Video Critique Thread

[JerkPhil]

Wow I am really impressed abcool! Good job!

 

[MarkJa-lapeno]

Here's my Samus. It's from a while ago, and I've gotten better since. Also, it's tough to judge bc it was my first tourney and I was up against D1 and Revelations. I know (as the commentator suggests) that I need more center control of the stage. I've worked to correct that.

here ya go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX9j7PRhKOI

 

[ManoxMano]

Just noticing you do like barely any tech skill. Have you gotten better in that regard?
I've noticed a bit of stale move syndrome - like at one point you did Full Hop>Dair three times in a row
You also switched characters game 2. Trying out new characters as a new player is good and all but it's much more beneficial to choose one character and stick with him/her, and learn every facet of their play. It takes a lot of time to develop the skills needed to be competent at this game and fretting around several characters delays that process.

I'd invite you to go look at the samus guides we have on this sub-forum; they have lots of important information regarding tech skill. The metagame/matchup info might be a little outdated but at this point in your career it's nothing to be really concerned about.
HOWEVER, go look at videos of top samus players and see HOW they use the tech skill they learned to supplement their overall playstyle. Answer questions like "Why did he wavedash there?" "Why did he missle cancel at that time and why did he shoot a straight missle that time" etc.
It's one thing to perform a tech skill in a real game - it's another thing completely to use those tools effectively.
If you have any more questions or are confused about anything just shoot

 

[-Philip Coast Philip-]

markja-lapeno:
air-dodge before grapple would have saved you at 1:05
2:30 you're all alone and you jump and do a dair. would have been a good time for a missile, or to charge your shot.

good ledge recovery on your last stock.

i thought you played well, especially at the start of the match. your moves were hitting, and you didn't get hit yourself. the most basic rule in this game.

so at something like 0:45, noticing your dair and the amount fox bounced up, even without looking at his percent*, an fsmash (facing away from the stage) will be a great opportunity next time you're in that situation, and it's a very common situation, after using dair. look for more of these opportunities, there were a lot of them.

liked the up+b edgeguard on sheik.

*though i was already aware fox was at a low-mid percent, and many experienced players would be too


your samus is good, i kinda like your emphasis on fsmashes. you have to think about your other emphases, though. is using dair as your main approach going to cut it every time? could you possibly use a nair instead? nair is excellent for edgeguarding and quick knockbacks. it's also a safer option, most of the time, for when you're coming back down from above, to use a nair instead of a dair, since the nair's hitbox is wider, comes out fast, and lasts a long time.

you might find some useful tips from this guy's playstyle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE4-SsXSmRg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdjmFNElwB8

 

[Litt]

Doubles play for samus is very different for singles play, it really would be pointless to critique this match, besides the little things you do in the one on ones. I was actually at this tournament and you should have asked me for a friendly or something.

 

[Litt]

You really have to stop rolling so much, vary your approach, and for the love of god, I do not know why this sheik was not punishing all those dash attacks. Shiek is the worse match up between fox and sheik, and you should have been handling D1. You seem to be playing as an opportunist, running up and just throwing out smash attacks or downairs, and there isnt much strategy present. Also stop missiling in place, learn how to missile cancel, when your partner is in trouble, dont dair both your partner and your opponent, just tilt them to get them out of the pressure. Learn to up b out of shield, or even when you are in a tight spot, it is not a cheap attack and if you get your opponent stuck in your up B, your partner can easily punish them while they are in hitstun from your move. Once again, samus is best on the ground, learn how to wave dash and stop jumping up for dairs.

 

[.tea©]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar8L7umHHAQ - Grand Finals vs Ares (Peach)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfOG8DzcupU - Loser Finals vs Ramon (C. Falcon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EF518z7khg - Loser Semi Finals vs Kadano (Marth)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y5LYbFtJ6o - Loser Quarter Finals vs Norm (Falco)

The first set of Grand Finals is definitly worth a watch. The second set could've gone either way, I think, but my loss in the third match was such a momentum killer.

