The Redundancy of Mains

[Dirty Duck]

This thread title might be a little bit misleading, but it is technically what I'm talking about I guess.

So we all have mains I'm sure, characters we enjoy playing as, who we train as and get better as constantly, we play them more than every other character. But when you're fighting someone who seems to only play as their main, does it not get a bit annoying? Repetitive in some cases?

For instance, I have a friend who mains Marth. And he's pretty good as him too. I still win, the problem isn't that I constantly lose against his Marth or anything, that's definitely not the case. But so many games as Marth, constant Marth, Marth Marth Marth. I just get a bit bored of him. He occasionally plays as Lucina instead, no difference really, and every so often he'd play as another character like ZSS, Zelda or Robin. But the overuse of Marth really just bores me sometimes, and it actually puts me off fighting the character in general.

I always try my best to be a good opponent in Smash, one that's fun to fight. As such, I make sure to choose a range of characters when fighting against friends, to mix it up a little. I never just constantly use one character, for courtesies sake if nothing else. I may be able to do this because I still haven't decided on a single main, I've fluctuated between a number of characters. I've gone from Sheik, to Marth, to Ness, to Mario, and now I'm moving towards Wario. But even then I don't restrict myself to these characters.

I don't want to sound like I'm whining, but is it just me who gets incredibly bored fighting the same fighter so many times? I appreciate they may want to get better as them, but as their opponent it's just oh so very repetitive.

 

[Xermo]

 

[_gold_]

My main is ZSS, and it sounds like I'm pretty similar to your friend. I probably use my main too much than what's good for me. If whoever you're playing against is playing in a good, sportsmanlike manner, than you should cut them a bit more slack. Your friend probably just wants to get really familiar with Marth, and switching between too many characters can get a bit distracting when you're trying to get good with your main.

I know what you mean though, playing against the same character can get annoying. Especially when you can't outplay them. But your friend, like I said, is just trying to practice a lot with Marth. I suppose that's why they call it your "main".

 

[HeroMystic]

The greatest remedy to this is to have more than one friend to play against.

Smashfests, Tournaments, and online play are all great ways to solve this.

 

[ATH_]

Against my closer friends, we have matches where we agree to play characters we're good with and others where we don't care who plays what.

Sometimes we'll just use random character select and have a stupid time. Other times we'll get serious and train with our mains for an hour straight. Matters the mood.

 

[Dirty Duck]

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to put him down about his use of Marth, he clearly likes the character and I can appreciate that. It's more just asking if anyone else feels my pain when I don't have many friends who play Smash. Heck even this friend in question is an internet friend. My old Smash friend who I spent 100s of hours with on Brawl as a multitude of characters seems uninterested now, and I have to take my Wii U round his if we ever do play (he only lives 2 doors up but still). Now I have 1 friend I know IRL who plays Smash, and 3 internet friends who play. This person in question is the one who plays the most, and whilst I do appreciate playing with him,somedays I'm just sick of fighting Marth, but he's all I have so I'm a bit stuck.

I'd love to go to tournaments and friendlies and the likes but I've not exactly found one near me. I'm not bashing anyone for using a character perhaps a bit more than I'd like, just asking if anyone else has this problem, and if it actively makes them want to fight a person less.

Against my closer friends, we have matches where we agree to play characters we're good with and others where we don't care who plays what.

Sometimes we'll just use random character select and have a stupid time. Other times we'll get serious and train with our mains for an hour straight. Matters the mood.

See this was the kind of Smashing I did with my old Brawl friend, a lot of variety and all the games were played in person. It was the most fun I ever had with a game tbh

 

[Khao]

Just earlier this month, I was playing some 1v1 Melee matches with my boss.

Dude was going Link.

Link.

Link.

LinkLinkLinkLinkLinkLink.

I was kinda starting to get sick of playing and I didn't even know why. I mean, I love Smash, since when do I get bored when playing it? I can go several hours straight at home, and that's just when playing alone!

I told myself "**** it, this is my last game." I was ready to quit.

Then he switched characters.

The game instantly got fun once again. Wow.

