First off
S
StoicPhantom
, I apologize for not getting back to you earlier today.
No rush, take your time. It's not like it didn't take me a while to comment.
I got really flustered in these videos and didn't use Phantom as often and effectively as I would have liked. I feel like I'm still trying to figure out how to use it to the best of its potential. Sometimes I just use it for the heck of it and not have a distinct plan for it.
It's broad, very MU dependent, and situational, so it will take a while to fully understand, even it's basics. Try thinking of it as an extension of Zelda, so anytime you can't conveniently or safely engage, use the Phantom. Use it to hit opponents offstage above the ledge, where it might normally be difficult or unsafe to chase. Overhead slash is good for both that scenario and for catching jumps to the platform in neutral or aerial approaches.
Basically mix and match the various charge states, with the position your opponent is currently at or going to be. If they are camping waiting for you to approach, it will force them in the air and make them come to you or in shield, which can lead to easier approaches. Using the fully charged version when they are getting up from the ledge, will help cover lots of getup options and you are then free to cover the rest.
Of course it will depend on the attributes of your opponent and what tools they have to counter it. Characters with high jumps will be able to hop over it with ease and still be relatively safe and characters with counters will make it so you can't spam it in neutral. Learning what will work with what character and at what distance, is part of learning Phantom, so get as many varied experiences as possible.
If need be, practice on the cpu to get the feel for it and experiment with the range and timing. It is of course not at all like fighting a human, but sometimes it can be good to just experiment in a match that you won't feel any shame or pressure losing.
Out of the five I uploaded, this was the one I got most annoyed with. The PK Fire spams got me panicking. His PK Thunder uses kept me guessing. That was the match I felt most braindead in and completely forgot how to use her. That was a frustrating one.
Keeping a cool head is especially important against projectiles, since they're designed to force you to do something and annoy you. Reflecting it is an option, but you can use an aerial Phantom as a mix-up. Simply hop over the projectile(in place) and start charging Phantom in the air. Before the next projectile reaches you, release the Phantom and it should hopefully block the projectile, while hitting the user. It won't work on all of them, but is an option and I think should work on Ness. A couple times of doing that, should make them go easy on the spam.
There were plenty of times were nerves got the better of me and I used recovery wrong. It got me frustrated. I'm trying to figure out how I can Farore diagonally when I'm on the ledge. I didn't even know you could hold B to have the hitbox come out. I'll need to work on that.
Just make sure you do it at a distance, that will have you just snapping to the ledge. If you do it too close, you'll over shoot it and be wide open. Ideally you will instantly grab the ledge after the move ends. Don't worry too much offstage and just focus on the making the right input. Unless you are above the ledge, very few players will ever try to challenge you offstage, so take your time. I like to just DI under the ledge and recover low most of the time. I generally only recover diagonally if I'm pressured.
I've struggled to edge-guard solidly in my whole time with Smash. This is the first game I'm trying to improve and work on it. I feel like I've made progress in some areas but it's still a process for me.
Just try to separate it into sections. Above the ledge, Phantom, Din's Fire, Up-air. Below the ledge, Dair, Nayru's Love, Fair/Bair. A lot of it is going to be character specific, so learn MUs and their various recovery options. If they are recovering high, you can harass with Din's, then switch to Up-air if they make it through.
The key to timing Up-air is reading their DI. Most people are going to keep DIing towards the stage, hoping you'll miss, so plant the Up-air where they are going to be, not where they are currently at. Even if you miss, you'll still be close enough to punish any air-dodges, instead of missing and have them sail out of your reach.
Low recoveries can be spiked with Dair and if they can't, can be stage spiked with Fair/Bair or Nayru's Love. If you are not confident in your timing or if their recovery isn't Dair spikeable, Nayru's Love is an ok spike. In most cases you won't get much, but it can be powerful against recoveries with bad horizontal movement. Hitting the points of the diamond will hit them in that direction and hitting the sides will hit them diagonally. If you hit them with the upper sides, it will stage spike them diagonally and make even decent recoveries sweat a little.
Thanks I appreciate that. I was anxious posting these on here and thinking I was gonna get quite the lectures concerning my play. I felt like I played pretty terribly. I thought I wasn't gonna get much feedback on any good things I may have done.
All in all, thanks very much for the feedback. I hope I can take these tips and apply them to my play going forward. It's not gonna be done overnight, but hopefully over a period of time I'll see improvement.
No problem. The criticism here should be constructive and if it's not, then just ignore it or take it in stride. This place is primarily for learning and has all sorts of skill levels, so don't worry too much about people judging you.
I would say use Phantom more but I feel honestly you'd just miss out on a lot of these insane plays. I never knew Zelda could be so aggressive like this rather than being a bit slower and more wall/space-y oriented with Phantom and Din's. For you, I feel like the best thing you'll get from Phantom is just conditioning people.
It will help in some MUs he struggles with, like the Belmonts or Little Mac, but I think he'll be just fine without it in most MUs.