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Any tricks to keep you staying on your Main?

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
Smash is fun because there's so many fun characters to play that I can enjoy playing any of them, however this is also a problem because I want to get better at the game. It's just so mentally draining every time I look at the character select screen and it wastes time I could be using playing the game. I don't quite have all day every day like I used to with Melee or Smash 4 since I only have 1 hour a week to play smash nowadays. So I gotta make that hour count (Or is that too little and I'm just wasting my time with that little amount of smash time?). Any tricks to stick to one main so I can squeeze out as much improvement as possible?

If you were curious about characters I was thinking about
There's approximately 40 characters I could easily see myself maining with the right motivation because they all feel like they have "perfect" game play. I've been kinda cycling between 3 characters right now. :ultmetaknight:Meta Knight and :ultlucario:Lucario I've stuck with because out of the 40 characters they are the only 2 I have significant history with outside of smash, which is something all the other "perfect" game play characters don't have. I was planning on duo maining them because Meta Knight feels like my go-to character, but Meta Knight feels like he let's me get away with a lot of bad habbits due to his disjoints, speed, multijumps, and dimensional cape (I almost never use it in a match but it always hits when I use it). Whereas Lucario doesn't have the long range disjoint, or insane speed, or devastating projectile pressure that practically all other characters I play have. So he forces me to play my best, especially with his aura mechanic forcing me to always focus since with other characters I tend to either get overconfident or start to panic easily.
Then there's :ultridley:Ridley I've been thinking about since in my time in Ultimate, if I don't force myself to pick Meta Knight or Lucario, I pretty much pick Ridley because he's so fun to play. However unlike other characters, he's also rather fun to play competitive too (usually it's one or the other, or I don't love them as much as Ridley). He feels like a bigger Meta Knight (I even like Ridley for a few of the same reasons as Meta Knight outside of smash too), with some influence from Brawl/Sm4sh Ganondorf (who I usually did surprisingly well with in Sm4sh) with a bit of his own unique Ridleyness. Also due to my lack of time I feel like perhaps maybe I should drop Meta Knight and Lucario and Solo main him for Ultimate since he's significantly easier to play than Meta Knight or Lucario. Now the big problem with Ridley is that he feels like a gimmick because often times I will either 3 stock someone, or they'll 3 stock me and it can go either way. I don't really get this problem with any other character so it makes me feel like it's just a Ridley thing and that I'm not actually playing well and that it's just the character doing it's thing and every now and then it just totally crushes my will to play. That kind of why I stopped playing :ultwolf:Wolf, because Wolf before he got nerfed felt so braindead that I felt like I wasn't actually playing the game because he was so easy to play and do amazing with.

I'm just hoping to at least be good enough to get into Elite smash so I don't have to worry about being locked out if someone has an elite only arena going on. Arenas are basically where I prefer to spend my smash time because it's terrible not being able to talk to people and it's harder to gauge if you're actually learning anything. Also, I want people to have the best fights as possible so they keep wanting to play.
I'm thinking about trying doubles soon to see if I can force myself to get better for the sake of someone else because they'll be counting on me to do well.
 

FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
Yea I feel you with that, I have the same exact problem, I feel like I can't always choose a main when I play Ultimate compared to other games because I like playing them all. My suggestion is narrow down the strengths and weaknesses of each person you're considering until you find the 2-3 that you like the most, then do research on those characters (might use up your hour though) Mainly think about how you would be in every situation you'll have and pick the character that'll solve those situations quickly. I understand how hard it is to pick one. Motivation will help the most when the character you like playing got through a situation that would otherwise be hard to get through

If you do need anymore tips, I'm always welcome to help!
 

Sean²

Smash Capitalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
1,657
Switch FC
SW-7479-8539-5283
In your allotted playtime...it might be difficult. If you truly like the three characters you've mentioned, pick between those 3. Who do you find most enjoyable and satisfying, win or lose? Who can you lose with for a full hour and still end your session somewhat satisfied having learned something?

I do main Wolf and have done so from the beginning with no plan on switching. I survived the nerfs. I keep going with him because I don't feel at all limited by the character, like I do with other characters. He lets me play exactly how I want to play, and the only restrictions I have are my own abilities. You don't want to be carried by the character, nor should you be the one carrying your character - the two have to balance each other out. Who do you "flow" with the best? The three you listed are all polarizing characters, so there's always going to be that chance that you either decimate someone (usually due to lack of matchup knowledge) or they exploit your weaknesses and decimate you.

IMO from the way you described them, it almost seems like Lucario fits that description for you. A character should force you to play your best, but like I said, should be able to react to your commands exactly as you intend them to. Feeling held back by a character known to have obvious limitations is very frustrating. So, therein lies the question you need to ask yourself now.
 

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
In your allotted playtime...it might be difficult. If you truly like the three characters you've mentioned, pick between those 3. Who do you find most enjoyable and satisfying, win or lose? Who can you lose with for a full hour and still end your session somewhat satisfied having learned something?

I do main Wolf and have done so from the beginning with no plan on switching. I survived the nerfs. I keep going with him because I don't feel at all limited by the character, like I do with other characters. He lets me play exactly how I want to play, and the only restrictions I have are my own abilities. You don't want to be carried by the character, nor should you be the one carrying your character - the two have to balance each other out. Who do you "flow" with the best? The three you listed are all polarizing characters, so there's always going to be that chance that you either decimate someone (usually due to lack of matchup knowledge) or they exploit your weaknesses and decimate you.

IMO from the way you described them, it almost seems like Lucario fits that description for you. A character should force you to play your best, but like I said, should be able to react to your commands exactly as you intend them to. Feeling held back by a character known to have obvious limitations is very frustrating. So, therein lies the question you need to ask yourself now.
Of the 3 I've been cycling between lately. Ridley has the highest highs, and the lowest lows because he's probably the most likely character out of the roster that I play I will 3 stock an opponent with him, and then be 3 stocked by them the next game and back to 3 stocking them again even if it's the same character. Only high aura Lucario can get better than the highest highs of Ridley, but high aura Lucario is rather rare when fighting people that know how to confirm some KOs. Ridley keeps things interesting and makes me think of smash more than other characters that I've been playing, just so many memorable matches with Ridley (perhaps its' more fresh because I'm used to the other 2 from Smash 4). Lucario lows are pretty bad though because sometimes I can just feel utterly helpless because some characters pushing their superior range/speed/whatever on Lucario but perhaps when I finally get good at turn around b and wavebouncing it'll drastically reduce that feeling. Playing Meta Knight feels very consistent. Nothing ever feels too crazy hype about Meta Knight, and I don't feel bad when I'm losing, but there's this slight constant feeling of always feeling like a badass when I play him. (I am absolute garbage at the up air and down air combos though. Last time I trained with Meta Knight I was getting better at that though)
I never feel like I'm learning anything when I'm playing anyone though. Feel like I'm always just warming up (sometimes literally in the winter) and before I know it I have to stop before I start doing anything risky to learn stuff... I will say this though, :ultsheik:Sheik is the personification of losing a bazillion times and having a blast while doing it and feel like I'm getting better at the game though. Sheik forces creativity, and is the only character besides Lucario that constantly makes me have to focus, because I know if I stop, I could just lose because there's not going to be some easy KO attack or setup like a lot of characters have. I just haven't played her much because there's so many other characters I want to try out, also she is very very demanding on the player and while she feels great now I get afraid that one day I'll be like "I do all this training and I'm still horrible with Sheik" whereas I feel like that effect would be lessened on other characters since Sheik is so precise and lets you do whatever you want.

Funny thing is, All 3 of these characters I did not "flow" with right off the bat. Had to get used to them first unlike most of the like 40 other characters I could main if I had the motivation to. Meta Knight was my worst character for a very long time in Smash 4 until I picked up Sheik and then it all just clicked. Lucario just felt really weird for a long time but it wasn't as bad as Meta Knight, but I got over it eventually. I just was using them because there's loyalty outside of smash, so I was hoping I could force myself to main someone because of that. Unfortunately unlike most characters in the roster, if I stop playing for a while they sometimes don't feel like they flow well like they do when I been playing consistently which can make it hard to get back into them. Ridley is the only character in the roster where it feels like they are weird but also flow well. Perhaps the weirdness will go away with time though. Characters that just naturally feel like they "flow" better without me playing them a ton would be the following. :ultbowser::ultfalcon::ultcloud::ultduckhunt::ultfox::ultwolf::ultganondorf::ultike::ultincineroar::ultinklingboy::ultjoker::ultkingdedede::ultlink::ultyounglink::ultmario::ultmarth::ultness::ultdarkpit::ultrob::ultdarksamus::ultsheik::ultshulk::ultsnake::ultsonic::ult_terry: Though there's a few more I could put on here that I feel like if I just put just a tiny bit of time into training them I could really love them. Thing is with all of these, they don't have some sort of story outside of smash connecting me to them like Meta Knight and Lucario do, and Ridley is just what my brain was defaulting to for a while when I wanted to play a character to learn them but didn't want to force myself to play Meta Knight or Lucario because I played them so much in training mode that it was tiring me out a bit during the first year of Ultimate. Cause ya know, playing a normal match as a character you don't know much about is much more entertaining than pressing the same buttons hundreds of times not understanding why it's not working and hoping your fingers start working so you can do the combos you need to do in order to improve.


Yea I feel you with that, I have the same exact problem, I feel like I can't always choose a main when I play Ultimate compared to other games because I like playing them all. My suggestion is narrow down the strengths and weaknesses of each person you're considering until you find the 2-3 that you like the most, then do research on those characters (might use up your hour though) Mainly think about how you would be in every situation you'll have and pick the character that'll solve those situations quickly. I understand how hard it is to pick one. Motivation will help the most when the character you like playing got through a situation that would otherwise be hard to get through

If you do need anymore tips, I'm always welcome to help!
I remember back in brawl (when I first started getting more competitive, as opposed to spamming aerials and smash attacks with Marth/Link like I was in Melee) I was listing off pros and cons for each character.... Was spending all day everyday for a few weeks just writing down pros and cons for each character..... Gotta say. Did the opposite effect of finding a main. It just made me appreciate all characters in the roster and gave me a reason to want to play them all. I didn't even get around to looking at the whole roster either because I felt like it wasn't helping because I don't even think there was one character that I decided not to play after researching into them a little. lol

Another problem is I can't just be all "just go with your playstyle" either because I don't really know what my gameplay style is. Played a lot of games growing up so I had to force myself to learn all playstyles if I wanted to 100% stuff, so I learned how many game mechanics can be amazingly fun and how they can be turned on their head to be horrible just by being in a different game. So knowing what I'd do in each situation can be tricky. In smash I can be a bit passive and want to run away, but that's only because I don't have full control of my characters, so I assume they can't do much especially with my fingers not having the muscle memory for their moveset.
 

Big Bad

Smash Demigod
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
2
Location
New Haven, CT
I play through classic mode until I get the best score on every character. That helps me figure out which main I want to pursue. Then I just play a ton of games with that character. Slowly but surely I build up skill and strength. It's like punching bags of sand to make tiny fractures in your bones which strengthens them over time.
 

FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
I remember back in brawl (when I first started getting more competitive, as opposed to spamming aerials and smash attacks with Marth/Link like I was in Melee) I was listing off pros and cons for each character.... Was spending all day everyday for a few weeks just writing down pros and cons for each character..... Gotta say. Did the opposite effect of finding a main. It just made me appreciate all characters in the roster and gave me a reason to want to play them all. I didn't even get around to looking at the whole roster either because I felt like it wasn't helping because I don't even think there was one character that I decided not to play after researching into them a little. lol

Another problem is I can't just be all "just go with your playstyle" either because I don't really know what my gameplay style is. Played a lot of games growing up so I had to force myself to learn all playstyles if I wanted to 100% stuff, so I learned how many game mechanics can be amazingly fun and how they can be turned on their head to be horrible just by being in a different game. So knowing what I'd do in each situation can be tricky. In smash I can be a bit passive and want to run away, but that's only because I don't have full control of my characters, so I assume they can't do much especially with my fingers not having the muscle memory for their moveset.
Hmm you do got a good point there It's hard when things like that happen. I think results is the solution. Here's the thing: You want to start trying to play smash in a more competitive manner, so if you can't decide what character you want to stick with. You should do the other strategy that I do: Find 1-5 of your characters you personally think you're the best at (think of it like if you're forced to do so) and from there any other character you play frequently will be in a different secion (like Mains for Casuals, competitive, ect)
 

