How should I be learning from replays?

[BlueDaruma888]

So I've been away from Sm4sh since moving to a new state, and today my landlord finally decided it was time to upgrade the home internet. Jumped online for the first time ever, and as expected, I got absolutely bodied. Waaaay different than smacking around a lvl 9 CPU. Geez, you Californians really don't hold back

Anywho, my suckage aside, I saved a bunch of replays in the hopes that I can watch them and improve upon them. However, I'm not exactly too sure what I should be watching for? I'm guessing I should be looking for moments where I threw out a bad move and got punished/ cost me the game, or looking for areas that I should improve upon (although I sorta get a sense for this during the games themselves), but other than that, I'm a bit unsure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[KirbCider]

Waaaay different than smacking around a lvl 9 CPU.

Yes, fighting an actual opponent is vastly different than fighting a CPU for a wide variety of reasons. While the LV 9 CPUs have insanely great reaction times an actual human opponent knows combos, follow ups, techs, reads you, and profits on your weaknesses.

I saved a bunch of replays in the hopes that I can watch them and improve upon them. However, I'm not exactly too sure what I should be watching for? I'm guessing I should be looking for moments where I threw out a bad move and got punished/ cost me the game, or looking for areas that I should improve upon (although I sorta get a sense for this during the games themselves), but other than that, I'm a bit unsure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Firstly make sure you aren't just using Replays to learn.

While yes, they do help you out you also need to be willing to put in actual practice as well as read up/look at videos of certain characters (either your mains or characters you struggle with). It can really help you learn combos, what to watch out for, and much more.

Secondly, use replays to assess your bad habits. Are you rolling too much? Not shielding at all? Not grabbing shielding opponents? Things like that. If you actively see yourself doing something too little or far too much try to fix it. I suppose it would also be good to watch your opponent in your Replays as well rather than just you. It can help you understand their character better and what to watch for.

Hopefully this helped, even if there wasn't too much I could offer on this.