Basics: Approaching?

[Daxter]

This is still a huge problem for me as any character in the roster. After 1000 games I still have no idea how to approach opponents safely. Here in this video you can see me constantly getting grabbed; I try grabbing and attacking someone in shield in a hope they will try and hit back or drop their guard, but it never works and I always get grabbed. The trouble is this never works for me; when someone approaches me the exact same way they always succeed, so I've never kicked the bad habit because I know it works for other players.

I'd rather be an aggressive player, but standing around shielding seems to work wonders, and I'm the only one who ever approaches my opponent in most games. Likewise in games where people approach me more, I usually win. Is defensive play really the only option? What other ways are there to approach people? I'm dabbling as Bowser, Wario and Robin lately, but also tried Charizard, Mario and Donkey Kong.

I don't mean to brag, but I think if I could figure this out I could become much better. Everyone does tell me to look on the bright side ^^

EDIT: Sorry, YouTube won't let me upload for some reason, so I've only recorded the 2nd stock. It kinda shows my skill level anyway/how bad I am at the game anyway, so fair's fair.

http://youtu.be/hJmNx-0r1DY

 

[betaclay]

Smash 4 is a game that rewards defensive playstyles, so that's why nobody seems to be on the offensive.

There's really no sure fire way to approach, it's all dependent on who you're facing, who you're playing as, and who your opponent is playing as.

For example I may start a match by tossing a Gordo and then dashing after it, but that doesn't work on everyone so I may jump over to them and hit them with a bair. If I was playing Ganondorf I might dodge over to them and try and get a side+b, dtilt combo on them.

It's all very situational, you'd be best asking the specific character boards on how to approach other specific characters

 

[GhostUrsa]

betaclay is correct that it's situational. I can say that on average, I've seen faster characters are more capable of a rushdown tactic than slower ones. If you like playing heavier characters, then the type of offense you play is different. Rushing your opponent is harder since you usually don't have the ability to dazzle your target with speedy attacks. Mixups become key. In the video, Wario spend a lot of time using the same approach, short-hopping with a f-air or b-air. Landing early with fast fall for the psych out, then following through with a tilt or grab would have helped keep you from being predictable. Instead of jumping, mix in a dashing pivot grab (running past your opponent and grab from behind) as they are harder to counter. He was using this on you a couple times, baiting a shield with a fireball and running past you for a grab while you were blocking.

For a mindset on offense for a heavy, think like the Terminator. He knows when to run, when to walk but always seems unstoppable which strikes fear in his opponent. Wario is unique where he can be fairly speedy and still hit hard, and has plenty of moves that can seem unpredictable.

TL:DR Learn your opponents spacing when approaching and mix up your attacks. Make the fast characters panic so you can wail on them!

 

[Raijinken]

As a general rule, light/fast characters are aggressive, heavy/slow characters are far more read-based. It's important to remember that shielding is also a weak position, as your options out of shield are limited in most cases. Furthermore, some characters (esp DK, Charizard, and Bowser) can apply shield pressure extremely well. And being in a shield all the time won't let them kill you, so especially as Mario/Charizard/Bowser, spit some fire on them to drain their shield a bit.

Also, Chomp and Flying Slam are both command grabs, and thus you can approach aerially and still grab through their shields.

 

[Daxter]

I've got another replay here; I'll put it on the Wario board too, but I guess this is more like how I should be playing? Especially since I normally lose to most Jiggs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx2NFwojf18

EDIT: Scratch that, I only won this one game as Wario. Now I can 't stop losing/being taunted, despite trying new approaches. So now I'm back to have no main again