The Hardest Decision: Dropping Mains.

[Marthmario]

Well, if you're here, you are either spilt between two characters or just looking to free up yourself from so many characters. So, we here in this thread would like to help you decide! So go ahead and post all your concerns/reasons for (not) wanting to drop your current main(s)!

 

[Angrycuban]

well peach is my favorite character and my melee main, but i feel like she is just not very good in this game so i tried a lot of other characters and i found Wolf working really well for me. It sucks to pick a character because hes better over the character i actually like the most but you gotta do what you gotta do to win i guess haha.

 

[Marthmario]

I think you should stick with Peach and pick up Wolf. Nothing wrong in playing 2 characters.

 

[Angrycuban]

I think you should stick with Peach and pick up Wolf. Nothing wrong in playing 2 characters.

Yeah thats probably what will happen, but my wolf has been doing a lot better than my peach ever did in tournament and friendlies lately. Which is saying a lot since ive been playing peach for years (i even played her in brawl & she was horrible in brawl) and i literally picked up wolf last week. So I feel like eventually my wolf will start becoming the character i play when i want to win and ill play peach when i wanna have fun. Nothing wrong with that but still kinda wish they just buffed peach lol

 

[Marthmario]

Yeah thats probably what will happen, but my wolf has been doing a lot better than my peach ever did in tournament and friendlies lately. Which is saying a lot since ive been playing peach for years (i even played her in brawl & she was horrible in brawl) and i literally picked up wolf last week. So I feel like eventually my wolf will start becoming the character i play when i want to win and ill play peach when i wanna have fun. Nothing wrong with that but still kinda wish they just buffed peach lol

They did buff Peach. I think you're suffering from the fact that you're used to her, so just drop peach for a while and come back to her.

 

[Renji64]

i had to drop a few mains it was hurting me from mastering characters. also i will have to do this in smash 4 due to mario will suck most likely sick of the fludd.

 

[Xinc]

I had Falco and mained him in the PM 1 Demo but I feel like I can't play as him anymore, so back to Marth. Still can't SHDFair though unless I hit someone with the first hit. o.o

 

[Angrycuban]

They did buff Peach. I think you're suffering from the fact that you're used to her, so just drop peach for a while and come back to her.

yeah i know her up tilt is better and her recovery is buffed but she just doesnt feel as good. Theres just a lot of bad match ups for her in this game. Your probably right on over using her though haha

 

[Guilu]

Play both your old main and your new main in parallel.
Wait a month or two.
Realise you no longer enjoy one of the two.
Drop him.

Done !
In your case angrycuban, you're already between step 2 and 3. You're not doing well with Peach and having fun with another character. That character might stick or it might not, but it won't take long until you know which it is and are either comforted in your Peach maining or abandon her entirely because we ultimately do not like losing.

 

[Burnsy]

"Because they aren't good" is a reason that really doesn't apply to anyone right now. There may be characters you don't do well with but for the most part all the characters have what they need to get it done.

 

[Marthmario]

"Because they aren't good" is a reason that really doesn't apply to anyone right now. There may be characters you don't do well with but for the most part all the characters have what they need to get it done.

Like. Every character is amazing.

 

[Terotrous]

I typically play Random, so I have this problem worse than anyone. In order to get really good at this game I'd likely have to focus on a single character, but that probably won't ever happen.

 

[Marthmario]

I typically play Random, so I have this problem worse than anyone. In order to get really good at this game I'd likely have to focus on a single character, but that probably won't ever happen.

Start with one, then work your way up to 4. After that, get good at those four.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

For me, I'm not really dropping a main, but I have ventured off into the world of dual mains and secondaries, because of certain match ups that are extremely unfavorable, perhaps to campy and in some cases, near unwinable (70:30 MU). It took me a little bit of time, but I've realized, to truly do well in competitive play, you will need more than a one man army. Also, I always wanted to play a character where being technical really shows and befits the character and I do love me some combos and a good punish game. I also like to be flashy. I don't really wanna be the guy that does the useless, unnecessary technical stuff, I just wanna make myself feel like I'm greatest when I pull something off.

So my main is Mario, but I started to play pit because he was my brawl main, he has a play style that compliments how I play and he is a strong character that makes some match ups more tolerable and even wins some that Mario doesn't fair well with. I also picked up fox. I've always loved him, even before I knew about the technical side of smash, so after learning how smash could really be played, I knew I would go to him one day. With those 3, I don't think I will need anyone else, but I do think I will switch my main to fox because he would take the most to develop, given the sheer amount of choices he has. Mario is rather simple and I have pretty good muscle memory with him. Pit, I'm still working on him, but so far, he is rather strong for me and there isn't a lot of tech needed to do well with him ether.

