What Character Should I Main.?

[Esther]

There is mainly 4 Characters I'm looking to main and just can't decide which one too pull the trigger on. I love Fast Paced movement, Gimps, Control, and Combos
(I know basic and advanced melee such as L-Cancel, Wavedash, Waveshine, DI, SDI and all that and can use them in play effectively).

Fox/Falco - (Most knowledgeable about these characters I know knockbacks percents and what I can and can't do and know my options) I love how fast they are and how you can be so input heavy and aggressive when using them and such. I can implement and use most tech for these characters.

Sheik - (Fits my playstyle the best) Full of gimps, combos, the touch of death element, full control of match, off stage edge guards

Ness - (Favorite character to play). Most enjoyable and makes me think when I play. Love the yoyo glitch. and odd movement

In terms of winning a match all of these characters are equal. I do average in my tournament locals. Ness may be because of all the jank and unknown match ups and stuff though...

So I was wondering if you guys could help me decide between the 4. Knowledge (Fox/Falco), Playstyle (Sheik), or Love of the Character (Ness).

 

[Estravo]

I would say ness for two reasons.
1: You have a lot of fun playing as ness and being ness
2: If you get good enough, you will barley lose, because if you know the fox matchup, then you will beat them, and nobody knows the ness matchup, since nobody uses ness. You could bring ness up the tier list like axe with Pikachu or BOX with puff.

 

[EPsilon933]

Players choose their own characters, not other players. They can make recommendations, but not final choices

Play all of them until you know for certain which character fits you best. For some, it can take up to a year

If you're playing to win, I recommend dropping Ness. He's really really bad. He simply can't do things like the tournament viable 8 can

 

[CptJPuff]

Play whomever fits your playstyle the best. So yeah, in your case, play Sheik.

If you do end up playing Ness (or anyone else that's not in the top 8-10) for whatever reason, expect a lot of people to not take you seriously.

 

[Estravo]

You should play who you have fun with. But don't make me choose for you.

 

[gmBottles]

I would say ness for two reasons.
1: You have a lot of fun playing as ness and being ness
2: If you get good enough, you will barley lose, because if you know the fox matchup, then you will beat them, and nobody knows the ness matchup, since nobody uses ness. You could bring ness up the tier list like axe with Pikachu or BOX with puff.

That's not true that they'll barely lose as Ness because of lack of MU knowledge. There's all sorts of jank that the top tiers can pull on low tiers that makes it simply tough to play as them at a high level.

Source: ex-Bowser main

I think that your main is a decision you have to make yourself. Take into consideration a few things:

1. How much fun you have with the character
2. How well you do with the character
3. How the character matches your preferred playstyle​

Keep these 3 things in mind and you shouldn't have too much trouble finding your main. It can take a while though for some people, especially if you play a lot of characters.
If you have the most fun playing Ness, I recommend playing him on the side, either for fun or as a secondary. This way, you can still play your favorite character while playing characters with more options and getting better at the game.

 

[pagedMov]

fox
he is the bestest

 

[Massive]

Sheik is the most bang for your buck if you want to get competitive quickly.

If you're more interested in unique gameplay and don't mind losing to people who started after you, go ahead and main Ness.

 

[Esther]

Players choose their own characters, not other players. They can make recommendations, but not final choices

Play all of them until you know for certain which character fits you best. For some, it can take up to a year

If you're playing to win, I recommend dropping Ness. He's really really bad. He simply can't do things like the tournament viable 8 can

I've actually been playing competitively for about a year and a half now. I know for a fact Sheik fits me best it's just that I think she's lame aha. Also I don't know much tech like I know for Fox, Falco, and Ness.

 

[Estravo]

That's not true that they'll barely lose as Ness because of lack of MU knowledge. There's all sorts of jank that the top tiers can pull on low tiers that makes it simply tough to play as them at a high level.

Source: ex-Bowser main

I think that your main is a decision you have to make yourself. Take into consideration a few things:

1. How much fun you have with the character
2. How well you do with the character
3. How the character matches your preferred playstyle​

Keep these 3 things in mind and you shouldn't have too much trouble finding your main. It can take a while though for some people, especially if you play a lot of characters.
If you have the most fun playing Ness, I recommend playing him on the side, either for fun or as a secondary. This way, you can still play your favorite character while playing characters with more options and getting better at the game.

That I agree with.

 

[AirFair]

It can be argued that Sheik is your best choice because of how easy it is to establish entry level fundamentals with her, and being tournament viable, may be a character you come to like.

 

[kevlar]

Personally, I believe you should play the character you love most. I say go Ness. Besides, if you become really good, beating people with Ness would be hilarious.

 

[necroTaxonomist]

Okay, this is my semi-professional opinion of which characters (that I'm reasonably familiar with) more-or-less correspond to which playstyles:
You value high ground speed and increased tech chasing ability. You're willing to sacrifice power for attacks that come out quickly.
You feel uncomfortable when dudes be gettin up in yo grill, so you like to maintain a distance between yourself and the opponent. You're willing to suffer some lag on your moves in exchange.
You value increased air mobility and a good recovery. You're comfortable weaving in and out of your opponents range and spacing bairs. OR you like that kkkkkssssshhh sound that Rest makes.
You like an aerial approach but you don't like spacing bairs. You prefer to use your mobility to get in your opponents face and peach them off the stage.
You like to play with style and do crazy back-flips and knees and ****. You're comfortable containing your character's high speed and you can use it to your advantage.
You REALLY like style. You're okay with being slow if it means you can do 20% with one hit.
You like to slide everywhere like you have butter on your shoes.
You think it's fun as hell to chain up-airs even though they do like 1% each.

If anyone wants to add to this list or tell me they disagree with something here feel free I'm open to criticism.