So yeah, I can definitely see this as an issue. I actually switch characters a lot. In Smash 4, I got three mains, two of them which have clones so it's sorta five. Got two secondaries. About ten "Characters I love playing as but am not necesarily good with" and even then, there's not a single character in the game I don't at least enjoy or know how to use.

So when I'm forced to fight against the exact same character over and over and over and over it really gets a bit tiring.

 

[HeroMystic]

I'm not bashing anyone for using a character perhaps a bit more than I'd like, just asking if anyone else has this problem, and if it actively makes them want to fight a person less.

Oh I certainly do. My main practice partner only uses Captain Falcon, while I use Mario and Rosalina. Playing against his Falcon for hours on end can be tiresome. But that's when we mix it up by playing FFA with his girlfriend. Very amusing.

 

[Kenith]

I have this issue, but inversed. I don't want to use just my main, but I don't want to spread my practice and skill too thin either.
What to do...

 

[ChefKef]

My problem is I have about 4 practice partners, all with a wide range of characters. That's just it though. Too many characters. They have ADD and will not settle down and get good at one character, while I have 3 characters mastered that I have a 90% chance of beating the if I play. The other problem is, with school and my schedule of other rehearsals, they are the only people I can play. And there is such a small Smash 4 scene where I am, we basically are the scene.

 

[ATH_]

See this was the kind of Smashing I did with my old Brawl friend, a lot of variety and all the games were played in person. It was the most fun I ever had with a game tbh

Then you've gotta make some buddies! Online or offline, friends make games worth it. It's intended as a game to play with others ^^

(not implying that that is the only thing that can make a game worth it)

 

[JingleJangleJamil]

I don't really have this problem since the friend I mostly play this game with is pretty good with quite a few characters, though last time I played with him for like the first hour he was using nothing but Pikachu since he just picked him up. It was annoying so we just did stuff like played on some of his custom stages with items on for a bit and when we got back to playing serious I learned how to beat his Pikachu so he started using his other mains again.

 

[Raijinken]

Being tired of repetition is why I have such a hard time picking a main. I also like learning which characters match up well against my friends' mains (or at least in matches between me and them), which is impossible if our match variety is 2/51sts of the roster.

It's also why the only player I'm fine with playing my main against constantly is my brother. Because we've played so much, neither of us consistently wins. Against most of my other friends, playing my main just means I don't really want to have to experiment or think cleverly to win, I can use 13-year old strategies tweaked slightly to new physics.

 

[outfoxd]

It doesn't bother me do much because I have limited focus. I Only have one or two characters I play and I could play the same match for hours. Might be from coming from stuff like Virtua Fighter where most people only have time for two characters at the most.

 

[Born in 1839...]

Just be like 75% of all ****ing players and choose Link or Captain Falcon only

 

[Flaxr XIII]

I 100% agree. I mean, there's nothing wrong with trying to perfect one character but after the 3rd or 4th match against the same character it just gets tedious. Mix it up.
I myself am starting to break out of the "Shulk goes first" mindset that I had in For Glory and I'm having lots more fun with it.

 

[Jibbablabba]

Yes, this gets very tiring. I hate when people don't use variety, to me it shows their playstyle is stale since they only play as one person. Cousin and friend of mine only use Mii Fighter. I wish I was kidding, I literally do everything i can to not play against them because they never pick anything else.
For Glory, for funsies I let random decide, then when I need to go Big Boy mode I choose one of my mains. Of course after 3 matches if they haven't switched once I'm gone. Because I'll get bored and either "win too much" or "Lose too much" because they literally breathe that character.

 

[Lavani]

I actually have the opposite feelings. If someone beats me into the ground with, say, a really good Mega Man, I want to keep practicing against their Mega Man and learn as much as I can; it irritates me when they switch to a secondary, especially if it's nowhere near as polished as their main.

If I want to fight a different character I can just fight a different person. I suppose I can somewhat sympathize if you play that one person often and don't enjoy the matchup, though.

Also from a personal perspective, I only feel compatible with threeish characters in the cast. All my other characters are so bad it's essentially disrespect just for me to hover the chip over their icon on character select. Not all of us can freely play a large pool of characters at a competent level.

