Thanks, and on the hylian shield thing, do you know how much coverage the hitbox gives you? I’ve been trying to use that a bit more, but sometimes some attacks will sneak through even though you’re standing still.
If you intend to do a lot of blocking with the Hylian Shield, you need to be especially mindful of which character you're fighting. When your opponent selects his character, go through that character's projectiles in your mind and make a mental note of how difficult it will be to block each one. I mentally sort projectiles into three categories:
1.
Projectiles that fly straight, as long as they're fired from ground level, are very easy to block. These include hadoukens, sun salutations, razor leaf, lasers, cannonballs, Lloid rockets, and charge shots from Mewtwo, Lucario, Greninja, Gunner, Corrin, and the Samuses. If you're fighting a character that has at least one such projectile, you should always be prepared to pull out your Hylian Shield (i.e. stop moving) when the situation calls for it. If they're fired from ground level, you can block them, and if they're not, you can't. Simple as that.
2.
Projectiles that bounce, arc, or fly at an angle will make things a bit more difficult. These include fireballs, pills, arc fire, PK fire, Pikmin, axes, holy water, thunder jolt, many of Pac-Man's fruits, and Bayonetta's weird upward-angle-gun thing. Although it
is possible with practice to figure out exactly where you should be standing for each one of these, you will inevitably find yourself saying things like "how the crap did I get hit by that?" and "I swear I was standing in the right spot" and "dammit, I should've crouched for that one" over and over again. The Hylian Shield is a great tool, but it will often let you down and make you wish that you had used a more conventional defensive option like shielding or dodging.
3.
Projectiles that can have their trajectories changed with different inputs are a lot tougher, because your opponent can catch on to your blocking habits and change their firing method accordingly. These include PK Thunder/Freeze/Flash, the Pits' arrows, clay pigeons, exploding cans, peanuts, fire breath, spike balls, splattershot, Gordos, guided missiles, and all nine of the three Links' projectiles. Your success in blocking these will depend a lot on reading your opponent and trying to anticipate how they'll adjust their projectiles' flightpaths, which means it's really more about your mental game than anything else. If you feel like you're in your opponent's head and you've got a good read on their strategy, successfully blocking one of these can be a great way to send a message, and maybe even shake him up a little bit. Sometimes it's not just about avoiding damage, but making a statement.
Practicing with the Hylian Shield against every single projectile in the game is a lot of work, and trying to develop an intuitive understanding of how big the Hylian Shield's hurtbox is can often feel like a fool's errand (sometimes I swear it has a mind of its own). But at the very least, categorizing your opponent's projectiles and making note of how often he uses each one will help you figure out how much you ought to be blocking, and that should make you feel more confident during your matches. Best of luck, and feel free to add me if you'd like some practice.
