A new method for performing easier and more consistent Shield Drops.

[AcousticAdrian]

Hello, I just thought I'd share something that I discovered today. I did some research to make sure that this has not been mentioned beforehand, and found nothing.

I call it Angled Shield Dropping.

By tilting the control stick diagonally down in either direction, one can make a down input without causing your character to spot dodge. For the input to be recognized, however, the control stick must be pushed fully in either of those two directions.

This image shows where the control stick has to be moved. The control stick must be in or slightly below either corner to make the correct input.

During the heat of battle, it can be difficult trying to carefully push the control stick down in a way so that you don't spot dodge. The advantage of Angled Shield Dropping is that you just have to practice the direction that you move the control stick, not the pressure. Through this method, Shield Dropping can be performed reliably without having to carefully inch the control stick.

There is a property of angled Shield Dropping that can be taken advantage of. An angled Shield Drop will cause your character to fall in a diagonal direction, rather than straight down. This means that you can adjust your position out of a shield drop for various purposes. If you like, you can minimize the amount of horizontal distance traveled by quickly resetting the control stick to neutral position or away from the direction held.

 

[br8k]

Nice, I'll have to try this. Although I can imagine it being something of a crutch. Getting the timing down perfectly for shield drops makes it easier to do pivot f-tilts. And grounded up-tilts. And d-tilts on platforms.

 

[AcousticAdrian]

Nice, I'll have to try this. Although I can imagine it being something of a crutch. Getting the timing down perfectly for shield drops makes it easier to do pivot f-tilts. And grounded up-tilts. And d-tilts on platforms.

I suppose it could be considered a crutch, but the fact that you automatically fall left or right makes it useful for positioning. For example, say your opponent is sharking you. You could then Angle Shield Drop behind them for a safer punish.

On another note, I found a fun thing to do with wolf is to stand on a ledge, ASD, and immediately fair. You will immediately transition from the ledge standing animation to the fair landing animation, which looks pretty funny. =P

 

[Xinc]

Probably good for positioning. Could you use moves oos as well with this?

 

[AcousticAdrian]

Probably good for positioning. Could you use moves oos as well with this?

Yep, it functions exactly like a regular Shield Drop.

Oh, yes. For example, you can Shine OOS with that control stick direction. You actually gain a very tiny horizontal boost for doing it that way.

 

[Jolteon]

You can also do an alternative version by angling left/right and rotating the stick downwards (loads of AZ Melee players use this method afaik). This is definitely my favourite method though, perfect combination of consistency+speed in a tournament setting and pretty much everyone I've told about it can pick it up in like 5 minutes.

 

[AcousticAdrian]

You can also do an alternative version by angling left/right and rotating the stick downwards (loads of AZ Melee players use this method afaik). This is definitely my favourite method though, perfect combination of consistency+speed in a tournament setting and pretty much everyone I've told about it can pick it up in like 5 minutes.

Yeah, I fooled around with that setup as well. It seems to all come to down to preference, unless the momentum shift from that specific angle becomes important.