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
Hmm you do got a good point there It's hard when things like that happen. I think results is the solution. Here's the thing: You want to start trying to play smash in a more competitive manner, so if you can't decide what character you want to stick with. You should do the other strategy that I do: Find 1-5 of your characters you personally think you're the best at (think of it like if you're forced to do so) and from there any other character you play frequently will be in a different secion (like Mains for Casuals, competitive, ect)
The problem with picking a character I think I'm best at, is that I might just be limiting myself with a character that might not be good for me in the long run, and doesn't really help me learn the game. Like if I were to pick a character right now to do my best with, It'd probably be :ultganondorf:Ganondorf. Since my Smash 4 Ganondorf caught a lot of people off-guard, but people that were good enough basically made me play the best I possibly could with Ganondorf. In Ultimate he's just flatout better in almost every way. However, Ganondorf doesn't quite allow for improvement like other characters so I feel like I'd get stuck just demolishing bad players, but getting wrecked by people that do well so in either case I don't really get a chance to really experiment and get better with the character, and even then Ganondorf is pretty basic compared to other characters. I wouldn't be able to fight those good players in the future with any characters in the first place, but if a character has the potential to grow, then perhaps I would be able to fight them with someone else when I get better with someone else who can grow more. Problem is knowing how much is too much, because that's specifically why I don't pick up :ulticeclimbers:Ice Climbers because I feel like they could always keep improving overtime due to de-sync combo stuff, but chances are I'll never actually get to the point where I am actually really good with Ice Climbers because it feels like a character that you have to master and if you don't master them, then they are incredibly underwhelming. Other characters like Ganondorf that feel really basic but I could do very well with is :ultike:Ike, :ultcloud: Cloud, :ultbowser:Bowser, :ultincineroar: Incineroar. I feel like if I go for the "simple yet effective" method, I'd probably find myself going "well this character isn't working anymore, I'll swap to this one instead since it takes no time to pick them up".
Then there's characters that I tried to main in previous games that come with their own problems. Sure I'll know a good chunk of what to do, but some things get changed up a lot in a newer smash title. Like :ultlink: Link for example who I mained in Melee and Smash 4, it's all about that new bomb of his and I'm unsure if I can handle that bomb. However :ultyounglink:Young Link also feels a lot like Sm4sh Link just with an emphasis on being smaller and faster so it makes it hard to choose between those two Links. Then there's also Toon Link that I've started to get the hang of and I have a feeling i might be able to do more with him than the others. So if I choose one link, I might just want to choose the other Links instead. They all play very differently, but similarly enough that I might want to swap to another one when I've been using one. :ultmarth:Marth has a very similar problem with his many clones since I mained Marth in Melee. I could try to main Marth again, but this time getting used to dancing blade, knowing how to use sourspots, and other stuff that the newbie melee version of myself never learned about Marth. I could pick :ultlucina:Lucina instead because she's much easier to pick up, but has the risk of being too simple, and then I might want to swap to someone else instead which could throw me off later. :ultroy: Roy seems like he'd be the best choice for the long term. However, the problem with Roy is that because I played Marth so much, I've played Roy too passively the few times I tried him out, and you have to be very confident and agressive with Roy. So that'll be a learning cliff I'd have to get over before I can truly enjoy Roy. I'm not sure if I'd be able to get over that learning cliff.... At least :ultchrom:Chrom is easy to rule out because his recovery makes me sad... Though he does feel the easiest to use out of the 4 when on stage.... :ultsamus::ultdarksamus: Samus feels waaay too matchup dependent for me to do well with Samus. I feel like I'll either be in a big advantage, or a big disadvantage based on the matchup. Also her combos feel a lot different from Smash 4 and I'd basically have to re-learn the character all over again. I've only really used Samus in more casual matches in ultimate so far, I'll have to try her again, but then again could say that about half the roster. So hard to stick to just one character. Lastly there's :ultwolf: Wolf ("mained" in the short time I played brawl) who feels pretty braindead to use and do effectively with, but unlike Ganondorf and other simple characters, he does have some combo stuff to feel like you have a way to improve. So if I'm having a bad day I'd still do decent and feel great about it and on good days I can optimize him more. Perhaps if I used Wolf again I might be able to get over that. Question is, would I be able to stick with him or get distracted by other characters once again and feel like Wolf is carrying me again?

Problems with trying to stick with :ultmetaknight: Meta Knight and :ultlucario: Lucario is that they are significantly harder to pick up than most other characters I could see myself maining. I've been trying to stick to the "Loyalty main" thing so I force myself to stick with them more because that's really the only trick I know to keep myself playing them. Meta Knight kinda promotes bad habits by himself but I feel like I could do better in the long term with him than I would with Lucario, but Lucario would help me get better at the game in general but still do quite well anyways so I was kinda attempting to duo main them because of loyalty and they seemed to work well together. It's just hard sticking with them sometimes because I feel like every now and then I get worse than I was before and wonder if I was actually improving at all and perhaps I should use someone simpler and more natural to use. Though somehow on the same side, every now and then they just feel like they are very simple characters which is a bit of a crush to motivation to playing them because I thought I was getting better when in actuality there wasn't really any other meaningful choice to make in the situation I am in which makes me feel like I wasn't actually improving. So sometimes when I go "I need something a little simpler" I tend to go to :ultridley:Ridley because he feels like a bigger meta knight with some influence from :4ganondorf:Ganondorf while still having some unique stuff of his own. One big thing I like Ridley is that he makes me realize there's no kill like overkill even if it's cheesy. So if someone dies at 0% for getting hit by a weak attack or something I won't feel bothered like I would when I play some other character, and I'm not afraid to just absolutely 3 stock someone because that's just the kind of character Ridley is. There's just no mercy with Ridley. With other characters I will feel bad that such a thing happened to the other player that it makes it harder for me to play my best (even with Lucario/Sheik who usually make me focus 24/7 because you have to with those characters). Ridley still has a few tricky things about him, but sometimes it's hard to stay with him because Ridley does feel very simple in general, then I swap back to Meta Knight and Lucario because I'm like "I need to get better at the game!". That's why I kept rotating between those 3 characters.

Another problem with trying to pick who is best is that it really depends on the player I'm fighting, what character they are using, and what stage we are fighting on. Heck depending on how I'm feeling that day I will play better with certain characters than others. Sure there's the good and bad days that effect every character no matter what, but then there's other days where you're just feeling more aggressive than normal, and other times you just try to stay away from the opponent all the time for a simple example. I can improve over time with a character, and I can get out of practice with a character as well. So it's really hard to know just who I am the best with.



As for characters I could potentially main being organized by willingness to play in casual or competitive it'd probably be like this:
Competitive Only: :ultmetaknight::ultlucario::ultroy::ultsheik::ultfox::ultfalco::ultinklingboy::ultlink::ultyounglink::ulttoonlink::ultpichu::ultpikachu::ultgreninja::ultbayonetta::ultzss:
Mostly competitive::ultwolf: :ultsonic::ultmarth::ultjoker::ultrob::ultmario::ultyoshi::ultduckhunt::ultlittlemac:
50/50: :ultdarkpit::ultsamus::ultdarksamus::ultridley::ultcloud::ultlucina::ultfalcon::ult_terry::ultshulk::ultmewtwo:
Mostly Casual: :ultsnake::ultike:
Casual Only::ultganondorf:

Pretty much all the characters that are competitive only just require a lot of learning combos and tricks unique to them but not really anyway to just mess around when you're having a bad day. Mostly competitive stuff is still that, but they have ways to play the game casually at least. 50/50 is possible to play totally casual, but there are ways to play them in a more tricky way.
While I tend to default to a more casual mindset for Ike and Ganondorf, they force me to watch the opponent because they are so basic, but they are the characters I use if I need to get into the habbit of watching opponents. I use them as tools to kickstart myself back into fighting people again if I've taken a decently long break. I feel like it'd be too hard to force myself into a competitive mindset for them but if I got over that barrier I could probably main them. I haven't played a ton of snake, but I'm always underwhelmed by him whether I play him or against him. People just seem too afraid of his grenades. While I do like scaring people, it just kinda feels like I'm tossing out stuff that shouldn't even scare the opponent and ends up with me facepalming because it actually works.

I feel like if a character has too much of a focus on competitive play, it can be quite tiring when you have the constant thought of "I need to train more. What am I doing not training!?" and the game ends up feeling more like a chore than fun. If there is no fun, there will be no motivation. Especially since I know I'll never be winning any tournaments because I can't play the game much. Going too casual you won't feel like improving or just have a very very hard time taking things seriously. I could never main :ultkingdedede:King Dedede because he just forces me to want to just screw around doing dumb silly stuff, even if I do play well with him despite not using him much. Characters that make you want to mostly be competitive but with some way to play casually seems pretty good since you can always try to play better but if you're not feeling too hot you can do some sort of cheesy tactic to get yourself rested back up to be competitive again. 50/50 is getting dangerously close to the casual side, but still enough stuff to try and improve.



Thing is, the problem isn't picking a main, it's just staying with them as I will always look at other characters in the roster and want to play them for one reason or another. Sometimes I just need a break from the character I'm trying to main. Other times I feel like I didn't know that other character enough so I want to learn the match up and usually end up loving the character more for it and I might want to main them as well. Other times I feel like perhaps I picked the wrong character for myself.
 

Sean²

Smash Capitalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
1,657
Switch FC
SW-7479-8539-5283
The problem with picking a character I think I'm best at, is that I might just be limiting myself with a character that might not be good for me in the long run, and doesn't really help me learn the game.
This statement answers your question. You should play a fundamental-heavy high or top tier. That is if your goals are beyond "casual" play.

Competitive Only: :ultmetaknight::ultlucario::ultroy::ultsheik::ultfox::ultfalco::ultinklingboy::ultlink::ultyounglink::ulttoonlink::ultpichu::ultpikachu::ultgreninja::ultbayonetta::ultzss:
If I'm judging on this list, probably the most fundamentals character you have listed here is Roy. A lot of people fall into the caveat of learning a character over learning the game. He will help you learn the game itself, probably better than anyone else on that list. And there's Chrom as his echo, which is obtaining a very good secondary for free. Once you learn one, you can pick up the other much quicker than trying to pick up a whole new character. If you are truly open-minded enough to build your creativity beyond easy BnB combos and basic neutral, these characters have enough possibilities to keep anyone interested for as long as you play.

Or if a deeper technical game will keep you interested that's also on that list, Greninja has a lot of stuff to learn and perfect before you can be considered "good" with him.

You keep saying Wolf is braindead, but he really isn't unless your opponent is on autopilot. I'm willing to take a guess that you're not carried at all by the character, but your opponents are just not prepared to handle it. He's a gatekeeper for sure, which is why so many low level players have trouble against him. In the same vein as K. Rool, Ganondorf, and Little Mac, just a higher level "gate".


...I'm also going to wager that you've been overthinking this quite a bit, for quite some time. Are you looking to move into a tournament scene, playing for real money? Like, are you gunning to be on the PGR? If not, you really have to just play who you enjoy the most. Character limitations really only apply to the absolute best of the best in Ultimate. The gap between "Bottom Tier" is much closer to "Top Tier" than it has ever been in a previous Smash game. Higher skill will trump character ability at lower levels. That's what it really boils down to.

I guess for example, there are many characters I can play at a decent level and are basically a turn-key fit directly into my playstyle. I really like playing Kirby - at lower levels. After you hit a certain skill cap with him, the character stops being enjoyable. The limitations of the character become very obvious and you have to modify your playstyle quite a bit to be able to win at a higher level, against better characters. AKA, the part I found most fun about the character to begin with is negated, and I have to play in a way I don't enjoy. That's "How to Lose Interest in a Character 101" - for me at least. Then I go back to my better character and it's a total breath of fresh air, even when it's one I've played thousands of matches with.
 

FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
The problem with picking a character I think I'm best at, is that I might just be limiting myself with a character that might not be good for me in the long run, and doesn't really help me learn the game.
I can agree and disagree on that front. True it could limit you if you're going for a character you're best at at the same time, it doesn't mean that you
"truly" went to those limits sometime it's the matter of how loyal do you want to end up and what character would you see yourself in the future. For example, I've always picked up Toon Link since Brawl and I have been playing with him competitive as a counterpick, but I do want to start picking the OG Link because of the potential he has with his bombs, so I main them both. Then I had (and still suffer through) a constant change of characters because It's like an identity loss, you don't know who you are and what character seems right to you so then you start picking many characters, thinking it might be right for you. That's why I main 5-6 characters and try to hold it down otherwise it'll be the same situation again. I personally think you should aim for someone that could aim for what you've been craving, someone that has that potential. That's why I mention doing research on each character at their best, then imagine you doing the same thing and think "Hmm this character is pretty good at _______, Maybe this might be for me." Sure it's hard, it's understandable. I do encourage you to try out each character and try to bring as much characters that you can possible can so you can make a choice based on results, for example again. Your :ultganondorf: is good against the lower players who don't know how to deal with them. If you think because you don't want to just beat the ones who can't then it's just not someone you should dedicate to. I recommend sorting the competitive only to only 4-5 and stick with them because based on your choice, they're characters who can make it in competitive play and can be played around without that much issue. Each of them still have some potential in them and are fluid enough to make your own playstyle with them
 
Last edited:

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
This statement answers your question. You should play a fundamental-heavy high or top tier. That is if your goals are beyond "casual" play.


If I'm judging on this list, probably the most fundamentals character you have listed here is Roy. A lot of people fall into the caveat of learning a character over learning the game. He will help you learn the game itself, probably better than anyone else on that list. And there's Chrom as his echo, which is obtaining a very good secondary for free. Once you learn one, you can pick up the other much quicker than trying to pick up a whole new character. If you are truly open-minded enough to build your creativity beyond easy BnB combos and basic neutral, these characters have enough possibilities to keep anyone interested for as long as you play.

Or if a deeper technical game will keep you interested that's also on that list, Greninja has a lot of stuff to learn and perfect before you can be considered "good" with him.

You keep saying Wolf is braindead, but he really isn't unless your opponent is on autopilot. I'm willing to take a guess that you're not carried at all by the character, but your opponents are just not prepared to handle it. He's a gatekeeper for sure, which is why so many low level players have trouble against him. In the same vein as K. Rool, Ganondorf, and Little Mac, just a higher level "gate".


...I'm also going to wager that you've been overthinking this quite a bit, for quite some time. Are you looking to move into a tournament scene, playing for real money? Like, are you gunning to be on the PGR? If not, you really have to just play who you enjoy the most. Character limitations really only apply to the absolute best of the best in Ultimate. The gap between "Bottom Tier" is much closer to "Top Tier" than it has ever been in a previous Smash game. Higher skill will trump character ability at lower levels. That's what it really boils down to.

