How do you play defensively?

[Zarxrax]

I've played all the previous smash games casually, but I would like to get better at playing. My playstyle up to now has been generally just to rush the opponent throwing out attacks. Of course, this doesn't work against opponents who know what they are doing. My main problem, I think, is I don't really know how to use the variety of defensive options that are available.

For instance, when should I block? If a character is close to me, you can't block on reaction to most attacks, because things like jabs come out too quick to react to. But if I just hold down the block button, I will get thrown. How do you know when its safe to block and when its not safe?
And what about rolling? It seems to be an effective thing a lot of times, but I see a lot of posts on here about people saying its easy to punish. So when would I use a roll? When is it safe or unsafe?
And what about spot dodging? This is one thing that I never hear anyone talking about. Is that because its usually a bad option?

Basically I guess I'm wondering, is there something like a list of scenarios when blocking might be a good option, and then scenarios when rolling is good, etc?
As it is, playing defensively for me is about the same as just not even touching the controller, because no matter what defensive options I take, it seems there is a way to punish them. I know that there's got to be a lot more to it though. So I'm looking for a bit of enlightenment.

 

[popsofctown]

Most characters don't have an aerial command grab, so you can just shield whenever they take to the air. That's a decent place to start.
Rolling is mainly good when you can roll behind someone that you know is going to smash.
Spotdodging is just way weaker this game because it was stronger last game, I see people read my grabs and spotdodge them but I can still punish the spot dodge with a jab all the time, it's ridiculous.

 

[Ffamran]

Defensively playing can be defined in many ways. Countering, punishing, baiting, etc. Even a rushdown player can still be defensive.

Blocking is difficult to master in pretty much any game and in real life - I would know with getting hit by following a rhythm or not reacting and knowing what to do. It takes practice and in many games with blocking, it's very rewarding. Perfect blocks negates all damage and lets you react immediately, but it's probably something that's not going to happen in a hectic game. For practice, block slow projectiles and hits you know that are coming. So, slow attacks and charged smashed attacks. It takes a ton of time and after blocking don't stand there turtling. Get out of the way or counter immediately since while guarding you're a sitting duck for a guard break or a grab.

Sometimes you have to take the hit. If you know you can't react and you know it's not that damaging or it's too fast, then just get hit. It's better than letting the person know you're going to shield and hope for the best. They're likely going to grab you. At least when you're hit and knocked back, you can figure out another way to counter.

Which is what will happen when you've been juggled. Once in the air, the opponent's probably going to follow up. It takes time, but you'll learn the read/timing to air dodge and get back on the ground. Or, you could bait them to attack, miss, and counter.

Rolling, well, against a really good player, if they notice you're rolling a lot, then they'll probably wait until your I-frames run out, jab or grab, combo you, and repeat. Rolling is more of a I know your attack will send you away from me and it'll have a lot of ending lag, so I'll roll and counter. It's instinct to back away, therefore, roll back. Rolling back is fine, but rolling forward can trip people up since they might expect you to roll back with a feint and then punish you when your roll ends.

Spot-dodging or sidestepping is like learning to block. It takes time and more since it's a dodge and not a block. Try dodging a slow projectile since it'll likely pass through you faster than say, dodging too early and eating a Falcon Punch. Spot-dodging allows you to evade a ton of stuff like grabs and powerful attacks, but it's a one time deal. Don't spot dodge a jab, other multi-hit moves, or when you know that your opponent is going for a combo.

Attacking or countering is another way to play defensively. Watch some boxing. There's a reason boxers jab. It's a spacing, counter, and baiting tool. Spacing since if someone gets too close, you jab and push them out. Lots of characters have attacks that put them in a comfortable space like Falco's Side Tilt. Counter? Not the move, but countering is basically like interrupting and punishing. Ganondorf's Warlock Punch has super armor. What do you do? Grab him. You just punished his attack. Ike's about to Side Smash? Hit him. You just countered his Side Smash. The move itself does that since countering is an offensive-defensive aspect of fighting while blocking is defensive and dodging is defensive-offensive.

A good offense is a good defense; a good defense is a good offense.

 

[Zarxrax]

Wow, some awesome tips! This should definitely help me get started.

