How did you get started?

[Dinotard]

Hey guys I started playing smash 4 competitively, But I checked out PM and I actually like the faster paced better.

What I wanna know is: how did you guys get started? I know there is a ton of things that I need to learn in this game but its all so overwhelming I just don't know where to start.

I'm getting bodied by lvl 9's

What exactly should I do to get better? Is it just a new bunch of fundamentals I need?

Not entirely sure.

How did you guys get started in PM?

Maybe some of your methods might be useful or me too.

 

[MysticSkarps]

I started out pretty much the same as you. I couldn't even decide on my main, because my fingers were too slow to play any of them well. But I learned some tricks:

I will assume you use gamecube or classic controller. I highly recommend learning to wavedash and l-cancel (canceling landing lag). Learn to SHFFL (short hop, aerial move, fast fall, l-cancel). There are a lot of videos on these topics. Also, just watch some videos of high level gameplay, like a tournament, and see what pros do. At first, you might not know what's going on(unless you play melee at a high level), but you'll get used to it. If you see something you know you can do, try it in training mode. Pretty soon you'll get used to the different mechanics, and it'll feel really easy. Then try it in a fight against a level 4 or 5, just so you can get a feel of using that combo on a moving target. Pretty soon, you'll be 0 to deathing lv 9s.

 

[pershona]

Considering i already played Melee, learning PM wasn't difficult for me. I think you just need to learn basic fundamentals like short hops, fast falling and SHFFL. Then move into more advanced tech like L-cancels, wawedashing and crouch canceling.
Its also important to choose a main and learn their matchups.

 

[Dinotard]

From my smash experience, I can at least manage short hopping and fast falling. I need to practice L canceling and wave dash/landing it seems. I also need to get accustomed to the speed it seems.

I'm terms of a main, I chose Roy, he's pretty much one of the main reasons I picked up PM because he's my melee main. But I'm still looking around. It feels all new to me.

 

[Mean Green]

My competitive smash experience started with Brawl, but I've always practiced stuff from here in Melee, despite never playing anyone. But if I were you, I'd start watching a lot of pro Melee, videos that feature at least one player from the #1 to about the #23 spot on this page. Because drilling knowledge into your subconscious is just as important as practicing.

 

[GabPR]

I did not lnow of the existence of pm until my fiest year in college in Puerto Rico. I went to the student center and there were some guys playing what seemed to be brawl, but after I talked to them I realized itt was a mod called PM (it was 2.0 version) And played it ever since.

 

[Dinotard]

My competitive smash experience started with Brawl, but I've always practiced stuff from here in Melee, despite never playing anyone. But if I were you, I'd start watching a lot of pro Melee, videos that feature at least one player from the #1 to about the #23 spot on this page. Because drilling knowledge into your subconscious is just as important as practicing.

That YouTube vid has a lot of useful information. I need to finish it when I get the chance

 

[Pharo]

You may need to break some bad habits you picked up in smash 4 also, Rolling is generally a bad idea, so is throwing random smash attacks out. And learning the project M ledge mechanics is important too, you have to be facing the ledge to grab it unlike in 4, also you can edgeguard much better in PM than smash 4. But like other people said, L-cancelling is a simple best technique you will ever learn, it becomes 2nd nature after you get good at it. Wave dashing I'd put lower on the priority list, while its good and beccomes incredibly useful for certain characters and situations, L cancelling is still a must.

I wish you luck! Try to find a local tourney and go to it! you can learn so much I promise you won't regret it! I'm sure the players there will teach you if you ask them about things and how you are trying to get into it. I've never met an opponent that beat me and didn't wanna help me get better at the game if I asked them stuff.

 

[Greed-checkTheTek]

I started out in PM just practiced the basics and practiced with another competitive player, also watched the pros.

 

[Saikyoshi]

Start in the same way I started learning the meat of Melee and 4's engine: , the jack of all trades. Practice with him, learn what you tend towards and what you're weak at, then when it comes time to pick a main, pick someone who matches/complements that playstyle.

 

[5eb]

Pretty much started the same way as everyone else. Watched a couple videos of PM, started learning a single character, developed my tech skill, and then branched out to other characters from there. Then went to a couple tournies and played a ton of friendlies to fine tune everything, which is an ever ongoing process because you cant ever be too perfect!

 

[Saxophoneoftime]

It should be noted that beating/being beaten by Lv. 9s doesn't mean anything; they're frame-perfectly technical, don't behave like human players, and all around will give you bad habits. Try not to fight Lv. 9s to win, it'll just do more harm than good, and won't help you at all against a real person.

The first things you'll want to learn are dashdancing, L-Cancelling, crouch cancelling, JC grabbing, SHFFLing, and wavedashing; most likely best in that order. Also learn why those are all useful to learn, and when/how to apply successfully them in a match.


Here's a really good guide about Roy by arguably the best and longest playing Roy main, Sethlon. This will definitely help out not only your Roy, but your general play as well.
http://smashboards.com/guides/playing-with-ph1r3.62/

 

[YourFaithfulStudent]

My competitive smash experience started with Brawl, but I've always practiced stuff from here in Melee, despite never playing anyone. But if I were you, I'd start watching a lot of pro Melee, videos that feature at least one player from the #1 to about the #23 spot on this page. Because drilling knowledge into your subconscious is just as important as practicing.

this helped me a-lot and your awesome! thank you!

 

[hype machine]

Lol I started like two months ago
Anyways, I started by learning how to SHFFl and improving my punish game. Right now I say my punish game is very defined, and my l cancel rate is always 80-100%. Also learning how to wave dash took way longer than it was supposed to, it took me weeks to figure out I was pressing the shoulder button too fast. But once I figured out what I was doing wrong I wavedash on command about 95% of the time. However my nuetral game sucks and I rely on mixups. Also my main is known for having a terrible approach so that doesn't help either.

Oh and I've been playing smash bros all my life (tryhard casual), my friend introduced me to project m and I liked the pace of the game better than smash 4 and brawl, and how there was a lot of room to improve in

 

[Sleeplost]

I TRIED playing Melee somewhat competitively when I was a wee child but my feeble child hands could not handle tech skill. I knew how to do things like wavedashing and L-cancelling but I just never could pull them off with my still-developing hand-eye coordination. I played Brawl a bit because it was way easier and eventually PM came out and mixed Brawl and Melee. I was way older by this time, mind you, and I started playing PM back before 3.0 came out. I was able to play at a pretty steady pace, maybe not Top-8 or even Top-32 tier but I'd like to believe I can play OKAY for a casual. I still play often but I don't see myself playing for much longer since there isn't much else to do except stock matches.

 

[MysticSkarps]

Hype Machine. If you are using pikachu as you're main, an approach option is quick attack. You can act directly out of it, and it confuses some people. I can't use it myself, but you probably can.