Brevard SSBM Community- Help us suck less!

[v4extreme]

In this thread I'd just like to give some info on my local community and ask for help and advice on how all of us can improve. I've been playing melee on and off for about 7 years, both competitively and for fun, and during that time friends have picked up and dropped the game. But lately, starting about 2 years ago, a new interest happened here with more focus on improving competitively. Now the local community, albeit very small, is somewhat established and we have lots more frequent players of varying skill level.


Before I link to videos and such, here's a bit of info about our players, so you know who you might be able to critique:

jwillii ------------------ sheik (and lots of secondaries like ganon and fox)

v4extreme ------------ falco

TehSqueeMistro ----- falco, peach, fox, marth

Tommy --------------- puff

Joe -------------------- Marth

n0b0dy4ta11 -------- Sheik

Super735 ------------- Peach

....and others who are pretty much starting from scratch.

BLUE
These players have known about competitive play for awhile but are really just starting to seriously improve. We are still learning to consistently incorporate l-cancels and other more complicated tech into our play, as well as learn matchups and learn to play smart.

GREEN
These guys ha played casually for a long time before starting to compete recently. They are still learning basic tech, meaning things like wavedashing and using short hopped airs in their game. They are still learning some of the basic points about how to play their character.

As for the players I didn't mention, if anyone has any advice for teaching someone how to play melee starting from ground zero it would be appreciated. Those guys know how to use up b to recover and that smash attacks have lots of knock back and not much else lol.


Now, here's some videos. Any sort of feedback on these would be appreciated, either here in the thread, in a youtube comment, whatever. There's not a lot of really great recent play but I'll bump the thread with more as I upload things.



Matches:
v4extreme vs tehsqueemistro - Falco v. Falco & Falco v. Peach.

Joe vs Super735 - marth vs peach matches from the other day when Joe asked me to record some of his gameplay.

jwillii vs v4extreme - probably the best recently uploaded video of jwillii's sheik.

jwilli's fox vs v4extreme - there aren't really any good recent matches of jwillii's sheik up yet. I'll try to fix that soon.

n0b0dy4ta11 vs jwillii help n0b0dy4ta11 learn the basics of sheik plz

v4extreme vs jwillii's ganon - me getting ***** awhile ago

Tommy vs v4extreme - I know nothing about the puff matchup. I'm not too worried about that marth match btw.



Channels:
jwillii's channel - mostly friendlies and such

FUMCgaming - created to upload tournament matches from the "FUMC" tournaments I started running here in '09. Now used to upload matches in general.

BrevardVLG - this was just started to upload matches from the "varsity league gaming" club we started at our school lol. There should be more up here in the future.



I appreciate anything any experienced players have to offer, even if you don't check out the videos and just have some general advice for getting started. I'll add to this thread as we improve, upload more matches, and develop specific questions. I hope some of you can help.

 

[Jwillii]

Any advice is much appreciated especially for the Green highlighted players. Any video reccomendations or forum's to check would most definately be nice. I like what v4extreme said about fixing the lack of sheik matches up . I'll try to fix that as I've been going secondaries for the majority of the recent tournaments.

Also for any that it would concern the listing of players is more or less in order of best to worst.

 

[Violence]

Whew, I clicked the first link and my eyes had to adjust for a sec, it's been a while since I've seen a Falco ditto at that speed, not to sound like a ****, just disorienting.

Well for starters, I think the newer people should play against the better people, and the better people should try to travel to a tournament sometime. You are all in the great state of Dr. PeePee, and I'm sure if you look around in the Atlantic South forum, you can find a nice local to go to.

Once you get exposed to better players, improvement follows naturally.

 

[Jwillii]

Me and v4extreme went to a tournament in Charlotte about a month ago. Played some good players and definately benefitted. Unfortunately it was a brawl fest and there was a shortage of melee players.

 

[Battlecow]

Yeah, exposure to higher levels of play is key here. Go to whatever NC tourneys you can, you've got a pretty good scene over there.

Otherwise, watch a lot of high-level vids and try to notice the things they do. Ask questions in your character forums if you've got them and play to improve rather than to win, but play seriously and often.

 

[Beat!]

At this point the best advice I can give you is to just play a lot and watch a lot of high level vids. And as others have said, try to find good players to play against.

 

[KrIsP!]

For the green players watch Wakk's advanced ssbm tech videos to get started. Do a lot of reading in the character specific forums, I've been reading page after page for a few days now to get more acquainted with my own char and try to get started on osme secondaries.