 

[Amazing Ampharos]

I suggest just blocking way too much for a little while. You'll get thrown a lot, but you will see the sorts of attacks blocking lets you easily punish and will see the kinds of situations in which people are most likely to grab. The simplest answer to your question is that you should block whenever you predict your opponent will do something unsafe or whenever you are in a disadvantaged situation and you do not predict your opponent to grab or use a shield breaking move or something like that. Recognizing those situations takes time and practice, and we can't really give it to you with words. Rolling and spotdodging are pretty much supplemental options to blocking; use them when you want to block but somehow the unique properties of roll or spotdodge help you more (maybe they dodge a grab, maybe avoiding shieldstun/pushback lets you get a better punish), but don't worry too much about them until you feel confident with the far more important and basic action of blocking.

It has been suggested that spacing is a fundamentally defensive idea; that's not a wrong way to think. Even when you are throwing out attacks, learn about how your attacks control the space around you (your opponent cannot safely move into an area you are hitting!), and try to use your attacks not only to score direct hits but also to limit your opponent's options in this way. The core idea behind a good defense is that you should always be thinking about how to protect yourself; you can in some way accomplish this via every action in the game so you can think about improving your defense that way and likewise take that critical eye to your offensive thinking "how much does this particular thing I'm doing endanger me?" as you sort through your favored lines of attack. All offense will carry some risk, but you may find that some offense is very risky relative to the reward it promises and that you will win more if you use that stuff less and use the stuff that keeps you safe more.

 

[|RK|]

Playing defensively, like getting KOs, requires being able to read your opponent. I'd say to take everyone's advice for learning the general stuff, but be certain to familiarize yourself with your character's unique defensive options. Be that their roll speed and invincibility frames (highly important) or moves that they can use to give themselves space. Also learn to minimize risk, and be aware of your opponents' options at all times.

 

[chucho]

I was reading this thread and got good pointers but the question I have is do all characters roll the same distance?

 

[Crescent_Sun]

No, every character has their own roll speed and length. For example, Samus' goes quite a distance and is slow, while Little Mac's goes a moderate(?) distance and is quite fast.

 

[Terotrous]

Playing defensively is actually much more about mitigating your opponent's strongest options than avoiding all damage. True, it is not always possible to avoid all jabs and tilts. However, most jabs and tilts have low reward. It's kill moves and significant combo starters that you want to avoid.

The key to successful defensive play is to know what your opponent wants to land. For example, if you are playing against Mario and are at low percents, the move he wants to land most is grab, because he can get quite a bit of damage off a down throw. So if you see him running at you, try to prevent the grab. A simple way to do this is to stick out a tilt. If he just runs in, he'll get hit, and even if he shields if spaced properly he probably won't be in range to shield grab. However, at higher percents his grab is less useful and he probably wants USmash instead in the same situation. Here, if you try to challenge you may risk getting beaten out by USmash, and block would generally be a safer option. Of course, a crafty Mario player may expect this and toss you offstage for a FLUDD gimp, but at least as long as you know which options are good for him you can keep him guessing.

Once you feel you know which options your opponents will use, either from matchup knowledge or because you've figured out a pattern, you can start going for harder reads with spotdodges and perfect shields and the like.

 

[chucho]

No, every character has their own roll speed and length. For example, Samus' goes quite a distance and is slow, while Little Mac's goes a moderate(?) distance and is quite fast.

Oh ok thank you for answering. I will have to pay attention to that

 

[LIQUID12A]

Defensive options are inherently punishable, so what you have to do is mix them up. Play unpredictable. A good defensive player(which is also a prime concept in zoning characters like Robin, Snake and the Mii Gunner) knows that staying ahead of your opponent in predictions and attacks is crucial to staying 3 steps ahead of them. Changing routines on the fly throws off an opponent adapting to your reactions and keeps them guessing. Blocking and rolling are good, sure, but overuse of both is a detriment.

Specifically about blocking, be very careful against characters that bust through shields easily. Bowser, Marth/Lucina and Samus are examples of characters that can break a shield with ease, and are incredibly dangerous to in that regard since a broken shield means a stock taken/point for them. Even if you can see it coming , some tricky opponents can bait the shield through clever play (e.g, a Lucina short hops in the air in the opposite direction and charges a Shield Breaker, and if you react wrong, you get your shield broken and die. This specific scenario can be seen in a YouTube video of mine vs a Dedede; check out the link in my sig and look for a recent match vs a Dedede player called shrooby), so those should be watched out for.

The other posts cover what I'd say anyway.