C Stick

[Bill_the_Duck]

For smashes, which is better, C-Stick or Smashing A? The people I play with are unable to decide, a lot of people are saying C-Stick is for noobs and some say its the same if you don't want to charge your smashes.... I don't really know, I tend to use Side A for some characters and C-Stick on others (mostly Falco and Doctor Mario)

 

[Planet Piss]

For smashes, which is better, C-Stick or Smashing A? The people I play with are unable to decide, a lot of people are saying C-Stick is for noobs and some say its the same if you don't want to charge your smashes.... I don't really know, I tend to use Side A for some characters and C-Stick on others (mostly Falco and Doctor Mario)

Using the C stick is generally more practical than up and A, but there is subjectivity to it. Also, no one who is good At Melee will tell you that the C stick is for "noobs".

 

[Bill_the_Duck]

Okay good thats the problem I was having , I would mean an Up-Tilt and would get a Smash, often resulting in me dying.

 

[RaphaelRobo]

You can charge smashes with the c stick, just hold down Z right after you push it. I do all my smashes with the c stick, because I like to have them separate from my tilts.

From my experience, the people who say the c stick is for noobs are people who are bad at melee, but think they're good and want to make themselves feel like their opponent who just beat them is the one who's bad at the game.

 

[Bill_the_Duck]

Yeah that was kind of what I thought was happening

 

[Mahie]

Also, using the Cstick for smashes means the other one is free if you need to DI, and it also means you won't be caught off-guard with a ****ty DI either.

 

[Bill_the_Duck]

Good, good... I originally used C Stick but then I was told it was bad and stopped using it, but it seemed to decrease my quality of play... but then again so did a lot of other things at first, so I figured I'd ask. Just wondering, is Smashing A at least an acceptable way to play?

 

[PGH Carroll]

C stick is sooooooo for noobz
Never have touched that thing in my life.

 

[-ShadowPhoenix-]

Use the C stick...

anyone who says its for noobz is a n00b

 

[kevo]

All you need to know about using the c-stick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OlMtEoxPSYI#t=137s

 

[Kal]

If I remember correctly (someone like Strong Bad can call me out if I'm wrong), the A button will automatically charge for at least two frames, which means that the C-Stick is technically at least two frames faster. I use the C-Stick for general smashes and aerials, and the A button for charged smashes and nair (obviously).

 

[Strong Badam]

No idea on forced charging but most players don't release the A button by the charge frame. On fast smashes like Sheik's dsmash the charge frame is pretty damn early too.

 

[4 Aces]

I don't think it really matters which you use. Using C-Stick for smashes helps guarantee that you don't accidentally hold it and charge for what little frames that might be. I believe people usually are good at letting go of A before charging. If you were being nitpicky though...I guess people might accidentally hold it for like, 2 frames or something. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal. Ultimately, do what feels natural for you. The actual choice between C-Stick and A isn't an indicator of noob-ness (IMO...C-Stick is only noobish if you LITERALLY can't do a smash attack with A).

I use A for all of my smash attacks; however I use the C-Stick only for certain tricky situations, where the A button would actually be hard to implement.
Such as:
1) Upsmash out of Shield. SO much easier to simply hit up on the Control Stick and C-Stick at the same time.

2) Crouch Cancel Downsmash/UpSmash.

3) Awkward aerials like shinestall --> double jump bair; Thunder's Combo (jab --> shffl'd uair...can do them with A...except when I try to Thunder's Combo lol).

 

[ajp_anton]

I never use the C-stick, unless very rarely when I need to CC into Dsmash (other smashes are easy without C).
C-stick is for noobs =).

 

[Jonas]

Yes, spacing with retreating aerials is sooo noobish.

 

[DerfMidWest]

I have a habit of using the c-stick for aerials... specifically dair (i think I started that because I was scared of fast falling dair or something)

should I not do that?
I still use A for like fairs and nairs and uairs (sometimes) though.... just not dairs or bairs.

 

[Beat!]

^Most people would tell you that using C-stick is better (myself included) than A, since, for example, you can drift in the opposite direction while doing the aerial if you're using the C-stick.

It's certainly not bad anyway, and there's no need to stop doing it, or calling it a "habit", haha.

 

[Jonas]

should I not do that?

What do you mean "should"?
You should just play the game however you want.

 

[Kal]

I have a habit of using the c-stick for aerials... specifically dair (i think I started that because I was scared of fast falling dair or something)

should I not do that?
I still use A for like fairs and nairs and uairs (sometimes) though.... just not dairs or bairs.

As far as I'm aware, there is no difference, so if it's not impacting your technical skill or consistency, go ahead. I can't properly shffl uairs in a juggle with Marth unless I use the C-Stick. Not sure how you guys shffl uair with A.

 

[link2702]

anyoen who says the c-stick is for noobs are noobs themselves chances are they're idiots who get beat by random smash spam and cry and moan because they fall for the simplest crap in the game.

 

[jbro]

I use the C-stick for pretty much all my smashes. Not that I can't use A, I just prefer flicking the stick, seems quicker to me. Also I love using the C-stick for airs, I try to space with bair quite a bit, and having full control of which way I'm going in the air while doing the attack is a huge plus.

