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Critique my ninja =)

KirbyKaze

Smash Legend
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
17,679
Location
Spiral Mountain
Against Marth:

You need to be a lot greedier with low percent comboing. You did like... one good combo decision during the first game. Or maybe two, but you mistimed the uair so it didn't hit anyway. There is more available on non-DI away than just fair. Up tilt, f-tilt, up smash (you used this one; excellent!), uair, are all fantastic options and need to be used more (and more accurately). On DI away, just dash attack or regrab Marth.

As a side note, I don't really like waveland regrabs because I think uair is better.

Work on a better out of shield game. Sheik can nair, wd, sidestep, roll, and various other awesome things out of shield. You do some stuff, but you really do shield grab too much. Diversity, bro. Also, pick appropriate counters. If Marth is hanging in the air outside your shield grab range with fairs, nair or wd back. Don't try to grab them.

You try to grab at inappropriate times in general. Shield grabbing on opponents out of range, ledgedash grabbing when he's way out of range... your priority is to reposition if you can't directly hit them. Get your spacing back. People hate it when Sheik has a good position.

Try not to forward tilt shields at point blank. Actually, attacking shields at point black is bad in general unless you're doing aerials or down smash or something (like, fair > f-tilt is okay on occasion because people sometimes try to shield grab the fair and the f-tilt catches them but just walking around tilting blocks is bad). Just grab them. Or reposition. Notice how the latter keeps coming up as a good option? Nobody actually likes approaching a well-spaced Sheik (except maybe Falco).

Your last stock of game 2 was very solid. You should be trying to play like that all the time. And then play better than that all the time.

Go for more guaranteed stuff at high percents. Unless uair will kill, just fair. Similarly, don't bother with dairs when Marth can be killed with simple fair > edgeguard. Dair's purpose in a combo is to build damage. If you can just kill them with a boring fair > edgeguard at like 100%+ then do it instead. It's not as fun, but it's objectively better.

I think you need more versatility in your movement. You use a very limited repertoire for spacing; mostly just short dash dances and WDs. Mixing in wavelands with your SHs will give you a lot more mobility. Similarly, learning how to do Sheik's "trot dance" will give you a longer dash dance distance and more complex dash dance game to work with.

You played much better as the set went on.

Nice Sheik.
 

KirbyKaze

Smash Legend
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
17,679
Location
Spiral Mountain
Against Falco:

You have the right idea about gimping him but your execution is kind of bad. You barely miss a lot. In general, at the end of a combo that ends in Fair or Bair, I think you can be more aggressive about edgeguarding and go offstage (makes covering stuff easy).

Nair out of shield more. After the shine, usually.

All comments about inappropriate grabs are still applicable here. I'd add you move into his space when you're at disadvantage (coming off the edge, blocking near the edge, etc.) with WD a lot. You shouldn't be trying to challenge him in a lot of these positions most of the time. It can work as a mix-up, but he's got way more space to work with and is clearly in an advantageous position... being so determined to muscle through will usually lead to being hit.

Being directly above Falco on platforms is bad. This is where your narrow movement hurts you... going on platforms against him to break up his ground control is good (make him shoot higher or come to you) but you need more mobility so you don't get trapped.

Use bair to edgeguard more. It covers a lot.

You looked very out of your element against this Falco. A lot of sloppy play. It seemed like you didn't really know what to do, either. A lot of panic down smashes that seemed done to just try and hit him with something.
 

-RedShadow

Smash Ace
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
973
Location
Library, Ponyville
thank you :)

also, what do you think is a reliable way to deal with falco's ledgehop lasers? can i d-tilt him as he's coming up, or time a d-smash/d-tilt/nair oos as he's coming down?
 

KirbyKaze

Smash Legend
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
17,679
Location
Spiral Mountain
You can do a bunch of things.

If you throw a set of needles so they overlap his body as he comes up (some prediction required) then you can gimp him from that really easily (SF players would call this a "meaty").

For closer options, you can nair oos in between them, crouch cancel d-smash / d-tilt in between them (I think). You can also jump above him and attack (probably with nair) so the first laser misses and you hit him out of the next one (your body kind of overlaps him when he's invincible and he gets nicked by the move when it wears off). Much of this is countered by Falco picking a more range-appropriate option (ledgedash, ledgehop attack, etc.) but the crouch strats and nair oos work from surprisingly far so they're not bad. I recommend them.
 

KirbyKaze

Smash Legend
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
17,679
Location
Spiral Mountain
Nair oos is a garbage counter to space animal dash attacks. I'm trying to up smash it now. It seems okay.

You don't seem to know how to take advantage of this Falco's laser habits so I'll explain. When you are on a platform, and Falco full jumps across the stage to shoot you, it is very unlikely you can actually hit him directly in that position. You keep trying to jump across through laser fire. Don't. Just get on the ground and then move forward and see how close you can get. You can contest his moves if he tries to come off, evade-punish, dash attack under him if he tries to come off with lasers, etc. It's a good position.

There are rare occasions you will be able to waveland across the top platform and attack him but those are not that common. You should know to get off the platforms when he comes up (or shoot him with a full set of needles if you have one handy as he tries to come up) and then exert pressure from the better position. You actually do stuff like this on YS (not the camping part but abusing the position where he's on a platform and you can outclass his aerial priority via positioning on the ground), but you don't on DL64.

You come off the platforms with needles in bad spots. It's an okay mixup but seriously, attacking off platforms like that is really overrated. Fairs are okay because you can fast fall them to get to the ground really fast. Needles leave you vulnerable for a while.

You come down with attacks too much. Falco can easily bair / up tilt / etc. through that nonsense.

Below 30% you should be comboing into grab or trying to link stuff into grab, not tilts. You f-tilt him after fairs at like 0% and he CC blocks or whatever so the f-tilt doesn't even do anything. Be more conscious of percents and what you're trying to do in general. Grab is generally her best punish anyway and I don't see you really looking for them except when you're blocking.

If you're attacking Falco and he's above you on a platform doing dairs or whatever, fair and bair are better for that than nair.
 
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