How Do You Guys Practice?

[HoldeN HoT FiyA]

Hey guys I was just wondering, when you don't have any friends around to play against and you're just chilling at your house, how do you guys practice? Do you just spar against level 9's, go in training mode and try things out, or what? I usually just go in training and work on the fundamentals like B-reversed thunders, short hopped aerials, u-air footstool, and stuff like that. Are there other things I should be working on or doing to get better when practicing alone?

 

[Angiance]

You can learn how your main works through CPUs, but don't expect human players to play like CPUs. Practice by keeping all your stocks while keeping your percent below 50 (once it gets at 50 the CPUs start going easy on you)

 

[HoldeN HoT FiyA]

Well yeah I know that playing a computer is nothing compared to a thinking and adapting human, that's why I said I usually just go into training mode and practice different Pikachu techs. I was wondering if anyone had any other ways of practicing when you don't have anyone else to play against.

 

[Angiance]

Don't put too much time into the QA lock, spend more time on other things Pika related, like spacing with Charged F-Smash, D-Tilt, U-Air (from the back), etc. because actually getting that lock is kinda...well the odds of getting it are low, and you'll munch on alot of damage if you focus on it in a match, plus, it can be DIed out of so...also, just post questions in the FAQ thread from now on; no need to make new threads for it ^-^;

 

[HoldeN HoT FiyA]

Well I thought it might be thread worthy since different people may have a lot of different and unique ways of practicing. Plus not everybody goes and reads the FAQ everyday.

Anyways, thanks for the input. I've only been to two tournaments and the best Pikachu in Louisiana (Gunner) actually got the QAL at both. Also ESAM got it three times in a single match against Zero, once each stock. And even if it doesn't 0-death them, a combo that dynamic and game-breaking needs to be practiced a good bit IMO

 

[TxB | Ramsaur]

Read M2K's article on training Clash Tournaments' site. If there are no smashers around and you have to use bots, then set them to LVL 3 and play as if you were playing a human. Like: Obviously a LVL 3 isn't going SDI out of Dsmash or MK's Uair>Dair>Nair shenanigans, so play and react like they would. Pretend the CPU is going to do "this" and react to it. Like: I know that my friend who I practice with is going to use Usmash when I'm on the ledge above him, so I would fastfall airdodge if the CPU is under me even though the CPU might SH aerial or something else. I also often switch between training mode and versus with infinite time and an empty second player. The reason I do these is because moves don't stale in training mode, so training is like the drawing board for trying out new thing, and versus mode is like testing what was on the drawing board. If I have my usual training friend, I try to mix things up A LOT considering we play each other all the time and we can read our usual patterns like a book.

 

[Vale]

I usually try to find some people on Wi-Fi. If nothing happens after a few minutes, I set up a team battle (team attack off) and try playing against multiple level 9 CPUs. Probably not the best or most practical way to go about it, but it keeps me entertained, at the least.

 

[TxB | Ramsaur]

I usually try to find some people on Wi-Fi. If nothing happens after a few minutes, I set up a team battle (team attack off) and try playing against multiple level 9 CPUs. Probably not the best or most practical way to go about it, but it keeps me entertained, at the least.

Eh, I've always felt that playing on Wi-Fi gimps you more than helps you. You get used to the input lag and when you play offline you're timing is all jank. I wouldn't suggest playing lvl 9s. The simplest tactics work on them (spamming smash moves, edge gaurding by just spamming thunder ect.) but the "cool" tilt and SHA shenanigans get's power shielded every single time. I don't think I've ever landed a tilt on a lvl 9 without it getting powershielded. lvl 9s make you take up some REALLLLY bad habits, that a player would never do. Their inconsistency, and ability to powershield each it of a three piece jab combo, ******** and predictable recovery, perfect shield grabs, and ability to be beaten by just sitting there and spamming Dsmash since they don't SDI is just too much bad to get any good practice out of it.......that's why I play lvl 8s lol.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Play against a level 3 snake with infinite lives. Though it isn't difficult, it's almost like training mode but with a little more movement. Helps you learn to deal with hard hits, timing power shields well, stringing your own little combos, etc.
Level 9 CPUs are O-K but they are rather erratic and don't play anything like a human player. Sometimes they can encourage you to do some punishable stuff that would get you KILLED by a human, and you don't want that.

