Doc in need of critique (Videos included)

[Cantus]

Hey guys! I'm relatively new to the Smash community (been playing since about October) and have been maining Doc essentially the whole time. I know my Doc play isn't that great, but there isn't really anyone locally I can go to about improving, but I know you all here can help me out, and I would love it if you could!

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM7-kM8J9o4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7dduoCpquk

 

[SmashMac]

Hi Cantus. So from what it seems like, as a relatively new smasher it looks like you've been practicing your technology. Your wave-dashes look pretty good and I can tell you L-cancel sometimes, but not all. I also saw a nearly perfect PTP when you were recovering in the first match on the left side which was good as well. I also see signs of smart option choices and some mind-games as well. Overall, I can tell you are a smart player and with enough practice you can become very good or even a pro someday. Here is my critique though:

First, I like your use of the jab(s). You mix up between one jab and double jab, each of which can be used dependent on the situation and have their own ups and downs. However, whenever you are in your shield, don't feel tempted to grab immediately. There were some times when you attempted a shield grab, but just didn't understand the space between you and your opponent. You definitely want to break that habit as soon as you can. As a Doc. main, it can be extremely tempting to shield grab someone, especially when you know you can chain-grab them, but if you choose an incorrect time to do it and/or just miss the shield grab, your opponent can and will eventually catch on and punish you for it.

Second, you have a good use of bair. You choose when to use it wisely. You also read your opponents movements like full jump and double jump, which is great because those are some of the most critical opponent option choices you want to take advantage of when you get a hard read on it. One thing I want to point out though is always be certain you can make it back to the stage if you do decide to jump off it and don't get too greedy. When we have momentum, some times we get a bit carried away and do things we otherwise would not for the sake of keeping our momentum up. Be sure to analyze yourself while you play and your opponent and try to understand the fundamental reasons behind why we choose what we choose at that particular moment.

Thirdly, I recommend practicing on spacing and DI. These aspects of Melee are something I struggled with when I first started because I was initially too focused on my technology and looking pretty while I fought people. In your video I saw that you would nair (sex kick) the Marth right infront of his shield. This option left you open for severe punishment. You could have DId backwards while nairing the Marth. This is called spacing. You could have also DId inwards and past the Marth. This is also another form of spacing. These are just examples but from those two choices you could have played with the Marth's mind, perhaps even forcing him to attempt a shield grab in which case you then take advantage of him leaving himself open.

DI is directional influence. Every move in this game besides every grab (with the exception of jigglypuffs forward throw) can be DId. With proper DI it can be the difference between dieing at 95% or at 150%.

Anyways, I hope this critique helps. I can tell you are newer but you have good technology. Just make sure to practice against everyone you get the chance to and if you haven't already exposed yourself to the tournament scene, get in there as soon as possible. Practice your technical skills and spacing vs. level 4 CPUs and when you get the chance to play people, practice your mind-games, option choices and DI.

 

[Cantus]

Hi Cantus. So from what it seems like, as a relatively new smasher it looks like you've been practicing your technology. Your wave-dashes look pretty good and I can tell you L-cancel sometimes, but not all. I also saw a nearly perfect PTP when you were recovering in the first match on the left side which was good as well. I also see signs of smart option choices and some mind-games as well. Overall, I can tell you are a smart player and with enough practice you can become very good or even a pro someday. Here is my critique though:

Yeah, I find myself not even trying to L Cancel sometimes. I don't quite get why, but I have been actively working on that. I'm glad you brought it up, though. And thanks for the compliments.

First, I like your use of the jab(s). You mix up between one jab and double jab, each of which can be used dependent on the situation and have their own ups and downs. However, whenever you are in your shield, don't feel tempted to grab immediately. There were some times when you attempted a shield grab, but just didn't understand the space between you and your opponent. You definitely want to break that habit as soon as you can. As a Doc. main, it can be extremely tempting to shield grab someone, especially when you know you can chain-grab them, but if you choose an incorrect time to do it and/or just miss the shield grab, your opponent can and will eventually catch on and punish you for it.

About the Shield grabs. This is very apparent to me when I play other people around. I whiff shield grabs a lot. I'll definitely be sure to work on paying better attention to my spacing when it comes to Shield Grabbing.