I guess for example, there are many characters I can play at a decent level and are basically a turn-key fit directly into my playstyle. I really like playing Kirby - at lower levels. After you hit a certain skill cap with him, the character stops being enjoyable. The limitations of the character become very obvious and you have to modify your playstyle quite a bit to be able to win at a higher level, against better characters. AKA, the part I found most fun about the character to begin with is negated, and I have to play in a way I don't enjoy. That's "How to Lose Interest in a Character 101" - for me at least. Then I go back to my better character and it's a total breath of fresh air, even when it's one I've played thousands of matches with.
I'll definitely give :ultroy:Roy another shot. I know someone else who would be absolutely delighted to hear me playing Roy as well. Perhaps they'll give me tips on how to play Roy like how I helped them get better with Samus.

:ultgreninja:Greninja being a bit harder to pick up than others is one of the reasons why I haven't touched him. I definitely know he's a character you have to really know the combos for. I've had a few good matches with Greninja so I could see it happening if I start doing some proper combos, but I've hardly touched him in Ultimate, I was going to try him again, but got distracted by all the other characters in the roster. This is also a reason why I was trying to make myself stick to one character. Get strong understanding of the game in general and the harder tech that can be applied to everyone, and then try looking at characters again.

:ultwolf:As for Wolf, I do want to try him again since his blaster did get nerfed. Since I was doing damage mainly just using blaster only without really trying to. For a while I basically was forcing myself to never use blaster just so I'd learn how to use the rest of the character and I got much better much faster that way. There are combos with Wolf that I never tried doing (and I'm not even sure if shine combos were a thing before the wolf shine got buffed). So he probably won't feel as simple as before.

And yes, I definitely overthought this a lot. I overthink a lot of things, I just like to be absolutely sure before doing something. Not really planning on going to tournaments, but maybe someday that'll happen (Smash 6 will probably be released by that time though). I have friends who do go to tournaments though so I do have to play very well if I want to play with them, and it would be nice to give them tips or let them get some matchup experience with characters they struggle with (Snake being the most requested character since I do pretty well with Snake despite only using him when people ask for it. They run into a lot of snakes in their tournaments. He seems so underwhelming to me though). I also just kinda want the battles to be as entertaining as possible, and you can't do that if you are just fumbling around with your controls. Gotta have a mastery of the characters you use to do that. Higher skill trumping character ability is definitely apparent because since I have a pretty good understanding of most characters and know how most people usually fight, I usually get all my wins from making many reads on players even though I have absolutely horrible control over characters.


I can agree and disagree on that front. True it could limit you if you're going for a character you're best at at the same time, it doesn't mean that you
"truly" went to those limits sometime it's the matter of how loyal do you want to end up and what character would you see yourself in the future. For example, I've always picked up Toon Link since Brawl and I have been playing with him competitive as a counterpick, but I do want to start picking the OG Link because of the potential he has with his bombs, so I main them both. Then I had (and still suffer through) a constant change of characters because It's like an identity loss, you don't know who you are and what character seems right to you so then you start picking many characters, thinking it might be right for you. That's why I main 5-6 characters and try to hold it down otherwise it'll be the same situation again. I personally think you should aim for someone that could aim for what you've been craving, someone that has that potential. That's why I mention doing research on each character at their best, then imagine you doing the same thing and think "Hmm this character is pretty good at _______, Maybe this might be for me." Sure it's hard, it's understandable. I do encourage you to try out each character and try to bring as much characters that you can possible can so you can make a choice based on results, for example again. Your :ultganondorf: is good against the lower players who don't know how to deal with them. If you think because you don't want to just beat the ones who can't then it's just not someone you should dedicate to. I recommend sorting the competitive only to only 4-5 and stick with them because based on your choice, they're characters who can make it in competitive play and can be played around without that much issue. Each of them still have some potential in them and are fluid enough to make your own playstyle with them
I might just go and look thoroughly into every character again like I did in Brawl. Though it does take a lot of time. I may have to start up my 100 matches with each character challenge again that I was doing in Smash 4..... Though I only have like 300-500 matches each on my top 3-5 ish characters after this first year sooo I'm not sure if that's actually something I'll be able to accomplish (though to be fair I was busy 100%ing everything else in the game and got distracted by VR for a while). Problem at one point I realized when I was trying new characters, there's a lot of generalized stuff that could seriously help out literally the entire roster like short hop reverse back air fast falls or b-reverses as simple examples. So that's kinda why I was hoping to stick to one main character to make me learn the rest of the game and then try to pick up new characters again. It's hard to just stay on one character though.
The hard part about "hmm this character is pretty good at ___ this might be for me" is that most characters have something unique about them, and then that makes me want to play them. Looking at weaknesses and seeing if I can handle them does help narrow it down though. Like I can't stand Chrom's recovery. though unfortunately some weaknesses start to not bother me overtime. Like for a while I couldn't play rob because I felt so helpless when getting combo'd that it bothered me, but now in Ultimate I don't care about that and it's no problem at all for me to play rob.
 

FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
The hard part about "hmm this character is pretty good at ___ this might be for me" is that most characters have something unique about them, and then that makes me want to play them. Looking at weaknesses and seeing if I can handle them does help narrow it down though. Like I can't stand Chrom's recovery. though unfortunately some weaknesses start to not bother me overtime. Like for a while I couldn't play rob because I felt so helpless when getting combo'd that it bothered me, but now in Ultimate I don't care about that and it's no problem at all for me to play rob.
In that case, I personally don't recommend only choosing one for you. Because of your standards, you seem to be more flexible with your choices and even though their's weaknesses that you have with each character, you don't mind it at all. Maybe starting over from the beginning by choosing the character that started it all for you, then look at the other ones you played in your opinion the most, or look up a top tier character, understand it's unique features. Really the point i to give you a reason to sick with a character. I mean if you end up spending more time with a character that took you a while, you might feel like you would like to spend some more time with the character in general, then go back to other characters you like playing and compare from there, it kinda worked for me so idk if it'll be the same for you, if not I guess you might have to start from the beginning and try to go with a simple character and stick with that character until you go back to the ones you like, apply all of the knowledge you learn from the starter character, and make a choice on there
 

Predatoria

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 30, 2019
Messages
361
Location
Raleigh, North Carolina
Switch FC
SW-5219-6817-7975
Honestly, it may be a character trait situation rather than a character choice situation going on here.

I've played with people from opposite sides of the spectrum. Some players will play the same character nearly every match. Other players will swap around and choose from a dozen or more characters in the roster and rotate between them. It seems that this trait is not game-specific or main-specific, but, moreso, is player-specific.

I'll use myself as an example. I used to play World of Warcraft. I had no alts that I put any effort into, and always played my main. I played my main for years. I never changed specs. I never changed characters. I never even changed what talents I used. I just played the same character and never got bored trying to master that character. The thought of playing another character never came to me, and I was never bothered by the fact that I always played the same thing.

I have played other games as well. No matter what game I play, I tend to follow this same behavior. I will choose one specific character, class, spec, team, or playstyle, and will play it and only it.

It is no surprise to me that the only character I care for bothering with in Smash Ultimate is my main, Ridley, who, according to my statistics page, I've spent well over 90% of my time playing. In a twist of irony, the only time I don't play Ridley is when I can tell my rl opponents are growing frustrated with him, as he's the character I'm by far best with, so swapping to another character is moreso me showing some mercy or relief to avoid frustrating friends, rather than any inherent desire to swap off my main.


Now, there are other people I've played with across a multitude of games. I have played Smash with people who I've also played WoW with. I've played Smash with people I've played with from other games. I feel confident in asserting that I can predict whether or not one will likely pick up on one character in Smash, or be the type of player who rotates around the roster, based on their behavior in other games such as WoW.

What is your behavior like in other games? Do you tend to select one character and try to master that singular character, or are you more likely to play many different characters in other games you enjoy. It may provide some insight as to the dilemma brought up here in this thread.


Finally, it may not necessarily be a bad thing if you're the kind of player who typically rotates around the roster. After all, when I was quite competitive pvping in WoW, my biggest weakness was being unfamiliar with the goals, playstyles, and objectives of other characters. If one were to have actually played from the other perspective, it gives tremendous insight when you meet them on the battlefield. Your tendency to play many characters may help you, rather than hinder a pursuit at becoming a competitive player. Maybe you should just accept this is the way you are and enjoy the bonuses such a personality entails.
 
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Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
In that case, I personally don't recommend only choosing one for you. Because of your standards, you seem to be more flexible with your choices and even though their's weaknesses that you have with each character, you don't mind it at all. Maybe starting over from the beginning by choosing the character that started it all for you, then look at the other ones you played in your opinion the most, or look up a top tier character, understand it's unique features. Really the point i to give you a reason to sick with a character. I mean if you end up spending more time with a character that took you a while, you might feel like you would like to spend some more time with the character in general, then go back to other characters you like playing and compare from there, it kinda worked for me so idk if it'll be the same for you, if not I guess you might have to start from the beginning and try to go with a simple character and stick with that character until you go back to the ones you like, apply all of the knowledge you learn from the starter character, and make a choice on there
Where it all started is kinda hard to really determine.

Fox looked so cool back in the day and his attacks looked awesome so he was the first one I used in Melee. Problem with playing Fox in Melee is that just trying to learn the buttons, he was too fast for me to really see much of a difference with attacks and you had to get so close so I played with other characters, but even when I went back to him, it was hard to deal with CPUs that will perfect block his attacks and also hit him outside of his short range before he even gets in because he can't mind game CPUs. So I'd say it all started :linkmelee:Link in Melee, though :marthmelee:Marth was 50/50 for the longest time with Link's playtime until I swapped to Marth. Though the main reasons why I used those characters was a shallow one. Swords are awesome! and I love hearing the sword clash sound in Melee (I mean I was a kid at the time) But also because they had long reach that could poke enemies shields where they couldnt easily punish you even with a perfect block. Which CPUs did all the time. Though in Melee I was pretty bad as I couldn't do tilts because smash attacks were just faster to input, and I'd mostly rely on using spaced aerials to attack CPUs.

Got brawl in hopes of online play, but I got the game a week or two after online shut down. So played :fox:Fox and :wolf:Wolf because i figured whenever a new smash comes out Wolf might not make it back, so Wolf was the main character I was using in Brawl, but I also wanted to see the differences between the spacies, but never quite got around to :falco: Falco (wasn't he Brawl where he started being slow? That would've stopped me). Also used :snake: Snake a bit then too but basically only enough to learn his moves and didn't actually get good with him. Smash 4 For Glory was the first chance to play competitively against human players that were actually good (minus one Mario main vs my marth match in Melee. ha ha that matchup disadvantage).

Early Smash 4 I was using :4link:Link and :4samus:Samus and they'd just wreck everyone, anyone I couldn't beat I'd just swap characters. I get a lot better at the game in general just by playing them. I also used :4charizard:Charizard and :4cloud2:Cloud and did very well with them as they are two of the easiest characters I've ever learned to play in Smash and two characters I was thinking about maining. Charizard I stopped playing after a while because he was boring to play because practically every single attack he does hits enemies too far away to be able to follow up with anything was getting rather repeitive. Cloud just felt like easy mode because he sorta feels like an Ultimate character in a Smash 4 game due to him being able to attack immediately upon touching the ground even if he used an aerial which not many characters could do in Smash 4 with that kind of effectiveness, also his limit just giving him a speed boost just for having it, which I always stayed in because I always kept it just in case I got sent off the stage. There were other characters I tried but something just didn't click,
:4shulk:Shulk was too sluggish in Smash 4 and his monado arts were annoying to select (but Ultimate all my problems with him were fixed so I've been tempted to try him again. but doing stuff like switching to shield art when you're being combod, then switching quickly back to smash art and up Bing to KO the person comboing you is just something I dont think my fingers can pull off ) :4corrin:Felt too slow for a playstyle that felt mostly similar to marth and his clones outside of smashes and projectiles but those don't feel like they make up for his sluggish nature. I did decently for him. Absolutely shocked at how absolutely hated he was though. Especially with how everyone loved my Meta Knight :4miisword: Mii Swordsman felt amazing in Smash 4 and I could do work with him, but you can't play them in For Glory and I didn't want to bother my friends with always picking them and in Ultimate the Miis feel so heavily nerfed because they can't be small and fast like in Smash 4... Also Rathalos armor doesn't exist and no other good swordy skins are ones I love enough to use. :4robinm:I was doing very well for a while with Robin, but similarly to Charizard, he felt too simple and repetitive.... At least he has "combos" though. Tempted to try him again in Ultimate. :4ganondorf: Ganondorf is one of my more played characters in Smash 4 because I can't refuse a Ganon ditto. Also he was surprisingly very effective. Usually when I brought him out he'd win. I do feel like he does absolutely demolish most people's mental game so they start playing worse because usually if I swap to some other character, they wouldn't be able to fight that character as well as before they fought the Ganondorf. :4sheik:Sheik is one of the first characters I tried to do my 100 matches with all character challenge with. She felt perfect in Smash 4, and helped me learn how to play Meta knight. I get tempted to play her in ultimate sometimes. I just don't think about Sheik all that much. Another one of those characters that no one plays.
After I got done just trying out all characters I decided to try getting good with :4metaknight: Meta Knight because I knew I'd play him a bunch because he was the only character I wanted to get into smash. Though Meta Knight was my worst character for the longest time until I played :4sheik: Sheik (in Melee I hated Sheik btw, she felt too weird). Then everything just clicked with Meta Knight and he was one of my best characters. Meta Knight was the first characters I forced myself really hard to stick with for a long time. People kept saying they loved fighting my Meta Knight. Note: I never did the up air into up b combo because I was terrible at it.... Unless you count that one time I did it on a Donkey Kong.