Mistakes I noticed:
- some stupid dsmashes on shield vs Peach
- missed grapple sweetspots vs Falcon (usually I don't mess them up)
- lots of missed grabs vs Falcon, I also went for fair to dsmash way too often not realizing that he was always jumping out
- too much bomb to dair shield pressure, although it worked out in a lot of situations
- techskill mess ups :/

 

[ManoxMano]

Watching the Ares match...the first time you get to have a complete charge shot @2:14 and you use it instantly. Maybe it would have been wiser to hold that shot to see how he plays when he's under the threat of being blasted at any given moment, instead of trying to go for a shot that was 50/50 in succeeding.
Your shield pressure game is very superb though. It was amazing seeing it.
I notice you don't do the instant 2xJump trick on your soul-fisting (missile spam). Are you aware of that tech or do you chooses against it because the Peach might catch you and then you're stuck in the air without a DJ?

Eh that's all I got for that first set. I have to say watch out with your UpBs

 

[.tea©]

Watching the Ares match...the first time you get to have a complete charge shot @2:14 and you use it instantly. Maybe it would have been wiser to hold that shot to see how he plays when he's under the threat of being blasted at any given moment, instead of trying to go for a shot that was 50/50 in succeeding.
Your shield pressure game is very superb though. It was amazing seeing it.
I notice you don't do the instant 2xJump trick on your soul-fisting (missile spam). Are you aware of that tech or do you chooses against it because the Peach might catch you and then you're stuck in the air without a DJ?

Eh that's all I got for that first set. I have to say watch out with your UpBs

Thanks. I'm just not very good at these double jump missiles and the full jump missiles are alright, I think. I will practice them eventually.

 

[iRobinhoood]

Thanks. I'm just not very good at these double jump missiles and the full jump missiles are alright, I think. I will practice them eventually.

Knut helped me with this. His/mine technique, or if he still uses this one I'm not sure, is to slide your finger across the Y/X buttons in a slide fashion.

 

[Litt]

Yeah Robbinhood that tech has been around long before you or knut

 

[JerkPhil]

I'm doing them by tap jumping into X. It works fine too
Actually I do ledge drop -> jump -> Bair/Dair/Nair, and aerials OoS with tap jump too. I'm weird.

 

[Litt]

that is weird and inefficient, I say fix that problem jerk

 

[JerkPhil]

Weird, yes, but it's not inefficient nor a problem. It's just how I do it, cause I find it easier to do the Nair OoS frame perfect by using another finger for the jump.

 

[abcool]

Hey, guys! Usually I play impatience aggro Fox players and do well, but ones that like to run around and wait for an opening kind of putting me in a confused state. I don't want to hold shield because it will get smaller and I might get shield stabbed and I don't want to dash to close because i'll get a naired to something else. Tell me how to deal with this kind of play. http://youtu.be/A2ngMEglvCU

 

[iRobinhoood]

Yeah Robbinhood that tech has been around long before you or knut

I didn't literally mean 'our' technique per say. I meant it's the technique we use/used.

 

[Litt]

yeah i know, I use it too, best way to dj missile cancel imo

 

[Jagoffian]

Managed to get a set recorded at a tournament yesterday.

http://www.twitch.tv/macdsmash/b/492779387?t=9m20s

First pools match of the day, and I think it showed in all the SDs =_=

 

[ManoxMano]

10:39, when shiek was recovering, you NEEDED to hold that ledge. Way too important for the matchup, much more important then taking time to shoot missle
Before that you recover kinda hastily and you don't sweetspot the ledge with grapple. I think one more bomb jump could've got you there, so be a little more patient with the recov

11:38ish: I really liked that missile conversion.

12:05ish: watch how you get punished hard for using that uptilt. Watch the slow moves in this MU, as shiek gets lots of mileage off of her little things (grab, d-atk) and she def. uses them for punishes. Same goes for whenever you try using d-smash.

1420ish: too much missiles again

1426ish: shiek on the platform, shielding, and you don't really do anything to her. You could have tried bomb pressure. I'll attribute this to the fact that you full jump rather then short hop, which is what you probably wanted?

16:10ish:if you didnt use that jump early in that recovery you def. woulda made it back. Patience!

