• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Q&A Ask For Advice Here: Sheik Video Critique Thread

_Tree

The no-more hero
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
333
Location
Australia
NNID
DekuBaba
3DS FC
1891-1276-1936
Could I get some advice on my game? I've kinda hit a wall recently and don't know what to work on, sooo some advice would be really nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrmmKfC91NA
I got some free time, I'll take a look.
A bit surprised to see you here asking for a critique though Eternal. Most of the S@S boys would call you one of the best in Vic/of the Couchwarriors regulars.

At the very, very start of the match you got hit with a falling U-air by Cloud, after he masked his intentions with passive movement. As a rule of thumb in that MU, always assume Cloud is going to land with an aerial. Shielding won't give up much stage presence and only his U-air is safe on shield when put out late. Alternatively, getting hit by Cloud's aerials hurts very, very much due their general ability to confirm into themselves for huge damage, so it's definitely something that should be skirted with caution. If Cloud is above you, respect him wholeheartedly.

Probably your biggest issue was that Cloud read your aerial movement hard and often. You have a tendency to 'move forward' in the air. You would very often move towards the opponent without throwing any aerials out/airdodging. Not only was this a steady source of free percent for Cloud (as he'd just N-air/U-air you as you came in), but this cost you whole stocks. This type of movement isn't bad, but you need to mix it up. Have a half/half between offensive and defensive movement and mix it up randomly or according to the opponent's adaptation.

Contrary to this, whenever Cloud jumped in the air, he was hardly ever punished for it. In this MU approaching Cloud mid-air is generally a no-no, but you need to start anticipating his falling options (D-air, U-air). Cloud sucks at landing and we excel at punishing landings, so take advantage of that. If you can read him jumping as well, you can just raw bouncing fish in neutral and catch him, putting him again in a poor landing situation.

Speaking of raw bouncing fishes...You would often throw out a randy bouncing fish after missing an aerial. I have no idea if these were fully planned out, but they felt like dumb attempts to hit the opponent. They particularly happened in Game 3, where it felt like you were becoming impatient. Keep mind of this and try not to let it happen.

Multiple times throughout the set, whenever Cloud came back onto the stage after being KOed, you ran all the way to the edge of the stage, putting yourself in a highly disadvantageous position. I understand that you may have been getting away from Cloud's invincibility, but you practically gave him all the stage control he needed by doing that. If he gets you on the ledge, one good read is all Cloud needs to seal out a stock at mid percents(Charged F-smash on the edge of the stage kills at stupid percents). Use you superior mobility options to avoid him and try and remain in the center of the stage.

You could do with some general optimisation. You would often just go for F-air > F-air > F-air, without ending the combo with a bouncing fish. You were missing up-smash reads which you could have gotten (which could have gotten you the game in hindsight), let Cloud escape a Smashville platform combo due to not using U-tilt etc. Little optimisations go a long way to building up consistent damage, and lord knows we need that against Cloud.

Last but certainly not least, there was a severe absence of needle usage. Our Neutral-B does wonders to push the MU in our favour. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how to properly use needles, but their scarcity here hurt you in the long run.
 
Last edited:

et3rnal

Smash Rookie
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Messages
7
Wow thats alot more than I expected haha. I never really considered air movement before so Ill try to work on that, as well as optimisation.

This is really helpful tho, thanks tree
 

Smitheyy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gainesville, FL
NNID
dsmithey2008
Hi, I've been lurking on the sheik forums her for a while but I just created my account today. I just received my capture card in the mail today and I wanted to give you guys a game to critique.

I'm from Gainesville, FL and this is a match against one of the best (if not THE best) Links in the region. We played for a few hours and went about 50/50 which is disappointing because I know this match up is likely heavily in Sheik's favor. This was the only match that I was able to save. However, In this match I played really well and I was able to JV2 him. I'm looking for some advice on what I did really well this match and what I could have done better.

https://youtu.be/4z_ipa4BldI
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
1,466
Location
Dublin
NNID
ArikadoSD
3DS FC
0748-2790-0166
Hi, I've been lurking on the sheik forums her for a while but I just created my account today. I just received my capture card in the mail today and I wanted to give you guys a game to critique.