In Ultimate I used :ultmetaknight: Meta Knight because I wanted him in Elite Smash at least, so I figured I'd kick people's butts with him, but I was probably a few weeks late to the party so some people were already pretty good. Almost made it into Elite Smash, but then fought an incineroar that was pretty good and doing early meta stuff. I slowly got better at beating him overtime until he just couldnt win against me anymore but he already lowered my GSP a lot, but I could have won many many more matches if I just exploited his recovery with torando because I didn't realize how vulnerable Incineroar's recovery was. Literally every time since then I was overtired and not able to think properly when playing Meta Knight due to lack of sleep because I was work over 50 hours at work on top of other responsibilities. So I wasn't actually improving at all because my brain couldn't focus to play, much less remember anything that was happening. After using Meta Knight, I tried to get good with :ultwolf:Wolf again and I was kicking butt, even if I felt carried by him. Only losing to my awesome friends that go to tournaments. Though randomly out of no where I'd just start focusing and absolutely decimate them with Wolf without getting touched every now and then. I felt like this was just because sometimes I'd actually want to win really hard, that even when I was way overtired, it'd be a bit of adrenaline to wake the body and mind up to actually do things. However this just made me realize how sleep deprived I was. It was pretty bad, spoiler (because kinda off topic) if you're curious how bad
So I stopped playing video games, and talking to anyone in order to fix sleep problems.. Even doing that I was skipping 3 days of sleep regularly, and getting 1-3 hours on days I actually do sleep because I just trying to get chores done and work 9 hours every day 6 days a week (Note: things are harder and slower when you're sleep deprived like which makes you get less sleep later). Was literally going insane for a bit. I mean, when your subcoscious tells you inanimate objects are alive and you see black stuff moving out of the corners of your eyes, that's pretty bad. This didn't happen overnight. It happened over the course of years. Eventually I did lower my work hours to 40 hours so I now have 2 days off which helped a lot. Though I still had problems with sleep for many reasons. Luckily when I was panicing from not being able to control my sleep from a while back I was able to use VR (which I bought for a different reason). Was playing VR Chat because it was free. There was a lot of relaxing worlds, but would end up falling asleep because I was trying to memorize avatar facial expressions in front of a mirror. Figured I'd tried sleeping on purpose, but couldnt at first but overtime it was easier until I was sleeping in VR just so I could go to sleep. Sleeping in VR made it so I can go to sleep easily without VR nowadays. Seems I never really had the chance to relax, like ever in my life. I am literally always doing something. If I have a bad day, just slap on VR and within 5 minutes I'll start to be relaxed and maybe fall asleep. It's helped immensely with concentration in Smash, and keeping a calm mind. Which makes it significantly easier to learn and improve. So this is why I'm trying to get into Smash again despite not having much time. I may not have the time, but the time I do have it's actually useful and I improve.
So after I got better with sleep stuff I've been spending time with :ultlucario:Lucario and :ultridley:Ridley mostly and I feel like this is where I truly start to get better at playing Ultimate specifically. Lucario is the one I attempt to force myself to play since he requires short hops fast falls since he stays in the air forever if he doesn't (Meta Knight can be kinda lazy about short hops because he's so fast anyways and has multi jumps and other ways to get to the ground), and Lucario would help with b-reversing, also he was the other "loyalty main" I had. Though more recently I've just been trying to get good with Ridley so I can get him into Elite Smash since arenas now require elite sometimes (also I'd feel terrible if I didn't have any characters in elite smash... even if I only ever want to play in Arenas).... Though there's always that one really good player, and if there's a good player that beats me, I just can't resist a rematch. Usually it'll go back and forth because we adapt towards each other, but some people are so good that i'll just go down to less than 100,000 gsp because of this one person and then I'll proceed to 3 stock the crap out of people for like 50 matches on some people that totally don't deserve to be thrashed so hard to get my GSP back up.

Going back to Link is hard because the :ultlink:BOTW Link and :ultyounglink:Young Link don't play like :4link:Smash 4 Link does enough. Besides it's easy to get distracted by tossing out projectiles and using nairs/fairs often. At least I'd get better at item play because I didn't do a lot of that with Link in Smash 4. Would definitely get used to that with BOTW Link. I could go back to :ultmarth:Marth, he still feels rather natural to play and I don't whiff due to his shortened range from Melee to Brawl like I used to all the time which is why I stopped playing Marth initially (along with all those new characters distracting me!). Problem is I'd want to dabble with :ultroy:Roy and :ultlucina:Lucina as well since they are similar even if they play differently. Though that'd be splitting up my time. Someone suggested Roy and I've wanted to try Roy for a while so I'm probably gonna do that for a little bit, though I do worry that he might be a character that has too much character specific stuff because of his sour/sweet spot mechanic (and playing Chrom just kills me inside because of that recovery). Then I worry about Lucina being so basic and good that she might not force me to improve like others. :ultlucario:Lucario and :ultwolf: Wolf seem like other choices of characters where I started doing more competitive stuff. :ultmetaknight: Meta Knight has the most time, but I do realize he lets me get away with stuff I shouldn't like not short hopping and stuff like that. Playing other characters tends to improve my Meta Knight. I was terrible with him until I used Sheik. I was in the air too often so I never used his grounded options until I used Little Mac, then I was more well rounded as Meta Knight. Then there's other characters that did much smaller changes, but Meta Knight just keeps getting better when I play other characters because they help let me think in a different way and allowing for more playstyles I can swap between. However I feel like if there's a character I can play that forces me to improve, I could go back to Meta Knight and be absolutely amazing with him and also bring out more potential from characters when I'm learning them. That's why I'm trying to stick to one person. Meta Knight let's me be too lazy so he doesn't really help me get better at the game.


Honestly, it may be a character trait situation rather than a character choice situation going on here.

What is your behavior like in other games? Do you tend to select one character and try to master that singular character, or are you more likely to play many different characters in other games you enjoy. It may provide some insight as to the dilemma brought up here in this thread.


Finally, it may not necessarily be a bad thing if you're the kind of player who typically rotates around the roster. After all, when I was quite competitive pvping in WoW, my biggest weakness was being unfamiliar with the goals, playstyles, and objectives of other characters. If one were to have actually played from the other perspective, it gives tremendous insight when you meet them on the battlefield. Your tendency to play many characters may help you, rather than hinder a pursuit at becoming a competitive player. Maybe you should just accept this is the way you are and enjoy the bonuses such a personality entails.
TL:DR - Master all the gameplay styles.
Spoiler as to why
Basically growing up I didn't have many games as a kid, so generally I would try to master a game and that wouldn't be enough, so then I'd just make handicaps or challenges using specific conditions which would then make me learn special tricks about games that I could use in other ways that i would never have learned just by sticking to the thing that always worked and then show them off to people because no one would know those tricks. Soooo when it came to games later I generally try to use all characters because the more ways to experience a game the better. So I generally would try to master all classes in any game I'd played, which led me to having a thorough understanding of what people want to go for. So when I did too well with every type of gameplay style, I'd start doing stupid stuff (most common example is meleeing in shooters where melee is underpowered. Other examples are too specific unless you played the game and I can't remember them sometimes), but getting away with it because I know how people think. This is why I do well in smash despite not being able to use characters all that well, I generally have a really good idea what people are going to do. This also makes it pretty easy to pick up new characters and gameplay styles very quickly because I've always been used to trying incredibly different gameplay styles from before from previous games. Hence why I can still pick up a random character like previously mentioned snake and it's still helps my friends tremendously because they can still have a hard time fighting him since I get a pretty good idea of what he can do.

Thing is the reason why I'm trying to stick with one character for now, is so I can get better at the more difficult stuff that can still be applied to everyone else. Short hop reverse fast fall back airs, b-reverse stuff, zair dropping, etc all that sort of stuff that can be applied to all characters. Stuff you don't technically need but it helps greatly to let you do more options and some characters benefit from it more than others and that sort of stuff can definitely change how you play with or against characters. Learn that stuff with one character, and it'll transfer to everyone else. If I learn all that stuff, it'll let me more thoroughly understand how to play newer characters when they come out and such since I'll be able to take advantage of more options and to optimize the options I already have. After I feel like I "master" a character... At least enough to master general mechanics that can be applied to everyone, I'll probably go back to using a bunch of different characters again because I don't think it's possible for me to stay to just one character forever anyways. That's why I was hoping to find some tips to stay on one character because it's hard to do that.
 

link2702

Smash Champion
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
2,778
The knowledge that anyone who struggles against a ganon is pretty garbage.

The chance for me to get into my opponents head and get some incredible reads.

The fact that I think ganondorf is badass.
 

FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
In Ultimate I used :ultmetaknight: Meta Knight because I wanted him in Elite Smash at least, so I figured I'd kick people's butts with him, but I was probably a few weeks late to the party so some people were already pretty good. Almost made it into Elite Smash, but then fought an incineroar that was pretty good and doing early meta stuff. I slowly got better at beating him overtime until he just couldnt win against me anymore but he already lowered my GSP a lot, but I could have won many many more matches if I just exploited his recovery with torando because I didn't realize how vulnerable Incineroar's recovery was. Literally every time since then I was overtired and not able to think properly when playing Meta Knight due to lack of sleep because I was work over 50 hours at work on top of other responsibilities. So I wasn't actually improving at all because my brain couldn't focus to play, much less remember anything that was happening. After using Meta Knight, I tried to get good with :ultwolf:Wolf again and I was kicking butt, even if I felt carried by him. Only losing to my awesome friends that go to tournaments. Though randomly out of no where I'd just start focusing and absolutely decimate them with Wolf without getting touched every now and then. I felt like this was just because sometimes I'd actually want to win really hard, that even when I was way overtired, it'd be a bit of adrenaline to wake the body and mind up to actually do things. However this just made me realize how sleep deprived I was. It was pretty bad, spoiler (because kinda off topic)It's helped immensely with concentration in Smash, and keeping a calm mind. Which makes it significantly easier to learn and improve. So this is why I'm trying to get into Smash again despite not having much time. I may not have the time, but the time I do have it's actually useful and I improve.

Probably the main reason for you being like this is due to the fact you play smash in that strict time that you have. My guess is because you don't have too much time, you basically want to crunch up the free time you have with the techniques you have, while maintaining sleep & working. I could be all wrong here, but most of the time when stuff like that happens is because you're pushing yourself and doubting yourself all the time without precaution. I'm not saying it's can't work to do all of that at once, I respect that you have passion to do this despite the situation that you're going through (getting off topic sorry) The point is if you can't find a character that'll fit you best because of the unique attributes they all have, you might have to embrace it until you don't really want to anymore. I mean you drop and pick up characters for specific reasons. Which is a good thing, however I feel like if you continue that route, you'll end up never finding one that'll fit you at least close to where you're looking for. Take how I would choose a main, I would find a character that can be a good zoner, but can be agressive if it's needed, that's why I secondary :ultinkling:. I think with the small time you have is to mainly find someone that can show up to play with you every time you're open and is at your or a higher level than you. Then with that time you have, play each character, talk about why you like that character, then let them do the same, some people don't have that issue so talking with that person about why they stick to the character they like with give you a good starting reason and try to do the same reason like them.
 

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
Probably the main reason for you being like this is due to the fact you play smash in that strict time that you have. My guess is because you don't have too much time, you basically want to crunch up the free time you have with the techniques you have, while maintaining sleep & working. I could be all wrong here, but most of the time when stuff like that happens is because you're pushing yourself and doubting yourself all the time without precaution.
Yeah pretty much that's the case. I try to take precautions but it takes time to decide what needs to be done in Smash, then with the little time I have i start panicing that I'm taking time just trying to manage the time and somedays I'll just use up all of the little time I have just trying to make a routine and end up not playing smash at all. So later times I play smash I just do the opposite accidentally and just play without a real goal in mind because I'm afraid I'll just spend too much time overthinking it but since there's no goals in place I don't really end up learning much.
Also yeah I doubt myself all the time. If I'm not playing perfectly, then it's not good enough. Then constantly seeing myself mess up movements, and seeing things that look like should hit but then actually don't will make me doubt myself. Then after being used to kicking people's butts in For Glory in Smash 4 all the time, to struggling a lot in Ultimate against randoms just makes me feel like I'm just too out of practice all the time and that I'm just not as good as I used to be and may never be that good again due to lack of time. Especially since it feels like I forget combos on characters overtime when I play that makes me wonder why I even try. Though doubt is a double edged sword. While it does make it hard to keep playing sometimes, it also make me want to improve it also sometimes makes me want to improve because it makes me aware that something is wrong and it's nice to know that there's something I'm aware that can be fixed. As opposed to improving for the sake of improving without any clear focus on what I can improve on.

The point is if you can't find a character that'll fit you best because of the unique attributes they all have, you might have to embrace it until you don't really want to anymore. I mean you drop and pick up characters for specific reasons. Which is a good thing, however I feel like if you continue that route, you'll end up never finding one that'll fit you at least close to where you're looking for.
Embrace all the characters unique attributes until I'm not bored of it anymore so I will actually get a main at some point because I'm bored of using everyone? That will never happen. Didn't happen in Melee, didn't happen in Brawl, didn't happen in Smash 4 (hence why I forced myself to main Meta Knight when I didn't really want to), and they weren't as fun or had as many characters as Ultimate had.


