How to practice DI, teching etc?

[smashnovice]

Hey Smashboards,

Almost completely new player here. I've been watching melee and brawl for a long time but can't really seem to get the technical aspects of it. I was just wondering, what's the best way to practice that kind of stuff on the practice mode? Are there any special things to work on in that mode?

 

[Deleted member 189823]

Hello and welcome. o/

Well, for teching, I would recommend you to build a box-shaped stage with an entrance but no exit. Pick Snake and blow yourself up with C4, mines, etc. until you start bouncing against the walls. When that happens, press Z right before hitting the wall, there you'll stop the momentum.

 

[infiniteV115]

If you wanna practice teching (and I guess, to some extent, DI) then play Duelist with your friends

DI, SDI and momentum cancelling are best practiced by playing actual matches.

You don't really need to practice anything in training mode except for perhaps buffered things, chaingrabs/infinites, platform cancels, b-reversals, turn around-Bs and wavebounces, and any sorts of character specific ATs (QA shenanigans, draconic reverse, DACUS, glide toss, cancelling certain moves, etc).


This is all for Brawl of course. For Melee, I have no idea cause I don't play that, and it's probably best that you ask on the Melee boards as opposed to the Brawl boards for an adequate answer on that.

 

[smashnovice]

The thing with trying to play actual matches is the lack of really anyone to practice with (everyone I have to practice with just likes playing and hates working on stuff) plus my age (15) being too young to actually get to tournaments or anything. I just need some way to stop being completely hopeless i guess

 

[hell-dew]

Your not really to young to go to tourneys I remember going to tourneys when i was 15 unless there is a ago limit. then again i was always kinda lucky for looking like i was 19 when i was 15 so yeah . And not practicing against human players sucks i know my friends are the same way none of them really like practicing or even playing compeitvely and its really dumb cause one of them likes street fighter (which i can play to an extent using my brawl skills of spacing and what not) and he plays brawl casually but hates practicing for tourneys. most of my other friends rather stopped playing just started and really havent developed and all and dont really have any drive to. so yeah if anyone ever battles me most of my skill came from bots as sad as that is. that said in the few tourneys i have been in i would say my skills have skyrocketed. so hell even if you practice the basics it will at least give you some form of starting point but try and make an effort to get out there and meet with people or even wifi battling if you can.

 

[infiniteV115]

Hell-dew, have you been to a Brawl tourney yet?
Cause iirc you're from my region and AFAIK you weren't at the tourney this Saturday lol..and I haven't heard of you outside of these boards.

 

[MEOW1337KITTEH]

You could always make a large stage, put a handicap of 100 or so and put a lv9 computer with you and practice that way, then you also get spacing practice.

The enclosed box is a double edged sword, if you airdodge early, momentum also slows and after a bit it becomes too predictable.

 

[zmx]

The thing with trying to play actual matches is the lack of really anyone to practice with (everyone I have to practice with just likes playing and hates working on stuff) plus my age (15) being too young to actually get to tournaments or anything. I just need some way to stop being completely hopeless i guess

Practicing against CPUs is not a bad idea. It's arguably better than Wifi practice (probably your only other option) because at least you won't have to constantly adjust because of horrible lag or develop terrible Wifi habits because no one can punish as well in lag.

Against CPUS you can practice DI, SDI etc. I suggest only facing level 1 and level 9 CPUs. Level 1 when you are practicing all and everything technical on a dummy. Level 9 when you want to practice against something that actually has pretty fast reaction timings, PSing etc.

However do not pick up their bad habits. Imo the best CPUs in terms of realism are Wario, Luigi and MK (and even these aren't that great). But they are certainly better than CPUs like Ike or Snake.

Also in training mode there's a good way to practice DI and SDI. First you need 2 controllers. You play as player 2 with your percent constantly high (which you can set). Now the CPU will likely spam kill moves (they love to do this) so there's your DI practice.

For SDI play as either player 1 or 2. With the second controller (using a toe or rubber band) hold down the A button with Falco. Now run into this attack and practice different efficient ways to get out of it. Fox and Ike are also not bad ideas for this method. I suggest you utilize the dual sticking method for SDI.

 

[infiniteV115]

smashnovice, you aren't really 'too young' to go to tournaments at the age of 15, unless you mean your parents think you're too young and are keeping you from going to tournies for that reason.
I can say this because there's a 14-year old player in our region, he's only been to one tournament so far (only because he has been busy with other things) and he's going to IMPULSE as well.

So, out of curiosity, where do you live? Cause there might already be an active competitive Brawl scene in your region.

 

[smashnovice]

I live in Virginia

 

[allshort17]

I live in Virginia

You should put that under your name so people instantly know where you are from. And VA has a great scene. It's usually referred to MD/VA because MD usually plays with them and their players interact with VA's players too. There are great players in that region. Lie (high-level Diddy), Logic (high-level Olimar), ChuDat (arguably the best Kirby in the world and a top-level melee IC's main), Coney (arguably the best Dedede in the world and a high-level ness player), Junebug (Top-level Lucario. Although, he went Falco last tournament he went to.), ans Seagull Joe (high-level wolf.) There are plenty of other amazing players, but those are just a few of the best. I'm glad you live in MD/VA because I feel like it has the best character diversity out of all the regions, so it's a great place for a new player to learn a lot of things. Sadly, MD/VA has really nothing planned that I know now (unless you like melee) and often goes into periods of inactivity. However, I hear that they are planning to have more tournaments. So, with a little bit of asking and researching I bet you can find what's going to happen next.

Check here and go to your region (Atl North) and find what you need: http://www.smashboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=89

I hope you have a great time learning the game and getting into your tournament scene. Also, about you being too young. I'm 15. I started playing when I was 14 and I've already been to six tournaments. Plus, I'm going to one this Saturday. Maybe it's because I've got good set of parents, but I'm pretty sure they'll let you go if you show you can be responsible and truly care about going. You may not go far, but if you try to advocate a few things I'm sure they'll let you:

1.) If they are scared, let them come in the tournament and watch you.
2.) If it's distance, only tell them about the closest tournaments for now. You may have to be patient, but it will come.
3.) If it's money, again go only to close ones to save gas money. But also, save up your own money. It costs around $20 to enter the tournament and one event of your choice (if you enter more it can be $5-$10 more each.) And gas will probably range to about $20 if it's close. Plus food if you want it, $50 should be enough to guarantee you cover everything there is. However, I'm pretty sure if you research the tournament you're going to then you can find out how to make it less.

I hope everything works out for you.

 

[Seagull Joe]

Seagull Joe must be my new tag. Lawl. I like that name though.

 

[smashnovice]

Alright thanks! I'll try to get my gameplay to something a little better than it is now and maybe go to some tournament sometime when i get a better hang of things

 

[allshort17]

No. Go to a tournament as soon as possible. You won't know what you need to get the hang of unless you go to a tournament. Trust me, one regret I have is that I wish I went to tournaments the moment I found out about the idea. It helps sooo much more than you can imagine.

 

[Joaco]

Pick a character and stay with it. Read your char boards, learn all its tricks and stuff. And you MUST attend tournaments. This is the best way to improve. Btw you're not too young, players like Gluttony, Nairo or ZeRo were many times champions at your age. Tell your parents that is important for you, and I'm sure they'll understand.
Ask me any questions you have, I'll help you in anything I can