How long until you became "good"?

[bearsfan092]

So I've been playing this game seriously for about six months now with some on and off effort in the months before that, and I finally feel like I'm getting better at this game. I'm not worried as much about successfully pulling off technical things and can now perform my basic tricks at will. Very few missed L cancels, got my wavedash down pat, I actually read opponents now, etc.

My question to you is, how long did you have to practice until you became "good"? We'll define good as:

• Can do most basic movement options in the heat of battle (wavedash, dash dance, short hop, pivot)
• Familiarity with combos and other tech aspects of your character with ability to execute in battle
• Enough confidence in own tech skill to focus on opponent's tendencies

Note that winning isn't necessarily part of this formula. Our definition does not compare you relative to other players.

(Personal side story begins here, feel free to skip the rest of this post)

I am a Falco main. I could SHL all day, which was the first technical thing I could do, and it became a crutch. I got really good at beating up on casuals with a SHL-SHL-SHL-Fsmash "combo". As you can guess, I got stomped by the competitive player base here in Pittsburgh when I tried that.

Because I rarely show up due to transportation issues, the Pittsburgh guys probably don't realize how much they've helped me along. In particular, one day I was watching Abate's Falco and just how sexy his movement was, and I said "ohhhhhhhhhhh". I went home to go work on my Falco. Over the next two months, I just worked on consistency with SHFFL's and laser game.

But that horizontal movement nnnnnngggggh. Most of you will know what I'm talking about, but Falco's wavedash has that ever so slight delay because of his jumping animation. Basically what makes his short hop so easy makes his wavedash harder, at least for me. At one point, I seriously considered switching to Fox, Marth, or Falcon just because I could wavedash/waveshine on command with them.

Fortunately, I've got Falco's WD down, including the waveshine. The only tech aspect I'm currently struggling with is LHDL, but progress is being made even there. That along with my better consistency with other aspects of my game makes me excited that I'm finally starting to figure out this game. From what I've defined as "good" here in the thread, I'm finally at that point.

 

[ShrieK1295]

Probably a year. But even if you can do everything you listed you probably won't beat any tournament going player.

 

[ElloEddy]

my opinion good ..means your a solid player ..making it outta pools wining some matches in bracket ..taking games off top players ..etc and ..placing high at local tournies ..and ppl knowing you solid enough to be a threat

 

[R:U:N]

I would say just about under a year by that definition.
I still find that I flub on my technical stuff sometimes, but I think that that's mainly due to lack of self-confidence. When I just go practice by myself, everything is spot on and my movement feels so smooth, but when I play someone else, I find my movement starts to get jerky and awkward, and I flub more than usual.
I think that's my next step as a player- getting into the mindset and having more confidence, not getting discouraged by getting gimped really early or a screw-up that prevented me from taking off an easy stock. I find that really hard though, and something that you can't really 'train,' I don't know if anyone else could offer a solution?
Also, Abate has a Falco?? I've only seen his Luigi (which is also sexy as hell by the way)

 

[bearsfan092]

Probably a year. But even if you can do everything you listed you probably won't beat any tournament going player.

I don't see this list as "do this and you can beat anyone". I see this list as "learn these, figure out when to use them, and then bring good fundamentals and maybe you can beat someone". It's why good is in quotation marks and why I'm trying to avoid measuring performance relative to other players.

EDIT: Yeah Abate has a Falco. He sometimes pulls it out in friendlies.

 

[KanyeRest]

you play in pittsburgh? huh, never met you...and i know most of the PGH guys. come to NEOH sometime!

on the real, i'm still not good, haha. i mean, i've placed decent at locals and i've upset people who are better than me, but i think there's only a personal level of "good". it's not defined by any means.

 

[Keblerelf]

Took me about two years.

 

[Jockmaster]

About 6 months for tech skill and what not

 

[Arcadia157]

I've got most of my tech skill down with decent spacing after about a year of training, but I wouldn't say that I'm good by any means.