Everyone else has given you the best info though. Play people who are better than you, but also ask questions on specific things here.

 

[ph00tbag]

Finding a way to get yourself around good players will be a big part of improving. You guys are kinda in the middle of bum**** nowhere, no offense, but the good thing about being in the middle is that a 2-4 hour drive in any direction will get you somewhere you might find players. Charlotte, Knoxville and Atlanta are places you should start looking.

I also seem to recall some smashers in the Cullowhee and Canton areas. Dunno how good they are, but if you're looking to get carpools together, you should network with them.

While you look for ways to get into the wider world of competitive smash, just keep playing the game. Play each other in round robins regularly, focus on being able to beat every one of your opponents when you do this. If y'all can't get together for tournaments, practice execution. Get to the point where you never miss an l-cancel, platform waveland or pivot grab. And don't just try to play like other players. If you're going to use SHL with Falco, don't do it because other players do it. Find out why, and where it's good, and endeavor to use it in those situations. This should apply to every technique you learn--learn it only if you can find a use for it, and then use it that way.

 

[Violence]

And really, keep a positive attitude. No one improves when they aren't having fun, and melee, in the end, is a game, so have fun with it.

 

[Dark Hart]

Me and v4extreme went to a tournament in Charlotte about a month ago. Played some good players and definately benefitted. Unfortunately it was a brawl fest and there was a shortage of melee players.

Charolette as in NC?

We have Melee tourneys in NC

 

[v4extreme]

Charolette as in NC?

We have Melee tourneys in NC

Yup. PP ***** us in friendlies for awhile. It was great. We're definitely looking to go to more tournaments as much as we can.

You guys are kinda in the middle of bum**** nowhere, no offense, but the good thing about being in the middle is that a 2-4 hour drive in any direction will get you somewhere you might find players. Charlotte, Knoxville and Atlanta are places you should start looking.

Yeah we really are lol. Thanks for the advice with that though. 2-4 hours isn't too bad and it makes the trips fun


Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. Idk if anyone wants to actually take the time to look through those videos, but awhile back we streamed and someone came in the chat and corrected some of my mistakes while we were playing which I found rather helpful.

It would also help a lot to know what to tell the guys who are starting from scratch. All I can think of is having them play a lot, maybe more so against each other and even CPU's until they start playing fast enough to see the value of not using smash attacks to much, using more aerials, etc.

 

[Jwillii]

Dang we got all the Samus mains in here :D 2 out of the non brevard people haha.

 

[Bill_the_Duck]

Hmm... You guys look about the same level as me and my group...
I can't say I have much advice to give, but watching the Peaches in your group I think will be fairly helpful to my Peach game, since nobody else I know plays Peach really, I can't record myself and I don't really feel like I get much watching super high-level videos from like, Amada and stuff. So yeah.

 

[enCouRaging Bear]

I'm from asheville living in chapel hill right now. I'd be down to play some with you guys when I go back for spring break next weekend.

 

[v4extreme]

I'm from asheville living in chapel hill right now. I'd be down to play some with you guys when I go back for spring break next weekend.

That would be awesome.

Hmm... You guys look about the same level as me and my group...
I can't say I have much advice to give, but watching the Peaches in your group I think will be fairly helpful to my Peach game, since nobody else I know plays Peach really, I can't record myself and I don't really feel like I get much watching super high-level videos from like, Amada and stuff. So yeah.

Nice, maybe you can get in touch with some of our peach players and compare notes haha.

Speaking of, here's a video from yesterday with some peach gameplay:
TehSqueeMistro vs v4extreme Ladder Match

I dropped two spots on our ranking ladder I choked pretty hard in those matches, but tehsqueemistro played well I guess?

 

[zZz]

Come out to Memphis or Arkansas sometime! We have some high level players as well as some up and comers just like you guys.

 

[KrIsP!]

Finding a way to get yourself around good players will be a big part of improving. You guys are kinda in the middle of bum**** nowhere, no offense, but the good thing about being in the middle is that a 2-4 hour drive in any direction will get you somewhere you might find players. Charlotte, Knoxville and Atlanta are places you should start looking.

Or they could get affiliated with some of those people who are somewhat close in every direction and try to get them to come to him by holding a tourney out of someone's basement. Go to eachother...you know meeting them 'halfway'

 

[Jwillii]

Alright so about a week ago there was a tournament we had for Tehsqueemistro's birthday so I took the oportunity to play and record some Sheik matches for me, since I didn't have any very recent ones. So I'm gonna link 'em...