Take how I would choose a main, I would find a character that can be a good zoner, but can be agressive if it's needed, that's why I secondary :ultinkling:. I think with the small time you have is to mainly find someone that can show up to play with you every time you're open and is at your or a higher level than you. Then with that time you have, play each character, talk about why you like that character, then let them do the same, some people don't have that issue so talking with that person about why they stick to the character they like with give you a good starting reason and try to do the same reason like them.
The only person better than me that only sticks to one character is a :ultpikachu:Pikachu main who I helped get better in Smash 4 by giving them advice, and then started attending tournaments to get even better than me. They only use Pikachu because it's Pikachu. Gotta say it's probably going to be difficult for that person to go to any other character than Pikachu, though they did try :ultmarth:Marth for a short time in Smash 4 and a few matches in Ultimate. They seem pretty set on only ever using Pikachu though. Depending on the day we'll either be even in skill or I just get wrecked constantly, though I blame that on me just having a bad mindset or not having enough sleep.

Then there's the other person better than me who I don't know who they main, but they almost never lose and have gone to tournaments and have been playing since Melee (maybe even 64 I'd have to check). Might be :ultness:Ness (probably Ness, but they once said they used them often just because it's Earthbound.), might be :ultdoc:Doctor Mario (like seriously he's the only person I've fought or seen that seems to know how he works), might be :ultdk:Donkey Kong and he's just good with just about everyone in the cast. He always seems to know what I'm going to do. Though that's probably because of his safely aggressive style always has me playing on the passive side because it feels like most aggressive options I can usually take won't work on him, and there's only so many passive options you can take. When talking to other people in Smash he has mentioned a few times it's just really hard to catch me sometimes and that you have to play a bit differently to catch someone like me. Hearing that made me feel pretty good the first time I heard it lol.

Everyone else I talk to "regularly" about smash is either around my level, or is worse than me.
There is one who mains :ultdarksamus:Dark Samus because it's Dark Samus (and I helped them get better with Samus because I know a thing or two about Samus from Smash 4, now we have awesome Samus duels sometimes), but he also mains :ultroy:Roy. I'll have to ask them why they play Roy (and hopefully it's not an answer of "because Roy's our boy!"). There's someone else who uses :ultyoshi: Yoshi and :ulticeclimbers:Ice Climbers, but I don't really know why and I don't talk to them as much as the others. There's one person who plays :ultlittlemac:Little Mac who is pretty bad at the game but has my style downloaded 100% so even though they are bad at the game and get beaten by a bunch of people, they know how to beat me rather frequently (quite annoying because it's just constant "I thought I was out of range," and "I thought my attack was fast enough" when I fight them). They just chose Little mac only because Little Mac was easy. I probably underestimate them a lot so I don't concentrate enough, they are a very silly person. Someone else uses :ultlucas:Lucas and I have no idea why they use Lucas, though they are pretty bad... Though they are a very salty person that can't stand not being the best and they've been improving since I first fought them just because I won against them because they just want to trash talk so badly. There's one person that used to main :ultridley:Ridley but now mains :ultmetaknight:Meta Knight after they saw my Meta Knight being awesome, and we have this joke about how we swapped mains because I was playing Ridley a lot after he picked Meta Knight. They are probably better with Meta Knight than I ever was because they are able to 0 to death people by doing the up air and down air combos to drag people off the stage and then tornado to finish which is something I haven't been able to do in ultimate yet. I could be wrong but I feel like they are better at tech skill, but I'm better at reading because we're very close in skill level as we get very close matches no matter what characters we use. (also the times we did Meta Knight + Ridley 2v2s we'd always wreck. we worked so well with each other and Meta Knight + Ridley seem to work so well together as characters too). Also I think they might be maining Kirby now because they want :ultkirby:Kirby to be good and show what Kirby is capable of because I always hear complaints about how Kirby never gets buffed (They are good with Kirby, but with the group that play smash regularly he gets exploited constantly because Kirby has some pretty big weaknesses). There's another person who mains :ultrobin:Robin that I've only had a few times to play against and I'm pretty sure they said they mained Robin just because it's Robin.

So overall I get a feeling of people just maining a character because they like the character itself and not really for the game play. This is kinda why I was using :ultmetaknight:Meta Knight for the longest time because he was the only one I wanted in smash without anyone suggesting characters to me. Though Meta Knight kinda promotes bad habbits so I was hoping to play some other character. :ultlucario:Lucario was the only other character I love a lot outside of smash so that's kinda why I was trying to duo main Meta Knight and Lucario, because Lucario can't get away with the BS that Meta Knight gets away with all the time (unless Lucario gets high %... which shouldn't happen against good players). :ultridley:Ridley I was hyped as heck for since I was hoping throughout Smash 4 that he'd get in, but seeing him in Ultimate made me happy. A lot of the reasons why I like Meta Knight can be applied to Ridley as a character, and in their gameplay. He's much simpler to use than Meta Knight or Lucario so sometimes I get tempted to solo main him but then I realize he kinda lets me cheese things like Meta knight does.