I'm from Gainesville, FL and this is a match against one of the best (if not THE best) Links in the region. We played for a few hours and went about 50/50 which is disappointing because I know this match up is likely heavily in Sheik's favor. This was the only match that I was able to save. However, In this match I played really well and I was able to JV2 him. I'm looking for some advice on what I did really well this match and what I could have done better.

https://youtu.be/4z_ipa4BldI
You're using uair as a combo move, don't do that, save it so you can use it as a kill move. You went for ftilt > uair when Link was at like 80% and ftilt > nair would've been a much better choice because it wouldn't stale uair, does the same damage, and puts opponents in a worse position.

I don't think starting the match with 2 separate needles is a good idea. Either charge a full stack of needles or rush in. in Link's case and especially on bf/dl if they always pull out a bomb first you can immediately punish it with a bouncing fish.

There are some moments where Link was off stage and you stood still on the stage, don't do that. Either chase after him, charge needles, or position yourself so that you're in a spot where you can punish anything and have strong stage control (you can do that and then charge needles).

Your punish game in general seemed weak but I don't know it's hard to tell from just 1 match. Biggest example was when Link missed a grab or whiffed a Dsmash I think, you could've gone for a grab or a fair/nair > bf, but instead you threw 1 or 2 needles lol.

Needles are amazing but you're using them wrong imo. You should be using them to punish something you otherwise can't punish (so if they do something dumb across the stage), gain stage control at high percents, or when you're playing very defensively.
 
Last edited:

Smitheyy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gainesville, FL
NNID
dsmithey2008
You're using uair as a combo move, don't do that, save it so you can use it as a kill move. You went for ftilt > uair when Link was at like 80% and ftilt > nair would've been a much better choice because it wouldn't stale uair, does the same damage, and puts opponents in a worse position.

I don't think starting the match with 2 separate needles is a good idea. Either charge a full stack of needles or rush in. in Link's case and especially on bf/dl if they always pull out a bomb first you can immediately punish it with a bouncing fish.

There are some moments where Link was off stage and you stood still on the stage, don't do that. Either chase after him, charge needles, or position yourself so that you're in a spot where you can punish anything and have strong stage control (you can do that and then charge needles).

Your punish game in general seemed weak but I don't know it's hard to tell from just 1 match. Biggest example was when Link missed a grab or whiffed a Dsmash I think, you could've gone for a grab or a fair/nair > bf, but instead you threw 1 or 2 needles lol.

Needles are amazing but you're using them wrong imo. You should be using them to punish something you otherwise can't punish (so if they do something dumb across the stage), gain stage control at high percents, or when you're playing very defensively.
Thanks for the advice. I will look into all of that. Sorry I could only post one match. What specifically did you mean by "position yourself so that you're in a spot where you can punish anything"?
 

{Kyro}

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Oct 31, 2015
Messages
173
Thanks for the advice. I will look into all of that. Sorry I could only post one match. What specifically did you mean by "position yourself so that you're in a spot where you can punish anything"?
Cover all of his recovery options, e.g., grapple, bomb, etc.
 
Last edited:

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
1,466
Location
Dublin
NNID
ArikadoSD
3DS FC
0748-2790-0166
Thanks for the advice. I will look into all of that. Sorry I could only post one match. What specifically did you mean by "position yourself so that you're in a spot where you can punish anything"?
Usually that would mean just sitting next to the ledge as sheik, you can react to when they wanna recover high or low to grab the ledge and punish accordingly, I believe you just stood at the platform and didn't do anything.
 

Smitheyy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gainesville, FL
NNID
dsmithey2008
Usually that would mean just sitting next to the ledge as sheik, you can react to when they wanna recover high or low to grab the ledge and punish accordingly, I believe you just stood at the platform and didn't do anything.
Got it. Thanks a lot you guys. I'll be back here soon with more vids.
 

Smitheyy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gainesville, FL
NNID
dsmithey2008
Hey Sheiks, I've finally got a full length Best of 5 set this time. Any advice would be really appreciated.