 

[CptJPuff]

He's the only character that's in the game. You're either going to play him or settle on the slower Smash games.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[Pachinkosam]

Maybe you can main peach or samus or better captain falcon rolf. ^_^

 

[necroTaxonomist]

Fixed that for ya.

Appreciate the help.

 

[Plunder]

^ This guy right here

I regret not going Fox from the start. Clearly superior in almost every aspect of Melee and there is so much room for style and growth.

 

[Estravo]

is my main and I love her combo's that carry you offstage, and the satisfaction of hitting a bomb or a stitch face

 

[LionsBarrage458]

You're a girl, so your obviously playing Melee for the attention. You may as well play Ness to 'differentiate' yourself from the crowd. Not like you would have the patience to get good at the game. Be realistic pumpkin.

 

[EPsilon933]

You're a girl, so your obviously playing Melee for the attention. You may as well play Ness to 'differentiate' yourself from the crowd. Not like you would have the patience to get good at the game. Be realistic pumpkin.

Such harsh wording

 

[LionsBarrage458]

Such harsh wording

I'm not incorrect.

 

[MurphyPrime]

You like to slide everywhere like you have butter on your shoes.
.

I would say with Luigi (in my humble and scrubby opinion), it's for people who love comboing like crazy but the speed of Falcon isn't as appealing. Also for people who worship RNGesus.

Also LionsBarrage458 , Can't tell if serious or not.

 

[LionsBarrage458]

MurphyPrime You tell me.

 

[MagicScrumpy]

I'm not incorrect.

Actually you are

 

[Roukiske]

I would say with Luigi (in my humble and scrubby opinion), it's for people who love comboing like crazy but the speed of Falcon isn't as appealing. Also for people who worship RNGesus.

Extremely accurate. Ice skating around the stage, long (IMO easy) combos on fast fallers (this heavily includes spacies), praying to RNGesus, and getting Shin Shoryukens is why I went from Fox to this guy.

 

[AH-6 Little Bird]

You're a girl, so your obviously playing Melee for the attention. You may as well play Ness to 'differentiate' yourself from the crowd. Not like you would have the patience to get good at the game. Be realistic pumpkin.

S A V A G E

 

[Spoo]

You're a girl, so your obviously playing Melee for the attention. You may as well play Ness to 'differentiate' yourself from the crowd. Not like you would have the patience to get good at the game. Be realistic pumpkin.

You are very disrespectful and completely wrong.

 

[MurphyPrime]

Let's just stop feeding the troll. Love of a character is always a good reason to keep trying to use a character, but you have to be realistic with a character like Ness. If you are not super interested in getting to the pro/high level tourney scene then Ness may not be too bad. But eventually Ness will start to let you down unless you pull and Axe/Amsa and revolutionize the character.The other three are equally viable, with Fox sounding like the best for you. Sheik has nice gimps but her combo game is not the most elite (still very good though).

 

[copke]

Okay, this is my semi-professional opinion of which characters (that I'm reasonably familiar with) more-or-less correspond to which playstyles:
You value high ground speed and increased tech chasing ability. You're willing to sacrifice power for attacks that come out quickly.
You feel uncomfortable when dudes be gettin up in yo grill, so you like to maintain a distance between yourself and the opponent. You're willing to suffer some lag on your moves in exchange.
You value increased air mobility and a good recovery. You're comfortable weaving in and out of your opponents range and spacing bairs. OR you like that kkkkkssssshhh sound that Rest makes.
You like an aerial approach but you don't like spacing bairs. You prefer to use your mobility to get in your opponents face and peach them off the stage.
You like to play with style and do crazy back-flips and knees and ****. You're comfortable containing your character's high speed and you can use it to your advantage.
You REALLY like style. You're okay with being slow if it means you can do 20% with one hit.
You like to slide everywhere like you have butter on your shoes.
You think it's fun as hell to chain up-airs even though they do like 1% each.

If anyone wants to add to this list or tell me they disagree with something here feel free I'm open to criticism.

(my fox)
: You like going in and dealing as much crazy stuff to your opponent as possible. To the other person, what you're doing doesn't make sense and looks like a bunch of rubbish. But really you're cleverly spacing yourself, going in hard when they're exposed, and extending on every hit you get.

 

[XxSmashM4sterxX]

IMO you should play Goku, he's pretty fast since he's a Super Sayian

 

[XxSmashM4sterxX]

You're a girl, so your obviously playing Melee for the attention. You may as well play Ness to 'differentiate' yourself from the crowd. Not like you would have the patience to get good at the game. Be realistic pumpkin.

Couldn't agree more, too bad I can only +1 once.

 

[LovinMitts]

Trust me, as much as I love Ness, and as much as I tried to make him work in-tournament, it isn't worth it. You'll end up losing to people that aren't nearly as good as you are, simply because they play a better character. Ness in Melee is bad. Like, he's incredibly bad. He has cool combos and movement and quirks and such, but even with all of his unique tools, he manages to be a bottom tier character. Just go with a top tier.

I voted Sheik in the poll because you can techchase spacies to death if you're consistent and good enough at it. She capitalizes off of openings very well and is one of the best characters for edgeguarding.

If you want to play Ness and still do well, try Project M Ness. He feels like a much better version of Melee Ness. All of his tools have been either significantly improved or repurposed. He feels extremely fluent coming from Melee Ness.

 

[KEYLIME SSB]

Strictly speaking, you don't have to main just one character. Some of the best competitive players have over 3 mains. Personally I main Falco, Puff, And Marth. If you had to choose, I recommend Sheik. Main what fits your play style. If you know you opponent is outmatched, just sandbag Ness.

 

[KEYLIME SSB]

Also those endless uptilt combos.