Liking characters isn't really a problem. Trying to get better at the game by staying on one character is. Since I got reasons to love all the characters. I'll try to "briefly" mention why I like them all just to drive the point that I love all the characters in the roster.
:ultmario:1 Mario - I can pretty much play however I want with Mario. Aggressive, defensive, whatever. He's very easy to pick up as well. Literally the only problems with him is that he has short range... and outside of smash he's pretty boring.
:ultdk:2 Donkey Kong - Not a fan of having a horrible neutral, but there is something very nice about the fact of waiting for just the right moment to just absolutely demolish the enemy's stock..... Also I love spiking (something I can't do with Meta Knight or Lucario), and he has a bazillion ways to spike.
:ultlink:3 Link - Swords and projectiles. Always has a way to attack/pressure no matter what distance the opponent is at. Projectiles for long range, sword for closish range, and nair if they are on top of you. You can be passive and play with projectiles or get up close and personal to catch teh opponent off-guard whenever you want. Also having a 90% fast fall speed increase is friggin awesome and I abused the heck out of that in Smash 4. Only problems with him is that it can be easy to get distracted by tossing out projectiles and falling into the same pattern you usually do so you don't really try to improve. Also that new bomb stuff is going to take forever to master and incredibly specific to that Link (but at least it'll help you learn zair dropping)
:ultsamus::ultdarksamus:4 Samuses - Similar to link, has ways to attack from afar and up close and can swap between them easily. Depending on the matchup it feels like she either can't avoid enemies at all, or she's too slippery to be touched. Favorite thing about Samus is her overwhelming intimidation by having her charge shot charged. You can just see the difference in people's game play when she has it charged because if anyone is good at all, they know they have to respect it.
:ultyoshi:5 Yoshi - Agile, easy to combo, has a nice projectile. What's not to love about Yoshi? Only problem I see is that it'll take a while to get used to not being able to double jump on stage like most of the cast because he will die without that double jump.
:ultkirby:6 Kirby - Multi jumps, has combos, can flatten to the ground, pretty easy to pick up. Just can be a problem is people can abuse his slowish speed and/or outrange him. Which in my experience isn't as bad as you might think so he's always fun to play.
:ultfox:7 Fox - Mr Melee himself. Super fast, has combos, a projectile, reflector, feels like you can mix things up pretty easily. He's just a fun time. His recovery is really the only problem I have with him, and that isn't even that bad.
:ultpikachu:8 Pikachu - "Pikachu busted". He's pretty fast, disjoints, he's got insane combos, he's got a projectile that is hard to deal with. Then you got quick attack which is crazy good and just having the greatest recovery allowing you to go offstage incredibly deep and then make it back to stage with no problems. Lack of range might be the only problem, but with all of his benefits it's hard to see that sometimes
:ultluigi:9 Luigi - Luigi is the character that I'm least likely to want to main out of the roster but I even like playing him. Smash 4 Luigi I didn't even think about it because I hate mashing and that was important to his recovery, but mashing doesn't really seem to effect his recovery much at all in Ultimate. So that removes a big problem. The other big problem is that he is just so insanely slow in the air and his range doesn't feel like it's long enough to compensate for it........ However, that's kind of the fun of Luigi. He might be slow and not have all that range, but once he gets in range, it's time for absolute destruction with his crazy combos due to how fast his moves come out.
:ultness:10 Ness - I've only played him a few times because he feels incredibly powerful due to his disjoints (Particularly his fair) and back throw. Only problems with him is his recovery against certain characters, and having the yoshi problem of having your recovery be much worse without his jump. However since Up B travels so far it doesn't harm Ness as much as Yoshi when he double jumps.
:ultfalcon:11 Captain Falcon - I've always called him "The Face of Smash". Easy to pick up, super fast, can combo, has moves that hit so very hard and are very stylish, all while having cheesy memey voice clips. Only problem with Captain Falcon is his recovery, which I feel is only a problem at higher levels of play.
:ultjigglypuff:12 Jigglypuff - I love staying in the air all the time in video games, and Jigglypuff lets you do just that. Though she is meant to be in the air generally, she can still flatten herself out on the ground to avoid some attacks as well. Opponents shielding her attacks can be a problem but she's got that side B to stop people from doing that. I almost never play her but I definitely can appreciate how intimidating Jigglypuff can be because her overwhelming speed in the air allows her to just easily bait out attacks from opponents and she can just wait just barely outside of where opponents attack until they make a mistake against most of the cast. The only real problem with Jigglypuff is when she gets matched up against a character that doesn't let her do that. She's kind of a one trick kind of character to me.
:ultpeach::ultdaisy:13 Peach/Daisy - Combos, and can have tricky movement because of float. Only problem is I know they are one of the much harder characters to learn in Smash..... Also Daisy>Peach
:ultbowser:14 Bowser - Sometimes it's just fun to be a big stompy monster just running down at the enemy with the screen shaking while they fear your overwhelming might. Also that up+B out of shield is ridiculously good against a good chunk of the roster. In the past I didn't like playing Bowser because he was so slow that I felt like I couldn't do anything. However in Ultimate he's just so fast that he's just terrifying. Only problem I have with Bowser right now is that I worry that he might not have enough ways to change up his gameplay to keep things interesting.
:ulticeclimbers:15 Ice Climbers - Disjoints, has projectiles, but most importantly that desync capability leading to the most awesome stuff that you could see in smash.... The problem with Ice Climbers? They are incredibly hard to master because of the de-sync mechanic, but also learning Ice Climbers makes you only really learn Ice Climbers due to how much of an emphasis there is on de-sync.
:ultsheik:16 Sheik - The character that is all about speed and combos to the point where it sacrifices KO power. While this may seem like a problem to many people where they don't feel rewarded for what they do, I find this to be a benefit because this makes it so you are always focused constantly because you have to always focusing on how to attack your opponent. Sheik forces creativity which makes it so you never go into autopilot because you always have to adapt to the situation at hand. Sheik being so incredibly precise with everything really lets you have a good idea of what you are doing at all times and you can see your improvement. The problem with sheik is that she is very very demanding on the player to always improve, and not everyone has the finger speed to keep up with her. I maybe a bit biased because I was not able to play Meta Knight before I picked up Sheik and Sheik showed me the way of how to play characters with a focus on combos.
:ultzelda:17 Zelda - Good disjoints, Nayrus love is a pain for opponents to deal with, Crazy strong sweet spots, nice pressure from afar with her side b and phantom, and her teleport is just provides a sort of constant intimidation that at any second the opponent can just die from a random teleport because you have to have a very very fast reaction time to block it, but you also might accidentally get baited into not being able to block in someway while they teleport into you. Now I dunno if she still has the insanely deadly combos she had in smash 4 because for some reason I don't see people doing the crazy combos that :4zelda: Smash 4 Zelda did, but she still has a bazillion things going for her.
:ultdoc:18 Doctor Mario - Just all the good stuff from Mario, just as a heavy hitter instead of combos, also worse recovery. Terrifying in the right hands since he can just kind of delete you at any moment.
:ultpichu:19 Pichu - All the good stuff about Pikachu, but even more glass cannon. I love glass cannons!
:ultfalco:20 Falco - "Personally I prefer the air" All the spacies feel good. Falco feels like he has a nice balance between fast hitting attacks, and attacks that hit satisfyingly hard, and has deadly combos. Only problem I have with Falco is that he feels a bit slow..... That and I'd probably be annoyingly cocky if I picked him up as a character. "Piece of cake"
:ultmarth:21 Marth - My old Melee main. I blame Marth for my spacing being as good as it is due to his emphasis on spacing with his nice long disjointed range with a tipper mechanic. Quite basic, but he feels so smooth to play. I also blame him for me loving counters because he was the only one who had a counter in Melee (and :roymelee:Red Marth over there). Also landing his spike is one of the most satisfying things because it's decently hard to do because of the tipper mechanic and he just looks awesome while doing it.
:ultlucina:21E Lucina - "AND HER NAME IS LUUUUUUU CEEENA!" Just all the nice things about Marth, but she can be more lazy about it due to not having to focus on the tipper. Which allows her to be more consistent. Which can be very good if you get easily annoyed by whiffing stuff.
:ultyounglink:22 Young Link - :4link:Smash 4 Link but smaller and faster with easier combos. Nothing wrong unless his shortened range and lack of KO power annoys you, which it doesn't for me.
:ultganondorf:23 Ganondorf - A man of many names "The King of Disrespect", "The King of Evil", sometimes called a "gatekeeper". Sometimes it's just fun to absolutely demolish bad players, but you also have an uphill battle against anyone that's actually good at the game. Whatever the case is, people will always be afraid of the POWER that you possess. The last thing his opponents want to hear when they airdodged into Ganondorf is "DORIYAH!"
:ultmewtwo:24 Mewtwo - A very weird and interesting character to use. He might not be godlike like he is from his first movie, but he's a very powerful glass canon. He just takes a while to get used to because of how weirdly he moves, but he's very rewarding when you get the hang of it.
:ultroy:25 Roy - I've been playing Roy since someone suggested it here. In general feels like a bigger Pichu because he's so fast, has combos, and basically wants to rub up on you to deal massive damage. Except with Roy he doesn't hurt himself in normal combat, and if he's too far away, his "wet noodle" protects him for his failure to hit the sweet spot, and might be able to set up for a combo instead as well giving you a chance to redeem yourself. I would like more characters in the roster to have ways to make it feel like they can redeem themselves if they mess up just barely. My only problem with Roy is that he's so fast, and his power is so strong, that I feel like a lot of my wins are just catching people off guard with his speed and power if I'm not playing in arenas. So he feels a bit gimmicky at times so far.
:ultchrom:25E Chrom - Lazy version of Roy due to not having to care about the sour/sweet spot mechanic. I don't know what combos are the same/different, but I find it less interesting. However sometimes it's just nice to have an easy time doing lots of damage, and makes it feel more like you're using a sword than Roy's sword. While he may feel amazing on stage, his recovery makes me feel absolutely terrible every time since it's easily gimpable, and you can't change a single thing about it once you start it and you generally can't do much to change the timing of when you do it either.
:ultgnw:26 MR. Game & Watch - You want "jank"? MR. G & W has got you covered because he is the most janky character in Smash. He also has plenty of combos, and a very reliable up B. He also has some pretty nice strong hits as well. He's definitely a unique character that is always a blast to play.
:ultmetaknight:27 Meta Knight - Only character I wanted in smash. back when I was just a melee noob I was like "going off stage is dishonorable" and just hated going off stage and thought people were bad to do that. Meta Knight showed me just how incredibly wrong I was and how I was missing a huge chunk gameplay of smash and now I go offstage with every character..... Yes even Little Mac (I can't resist having a little "mac and cheese" every now and then). Meta Knight has multi-jumps, a sword, decent range, combos, satisfying hard hitting moves, one of the best recoveries in the game, ways to let you be creative with how you attack while also having simple ways to play depending on how you are feeling, and is always intimidating at all times because he'll wait just outside of your attack range and then punish you at any moment due to his speed. If you dare to charge up a smash attack, or anything else, he can easily punish you at any time with dimensional cape which looks very stylish and hits very hard.
:ultpit::ultdarkpit:28 Pit - The most "honest" character in the roster. Just about everyone else in the roster has some super incredibly cheesy tactic they can pull out at some point, but with the pits, you don't really have that. Which can be good or bad depending on what you are looking for. Pits arrows are very nice, whether you want to have the flexibility of normal pit's arrows, or just the hard hitting faster arrows of Dark Pit to pressure/damage the opponent. Disjoints are nice, multijumps are nice, reflector is nice, armor is nice. Only problems with Pit is that he may not have the most interesting combos, and he can have troubles KOing good players due to lack of kill confirms (at least I don't know any kill confirms for pit).
:ultzss:29 Zero Suit Samus - One character I haven't really got to play or fight much, but just watching people play her, I gotta say her speed and long range attacks are very nice. Seemingly the best character to avoid getting touched by opponents in the roster due to outspeeding and outranging most characters while also having a projectile. Don't know much about the character but I don't see any big downsides to her. Maybe she's hard to pick up? Maybe she gets repetitive after a while? I'm not sure
:ultwario:30 Wario - Devastating combos and nice air speed with waft being a crazy comeback factor. Only problem I see is that he has short range, and might be hard to pick up
:ultsnake:31 Snake - Explosions! So many ways to set traps with snake. Kinda reminds me of Link, since you're mainly focusing on limiting the opponents options to win, not to try to beat them with how strong your character is. Snake is very slow, but has a couple nice burst options and makes up for that with grenades and C4 providing such great pressure. With gigantic buff to the missle that is absolutely a nightmare to deal with if the Snake knows how to use mind game with the missile well enough. Also Snake's recovery is pretty darn good due to C4 dropping and his up B carrying him so high up. Also Snake can trade hits and not care because he's so heavy and deals a lot of damage. Just so many nice things about Snake. If you like to be like a fortress, he's definitely up there.
:ultike:32 Ike - One of the most basic characters in the game. While that is a big problem against him, his overwhelming super basic playstyle lets you focus more on your opponent. So it feels like that's half the game you don't even have to think about since he's so simple to control. I usually use him as a tool to get back into playing against other players when I've took too much time away from smash. However, I could easily see people choosing him just for the fact that they only want to look at their opponent and use Ike's massively long hard hitting disjoints to punish opponents for their mistakes.
:ultpokemontrainer::ultsquirtle::ultivysaur::ultcharizard: 33-35 Pokemon trainer - For those people that want to change their gameplay style on the fly. For speedy combos with Squirtle, for zoning and stuff with Ivysaur, or the incredibly hard hitting Charizard. These characters are rather basic by comparison to stand alone characters of their archetypes, so picking up each of them isn't too bad and can help you decide what gameplay style you might like. Unless you just want to always be able to swap between them. Main problem is that you're learning 3 characters and when they switch into each other to do other things they normally couldn't do alone.
:ultdiddy:36 Diddy Kong- Agile, has combos, seems pretty basic. I don't know a whole lot about Diddy but I certainly don't see much wrong with him. His recovery was pretty underwhelming but that buff makes it seem much better now.
:ultlucas:37 Lucas- Similar to Ness but having a different very game play style. Nothing really bad to say
:ultsonic:38 Sonic - "Sonic Speed!" A character who has his entire purpose to being fast. So if you love speed you'll love sonic. I definitely love both. You can just go wherever you want whenever you want and do sweet combos. I don't really see any problems with sonic.
:ultkingdedede:39 King Dedede - "Gonna clobba that Kirby!" Very unique character that is simultaneously incredibly very slow, but also suprisingly very fast due to how his moves behave. Also he has quite long range disjointed moves, and multijumps. I personally couldn't main him because it's hard to take him seriously when he's being so trolly, but if I got past that I could really enjoy his unique moveset.
:ultolimar:40 Olimar - Constant pressure from afar, hard hitting, and a few combos, and being so tiny that it can be difficult to hit. Might seem basic on the surface, but when you take into consideration the different types of pikmin, it because a very difficult to master character with you having to adapt constantly to what's happening. I don't really see any problems with him.
:ultlucario:41 Lucario - "Behold the power of the aura!". One of the most fun things in the game is feeling the overwhelming power of high aura Lucario, and just absolutely deleting stocks off of your opponent... Unfortunately that's usually something you don't experience against good players. It is understandable why there aren't a lot of Lucario mains, the aura mechanic can seem very casual to a more competitive minded player since it can feel like the aura is just a gimmick that carries you against players who can't KO, and for more casual minded characters his reliance on b-reversing can shun people away from before they get a chance to get better at the game. Lucario also while he's not the slowest character, he's not exactly the fastest character either, not the most range either. He doesn't really have anything to really overwhelm the opponent, which is why it's so important to b-reverse tech to mix up his movements. A lot of the time playing Lucario at lower % feels like playing a weird version of Sheik, but is much slower and doesn't have quite as many ways to mix things up. People often don't get to live to higher %s with Lucario to feel how amazing it can be so it can be a bit of struggle when you don't get to experience the most fun part of your character. Another hard part with Lucario is that on top of %s, you also have his aura so his combo game and gameplan in general changes much much more than any other character, which can lead to not feeling consistent as well. With all that said, once you put in the time to learn Lucario, his moves flow so smoothly, the combos just come by so naturally, and you are more likely to get high% aura Lucario because you know how to avoid the opponent better that it makes it all worth it. Lucario also has the benefit like Sheik where he always makes you focus and try to be clever because at low % he has to hit the opponent so much more and needs to inflict as much damage as possible while he's not able to die because of low%, and at high% he has to focus on not letting himself get into a situation where any sort of attack can KO him so he can take advantage of the increased range and damage that aura gives him. Lucario is rather niche and isn't for everyone, but the people he is for, he is very rewarding. I remember some leak saying that Zeraora would be an auraless version of Lucario and I think that would make a ton of people want to play Lucario because they'd try Zeraora and either stick with him or eventually want to try out Lucario and find out they might actually like the aura mechanic.
:ultrob:42 R.O.B. - The mixup master. The opponent never knows what to do when I play him. He has fast attacks and slow hard hitting attacks, along with his gyro and laser being very difficult to deal with. Can't go wrong with R.O.B.
:ulttoonlink:43 Toon Link - Like the other Links, but floatier, faster on the ground and heavier emphasis on projectiles. I could really love him, but it'd take a while for me to learn because I'm used to :4link:Link's 90% increase in fall speed, and very forgiving down air, and his nair to let me get back to the ground in Smash 4. Toon Link just deals with things differently
:ultwolf:44 Wolf - A super basic character with extremely easy to land attacks that has ways to become a bit more complex if you want to optimize him more. Can't go wrong with Wolf
:ultvillager:45 Villager - A character I haven't used much.... but the slingshot, my god that slingshot throws me off my groove so much. So much long range pressure with Villager and that rocket is so good, and the cannonball just deletes a lot of recoveries in the roster. It is tempting to give him another shot since the main reason why I didn't touch him before is because it was hard to time the slingshots to shoot where I wanted them to shoot.
:ultmegaman:46 Mega Man - All the projectiles you could ever want! Only problem is that he can be very tricky to learn. Also his lemons will probably make your friends angry.... especially if they are like Cave Johnson.
:ultwiifittrainerm:47 Wii Fit Trainer - Kinda reminds me of Mr G&W with how wacky the hitboxes are, but WFT has a couple nice projectiles, and your opponents should be very terrified when they've let you catch a breath and then proceed to run at them like you're the terminator because of the massive power increase it gives you. I haven't seen a ton of matches with WFT but I've seen enough to know that if they know what they are doing, they are devastating. I see no downsides with WFT
:ultrosalina:48 Rosalina & Luma - Her attacks have quite a bit of range and come out rather quick, and Luma is just another obstacle on the field that opponents have to deal with. If I could get over her feeling slow, and try to learn Luma setups, she's probably be amazing.
:ultlittlemac:49 Little mac - Speed and power at the cost of no air game. I have a tendency to always want to be in the air in video games, always picking the flying class when I can, or jumping in shooters when there is literally no benefit to doing so, I just gotta be in the air. So you'd think I could never play a character that isn't an air fighter. Thing is with Little Mac he keeps me grounded.... Literally. If I start staying in the air too much to be able to use grounded options, I'll play Little Mac for a while so I get used to those options again because you literally cannot use those options with him. It's a unique experience playing as Little Mac. It's also fun having all that speed and power. He's a character that really tests your patience and restraint because it's so tempting to just rush in and do a tilt out of dash or armor through an attack with a smash since his moves end rather quickly. However if you're too impatient you can just be tossed off the stage and die super early at any moment. So you have to be patient and time everything just right. Incredibly terrifying to fight a good Little Mac, but good luck ever finding a good Little Mac Player. The bad thing about Little mac is his poor air game, but that's also what makes him unique and very interesting.
:ultgreninja:50 Greninja - Fast, Combos, annoying projectile, with a few hits that feel pretty strong. Ninjas are awesome so Greninja is unsurprisingly fun to play. However, while Sheik feels like you are supposed to hit as soon as possible and hit a bazillion times, Greninja feels like you have to predict what's going to happen before you do it because his moves feel sluggish by comparison to Sheik. However, once you learn how to play him, he's very rewarding and stylish. Only downside I see is that he takes a while to pick up.
:ultbrawler:51 Mii Brawler - I actually haven't played them a whole lot. Though I just remember them being fast and having some surprisingly very strong moves. Though whenever I have played them I couldn't really any problems with them. Mii fighters in general just feel awesome to play as, which makes sense because they can just literally do whatever they want as a moveset for the miis and aren't bound by sticking to moves from the games like other characters are
:ultswordfighter:52 Mii Swordfighter - In Smash 4 it was one of the best characters I played. In Ultimate, it's hard because they are so slow and sluggish by comparison. Also fighting a bad wolf player as a mii sword fighter put a bad taste in my mouth because it felt like everything a mii sword fighter would try to do, Wolf had a better option for. However they have some unique projectiles and can be very fun. Could use them if I just used to their new slower speed.
:ultgunner:53 Mii Gunner - Like sword fighter, the gunner feels much worse than their Smash 4 version due to being very large and slow. However they are still a blast to play because of all their projectiles. I don't see a big problem with them
:ultpalutena:54 Palutena - So many options to attack at range, but also many defensive options. It just feels like Palutena can do whatever she wants. I don't really see a downside to her.
:ultpacman:55 Pac-Man - Rather simplistic moveset overall. Has some basic combos, rather nice recovery. However Pac-Man's item play is absolutely amazing and always fun to watch. I feel like if I were to play a character specifically for z-dropping it'd either have to be :ultlink:BOTW Link or Pac-man. Used to find Pac-Man boring, but now, I just don't see any problems with him.
:ultrobin:56 Robin - Nice projectiles, with a decently ranged sword and very basic combos. Only problem I see with them is that they are a bit slow and their combos might be a little too simple. Just more to focus on what the opponent is doing.
:ultshulk:57 Shulk - I mained :marthmelee: Marth in Melee to use his huge speedy disjoints, Shulk was sluggish in Smash 4, but now in Ultimate's he's speedy so Shulk feels amazing to play. Shulk has a few basic but interesting combos. However learning how to swap between monado arts during combos and certain situations is what makes him hard. If you can master the monado arts, you should have no problems with Shulk and he's a blast to play...... Good luck with mastering that Monado though.
:ultbowserjr:58 Clown Cart - I don't know a whole lot about this character since I haven't played them much and I never see them anymore. It's like they just don't exist. Though they do have some nasty combos and setups. I feel like it's one of those characters that if you don't know how to play them, they feel incredibly basic, but if you learn the character they become a bit more complex and interesting. So yeah, this is basically the only character in the roster I don't know enough about to say anything.
:ultduckhunt:59 Duck Hunt - All the projectiles! Opponents will have a hard time getting in on this duo and when they do Duck Hunt has decently sized fastish attacks to just shove people out so he can go back to tossing out more projectiles. However Duck Hunt's gameplay is all about that can since you can combo into it, create a lot of pressure with it, or break out of a combo because it's frame 1. Duck Hunt is always a blast to play. Only downside is that it can be a bit of a pain to KO people, so you'll see people living to 170% and such more than other characters.
:ultryu:60 Ryu - I haven't played them much and haven't seen them in Ultimate much either. In Smash 4 they were terrifying though because of their devastating combos and powerful attacks. Learning the inputs is interesting too. If I were to ever pick up Street Fighter, I'd try to learn how to play Ryu or Ken in Smash first just so I get used to doing inputs first so there's a much easier transition into Street Fighter. Ryu might be a bit slow, but like Luigi, if you let him get too close, you're gonna get hurt really bad.
:ultken:60E Ken - Speedier, weaker Ryu. I feel like he's more combo focused but I don't know enough about the specifics of each character. Though I've seen enough 0 to deaths with Ken to know that you should never underestimate Ken. He's tricky to learn but you can clearly see how much he rewards the player. I would definitely play Ken over Ryu. Don't see any downsides to him
:ultcloud:61 Cloud - One of the easiest characters I've picked up. However I probably will leave him to Smash 4 because I just love sitting in Limit all the time and his range nerf bothers me. However I could still pick him up and main him if I want to because he has a projectile, charging limit creates pressure, he's very fast, has a large disjointed sword, and can do some easy combos. I only stopped playing him in Smash 4 because I felt like unless I started learning his frame cancels, there wasn't much more to learn with him specifically so I went to learn other characters but never want back to him. His recovery doesn't bother me because that's what his limit is for...... At least in Smash 4. In Ultimate his recovery might start bothering me, but he's just so good in general that I don't think it'd bother me, since it hasn't bothered me the times I have tried him in Ultimate.
:ultcorrin:62 Corrin - Nice sword, with super long lance attacks, and has a projectile. Only problem I have with Corrin is that they are a little slow and they are similar enough to Marth and his many clones that I might want to use those instead...... Also his dragon form doesn't really look like a dragon.
:ultbayonetta:63 Bayonetta - Combos, Witch time, Bats within. Do you really need more? Only problem is they are a bit tricky to learn
:ultinklingboy:64 Inkling - Fast, fluid combat, combos, projectiles, great recovery. I don't see a problem with them
:ultridley:65 Ridley - Ganondorf's emphasis on hard hitting "disrespectful" moves, with a bit of being fast and aerial based like Meta Knight, and sprinkle in a bit of Ridley uniqueness and you get this character. Only problems with him is that he feels like he gets combod for days more than any other character, and his gameplay feels weird. Ridley is just amazing to play
:ultsimon::ultrichter: 66 Belmont - Take the projectile play from the Links, and just make it more glass cannon. Opponents will have a hard time getting in and may never be able to touch you.... However if you do get touched, there's a pretty darn good chance you'll get 0 to deathed by just a couple hits because your recovery is so terrible. Belmonts are like the Little Macs of projectile users. No real downside to them if the lack of recovery doesn't bother you.
:ultkrool:67 King K. Rool - He's just a big bully. He'll decimate lower level players, but struggle with higher level players due to his sluggishness. A gatekeeper like Ganondorf but an emphasis on projectiles and having armor. I don't see any problems with him.
:ultisabelle:68 Is a bell - Villager seems to be a bit more aggressive, Isabelle seems a bit more defensive because of laying the rocket mine. her slingshots are just as annoying as Villager's. She lacks the bowling ball and side+B rocket of villager but she makes up for it in other ways. I'd like to use her move, just been distracted with other characters. I don't see any huge problems with her.
:ultincineroar:69 Incineroar - Since Ganondorf got buffed like crazy, it feels like Incineroar is an updated version of :4ganondorf:Smash 4 Ganondorf with his slow move speed with decently long range that will decimate you if you get too close. Even if I don't care for Incineroar as a pokemon, he's a blast to play and fight in Smash. I don't see any problems with him
:ultpiranha:70 Piranha Plant - Ledge trapping the character. Also their neutral b trades quite well with a lot of things. They have a unique playstyle unlike anyone else. I don't see any problems with them.
:ultjoker:71 Joker - Speed, (small) disjoints with dagger, a sweet counter that leads into a powerful form, combos, and a few ways to mix up what he does. He just feels great. I don't see any problems with Joker.
:ulthero:72 Hero - Nice disjointed sword, devastating projectiles, and is just fun to play in general. Personally I can't use him because I don't want to have to read when I'm playing a game. The only reading I want to do is reading the opponent! Also I feel like a very unlucky guy, so I'd probably feel terrible often from seeing the option menu until I got over that mentality. However he hits so friggin hard, and he can be quite hilarious with his down+B stuff. Not for me competitively, but casually my gosh he's one of the most fun characters... If I played him casually enough times, maybe I'd try him out competitively out of curiousity. Though I do have a feeling even if I did try to main him I'd just avoid the down+B menu and just use his other options because he does have super powerful moves outside of down+B anyways.
:ultbanjokazooie:73 Banjo & Kazooie - I haven't used them all that much. Though having some disjoints and nice projectiles, multijumps, and wonderwing, I can't imagine them being bad. The times I've played them or fought them they are always fun.
:ult_terry:74 Terry - I just gotsta terrify people whenever I can! Who is more terryfying than Terry? He's got nice nice combos with hard hitting moves (with intangibility on parts of him despite it just being his arms/legs for some reason?), and when he is over 100% that's when the game changes and he can turn the tide of the game (reminds me of high aura Lucario in a way). I played him a ton on the day he was released, and was really considering making him a main. I don't see any problems with him..... Also it's tempting to use Batman Beyond music when playing him lol
(Insert Byleth image here) 75 Byleth - They aren't out yet, but such long range looks very fun to play. It all just depends on how sluggish this character is. However based on what I've seen I can't imagine them being too sluggish to enjoy because that range is insane.

