How you should choose your competitive main in Smash 4

[BlazeFlipnotes]

How you SHOULD choose your competitive main in Smash 4:
1. Choose a character that fits your play style.
2. Choose a character that you can feel passionate about.
3. Chose a character that you WIN with.

How you WILL MOST LIKELY choose your competitive main in Smash 4:
1. Look up popular unofficial Smash 4 tier lists and choose one of the top tier characters.
2. Choose a character that most of the top players are using.
3. Choose a character that has good tournament results.

- Event Hub: Tiers for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
- Smash Bros subReddit: Official /r/smashbros CUSTOMS OFF Tier List Results! (April 2015).
- Smash Bros subReddit: Official /r/smashbros Monthly Voted Tier List RESULTS! (July 2015) CUSTOMS OFF.
- YouTube: ZeRo's Smash Bros Wii U Tier List Part 1, Part 2, etc.
- SmashBoards: Community Voted Tier List.

event hubs is garbage tho lol

 

[SmashLatios]

Personally through my experience of playing smash you should choose who you most feel comfortable with. Even if that character you like is a low tier, don't get discouraged. It all depends on how you use the character. I first started off with Mario on the N64 version, and I wasn't very good because I never really knew how to use him in competitive play. Then later I finally decided to switch characters. I moved onto Pikachu as my new main, and I did better than I ever did in Smash Bros. And no it wasn't because Pikachu is a higher tier in smash. It was because I was more comfortable with using him than Mario. I practiced and became a whole lot better. In Smash 4 i've faced a person who mained Megaman, a lower tier character. And unfortunately I was brutally defeated lol. Anyway... No matter the tier of a character, it doesn't mean that it should have an effect on your main for smash. Just my opinion

 

[Dre89]

Winning is fun with any character, you should play the character that is still fun when you lose

 

[Wayofalex's Gaming]

event hubs is garbage tho lol

You know EventHubs is garbage when DK is at the bottom of the list, under Charizard. I think DK is mid-tier

 

[clydeaker]

You know EventHubs is garbage when DK is at the bottom of the list, under Charizard. I think DK is mid-tier

Then vote on DK's match-ups on EventHub. Even if you think it's garbage you might as well make it slightly better than just garbage.

 

[PerryEllis]

How you should choose your competitive main in Smash 4

Does your character have projectile spam potential?
Does it have a counter move?
Does it have range?

If your character is a yes to at least one or two of these questions then congratulations. You just increased your winning odds by 30% with this cheap character.

 

[Baby_Sneak]

Does your character have projectile spam potential?
Does it have a counter move?
Does it have range?

If your character is a yes to at least one or two of these questions then congratulations. You just increased your winning odds by 30% with this cheap character.

You must Be new to fighting games

 

[PerryEllis]

You must Be new to fighting games

You must make a lot of bad assumptions each day.

 

[Baby_Sneak]

You must make a lot of bad assumptions each day.

Nah they're pin point everytime
EDIT: ima actually ask a question. What's cheap?

 

[Shadow_13]

Winning is fun with any character, you should play the character that is still fun when you lose

This is the statement I agree with most. It's like when the game came out, I thought I would make Shulk my 3rd main (Because Link and Samus are always my top 2). Well we all picked characters in a 4 player match. First person picked Shulk, and so instead I wanted Lucina. Another one of my friends picked her. Then I wanted Pac-Man, who was also claimed. I was like "I guess I will just pick Wii Fit Trainer". I was so disappointed... until I started using her moves in the training room. I was like, "SHE FIGHTS WITH STRETCHING! And she serves a volleyball! (Which I later found was a soccerball header, but whatever.)" She immediately became my most played character other than Link, but more than Samus. WFT is kind of considered bad, and my W/L ratio is nowhere near as high as my Link or my Fox, but she is still so much fun to use.

 

[Avokha]

Nah they're pin point everytime
EDIT: ima actually ask a question. What's cheap?

Projectiles, counters, and reusable combos apparently

 

[SquishySheep]

Ok so first I want to say I got this game when it first came out and I gave practically every character a shot and I decided I don't know who is the best for me to "Main",

For starters do i choose a character I love? That would be Ness, or Lucas, Robin, Or maybe even Kirby as I love them all as a character! But then theres...

A character who is comfortable to me personally, Again Ness is rather comfortable for me, So is Megaman (After playing as him for a very long time) Marth, (Again long time of playing) And Shulk is another I am fairly comfortable with.

And then there's characters I WANT to be good with. Like Villager, Roy, Greninja, Pit. All characters I like but lack any sort of skill with them, But the urge to use them is still there.

At this point I feel like I'm playing a jack of all trades approach which is not ideal right?

