How do you teach someone to play Brawl?

[Neon304]

I need some serious help with this.

See, my friends aren't exactly that good (i.e. they suck), and I am wanting to experiance what going to a Brawl tournament feels like. I'm not exactly the best player out there, but I think I can hold my own, and not embaress myself too bad, but my friends really need some help.

How can I teach them?


(I hope I posted this in the right place, tactical discussion seemed like the right place)




Edit: I forgot to mention, that I can't go and not bring my friends, the nearest tourney is too far away, and I have no way to get there.

 

[Zanoske]

Show them around the boards, show them the techs, the character boards of their favorite character. And best of all, practice with them (better than computer) It takes time to play Brawl at a decent level. Unless you have natural talent to adapt quickly (because im asian?!)

 

[ToxiCrow]

practice makes perfect, so keep doing that.
and to go along with Zanoske, show them the techs, boards, etc. because doing research really helps u out

 

[DeliciousCake]

Slap them around a bit when they lose, that'll teach em to not play poorly.

 

[Crizthakidd]

ive taught a good friend of mine about these boards, the basic concept of smash, and a few tricks to get him on his feet and how to be good.

some people are naturally good at a game others have to work for it. the best ones are the ones that are both determined to be the best and pass mental obstacles and being naturally good at smash doest hurt O.o

point out things that need to work on like not rolling so much and something they do wrong.,

 

[theONEjanitor]

http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=188459

 

[Neon304]

This is all good long term advice, but is there any faster way to teach them? With the way my friends are, I will probably only have a few hours, if that.


(thanks theONEjanitor, that guide will help me improve my own skill)

 

[Vyse]

http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=176650
Another good read. Perhaps not particular to your predicament, but a good read nonetheless.

Just a question.
How seriously do they take playing Brawl competitively? Or rather, is it their intent to take their Brawl games up a notch to compete well at a tourney level? Cause otherwise, showing them AT's and what not may be all for naught.

Just a thought for you.

EDIT: I agree with Timbers.

I remember Shined Blind being the combo video that made me want to learn advanced Melee.

 

[Timbers]

Show them the character board of the character(s) they play. Maybe show them a video of something cool their character can do. From there, they're more often than not going to want to learn how to do all this cool stuff. Any person is more than willing to read and learn if they're interested.

From there you can only practice. Most do poorly in their first tournaments, so if you expect your friends to do the same, try and make it a fun experience, as to not totally kill their mood and confidence, assuming they do place poorly. Make it an entertaining experience where they'll want to go back and play some more. It's the best way they're going to get better really.

And if they aren't interested, then there's nothing that you can do. Not everybody wants or has to play the game at a competitive level.

 

[Neon304]

Thanks Timbers. Its still not exactly short term advice, but that might give me a chance to turn it into something long term. If it works, then I should be able to use everyone else's advice.

 

[DKKountry]

I'm going with Cake's abusive-father-method... maybe even molest them a bit. That'll learn 'em.


Edit: There isn't really any short-term advice for this subject. More times than not, skill will come from playing.

 

[GHNeko]

Boot to the head every time they miss an opportunity to AT.

 

[Solo Assass1n]

Unfortunately, the best way to get a friend good at the game really fast is only when they are WILLING to do it. If they don't quite care about being good, and just play for fun, it's going to take a lot longer than if they are willing to become dedicated and take some time into reading about AT's they don't know of, watching videos of their main character, etc.

 

[Trillion]

Well, the people who already posted gave just about every good piece of advice. The main thing I want to add, is that if they are REALLY new, then help them find a main. Get them to play every character a little bit. In my opinion a main shouldn't be chosen just because the character is performing well or top tier or w/e. A main should be one that you feel the most comfortable playing with and that natural feeling should be built upon. Then find combo videos of that character and watch some of the cool, but easily replicated strategies for getting the kill. Get them to start learning the advanced techs for that character that are posted in the sticky thread here on the tactical discussion board as well as read a character guide in the character specific forums. Lastly, play repeatedly for as long as possible and as often as possible. Punish your friends on their bad habits. (ex: If they tech roll forward EVERY time, hit them with a full charged f smash with Ike until they learn not to do it.) Hopefully, this will give them the knowledge to succeed, help them develop winning strategies, and teach them to make good decisions. Good Luck

 

[Sosuke]

Tell them what the buttons do.
When to press them.
And let them watch me play.

 

[Johnthegalactic]

Have them watch what you do, and watch what they do, get down with them, see what they need, and have them imitate the succesful things you do.

 

[lax guy5]

Like Zanoske said, show them these boards! They can learn a lot from all the stickied guides and stuff like that.

 

[LordoftheMorning]

What I used to do was go onto training mode with said noob friend on a stage that is very dangerous or had many obstacles or terrain changes (I used pokefloats, but this was back when Brawl wasn't out yet). Set the CPU to Human and set the game speed to Fastest Possible. From there, you fight them. All the while talk at them about everything you know. Tell them about shield rolling, grabs, dodging, etc., and how they can be used. Also explain to them how each item works by scrolling through the list and spawning them. Hopefully the fast gamespeed and difficult stage will improve reflexes and surviving skills (they MUST learn the triple jump! Lol). After that do some 2v2's against some CPU's to build their confidence. Then later on switch to FFA's with either CPU's or someone they can beat in them. They can practice just regular fighting untill everyone but you and your friend (hopefully he lived) is dead and then when he fights you they will see how you play and learn from you. That way they won't get demoralized.

Anyway that's what I did/do. I think it works.

