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Sheik I don't understand so well as the other top tiers, but my understanding is she pushes forward through threat of counterattack. So while she doesn't get easier offense/movement like Marth for approaching she makes the most of zoning which Marth does to push her way in. Having very quick movement(besides SH hangtime) and quick and big attacks plus boost grab is a big deal for her and can sometimes surprise the opponent and catch them when they're not holding down for very good punishes. It's not like Marth is an approaching monster either, so to contrast the two just shows that Sheiks could likely improve in this area since even zoning Marths like Zain/Rishi will approach a decent amount.Hey PP!
How do you feel about Sheik in general as a character, and especially vs Marth? I reckon you don't really enjoy playing Sheik yourself because of her limited neutral game? I might be totally off here but to me it feels like Sheik is the kind of character that works better in practice than theory because she can really open up sloppy opponents with her strong punish game, but lacks alot of approaching options. Whereas Marth crosses me like the opposite, big sword, great at zoning and winning neutral, but sometimes lacking in raw kill power.
The matchup is widely considered even or historically in Sheik's favor, but nowadays there seems to be a tendency to weigh it sligthly to Marth's favor. What's your take on this?
Personally, I feel like if I play on point the Sheik can't do alot, but me being pretty low level player makes for quite a few opportunities for the Sheik to strike. If you'd be in the mind of a Sheik player, how would you go about approaching a Marth and forcing bad actions from him? Is it mostly about baiting, reading, capitalizing off of whiffs, or is there more to it? What can I as Marth expect the Sheik to do to get an opening?
As always, thanks PP, you're the best.
I like dash in against Sheik because it forces her to potentially whiff Ftilt and can discourage her DA if at all possible. Staying in that place I can threaten her with my approach but she can't really threaten me so it's quite good. Moving in you don't always have to swing at her and can either hit her jump or threaten her landing and you can always jump yourself to keep Fairing a running grab/DA from being a possibility as well as hitting Ftilt if you space reasonably. Not sure about your second question can you rephrase?Speaking about the Sheik mu, how do you feel about dashing in PP? Analyzing some of your marth sheik sets, sometimes dashing in would give you some good results like cross-up against DA and aerials. The thing is, most of the time they were from WD d-tilt, so can you provide some insight about it?
Also, how would you deal with f-tilt that will give you maximized punish opportunity? I know for Fox players an easy way to beat it is to run-up shield and grab, but with Marth his shield is poor but do you think it can be reliable? Another idea I have is to WD in CC-grab which should work for awhile. Idk about whiff punishing f-tilt with grab is possible due to the incredibly low cooldown of that move.
Additionally, when the Sheik FH needles me (not fully charged), is it worth it to simply take the hit and still maintain my position? It's tricky how I can deal with Sheik's aerial needles atm.
In that example I did not look like I had great advantage with my back to Sheik and her not in any massive lag for me to abuse. I would not recommend it, but you can be reasonably sure you usually won't get punished too hard if it happens so it's more of something to go for if you need stage space or want to consider solving that situation so you have an "out" to further cushion your Dtilt approach.I mean moments like these
https://youtu.be/kREm4Bsw58M?t=25m48s
where you don't necessary mean to cross-up but inadvertently do with WD d-tilt. With that, you can take advantage of the IASA of d-tilt to put yourself in a good spot. Do you think crossing up vs. Sheik is necessary?
Also, how do you think about F-smash where Sheik is within WD d-tilt range when Sheik is at low percents? This is when Sheik clearly isn't shielding and she's FH needling or doing AC fairs. Do you think there's better answers for risk/reward?
Oh good glad it helped!Firstly, PP - shout out to you for the juggling advice vs. Sheik you dropped in this thread last week, it's been enormously helpful and it's translated into some real results!
I have another question today that is a bit more general. My biggest sticking point as a player has always been the fact that I am a very reactionary player, and that my playstyle is more focused on capitalizing on my opponents mistakes (e.g. baiting and whiff punishing) than being proactive, "asserting my will", and forcing my opponent to make unwise decisions. This works for me now in the sense that I do well at locals or whatever, but as I fight more experienced opponents, the wait and bait strategy has diminishing returns. Better players will see that I'm waiting for them to do something and will maybe get hit once or twice, and then proceed to kinda be like "oh.....word? so...you're just gonna let me have full stage control....for free..? aight cool lmao".
Better players have a sense of control over the match, one that I lack (I'm often dash dancing waiting for an approach to punish) - here's a classic (IMO) example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrRtAg3QOn8. The whole set, $Mike has trouble doing anything! PP has full control the entire time, which is really insane and inspiring actually LOL
My question is, how do I develop this? I don't expect to be PP level over night, but the ideas of control, influence, positioning, and being proactive as opposed to merely reactive seem to be really strong fundamentals that most players at top level have a great understanding of. How do I practice this?