Tommy(Puff) v Jwillii(Sheik)
v4extreme(Falco) v Jwillii(Sheik)
^Another^
Tehsqueemistro(Peach) v Jwillii(Sheik)
^Another^
^Once More^

 

[Bing]

When It comes to watching Videos and taking notes on them, I think you should start with players who's technicality level isnt off the page. As example, while starting out, For a Fox player, try to emulate a player like Kels who has a great Textbook Fox that isnt overly technical as opposed to someone like Mango or Silent Wolf.

For Sheik just read and watch anything by KirbyKaze or M2K.

I dunno Im sure you can see where im going with this, basically dont start out trying to bite off a ton more than you can chew, progress at your own rate, push yourselves and it will come with time if you're serious about it

For Falco PP's really smart so read his Falco board stuff, and play with him as much as possible.

 

[Jwillii]

Me and v4extreme actually took a drive and played with PP yesterday. It was a great experiance and it definitely helped me a ton.

 

[Bl@ckChris]

hope you guys figure things out. good to see you guys have some drive. looking forward to the next time i see you guys at an event.

as for the newest of the new, a mix between icg's video and i think it was wak's ssbm advanced guide should be a good start. the more they play, the more they should be trying to implement the ideas in those videos.

 

[Jwillii]

hope you guys figure things out. good to see you guys have some drive. looking forward to the next time i see you guys at an event.

as for the newest of the new, a mix between icg's video and i think it was wak's ssbm advanced guide should be a good start. the more they play, the more they should be trying to implement the ideas in those videos.

I'll definately work on my gannon matchup a bit to get ready for our next encounter haha.
And yeah, I remember using wak's advanced guide a couple years ago, it was really helpful. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Violence]

Jwillii, I sense that you're quite uncomfortable with being off the ledge.

I've been messing around with Sheik lately, and asked Kirbykaze for some basics to work on, and he stressed, being comfortable on the ledge and off the ledge.

I die a lot with Sheik because I try to push the limits of where I can go. In your matches vs Falco, you missed some gimps because it looked like you were a little bit hesitant to go a farther out into the murky waters of offstage, and because of that, you would misspace, mistime your second jump, and basically end up messing up the gimp and get gimped yourself.

I suggest, for the sake of improvement, that you try to throw those feelings of unease away, just play with no regard to your stocks until you understand very well what it is you can and can't do off the stage. Focus 100% on killing that Falco, and only after you've landed that fair should you think about living.

I apologize if I'm being presumptuous and I'm wrong, it just looked to me like you were a bit apprehensive when off the edge.

 

[Bing]

I agree with what Violence is saying about being off the ledge, you have to be comfortable with going out there, or grabbing the ledge and dipping down for that gimpy bair. You'll get it, when working up with Sheik, it can be a bit difficult getting used to the recovery and everything.

 

[Jwillii]

You're both right and I think I'll try that. I need to get into the "friendlies are friendlies" mindset and figure out what I can do. Would it be helpful to be to work on that a bit on cpus?

 

[Bing]

Yeah of course, basically anytime you see the chance to jump and take them out go for it, and work on the recovery, it doesnt matter what you are doing, any sort of play at a young level can raise the comfortability of your play and because what you need to be working on now are basics, cpus are a fine option, better than nothing atleast.

 

[Jwillii]

Yeah of course, basically anytime you see the chance to jump and take them out go for it, and work on the recovery, it doesnt matter what you are doing, any sort of play at a young level can raise the comfortability of your play and because what you need to be working on now are basics, cpus are a fine option, better than nothing atleast.

Are certain levels better for working on edgegaurding? because I know they all recover similarly.

 

[Bing]

Not really.. for edge guarding I dont think so, just play against computers, and dont be afraid to go out there and maybe even sd. Its all about getting more comfortable. I tried maining sheik and one of my biggest issues with her was recovering.. I found it really awkward and couldnt deal with it

 

[Jwillii]

I can agree with the awkwardness of it. It just seems like it shouldn't work, which to be honest if you don't do it right it doesn't very well. It's just a very strange move...

 

[Bing]

Yeah but once you get the hang of it, its fine. So just work on your edge work because thats a pretty big part of Sheik's game.

 

[KirbyKaze]

Be good at throwing your body off the stage far to kill people.

 

[Violence]

Comp Lv1 never survival DI's, so they get into a more realistic edgeguard position at lower percentages.

 

[Jwillii]

Comp Lv1 never survival DI's, so they get into a more realistic edgeguard position at lower percentages.

I'll keep that in mind, I hadn't thought about that as a perk until now though, thanks.