Second, you have a good use of bair. You choose when to use it wisely. You also read your opponents movements like full jump and double jump, which is great because those are some of the most critical opponent option choices you want to take advantage of when you get a hard read on it. One thing I want to point out though is always be certain you can make it back to the stage if you do decide to jump off it and don't get too greedy. When we have momentum, some times we get a bit carried away and do things we otherwise would not for the sake of keeping our momentum up. Be sure to analyze yourself while you play and your opponent and try to understand the fundamental reasons behind why we choose what we choose at that particular moment.

Yeah, I've actually been doing a lot better about not chasing my opponent's off stage. Hahaha. I used to suicide a lot trying to go for the Kobe, only to find myself missing and unable to recover. And I definitely need to work on analyzing my opponent. Thanks for that.

Thirdly, I recommend practicing on spacing and DI. These aspects of Melee are something I struggled with when I first started because I was initially too focused on my technology and looking pretty while I fought people. In your video I saw that you would nair (sex kick) the Marth right infront of his shield. This option left you open for severe punishment. You could have DId backwards while nairing the Marth. This is called spacing. You could have also DId inwards and past the Marth. This is also another form of spacing. These are just examples but from those two choices you could have played with the Marth's mind, perhaps even forcing him to attempt a shield grab in which case you then take advantage of him leaving himself open.

I have a very basic understanding of DI. One thing I didn't know is DIing on shields. That is extremely beneficial to know. Thanks for that. I'll be working on doing a lot better with that, because I know it carries over to other characters as well.

Anyways, I hope this critique helps. I can tell you are newer but you have good technology. Just make sure to practice against everyone you get the chance to and if you haven't already exposed yourself to the tournament scene, get in there as soon as possible. Practice your technical skills and spacing vs. level 4 CPUs and when you get the chance to play people, practice your mind-games, option choices and DI.

Thank you so much for the tips, man. I really do appreciate it. And I'll be sure to hit up whatever tournaments I can. I've only been to one, and it was a smaller one in Louisville. I only places like 17th, but it was a good experience nonetheless.

 

[The_Enlightenment_]

A few tips from avid doc pro and acclaimed texas champ, gonna keep this simple for now and elaborate later:
1. Movement
You looked like you had your wavedashes down which is pretty nice, but i noticed that there were moments where you were idle and left open. A doc player should be mobile 100% of the time and should constantly be pressuring the opponent with jabs and weaving in and out of range through precise use of his short-ish ddance and utilize burst speed from his wavedash. Docs movement is actually really solid and can help him get in on ranged chars like marth. Due to docs short jumps however never overextend while in the air and never waste his double jump. Doc hates top platforms because of his sluggish vertical mobility. If a marth or falcon catch you midair you can and will be death combod, no exceptions, which is in contrast with docs great ground bulk, crouch cancel, and welcomeness of trades woth spacies and other like chars.
2 Pill use
Pills are actually incredibly overrated and approaching with them will get you hurt a lot of the time. However pill s from a distance force sheilds or jabs from the opponent which stops their momentum and allows you a short moment to react. Constant use of pills while feinting approaches can make opponents uneasy and can wear them down mentally causing them to react with risky moves like fsmash when attempting to catch you in a pattern. A doc player should be patient and willing to implement these sorts of feints into their game constantly. Remember that pills also aid recovery when coming down from above.
3 Edgegaurding
Cape is good but always remember that doc has fantastic aerials to send the opponent off stage, such as his bair or reverse uair, or dair to stop recoveries and set them up for aerials like nair which can stage spike. Dont neglect your cape either, become familiar with it and use aerials to help set up your cape. If you end up trading bairs with a recovering opponent who still lives, the knockback from their recovery will always be enough to keep you away long enough for them to get back.
4 punishes
Here i will glaze over docs steller punish. Always go for grabs against any and all characters as the purely 100% vertical trajectory will set up for docs fantastic uair and can provide chain grabs on certain chars to a percent where they are susceptible to death conbos. Docs only other real combo starting options are his uair which is so good it leads into nearly all of his moves including itself, dair which can set up for uairs if you catch an opponent sttempting to jump, and upcancel which is good out of sheild. Upsmash is one of his few moves that can lead into fair kills. Reverse bairs make effective combo extenders and lead into usir at the right percent.

