Boxob needs your help!

[Boxob.]

My play style is pretty much solidly developed at this point. I know when to feint, how to get passed character specific things, all that stuff.

One thing I can't seem to do for the life of me is land a grab. I whiff a grab nearly every time I go for one. I don't even understand it. Grabs are a simple as run up, when you're next to them, hit shield and A. I'm doing it wrong, obviously, because I ALWAYS miss. Is his range that terrible? Am I missing something? I feel like I'm playing Melee Pika with a bunny hood on a thirty foot HD tv when I try to grab people.

 

[MrEh]

Grabs are a simple as run up, when you're next to them, hit shield and A. I'm doing it wrong, obviously, because I ALWAYS miss. Is his range that terrible? Am I missing something? I feel like I'm playing Melee Pika with a bunny hood when I try to grab people.

Bowser has the same problem that Sonic does. A lot of **** can be achieved by landing a grab for both characters, but sometimes it's difficult to land the darn thing.

Bowser, like Sonic, has a pretty pathetic grab range. So blindly running in and grabbing usually doesn't work for the poor guy. If there's one thing I've learned from using Bowser though, it's how to be patient. I try to wait for my opponents to make a mistake, and try to grab them during the lag of a missed or shielded move.

I assume Sonic can do the same thing, although probably better then Bowser. Pressure your opponent to make a mistake, and seize the opportunity.

 

[JMan8891]

Punish with grab, your by far good enough, lest ur wifi johning, same issues here, lol. U can run grab when they lag, i believe it a few frames quicker, but twice the risk.

Now fighting good spotdodgers, rar... Lucario/D3/Marth...

 

[TwinkleToes]

If you play a lot of other characters it might explain you being accustomed to the longer grab range. It's really pretty difficult to land a standing grab on someone but that's why you run into them :O

 

[Boxob.]

I play a lot of chars. I find it easiest to grab with DK, Pit, Falcon, yoshi, Ivy.

I play Sonic a lot though.

I have to just stop being a scrub.

*Scrubs own floors*

 

[Chis]

Maybe Wifi is affecting your successful grab rate?

 

[Rickerdy-doo-da-day]

If you're playing on Wi Fi, expect to whiff lots and lots of grabs. I have multiple times where it looks like I'm spamming grab and it's just me accidently messing up because of lag

Offline...first, I'd recommend you get a good idea of just big Sonic's grab range is. Then...meh, I'd just play matches and see what happens. Try a bit harder in some friendlies to land grabs if you want to incoperate them into your game. Practice makes perfect

 

[Tenki]

Online, if you're missing grabs and getting spotdodged all the time, you're playing too fast.

It's a paradox.




a lag paradox.


But yeah, when Sonics try to grab, they usually do it on their first run. All that feinting and stuff goes away when they want to grab, and they become really predictable. So if you're gonna grab, make sure your opponent isn't able to move lol.

 

[SonicX580]

My play style is pretty much solidly developed at this point. I know when to feint, how to get passed character specific things, all that stuff.

One thing I can't seem to do for the life of me is land a grab. I whiff a grab nearly every time I go for one. I don't even understand it. Grabs are a simple as run up, when you're next to them, hit shield and A. I'm doing it wrong, obviously, because I ALWAYS miss. Is his range that terrible? Am I missing something? I feel like I'm playing Melee Pika with a bunny hood on a thirty foot HD tv when I try to grab people.

You could use mindgames and then get the grab you could also sheild cancel into a grab or my favorite tthe dash grab all you gotta to do is make sure you will grab because that could throw you off your game as for Wi-Fi it is possible if you either have a good connection or you mastered lag and use it towards your advantage.

 

[Tenki]

You could use mindgames and then get the grab you could also sheild cancel into a grab or my favorite tthe dash grab all you gotta to do is make sure you will grab because that could throw you off your game as for Wi-Fi it is possible if you either have a good connection or you mastered lag and use it towards your advantage.

oshi-
DON'T DO THAT!

If you get competent with lag, AVOID the moves that work only in lag, unless you're trying to be a bunghole and win an online tournament.

But really, if you have any plan to play offline and you can tell that the move you're doing only works online, DON'T DO IT.

also, what mindgames do you suggest using then, SonicX580? I'm curious.

 

[SonicX580]

oshi-
DON'T DO THAT!

If you get competent with lag, AVOID the moves that work only in lag, unless you're trying to be a bunghole and win an online tournament.

But really, if you have any plan to play offline and you can tell that the move you're doing only works online, DON'T DO IT.

also, what mindgames do you suggest using then, SonicX580? I'm curious.

