In this admittedly long post, I will chronicle my progression in the world of technical Melee. I will note how long it takes me to achieve consistency for the following techniques, as well as my comments on my experience and training. I consider myself "consistent" at something if I get it right 8 or more times out of 10 tries (80% of the time). I know this is a loose definition, but I consider that, since Melee is a game where you can easily fix your mistakes, 8 out of 10 times is not actually bad and it minimizes the time spent practicing. Also, this strictly concerns the technical aspect of those techniques, not applying it to actual gameplay. I should note that I'm an amateur speedrunner, so the terms "frame-perfect" and "sub-pixel-perfect" did not scare me when I started and, being a guitarist and a long time gamer, I had nimble fingers to begin with and knew what kind of hand/finger exercises to do before I began each session of training. Anyways, enjoy!
Dashdancing.
Total time spent : 30 minutes
This seemed to be bread-and-butter for a few characters, notably the ones I "mained" before I knew about advanced techniques (Marth & Falcon), so it seemed logical to start with that technique. It took me about 20 minutes to be able to dashdance across FD (aggressively and defensively) as Marth and, utilizing the same rough inputs, it took me less than five minutes to do it with Falcon. I consider this an easy technique, but very essential to practice.
Shorthop/Fastfalling.
Total time spent : 1 hour
I already knew about and used both of those techniques, so it took me less than five minutes to apply them to Marth and Falcon. To get a rough idea of the timing for everyone, I tried it with all 26 characters and Fox & Shiek were the hardest to SH/FF with. I spent roughly an hour messing with those techniques.
Wavedashing/wavelanding.
Total time spent : 3 hours
Admittedly, that is the technique I was the most eager to learn. I later realized that, while very useful, other techniques are far more useful, albeit less flashy. It took me 30 minutes to get the timing down with Marth. To do it consistently, it took me another 30 minutes. I also tried messing with wavedash/waveland lengths with every character and spent a good two hours in order to truly understand and appreciate the various uses of said techniques. During those two hours, I notably learned how to wavedash/FF to edgehog, wavedash/FF/aerial off of platforms to cover my landing, wavedash dancing, wavedash turnaround, waveland from the edge, etc.
Fun times.
L-cancelling.
Total time spent : 1 hour 30 minutes
This proved to be easier than expected. I cheated a bit and used the 20XX hack pack to ease my life. I spent about 15 minutes to be able to l-cancel a single move consistently, through muscle memory. However, I spent 45 minutes trying out different characters and moves, as well as another half hour to learn how to l-cancel from visual cue (not out of muscle memory). Bowser, Ganondorf and Link all seemed to benefit greatly from l-cancelling
SHFFL -- shorthop, fastfall, l-cancel.
Total time spent : 1 hour
I always thought SHFFL looked freaking cool, so I was eager to learn that as well. I started out by spending about 30 minutes trying to SHFFL different moves as quickly as possible as Marth & Falcon. Again, I spent another half hour messing with other characters.
Chaining.
Total time spent : 3 hours
After learning the last few techniques, I figured it was a good time to learn how to utilize them together and how they can be chained. I spent three hours trying things out, seeing what works and what doesn't. I notably discovered/applied techniques like jump-out-of-shield, shield-stopping a dash, crouch-stopping a run, Marth's wavedash back into dash forward, dashdance to SHFFL, instant landing (thanks to Falcon's full hop backfilp on Yoshi's top platform), as well as general platform/stage manoeuvres/movement through wavedashing, wavelanding, shorthop, fastfall, etc.
I should also mention that during about 3 more hours, I learned about and used character specific techniques such as jump-canceled shine (Fox & Falco), needle-turnaround(Sheilk), super [duper] wavedash & extended grab(Samus), bomb jump (Samus, Link & Young Link), wobbling/desynching/other gimmicks (Ice Climbers), double jump canceling (Mewtwo, Ness & Yoshi), float/float-canceling (Peach), shorthop laser (Fox & Falco), shine turnaround (Fox & Falco), wall of pain (Jigglypuff [& Kirby]), etc.
