How long did it take you to get "Good" with Marth?

[Brawl Stud]

I'm just wondering, I've read ALL of the Marth guides on here and I still SUCK. I try to use everything I read, in matches but it never works. Anyway, I've been playing brawl for about a week ADDICTED (4-6 hours a day) and If at all, I BARELY improved.

So before I quit I want to see how long it actually took some of you guys to get "Good."

 

[Zankoku]

It took me about half a year to realize that I suck, if that helps at all.

 

[Brawl Stud]

not really what I was looking for....

 

[Punishment Divine]

You're not going to get good from reading a few guides. You have to play the game and go to tournaments.

I've been playing the game since Brawl was released and I still can't place well.

 

[VietGeek]

you're gonna have to stay committed to the game (and marth) for a lot longer (btw staying committing to one or the other is gonna be difficult the more you get into competitive smash...trust me lol), and get consistent exposure to the competitive community to even hope to improve.

right now you're improving like...err statistically (can't find the right word). your marth can have all the workings of a great one but if you suck then that means moot. discouraging as it sounds, only results matter; the hard work you put into playing the game and getting better at it doesn't matter if the results don't reflect upon that. this is why it's necessary to improve as a player as well. experience goes hand-in-hand with that.

so yeah get out there and play the game with competent ppl. ask them for advice; and tell them ur not afraid of criticism. all those little tricks you learned are great if you know how to use them, but throwing them out randomly in the basics-of-all-basics game (Brawl) isn't exactly an ideal thing to do.

so yeah if ur thinking about quitting brawl in a week than i don't feel you can even hope to last a year. you're gonna get frustrated and if you and the community aren't madly in love with one another you'll just end up leaving lol.

 

[LuLLo]

One week means nothing, I've played Smash since 64 came out, went competitive at the end of Melee and beginning of Brawl and I still don't place well in tourneys. Well, now I've picked up Marth, Wario and IC's and I'm alot better than I was with Ike, so my chances for placing high might have grown a little.
But anyways, stick with it dude, if you truly enjoy this game, don't give up and keep practising, try to find GOOD people in your area to play with, and with good I mean people who beat the crap out of you, no matter what you do. It's hard to lose everytime, but you will learn much faster if you face your shortcomings and try to improve them. Also, by good players I mean players who understand the aspects of the game and KNOW what they're doing. If you get beat by a dude who only F-smashes with G&W and you can't find a way around it, you've got a long way to go...
But good luck, keep on practising!

 

[∫unk]

you have to play consistently in tournaments for about 6 months if you're starting from scratch to see any tangible improvement

that's what havok told me, of course after 6 months havok switched to mk, and i switched to ddd

so basically play a lot for 6 months and you'll come to some realization lol

 

[ChibixD]

I'm playing Brawl for 6 months, started with marth and never gived up with him and I think my marth is pretty good

 

[Brawl Stud]

I'm playing Brawl for 6 months, started with marth and never gived up with him and I think my marth is pretty good

About how long a day do you play?

 

[ChibixD]

when I started Brawling, like 8h~10h after 3 months 2h~3h

 

[Player-3]

you won't improve much by playing by yourself, you'll learn tricks, but you get better by playing other people (that also play the game competitively) and having tournament experience

 

[**Havok**]

During my initial phase in Brawl, it was frustrating because I couldn't see what was needed to take the next step.

It takes at least 6 months of regular tournament attendance, you can probably speed this up with a bit of coaching from someone experienced, everyone is different. It just depends on how bad you want it.

The worst thing you could do is play for hours and hours. You won't get anything out of it. You're simply playing just to play. If I could put it in a ratio or percentage (in your position) , I would say... spend %65 of your time with Brawl understanding theory/fundamentals and %35 actually playing. Try it, you'll notice the difference right away. Of course this is just my opinion and I'm sure someone will recommend whatever worked for them.

Theory does not include mimicking other players from youtube videos, but looking at WHY they're doing such and such action. Once you understand the 'Why' then you can do the 'How'. At this point you should be asking as many questions as you can, avoid vague and general ones.

Asking "How do you get good?" Is not specific enough. You need to ask specific ones such as "What are my areas that need work?" And even then, that's vague for starters because you don't know what to look for.

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Once you have the general grasp of the game you'll hit a Enlightening moment. A moment where you'll just nod your head one day and you'll understand. The cool thing about these, you'll always hit them if you keep working.

Unfortunately you picked a character that requires a deep understanding to use him at a high level. It definitely looks rewarding, every time I see MikeHAZE do something cool and win, I yell. lol.