You know stuff like Aerial Spin Dash, Spin Dash Cancel pretty much any move that confuses a opponent and by the way Tenki I hate Wi-Fi but it's a subsitute to play a real person.

 

[Tenki]

You know stuff like Aerial Spin Dash, Spin Dash Cancel pretty much any move that confuses a opponent and by the way Tenki I hate Wi-Fi but it's a subsitute to play a real person.

How do you grab from aerial spindash? or do you mean ASC?
What does your opponent do when he's confused? What if he grabs you when you land?

confusing your opponent is good.

But it's only useful if you confuse your opponent into doing something you want.

I personally think that "mindgaming" is just another term for 'baiting and punishing'. you have to know what you're baiting (is your opponent going to attack you? dodging? rolling?) for it to be an intentional mindgame.

 

[SonicX580]

How do you grab from aerial spindash? or do you mean ASC?
What does your opponent do when he's confused? What if he grabs you when you land?

confusing your opponent is good.

But it's only useful if you confuse your opponent into doing something you want.

I personally think that "mindgaming" is just another term for 'baiting and punishing'. you have to know what you're baiting (is your opponent going to attack you? dodging? rolling?) for it to be an intentional mindgame.

Well I mean aerial spin charge to confuse them and then grab them if they give you a chance but pretty much I think grabing and mindgames are a huge factor for Sonic winning without it you're either done for or you're a lucky person.

 

[Chis]

SonicX580, read all of this when you get time.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=205563

 

[SonicX580]

SonicX580, read all of this when you get time.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=205563

Thanks I just skimmed it so bascially mindgames are 2 types one for stuff your used to like dodge, etc. and the second one is where you go full defense by doing reflexs, sleath moves.

 

[Chis]

Don't skim it, you'll learn nothing then. You have to read all of it. It's not as long as it looks.

 

[Napilopez]

Boxob, try some Malcome style running past opponents to turnarounds. Don't use SideB only for shields, shield canel it too. Sonics grab "range" after shieldcancelling a run is quite large, even larger from a SideBshield cancel. Pivot grabs can throw off you opponents too. Make sure you don't use Shield and then press A to rapidly, so you don't turn it into a stinky dash grab.

EDIT: Oh and I never see you use ASC for grabs either

<3

 

[da K.I.D.]

ASC cancelled grabs work for me...

learn your grab range...

learn what moves you can punish with a grab and which you cant.

 

[infomon]

Pivot grab out of grind...... just cuz it's cool and weird.

 

[JayBee]

May be you should do what I did: change the controls so that grab = Y or X (your preference) mines is Y. It may make it smoother for you to transition from run to grab. I did this originally to play DDD, but it stuck with me, so that's how I play. and I tap up to jump off, but u didn't ask about that.

just practice running shield grabs. that's it. i bet that if you did that for a few minutes whenever you picked up the controller, you will see a difference. seriously. I tend to do things like running exersizes with DDP, doing sideB cancel as quick as i can, etc. its for muscle memory. you'll miss grabs sometime anyways, but it should happen a lot less.

someone said it before, but maybe the moves you try to punish with grab are moves you block, but push you back enough so the grab is out of range. then u need to learn to recognize those moves, and respond with something else like a tilt. many chracters will use a aerial, and with the air movement, push themselves out of easy grab range, wanting you to grab air, so they can punish when they hit the ground, (kirby does this often for example)

 

[Kinetik07]

If you face stepdodge happy people, you can run up right next to them and spin dash shield cancel, wait for them to dodge, THEN grab. If your opponents are dodging your grabs, your grabbing too early. This may not work online though. People don't have stepdodge reflexes online.

 

[Napilopez]

I think sidestep happy people are best dealt with by running behind them and turnaround into a grab XD

 

[da K.I.D.]

down smash

xiivi sidesteps way too much. but he still beats me, i need to down smash more.

 

[JayBee]

a few times i noticed my opponents that regularly play with are timing thier sidesteps and their overrelying onit. so i started Down Smashing more. this can help a bit, because now they resort to blocking more when they see the spins, then side B cancel a grab. The only thing i dont like about that strategy is that my Dsmash can get stale as i show them the spotdodge isnt working...

 

[Chis]

What about holding the A button?

 

[da K.I.D.]

you actually stale your down smash?

i never use down smash unless its to punish spotdodgers or to do the downsmash edge trick...

edit, sonics jab isnt fast enough to garentee that you hit the opponent out of their spotdodge.