Help me make my lucas super special awesome

[Levitas]

Nah, don't sweat it. I've got my own tricks. Whereas you like to start off w/ dtilts, I like to start w/ nairs or utilts and chain the two to each other. And besides, even if I'm not gonna get used to it, someone'll find use for it.

I like the Dtilt to f-tilt/fsmash tree best of the three.

@ Roger, I modded L to jump (I almost never use it, though, it was a hold-over for zap jumping before bsticking), the bstick, and z for attack (a hold-over from my marth in melee).

@ Cofur, I probably should have SH airdodged in that situation (Marth's Utilt is killer), but it's also important that you don't spam the airdodge, or you'll start eating stronger attacks at the end of it.

 

[thegreatoneshifty]

This is very interesting, I'm maining Lucas but I don't think I'm anywhere near as good as you nor do I play against the competition that you do. I've been reading these Lucas topics for a couple days and I can say that I'm doing all the things you are (except nowhere near as effectively because I'm far from the best in my group, though I'm right at the cusp of being so *shakes fist).

I think you use b-sticking very efficiently. I notice when I'm playing that people have a hard time getting in and they just find themselves shielding or rolling away to not get PKFired. You've got some nice aerial combos and throwing off the map and following up with a spike, i like that, I've got to time that kick right. Overall, I'm going to be watching you for a while, definitely setting the standard for Lucas.

 

[Levitas]

Thanks for the compliments, and welcome to smashboards.

I'm not the best in my group, either. As of now, just about everyone in my crew (fifth column) has a good shot of taking anyone else in it out in a tournament, but believe me when I say that I intend to keep improving at the best rate possible.

 

[-NEOLINK-]

Good luck at future competitions.

 

[onlymaskde]

Good job with responding to your foe. That's what looks like your best skill with Lucas is.

I think you should work on being more aggressive. Not aggressive to the point where you get severely punished because of stupid mistakes, but you probably get the point. Speaking of this, I think there were some good times to edgeguard physically, but instead you used PK Freeze, or PK Thunder. Either that or you would wait for them to come back and you'd get a head start with an attack. Good strats nonetheless, but more variety might be good.

One thing I noticed that you did a couple times was use a Dair when your opponent was on ground. I used to do that in the first week or so that I was playing, and I realized that it's possible to get punished badly when used incorrectly like that. I try to not use that move unless they're in the air or I can be sure that I can get the spike in the third or so kick to hit them (whether in air or on ground).

Great stuff, though. I learned a little by watching those vids. Ha, I especially liked the swirling PKT you did a few times over the ledge when the foe was getting up. By the way, I like to use the Dthrow and continue to Utilt shortly after. It basically cancels out the throw part of the move, and Lucas uses his upside-down kick instead. It doesn't really work at high percentages, but it's a cool move to use when able to.

 

[Levitas]

Thanks for the input. Since these vids were posted, my style has changed considerably to evolve with our metagame.

Also, the Dair thing and edgeguarding were good observations. I've been doing the PKT against Ike still, which is a better idea, but getting out and edgeguarding in person works well on other characters, too.

 

[Ballistaboy]

I feel like whenever you use PK Fire, you use it in predictable bursts. So while you wouldn't see the first one coming, which is nice, you would almost ALWAYS shoot a second and third immediately afterwards.

I use this too, even though it is predictable it leaves space, hardly punishable, and does work most of the time.

 

[Aevin]

I only watched the first three. I may look at the others later. I see I'm pretty late, so most of this has probably been said already, but here's what comes to mind ...

First of all, nice Lucas! The B-sticking is awfully fun, and you clearly know what you're doing. I noticed in the first videos that you used PKT2 recovery a lot. Although you aimed it well, your opponent seems used to it, and in the third video you relied more heavily on the rope snake for recovery. That's excellent. If the opponent doesn't know you, you might be able to land better hits with PKT2, but the safest thing is to always tether recover when you can.

Personally, I think you could make better use of Lucas's aerials. The neutral air, in particular. If you land just right, you can attack almost instantaneously out of most of Lucas's aerials, and the neutral is the easiest to do this with. You can use a short-hopped n-air as an approach, then place a forward or up tilt immediately when you land. Often, even if the opponent shields, the tilt will catch them when they drop the shield to grab or attack.

When fighting Ike and Marth, pursuing them when they're off the stage can work wonders. PK Thunder is nice, but hopping out after them with forward aerials or spiking back aerials can be deadly. Marth and Ike's horizontal recovery is limited, and Ike's will stop dead and attack you if you get in the way before he reaches the ledge. Obviously, don't pursue Ike when he's recovering from below. Friggin' Aether.

So ... Basically, you've got a great grasp of the character, but there's a few moves which could be put to better use, especially the aerials.

 

[Mr.E]

If you go after Ike off the stage and he tries to go low for Aether, you can just tether the ledge before he does the upward jump and it's a free kill. You run the risk of getting Aether-spiked if you're over ~60% and don't quickly retract to the ledge, though, but that's almost killing range for Ike anyway. ;/

 

[Gonzoyo]

More PK Thunder 1 fakeouts. That's all.

 

[Levitas]

Mr.E, however clever your name may be, that's definately true. I'm thinking that I did that in one of my vids. That said, I'm finding a much more effective edgeguard against Ike to be a PK thunder approaching from his back after he throws the sword. It stagespikes him and kills at ~80 percent for sure, but then again if he's lower than that, he's probably not off the stage.

Also, I just finished my run at the U of Michigan Biweeklies. I got 9th (a long standing tradition from melee days, lol), but the competition was much stiffer than it's ever been. We had Dope, Needle of Juntah (if you haven't heard of him, he's been ****** the midwest these days), and Anther there, along with the usual crowd. It was freaking sweet.

Long story short, I'll have moar vids for critique up shortly.

 

[Mr.E]

I'm not saying PK Thunder isn't an effective edgeguard, in fact its duration, range, and total control probably make it one of the best in the game, I was merely responding to the poster above me that said it was unsafe to go off the stage to edgeguard Ike. He's just about the only character that can be gimped at low percents in Melee-type fashion. It can be hard to time PKT correctly to not simply have it eaten by the upward sword toss, though, if you're going that route.

THE Ohio State University 4 lyfe Michigan Loserines sux \m/ Ohio sure doesn't have much of a competitive scene for me to become a part of, though, and I don't actually live in Columbus or Cleveland so anything substantial is a significant distance away anyway. >:/