I also have issues with your shield pressure throughout the whole game. It generally revolved around moving around the guys shield making him scared and then punishing whatever oos option he does. That's fine. But using the smash attacks on his shield so excessively, when you have no information on his playstyle is not ok to me. It's so risky! To me it looked like one hail mary after another, and it only worked 3-4 times max the whole set. Not to mention smash attacks on shield means you lose all advantage for the tradeoff of maybe getting the smash atk.
I have no problems with this kind of play. But you need to have more information about the guy's oos game before you go using those smash-attack-trump-cards. That way the next time you get him trapped you'll be more prepared. Also this kind of shield pressure game relies heavily on reaction, so be a little more patient and relaxed. When I know something is coming - for me at least - it helps to be a little more zen. I felt that sometimes you rushed using the smash attack because you felt that he was gonna do something oos as opposed to actually doing oos.
And mix up the shield pressure more! I can see the space balls within you, and he's all about mixing up all aspects of his play, so be sure to try some jab pressure, boms, block-string grabs, etc. You do it with your platform game so just apply the concepts to your shield pressure game

 

[JerkPhil]

I agree with ManoxMano on everything. I want to write his first sentence again as it's sooo important to grab the ledge from them when they're recovering. Make them upB on to the stage and get them with a wave land to Fsmash, or ledge hop to charge shot, or Dair -> Nair, bomb-Nair, Dair or Bair to get them back off stage. This is easiest on FD and PS as they can't reach a platform.
I don't know about you, but I find missile grabs very useful if you notice they shield the missiles a lot.
Sheik punishes Samus hard, so we need to be very careful, and not like dash attacking their shield. This is something I personally really need to improve myself.
You made several misses with your tech skill, like random air dodges, so they grab you for free. Were you warmed up? I need like 2 hours to warm up.

 

[Jagoffian]

stuff

Thanks for the critique! =) I agree that my edgeguarding was pretty awful this set. I know how crucial it is to take the ledge and react to her recovery, considering our range of motion. Applying shield pressure is really difficult for me to incorporate for some reason. I just panic when my opponent is just sitting in their shield, and either dance around and throw out a smash attack hoping they let their guard down, or flubbing a jab cancel and d-tilting their shield n_n. Bomb pressure is pretty much foreign to me, and I'm gonna try to consciously incorporate it into my game at the next tournament I attend. I totally agree that I was playing "rushed" and not reacting to my opponent, which is pretty much my mindset towards the MU as a whole. I feel like I have to overwhelm her with my movement and gamble on hard reads, which hasn't really gotten me far at all. I do need to play more patiently in general.

@ Jerk. I love using Missile -> Grab as well. It actually works pretty decently with Extender, since it can catch spot dodges. I don't consider playing my P:M pools as a warm-up, lol. That was my first melee match in a few hours. I played (and beat) another Sheik later on in pools, and I played noticeably better (no SDs, lol). Although I still had trouble dealing with needles interrupting my recovery :/

What are your guys' preferred stages for Sheik, btw? I think we can agree that FD is pretty awful, and I'm starting to lose faith in PS as well.

 

[JerkPhil]

I think stage selection depends a lot on the style of the Sheik. If they are campy, I prefer FoD.
If they are offensive, PS and DL64 would be better. As I'm not that good with platforms, I sometimes pick FD against them, as I think they need the platforms more than I do.

 

[ManoxMano]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1VCS7Qm8Jo

I played super ass sloppy, all because money was on the line. I gotta do more MMs to get that out of me. As for the actual gameplay, the only thing decent was my missile game. My defence, edgeguard, adaptation, and move choices were all sub-par. Tell me your thoughts

 

[Jagoffian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1VCS7Qm8Jo

I played super *** sloppy, all because money was on the line. I gotta do more MMs to get that out of me. As for the actual gameplay, the only thing decent was my missile game. My defence, edgeguard, adaptation, and move choices were all sub-par. Tell me your thoughts

I'm pretty bad at critiquing (mostly due to my inattentiveness), but I'll give it a shot. This is based on the first two games btw.

