Critique my Samus! (vs Charizard)

[Gijsbeer]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I couldnt find a video thread so I figured I had to make my own thread. My country (the Netherlands) has just had their first tournament with effort put into streaming. (eventhough our big tournaments get 80-128 entrants, we never stream). I was lucky enough to play on stream. I faced of against a charizard, I honestly didnt have to much trouble with the player or the MU. But thats why I think It's good to ask what you guys think since Im playing comfortably and not choking or flubbing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i3pQH3Elbg

I myself know Im using way to little Zair, but Id also like more nuanced input from you guys.
We try to do everything in english, so dropping a comment on the video aswel would be appreciated, since I helped the TO's.

P.S. I will be starting my own weekly tournament series in my hometown together with one of the TO's from this tournament, so you can expect to see more samus matches from me on that channel in the future, and more of me asking for you guys input haha

 

[leiraD]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I couldnt find a video thread so I figured I had to make my own thread. My country (the Netherlands) has just had their first tournament with effort put into streaming. (eventhough our big tournaments get 80-128 entrants, we never stream). I was lucky enough to play on stream. I faced of against a charizard, I honestly didnt have to much trouble with the player or the MU. But thats why I think It's good to ask what you guys think since Im playing comfortably and not choking or flubbing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i3pQH3Elbg

I myself know Im using way to little Zair, but Id also like more nuanced input from you guys.
We try to do everything in english, so dropping a comment on the video aswel would be appreciated, since I helped the TO's.

P.S. I will be starting my own weekly tournament series in my hometown together with one of the TO's from this tournament, so you can expect to see more samus matches from me on that channel in the future, and more of me asking for you guys input haha

Hey dude, nice Samus. A few critiques.

First, you did great to get the grab so early into the match, but you cut off your uair combo short. If you'd done another uair into upb, you could have gotten 30-35%, or more if you extended that string from one of the lower platforms. Then again, when you're on the ledge and he usmashes, you should have gone for uair>ff sh uair>fh uair (upb probably won't connect at that percent), instead of fair. Especially against larger characters, try to find opportunity for uair>uair>upb, or at least uair>uair/fair

Second, as you already mentioned, you should be incorporating a lot more zair into your gameplay, but I also noticed that you didn't seem to follow up your attacks with any form of additional pressure to bring the neutral game back into your favor. You put some missiles and CS out there, but throw in some dash attack, or a dash grab. Even sh>falling uair is great for breaking the neutral and starting combos.

Finally, take advantage of platforms. In most matchups, levels with platforms really help out Samus' game. They almost universally benefit her (not always true, but true quite often). If your under the platform and the opponent is above you, you can pressure their shield with uair/fair, or if you've already worn down their shield, go ahead and go for the upb, which will poke through their shield and may get you a kill at higher percentages. If Samus is on platform, make your opponent approach and shield the attack. Once their attack connects with your shield, immediately upb. Samus' upboos starts really fast (frame 5 or 6 if I remember right) and the hitbox is large enough to suck attacking opponent up from under the platform. You can get a lot of kills this way, especially on the top platform of battlefield/dreamland/delfino/duckhunt. Try it sometime.

Good luck!

 

[-_ellipsis_-]

Vs that Charizard i should mention that often instead of challenging his side b onstage you could have shielded it and jabbed him. That would put him in a jab reset which is an easy ko or just whatever amount of damage you can stack on from there.

I would also mention that you can punish charizard OOS with short hop upair because he's so tall. That move eats him alive and starts more combos and strings and air chases. I like using it to punish poorly spaced moves and spot dodged grabs with it.

I would also say that you were getting pretty predictable and telegraphed with your charge shot. Try mixing it up a bit.

Other than that, you seem like a pretty patient player. Good stuff

 

[Gijsbeer]

Thanks for the input guys! The reason I sometimes cut my combo short is to get in extra charge time, I guess it would be better to press on and keep the momentum on my side. I'll work on that.

In MU's with faster characters I tend to be more conservative with chargeshot, keeping it pocketed for a long time for mental pressure. I guess I should incorporate this against slower characters too.

One random piece of charizard MU knowledge: apparantly a Morphball bomb stops a grounded flare blitz dead in it's tracks

 

[Gr4pefru1t]

I have a Samus, too! From what I've been seeing (not just in your gameplay) is that not a lot of people have been looking into morph ball all that much (besides ESAM. Before I started watching his Samus, I noticed that he and I both did Jump > Morph ball to kind of slide either back onto stage as an edgeguard or onto a platform as a kind of "waveland"). It's also great for putting the opponent into a situation where they'd have to guard. Example: Morph ball above them (somehow. Situational) forces either a grab, or a retreat option. More times than not, I've noticed that people tend to shield it initially. That's your time to grab! And if you time it right, the bomb will hit them as you're holding them.

Aside from forcing it into a grab, morph ball's bomb is a pretty stylish (somewhat functional) kill setup. Morph Ball > F Smash/Charge Shot. People also have a tough time getting past a Jump Forward > Retreating Morph Ball, I used it often in neutral when I'm not charging neutral b.

Feel free to compare our gameplay!
youtube.com/gr4pefru1t

EDIT: Nair and Bair are great edgeguarding tools against people that have a limited recovery (Ex. Falcon *medium risk*, Ness *Requires good timing, can be high risk*, Luigi *Low risk. beware coin spike lol*).