Pivot.
Total time spent : 2 hours
I fell in love with the technique after realizing its potential. It took me a while to get it down at first, and I ended up spending more time than planned on it. I notably learned how to pivot out of dashdance and/or wavedash, but also how to utilize the pivot offensively. I became semi-consistent at pivot/smash, pivot/tilt and pivot/special.
Moonwalk.
Total time spent : 2 hours
I love this technique as well because it's so flashy. At first, I tried moonwalking with Marth. Big mistake. I went to Falcon instead and to make my life easier, I would roll to the ledge and try to moonwalk/edgehog to nail the input. After I did that, I did moonwalk/jump/aerial, moonwalk/jump/edgehop, etc. I then went back to Marth and tried moonwalking again. It took me longer, but I finally nailed it too. I found out that you can only moonwalk out of the walk animation or out of a wavedash. However, I'm still only semi-consistent at the technique.
Crouch canceling.
Total time spent : 15 minutes
That was easy. Just crouch to cancel/lower the impact of a blow. I practiced with two controllers because I have no friends.
Jump-cancel toss/grab.
Total time spent : 30 minutes
Again, a very straightforward technique. Just hit jump, then immediately input Z to grab, or A to toss an item. I still looked deeper into it and tried it with most characters, hence the half hour.
Shield dropping.
Total time spent : 2 hours
I heard this technique was super hard to perform, therefore I looked forward to trying it. I started out by shield dropping the easy way (dash/shield, control stick down a notch) and it took me less than 10 minutes. The "Axe"(I think) way of doing it proved to be a bit harder, but still in the realm of easy and fun things. You just "buffer" the first control stick input from an attack (or tech, get-up, roll, whatever really). Then I tried the dreaded control stick tilting method. It took me forever to actually get it down on an old and worn controller, but I got a new controller in the meantime (the Smash-themed one, for Wii U) and shield-dropping became a lot easier. Conclusion : new sticks are better than worn ones for shield dropping? Maybe. They're a lot stiffer though, so I had to make adjustments and practice every other technique (especially moonwalking) again. The shoulder triggers are a bit awkward too, but the controller is great as a whole.
Anyways, moving on...
Ledge/platform-canceling.
Total time spent : 1 hour
I found this technique very interesting because it allowed for literally instant aerial follow-ups. I therefore practiced it a lot and integrated it to my SHFFLing routine.
More chaining.
Total time spent : 5 hours
After learning all those techniques, I figured it was time for some more chaining fun. The first challenge I set up for myself was moonwalk fullhop across Yoshi's, fair (knee), l-cancel it on the right platform, followed by a shield drop into ledge-canceled up-air, double jump waveland back onto the stage into the best taunt in Smash history. Turned out to be my most awkward Melee failure to date. Oops.
Instead, I tried chaining every technique into another one, two at a time. So I moonwalked/SHFFL, SHFF/ledge-cancel, shield drop/l-cancel, etc. It was a lot easier and, to be honest, a lot more productive than setting up crazy challenges right off the bat. After an hour of practicing the techniques two-by-two, I started chaining more of them together. Eventually, after around four hours of arthri- uh... tech-practice, I managed to pull off the first [slightly crazy] challenge I had set up for myself earlier. Twice in a row. Hurray!
If I'm good at math, I spent nearly 25 hours solely practicing tech skill. It certainly does not seem like a lot if you compare it to say, Mew2king's total practice time. But that's not really the point. Obviously, one of the reasons behind this whole exercise is to understand and live what the pros are doing with their controller. I've always been fascinated by technical Fox combos or gracious Marth movement. Now I can do reproduce part of that on my own. Yay!
However, there is a deeper reason behind those 25 hours of button mashing. I did it because I wanted to understand the mechanics of the game that, let's admit it, we all know and love from our child/teenhood. Being a long time gaming fan, it also gave me a chance to look at the game from a very critical angle. Before my experiment, I thought Melee was ironically the deepest, most technical, hardcore and intricate fighting game out there. I no longer think it. I know it.
