How to practice playing Reactionary?

[RevolverRed]

So I've been trying to learn Marth for the past six months and I really thought I was getting somewhere with him. However, after facing EmblemLord on Anther's Ladder, I played like a complete dumbass and he absolutely shreked me. He told me that I was playing him all wrong: not playing the ledge camp game, jumping and n-airing too much, too many empty jumps, etc. He just stood completely still and played reactionary.

Now I feel like I'm just a hopeless Smash player that should probably quit because I'm the only idiot in the world who can play a character wrong for six whole months.

However, if any of you have advice, how do I practice playing reactionary? Any help with regards to reactionary defense is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ArikadoSD]

There are different types of playstyles for almost all characters. As a Sheik main I can tell you there are 3 main playstyles for her; camping out with needles near the ledge and forcing approaches, going HAM and in-your-face the entire match, or a mixture of both. Of course, different matchups require different playstyles sometimes, and different situations can require you to change up your playstyles in a match.

That being said I also happen to play Marth as a secondary and have been since the 3DS days. And I can tell you ledge camping isn't exactly my idea of the ideal playstyle for Marth. It might be, for other Marth players, but not for me. To me the way to play Marth is spacing and walling out opponent's approaches and taking advantage of that; punishing them with a grab or Fsmash when the chance arises. That means a whole lot of jumping fairs, nairs, and RAR bairs.

Maybe EmblemLord was just a better player. That's fine. From the modest time I spend on the Marth boards he seems to be quite the leader there, helping people around etc, so that gives me the idea he's a really good Marth. I've been playing Sheik since the first days of the 3DS days until now; that's 8 months, and I'm still not even close to the level of top Sheiks like False or Mr. R because they've been playing competitive smash for years and I only started playing competitively with Sm4sh. And with that being said I'm really proud of how long I've came since then and people are also somehow surprised by that fact lol, when I first showed up to a tournament people thought I was an underdog Brawl player because I seemed to have a relatively solid set of fundamentals I guess, while in fact I wasn't, I just played casually until Sm4sh was released.

My point is don't beat yourself up for this, as long as you're using Marth's tools in a way that suits your playstyle while still making the full out of them, then it's fine. Keep practicing is the advice I'd give, and I know everyone gives it and it probably doesn't help much; but it's honestly the best advice. Marth is not easy to play.

 

[RevolverRed]

There are different types of playstyles for almost all characters. As a Sheik main I can tell you there are 3 main playstyles for her; camping out with needles near the ledge and forcing approaches, going HAM and in-your-face the entire match, or a mixture of both. Of course, different matchups require different playstyles sometimes, and different situations can require you to change up your playstyles in a match.

That being said I also happen to play Marth as a secondary and have been since the 3DS days. And I can tell you ledge camping isn't exactly my idea of the ideal playstyle for Marth. It might be, for other Marth players, but not for me. To me the way to play Marth is spacing and walling out opponent's approaches and taking advantage of that; punishing them with a grab or Fsmash when the chance arises. That means a whole lot of jumping fairs, nairs, and RAR bairs.

Maybe EmblemLord was just a better player. That's fine. From the modest time I spend on the Marth boards he seems to be quite the leader there, helping people around etc, so that gives me the idea he's a really good Marth. I've been playing Sheik since the first days of the 3DS days until now; that's 8 months, and I'm still not even close to the level of top Sheiks like False or Mr. R because they've been playing competitive smash for years and I only started playing competitively with Sm4sh. And with that being said I'm really proud of how long I've came since then and people are also somehow surprised by that fact lol, when I first showed up to a tournament people thought I was an underdog Brawl player because I seemed to have a relatively solid set of fundamentals I guess, while in fact I wasn't, I just played casually until Sm4sh was released.

My point is don't beat yourself up for this, as long as you're using Marth's tools in a way that suits your playstyle while still making the full out of them, then it's fine. Keep practicing is the advice I'd give, and I know everyone gives it and it probably doesn't help much; but it's honestly the best advice. Marth is not easy to play.

FINALLY, A REPLY.

