BluEG
Smash Journeyman
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2012
- Messages
- 287
Rock, Paper, Scissors:
The most basic of all competitive games. The premise is simple and I need not describe it, but how does it apply to SSBM?
Firstly, SSBM is vastly more complex than RPS because there are infinitely more options to choose from. However, through categorizing different actions we take based on the goal they aim to achieve, a broader picture emerges.
If we break down Melee to its most basic elements, we are left with three key interactions between two players: Advancing (Closing space between you and your opponent), Attacking, and Avoiding. Just like RPS, these interactions play with each other in the same manner. Advancing beats Avoiding, Attacking beats Advancing, and Avoiding beats Attacking. When one of these mismatches occurs, the player with the winning option is given the opportunity to 'Punish' their opponent.
Lets explore each interaction.
The Elements
Advancing is simply closing space between you and your opponent. The goal is to put your opponent in range of your options and observe how they react. For Luigi, this means wavedashing towards your opponent WITHOUT placing a hitbox. Another example of advancing is to full hop towards an airborne opponent, again WITHOUT using an aerial.
Attacking comes in two forms: Aggressive and defensive. The goal is to hit your opponent and capitalize on the outcome. Luigi attacks aggressively with a slew of powerful aerials and the ever awesome Wavedash -> Anything. On the defensive, we have our F-Tilt, Upsmash, bair, and Upair primarily, with other attacks playing a lesser role.
Avoiding encompasses any defensive maneuver: shielding, spotdodging, rolling, wavedashing away, double jumping, airdodging. The goal is to avoid being hit by an opponent's attack.
Conditioning
Giving preference to one interaction over another conditions your opponent to react with the counter. The beautiful thing about Luigi is that his typical form of advancing looks EXACTLY like his attack option. Ever wonder how the top Luigi's get these insane cross-ups and grabs? Through Attacking with wavedash -> tilts and smashes, your opponent becomes conditioned to Avoid by shielding. So next time, when you Advance by wavedashing, you create an opportunity to Punish with a grab. How cool is that?
Always assess which interaction your opponent is performing or preparing to perform, this is not easy by any means, but there are some visual cues we can use. For example: Picture that Marth in your play group dash dancing on FD right outside your Wavedash-Ftilt range. This should be a redflag for you to realize that this Marth is baiting and getting ready to Avoid your attack in order to punish with an FSmash or any number of dumb things Marth can do to our wonderful plumber. To counter this, you can Advance with a wavedash to provoke a response (Remember, they are expecting the Ftilt). Typically, they will continue to Avoid by dash dancing and you are free to input another wavedash and hit them with any attack, or they will Attack with an Fsmash to the face and you can simply Avoid by shielding and punish with a WD OOS, or they will Advance towards you in hopes of landing a grab and you can Ftilt them for trying. The key thing to note is that by closing the space, their option to Avoid by dash dancing is muted in the sense that they can not dash past the ledge, so you can prepare for an Advance or Attack more reliably.
Stay one step ahead of your opponent.
You've Advanced a couple times and caught your opponent unaware. Now he's watching for it, and we can use that to our advantage. The counter to Advancing is Attacking, so the next time you wavedash towards that Marth, he knows, and hes prepping up that Fsmash. Now we can use Avoiding to counter their attack. My favorite way to do this is to wavedash towards Marth with a shield raised. Another way is to walk forward and then wavedash away when you get close to them.
Now they see that your Avoiding and begin Advancing, and we can start to Attack and cycle comes full circle.
You want to be the one dictating the match, don't become the player attacking when they start avoiding, make them play to you.
This is the basis of most mind games, it will get you hits, but will never amount to anything if you don't practice your punishes. Punishes and edgeguards gets you the stock, these concepts are stepping stones to get your opponent into favorable positions.
Game state
In Smash, there are three major game states that two players can be engaged in, characterized by the balance of options each player has access to. They are the Neutral game, Pressure game, and Punish game and in each state there are two roles you can play.
In the Neutral game, the balance of options each player can perform is at a relative equilibrium. In this state, the Advance/Attack/Avoid paradigm is most prevalent and the players interact with each other in this manner until a mismatch of the interactions occur or one player gains a positional advantage.
What do I mean by positional advantage?
Refer to this picture of battlefield:
The green box represents the portion of the stage that you want to be in at all times. If you are in 'the box' you are in a 'Neutral position'. If you are outside of this box, your options (especially in regards to movement) are limited and you are at positional disadvantage.
The Pressure game is characterized by one player having more options than their opponent.
If you are
A player under pressure has a tendency to Avoid.
With this in mind, it is prudent for a player to Advance on an opponent under pressure and to observe how they attempt to Avoid and block their attempts to return to neutral.
The Punish game is characterized by one player having options while their opponent is effectively option-less.
If you are
As soon as a player escapes a punish, they are immediately under pressure.
Always pay attention to which game state the match is currently in and which role you are playing in that game state. There are many situations that I observe that a potential combo is dropped because a player is unwilling to press their advantage and a lot of that is due to a lack of awareness.
If you made it to here, thanks for reading. I sincerely hope it helps your game tremendously. Luigi is the best, if you have any questions or want me to write any more examples out, post away.
-BluEG
The most basic of all competitive games. The premise is simple and I need not describe it, but how does it apply to SSBM?