 

[A6stringthing (A6ST)]

How many characters should one play on average? Also, how much is too much?

 

[Terotrous]

Start with one, then work your way up to 4. After that, get good at those four.

Nah, one of the things I like about Smash is it's one of the only fighting games that's accessible enough that you can play most of the cast with some degree of competence. It's not like I'm ever going to go to a tournament anyway, and unless PM sets up their own wifi server we're going to lose online play in a couple months too.

 

[mimgrim]

I've been having a hard time finding a main for PM. :L

My main is always based on that character that just "clicks" and feels absolutely right. And the my sub will be someone who compliments the character, however the past 3 smash games made this easy by having characters with no bad MU (Basically I sub Pikachu in 64, One of the Spacies in Melee (in this case Falco), and Meta Knight in Brawl). PM is much more MU based and no character probably has MU layout like certain characters did in the past games and I'll probably end up having 2 subs. But finding that main is the most important for me right now. There are a ton of characters the feel good to play as, but I'm not really sure which one just "clicks" with me.

Characters I have been leaning towards are, in no particular order; Squirtle, Lucario, Wolf, Ike, Zelda, Sheik, Peach, Mario, Pit, ZSS, Link, Mewtwo, Yoshi, Lucas, Samus, and Fox. I just can't figure out which one clicks. ;-;

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

How many characters should one play on average? Also, how much is too much?

Well all characters have weaknesses so at the bare minimum, two characters. You should try picking a sub character to counter your main character's weaknesses. If you want more characters, first see if a certain play style or character beats what you have. If something does ether learn to counter it or pick another character. If you have everything covered with your two characters of choice, and you still want more, play whoever you want. Too much would be enough characters that it effects how you play your other characters. So, 3 characters could be too much for you, it just depends on the person.

 

[Marthmario]

How many characters should one play on average? Also, how much is too much?

I personally think 4, I play 6, but four is a good number.
1. Main
2. Covers your mains bad MUs
3. Covers more MUs
4. Character you just want to play as

 

[Marthmario]

If curious, I main:

 

[A6stringthing (A6ST)]

Alright, I'll stop at 4. I main Wario and I'm considering learning Mewtwo because I think he'll do great against characters that Wario does poorly against due to his lack of range.

 

[Marthmario]

Alright, I'll stop at 4. I main Wario and I'm considering learning Mewtwo because I think he'll do great against characters that Wario does poorly against due to his lack of range.

Excellent! Once you feel comfortable with those two, move on to more! That's what I did!

 

[TreK]

I dual mained for my whole brawl career and it was a mistake I don't plan on making again. I'm maining Ivysaur and I'm sticking to my guns this time.

I do kinda use in friendlies other characters I find fun like ZSS and Luigi though. But I don't train them.

 

[Mera Mera]

How many characters should one play on average? Also, how much is too much?

It really depends on your goal for smash. Will you be going to smashfests and/or tournaments? And if so, are you aiming to get really good? Then you should stick to 1 or 2 characters for a long time before spreading out. A long time being like putting 1000 hours into your main first at least. And those 1000 hours can't just be playing, they have to be playing with you always having something in mind to improve on or test.

I fit in this category with Zard... while my sig lists secondaries, I really play Zard 95% of the time. Roy is useful to train with on the side imo cause he's good at tech chasing, shffling, and dash dancing/fox trotting/wave dashing (to f-tilt or d-tilt normally). This means you easily see the benefit of said fundamentals when playing with him cause they are rewarded more intensely and more often, so it has indirectly helped my Zard. That and Roy is sick. Such a fun character.

If you just want to do well against your friends then... eh... use how ever many characters you want to use I guess. Just know that you really won't be stretching any barriers with your characters if you focus on too many.

 

[Caz1]

I mained Falco in Melee, and as much as I wanted to play him in P:M when I switched over I just couldn't. The visuals and sound effects are different and I just can't get over that it seems. So I switched to Marth, and then that carried back over to Melee and I feel like I've abandoned my love Falco completely. I'm not sure if I have a point to this post, but it seemed like the right place to post since it's about dropping a main.

 

[Marthmario]

Hmm, it seems we've gotten a bit off focus, at least in the way I intended. So, anyone need help finding new mains or wondering whether they should replace a current main? And I have a long message that convinced me that 4 was the way to go, so I kinda stuck to it. Also, I'm thinking about dropping a character for Charizard, I'm considering dropping Pit at this point :/

 

[Fortress]

If anybody in this thread needs help finding a reason to drop a main, think of it like this:

If you're seeking mastery of the game, or at the very least a well-developed gamesense and high-level ability to compete, then I strongly consider focusing on the game through one character. Learn the fundamentals of the game through a consistent set of 'rules' as determined by your character pick, execute on your bread-and-butter skills until they're sharp as a razor through sheer focus and hyperbolic time chamber-like practice, and understand the game through one character's physics, movement, movesets, and so on. If you're the kind of person who's got "PM Mains: Mario, ROB, Jigglypuff, Ivysaur, Charizard, Wolf, Link, Zelda, Bowser, Lucario" in their signature, then this will benefit you.