Thanks everyone, this thread is one of the best out there <3
Both. In solo you can do 1-2 dashes -> wavedash forward dtilt. 1-2 dashes -> wavedash back. Get muscle memory for mixups you'd want to do in neutral in a real set/in friendlies. Makes things a bit easier. It's more than muscle memory too. Gets you thinking about choices out of simple choices that dictate your whole game. Are you starting with a dash away or a dash in? Are they now expecting something out of a dash forward? etc. Gets you thinking! It's cool. How it translates into how it makes one a more proactive player I'll let Dr Peepee answer if he wants lolI see! I definitely remember you talking about doing 1-2 dashes and then making a decision in regards to developing intent. Is this exercise something that can be practiced during friendlies or is this for when someone is riding solo? How does doing this translate into being a more proactive player? Just want to make sure I have the right things in mind while practicing this!
Really appreciate your patience and knowledge as always
Like Kopaka said, this is something best done alone and against others. Ideally, you practice the actions first and then try your ideas out against opponents and then take what you learned back to practice and refine your ideas.I see! I definitely remember you talking about doing 1-2 dashes and then making a decision in regards to developing intent. Is this exercise something that can be practiced during friendlies or is this for when someone is riding solo? How does doing this translate into being a more proactive player? Just want to make sure I have the right things in mind while practicing this!
Really appreciate your patience and knowledge as always
Sometimes jumping over is okay if you land with Fair as it ends or something to separate them some or harass them. If you can get in as you see it start up you can beat or trade with early blizzard hits. Besides that, just wait.How do you get around an ICs Blizzard desync? When ICs build a wall with blizzard it seems really hard to get around. I have tried to dtilt through it, but my dtilt just gets stuffed and I get grabbed for my troubles. I don't feel like jumping over ICs when a blizzard desync is happening is useful because Marth doesn't have good aerials for coming down with and separating the climbers. Do I just wait out the blizzard? Or is there usually a better way? I'm thinking of dealing with this on FD.
Well you're right more or less in your assessment of the situation. I would say you need to mentally train and visualize this too and build it into your meditative work. Building respect for people regardless of their treatment of you helps you not question them and just accept the good with the bad. Keep in mind there may be some good in here besides just complements, as people generally gravitate toward and have more respect for those who can work hard and overcome limits and grow since it tends to be more rare and just powerful in general. So I would say there's a real way to appreciate it and accept this and the bad. Also, it's good to contrast your situation now with your old one in your mind. So if you think back on times when people didn't notice you and compare it with what you have now you may find other things to be grateful for, or at least it will inspire humility. Hopefully that helps.With regards of getting better and getting recognition for it, I expected pressure. Well, performance pressure that is, where people might get nervous and all in the moment. This isn't something new to me as I've dealt with it fine with me performing musical instrument for several years. I also saw other people's regard to performance pressure and how they dealt with it, and I can say that this is not a surprise for me and it is what I signed up for.
However, one thing I did not expect and prepare for in my journey of getting better is the unnecessary amount of attention I'm getting, all because of my skill at the game. Of course I expected some degree of attention, but there's people I know for sure didn't think much of me when I first met them when I was a worse player several weeks prior but now they want me to be their superficial friend, acknowledgement from me, or think I'm God because of my recent big wins. In other words, they take it too far. I can't say for sure, but I know that the moment I fall off in my skill, they won't be there for me. Not that I intend to fall off, but it'd be foolish for me to think that I won't ever underperform or have some time period of plateauing, and all the sudden people I thought who had my back are gone.
How would you say I should deal with my situation now and the moment I fail to meet expectations?
Thanks PP, and thanks Kopaka! Advice from both of you is awesome, getting multiple perspectives is always super valuable. I played with this concept in mind over the course of the weekend, and though I would say I was much more observant of my opponents, it didn't necessarily translate to a better degree of control or influence. Is there something I'm missing?Like Kopaka said, this is something best done alone and against others. Ideally, you practice the actions first and then try your ideas out against opponents and then take what you learned back to practice and refine your ideas.
Run forward SH Fair, to use the prior example, is proactive in that you initiate your own sequence of actions and now adjust as your opponent does or after they show you they adapt to what you've shown them. Do they come in quickly? Do they wait? Do they wait for part to be sure they can confirm what you're doing first? In this way, you are being proactive by observing how they respond to you. It makes sense once you get started with the practice I think.
I expected another Dtilt/dash in and wanted to jump over it and hit it. Not an amazing decision but an okay one.
You'll get better at adapting once you build it into your practice. The fact you can see where to adjust is a good sign though.Thanks PP, and thanks Kopaka! Advice from both of you is awesome, getting multiple perspectives is always super valuable. I played with this concept in mind over the course of the weekend, and though I would say I was much more observant of my opponents, it didn't necessarily translate to a better degree of control or influence. Is there something I'm missing?
Thank you for everyone's help!
The "detractor" of desync blizzard (compared with desynced ice blocks) is that only Nana can repeat the blizzard. As soon as Popo does a blizzard it throws off their desync tempo. As long as you play around Nana blizzarding, which is a move with a fairly long end lag, you should be able to find openings.How do you get around an ICs Blizzard desync? When ICs build a wall with blizzard it seems really hard to get around. I have tried to dtilt through it, but my dtilt just gets stuffed and I get grabbed for my troubles. I don't feel like jumping over ICs when a blizzard desync is happening is useful because Marth doesn't have good aerials for coming down with and separating the climbers. Do I just wait out the blizzard? Or is there usually a better way? I'm thinking of dealing with this on FD.