 

[Naughty Pixel]

The good you describe is 2006 good, you can beat you friends with those skills but you probably won't make it out of pools at a local. Things like DI, reads, spacing, zoning, and experience all play a role becoming good. I personally don't consider myself good even though I have all points on your list down andI've been practicing/playing for over two years now

 

[Griffard]

The good you describe is 2006 good, you can beat you friends with those skills but you probably won't make it out of pools at a local. Things like DI, reads, spacing, zoning, and experience all play a role becoming good. I personally don't consider myself good even though I have all points on your list down andI've been practicing/playing for over two years now

Pretty much what I was going to post. By OP's definition, I'm definitely good, but I certainly don't consider myself "good" yet. Working on it though.

 

[Zodiac]

a few months. really depends on who you're comparing yourself against in your region.

 

[Sizzle]

Idk 6 years and I'm just starting to make it out of pools at regionals lol. I never practiced with a purpose or seriously analyzed my game for improvement until about a year ago. Playing with the right mindset means the world in smash. Also traveling and playing as many people as possible have helped me drastically improve in the last year.

 

[MasterShake]

About 3.5 years, **** takes mad long when you don't actively try and improve. Have to go out and play good people, playing with your scrub group all the time will never yield big results.

 

[pokemongeof]

Me. took about 2 months to perfect WD and L-C, etc! and i'm 13 years old!!!

 

[Bones0]

I guarantee everyone in this thread saying they can WD and L-cancel consistently/perfectly move around the stage slower than molasses in an igloo.

 

[pokemongeof]

!

I guarantee everyone in this thread saying they can WD and L-cancel consistently/perfectly move around the stage slower than molasses in an igloo.

Without a doubt!!!

 

[Ziodyne]

I guarantee everyone in this thread saying they can WD and L-cancel consistently/perfectly move around the stage slower than molasses in an igloo.

including yourself?

 

[bertbusdriver]

depends heavily on how good/active your scene is.

I still haven't made it out of pools at a 100+ person tourney yet :|

 

[Bones0]

including yourself?

I didn't brag about how good my WDing is.


So yes.

I dare someone to shoot a missile with Samus on FD and keep up with it with only WDs.

 

[Gea]

I can reach the explosion before it fades away, does that count?

Just kidding, I know I'm wayyyy behind optimal with even that

 

[Upke]

I had been playing the game ever since it came out, but I was very young and had no idea there was a competitive scene.

It wasn't until about a year and a half ago, I met some dudes at school who liked to play Smash a lot, and we became good friends, playing Smash all the time until they got sick of it (I never did ). Because I at least already knew all of the characters' moves and how their physics were -- falling, jumping, aerial control, etc. -- when I looked up pro matches and advice threads on Smashboards, it only really took me 3-4 months to get all the things you mentioned down. In addition, this was just playing with friends. I almost never just sat down and practiced certain techniques (but this is probably because I rarely play Fox).

Still a year after that however, I will mess up some of my L-cancels, like fastfalling a Ganon dair and whiffing but expecting to at least hit the shield so I'm a few frames late, or Mario's dair when more hits connect than I expected so I tried to L-cancel a few frames early. I also still sometimes air dodge sideways instead of wavedashing, but it's rare, and even Vudujin, a pro-level Luigi player has it happen sometimes.

 

[ElloEddy]

another thing tech skill doesn't mean that much .......i been told that all the time by old pros...if you can l cancle and WD your fine ......now its about spacing ....edge guarding , DI and making smart decisions that help you really win and get better

 

[Wobbly Headed Bob]

I dare someone to shoot a missile with Samus on FD and keep up with it with only WDs.

Do super wavedashes count?

 

[Gea]

You wouldn't overtake the missle, I tried. Laying the bomb takes too long, you'll only catch up with the explosion I am pretty sure.

 

[leffen]

Its all about how you practice, and how you set your goals. If you aim for winning every single tournament you enter, you will improve MUCH faster than if you aim "i just wanna get out of pools".

/rant about how you should think

Its not a matter of going into every match and thinking "im gonna win", its when every single time you think about the tournament, you aim for the top. You need to practice and prepare like you're gonna win, and if you do that, you're gonna improve way faster than anyone else.