The first thing you'll need to (and start) realizing, is that you will never have a higher understanding and truly consistent experience with this game through the play of multiple characters. Don't main multiple characters to patch up weak points in your particular matchup without first truly learning how to deal with that matchup with your character. Your level of growth will accelerate once you've begun to focus on the game through one lens. Trust me, attempting to learn this game while switching around between multiple sets of stats, physics, movesets, and various character-specific properties will only stunt your growth and hold you back. Only once you've developed a true sense for the game and a real understanding of fundamentals (which goes waaaaay beyond simply knowing universal and character specific tech) can you begin to move forward and feel truly comfortable through another character.

Look at any top-tier player out there right now, and examine how they got there. It wasn't through use of multiple cast members to make up for poor matchups, no. Those players took years to figure the game out, and years beyond that to develop on that understanding of the game. Once they reached a certain level, these players were able to move on comfortably and effectively to another character. M2K didn't master Marth and Fox at the same time, after all.

Anyway, hope this gives some of the people who end up in this thread a reason to stick to one character. Trust me, if you're in it for the long-haul, for the serious play, then this will help you tremendously.

 

[RazeriaN]

Well, I simply had to drop Ice climbers. I played Ice climbers in melee (for the 2 months that i played melee) and i loved the character and was happy with it. But with P:M Ice climbers require a good ammount of work to be usable, there for I had to drop it completly. Fox, Luigi and squirtle were the other characters that had my attention. Picked Fox and i really enjoy playing him. What im going to do is, I'll try to learn even my weak M/U so I can play atleast 1 character at a decent level competitively.

 

[Terotrous]

Look at any top-tier player out there right now, and examine how they got there.

To be quite honest the path to greatness is really pretty simple - play tons of matches against top quality players. I mean sure, fundamentals are nice and all, but no amount of time in the lab will make you great if you don't experience actual competition. As a corollary, this means that if you don't have big tournaments to go to or don't plan on doing it you might as well play whomever you want because you're never going be really competitive anyway.

As for choosing a main, most people will settle in on someone when they're fighting skilled opponents simply because they want to win. I play as random when playing against my friend, but in a serious match I would likely use Ivysaur because it would give me the best chance of winning, so there you go. If I played a lot of tournament matches my Ivysaur would eventually become decent.

Also, I can't speak for this game, but I have played against a lot of the top Divekick players and many of them can play the whole cast at least moderately well.

 

[Fortress]

I never said that you could develop sound fundamentals without playing against other players. Experimenting with tech in a controlled environment will only get you so far.

 

[Terotrous]

I never said that you could develop sound fundamentals without playing against other players. Experimenting with tech in a controlled environment will only get you so far.

I know, I was just summarizing. Your post made it sound pretty complex, but it's really not.

 

[mimgrim]

My problem for PM is just finding that main to use. x_x

I found my main for 64, Melee, and Brawl. But I just can;t figure it out for PM. ;-;

 

[Terotrous]

My problem for PM is just finding that main to use. x_x

I found my main for 64, Melee, and Brawl. But I just can;t figure it out for PM. ;-;

Play random until something clicks.

 

[Fortress]

I know, I was just summarizing. Your post made it sound pretty complex, but it's really not.

No, it really isn't. Pick one character, stick with that character. You'll have a much easier time mastering the game.

 

[mimgrim]

Play random until something clicks.

I don' like every character though. I know which characters feel good to me. I just can't figure out which one clicks. ;-;

 

[Guilu]

Also, I can't speak for this game, but I have played against a lot of the top Divekick players and many of them can play the whole cast at least moderately well.

Divekick is a two-button fighter though.

 

[LOGIA666]

I dropped Wolf because I couldn't get the hang of his shine combos.
I put Marth and Ike into my sub main category because I prefer Roy over Marth, and I'm too sloppy and predictable with Ike.

 

[Fortress]

Divekick is a two-button fighter though.

Is this serious, or just bait.

 

[Guilu]

Is this serious, or just bait.

It's technical truth. Do post the outraged answer about Divekick's unsuspected depths though, I'd be interested in informing myself.

 

[Terotrous]

Is this serious, or just bait.

It's literally a two button game. There's not even directional buttons. The only way to move forward is to divekick.

It's still surprisingly competitive. Since even basic movement involves some form of commitment you have to really think about your spacing.

Also, there is more to it than just jump and kick, you also have special moves (both buttons), you build meter by kicking, different characters have different properties, etc.