Things that I personally have experienced or have helped others include:There are a lot of things in my life inhibiting me from playing (not physical ones, but mental blocks) mostly being major depression and anxiety. Its hard to find the incentive to try and compete when all of your thoughts are pessimistic in my opinion. I have yet to find something that helps with this. Everything from meditation to counseling. Do you know what works for you when thoughts of depression and anxiety and pessimism come over you?
Edit: This can be during a competition or before you leave to go to a tournament.
Run up retreating Fair(time it for grab), but varied timings could be good too)?, run up take stage....not sure what else off the top of my head from that spacing since it was a little far and both characters cover a lot of ground.Is there an option I can do after falcon's nair here that's good against run up grab and dash back stomp?
https://youtu.be/ZhB-jv77z2E?t=12m34s
Nah side throw her since she will be airborne anyway but she will have less options and you don't have to spend so much brain power trying to manipulate her. There may be situations where up is better but as a rule side probably is.Do you think it's worth throwing Samus up and try to read their bomb or attack coming down? Or do you think throwing them to the corner would be better for positional advantage? Depends on preference?
That was one of the things, yes.Regarding the cold exposure thing, is this what you were talking about when you said on twitter you were trying out some weird techniques and didn't want to discuss it yet cause you wanted to be sure it would work?
Also, I'm running into a pretty big hole in my gameplay in that I never really learned how to CC effectively when I first started playing, and now I am just having a really hard time incorporating it into my gameplay more. Whenever I try to use CC in friendlies it just takes up so much brain power cause I have to really force myself to do it because it isn't a habit. I've been at this same phase for a while now where I don't do it if I'm not consciously thinking about it, and it's hard to tell if I just need to keep giving it time or what. Cause other techniques that I learned late did not take me this long to make them feel natural
For exercise, it could be the case you didn't do a kind that benefited enough or did it frequently or intensely enough.Yea that would be awesome if you would. Because exercise. While I know is beneficial, does not seem to raise my mood much. I've been doing it for a few months now so I would have seen some mood improvement by now I would hope
Thanks for that advice! It brings back to mind when I was playing with heartstrings, one of Michigan's pr players and he said that he thought I had a solid neutral, but my punish game against sheik was kind of abysmal, and it definitely showed in that set.Vs Sheik, if I could only tell you to change one thing it would be to have a plan for what to do when you get a hit. You set up tech chases then guessed, or reacted to airdodges with weak hit Uair at low percent when you had time to tipper Fsmash/tipper Uair/any type of Fair.
Vs Falcon, you can't swing so much against him unless you're very far or very close. Fair to Utilt will get punished hard as you saw. You could do with practicing to speed up, but more than that you want to make sure you don't commit to WD forward or dash in etc without observing your opponent during that. It's something you can practice as well.
Practice going between actions faster. So miss less frames between L-cancel and next action for example, or between WD and Dtilt or whatever you want to do next. When you can be as fast as possible that helps, and it also lets you slow down as much as you want to influence the opponent as well. If you want to build up speed slowly while thinking of the tools that would be best.Thanks for that advice! It brings back to mind when I was playing with heartstrings, one of Michigan's pr players and he said that he thought I had a solid neutral, but my punish game against sheik was kind of abysmal, and it definitely showed in that set.
With regards to the falcon, what exactly do you mean by practicing to speed up? Is it mostly just learning when you can throw out a lot of hitboxes, like you mentioned how I can only really swing a lot if I'm really close or far?
Congrats on taking control of your life that is no easy feat! Very happy for you =)Hey PP, I haven't posted on smashboards for a long time but I started playing competitively for the first time, or at least approaching the game more intelligently and ambitiously a few years ago, I had touched on the advanced stuff in my teens around 10 years ago but never with the same maturity and not for very long. Although I believe at that time my interest in smash was rekindled you had maybe attended a tournament or two before taking time out, during my journey as a player You've been a huge inspiration and resource for me. Your posts here and the knowledge you freely share elsewhere has helped enormously and I admire your generosity in an environment where sharing knowledge can feed intel about you to your rivals, but conversely help the community as a whole.
I also relate to you slightly as I had to have a long period of time off work, It was a year and a half because of mental health problems and personal problems which feeded into eachother, and I struggled to get any treatment from a budget-cut health service in my country. However I'm now nearly completing therapy and am taking appropriate medication which both have had an enormous effect on my life, and I am playing the best smash I ever have, although I am still improving and have a long way to go - but hey don't we all.
My most recent breakthrough has been in playing to pressure my opponent - not necessarily trying to beat their moves but more in using movement and other subtle tools to overwhelm. Do you have any thoughts or advice on this? Especially versus wait-and-bait players that rarely approach? I wonder if they are less likely to be pressured because they don't approach and are free to be more patient.
Also, I'm happy if you don't want to share anything about this right now but I'm also wondering how you're doing at the moment physically and mentally, I hope you're feeling strong, determined, and motivated, and can hardly wait to see your return to prominence.