This set is against Crabby(one of the best Dark Pits in the country). It went to game 5 but in the end I lost. Please tell me what I could have done better/bad habits. However, I would also appreciate it if you could tell me things that I did well... not just so I feel good about myself, but I would like to focus on and reinforce my good habits instead of just hyper focusing on my bad habits. Thanks fellow sheikah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56GAYYMiSA
 

{Kyro}

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Oct 31, 2015
Messages
173
Hey Sheiks, I've finally got a full length Best of 5 set this time. Any advice would be really appreciated.

This set is against Crabby(one of the best Dark Pits in the country). It went to game 5 but in the end I lost. Please tell me what I could have done better/bad habits. However, I would also appreciate it if you could tell me things that I did well... not just so I feel good about myself, but I would like to focus on and reinforce my good habits instead of just hyper focusing on my bad habits. Thanks fellow sheikah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56GAYYMiSA
Stop rolling :p
Also you did a good job extending combos. Jab isn't the best for that, I recommend tilts instead
 
Last edited:

Smitheyy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gainesville, FL
NNID
dsmithey2008
Usually that would mean just sitting next to the ledge as sheik, you can react to when they wanna recover high or low to grab the ledge and punish accordingly, I believe you just stood at the platform and didn't do anything.
Hey Arikado, is there any way you could give this set some analysis? I really appreciated your analysis on my last vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56GAYYMiSA
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
1,466
Location
Dublin
NNID
ArikadoSD
3DS FC
0748-2790-0166
Hey Arikado, is there any way you could give this set some analysis? I really appreciated your analysis on my last vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56GAYYMiSA
sorry for the super late reply

watched the first two matches... i noticed a lot of habits. you got punished for a lot of rolls that you make towards the pit player. I also feel like a lot of your problems stem down from you being impatient and fishing hard for the kill.. a lot of random charged smash attacks, not covering the ledge options well, etc. fsmash at the ledge worked once and it was cool, but you kept doing it when you got punished for it twice afterwards.

I also noticed some lack of execution there.. or better put, your execution was lacking. a lot of missed opportunities and times where you should fast fall but you didn't, like when you do full hop fair on battlefield you should usually fast fall onto the platform to get yourself safe asap assuming your opponent is airborne. an example of a missed opportunity would be you getting a back air hit as you land but not do anything after it when u can bf or dash attack.

your stage counterpicks were really iffy. battlefield is the best stage for pit and the worst for sheik especially in that matchup, i feel like the pit player abused battlefield really well and you just struggled to do anything against it. i'd suggest thinking harder about counterpicks. for example the best stage for that mu would ideally be FD, then smashville, then duck hunt. final option would be t&c but i wouldn't recommend it unless for whatever reason you can't play on the 3 stages i mentioned. when you win a match and get to ban 2 stages, ban bf and dl. if it's only 1 ban, then ban bf.

you also need to work on your combos; fthrow bf is usually not optimal all the time unless you really cant get much else. you used fthrow bf when you could've done at least 3 fairs and a nair or 3 fairs and ended with a bf etc.

I'd advise you to work on fast falling more of your aerials, being patient and not charging smash attacks, and getting rid of habits with the most notable being your rolls. a good way to cover ledge options would be with needles, they cover all options except jump and you can condition them to jump after covering ledge with needles and punish with uair at kill percents. another way would be using retreating nairs at the ledge.
 
Last edited:

Smitheyy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gainesville, FL
NNID
dsmithey2008
sorry for the super late reply

watched the first two matches... i noticed a lot of habits. you got punished for a lot of rolls that you make towards the pit player. I also feel like a lot of your problems stem down from you being impatient and fishing hard for the kill.. a lot of random charged smash attacks, not covering the ledge options well, etc. fsmash at the ledge worked once and it was cool, but you kept doing it when you got punished for it twice afterwards.

I also noticed some lack of execution there.. or better put, your execution was lacking. a lot of missed opportunities and times where you should fast fall but you didn't, like when you do full hop fair on battlefield you should usually fast fall onto the platform to get yourself safe asap assuming your opponent is airborne. an example of a missed opportunity would be you getting a back air hit as you land but not do anything after it when u can bf or dash attack.

your stage counterpicks were really iffy. battlefield is the best stage for pit and the worst for sheik especially in that matchup, i feel like the pit player abused battlefield really well and you just struggled to do anything against it. i'd suggest thinking harder about counterpicks. for example the best stage for that mu would ideally be FD, then smashville, then duck hunt. final option would be t&c but i wouldn't recommend it unless for whatever reason you can't play on the 3 stages i mentioned. when you win a match and get to ban 2 stages, ban bf and dl. if it's only 1 ban, then ban bf.

you also need to work on your combos; fthrow bf is usually not optimal all the time unless you really cant get much else. you used fthrow bf when you could've done at least 3 fairs and a nair or 3 fairs and ended with a bf etc.