 

[Pierce7d]

Well said Havok. I'll just tack on that it took me FAR LONGER than 1 week to get good, and although it isn't necessary to do so, I play for roughly 20 hours a week or more if I can.

 

[Neon X]

I just ladder and play offline matches and i have 8 months playing. I know basic advanced stuff if you know what i mean and after falling and getting ***** so much i discovered i still need more practice and more time re reading the guides.

 

[Dogg/Naoki/Suzaku]

It's kind of like school, it takes a while before you become good at it.

 

[Brawl Stud]

I just ladder and play offline matches and i have 8 months playing. I know basic advanced stuff if you know what i mean and after falling and getting ***** so much i discovered i still need more practice and more time re reading the guides.

NEEOOON!!!! Wonder if you remember me from BFC >.>

It's kind of like school, it takes a while before you become good at it.

Uhm.. I wouldn't really say that's the best comparison for this... I don't think getting "good" at school is the same thing as getting "good" on brawl.

 

[Rubberbandman]

I think of it like getting good at a certain trade, for example computer science.

First you learn the basics of everything, sharpen up that, then branch off to the other techniques and skills you need. It will take a long time and you have to be really dedicated.

 

[Neon X]

Well there is a time when you reach what is called a mid term Plateau. It often happens when you brawl people who are extremely good and they beat you badly. Commonly one gets deppressed and starts playing bad but after you get over it you reach another level of gameplay. You Start watching your errors and you start playing more on the safe side. Not to mention you start gaining the ability of prediction and plain spontaneity.

 

[Shaya]

Neons last post was extremely smart.
Pretty much thats the jist of how things go, practicing against really good players A LOT will have you accomodating to catch up to them as fast as you possibly can.

It will just feel like you are going no where / stressful until you feel it just happens.

 

[Blacknight99923]

Um 6 months of attendance to tournaments sounds legit. Thats about how long i have been going and I am considered an average player although i tend to do above average in doubles.

The other thing is marth is a difficult character to main. He is is to learn but very hard to master, TBH if you want to be good like NOW then your best bet is spending 6 hours learning how to chaingrab with iceclimbers.

 

[Neon X]

Well when you acquire good fingers with Marth and can pull buffers out of fairs and you start pivoting out of your aerials thats what i call pro initiation. You have all the tools pro haves but you only need to gain more experience on where to use them and against who, also in what situations. IMO when you have mastered the advanced movements like SHADing, True Pivoting and learning your Auto cancells and have good timing with Fast falling youre only a step away to push your game farther. The step following after this is experience, error and trial. You have to start experimenting your movements in different situations. IMO those are the cores to Marth central metagame.

 

[Rubberbandman]

The other thing is marth is a difficult character to main. He is is to learn but very hard to master, TBH if you want to be good like NOW then your best bet is spending 6 hours learning how to chaingrab with iceclimbers.

Don't insult us, we have more than just grabs, you know.

 

[Reizilla]

NEEOOON!!!! Wonder if you remember me from BFC >.>



Uhm.. I wouldn't really say that's the best comparison for this... I don't think getting "good" at school is the same thing as getting "good" on brawl.

Actually, it's probably one of the better comparisons out there (at least, Math and Science-wise), and can be substituted with any other practice that is mostly mental and requires piecing whys and hows together, because that's what Brawl is. There's a certain physical aspect to it, but the bar's not raised extremely high like Melee. Most people would be able to grasp the physical requirements fairly easily if they practiced hours a day, but what you really need is intelligent practice where you think about every move you make and then you'll learn what you should do and why in certain situations (look up the BERSERKER Melee tech skill video and then realize that that guy got 4-stocked by Mango XD). One of the best SF players in Texas trained me for a while and every time I would make a stupid mistake without thinking, he would pause the game and make me explain myself before punishing me and eventually, I stopped doing stupid things like jumping in all the time. That's the kind of mind set you need to be in when "practicing" Brawl. Of course, having people much better than you to practice with helps a lot too.

 

[Brawl Stud]

Alright guys thanks for all your input, just a few questions.

Many of you are saying things about tournament attendance, does going to tournaments to play a few games really improve your game more than playing better players on WiFi? I just don't see why attending tournaments is any better than playing games online.

Also, I have this TERRIBLE habbit to fsmash right after my fairs, I'm punished for it more than 80% of the time. I just can't get out of the habbit and I don't really know many other options to do (I try the d tilt every once in a while), but it just never seems to stick to me.

I also don't completly understand the grab game.. I'm not always sure when the grab is right and usually when I try they spot dodge and go right into a smash and punish me.