 

[ajp_anton]

C-stick has an advantage for aerials because you may lose *some* momentum if you're moving in another direction at the same time, but the difference isn't big enough for me to care.
My main reason for not using C is that I started Melee in 1P mode (HRC and BtT), so I learned all my techskill without C. I just haven't bothered learning to use C, because I can do everything without it (except fastfall into insta-Uair without rejumping is a little hard, but I never need it with Luigi or Falco).

 

[Thanos828]

Depends on the character and the player. C Stick certainly has its merits for things like aerials and smashes, but it's utility often shows in other areas. Using C Stick for actions OoS is pretty cool

 

[Bones0]

My advice is to learn to do everything with and without the c-stick. If you have both options on hand at any given time, you will just naturally use whichever is better. That's what I do and it works out, at least. Like I SHFFL uairs with A when I want to attack as soon as I leave the ground, but when I do falling uairs where I have time to get my hand to the c-stick, I just use that.

 

[Mahie]

My advice is to learn to do everything with and without the c-stick. If you have both options on hand at any given time, you will just naturally use whichever is better. That's what I do and it works out, at least. Like I SHFFL uairs with A when I want to attack as soon as I leave the ground, but when I do falling uairs where I have time to get my hand to the c-stick, I just use that.

QFT. When I want to get a quick uair OOS or something, I also use A, and when the situation is normal I'll just use the Cstick.

 

[Pachinkosam]

anyoen who says the c-stick is for noobs are noobs themselves chances are they're idiots who get beat by random smash spam and cry and moan because they fall for the simplest crap in the game.

c-sticks are awesome.
if youre too lazy to do a smash attack.
well try the c -stick.

 

[Mr Postman]

C stick is sooooooo for noobz
Never have touched that thing in my life.

10

 

[Thamauturge]

I much prefer the C-Stick. I always hated how you couldn't use it in Singleplayer mode. It made the more difficult event matches even more difficult. I mostly like it for it's aerial capabilities.

 

[weslo]

the only thing i have trouble with is nairing with the C-stick, but other than that, i'd consider doing a smash or an aerial with the A button a bad habit.

 

[Wave-Guiding Hero]

Meh, I don't use the c-stick at all with the exception of retreating fairs/bairs, and it works perfectly fine for me.

 

[DerfMidWest]

is it better to do aerials with the Z button against peach?
I find it easier to catch turnips with the Z button.
And sometimes when I play peach, they throw a turnip and I catch it by accident when I try to throw out a move.

does the Z button actually make any difference in catching a turnip than the A button?

 

[4 Aces]

is it better to do aerials with the Z button against peach?
I find it easier to catch turnips with the Z button.
And sometimes when I play peach, they throw a turnip and I catch it by accident when I try to throw out a move.

does the Z button actually make any difference in catching a turnip than the A button?

As far as I know, you can only catch items (while you're in the air) using either Z or L/R+A, but I could be wrong. I've always thought that catching items with just A was a Brawl thing (hence why it seems to happen unintentionally there so much more frequently).

My personal preference to catch items is Z, but I use A to do aerials. In regards to your Peach question...I really don't know. I'd just stick to what I'm used to, and if I see a Peach pull a turnip, I'll just prep myself for the inevitable throw (and catch).

Tl;dr: IMO, leave it up to reaction if you want to catch Peach Turnips.

 

[AXE 09]

I think it's a personal preference kind of thing. I personally use A for all of my smashes, except for when I'm going to crouch cancel. I even use A for Usmash OOS lol. I say just do whichever you feel the most comfortable with. I think I mostly use A cuz I played SSB64 for so long before Melee, which you had to use A cuz there was no C stick.

 

[HomeStylePie]

Falco's shine-aerials and Fox's shine-upsmash are much easier for me with the C-stick. Most SHFFLs as well. For whatever reason though, I've always found JC upsmashes to be easier with the A button. Given that you're probably talking about smashes, unless I'm trying to read someone, I usually just use c-stick.

Your friends just want to get a leg up over you, trying to take away the confidence in your game and make you use techniques you're not used to (the latter can be good, but only if you're learning a new technique that's superior to what you used to do, ie. learning an advanced tech you've never used before).

 

[NTA]

:o C-stick is useful for fastfall uairs. Hmmm maybe I should start using it for that

Well I think I used it in brawl one or two years ago :/

I agree with HomeStylePie.

I didn't know any advanced techniques until I played SSBM on dolphin with a logitech pc controller a few years ago xD

Makes me wonder how I managed to win matches against other people >_>

 

[Avalancer]

There's a reason why it's ten times harder to play 1P-modes in melee: No C-stick.

 

[kevo]

is it better to do aerials with the Z button against peach?
I find it easier to catch turnips with the Z button.
And sometimes when I play peach, they throw a turnip and I catch it by accident when I try to throw out a move.

does the Z button actually make any difference in catching a turnip than the A button?

I wish wish wish wish wish wish wish that the Z button caught/grabbed items universally, in the air and on the ground. More specifically, that the grab hitbox intercepting with an item grabs the item. Intuitively, you are "grabbing" an item, right? Having to remember to use A instead of Z on the ground just feels weird. Plus, I throw out jabs and tilts on accident all the time when I try it.