-up if you can do something more effective that may lead to even more follow-up opportunity. Extending combos as much as possible is ideal when trying to give damage, and if you’re not guaranteed a kill or a good set-up by finishing it, keep it going.
When you land your hit and can follow up, the only real trick to getting your combos is keeping your speed to do so. Experiment with aerials, making sure you’re moving as soon as you can after them in the direction they’re going from your previous hit.
C) Finishing
The positioning at the end of combos is very important. If your going to do a bunch of damage then send an opponent back on the stage, it may be a better option simply to hit them off for an edge-guard. Falcon travels far and can bring his opponents far when doing a combo, so limiting options at the end due to positioning is something he has plenty of access to. Even during combos, if there’s a hit that isn’t going to be in hit-stun, wait a moment to see if they jump or react and you can punish it. Doing something like taking away their double jump before hitting them further is far more important than a little more damage happening faster.
To finish combos, whether it’s in the air or on the ground, doesn’t mean to end with a Knee and send them very far. It can simply be hitting them a bit offstage to give yourself a position advantage if they have little damage and you couldn’t bring the combo far. It can be hitting them and letting them go, then waiting for them to act while you dash around below them or around them looking to start another combo. Your pressure and prediction game on offense can be just as strong as your pure combos themselves. So making it seem like you’re continuing can be even more important than actually immediately following with a hit again.
Always finish the combo either with a hard hit or good positioning with them off stage or teching. If you know you can’t quite combo them, keep the aggression on or correct positioning since this gives you the chance.
[size=medium]3: Other Applications[/size]
A) Edge Behaviour
When recovering, don’t neglect any of your tools. You have wall jumps, Side B, Down B and Up B, along with a double jump and access to all of your very good aerials. Falcon can mix his recovery a good amount from high up, both recovering onto the stage and on the ledge. Don’t stick to any particular order and don’t try to be very offensive when returning. Only do what’s necessary. You won’t have much of a chance to change what you’re doing once you’ve committed to it, but you do have a chance at avoiding almost all forms of edge-guarding.
Doing simple things like weaving forward to land on the stage then backing up to the ledge, or wall jumping into an air-dodge on the stage, are all very easy but very effective. Keep it simple and watch what your opponent is doing. Baiting that you’re recovering one way and doing another is your best bet at getting back. You’ll have to commit to something, but you can easily make it look like you’ve committed to another.
When getting on the stage from the edge, you can use your invincibility to aerial or waveland on if the opponent is close. If they’re keeping their distance, you can use basic get ups or waveland on the spot near the edge as well. Some other tools are available, like dropping down to do the wall jump air-dodge, or your basic get-ups from the edge, or jumping and using Side B or Down B towards the middle to cross the stage even.
Once on the edge, you want to get room to start moving. After fast things like aerials and wavelands, dashing covers a lot of distance and can start almost immediately after the invincibility is over. Just doing something like a dash short hop Uair can cover a lot and get you far pretty safely. Of course, if they do something and miss their prediction or you catch them off guard, punish accordingly.
When edge-guarding, you’re fast enough that you can catch anything too slow they’re performing off the stage. Use your speed to chase them high and keep them off, then both far and low to limit their options. Grab the edge when needed and use your invincibility to drop off and aerial them safely if they’re close. If you force them to land on the stage, this can also give you a chance to use a free aerial on them.
B) Doubles
It’s a very different game, as you won’t have as much free room to move but you can still always move to open spaces. Your guaranteed combos might not be able to extend as far before they’re stopped, but you can still use your speed and hard hits to do a lot of damage and finish them quickly.
Falcon makes a good doubles partner because of his ability to hit any opponent from any part of the stage very quickly, deal a lot of damage in a short time, and finish opponents off. All of those are very diverse and standard things looked for on a team. He can be played as a wrecking ball in the middle of the opponents because his moves landing give so much return, or he can be effective as a character on the side or back punishing anything the opponents do that is too risky or putting his partner in trouble. Or both of these styles at the same time.
You can play very much the same game in doubles as you do in singles. There are too many variables to make an accurate account of what to do, but based on your teammate and opponents characters, you can often play more freely without massive punishment due to the safety when things go wrong and the reward for getting what you were looking for. At the same time, against an aggressive team that has characters with a lot of tools to turn it around on him, it can be too risky and might not work at all. If they make a couple proper predictions themselves, or you miss a couple, you can easily be a non-factor to them since Falcon is so punishable for mistakes. Getting to safety and changing game-plan is as important to Falcon in doubles as performing the game-plan itself.
[size=medium]Kind of TDLR/Recap[/size]
Make all of these things very comfortable to you so they’re natural options at all times.
It’s what’s required to play Falcon at his fullest potential.
Technical Requirements
- Dash Dancing with JC Grabs and SH Aerials
- Approaching with Shield and Wavedashing out
- Pivoting Grab, Ftilt, Utilt, Dtilt, Nair, Knee, Uair, Bair, Fsmash
- Platform Wavelanding and Ledge Cancelling
- Wall Jumping and Wavelanding on the Stage
- Acting immediately after other Actions to maintain full speed
Mental Requirements
- Establishing a strong Aerial Game and Grab game
- Forcing the opponent to Shield while Faking Aerials
- Predict and Punish to start and extend Combos
- Finish Combos for Positioning
- Pretend to commit to things to Bait and Punish their counters accordingly
- Play a distance game until they play Defensive
- Watch what your opponent does before and after Events
Extras
- Moonwalk Taunts, Pivot Taunts and Ledge Cancelling Taunts
- PAWNCH
[size=medium]Continuity Is The Secret Of Success
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This is just the first batch, so it’s an experiment if anything. If there’s something that needs to be adjusted or changed, let me know. If the writing is too proper or sloppy, if it can be organized better or cleaned up a bit, whatever. It’s all for open discussion and change. I might have simply been to elaborate and should write less about it. Any feedback is appreciated, and please contribute to the thread if you can.
This is a type of thread that’s missing too often, and as far as I’m concerned it’s the only type that matters in the end. In a way, it’s where all discussions direct to but never make it here. So I’m doing this to hopefully help with a piece of general forums that’s missing. It’s kind of like a general discussion, but with a specific purpose and massive collection of all the things generally discussed crammed into one post, that’s about it.
If anyone wants to start writing something of their own for this series or just with this concept in mind, that would be great, but I could write all of it if needed. I type super fast. Yes, I’m want this for every character, as it has enough value to be worth it as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve tried to cover most of what I find important to a Falcon player, but there’s always more. Hopefully this Development Acceleration Thread for Falcon can help people with the character, and actually serve the purpose I’m intending for it.
Hope you enjoy it. Thanks.
Bamesy
:heart:
