Beginner - need help progressing! (mainly in evasion)

[enron_hubbard]

Hey guys. I'm pretty new to smash bros, and would like some pointers for shielding, roll dodging and spot dodging.

Mainly - in what circumstances is it best to shield rather than spot dodge; and what general strategies do people use when they're roll dodging? My reflexes and nerves are quite poor - I mainly panic roll dodge just to get out of a mess, but it doesn't always work. Meanwhile, my friends roll dodge with precision to punish, etc.

Any general pointers would be great! Thanks guys.

 

[ATH_]

Spot dodge when you are expecting a grab or when your opponent is hitting your shield (but before the finishing hit that would send you sliding away). This will allow you to grab your opponent right after. You can also mix this up with shield-grabbing to prevent being predictable.

Roll when you know you can't just spotdodge or when you want to mix it up and go for a quick aerial or dash attack. Even a dash grab.

Shield when you expect your opponent to attack you, or when they are falling from above you, take their hit, then grab them (free grab for the most part).

Basically, you don't want to spam rolling to get out of all situations, Mix up rolling towards your opponent and away from your opponent so that they don't always know where you're going to go.

 

[GhostUrsa]

there is quite a bit of situational awareness you'll need to be able to use each effectively. Shields can be great against attacks with multiple hits, but leave you open to grabs if your stuck in a stun and they aren't committed to an attack action. An example would be Robin's Arch Fire or Ness's PK Fire. You can't spot dodge that, and blocking will leave you open, so a roll would be more advantageous. While Kirby or Luigi's Dash attack can be easily blocked for a punish since they are heavily committed and can't mix it up once they start. I like to spot dodge slow moving attacks that I can punish, block attacks with multiple hits and roll from attacks that would leave me open if I did the other options.

There actually 2 more defensive options that normally get ignored by newer players that are important. One is just walking or running and the other is jumping. Walking or running can be a good idea for attacks like Kirby's air cutter, which depending on where the hit would be could be a multi hit and fast which makes it hard to handle. You can dash out of reach of the attack, and turn around using dash dancing (The ability to turn while dashing while keeping momentum) and come right back and hit him hard while he's recovering. Jumping can be used defensively with characters that have good spacing as well. If Ganondorf is trying to go for his choke, I can retreating short hop with Ike and hit him with a forward air to stop his attack and possibly set him up for a heavier punish depending on circumstances.

Pretty much, with practice you'll start picking up which defensive options work best against different matchups. Try not to panic, and observe how different characters attack so you can best judge which options work. :-)