Having trouble sticking with a main.

[AlbobDS]

Soo over the past few weeks I've found myself constantly switching which character I would like to "Main". I feel like this problem is halting my progress with getting better so, I need to figure something out. So I'm here to ask you GD, what keeps you playing your main? Is it that you feel like there is always something to learn? Is it that you just never get bored of him/her?

 

[thatoneguy1]

suits your playstyle and the feel of the character

 

[ECHOnce]

A combination of both. If I'm having a hard time picking between characters I want to pick up next, I order them in terms of:

• How fun/interesting/comfortable their playstyle feels, due to the required tech skill or means of setting up combos, mindgames, etc. This can include (as you mentioned) how much there is to learn about the character and then master over time. Or how fun you think they'll feel once you reach that point of mastery, or have reached a plateau in which your rate of improvement slows.

• Their similarity to their counterparts in Melee/Brawl, and if they feel similar to one of them, their tier placement in each (if I get good with the character in PM, will I get the extra benefit of a new main in Melee/Brawl as well?).

• How much experience/knowledge I have with each already; how much time you've already spent on the character that you're willing/unwilling to lose.

• Which combination of these characters would most benefit me by covering MUs I have trouble with. (e.g. If you main Bowser already or are considering him, and find Sheik to be a hard matchup for you, why not pick another main/secondary that counterpicks Sheik?)

I rank each of the characters I'm considering as a main in order by each criteria, and decide based on how well a character does universally across them, or if they do well in one or two by a large enough margin for it to balance the importance of the missing criteria. Sometimes just writing it out like this and facing the facts of why you want to main new characters, and how well each matches up with one another can help.

 

[Broasty]

I find the most important thing is to choose someone you ENJOY playing as. Technical ability and experience will follow where ever your passion takes you.

Take for example mah dawg Luigi. Hard to win with? Hell yeah. Requires a lot of technical ability just to do something simple like play footsies in high level play. Hell yeah. Fun to beat people with using his ******** ass speed and funny/flashy attacks. You bet your sweet ass it is.

Just have fun dude, that's the best Smash advice I was ever given.

 

[Juken]

It's really not that difficult of a concept to grasp.

Find someone who fits your play-style, and get better with them. Simple as that.

If you can't find that one character, then you could always be like M2K and main everyone.

 

[assosiaan2014]

If you find a character you like to use, look up Youtube videos of pros playing that character, and if their play style is similar to yours, it may be a good character choice for you, since they are likely using their character to the best of their potential. If not, maybe it's worth looking into someone else.

 

[adPEXtwinDoNG]

Pick someone you're comfortable learning the game with. Learning the game doesn't just stop at your character.
Pick a character who you feel has a complete moveset. They should theoretically beat anyone if played correctly/perfectly (by M2K on a good day).

I main Wario because I believe hes at a good place in the game right now. He has many interesting and balanced features that provide a unique depth to the game.

Keep in mind PM is always subject to change.
I'd like to add is that I feel very safe investing time into learning Wario. As scrubby as that possibly sounds characters have been drastically changed (nerfed) in the past such as sonic.

 

[Oatmeal.]

I feel like picking one main and sticking with that is wrong. I "main" 21 characters so far. They mostly consist of characters that fit me naturally or that I just enjoy playing as. Now I use every one of them at a competitive level.

 

[thatoneguy1]

I feel like picking one main and sticking with that is wrong. I "main" 21 characters so far. They mostly consist of characters that fit me naturally or that I just enjoy playing as. Now I use every one of them at a competitive level.

but who would you use if it came down to a $1000 money match? that should be your main lol. I'm trying to learn every character in the game at the moment so i can beat people in mirror matches.

 

[ECHOnce]

I feel like picking one main and sticking with that is wrong. I "main" 21 characters so far. They mostly consist of characters that fit me naturally or that I just enjoy playing as. Now I use every one of them at a competitive level.

It's really your own decision to, but a lot of people tend to strongly advise against such train of thought; rather than becoming a jack of all trades, master of none, imagine if you put all of that time you put into all 10-20 of your 'mains' into just 1 or 2 favored characters? You'd likely be much more proficient at those two characters than you are with any one of your many current mains. The speeds and distances of every movement, the difference properties of every attack, the variations between every techs/mindgames/playstyles...at least for a good 99% of us, they're all far too specific to each character to be mastered to their utmost when maining anymore than a few characters at a time, and even if you do manage to, you'd have to constantly maintain that skill level by practicing each constantly. Even for professionals that main several characters, they often learned them one at a time, and still consider a given 1-3 of them to be much better than the rest. If you feel you can main them all just as efficiently as you could if you chose to prioritize one or two of them, or at least fewer, then go for it - that's a crazy amazing and you should keep at it. Just offering my two cents to consider, from what I've picked up reading the general community's opinion.

 

[adPEXtwinDoNG]

I feel like picking one main and sticking with that is wrong. I "main" 21 characters so far. They mostly consist of characters that fit me naturally or that I just enjoy playing as. Now I use every one of them at a competitive level.

To add to what JaiCho said consider how many combo specific details you have to learn.
For every character you play there are X moves with Y followups that can be used against Z characters at W different percents.

Even if you're playing similar characters, like Roy and Marth for example, there are so many tiny little details and so many matchups that turn out differently.