When it comes to applying combos, remember that doc combos semi floaties and fastfallers very hard, including marth who can be juggled with uair. End combos with nair against floatier characters like matio and marth though

Thanks for listening and be enlightened

 

[Cantus]

A few tips from avid doc pro and acclaimed texas champ, gonna keep this simple for now and elaborate later:
1. Movement
You looked like you had your wavedashes down which is pretty nice, but i noticed that there were moments where you were idle and left open. A doc player should be mobile 100% of the time and should constantly be pressuring the opponent with jabs and weaving in and out of range through precise use of his short-ish ddance and utilize burst speed from his wavedash. Docs movement is actually really solid and can help him get in on ranged chars like marth. Due to docs short jumps however never overextend while in the air and never waste his double jump. Doc hates top platforms because of his sluggish vertical mobility. If a marth or falcon catch you midair you can and will be death combod, no exceptions, which is in contrast with docs great ground bulk, crouch cancel, and welcomeness of trades woth spacies and other like chars.

First of all, I would like to thank you for not only giving me advice, but also putting it in such an easy to read format, helps a lot.
That being said, a lot of what you said here I have noticed a lot in my after game. There were some matches I didn't put up where I lost a stock at ~30% because I wasted my double jump trying to do things I shouldn't.
What I didn't think about was top platform vs. Falcon, but that akes a lot of sense the more I think about it.

2 Pill use
Pills are actually incredibly overrated and approaching with them will get you hurt a lot of the time. However pill s from a distance force sheilds or jabs from the opponent which stops their momentum and allows you a short moment to react. Constant use of pills while feinting approaches can make opponents uneasy and can wear them down mentally causing them to react with risky moves like fsmash when attempting to catch you in a pattern. A doc player should be patient and willing to implement these sorts of feints into their game constantly. Remember that pills also aid recovery when coming down from above.

That makes a lot of sense. I'll definitely take that into account. But as you said, I have found that pills aren't as good as I originally thought.

3 Edgegaurding
Cape is good but always remember that doc has fantastic aerials to send the opponent off stage, such as his bair or reverse uair, or dair to stop recoveries and set them up for aerials like nair which can stage spike. Dont neglect your cape either, become familiar with it and use aerials to help set up your cape. If you end up trading bairs with a recovering opponent who still lives, the knockback from their recovery will always be enough to keep you away long enough for them to get back.

This is something I have been working on for a little bit now, trying to incorporate Bairs and Nairs into my game. It used to just be Cape and Edge Hog. But it is one of my active works.

4 punishes
Here i will glaze over docs steller punish. Always go for grabs against any and all characters as the purely 100% vertical trajectory will set up for docs fantastic uair and can provide chain grabs on certain chars to a percent where they are susceptible to death conbos. Docs only other real combo starting options are his uair which is so good it leads into nearly all of his moves including itself, dair which can set up for uairs if you catch an opponent sttempting to jump, and upcancel which is good out of sheild. Upsmash is one of his few moves that can lead into fair kills. Reverse bairs make effective combo extenders and lead into usir at the right percent.

This is a big one. I definitely need to work on punishing. It is very apparent to me against other people especially. I'll definitely work on this.

When it comes to applying combos, remember that doc combos semi floaties and fastfallers very hard, including marth who can be juggled with uair. End combos with nair against floatier characters like matio and marth though

Thanks for listening and be enlightened

No sir, thank YOU for taking the time to reply to this. It means a lot. I definitely want to bring pride to the name of Doctor Mario, but I need help from people like you.

 

[The_Enlightenment_]

Probably the best tip anybody could give you is to watch as many shroomed videos as possible, he innovated a lot of the stuff doc is expected to do these days and watching videos of top players presents newer players with a lot to learn from. Everybody learns from the success of their predecessors, even the big name players today like pp and m2k, and once you start learning the tried and true strategies you can start innovating your own. As you improve i promise you will start understanding all of the decisions top players make mid fight.