Firstly, SSBM is vastly more complex than RPS because there are infinitely more options to choose from. However, through categorizing different actions we take based on the goal they aim to achieve, a broader picture emerges.
If we break down Melee to its most basic elements, we are left with three key interactions between two players: Advancing (Closing space between you and your opponent), Attacking, and Avoiding. Just like RPS, these interactions play with each other in the same manner. Advancing beats Avoiding, Attacking beats Advancing, and Avoiding beats Attacking. When one of these mismatches occurs, the player with the winning option is given the opportunity to 'Punish' their opponent.
Lets explore each interaction.
The Elements
Advancing is simply closing space between you and your opponent. The goal is to put your opponent in range of your options and observe how they react. For Luigi, this means wavedashing towards your opponent WITHOUT placing a hitbox. Another example of advancing is to full hop towards an airborne opponent, again WITHOUT using an aerial.
Attacking comes in two forms: Aggressive and defensive. The goal is to hit your opponent and capitalize on the outcome. Luigi attacks aggressively with a slew of powerful aerials and the ever awesome Wavedash -> Anything. On the defensive, we have our F-Tilt, Upsmash, bair, and Upair primarily, with other attacks playing a lesser role.
Avoiding encompasses any defensive maneuver: shielding, spotdodging, rolling, wavedashing away, double jumping, airdodging. The goal is to avoid being hit by an opponent's attack.
Conditioning
Giving preference to one interaction over another conditions your opponent to react with the counter. The beautiful thing about Luigi is that his typical form of advancing looks EXACTLY like his attack option. Ever wonder how the top Luigi's get these insane cross-ups and grabs? Through Attacking with wavedash -> tilts and smashes, your opponent becomes conditioned to Avoid by shielding. So next time, when you Advance by wavedashing, you create an opportunity to Punish with a grab. How cool is that?
Always assess which interaction your opponent is performing or preparing to perform, this is not easy by any means, but there are some visual cues we can use. For example: Picture that Marth in your play group dash dancing on FD right outside your Wavedash-Ftilt range. This should be a redflag for you to realize that this Marth is baiting and getting ready to Avoid your attack in order to punish with an FSmash or any number of dumb things Marth can do to our wonderful plumber. To counter this, you can Advance with a wavedash to provoke a response (Remember, they are expecting the Ftilt). Typically, they will continue to Avoid by dash dancing and you are free to input another wavedash and hit them with any attack, or they will Attack with an Fsmash to the face and you can simply Avoid by shielding and punish with a WD OOS, or they will Advance towards you in hopes of landing a grab and you can Ftilt them for trying. The key thing to note is that by closing the space, their option to Avoid by dash dancing is muted in the sense that they can not dash past the ledge, so you can prepare for an Advance or Attack more reliably.
Stay one step ahead of your opponent.
You've Advanced a couple times and caught your opponent unaware. Now he's watching for it, and we can use that to our advantage. The counter to Advancing is Attacking, so the next time you wavedash towards that Marth, he knows, and hes prepping up that Fsmash. Now we can use Avoiding to counter their attack. My favorite way to do this is to wavedash towards Marth with a shield raised. Another way is to walk forward and then wavedash away when you get close to them.
Now they see that your Avoiding and begin Advancing, and we can start to Attack and cycle comes full circle.
You want to be the one dictating the match, don't become the player attacking when they start avoiding, make them play to you.
This is the basis of most mind games, it will get you hits, but will never amount to anything if you don't practice your punishes. Punishes and edgeguards gets you the stock, these concepts are stepping stones to get your opponent into favorable positions.
Game state
In Smash, there are three major game states that two players can be engaged in, characterized by the balance of options each player has access to. They are the Neutral game, Pressure game, and Punish game and in each state there are two roles you can play.
In the Neutral game, the balance of options each player can perform is at a relative equilibrium. In this state, the Advance/Attack/Avoid paradigm is most prevalent and the players interact with each other in this manner until a mismatch of the interactions occur or one player gains a positional advantage.
What do I mean by positional advantage?
Refer to this picture of battlefield:
The green box represents the portion of the stage that you want to be in at all times. If you are in 'the box' you are in a 'Neutral position'. If you are outside of this box, your options (especially in regards to movement) are limited and you are at positional disadvantage.
The Pressure game is characterized by one player having more options than their opponent.
If you are
- at a positional disadvantage or offstage
- airborne without a double jump
- in your shield
- on the ledge
- just escaped out of a combo
A player under pressure has a tendency to Avoid.
With this in mind, it is prudent for a player to Advance on an opponent under pressure and to observe how they attempt to Avoid and block their attempts to return to neutral.
The Punish game is characterized by one player having options while their opponent is effectively option-less.
If you are
- Grabbed
- In hit-stun
- Special-fall
- In any sort of animation
As soon as a player escapes a punish, they are immediately under pressure.
Always pay attention to which game state the match is currently in and which role you are playing in that game state. There are many situations that I observe that a potential combo is dropped because a player is unwilling to press their advantage and a lot of that is due to a lack of awareness.
If you made it to here, thanks for reading. I sincerely hope it helps your game tremendously. Luigi is the best, if you have any questions or want me to write any more examples out, post away.
-BluEG
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