But hey, enough with the serious talk. Now I can beat my friends with a moonwalk/full hop, l-canceled dair, shield dropped & ledge-cancelled uair into reverse knee. And I can Charlie walk-->taunt them too. Show me your moves!
Dashdancing.
Total time spent : 30 minutes
This seemed to be bread-and-butter for a few characters, notably the ones I "mained" before I knew about advanced techniques (Marth & Falcon), so it seemed logical to start with that technique. It took me about 20 minutes to be able to dashdance across FD (aggressively and defensively) as Marth and, utilizing the same rough inputs, it took me less than five minutes to do it with Falcon. I consider this an easy technique, but very essential to practice.
Shorthop/Fastfalling.
Total time spent : 1 hour
I already knew about and used both of those techniques, so it took me less than five minutes to apply them to Marth and Falcon. To get a rough idea of the timing for everyone, I tried it with all 26 characters and Fox & Shiek were the hardest to SH/FF with. I spent roughly an hour messing with those techniques.
Wavedashing/wavelanding.
Total time spent : 3 hours
Admittedly, that is the technique I was the most eager to learn. I later realized that, while very useful, other techniques are far more useful, albeit less flashy. It took me 30 minutes to get the timing down with Marth. To do it consistently, it took me another 30 minutes. I also tried messing with wavedash/waveland lengths with every character and spent a good two hours in order to truly understand and appreciate the various uses of said techniques. During those two hours, I notably learned how to wavedash/FF to edgehog, wavedash/FF/aerial off of platforms to cover my landing, wavedash dancing, wavedash turnaround, waveland from the edge, etc.
Fun times.
L-cancelling.
Total time spent : 1 hour 30 minutes
This proved to be easier than expected. I cheated a bit and used the 20XX hack pack to ease my life. I spent about 15 minutes to be able to l-cancel a single move consistently, through muscle memory. However, I spent 45 minutes trying out different characters and moves, as well as another half hour to learn how to l-cancel from visual cue (not out of muscle memory). Bowser, Ganondorf and Link all seemed to benefit greatly from l-cancelling
SHFFL -- shorthop, fastfall, l-cancel.
Total time spent : 1 hour
I always thought SHFFL looked freaking cool, so I was eager to learn that as well. I started out by spending about 30 minutes trying to SHFFL different moves as quickly as possible as Marth & Falcon. Again, I spent another half hour messing with other characters.
Chaining.
Total time spent : 3 hours
After learning the last few techniques, I figured it was a good time to learn how to utilize them together and how they can be chained. I spent three hours trying things out, seeing what works and what doesn't. I notably discovered/applied techniques like jump-out-of-shield, shield-stopping a dash, crouch-stopping a run, Marth's wavedash back into dash forward, dashdance to SHFFL, instant landing (thanks to Falcon's full hop backfilp on Yoshi's top platform), as well as general platform/stage manoeuvres/movement through wavedashing, wavelanding, shorthop, fastfall, etc.
I should also mention that during about 3 more hours, I learned about and used character specific techniques such as jump-canceled shine (Fox & Falco), needle-turnaround(Sheilk), super [duper] wavedash & extended grab(Samus), bomb jump (Samus, Link & Young Link), wobbling/desynching/other gimmicks (Ice Climbers), double jump canceling (Mewtwo, Ness & Yoshi), float/float-canceling (Peach), shorthop laser (Fox & Falco), shine turnaround (Fox & Falco), wall of pain (Jigglypuff [& Kirby]), etc.
Pivot.
Total time spent : 2 hours
I fell in love with the technique after realizing its potential. It took me a while to get it down at first, and I ended up spending more time than planned on it. I notably learned how to pivot out of dashdance and/or wavedash, but also how to utilize the pivot offensively. I became semi-consistent at pivot/smash, pivot/tilt and pivot/special.