I'm sure you already know this, but make sure to sweetspot your Up-Bs. You got burned several times by CC D-smash when you landed on the stage; definitely opt for sweetspot grapple recovery (ideally you'd want low and close to the stage and rising grapple in order to avoid any ice block shenanigans). Your platform play was pretty sloppy in Game 1. @ 0:50, You made some odd decisions like wavelanding off the stage and missiling and losing stage control, instead of opting to drop through the platform and missile, which would've been a generally safe option considering your opponent whiffed an up-smash. You need to make sure to fast-fall your wavelands, as that makes stuff like waveland off platform->bair become pretty potent mix-ups. Your ledge game could use some work too, as you'd often ledgedash into a down-smash or something. If he's not sitting right at the edge -- but he's still fairly close -- don't be afraid to ledgehop stall a few times to bait him into wavedashing f-smashing or something, which you can promptly punish with a fair -> d-smash / up-b (the safer option). Ledgehop fair is actually really good in this match-up IMO. If you can convert that into a ledge-cancelled Up-B you can easily set-up for a Nana kill.

I think you definitely played too passive in this set; especially in Game 2 you ceded stage control a lot of times by wavedashing back even though you were still in an acceptable range to missile (5:10 for example). If you feel like you're at an awkward distance from them and you're afraid to missile, try laying a grounded bomb more often. He'll either wavedash into it, or probably SH ice block or something, which you can punish with SHMCs. It seemed to work well for you the few times you did it. This is also a good tactic for the Luigi MU.

Hmm, just some general stuff you should be aware of: Dash Attack isn't very good in this MU IMO, unless it's Sopo. It's super laggy on shield and it's like a guaranteed wavedash -> punish if you straight-up whiff it. Stick to missiles and spaced f-tilts. I don't think it's ever a good idea to come down with Nair if you're in the air and trying to regain your footing. You'll end just end up getting U-air juggled or shieldgrabbed. Try throwing out defensive fairs if they're u-air/bair-happy.

It's kinda late, so I might think of more stuff in the morning. Hope some of this makes sense! FWIW you played much better in Game 2. I initially questioned you CP'ing to FD, but considering you kept on getting punished for trying to use platforms Game 1, it worked out for you. Just be more confident in your edgeguards and be aware of how close you're able to missile safely; it's such a huge tool in this matchup, considering a lot of ICs have no idea how to deal with them, haha.

 

[ManoxMano]

Thank you for the advice Jaffogan. Yeah I do a lot of stupid things and it happens cause I'm just so careless lol. I also happened to be playing uncomfortable cause money was on the table so I played passively.
On your general advice, yeah I should try f-tilt a little more. I tried uptilt and stupid dsmashes and I ended up getting Wavedash-->jab-->grabbed by Iceies. During the set I was thinking of trying utilt--> jab to try and counteract it but just f-tilt never occurred to me lol. And the defensive fairs sound interesting. Is it only if they're in front of you though?

 

[Jagoffian]

No prob dude, if you had played more confidently and cleaned up your tech skill a bit, it definitely would've been a close set. Your opponent seemed to not know the MU very. U-tilt definitely has a huge payoff if it hits, but once the ICs start playing more defensively and in shield, ftilt is the better overall option. Yeah, I would only fair if they're fishing for a bair or trying to stuff your bomb juking with an uair. If they're behind you, idk. Just mix-up your bomb recovery and Nair conservatively. I know from experience that retreating bair is generally an inferior option, lol.

 

[JerkPhil]

ICs are one of my favourite match ups. Samus is probably ICs' second worst match up after Peach imo.
My stage preference is PS>FD>DL as they are all wide enough for us to spam those missiles.
The ICs I play wobbles from every grab, so I've learned to keep my distance and always pick the safest option, as in no risk - low reward.
Missiles are Nana's worst nightmare.
Never hit their shield with a laggy move. They will wave dash OoS and grab to death.
Late Dair is great against them. As they are so slippery, they slide away if we hit their shield. If we hit, follow up with a Dsmash (at lower %) or Nair/Dair (at higher %) to send Nana away. Killing a separated Nana is easy, so don't hesitate. Focus her.
Fully charged shots goes through the ice blocks and hits them. Remember this.
I wish I had footage of my Samus vs ICs...

 

[ycz12]

Me vs Zoso https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cJ6NZlq8OSo#t=109

Interested in critiques on games 1 and 3, which are vs Marth and Sheik respectively. Ignore game 2 if you value your sanity :|

 

[JerkPhil]

First game, you lost cause of impatient edge guarding.
You did a good job staying grounded.
The combo starting at 4:35 was lovely.

