How the hell do I get better?

[elaylda]

Hello, I played smash very casually when some friends introduced me to it during Brawl, where I found Game & Watch to be hilariously funny and all around a blast to play, I was content with playing on an even ground with my friends as we all had no idea how to do anything advanced.

But now, with most of them having the new Smash for about a year and getting absolutely ****ing destroyed by them, I was playing Greninja mostly because I took a liking to him. Before we all went our seperate ways that day I asked them "How do I get as good as you guys?" all of them had the same response of "play online". So I did, my abilities as Greninja allow me to beat a cpu level 9 with a bit of trouble, but winning reliably on 3 Stock games. I thought I was ready to play online, I was wrong, I get ****ed up by a link main every other game, and captain falcon mains the others. I rarely ever get a hit out on them, Link's especially. But my point being, I dont see a medium here for progression, its either you get ****ed in online, or do alright on bots. Its discouraging to say the least on a game that I loved to play with my friends is just a game of "lets see who can kick more ass on our mains" rather than just having fun, I want to get on their level. But the road to it is stressful and rage inducing. Is there any way around this hellhole of online and be a better player?

 

[FamilyTeam]

What you could do is go look for new opponents online that are willing to give you input on the battle you just had, so you can figure out what you did right and wrong. For Glory is never the optimal place for anything, so I'd suggest instead fighting people both here and at Anther's Ladder, since you'd be most likely to find actualy skilled, well versed players that can help you improve.
If you want, we could fight, and I could maybe tell you where you could start looking for things to fix.

 

[KirbCider]

So I did, my abilities as Greninja allow me to beat a cpu level 9 with a bit of trouble, but winning reliably on 3 Stock games. I thought I was ready to play online, I was wrong, I get ****ed up by a link main every other game, and captain falcon mains the others. I rarely ever get a hit out on them, Link's especially. But my point being, I dont see a medium here for progression, its either you get ****ed in online, or do alright on bots.

Firstly, CPUs are vastly different from actual opponents. The only thing LV 9 CPUs have going for them is insane reaction times.

CPUs can still be incredibly stupid and fall for the same exact things over and over no matter what level they are. An actual opponent knows how to read you, adapt to you, knows combos, knows what to avoid, and even usually knows how to take down certain characters. Some opponents may of known exactly what to do against Greninja and knew what exactly to avoid or what could be punished. Perhaps you were being too predictable to them or made mistakes a Greninja player shouldn't do or try.

As for how to improve? There's vastly different ways.

The most important would be just playing the game as much as possible and going against a vast selection of opponents. Everyone plays differently after all, and we all have various skill levels. Since you mentioned Greninja it would also be beneficial to look up anything you can about him. His weaknesses, his combos, what is safe and unsafe to do, edge guard options, and other things in general. There's guides you can read and even video guides, too. Also just watch other matches you can find of Greninja.

Don't forget about SmashBoards either. We have Character forums for each and every character in Smash U and you can get all sorts of advice from people who frequent those parts. That being said, don't be afraid to show replays of your matches. You won't know what you need to work on if you don't ask for help. A lot of us have bad habits that we might not even notice on our own.

There's a lot of things at your disposal. Getting better is always easier said than done, and remember that it's probably going to take a lot of time and dedication depending on how quickly you can usually get things down. Never give up on improving.

It may not be quick, but you will improve. And just remember a lot of members here will always be willing to help you out.

 

[MarioSmash64]

I got better by playing for glory 1v1 matches (mainly against Mario mains.) Of course you say your first game was brawl so you haven't been in the game too long. I grew up playing smash 64 against my 2 older brothers who would team battle me. Eventually I made sport of both of them. I never really played brawl and never liked it much.