I'd advise you to work on fast falling more of your aerials, being patient and not charging smash attacks, and getting rid of habits with the most notable being your rolls. a good way to cover ledge options would be with needles, they cover all options except jump and you can condition them to jump after covering ledge with needles and punish with uair at kill percents. another way would be using retreating nairs at the ledge.
Thanks for the dope analysis Arikado. I've got a weekly tonight and this will help a lot :D
 

Darklink401

Smash Master
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Messages
3,501
Location
Smashville
NNID
Yuki_Hirako
3DS FC
0731-5318-2530
I've been eager to practice Sheik since the patch, and I've been playing her more recently.


It's only one short game, but if anyone has any advice, that'd be appreciated XD I know my sheik still has a long way to go.
 

Simikins

Nerfed
Joined
Jun 5, 2015
Messages
366
Location
New Zealand
3DS FC
0447-8060-8710
Went to my first large tournament last weekend, and played a set on stream against the highest ranked in my country. I lose 2-0 but I felt I still played pretty well, apart from a few flubs and that I couldn't get any kill setups going.
https://www.twitch.tv/standingfierce2/v/56699520
at 1:35:30

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
3,114
Location
Ann Arbor, MI
Hi all I would really appreciate any advice you could give me from the matches below. I think the part of my game that I struggle with the most is getting optimized damage, so if you wouldn't mind focusing your advice towards that vein I would super appreciate it. I know its super annoying to have someone ask for help and then go "but it needs to be like this" but I'll appreciate you all even more for it <3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNxrJBvlyrM vs :4luigi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgq8aHYDha8 vs :4falcon:

https://www.twitch.tv/pghneohsmash/v/59587339 vs :lucario: For this once you need to skip to about 1:11:0 for my set to start. Sorrrrryyyyy!
 
Last edited:

Sucio Guapo

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
Messages
15

So I've been playing Sheik for a little under 9 months or so, but I feel that there are some huge gashes in my neutral and general gameplay that prevent me from being above average. This is against my friend's Marth; if you go to his channel, you can find 5 or 6 other matches that I'm in (I'm the purple Sheik, btw). All of the replays so far are pre patch, hence the use of down throw at like 120%. Any comments at all would be greatly appreciated!!
 

SkippyJ

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Messages
95
Location
Minnesota
CONTEXT:
I've been playing villager as my main for about 6 months now, and I feel I've hit a wall. My Villy play is technically pretty sound, but I just can't seem to focus anymore. I've become set in my habits to the point where it's like I'm on near constant auto-pilot. I've tried just about everything, and finally come to the conclusion that the only way I can force myself to break these habits a by picking up a secondary, giving me a new set of eyes (and buttons) to look at the game through. I've decided that that character is sheik.

WHAT IM LOOKING FOR:
So here is a video of one of my games yesterday fighting a level 8 CPU. I don't have wifi right now, but Tommorow I'm going to be playing with my training partner and I want some tips before I use my sheik on a real person.
I'm not so much looking for fox-matchup sepecific things, as much as general:
1. What I should be doing that I'm not, and
2. What I am doing, that I shouldn't be
That way these things get nipped in the bud before they become bad habits.

Thank you in advance <3 :)

https://youtu.be/mqDJUUBidk4
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
1,466
Location
Dublin
NNID
ArikadoSD
3DS FC
0748-2790-0166
CONTEXT:
I've been playing villager as my main for about 6 months now, and I feel I've hit a wall. My Villy play is technically pretty sound, but I just can't seem to focus anymore. I've become set in my habits to the point where it's like I'm on near constant auto-pilot. I've tried just about everything, and finally come to the conclusion that the only way I can force myself to break these habits a by picking up a secondary, giving me a new set of eyes (and buttons) to look at the game through. I've decided that that character is sheik.

