How do players contribute/evolve their character's metagame?

[Jamsu]

Hey there everybody,

Recently I have been wondering how I can contribute to improving mid tier and low tier character metagames. There has been a fairly large amount of talk I have come by regarding how so many low tier characters have "untapped potential," but a limiting factor of a small or decreasing player count. How were players like Isai and aMsa able to push their characters to their limits?

 

[bonesaw1]

Lab. Find new stuff. Go to events. Experiment. Be successful.

That's all vague, but that's how I view it. 'Untapped potential' refers to stuff that characters can do that either can be expanded on or things that work in theory but never been shown in practice (or both). The best way to contribute to metagames is to figure things out and show them off. Writing online guides about it and stuff help but people pay much more attention to results than theorycrafting imo.

 

[iAmMatt]

One single player on his or her own cannot revolutionize a character. While there are instances of this happening, it is extremely rare. Your best bet would be collaborating with other players who main the respective mid/low tier.

 

[-ACE-]

I was the largest contributor to The Ganon Boards for nearly 10 years. With combined efforts of myself, spider sense, Tipman, Linguini, Bizzarro Flame, Eikelmann, tm, Kage, Renth, and occasionally n0ne and several others, we were able to keep Ganon somewhat ahead of the curve. There has always been a lack of representation for our character but we never let that or Ganon's weaknesses discourage us. The Ganon boards remained active far after most character specific boards had died, but unfortunately the G boards is dying as well. I think smashboards is still a great source of info and the best place for info distribution. Fantastic posts on Discord chats and facebook groups often get deleted or lost. It's always good to be able to look up old gems of information to help your thought process and decision making. Despite Ganon being mid tier, not a year goes by that he doesn't beat several top 20 players. There is still much more to be accomplished. Discussing meta game, theory, and technical innovation/practicality is key. You just have to find the right place to do it.

Practice, practice, practice. Take breaks and think, then practice some more. Never stop thinking. Analyze the intricate risk/reward dynamic of typical situations. Grind tech skill until you can use difficult maneuvers to your advantage in tournament. Record sets for analyzing your mistakes. Unfortunately success is almost the only thing that gets you noticed, so the better you do, the more you help your character. As bad as Ganon is, if he got top 8 at a few nationals you'd see a lot more people picking him up. Same stuff applies to all other characters.

 

[Jamsu]

Thanks for the responses.