 

[Johnthegalactic]

Tell them about shield rolling, grabs, dodging, etc., and how they can be used. (they MUST learn the triple jump! Lol). After that do some 2v2's against some CPU's to build their confidence. Then later on switch to FFA's with either CPU's or someone they can beat in them. They can practice just regular fighting untill everyone but you and your friend (hopefully he lived) is dead and then when he fights you they will see how you play and learn from you. That way they won't get demoralized.

Anyway that's what I did/do. I think it works.

That is about all that will work if training in tournament settings matches.
No items especially at final destination!!!! Oh yeah, use MK j/k!
Nah, I know ya don't like FD!

 

[Neon304]

One of my friends that I was talking about in the original post is coming over tonight. When I asked him about training for a tournament, he didn't seem to thrilled, but when I told him about the info he could get from the character boards, he seemed interested. I hope this all goes well.

 

[PillowPants]

Slap them around a bit when they lose, that'll teach em to not play poorly.

lol!! no! bad! BAD BOY!!

 

[Neon304]

Well, so far so good actually. My friend came over, I showed him the boards, and he improved a lot in the short time he was over. He still SDes way too often (I know, doing it at all is too often, but everybody messes up), and he needs work on his grabs, but I was really surprised at the amount of progress he made.

 

[kainsword]

Force them to watch Shades of Falco, You Got Shiz'd On, Frankenstine, Zelghandi in that order.

Show them the truth that if they want to be good and truly make their playing time worth it, that they should learn how to play professionally. If they don't want to learn, tell them to go play Halo 3 and helplessly get headshotted and then then spawn camped for 3 minutes. They'll turn around.

EDIT: Oh, forget the above then. Obviously Brawl must be a stepping stone to Melee, right...?

 

[3transfat]

Teach them basic combos, basic techniques. Then introduce them to Smashboards and let them learn character-specific techniques.

All of that combined with practice will result in a better player.

 

[BrawlerHarrison]

I feel exactly the same way.

My friends kinda fail, they even spam and can't recover for their life -_-

I don't wan't to teach them, that would spoil the fun.

 

[General_Norris]

Tell them what the middle tier-high tier characters are and tell them to choose a character from here. so as not having them play C. Falcon.

Teach them to recover
Teach them to shield
Teach them to jump
Teach them how to DI so they don't die at low percents
Teach them when to use grabs
Teach them when to use each attack
Teach them how to jump to do aerials
Teach them not to spam

Tell them their mistakes so they can learn

 

[Sosuke]

You know what I hate?
When you tell them to use Up-B to recover and they can't do it.
God.
**** you!
JUST PRESS UP AND B!
GOD ****IT!

Spoiler

>_>

 

[Samuelson]

You know what I hate?
When you tell them to use Up-B to recover and they can't do it.
God.
**** you!
JUST PRESS UP AND B!
GOD ****IT!

Spoiler

>_>

I hate it when my friends can't do this!!

I also hate it when they can't do smash attacks!!!

I also hate it when they can't jump with X or Y and then they complain that the game sucks.

 

[N M E]

Show them the how to play video

 

[Ørion]

There's not really a secret way that will get your friends better quickly, this is the kind of game that just takes time. To start though, show them the character boards and have them watch some videos and just play.

 

[Camalange]

You know what I hate?
When you tell them to use Up-B to recover and they can't do it.
God.
**** you!
JUST PRESS UP AND B!
GOD ****IT!

Spoiler

>_>

I have said this, and I have felt this pain on too many occasions :,(
EDIT: I sig'd it as well

 

[LordoftheMorning]

You gotta find a character they enjoy playing. It's important that they don't lose their morale. I actually find Ike + a few comps in a FFA or 2v2 to be very noob-friendly. Pick a stage that is hard to SD on (Norfair or Zebes or Pirate Ship). Whenever they get a Fsmash and kill a comp they start to like the game more . Seriously I think Ike is very noob-friendly (except his comebacks.)

 

[Yinlong]

make sure to teach them the importance of tilts and grabs
my sister spams cstick and thunder w/ pikachu all the time >.>
works against lvl 3 CPUs, doesnt work against much else.

 

[Camalange]

You gotta find a character they enjoy playing. It's important that they don't lose their morale. I actually find Ike + a few comps in a FFA or 2v2 to be very noob-friendly. Pick a stage that is hard to SD on (Norfair or Zebes or Pirate Ship). Whenever they get a Fsmash and kill a comp they start to like the game more . Seriously I think Ike is very noob-friendly (except his comebacks.)

Actually, I agree with all of this. Do that. Or if they already like a character just replace Ike I guess, that also works.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Teach them Melee.

They won't have trouble with Brawl afterwards.

 

[MuBa]

You know what I hate?
When you tell them to use Up-B to recover and they can't do it.
God.
**** you!
JUST PRESS UP AND B!
GOD ****IT!

Spoiler

>_>

You can always tell them to play as Yoshi ;/

 

[J4pu]

Teach them Melee.

They won't have trouble with Brawl afterwards.

This

Spoiler

10melees

 

[Sosuke]

I have said this, and I have felt this pain on too many occasions :,(
EDIT: I sig'd it as well

Wow the first thing I said thats sig worthy. =P

You can always tell them to play as Yoshi ;/

Yoshis Up-B helps too though. =)

 

[Fire!]

Don't bother with the tilts or grabs, let them focus on the jabs and smashes. The best stage to choose from would have to be Pirate Ship or Bridge of Eldin.

 

[Ace55]

Don't bother with the tilts or grabs, let them focus on the jabs and smashes. The best stage to choose from would have to be Pirate Ship or Bridge of Eldin.

Tilts are kinda crucial don't ya think (so are shield grabs). I'm guessing you don't main Snake?