The problem is that, when I was facing EmblemLord, jumping nairs, fairs, rar bairs, etc. didn't work on him. Of course he could beat lesser Marths knowing this but he just straight up told me that everything I was doing was wrong. Faced another Marth, however, who told me that Marth dittos are a different story and that Marth can be played depending on the person. Then when we actually fought he told me to change up my play style the same way. However, BBQ Knives told me that an aggressive Marth is good, but Emblem Lord says that it's not good. I don't know what to believe anymore.

 

[Sleek Media]

Sounds less like he was beating you with reflexes, and more like he just let you make unsafe plays. Smash4 isn't like Melee or Brawl. You can't just spam your "best" aerial and expect to win. You have to be much more mindful of your opponent's defensive options and make more of an effort to mix up your approach. Also Marth ledge camping sounds like a recipe for disaster.

 

[RevolverRed]

Sounds less like he was beating you with reflexes, and more like he just let you make unsafe plays. Smash4 isn't like Melee or Brawl. You can't just spam your "best" aerial and expect to win. You have to be much more mindful of your opponent's defensive options and make more of an effort to mix up your approach. Also Marth ledge camping sounds like a recipe for disaster.

No, near the end of it all he just told me that he's just reacting to whatever I was doing(also because he know I would do things so often). I don't know who to believe any more though. Mr. E jumps and nairs, bairs, etc. a lot, but Emblem Lord just advised not to jump or nair.

 

[TheGreatMetagod]

From my understanding, Marth has pretty laggy aerials in this game (as opposed to his old ones). Are you trying to approach with the aerials or wall with them? Marth shouldn't be approaching unless it's necessary, and definitely not with aerials. It sounds like you kept committing to Marth's aerials and getting punished for it.

How's your punish game?

 

[RevolverRed]

From my understanding, Marth has pretty laggy aerials in this game (as opposed to his old ones). Are you trying to approach with the aerials or wall with them? Marth shouldn't be approaching unless it's necessary, and definitely not with aerials. It sounds like you kept committing to Marth's aerials and getting punished for it.

How's your punish game?

Depends. Rushdowns give me cancer, air-based fighters like Kirby or Jiggs are hard. I see Mr. E us short hop nair and bair all the time though and it usually works out for him but not for me.

 

[TheGreatMetagod]

If you're just trying to practice reacting and punishing, you should just do matches with that specific goal in mind. Don't approach. Just react and punish. If you must approach, don't jump. Just walk. I personally practice reflexive training on Lvl 1-5 computers. I play against 2 or 3 (on teams) and try to wall them out. I practice like this whenever I'm learning a new character. Can you counter/powershield on reaction? I can't think of a reason to need particularly fast reflexes to be a Marth player (on Smash 4).

You don't need to be aggressive with Marth. It's a bad idea. Aerials should be saved until your opponent is actually in the air. You don't want to go for aerials on grounded opponents (most of the time). You should check out the Marth Boards for specific advice for Marth. http://smashboards.com/forums/marth.416/

Sorry I can't help more.

 

[RevolverRed]

If you're just trying to practice reacting and punishing, you should just do matches with that specific goal in mind. Don't approach. Just react and punish. If you must approach, don't jump. Just walk. I personally practice reflexive training on Lvl 1-5 computers. I play against 2 or 3 (on teams) and try to wall them out. I practice like this whenever I'm learning a new character. Can you counter/powershield on reaction? I can't think of a reason to need particularly fast reflexes to be a Marth player (on Smash 4).

You don't need to be aggressive with Marth. It's a bad idea. Aerials should be saved until your opponent is actually in the air. You don't want to go for aerials on grounded opponents (most of the time). You should check out the Marth Boards for specific advice for Marth. http://smashboards.com/forums/marth.416/

Sorry I can't help more.

I'm a terrible powershielder but I can counter well if someone's in the air or I'm at a high percentage cuz thats just from experience. I have bad reaction timing though.

 

[Radirgy]

Don't let Emblem Lord tell you that you must play a character in a certain way, he smack talks Mr E's Marth even though Mr E has done well with it.