 

[Xenozoa425]

This is kind of a problem for me because I enjoy using over half the cast. I feel like I should just focus on 2 or 3 characters the way most people usually do, but I think that's really boring. Learning characters you're not as familiar with and gaining more MU knowledge and experience is great, and I think it's fun and refreshing to just play in different ways with all the different characters, instead of just X playstyle with Y character on Z stage. I understand that some people prefer sticking to just 2 or even 1 character so that it helps them completely master their character, but like I said, I think it just gets boring and un-fun after a while.

 

[adPEXtwinDoNG]

I think it just gets boring and un-fun after a while.

If its a matter of boredom/fun then by all means play multiple characters. Do consider how many matchups there actually are in case you turn into a random player at this rate (kekekeke).

820 matchups in total so far. (41 pick 2)

 

[Liquid Brick]

Until you get your tech fundamentals down on lock, you would be smart to stick to one, possibly two characters for a while. Once you get good with one character, you can basically reach a point where you can pick up any one character and do well enough, because your fundamentals will be rock solid. At that point, you can stay true to your school, or snoop around the select screen and Iron Man style all over your locals. Either way, trying to 'main' 10+ characters before you are excellent with one will only overwhelm you and cause your skill to regress as a whole. Even if it's friendlies =p

 

[Oatmeal.]

but who would you use if it came down to a $1000 money match? that should be your main lol. I'm trying to learn every character in the game at the moment so i can beat people in mirror matches.

I suppose if it came down to that I'd go Charizard. So there you go, that's my main.

Edit:

It's really your own decision to, but a lot of people tend to strongly advise against such train of thought; rather than becoming a jack of all trades, master of none, imagine if you put all of that time you put into all 10-20 of your 'mains' into just 1 or 2 favored characters? You'd likely be much more proficient at those two characters than you are with any one of your many current mains. The speeds and distances of every movement, the difference properties of every attack, the variations between every techs/mindgames/playstyles...at least for a good 99% of us, they're all far too specific to each character to be mastered to their utmost when maining anymore than a few characters at a time, and even if you do manage to, you'd have to constantly maintain that skill level by practicing each constantly. Even for professionals that main several characters, they often learned them one at a time, and still consider a given 1-3 of them to be much better than the rest. If you feel you can main them all just as efficiently as you could if you chose to prioritize one or two of them, or at least fewer, then go for it - that's a crazy amazing and you should keep at it. Just offering my two cents to consider, from what I've picked up reading the general community's opinion.

I hear you and I completely understand. I am told this by many. I train every day to maintain this, and I will keep at it until every character on my list is a worthy opponent to even the greats.

Perhaps I dream too big.....

To add to what JaiCho said consider how many combo specific details you have to learn.
For every character you play there are X moves with Y followups that can be used against Z characters at W different percents.
Even if you're playing similar characters, like Roy and Marth for example, there are so many tiny little details and so many matchups that turn out differently.

This is one of the biggest reasons I even come to Smashboards. I study. The training never stops. Gee, my whole life is smash......

 

[Zujx]

It's really hard to to pick a main in this game just because all the characters in this game are really fun
Just pick your favorite characters and slowly start fleshing out a lot of the ones you don't like that much

Perhaps you need stronger competition as well playing against actually good players really makes you more dedicated to stick to one or a couple of characters so that you can compete

 

[adPEXtwinDoNG]

Guys theres no need to stick to a main anymore. If PM Allstars becomes tourney legal you guys can just pick alts! Kekekekekke

 

[Raijinken]

Fandom. Fire Emblem is my favorite game series, so Marth is my main.

If that sort of drive won't work, try everyone and kinda narrow it down until you find a few you like. Most people I know pick somewhere between their top three and top five that they use regularly. It doesn't really hurt to not have a main unless you're trying to go pro later. Learning more characters is useful in its own rite.

 

[-Dubs]

Project M characters.

You have just read the phrase "Project M characters". Which one have you thought of first?

 

[Fish&Herbs19]

Project M characters.

You have just read the phrase "Project M characters". Which one have you you thought of first?

Kind of funny, but I didn't actually think of anything while reading that phrase.

 

[Raijinken]

Project M characters.

You have just read the phrase "Project M characters". Which one have you thought of first?

Must be a Roy2 main.

 

[Mera Mera]

Soo over the past few weeks I've found myself constantly switching which character I would like to "Main". I feel like this problem is halting my progress with getting better so, I need to figure something out. So I'm here to ask you GD, what keeps you playing your main? Is it that you feel like there is always something to learn? Is it that you just never get bored of him/her?

So first things first: what are your plans for this game? Are you going to play competitively? And if so is one of your goals to gain mastery of this game and/or do better in competitions? If your answer is no to both of those, then you're probably fine not picking a main. If your answer is yes to either of those, then you should indeed choose a main. 2 mains at most and only if you plan on putting in the extra time (and to get good you need to put in quite a bit of time... I practice 1-3 hours a day + go to 1 or more smashfests/tournaments a week (which last the greater part of the day), and I only main one character).

So how to pick your main? Honestly at first you should play around with everyone. Your main is a big commitment and you need to test the waters with all characters to get a feel for what you like (I feel like I'm giving dating advice). Pick a few that you like, and dedicate a few weeks to playing each one exclusively. Actively try to learn the tech and get a good feel for what they might be like at a higher level.

After that, just make the final decision. If you're lucky, after this it will be an easy decision, but it probably won't be. Eventually you just have to make a commitment and stick with it.

 

[Zx2963]

but who would you use if it came down to a $1000 money match? that should be your main lol. I'm trying to learn every character in the game at the moment so i can beat people in mirror matches.

This ^