WHAT IM LOOKING FOR:
So here is a video of one of my games yesterday fighting a level 8 CPU. I don't have wifi right now, but Tommorow I'm going to be playing with my training partner and I want some tips before I use my sheik on a real person.
I'm not so much looking for fox-matchup sepecific things, as much as general:
1. What I should be doing that I'm not, and
2. What I am doing, that I shouldn't be
That way these things get nipped in the bud before they become bad habits.

Thank you in advance <3 :)

https://youtu.be/mqDJUUBidk4

ur doing too much jab jab followup, it never works at 0% let alone on fox lol, either try fishing for a grab or a fair at those low percents.

Start doing fthrow instead of dthrow. Its almost better in every regard, tho dthrow can put them at a good angle sometimes but i'm not sure when or on who. Do fthrow > bf or ftjrow > fair chains or fthrow > fh fair > landing nair but i dont think that works on fox at 0%

Landing fair confirms into grab at low percents, say 0-20%, start doing that

Ur also not fastfalling at all, a key thing to do is fast falling aerials with sheik, u cant do fair chains unless u do rising sh fair and fast fall after every one, not faat falling also makes ur movement clunky af sometimes
 

Daymaster

Smash Ace
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
500
Location
UR FACE
NNID
SuperMan9878
Is this tread dead? Looking for critique from a streamed match vs Marss at UGC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGzUqGWqUcs

Anything would be appreciated.
If you wanted I could make a match analysis video in the style of the Analyze This series. I'd probably have it done by Saturday.
EDIT: Today I got the first 30 seconds of game one done, here's a preview to have an idea of what the finished product will look like:
At the end of the video I will do recap of what each player did that caused Marss' win and you're loss as well as general things you can improve on.
 
Last edited:

stealth3654

Smash Lord
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
1,204
Location
GA
If you wanted I could make a match analysis video in the style of the Analyze This series. I'd probably have it done by Saturday.
EDIT: Today I got the first 30 seconds of game one done, here's a preview to have an idea of what the finished product will look like:
At the end of the video I will do recap of what each player did that caused Marss' win and you're loss as well as general things you can improve on.
Wow, yes. This would be amazing. I have no real experience in the zss matchup either so any matchup advice would help a lot as well.
 

Daymaster

Smash Ace
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
500
Location
UR FACE
NNID
SuperMan9878
Wow, yes. This would be amazing. I have no real experience in the zss matchup either so any matchup advice would help a lot as well.
So this entire thing is taking longer than I expected. I'm going to have the first game done soon, but I don't know when. I didn't really take into account how tedious the editing was going to be, and have thus been bouncing around between this, learning C#, anime and finals studying all day.
 

stealth3654

Smash Lord
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
1,204
Location
GA
So this entire thing is taking longer than I expected. I'm going to have the first game done soon, but I don't know when. I didn't really take into account how tedious the editing was going to be, and have thus been bouncing around between this, learning C#, anime and finals studying all day.
All good man. If it makes it easier for you, you can just give me the time stamps for the critique and I'll read it side by side with the video.
 

Daymaster

Smash Ace
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
500
Location
UR FACE
NNID
SuperMan9878
All good man. If it makes it easier for you, you can just give me the time stamps for the critique and I'll read it side by side with the video.
I actually didn't write the critique down anywhere before I started putting them in transparent image files, so I'd have to upload all of them individually. Editing is more fun for me anyway.
By the way, the second preview is here. I changed the music due to copyright stuffs. Apparently the song I used before was a remix of some other song I had no idea existed.
 
Last edited:

Simikins

Nerfed
Joined
Jun 5, 2015
Messages
366
Location
New Zealand
3DS FC
0447-8060-8710
I actually didn't write the critique down anywhere before I started putting them in transparent image files, so I'd have to upload all of them individually. Editing is more fun for me anyway.
By the way, the second preview is here. I changed the music due to copyright stuffs. Apparently the song I used before was a remix of some other song I had no idea existed.
Just gonna pop in and say this is looking absolutely sick.
 

MrFYB

Smash Rookie
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
2
What characters can shiek up throw 50/50? I know bayonetta is one are there any others
 
Top Bottom