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How many mains should you have?

How many mains should you have?

  • 1

    Votes: 6 25.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 11 45.8%
  • 3

    Votes: 6 25.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5+

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • Total voters
    24

Balbys23

Smash Rookie
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Messages
12
3DS FC
2595-0802-2073
Title says it all. I keep 2 mains: Captain Falcon and Mario. But I've been thinking of picking up Link or possibly Fox to diversify the kind of characters I play competitively. On my own I think 3 isn't bad, but I don't want to spread myself too thin. Thoughts?
 

Ulk

Smash Cadet
Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
55
Location
Germany
That's entirely up to individual preference, as well as capacity. Of course the more you main, the less you can focus on a single character. On the other hand, the more you main, the more MUs you cover.

However, Smash Bros is not the most balanced game. You can easily cover all important MUs with only two characters and have the advantage over the entire roster. That is not the issue. So going beyond two mains may generally not be a good idea from that point of view. Look at it this way: While the advantage of covering MUs becomes redundant the more characters you main, the disadvantage of having to divide your attention to more characters will consistently stack and not be any less troublesome.

But as I said before, capacity plays a role too. It is possible to perfectly cover two characters, but several factors like the similarities between playstyles of the two characters, and the time you're willing to invest, play a role there. For example, many people who main Pit also main Dark Pit, and that doesn't take a lot of work. However, when you main let's say Olimar and Ryu, that becomes a lot more difficult. The question in that case is only whether you personally have the capability and capacity to cover these two characters.
 
Last edited:

TOGOpuff

Jigglyfy the world !
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
164
Location
NIterói-RJ Brazil
NNID
TOGOpuff
Ulk made a great resume, but there is another aspect that wasn't covered... In tournament, let's say you have two mains, you have to decide who you playing first game. I know this can be character based, taking into consideration who has the best matchup against the character you're facing but that isn't the only deciding factor. You main Mario and Falcon, let's consider you're going to face someone that plays bowser jr. (just as an example), as although that's considered one of (if not the best) Mario matchup, but you've seen the same player destroy three mario players in a row in pools. Do you then consider not playing Mario ? (i'm not assuming you do but that's a possibility when you dual main) Do you then go falcon ? It's still a favorable matchup, but isn't it easier to kill Falcon than Mario ? Is it going to be a good choice ? Can you outplay the Bowser Jr. Player with your Falcon?
If you go Mario and lose game 1, do you stick to Mario ? Do you change characters ? If so, why ?
What i'm showing here is that maining more than a character, although can be a great thing for checking bad matchups, can become a issue if you're not feeling confident that day or lose a game against the player, or is facing someone who is way higher than you on power ranking or someone you often lose to. Whatever gets you to the "i'm not sure who to play" mindset. Momochi, a Street Fighter player, said once in a interview that a player should stick to a character and learn every weapon that character has to deal with every matchup. Train every matchup the hardest they can and build a plan, sticking to that plan no matter what and if the plan is the right one and your execution is close to perfection you have a chance to win even a 7-3 matchup. This isn't only motivational theory, he proved himself several times by winning several bad matchups by knowing the few things he could do. So yes, you can have only one main if you put enough time into it so you can avoid doing the bad stuff against character X and have a plan on what you can do against it. Playing more deffensively, not giving frames for them to punish and punishing whatever mistake they make, not overextending, trying to be always on % advantage and you can win the match.
When mindset comes into play added with the time/effort you have to put in two character that Ulk posted right before me make the question of "should i main more than one character" even harder. If you feel confident about mastering more than one character and having the option of a switch doesn't add weight to decisions you have to make before game 1 and mid match, you can have as many mains as you can, but I definitely always go for stick to one or two characters and choose them by coverage, having the secondary just to cover specific matchups you're not comfortable doing with your main.
 