 

[CCTANK93]

It's funny because my issue with playing my friend is that he won't stop until he beats my Lucina. He pretty much won't let me switch until he beats me so I actually start to get bored of my own character because I like to switch it up as well. I mean I love playing as Lucina but playing for hours and not even switching from 1 on 1, no items, FD only matches can become boring.

 

[Lazyboy0337]

I never minded it because if you're both good with your main then you can have a serious match between two skilled opponents. I never really found it boring since a good match, regardless of repitition, is still a good match.

 

[Akago]

I mean ultimately the point of mains is to perfect a singular character, and trying to do well with everything is simple irrational.

I've always tried to have 2 characters to be proficient in, and 1 to be a "surprise" pick in each game. I decided on that from the Mew2King style of "Marth + Sheik, and then sometimes Fox" style as a good way to cover lots of bases.

If you're friend wants to be good at it at a competitive level he's going to always gravitate towards a narrow selection of characters, and then you simply need more friends. Try find some nearby tournaments, find some netplay (if that's your thing), diversify your bonds.

Then again if your friend is only interested in "party game" style Smash and not being super good, and he's still only picking Marth, he's an idiot and you should buy a sword and Dolphin Slash him.

 

[JSG]

I love using my mains. But I won't hesitate to play with other characters from time to time, especially on winning streaks on FG. Because of the character diversity in this game, I feel as if limiting myself to even 3 characters just isn't getting the full deal. So while I have mains and practice with them consistently, I will still want to use other characters for fun to try something out. You never know what you may discover, anyways.

In tournament play, though, I'd only commit to a character until I lose a match with them. Then I switch off to another character I'm good at, rather than having a runback with the same character. I'd rather try something different rather than have my opponent be aware of what I can do with a certain character.

 

[PCHU]

I actually enjoy fighting people who have dedicated their time toward a primary character; gives me matchup experience and generally results in an interesting match.
People switching characters is whatever, let 'em do what they want; when their only strategy is "roll around and spam smashes" or "avoid all contact with opponent", that's when it annoys me -- not that I can't handle it, but their character selection usually reinforces their desire to win no matter what (Fox/Ness/Diddy/Luigi + same combo everyone and their mother knows), and I just want to get the match over as soon as possible.
It's just...uncomfortable.
I feel the same incentive to win, but it takes all the fun out of it when someone tries to lame me out.

 

[Leaf-Puffy]

For me, it depends if I'm fighting a stronger opponent or not. For example, if i'm fighting a guy which is stronger than me I'll spam my main(s) to give him some challenge and I'll try to win. At the opposite, if I'm stronger than the opponent (and if it's not a tournament or something like this, ofc) I'll play random or take some character I like to play with even if I'm not strong with them, so it balances the game a bit.

 

[Octavium]

I can't get bored from playing the same character, or having my opponent play the same character constantly. I could play the same match-up for a full day and not really care. But I still tend to change characters 25-40% of the time since I know my opponent may not enjoy it.

But if they do enjoy playing against my main, then i'll play my main all day. Honestly its the only character I seem to have fun with. (The only characters I've had ''fun'' with are ZSS>C. Falcon>Kirby) I play and occasional Samus and Ganon.

 

[Pryze]

For the past three games I've been a Ness purist, I can't imagine that my friends would get bored of that, considering most of them only play one character as well.

I myself have never had a problem with people only playing one character, so long as that one character of theirs is played well.

 

[Hellrazor]

I always have a clear main, but I very rarely play the same character two matches in a row. It starts feeling procedural and bland if I do, which is why I like mixing up the characters I play just for the hell of it. I'll start off with Luigi then swap to Fox for the next round, then go Shulk or Lucina, etc. until looping back to Luigi.

 

[Sean²]

I actually enjoy 10+ matches in a row of the same two characters. I feel like if this person is skilled with their character, it'll give me a chance to work on the matchup with a character I want to be skilled with. If we play each other a lot and are both really good against one another with two certain characters then it gets boring, and a switch is refreshing.

Depends on the character they play as well. If they play a fast paced/skilled Falcon, I'll be more inclined to play the same character repeatedly than against projectile camping Link.

 

[JingleJangleJamil]

I actually have the opposite feelings. If someone beats me into the ground with, say, a really good Mega Man, I want to keep practicing against their Mega Man and learn as much as I can; it irritates me when they switch to a secondary, especially if it's nowhere near as polished as their main.