So yeah, it's hard to stick to one character because of how much I love all the characters. That's why I tried doing "loyalty" mains, but that alone doesn't make it so I stick to just Meta Knight and Lucario or Ridley. So I often end up playing other characters because I don't feel confident in my decision to main those 3 because I keep feeling like there's something more that I need to learn about other characters and they'd be the ones to main instead. Though I don't want to do that because there's general mechanics I still need to get better with that effect how everyone plays in the game.
 

FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
Yeah pretty much that's the case. I try to take precautions but it takes time to decide what needs to be done in Smash, then with the little time I have i start panicing that I'm taking time just trying to manage the time and somedays I'll just use up all of the little time I have just trying to make a routine and end up not playing smash at all. So later times I play smash I just do the opposite accidentally and just play without a real goal in mind because I'm afraid I'll just spend too much time overthinking it but since there's no goals in place I don't really end up learning much.
Also yeah I doubt myself all the time. If I'm not playing perfectly, then it's not good enough. Then constantly seeing myself mess up movements, and seeing things that look like should hit but then actually don't will make me doubt myself. Then after being used to kicking people's butts in For Glory in Smash 4 all the time, to struggling a lot in Ultimate against randoms just makes me feel like I'm just too out of practice all the time and that I'm just not as good as I used to be and may never be that good again due to lack of time. Especially since it feels like I forget combos on characters overtime when I play that makes me wonder why I even try. Though doubt is a double edged sword. While it does make it hard to keep playing sometimes, it also make me want to improve it also sometimes makes me want to improve because it makes me aware that something is wrong and it's nice to know that there's something I'm aware that can be fixed. As opposed to improving for the sake of improving without any clear focus on what I can improve on.
So yeah, it's hard to stick to one character because of how much I love all the characters. That's why I tried doing "loyalty" mains, but that alone doesn't make it so I stick to just Meta Knight and Lucario or Ridley. So I often end up playing other characters because I don't feel confident in my decision to main those 3 because I keep feeling like there's something more that I need to learn about other characters and they'd be the ones to main instead. Though I don't want to do that because there's general mechanics I still need to get better with that effect how everyone plays in the game.
I personally have to give credit to you, you're really dedicated and understand at least the simple parts of each character, so that's a really good thing It does tell me that you really care about this game, so really I understand why you can't choose a main when you like each unique thing about them. I think you should stick with MK, Lucario, and Ridley. I know you constantly change because of reasons but I think the lack of confidence could be the main reasons why you can't choose one. It's one of those things that happen when you lose to a character alot. I think you should try to get that confidence back. Notice that you do know at least what each character's strengths and weaknesses are or what they normally do. I think going back and try to challenge yourself kinda like a Nuzlocke where you can only choose 3 characters, by reading each character you know, I believe those 3 with 1-2 more are the ones that you seem to have more of a "bond" with them. I think if you stick with those 3, you will have a stronger bond which in return will make you better with them, after all you will always end up playing with them from time to time.
 

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
I personally have to give credit to you, you're really dedicated and understand at least the simple parts of each character, so that's a really good thing It does tell me that you really care about this game, so really I understand why you can't choose a main when you like each unique thing about them. I think you should stick with MK, Lucario, and Ridley. I know you constantly change because of reasons but I think the lack of confidence could be the main reasons why you can't choose one. It's one of those things that happen when you lose to a character alot. I think you should try to get that confidence back. Notice that you do know at least what each character's strengths and weaknesses are or what they normally do. I think going back and try to challenge yourself kinda like a Nuzlocke where you can only choose 3 characters, by reading each character you know, I believe those 3 with 1-2 more are the ones that you seem to have more of a "bond" with them. I think if you stick with those 3, you will have a stronger bond which in return will make you better with them, after all you will always end up playing with them from time to time.
Trying to stick to them is the hard part and the reason why I made this thread. Sorry if I didn't make it super clear before, been cutting into sleep to play smash lately so I probably wasn't using the right words. Problem was that I was going "I'm sleepy, but I'll get into elite smash today because it shouldn't be too hard" and then kept going "yesterday was bad and this character go from 5,500,000 gsp to 100,000 gsp, but today is the day and we'll go for hours until we get it!". Going back to my 1 hour of smash per week after this post since my head isn't feeling the greatest right now and last night got so bad I was losing to people under 1 million GSP repeatedly, something that hasn't happened to me before because I was just tossing myself at the opponent brainlessly due to exhaustion. So apologies that I wasn't saying things right, and this post because I skipped sleep.

The loyalty thing is the reason why I picked Meta Knight and Lucario in the first place, Ridley is just fun and easy to do well with because he's very simple by comparison but also similar to Meta Knight. The plan was kind of to main Meta Knight, but to use Lucario as a secondary main that will help me get better at everything else in the game because at low aura he just lacks so much of everything that you can't cheese out other characters like you can with just about anyone else in the roster. Then getting better with Lucario would help me improve my Meta Knight because I wouldn't be lazily abusing the great things about Meta Knight without thinking about it like I kinda do now. Then I'd play Ridley for those times where I need to let my brain have a rest from constant training mode grindage that the other two characters require to do well for those days where I feel down on myself. Sticking to those 3 is very hard though because it's just so tempting to play other characters because it feels so easy to learn something new by playing another character. I just don't really know any other tricks to prevent me from doing that so I can learn how to play the game better.
 

Spiny Top

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
49
I recommend choosing 3 characters you play with regularly and ignore everyone else. This is in my opinion is the sweet spot that will give you enough variety you won’t get bored, yet enough focus to see improvement. One should emerge as the strongest, giving you a competitive main, but leave you with 2 counterpicks. Also, it will set you up to be a solid squad strike player.
 

Tortfeasor

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 20, 2020
Messages
37
It seems pretty clear you want to improve with your chosen characters and feel like you're doing well with them. The problem is that you want to use other characters, experiment and have some fun. I'm going to assume that you have used or at least seen in action all of the characters, so you roughly know what they can do and are capable of. It seems you know who you like, but don't want to limit yourself and not find that character you really click with.

Really it comes down to what you find fun. Improving can be fun, but so can playing a new character on occasion. Improvement takes time, but it also depends on whether you are engaging with and having fun with the character at that particular moment. For example, let's say you've suffered a string of defeats and are demoralized; if you just stay the course and use your main just for the sake of improving, you're likely not going to get anything out of it because you're not having fun and therefore aren't engaging with the game.

For me, there are times when I just can't seem to get a win with a character. At first, I get determined which helps me focus, but there comes a point where I just feel demoralized. When that happens, my reactions slow, I make dumb mistakes, and have in part just given up. If I just focus on my main for the sake of improving when that happens, it's just a waste of time.

My solution has been that when I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall with a character, I switch to a different one (usually rotating between :ultridley::ultkrool::ultmegaman::ultdk::ultbowser::ultroy2:). If I really do want to focus on a character, I might just play a couple matches with another character to collect myself, then switch back. You however, seem to want to experiment with your fighter selections more. So, instead of thinking your desire to use other characters is a disadvantage, embrace it.

Solutions might be that during your allotted playtime, you primarily use one of the three mains you've listed. Then, once you think you've hit a wall, switch characters to either another main or just select random. Or, you could also just allot 15 minutes of your 1 hour playtime to using a random character.