MarioManTAW

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 10, 2016
Messages
843
Ulk made a great resume, but there is another aspect that wasn't covered... In tournament, let's say you have two mains, you have to decide who you playing first game. I know this can be character based, taking into consideration who has the best matchup against the character you're facing but that isn't the only deciding factor. You main Mario and Falcon, let's consider you're going to face someone that plays bowser jr. (just as an example), as although that's considered one of (if not the best) Mario matchup, but you've seen the same player destroy three mario players in a row in pools. Do you then consider not playing Mario ? (i'm not assuming you do but that's a possibility when you dual main) Do you then go falcon ? It's still a favorable matchup, but isn't it easier to kill Falcon than Mario ? Is it going to be a good choice ? Can you outplay the Bowser Jr. Player with your Falcon?
If you go Mario and lose game 1, do you stick to Mario ? Do you change characters ? If so, why ?
What i'm showing here is that maining more than a character, although can be a great thing for checking bad matchups, can become a issue if you're not feeling confident that day or lose a game against the player, or is facing someone who is way higher than you on power ranking or someone you often lose to. Whatever gets you to the "i'm not sure who to play" mindset. Momochi, a Street Fighter player, said once in a interview that a player should stick to a character and learn every weapon that character has to deal with every matchup. Train every matchup the hardest they can and build a plan, sticking to that plan no matter what and if the plan is the right one and your execution is close to perfection you have a chance to win even a 7-3 matchup. This isn't only motivational theory, he proved himself several times by winning several bad matchups by knowing the few things he could do. So yes, you can have only one main if you put enough time into it so you can avoid doing the bad stuff against character X and have a plan on what you can do against it. Playing more deffensively, not giving frames for them to punish and punishing whatever mistake they make, not overextending, trying to be always on % advantage and you can win the match.
When mindset comes into play added with the time/effort you have to put in two character that Ulk posted right before me make the question of "should i main more than one character" even harder. If you feel confident about mastering more than one character and having the option of a switch doesn't add weight to decisions you have to make before game 1 and mid match, you can have as many mains as you can, but I definitely always go for stick to one or two characters and choose them by coverage, having the secondary just to cover specific matchups you're not comfortable doing with your main.
I agree with this. There is one thing I'll add, though.

For me personally (and I know I'm not the only one), it's best to have one main, so you can focus most of your efforts there, but with possibly one or more secondaries/pockets. For example, I main Villager, and pocket Rosalina, Cloud, and Mario. Some characters do a good job against all the cast, but others can't. If you main someone with one or more bad matchups, I say stick with that character, and either learn the matchups or pick up a pocket. You notice that I main a high-tier character, but pocket 3 top-tiers. Some people are more comfortable with a lower-tier character than Villager, and that's fine. In those cases, though, you may need to spend more time with your pockets. If you main a top-tier, you may not need a pocket at all. Also, some can do just fine solo maining a low tier, and if so, more power to you, but this is my general advice.
 

Swop

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
342
NNID
STOPNSWOP
3DS FC
4210-4035-7088
Switch FC
SW 1091 0071 7555
Its called "main" for a reason, the one character you put so much time and effort into and think you are the best with.

Now for "Secondaries", well in my opinion its your pockets or other characters you are able to play as.
 

MrJohnSmiley

Smash Rookie
Joined
Nov 25, 2016
Messages
4
You should have one main and one main alone. Thats why its called a "Main", or a secondary. You should only have one main at all. You can have hell all the characters be your secondary. But don't sit there and say you have alot of mains. That doesn't make any sense. Like how i have :4bowserjr: as my main. And :4bowser:, :4wario: as my secondaries. Im gonna focus my attention on the main and play the others as sides.
 

Ælude

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 18, 2016
Messages
55
I like to familiarize myself with as much of the cast as possible. Sometimes for something different I like to learn a mu from the other side. Theorizing can sometimes only go so far but when you literally place yourself in your opponents position I think alot can be taken from this you just can't get any other way.

But I am a firm believer in having 1 main and pouring your heart and soul into that character. If you main villager, you are villager - bad matchups be damned you learn to adapt and thrive in every situation.
 

Lola Luftnagle

Banned via Warnings
Joined
Nov 16, 2016
Messages
616
I would say no more than two mains and/or secondaries. Now, I have 3 main characters in :4miibrawl::4miigun::4miisword: and 3 secondaries in :4bowserjr::4shulk::4peach:, but that's just me.
 

chocolatte

Smash Rookie
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
10
NNID
chocolattez
If you're serious about improving and getting up to that level as fast as possible one character is the way to go hands down. Rome wasn't built in a day so of course the road will be rough. A secondary in theory is usually just used to cover a few bad match ups and nothing else.
 

BruhSmash

Smash Rookie
Joined
Feb 22, 2020
Messages
1
All things considered, I believe the term “main” should be one character, since it is MAIN, but I personally prefer 2 people as my mains and the rest I enjoy and play secondary’s, then it goes down from there. I honestly rly enjoy 3 but I think 3 mains is a little too much. I don’t see anything wrong with 2 however, especially not 1
 
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