internet soooooooup ggs tho
I actually feel like the LM mu was waaaay better off than the villy boards said at first, and just that the ones they tested with were committing too hard.
I still think that's a little out of LM's favor obviously (no character that can edge like that leaves room for error on my part, after all) but what this made me realize is that LM isn't as stage ruined as even I (much less most people) think and have thought.
Like, in a pick-ban scenario even if FD gets slashed immediately you're not screwed. You can take this man to Battlefield just fine. His full hop reaches the side platforms, and having places to stand where you can avoid pressure from things like Shiek needles is actually beneficial. On top of that he can easily shark the two bottom platforms when he's not standing on them and therefore poses a real threat from the ground. Even in a disadvantaged mu like that one I never felt doomed because of the stage.
When you get to counterpicks, the only thing you're really, really trying to do is not get Duck Hunt. That's roughly it. Transition maps prevent you from getting camped out simply over the fact that no campable transition is permanent because... well... the map transitions. And outside of that you can survive most counterpicks bar Duck Hunt, at least off of the last Evo ruleset with a Pick 3 start. Since FD and Battlefield are both totally playable you can branch either or. And if for whatever reason FD isn't banned, after crossing out Smashville (the platform hates you, is out of your standard jump height, and forces you to make very camp-able commits) you're home free.
Lylat feels iffy to me tho... I wish I could actually try this stuff at home instead of from local events. My character knowledge is fine since I'm in there putting hours on the 3DS everyday but it's hard to stage test for the stages I just don't have =/ I'll delve into Lylat and the counterpicks I missed later. But my major point was a lot of people tend to discount Mac if he's on a non-FD stage at all, and that's simply incorrect. Battlefield is actually totally usable, and transition stages not only limit camping by nature, but also typically offer a lot of strong canvas for him to exploit in the form of walk-offs and favorable and grounded set-ups.
Stages may not be the death knell they were supposed to for this character. So if I get not only that, but real positive/even match-ups in higher ranks (which LM has most definitely) and playability despite the stage system (which, if testing on the stages I didn't cover talking here proves favorable I'd be willing to emphatically support) with the best ground game in the game I think I can support dispelling the standing bottom 5 notion of Mac. I only bring this up because before everyone kind of gave up on tier list structure in the tier list thread, that was an opinion that started off strong, and while it's lost steam ongoing, killing it feels like something I could do to put this character in more people's hands (at least as a counterpick) so his criminally ANTI-developed (the damage For Glory has done to his theory in the minds of players makes developing this character so hard) meta can actually gain traction. I wish I could go to events myself at this point. I might start uploading recorded replays... something! Vex stuffing a handful of people and like a handful of appearances and Apex is something, but not enough!
A character with a best anything, in which the "anything" is an entire vector of play (ground game), should not be this underrated.
Not to mention customs are neat, like the anti-air option offered with Grounding Blow, now allowing him to stuff people trying to space him with aerials. That's a really big deal. Like, seriously.
FullMoon
I love fighting people who really understand greninja)