It seems to me that you have a desire to try different things and perhaps you should accommodate it, rather than suppress it. I think you might find that if you just focus on one or even three mains, you're just always going to have a nagging doubt in the back of your mind that you should try someone else. That doubt will just grow and you might find yourself experiencing some main burnout. So, put some time aside each session to just try someone new and have some fun.

Edit: Also, don't focus on your GSP; it isn't a meaningful measure of how good you are. Even if you go from 5.5 million to 100 k, it doesn't mean you're bad or you've somehow gotten worse at the game. And neither does each gain mean you're getting better.
 
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FeelingDrowzy

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
20
Switch FC
SW 4247 0006 8233
Trying to stick to them is the hard part and the reason why I made this thread. Sorry if I didn't make it super clear before, been cutting into sleep to play smash lately so I probably wasn't using the right words. Problem was that I was going "I'm sleepy, but I'll get into elite smash today because it shouldn't be too hard" and then kept going "yesterday was bad and this character go from 5,500,000 gsp to 100,000 gsp, but today is the day and we'll go for hours until we get it!". Going back to my 1 hour of smash per week after this post since my head isn't feeling the greatest right now and last night got so bad I was losing to people under 1 million GSP repeatedly, something that hasn't happened to me before because I was just tossing myself at the opponent brainlessly due to exhaustion. So apologies that I wasn't saying things right, and this post because I skipped sleep.

The loyalty thing is the reason why I picked Meta Knight and Lucario in the first place, Ridley is just fun and easy to do well with because he's very simple by comparison but also similar to Meta Knight. The plan was kind of to main Meta Knight, but to use Lucario as a secondary main that will help me get better at everything else in the game because at low aura he just lacks so much of everything that you can't cheese out other characters like you can with just about anyone else in the roster. Then getting better with Lucario would help me improve my Meta Knight because I wouldn't be lazily abusing the great things about Meta Knight without thinking about it like I kinda do now. Then I'd play Ridley for those times where I need to let my brain have a rest from constant training mode grindage that the other two characters require to do well for those days where I feel down on myself. Sticking to those 3 is very hard though because it's just so tempting to play other characters because it feels so easy to learn something new by playing another character. I just don't really know any other tricks to prevent me from doing that so I can learn how to play the game better.
You do want to get better, but that lack of sleep/ confidence does mess people up alot, and this proves it since you can't think straight when fighting against an opponent, I mean you said you never had this problem until Ultimate where you don't have too much time compared to the other games. I don't want to be all nosy (So i'm sorry if I am.) I think if you have enough time to think it out without some time limit so you can take your time on the 3 You mostly end up talking alot passionately (MK, Lucario, Ridley, ect.) I personally think because you have to keep things in order so much, I think it's messing/hurting your skill since you're focusing on too much without stressing out completely.
 

Keeshu

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Messages
778
Location
Lurking in the darkness.....
I recommend choosing 3 characters you play with regularly and ignore everyone else. This is in my opinion is the sweet spot that will give you enough variety you won’t get bored, yet enough focus to see improvement. One should emerge as the strongest, giving you a competitive main, but leave you with 2 counterpicks. Also, it will set you up to be a solid squad strike player.
That's the plan at least. It's just hard to stick with it because I keep getting tempting to play characters that are not my mains for a bazillion different reasons. Which makes it hard to focus on one character that will help me get good at the game so i can then spread the general basics to everyone else. Loyalty main is one trick I've found, but it gets hard to stick with them even going "but but loyalty!". Was hoping to find some other tricks to stay on one character.

Also, I would absolutely love to be a squad strike player, buuuut can't play squad strike in arenas and can't play locally so that kinda makes that unavailable. Really sucks, it was like the one feature I was so dang hyped for smash.... Only to not be able to use it.


It seems pretty clear you want to improve with your chosen characters and feel like you're doing well with them. The problem is that you want to use other characters, experiment and have some fun. I'm going to assume that you have used or at least seen in action all of the characters, so you roughly know what they can do and are capable of. It seems you know who you like, but don't want to limit yourself and not find that character you really click with.
Exactly!

Really it comes down to what you find fun. Improving can be fun, but so can playing a new character on occasion. Improvement takes time, but it also depends on whether you are engaging with and having fun with the character at that particular moment. For example, let's say you've suffered a string of defeats and are demoralized; if you just stay the course and use your main just for the sake of improving, you're likely not going to get anything out of it because you're not having fun and therefore aren't engaging with the game.

For me, there are times when I just can't seem to get a win with a character. At first, I get determined which helps me focus, but there comes a point where I just feel demoralized. When that happens, my reactions slow, I make dumb mistakes, and have in part just given up. If I just focus on my main for the sake of improving when that happens, it's just a waste of time.
Improving is fun, that's kinda why I like playing random characters. It's very easy to see a very fast improvement, and you get a better handle on what that character is trying to go for you easily know that this information will help you later when you fight an opponent using that character. Labbing combos is also pretty fun as well even if I'm currently garbage at it because I have poor control over characters in general. Problem is there's some types of improvement that is just really really tedious like short hopping for hours in the training room so it's very hard to stay engaged in such a boring task. I still don't have the hang of short hopping (but I've been using 2 button short hop feature as a crutch in actual matches, but that fails me sometimes). Short hopping is just so crucial and that's just one of the many many ways to make your character move better. I just want to be able to control my characters well and it can really take it out of me when I consistently see myself whiffing attacks on stationary opponents, having the wrong input, or some other things like that.

Demoralization is definitely a problem. Definitely effects some characters more than others for me. Roy is definitely the one that gets effected the most out of any character I've ever played though. First day I felt like I was unstoppable and Roy was just doing everything I wanted to do with him, but the next day I had a rough start due to lack of sleep so couldn't even touch anyone and was basically just running at people blindly not even attempting to dodge anything because I just couldn't focus because of how horrible I felt. Getting so bad that I started questioning why I even bothered with video games lol. Got demoralized so bad that in some match against a really bad Mii Gunner, they are just standing still while I was trying to jump over their forward tilt spam. Then I was getting hit constantly like 10-15 times because the jump just never happened or my attack never came out. To top it all off they were using Sans. Safe to say that has got to be the most humiliating moment I've ever experienced in Smash. Not even in my newbie Melee days did something like that ever happen to me when I was learning the controls. I just couldn't focus at all and nothing would work. With that said though, Roy is probably the only character I've played better when feeling the flames of anger. lol I almost never get angry playing smash either.

Ganondorf, Ridley, and Sheik seem pretty immune to getting demoralized for me though. Lucario use to be very susceptible to demoralization and got hit hard because I didn't have the right mindset for the aura, but once I got the right mindset, Lucario pretty much never gets demoralized anymore and has a much stronger mentality than just about any other character. I only get demoralized with Meta Knight when terrible stuff has been happening for hours on end so he's probably good as long as I get some sleep.

As for trying to improve while feeling demoralized. Yeah I did that a lot with Meta Knight in Smash 4. I was trying so hard to make him really good so I forced myself even if it was making me very unhappy and started hating Smash. Led to me stopping smash a few times (There are so many other games I love to play and so many games I own that I haven't even played yet. I try to make smash be that 1 game I go back to and be amazing at but sometimes I hit a limit). Then I'd try to pick it back up later and force myself so hard that I'd just stop again especially after seeing myself play worse due to not having practiced in a while feeling I have to re-learn everything. Kinda hard to know when you can and can't improve though since repeating the same thing for hours hoping you'll stop messing up is one of the most boring things in smash.

My solution has been that when I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall with a character, I switch to a different one (usually rotating between :ultridley::ultkrool::ultmegaman::ultdk::ultbowser::ultroy2:). If I really do want to focus on a character, I might just play a couple matches with another character to collect myself, then switch back. You however, seem to want to experiment with your fighter selections more. So, instead of thinking your desire to use other characters is a disadvantage, embrace it.

Solutions might be that during your allotted playtime, you primarily use one of the three mains you've listed. Then, once you think you've hit a wall, switch characters to either another main or just select random. Or, you could also just allot 15 minutes of your 1 hour playtime to using a random character.

It seems to me that you have a desire to try different things and perhaps you should accommodate it, rather than suppress it. I think you might find that if you just focus on one or even three mains, you're just always going to have a nagging doubt in the back of your mind that you should try someone else. That doubt will just grow and you might find yourself experiencing some main burnout. So, put some time aside each session to just try someone new and have some fun.
I do try to swap to another main sometimes, but it is hard. Like I don't think I've played Meta Knight in the past 6 months (doesn't feel that long because of the lack of time I have though) because I've gotten so tired of forcing myself to play him so many times. The same to Lucario but not as extreme and I'm feeling it a bit with Ridley. Problem with playing a random is that I'll start wanting to main them next and then spend a lot of time with them for weeks and then when I get bored I just basically never touch them again and it sometimes feels like I wasted my time since I can't perform the trickier general mechanics well enough to learn new characters more thoroughly.

Also, don't focus on your GSP; it isn't a meaningful measure of how good you are. Even if you go from 5.5 million to 100 k, it doesn't mean you're bad or you've somehow gotten worse at the game. And neither does each gain mean you're getting better.
Logically I know that, afterall there's quite a few people I've seen with over 6 million GSP and it makes me wonder how in the world they got there. Emotions are dumb though and won't accept GSP doesn't matter and it will always eat away at me and make it hard to want to keep playing smash (or video games in general) as long as I don't have characters in Elite Smash, especially if they are my supposed "mains".

You do want to get better, but that lack of sleep/ confidence does mess people up alot, and this proves it since you can't think straight when fighting against an opponent, I mean you said you never had this problem until Ultimate where you don't have too much time compared to the other games. I don't want to be all nosy (So i'm sorry if I am.) I think if you have enough time to think it out without some time limit so you can take your time on the 3 You mostly end up talking alot passionately (MK, Lucario, Ridley, ect.) I personally think because you have to keep things in order so much, I think it's messing/hurting your skill since you're focusing on too much without stressing out completely.
I might be a bit too tired because I'm having a hard time understanding what is being said here. If it's along the lines of "You are overthinking so much that you are stressing out, making it so you can't concentrate" then yeah that is part of the problem. In older games I didn't feel like I had much pressure and I had all the time in the world. So all the time to get real life stuff done, all the time to play games, so plenty of time to genuinely want to train, so I never felt pressured to do anything and I just did things when I wanted to.

However with shorter time I'm trying to get the best quality time possible. Constantly messing up inputs does not lead to fun normal games. So I have to focus on improving so I can move buttery smooth like the pros do instead of feeling like I'm getting snagged on everything possible. However it is stressful because there's always thoughts floating around when I train like "You're not improving fast enough." or "You didn't even improve last time, what makes you think you'll improve this time?" or "You're probably improving incorrectly so you'll have muscle memory for the wrong thing and you're just messing up your gameplay more by wasting your time in this blank abyss." I try not to think of such thoughts while I train, but it's so hard not to when all you pressing a button or two repeatedly over and over hoping you won't make mistakes anymore only to find out you're still making mistakes and no sign of knowing if you're actually improving. If I had all the time in the world like used to, these wouldn't be there, but perhaps I can remove them in another way. I'm going to try get a proper sleep schedule again since I messed it up this month. Last year was the only time in my life I was able to follow a sleep schedule for more than a month, I just need to keep doing that until I stop messing up my sleep schedule. Following the sleep schedule I have also has me relaxing an hour before bed by forcing myself to basically do nothing, which makes it easy to fall asleep in less than 5 minutes for when I actually do go to bed as opposed to staying away from 3-5 hours laying in bed awake bothered by all the things I still need to do. It just stops the chatter in my brain so I can actually think properly the next day so I'm not in a constant state of indecision throughout the day because I'm trying to do everything at once making me take twice as long to finish everything. So that'll probably remove the chatter in training because I haven't been training during the times I was strict with my sleep schedule yet.
 

FeelingDrowzy

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However with shorter time I'm trying to get the best quality time possible. Constantly messing up inputs does not lead to fun normal games. So I have to focus on improving so I can move buttery smooth like the pros do instead of feeling like I'm getting snagged on everything possible. However it is stressful because there's always thoughts floating around when I train like "You're not improving fast enough." or "You didn't even improve last time, what makes you think you'll improve this time?" or "You're probably improving incorrectly so you'll have muscle memory for the wrong thing and you're just messing up your gameplay more by wasting your time in this blank abyss." I try not to think of such thoughts while I train, but it's so hard not to when all you pressing a button or two repeatedly over and over hoping you won't make mistakes anymore only to find out you're still making mistakes and no sign of knowing if you're actually improving. If I had all the time in the world like used to, these wouldn't be there, but perhaps I can remove them in another way. I'm going to try get a proper sleep schedule again since I messed it up this month. Last year was the only time in my life I was able to follow a sleep schedule for more than a month, I just need to keep doing that until I stop messing up my sleep schedule. Following the sleep schedule I have also has me relaxing an hour before bed by forcing myself to basically do nothing, which makes it easy to fall asleep in less than 5 minutes for when I actually do go to bed as opposed to staying away from 3-5 hours laying in bed awake bothered by all the things I still need to do. It just stops the chatter in my brain so I can actually think properly the next day so I'm not in a constant state of indecision throughout the day because I'm trying to do everything at once making me take twice as long to finish everything. So that'll probably remove the chatter in training because I haven't been training during the times I was strict with my sleep schedule yet.
I think having that solved will help you progress better since the rules of training is to get good sleep, like doing everything will improve if you sleep well. Next thing is to use the time you have now is to do the same thing again, since you like every character, of course you wouldn't mind trying each character out with the sleep improvement you have since it'll allow you to think and play alot more consistantly, especially since you did say you was lacking from the lack of sleep
 
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