If I want to fight a different character I can just fight a different person. I suppose I can somewhat sympathize if you play that one person often and don't enjoy the matchup, though.

Also from a personal perspective, I only feel compatible with threeish characters in the cast. All my other characters are so bad it's essentially disrespect just for me to hover the chip over their icon on character select. Not all of us can freely play a large pool of characters at a competent level.

I agree,but keep in mind we are talking about when we play with people we know,not random players on For Glory.

 

[HFlash]

Well, if your friend is trying to get better (since you say you are constantly beating him) then he should probably try to master one character. Marth got some big nerfs this game and I completely respect people who pick him up/ stuck with him. Imo, he is just kind of a boring, spacing, has to be defensive character. If you want your matches to be more fun, pick quick, fun characters (cough FALCON cough) and see how they fare with Marth.

 

[MarioFireRed]

I have about 15 characters (17 if you include Pit and Lucina) I can competently play beyond the basic level, both when training offline and playing locally/online against friends, and I switch around with them so much that I almost never use a character twice in a session so I can see what you mean by playing someone different to keep the matches fresh. My friends each stick to around five to seven characters to routinely use against me and it can get tiring to see them only use their limited roster and not expand their horizons like I did.

Granted I'm still totally fine with character frequency between me and my opponent as long as both of us are good with the characters we picked, no matter how often the character gets picked or how long the session gets.

 

[HylianDuelist]

Despite Sonic being my main, I mostly use a ton of characters. I honestly use Megaman more than Sonic, actually

 

[Roukiske]

Sounds like you're bored of fighting your friend. Only reason why this would happen is if I assume you normally win, maybe all the time. I'd get bored too to be honest. If the matches were close I don't see myself getting bored. Quite the contrary if your friend is losing a lot I think its more fun for them. When I'm playing friendlies and I lose I feel the challenge and have fun with that.

Played thousands of Fox v Falcon melee matches with 1 person and never got bored. Always close matches. TBH maybe there aren't enough options in this game or in your play to really set each match apart. If it feels like the all matches are similar then ya, the game in general would get boring. In general though I have more fun playing my character than playing against a character so with that logic I would suggest just playing a bunch of characters.

Personally I'm not annoyed if you play 1 character a million times in a row, I'm just stunned the person doing it isn't getting bored. I knew a guy who played Shiek 24/7... dunno how he did it.

 

[misterOWAIN33]

You should tell your friend how you feel, and find a way to work through your problem. Together.

-Every therapist/guidance counselor ever.
If that doesn't/wouldn't work, I would try using ONLY one character and seeing how he likes it.
If he likes it...
...

You should tell your friend how you feel, and find a way to work through your problem. Together.

 

[Ultresmasher5]

I only use my mains when I'm trying to actually win. Otherwise, I'll just use a character that l like, that's fun or that I want to try out. Special mentions go to for just having fun attacks

 

[Gabukin]

Personally its not fun playing against players who constantly change their characters.

While I do agree it can seem repetitive at times, its a learning experience. Just because you are able to beat your friends Marth doesn't really mean you've perfected the Match Up. You can always learn new techniques to use against him. Start experimenting with different approaches or Follow Up's. Learn What that Specific character can & cannot do.

 

[FalKoopa]

Going random between serious matches helps. It's a good way to get the hang of most of the characters too.

 

[Octavium]

Snip

Exacly, more learning the matchup, less trouble against that character in the future, however this helps the most if the character is a popular pick in the first place, which I doubt marth is.

But I hate when my opponent wins a close game in friendlies with a specific character, then changes the character next match. Because I'm usually confident I adapted and could easily take the next game. I feel like they dismiss my potential for learning. Even though they probably just wanna pick another character to have fun.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

To be honest I don't have a hard fast main. I have characters I use more often but I'd become really bored if I didn't play a large variety of characters.

Then again I'm not really that competitive.

 

[Rikter]

I prefer to do a few hours of both random before getting to the serious playtime of Ganondorf vs Captain Falcon. It only bothers me if it's just playing that one single matchup all the time but I fully understand why my friend wishes to keep playing Falcon and only Falcon for the time being.