Double Guides/Tutorials?

[`dazrin]

Hey, I'm relatively new to competitive smash, and I play with BC's top players on a daily basis. I noticed that whenever four people are on one setup, the match turns into doubles and I have absolutely NO doubles experience, how to play it, what common strategies there are, what good team compositions are good, things to do when you're 2v1ing someone or you're being 2v1'd, etc etc etc.

I tried searching on Smashboards, Google and whatever all around the internet for doubles information. Is there someone who can shed some light on the subject?

Thanks ^_^

 

[Rainbow]

I find there is almost zero doubles strategy on the internet, and that most people get it from experimentation/IRL talking.

 

[LittleBoyLarry]

yeah easy. hit the other players, and don't hit your teammate...

 

[Rainbow]

and don't hit your teammate...

Unless of course you are doing a team recovery, or getting them out of a combo.

Or just being a ****.


Edit: Oh, and can't forget saving Puff from certain post-rest annihilation.

 

[Lovage]

because edge guards are really insane 2 vs. 1, a good thing to learn in teams is how to enable safe recoveries for your partner

ways to do this:
- knock opponents away
- stand near ledge and shield at the correct time (they attack your shield as your partner safely recovers)
- threaten person at ledge with dash dances/jumps etc.

point i'm making is you can influence the match a lot without actually throwing out attacks, and simply the threat of your presence can give your partner a much better chance at surviving

 

[Juggleguy]

I think a high-level Melee doubles guide is way overdue. ORLY talked about putting one together awhile ago, but I don't know if it ever materialized.

 

[RaphaelRobo]

Here are some videos:
http://youtu.be/ieMjIbatoNw
http://youtu.be/0L9NS-YXf00
http://youtu.be/HGZ7YhZ8vs8

They're for Brawl rather than Melee, but they're still very useful.

 

[`dazrin]

Thanks for all your replies!

Yeah, I've been playing doubles more, and the more I play doubles, the more I enjoy it!

Just been searching high and low for things to learn about it on the internet cuz there's so much singles information so I assumed doubles information would be floating around as well lol

Thanks lovage, I'll keep that in mind. and yeah, Juggleguy, a high -level doubles guide would be a GODSEND for me right now, lol I just wanna soak up all the information I can!

I'd really like to know more about team compositions. For example, I heard Falco and Puff are a really good team because puff can save falco when he gets knocked off stage with a pound, and falco can just pew laser at puff after she rests to avoid punishment among other things.

But yeah, really surprised how long this game has been around and nothing on here about doubles

edit:
Yeah, thanks Raph, when looking for doubles information on the internet I stumbled upon those videos as well. Was disappointed it was for brawl and not melee, but I watched them anyways because I just wanted to learn more about it lol

 

[Lovage]

good team comps = 1 fox + 1 person who can stay alive a while. also pretty much every low tier is probably best with a fox, puff or a peach.

fox + puff/peach/falcon are all great teams

falco is good in teams but way worse than fox and harder to use correctly (can't rely on lasers completely)

marth is good but suffers the same trouble as falco (trickier to do full combos or big dashdance baits when there's so much chaos) but is still good ofc. he's best played as a gimper/support/****** on the ledge.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

There are general guidelines for doubles. Don't hit partner. Assist when you can. 2v1 whenever you can and the other opponent is taking forever to recover. Cover options that your partner shouldn't have to cover if you can. That sort of stuff.

Then there is probably partner strategies to agree on and talk about before matches start to work out any problems. Speak up when you need help or something like that. But generally keep an eye on your teammate and their situation.

 

[Smasher89]

Here is a doubles guide:
One player goes for grabs, the other rests the one getting grabbed!
The best possible strategy is to stick to a single teammate though!

 

[Arcadia157]

The best possible strategy is to stick to a single teammate though!

Agreed very much so. When my roommate and I started playing smash more competitively, we would usually team up. Because of this, we did much better than our other friends who were better than each of us in singles, but not at double since they had very little synch going on.

 

[rawrimamonster]

There was a thread by King a long while ago about doubles matches, might wanna look for it. I believe the best general advice I garnered from that thread is to consider doubles like a different game entirely, because so much changes when you're playing them.

 

[odinNJ]

i have more doubles experience than singles to be honest, since we only had one gcn and we all wanted to play (and one of us didnt like singles, ugh). anyways, me and RUN have always teamed up and now eachothers playstyle so well that we sync perfectly.

moral: study your partner so that you can read what they will do and act accordingly

 

[darkatma]

-work with your teammate to cover every option.

example: teching options, the teammate in front should only cover the forward option, the teammate in back should cover everything behind (tech in place, tech behind)

-find good team combinations: fox is only as good as the survivability and killing power of the person playing him. There are other teams options that work very well such as peach shiek (shiek sends at low angles, which is precisely what peach needs to set up and continue combos because she can't gain height quickly

-set up "sandwiches": I call this a sandwich principle: when it's a 2v1 situation, it's best to surround the opponent on either side, because 1. it greatly diminishes their options and 2. it allows for great combo potential. An alternative is to have the lower percent player in front, with the high percent player close enough behind to cover anything laggy that the opponent does.

-if you want to approach when the opponent has your teammate grabbed, run in with a shield, you'll be able to get a shieldgrab or wd out and punish instead of getting your teammate thrown into you.

 

[GhllieShdeKnife]

dont play ic's unless you are chudat....
i still play them in doubles=)

 

[Lovage]

TEAMS TIP

teching in place is the best option 1v2. good players will tech in place in teams way more often than normal games because it's the safest option/best chance at living in a lot of situations. 1v2 tech situations the tech rolls are almost always easily covered so standing up really is the only option you have at not getting hit.

this means

when you set up "SANDWHICHES" as darkatma called it, if you get a knockdown, you pretty much gotta have an understanding of who is covering the tech in place and who is just covering the tech towards them. if there isn't an understanding here both people will run to grab the frisbee and bonk their head bad playz.

 

[ShroudedOne]

I've sort of slowly becoming convinced that Peach is completely broken and unfair in teams. Like Lovage said, Fox, Puff, or Peach will do work. These three are probably a tier or two above everyone else in teams, imo. Team comp is not NEARLY as important as synergy with your teammate/having your roles downpat, though. Outside of ridiculously bad teams like Kirby/Ylink, the quality of your playstyles, as well as how well they mesh, will make more of a difference (as stated in other posts). For example, Hbox/Plup got second in Apex teams with Puff/Samus.

I've noticed that a lot of shielding in teams is pretty good. Your teammate can attack the opposing team through your shield, meaning he doesn't have to be as cautious not to hit you. Going for grabs, the only counter to shielding, isn't necessarily riskier in teams (I'd say it is, but I'm not sure), but you won't get nearly as much profit from it, because CGs, as well as the combos you get from throws can be interrupted by the other teammate who you didn't grab (exception being if you have a Fox or PUFF on your team, cause they're amazing. Falcon is good for this too, I think).

 

[KTSM]

Pick a partner who excels with Pikachu/Pichu.

Once you're down to one opponent, the battle is yours with one grab.