 

[MXXD123]

I personally have found a lot of progress in CPU practice, rather than using it so simulate a human player, use it to hone the fundamentals, play a level 5 or 6 snake, and slow down the pace of the game, calculate every approach, and rather than just going autopilot, THINK about the game. Think about every airdodge, roll, and spotdodge that you do, and cut down on those as much as possible, getting punished for dodging is very much a part of smash (personally, I found that I have a reflex to dodging whenever I feel the rumble so I started practicing with rumble off.) Start trying hard reads and setups to net damage, my personal favorite is a dthrow>platform cancel>fsmash, but I digress. I'm not a top level player, but these things all put me ahead of the curve. Give it a whirl.

 

[Pikabunz]

If you have a stable internet connection then wi-fi is great practice. Don't just play with anyone though, try to seek out good players and players near you to reduce input delay. Allisbrawl is a good site for finding wi-fi players

 

[HoldeN HoT FiyA]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've started using the M2K method where I just go 99 lives on Smashville with a Meta Knight and just practice different strings of moves and my tech skill and what not. I have good wifi connection as well so I think I'm gonna look into that allisbrawl sight too. Thanks again everyone for the input!!

 

[SupaSairentoZ7℠]

If you have a stable internet connection then wi-fi is great practice. Don't just play with anyone though, try to seek out good players and players near you to reduce input delay. Allisbrawl is a good site for finding wi-fi players

The irony is that is how I practice but since it is on the Japan side and surprisingly it has a large amount of decent players in it, it has helped to some degree but of course the spacing is the only difficulty. It's too bad I lag with anyone in NTSC.

 

[Hoenn]

I know I'm adding to this way late, but Endless multiman brawl seems to help me out.
Especially since if you don't auto cancel your aerials you get punished, and it improves your scene of spacing.
It helps when you with pressure and thinking about your options, and you can slowly see improvement based on your score.
I don't know, the cpu's don't have that many patterns. Your strings, chain grabs, and follow ups don't seem to improve.

 

[-Se7en-]

Honestly Holden,it's however you want to practice.Everybody has different ways of playing and that's what seperates the good and the best players.Zero plays on a 99 stock match so he can spend quite abit of time to get a feel of everything while still practicing things that he should do in a real match.

Zero taught me to use the max range for a character,and all 3 of my mains require knowledge of range.I would ftilt at point blank range and get punished,now I'm actually 3 stocking some newer MK mains (they are aggressive and attack at point blank range).I outplayed them because I could reach them but they couldn't reach me.So use max range.Apply everything that makes Pika good into your training,spacing and even buffering and practicing advanced techniques can make you so much better.

I went from the punishee to the punisher.Memorize and apply matchups so it will always be in your head.Like the snake matchup for example,pika can chain grab snake or even sheik to hell.Practice that every 5 stocks you take.

Try your own combos,having a little style goes a long way,such as Mr.R's infamous shorthop > first hit of dancing blade,nair,dtilt wherever they go,buffer a grab,grab release combo.(It's my favorite thing to do with Marth).

DEHF performs a Falco chain grab and ends it in a footstool,he could land a nair or something but he footstools them and moves away so he camp lasers.Why does DEHF do this?It's his preference,to safely rack damage with the lowest percent possoble.

I hope this helps.

 

[Psymon]

I tend to practice certain match-ups by selecting a certain character as a level 9 computer. Either in training or Brawl, it's good to get a feel of how your character plays against another by testing combos, chains, edge-guarding tactics etc.

Obviously, this only teaches you so much since human players know advanced techniques and have minds of their own (they won't ALWAYS run to the platform on Smashville after getting a kill against you ), but some aspects stay the same (the weight of another character, the fall-speed, the moveset, recovery distances, etc.).

It is better to seek out friends who are up for playing though, just so you can learn to read other players styles.

 

[PedroSmashFan2014]

I practice with Pikachu against 3 CPU level 9, and I put Pikachu´s worst matchup.