i want to share some of the things i learned this past weekend. i give a special shoutout to bizzarro flame for being a key player in some of my discoveries.
i lost again to bizzarro flame, and after being really salty for a little while, i finally learned a few things that will help me get better.
i had a conversation with him after the tournament about his history with ic's. while i do concede now that ic's vs ganon is a difficult matchup (note: difficult, not "bad"), i decided i'll never cop out to another character just to beat ganon or peach. it no longer works for me since i no longer have a copy of the game nor the time to extensively practice other characters against people. the notion of a "main" really matters because of these constraints.
he told me he's beaten all the top ic's except for chudat, who he's never played. he beat wobbles 2-0, fly 2-1, and now me 3-1. my friend and i also noticed that many of his techniques with ganondorf are exclusive to him. he has come up with so many options that have become such a natural part of his gameplay that they're not just flashy but also really intuitive.
some examples: in his set with me (i played falco and fox for a couple games), he attempted several combos that included a fast falled first hit of ganon's nair into a full hop fair. it only works against inward and up DI, or "good" DI at around 80% into a guaranteed finisher. in matchups that i would consider hard for ganon, he is able to control his zone so well that the character has to respect his space, and from there he comes up with the craziest mixups into offense. for example, he will sometimes double jump near you but facing away from you, and you think that he'll bair you so you do the safest thing which is shield. in this situation he might just bair you which is safe for him anyway, OR he will do a perfect waveland behind you and try to grab. i also noticed that when i was a spacie, there were zero legitimate escape options out of down throw because he could react to either side with a jab. he was able to overcome any idea i had that falco and fox were advantageous against ganon because he had put much more time into the matchup than me.
tl;dr a true master of his character must push the limits of his character first before anything. before making any prejudgments on matchups. until he masters the character, he won't KNOW what the top level matchups are like. he must innovate to overcome barriers and he has to believe that all barriers can be possibly overcome.
even though i lost, i regained hope that the peach and ganon matchups can be won. but before i focus on those matchups in particular, i want to master some options of ic's that i never considered. here are some things i want to try to implement more often, so that i can increase my options:
1. synced squall. i noticed that i can do it against people who are standing, blocking, or jumping, and take advantage of the lack of lag after. i'm going to try this as often as possible so i can find out where it's a good option and where it can be punished.
2. wavelanding as a possibility after every jump. this is something really interesting i learned from bizzarro flame. he increased ganon's few options into many options because i had to watch out for the waveland at EVERY jump. i couldn't just think that he would land in place every time he jumped because when i did, i sometimes got surprised by a waveland jab or waveland grab.
as of right now, i consider this one of the only TRULY UNPREDICTABLE surprise tactics for ice climbers because their waveland is so fast. the more i test out short hop waveland dsmash/fsmash, the more it surprises me that nobody looks out for it, even though they are always looking for the normal wavedash.
of course, eventually people will begin to foresee both of these things, but exploring options is the only way to increase a character's potential. i've done it before and losing to bizz has reignited my passion for inventiveness, which is indeed the only reason i chose ic's as a main in the first place.
apart from these two things, i also made many execution errors and also went for predictable and escapable grab options. i think i need to relearn wobbling and practice the hand-off more when i get the time, lol. in the one match that i actually took from him, i thought to myself, "so it is possible!"
the ganon matchup is incredibly scary, but at least now i know how i can get better. maybe one day he will begin to fear me!