Dumb L-Cancel question I wasn't sure where to ask

[PootisKonga]

Is hitlag included in the 7-frame L-Cancel window? I tend to be able to L-Cancel consistently unless I actually hit someone or their shield.

 

[9bit]

The goal is to push the button (L, R, or Z by default) within a 7 (if it is 7, I dunno) frame window before your character touches the ground.

So yes, hitting an opponent or their shield will cause there to be more time before you hit the ground, which changes the timing of L-cancelling (namely it slows you down so you'd want to push the button later).

Fastfalling also changes the timing for obvious reasons.

The best thing to do is to de-couple the idea in your brain that when you hit the A button (or C-stick) and when you L-cancel are connected. This is something a buddy of mine struggled with for a while. He thought L-cancelling had something to do with the timing of when he threw out his attack.

All that matters is you hit your L-cancel button right before you hit the ground.

I hope this drunken explanation was helpful

 

[Celestis]

All about brain training. You kinda wanna both use your eye to spot the hit lag, and have two muscle memories of when to l cancel. Once memory for legless, and one for hit lag. At least thats how I put it together in my head.

Pretty much what 9bit said. Connect L-cancel to the ground, not the attack button. Once that's broken, it just happens on instinct.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

Is hitlag included in the 7-frame L-Cancel window? I tend to be able to L-Cancel consistently unless I actually hit someone or their shield.

There are some easy ways to practice this on your own.
Like messing with the handicaps
Giving someone a starman and hitting them
Hitting the walls on that MGS stage

I only tell you this, because you'll be mine

 

[NeoZ]

As far as I know, L-cancelling does not consider hitlag for the 7 frame window, the window gets carried over, if you press a shield button a frame before hitlag, get 8 frames of hitlag, then land 2 frames after hitlag ends, it still registers as an L-cancel.

Basically I'm saying the previous posts were wrong, but I'll try to find a source to see who's actually right.

EDIT: here's a quote of magus on this

Also, to prevent getting into a bad habit, you should learn to l-cancel by only partially pressing L/R and not pressing it all the way down (or you could also just use Z to l-cancel instead). If you press and click it all the way down to l-cancel you won't be able to tech if you get hit and knocked down right afterwards.

The entirety of the hitlag of an aerial is included in the l-cancel window as long as the time after hitlag ends and when you land doesn't exceed the l-cancel window. So while the normal window is 7 frames I believe, if you connect with Ganon's d-air (10 frames of hitlag) 6 frames before you would land, all of the hitlag is included in the window, and you would actually have like a 16 frame l-cancel window in that case.

The hitlag will still use up the window though when included, and if the time after hitlag + hitlag is 7 frames or more, the window will cut off at the start of hitlag. This is what messes people up sometimes. Say someone were to press the l-cancel 2 frames before they would normally land, and would otherwise easily be within the window. If that same d-air were to hit 1 frame before landing, the included hitlag from it would use up the l-cancel window making the window end at the beginning of the hitlag, and makes what would have been 2 frames before landing then be outside the window and they would miss the l-cancel.

This is why you want to get in the habit of pressing the l-cancel only after the attack hitbox would come out, and not before.

 

[PootisKonga]

@ N NeoZ
That is very interesting info... But it's still generally better to connect it to the ground, right? I occasionally press L moments after I hit them even in midair, though thankfully it's yet to result in an SD

I only tell you this, because you'll be mine

Um
Wut
Trust me, no one wants me lol

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

@ N NeoZ
That is very interesting info... But it's still generally better to connect it to the ground, right? I occasionally press L moments after I hit them even in midair, though thankfully it's yet to result in an SD


Um
Wut
Trust me, no one wants me lol

You tryin to say I'm a nobody, just cause I'm nameless (

 

[PootisKonga]

You tryin to say I'm a nobody, just cause I'm nameless (

That's not what I'm trying to say...
It's just that I'm not exactly the type of person most people would like

 

[NeoZ]

You're probably missing the fast fall input due to hitlag, making you land after the L-cancel window.

 

[krazyzyko]

If you suspect you'll miss an L-cancel, mash Z a couple of times and you'll definitely get it.