How do you play Ness differently?

[EarthBound18]

Ness was always my favorite character since Melee and still is in Smash 4 but I dropped him recently because of the influx of For Glory and Wifi Ness players who do nothing but the same things over and over again. And now he has a bad rep for being "brain dead easy" which wasn't the case until this game. My gameplay of him isn't any better sadly I can't help but do the PK Fire D-throw to F-air x 2 or U- air. And PK Thunder spam off stage just seems obnoxious to deal with as an opponent.And the infamous back throw I use to love it, but now I know why people dislike it, When I versed a Ness I had a 70% lead and one Back Throw @ 80% KO's me.

I like the character don't get me wrong, but It's very difficult for me to play him uniquely from the rest of the FG army

Any other techniques would be appreciated

 

[EnhaloTricks]

I find that to play Ness good (or, rather not FG) is all in the ground game. Jabs, tilts, sh aerials, pk flash, they all wreck the FG Ness' and in FG in general cause no one knows how to deal with it. RAR bair is a great tool for spacing aggressive approaching and catching people off guard.

obviously the BnB combos need to be there, but any good player will know how to DI out of most of them. Just gotta be creative!

 

[Earthbound360]

You shouldn't let the large numbers of a character stop you from playing them. Ness isn't as braindead as people say, there's actually a lot you have to do to prevent yourself from getting punished. He's just really good at stomping scrubs because of the large reward he gets for landing hits, and because these people can't punish worth crap. In higher level play, these apparent advantages become diminished because people know how to handle Ness and how to punish him. The key to playing Ness exceptionally well is making good reads on your opponent and capitalizing on their movements with powerful combo starts and strong moves, all while covering your vulnerable points and utilizing safe approaches. Oh, and also managing his mediocre neutral game. Dash attack, dash grab, and PKF (FG Ness staples) won't help you in the long run.

 

[DeleteThisAcct]

It really depends on the situation and matchup for me. I was about to answer this in detail (how I exactly play Ness) but stopped myself as I realized that if I gave that away in almost a flowchart fashion, my opponents would have a considerable advantage that I'd rather them not have. After all, who wants to lose the element of surprise? What I will say, since it becomes apparent right away anyways, is that I play aggro and will get (,and stay) in your face almost relentlessly. I feel Ness lends well to aggressive play styles (both on ground and air) and mind games (especially if forced into defense) when he's not taking advantage of his amazing punish game.

Only abuse PK Fire if your opponent doesn't know how to DI out of it, otherwise, it'll most likely be you who's getting punished.

 

[Uffe]

Everybody plays different characters the same based on what works. Sheik's will fair you across the screen and sometimes try to Bouncing Fish you. But that itself has become staple for Sheik's that it has become obvious, so they'll probably try something else. Your actions should be based on the situation you and your opponent are in. If you're doing the same predictable thing, then you're going to get beat hard. You can use PKF in the air, too. Using it too much will get predictable, so use it sparingly. It can be good when your opponent is recovering below stage level. There are other options, but that's there if you want to use it.

 

[EarthBoundEnigma]

I think that while what Uffe says is true, play-style commonalities are the result of what works best for a character, individual styles are often a result of whatever idiosyncratic skills you've developed most and end up favoring. For example, I may favor PKT juggling and mindgames to gain a lead or make a comeback, but another Ness player may prefer playing strongly defensively and patiently waiting for a chance to punish.

People's physiological arousability, personal levels of aggression, patience, and mental multitasking abilities all factor into their particular flavor they bring to a character.

 

[NocturnalQuill]

A lot of people like to SH-Nair when approaching, but I prefer to dash attack and start it slightly early so just the tip hits them. They always drop shield early and get hit by it, which can lead into a lot of other stuff. Fair is another great approach move, and you can usually hit them with two. Nair does great damage but it pushes people too far away to lead into other attacks. Nair is best used to break out of combos in my opinion.


Don't let the stigma surrounding PK fire fool you. It's a great set up move. You just have to be intelligent about how you use it. Either use it at near point blank range so they can't react, or as far as possible so they can't punish you as easily. Aerial PK fire is much safer too.

 

[Asa]

Roll behind grab, dsmash more, disrespect with pkt2, go for dtilt confirms

Have tasty combos out of dthrow for when they di straight up

 

[pk_melee]

For Glory players are deathly afraid of the D-Throw > Fair > Fair combo. Majority of the time they'll expect it and be able to air dodge out. Instead I mostly D-Throw, dash, wait for their air dodge, and Up-Smash. Hits the majority of the time.