Moonwalk.
Total time spent : 2 hours
I love this technique as well because it's so flashy. At first, I tried moonwalking with Marth. Big mistake. I went to Falcon instead and to make my life easier, I would roll to the ledge and try to moonwalk/edgehog to nail the input. After I did that, I did moonwalk/jump/aerial, moonwalk/jump/edgehop, etc. I then went back to Marth and tried moonwalking again. It took me longer, but I finally nailed it too. I found out that you can only moonwalk out of the walk animation or out of a wavedash. However, I'm still only semi-consistent at the technique.
Crouch canceling.
Total time spent : 15 minutes
That was easy. Just crouch to cancel/lower the impact of a blow. I practiced with two controllers because I have no friends.
Jump-cancel toss/grab.
Total time spent : 30 minutes
Again, a very straightforward technique. Just hit jump, then immediately input Z to grab, or A to toss an item. I still looked deeper into it and tried it with most characters, hence the half hour.
Shield dropping.
Total time spent : 2 hours
I heard this technique was super hard to perform, therefore I looked forward to trying it. I started out by shield dropping the easy way (dash/shield, control stick down a notch) and it took me less than 10 minutes. The "Axe"(I think) way of doing it proved to be a bit harder, but still in the realm of easy and fun things. You just "buffer" the first control stick input from an attack (or tech, get-up, roll, whatever really). Then I tried the dreaded control stick tilting method. It took me forever to actually get it down on an old and worn controller, but I got a new controller in the meantime (the Smash-themed one, for Wii U) and shield-dropping became a lot easier. Conclusion : new sticks are better than worn ones for shield dropping? Maybe. They're a lot stiffer though, so I had to make adjustments and practice every other technique (especially moonwalking) again. The shoulder triggers are a bit awkward too, but the controller is great as a whole.
Anyways, moving on...
Ledge/platform-canceling.
Total time spent : 1 hour
I found this technique very interesting because it allowed for literally instant aerial follow-ups. I therefore practiced it a lot and integrated it to my SHFFLing routine.
More chaining.
Total time spent : 5 hours
After learning all those techniques, I figured it was time for some more chaining fun. The first challenge I set up for myself was moonwalk fullhop across Yoshi's, fair (knee), l-cancel it on the right platform, followed by a shield drop into ledge-canceled up-air, double jump waveland back onto the stage into the best taunt in Smash history. Turned out to be my most awkward Melee failure to date. Oops.
Instead, I tried chaining every technique into another one, two at a time. So I moonwalked/SHFFL, SHFF/ledge-cancel, shield drop/l-cancel, etc. It was a lot easier and, to be honest, a lot more productive than setting up crazy challenges right off the bat. After an hour of practicing the techniques two-by-two, I started chaining more of them together. Eventually, after around four hours of arthri- uh... tech-practice, I managed to pull off the first [slightly crazy] challenge I had set up for myself earlier. Twice in a row. Hurray!
If I'm good at math, I spent nearly 25 hours solely practicing tech skill. It certainly does not seem like a lot if you compare it to say, Mew2king's total practice time. But that's not really the point. Obviously, one of the reasons behind this whole exercise is to understand and live what the pros are doing with their controller. I've always been fascinated by technical Fox combos or gracious Marth movement. Now I can do reproduce part of that on my own. Yay!
However, there is a deeper reason behind those 25 hours of button mashing. I did it because I wanted to understand the mechanics of the game that, let's admit it, we all know and love from our child/teenhood. Being a long time gaming fan, it also gave me a chance to look at the game from a very critical angle. Before my experiment, I thought Melee was ironically the deepest, most technical, hardcore and intricate fighting game out there. I no longer think it. I know it.
But hey, enough with the serious talk. Now I can beat my friends with a moonwalk/full hop, l-canceled dair, shield dropped & ledge-cancelled uair into reverse knee. And I can Charlie walk-->taunt them too. Show me your moves!
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