Trillion
Smash Ace
All of us, including myself, have criticized RATS's method of using the Spin Dash Cancel in a way that we all perceive as being wrong. Spin Canceling from the wrong end of the stage? What is he thinking? The best way to use the Spin Cancel is to, of course, use it outside of your opponent's reach. I would like to try to convince everyone, that while our method of using it from close up is highly effective, so is using it from farther away. To do this, we need to look at frame data.
A dash across the entire length of Final Destination takes 1 second or 60 frames, give or take a few.
So about half of final destination is 30 frames.
The time it takes to go from spin to shield to dash is roughly 20 frames.
This means that you could spin to shield and then dash across the entire stage in 80 frames or less than 1 and a half seconds or you could make half of the stage in 50 frames so less than 1 second.
The average reaction time for a good opponent is about 8 frames, or so I've been told.
So, lets examine the opponent's options from the point that they see the spin dash begin.
They could:
Shield: Perhaps, they plan to shield grab what they think may be an incoming spin dash. I haven't taken the time to examine how long it takes for the average shield to come out and get put back away and then act again, so I am going to assume that Sonic is near average and say that they have about 20 frames plus the 8 of their reaction time. This totals 28 frames plus, they would need another 8 to realize that the spin dash was cancelled. This means it would be 36 frames. This means that Sonic should have roughly 12 frames to act before the opponent can even get out of the shield. This lets him cover almost a 1/4 of final destination. When you are suddenly upon, them, they will need another 8 frames to determine the appropriate reaction to your action of dashing at them plus the number of frames that it takes to do whatever that reaction may be. Let's assume that their choice takes 5 frames. That means we have 13 frames of time in which we would need to act. I'm not sure, but I think 13 frames is enough for Sonic to get a grab or dash attack for sure.
Do an attack?: There is no reason why they should start an attack and if they do, then this is no problem for us. We simply stop dashing before we get into their range.
Jump: If they jump, then all kinds things may occur and I am not going to address those here. Just understand that we can react the same way as if they had attacked. We simply stop dashing and react appropriately.
Dash at us: If they dash at us. Then have the same thing as if they jumped. Many things could occur and it would be up to the player to decide how to deal with it. Assuming that we are farther away then normal, such as how RATS does it typically, we should be able to react in time to anything they could do out of a dash.
Projectile: We simply stop running and shield and react accordingly after that.
There are a few more options, such as DACUS, but those are character specific in whether or not they are options that could be used against us. I might update later with that. But, from what I can tell. We do not put ourselves in a worse situation if we spam spin cancels, as our opponents most likely can not react in time to do anything about it.
What they CAN do, is react poorly, as shown in the example of if they shield.
The only down side would be if we did it so many times, that it ceased being an effective mindgame. We can prevent this by simply using the spin dash sometimes or by using the spin shot. The spin shot opens up a vast number of options that they have to worry about whenever they see a spin dash begin. If we vary what we do after the spin, then the spin cancel should not stale itself as a mind game and will most likely can only be beneficial no matter how far away we do it.
Ex: Spamming the Boxobair or the CiTH combo might make them react by shielding anytime they see a spin dash begin, assuming you are close enough to do either of those things. This would be a way to mindgame them into shielding and then getting grabbed as shown above.
We also need to distinguish the functions for which RATS uses it. He doesn't use it offensively, he uses it as a tool to help him on the approach. Sometimes he does it multiple times in the same approach so that the opponent never knows where he might start and stop and start again at. They can't try to attack or grab cuz they will risk missing, if they hold shield, then they risk needlessly depleting their shields. If they jump, then he might have stopped and be able to get them with an aerial. It gives him approach options and creates a sense of danger for the opponent. That sense of danger is the exact same thing that happens when you pressure your opponent; they feel as though they are in danger and they try to react quickly and so they make mistakes. In a sense, the spin cancel allows you to pressure your opponent from almost anywhere on the stage to varying degrees.
Discuss
A dash across the entire length of Final Destination takes 1 second or 60 frames, give or take a few.
So about half of final destination is 30 frames.
The time it takes to go from spin to shield to dash is roughly 20 frames.
This means that you could spin to shield and then dash across the entire stage in 80 frames or less than 1 and a half seconds or you could make half of the stage in 50 frames so less than 1 second.
The average reaction time for a good opponent is about 8 frames, or so I've been told.
So, lets examine the opponent's options from the point that they see the spin dash begin.
They could:
Shield: Perhaps, they plan to shield grab what they think may be an incoming spin dash. I haven't taken the time to examine how long it takes for the average shield to come out and get put back away and then act again, so I am going to assume that Sonic is near average and say that they have about 20 frames plus the 8 of their reaction time. This totals 28 frames plus, they would need another 8 to realize that the spin dash was cancelled. This means it would be 36 frames. This means that Sonic should have roughly 12 frames to act before the opponent can even get out of the shield. This lets him cover almost a 1/4 of final destination. When you are suddenly upon, them, they will need another 8 frames to determine the appropriate reaction to your action of dashing at them plus the number of frames that it takes to do whatever that reaction may be. Let's assume that their choice takes 5 frames. That means we have 13 frames of time in which we would need to act. I'm not sure, but I think 13 frames is enough for Sonic to get a grab or dash attack for sure.
If they don't lower their shield and simply wait for us to do something, then we grab, easy as that.
Do an attack?: There is no reason why they should start an attack and if they do, then this is no problem for us. We simply stop dashing before we get into their range.
Jump: If they jump, then all kinds things may occur and I am not going to address those here. Just understand that we can react the same way as if they had attacked. We simply stop dashing and react appropriately.
Dash at us: If they dash at us. Then have the same thing as if they jumped. Many things could occur and it would be up to the player to decide how to deal with it. Assuming that we are farther away then normal, such as how RATS does it typically, we should be able to react in time to anything they could do out of a dash.
Projectile: We simply stop running and shield and react accordingly after that.
There are a few more options, such as DACUS, but those are character specific in whether or not they are options that could be used against us. I might update later with that. But, from what I can tell. We do not put ourselves in a worse situation if we spam spin cancels, as our opponents most likely can not react in time to do anything about it.
What they CAN do, is react poorly, as shown in the example of if they shield.
The only down side would be if we did it so many times, that it ceased being an effective mindgame. We can prevent this by simply using the spin dash sometimes or by using the spin shot. The spin shot opens up a vast number of options that they have to worry about whenever they see a spin dash begin. If we vary what we do after the spin, then the spin cancel should not stale itself as a mind game and will most likely can only be beneficial no matter how far away we do it.
Ex: Spamming the Boxobair or the CiTH combo might make them react by shielding anytime they see a spin dash begin, assuming you are close enough to do either of those things. This would be a way to mindgame them into shielding and then getting grabbed as shown above.
We also need to distinguish the functions for which RATS uses it. He doesn't use it offensively, he uses it as a tool to help him on the approach. Sometimes he does it multiple times in the same approach so that the opponent never knows where he might start and stop and start again at. They can't try to attack or grab cuz they will risk missing, if they hold shield, then they risk needlessly depleting their shields. If they jump, then he might have stopped and be able to get them with an aerial. It gives him approach options and creates a sense of danger for the opponent. That sense of danger is the exact same thing that happens when you pressure your opponent; they feel as though they are in danger and they try to react quickly and so they make mistakes. In a sense, the spin cancel allows you to pressure your opponent from almost anywhere on the stage to varying degrees.
Discuss