I don't have anything to say vs Sheik :/

 

[ycz12]

I feel like I could beat Zoso's Sheik if I understood the matchup better... it's worse than his other characters, and certainly not as good as KDJ's Sheik (which destroys me every time). I even beat it with Falco two weeks ago

I guess I should be specific. Any tips for dealing with needle camping? Shielding is not good. Standing on platforms is okay ,but opens them up to run underneath you. Grabbing the ledge gives up a lot of space and is kind of risky and doesn't actually deal with the problem. Doing platform missiles is also okay, but decent Sheiks will just dodge the Smash missiles and swat away the homing ones (or shoot charged needles through them all ).

I think a reasonable goal in that situation is to get an unimpeded land-cancel missile at ground level and then wavedash forward behind it. One good way to do this to stand on a platform and wait for the Sheik to jump, throw a needle, or dash forward, then immediately drop through and missile.

shout outs to btw

 

[Phonz]

http://youtu.be/utLPdFPfEAQ
http://youtu.be/UAFWCRDy-Pg

here are some friendly sets vs. a jigglypuff ignore the salty ganon pick in the second link.
i felt like i made poor decisions on shield and a quite a few missile messups. i really don't like the jiggs matchup so advice is much appreciated.

 

[JerkPhil]

First of all, you are not punishing those missed rests optimally. A Fsmash doesn't do as much damage as a Dair to Dsmash (at lower %) or Nair (higher %) for example. Also don't forget to charge your shot when you get the opportunity (like missed rests). They really are important against Puff.
Secondly, you're way too aggressive. Shoot missiles and play from shield.
Thirdly, recover low. Samus can't challenge Puff in the air. Save your second jump.
Fourthly, don't dash attack or smash Puff's shield. She will rest you.

 

[Phonz]

Thanks for the advice. Also what options do i have on shield because i do notice my poor shield options. And when you say im playing too aggro what exactly do you mean, because when i was playing these matches i felt like i was passive. One last thing i always feeled pressured by constant bairs do you have any tips to deal with this?

 

[JerkPhil]

I'll answer when I'm sober.

 

[Phonz]

I'll answer when I'm sober.

haha good plan

 

[MintyFlesh]

http://www.twitch.tv/saltedbread/b/503636073

1:12:00

1:40:00

Lemme know what I can improve on, thanks :d

 

[MintyFlesh]

http://www.twitch.tv/saltedbread/b/503636073

1:12:00

1:40:00

Lemme know what I can improve on, thanks :d

 

[JerkPhil]

Phonz, I see you jumping against Puff with dash attacks, Dairs and Nairs.
From shield you can upB, Nair and wave dash into tilts.
If the Puff spaces the Bairs perfectly, there's nothing to do but to create some distance. I like wide stages vs Puff as it's easy to get stuck on the edge with limited options on smaller stages.
Charge shot beats Puff's Bairs.
I get most of my KOs with charge shot.

 

[Phonz]

ok thanks for the info ill work on that

 

[ManoxMano]

MintyFlesh I'll talk about your Falcon Match
G1 great playing, solid fundamentals, good reads. Watch your platform missile game though, many times he caught you underneath with an up-air. So watch the spacing for that, use safer options like SHmissile. The last stock you lost you lost your defense and he kept getting hits on you.

G2 Your wdback u-tilt starts being nullified, it's good that you quit using it. But you were giving him way too much space to move around by retreating too much, and that def. hurt you. You also need to try some more out of ledge techniques in the future. I think you were using the f-air way to much and you ended up using it in places were it just wouldnt have worked. You missed a few key edgeguards - no worries, just practice it more with your falcon buddies.

G3+G4 No comment, just on Yoshi's he manage to upair you a bit more again

Overall - Good work. Definitely watch the spacing for that running nair, and standing nair, you got hit by it quite a few times and a better falcon woulda continued that combo. I feel like your movement is too passive for the matchup and it lets him take complete control over when and where he gets to approach you. You can combat this by choking him with Missile approaches, platform wavelanding mindgames and just more moving foward. One thing that I felt was that you forgot to grab during G2 and a bit in the rest of the set. Def. many opportunities to do so but it never happened. Otherwise, your performance was great.