Setting your goals "unrealistically high", does, no doubt, make you less "happy" in the beginning, since its much harder to reach your goals, but if you wanna be the best and improve fast that's simply what you're gonna have to take.


As for the question: I could do everything fundamental with falco after 2 weeks of playing the game. You need to focus on implementing about 30% of your characters options, the most important ones, and getting them to a level where you can do them without ever having to worry about failing, and then as you go along you can start implementing more.

After about two or three months I really needed, and after that I could really start working on what really matters, reading your opponent, learning matchups, and so forth.

Please don't focus on random technical stuff, its not what really matters. That will come in time anyway.

 

[UlyssesTheTrojan]

I don't really lose to anyone I play but I'm too young to get into the tournament scene hard core so I've never played anybody good. I'm in smash limbo. I'm pretty horrific at this game compared to 90% of the people who post here I'd imagine. I really can't wait to get four-stocked. It will be an incredible experience.

I'll have to convince a relative to drive down to antioch. I hope G3 is my first tournament.

 

[Goodin]

For tech skill, it can take from like a few weeks to a few months to get really good at the fundamentals, depending in if you have people to play with and how dedicated you are. Like me, I have many of the movement tricks down pat and such, but im not a "good" player. I have been playing for little under a year competitively, and I am just now beginning to understand the metagame outside of just tech. Its mostly about reads, execution, and mindset. When i first started, i was clearly more technical than some of the other noobs i was facing, but they would beat me because i would play my set all nervous and get cold hands and such. But once you get passed the fact that you have no reason to be nervous and you get your mindset straightened out, I think you will improve much faster

the steps of improvement for me have been

learn basic tech> get used to tourney atmosphere> practice with my group> learn more about advanced techs> start playing out of my comfort zone and forcing myself to make new reads and take new risk..

the last one is where im at now, and i am not sure what is next

 

[Hax]

truly good? 6 years

 

[UltiMario]

8 years and I still suck

Get@me

 

[Strong Badam]

still not good yet
at least not to the standards i care about

 

[Seartu]

One year down...nowhere near anything remotely resembling "good."

 

[Vts]

still not good yet
at least not to the standards i care about

Same :/

But really to become "good" my best advice is this.

Pick 1 character do the following every other day. For about 3-4 weeks.
1. 2-5 minutes of running then jumping and fast falling and swapping directions and doing it over and over until it seems flawless.
2. practice your character's movement on playforms and getting on/off the ledge. (wash dashing, moonwalking,pivots , so on..)
3. Turn on a level 1 or something and hit him with aerials and get use to the movement stun on a character to practice fast falls/l-cancels.

I could write up a better guide or could tell you in person how to get better, lack of sleep making my thought kind of meh.

 

[Divinokage]

I'd say a good 2 years for me playing with the competitive mindset despite having played the game since it came out. I think I only started really breaking out end 2008.

 

[rhan]

The area you're in depends on how good you actually get. Some highly active areas tend to become good as a whole in a shorter time frame than areas which you have no one to play with (who is at least decent enough to compete with most players now-a-days).

I'm in a semi active area and I wanna say i got good around my 4th or 5th year mark. Been playing for 7 years but took a 5 month hiatus. But I'm coming back.

 

[N.A.G.A.C.E]

Agree were u live plays a part in it.

Imo it goes: year 1, you will kinda suck and get whooped a lot.

Year 2, you should start placing better and become at least solid at the game

Year 3, the year were you should be making some moves in tourneys.

 

[Jolteon]

There are other, more important factors to improvement, such as effort and productivity. Due to this, the amount of time it takes to improve can vary greatly.

 

[QERB]

took me about 2 years to reach your 'good' definition i'd say.

 

[Lovage]

bare minimum 2 years

realistically 3+

 

[TheCrimsonBlur]

There is no timeline

People improve at different rates

The beauty of competitive Melee is that its eternal; there is no deadline to greatness. This is in great contrast to other games which only last as long as the sponsors support them