Any help for any of these questions would be great! Thanks

 

[etecoon]

Many of you are saying things about tournament attendance, does going to tournaments to play a few games really improve your game more than playing better players on WiFi? I just don't see why attending tournaments is any better than playing games online.

wifi is kind of like a different game entirely, it can help you gain some exp but you may also learn to do things that won't actually help you IRL. it's also good to have your games isolated into short 2-5 game sets as it makes it easier to learn from rather than playing for hours at a time IMO, if I get online and friendly people for hours I'll usually forget a lot of what I should be working on where as I remember pretty much all my tournament sets. wifi can help if you have no one to play but you should get to tournaments too

Also, I have this TERRIBLE habbit to fsmash right after my fairs, I'm punished for it more than 80% of the time. I just can't get out of the habbit and I don't really know many other options to do (I try the d tilt every once in a while), but it just never seems to stick to me.

go into training mode and practice doing things other than fsmash after fairs, just need to break down the muscle memory there

 

[Blacknight99923]

Don't insult us, we have more than just grabs, you know.

this just made my day

However your chain grabs are legit though you can't deny

 

[Saki-]

I've played Brawl since it came out, but it has taken me 7 months of just using Marth for me to be remotely good.

 

[Player-3]

there is no muscle memory from fair > fsmash LOL it's just THINKING about what you're going to do when you play


there's a big difference between thinking what you're going to do, then doing it

and thinking what you're going to do, then reacting to/predicting the opponent

 

[daballa100]

If you're a n00b marth do not use fsmash.
Avoid it at all costs until you can that habit out of the way. Then use it sparingly as a finisher, or watch vids of Ankoku and learn how to spam it like him You have plenty of options out of fair, too many for me to type, so be creative and use what works for you. To help, go into practice mode and start fairing away and see what moves work well as a quick followup, and don't forget to mindgame and shield too. If you're too lazy to then go to a marth guide, I bet they have some type of section for following up fair.
Also, you'll only get better if you play against someone better than you. I didn't join this forum til like a month ago, and i learned mostly from playing against my brother(me and him' have been playin since the n64), but you'll also notice a difference playing when you read/watch guides.

 

[VibeSlyph]

Also, you can completely skip the mid term plateau phase by not being a sadfaicd bish, and just get **** done. This will increase your learning speed by tremendous amounts. Lol.

 

[**Havok**]

there is no muscle memory from fair > fsmash LOL it's just THINKING about what you're going to do when you play


there's a big difference between thinking what you're going to do, then doing it

and thinking what you're going to do, then reacting to/predicting the opponent

THIS.

If you're a n00b marth do not use fsmash.
Avoid it at all costs until you can that habit out of the way. Then use it sparingly as a finisher, or watch vids of Ankoku and learn how to spam it like him

Sorry sir, fsmash used correctly in specific matchups is key. But I agree that if you're barely starting out, use it sparingly.

 

[Blacknight99923]

f smash is really easy to PS and punish it has mediocre knockback unless tippered which actualy has more knockback than fully charged SB(i tested it at 0 % on falcon i don't know if this is true at higher percents)

 

[Shaya]

Fully charged perfect tip shieldbreaker has the same knockback as a fully charged tipper fsmash. Shieldbreaker should kill 1% earlier as it does 1% more damage.

Marths fsmash isnt easy to PS... it comes out a lot faster than most humans reaction times (10 frames = 166ms reaction speed, the average human reaction speed is 215ms; GAMERS arent that much better).

 

[Rubberbandman]

(10 frames = 166ms reaction speed, the average human reaction speed is 215ms; GAMERS arent that much better).

aaa, is that true, I have a pretty slow reaction speed, like 251ms. Shaya, is there anyway for me to get a better reaction time?

 

[Player-3]

my reaction time is pretty good, it's around 200 but idr what it is

 

[Blacknight99923]

Shaya you may be right it not being powershielded however It is easy to punish,

 

[Zankoku]

or watch vids of Ankoku and learn how to spam it like him

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YEAAAAAHHHH

 

[Blacknight99923]

not to burst your bubble but f smash tips a lot on Mk due to close to equal range.

but its still fun to watch

 

[M-mo3]

It took me since 2006 =D! na but for reals its all about experience and training. tournaments, friends and understanding the game(frames, physics, etc)
I think what people do not realize is that in a tournament environment there is pressure, just for the fact that you cant get rematches lol, well that why there is loosers brackets right!
Anyways to answer your question bout half a year

 

[DarkISDA]

took me 10 mins. was already playing marth in melee XD