So should i play who i like? Who i want to use? or should i stick with who i am best with? All of this, in terms of competitively... I don't want to be the guy who chooses Sheik or Diddy. Really. What are you guy's opinions? I am leaning towards Marth, or Roy or Robin. (I'm a big fire emblem fan) But i just don't win at all in competitive settings... I am sortof new. But in the longrun. Who should I "Main"?

 

[Snackss]

Just play all of the characters you you want and it will start to narrow down which ones you're best with and want to keep using. Pretty good chance one will be Ness, since he's so good. Pit is easy to use. Villager, Mega Man, and Greninja all have unorthodox play styles and/ or a noticeable learning curve, so you might drop some of them.

There's not much of a consensus as to which Fire Emblem character is best. Probably Ike, but Marth, Roy, and Robin all have merits. And flaws.

 

[zblaqk]

Well, simply put: What character clicks with you that you also enjoy playing? From your post it seems like Ness. I started Smash by learning a character fully, and learning the fundamentals before I really started caring about tier lists etc. Just use what you like that works for you!

 

[1FC0]

Choose R.O.B.!

I was not good with R.O.B. and remember him being awkward for me in SSBB but I sticked with him and when Smash 4 came out I could immediately dominate FG 1v1 with R.O.B. when I got him because he was so right for me because R.O.B. is in my experience easy enough to get used to and he is the most awesome character in Smash!

 

[FallenHero]

From your post I think you should pick Ness. If you like them and feel comfortable playing as them, don't even contemplate it, JUST DO IT. Since I am a Marth main and you said you are comfortable playing as him, I think you should also play as him as a co-main or secondary, but do what you want.

 

[LancerStaff]

Don't mean to mini mod but there's a topic for this already.

 

[Raijinken]

If you're a Fire Emblem fan and don't play in a customs-on region, I'd say go Roy. Marth's solid, too, though.

 

[PK Get Rekt]

If you're looking for a main then you need one that matches your regular playstyle according to other fighting games you've played.

Keep-away and air control-Ness, Samus, anyone who has a good deal of projectiles, Mega Man,etc.

Close up Heavy attacks-Little Mac, Bowser, Ganondorf, etc.

Laying Down traps and general chaos-Villager

 

[T4ylor]

@ SquishySheep main Ness, there's no reason not to. You already like him as a character and are comfortable with using him, on top of that he's a top character in this game so you can go far if you can play him well. Out of all the other characters you listed I'd suggest you secondary Pit (/Dark Pit). He does better in some match ups, most notably Rosalina. You're best off avoiding playing her with Ness. Plus he's easy to pick up and learn so you won't have to spend as much time away from your main.

 

[LancerStaff]

Ok so first I want to say I got this game when it first came out and I gave practically every character a shot and I decided I don't know who is the best for me to "Main",

For starters do i choose a character I love? That would be Ness, or Lucas, Robin, Or maybe even Kirby as I love them all as a character! But then theres...

A character who is comfortable to me personally, Again Ness is rather comfortable for me, So is Megaman (After playing as him for a very long time) Marth, (Again long time of playing) And Shulk is another I am fairly comfortable with.

And then there's characters I WANT to be good with. Like Villager, Roy, Greninja, Pit. All characters I like but lack any sort of skill with them, But the urge to use them is still there.

At this point I feel like I'm playing a jack of all trades approach which is not ideal right?

So should i play who i like? Who i want to use? or should i stick with who i am best with? All of this, in terms of competitively... I don't want to be the guy who chooses Sheik or Diddy. Really. What are you guy's opinions? I am leaning towards Marth, or Roy or Robin. (I'm a big fire emblem fan) But i just don't win at all in competitive settings... I am sortof new. But in the longrun. Who should I "Main"?

Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to really compete Roy and Robin are really only good as secondaries at best, but everybody else is definitely main viable.

If you're looking for a character to improve yourself or a character with no really bad matchups (and thus not requiring a secondary) then Pit would be the way to go, especially online because Pit lacks anything really abusable in lag. Pit requires matchup experience though, so it can be frustrating to fight a player using a character you're not familiar with.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Does your character have projectile spam potential?
Does it have a counter move?
Does it have range?

If your character is a yes to at least one or two of these questions then congratulations. You just increased your winning odds by 30% with this cheap character.

Sounds to me like you were playing against a character that you don't like and you're being passive aggressive about it.
That's no way to get better.

 

[PerryEllis]

Sounds to me like you were playing against a character that you don't like and you're being passive aggressive about it.
That's no way to get better.

Not about getting better. There are threads on this forum stating character counters to other characters. In other words, there isn't a 50% chance for any character you choose to beat another character that is highly favored to win.

Imagine if there were two Zero-skilled players playing against each other, if one chose Link and the other chose DK, Link would likely win the majority of the time.

Get better all you want when the kit for one character will stack better against another.

Then there is the silly argument that you can swap characters to counter the counter to your first character, well at that point you are 0-1, and let's say you win (making it 1-1), now he gets to change characters and he chooses a counter to yours. Now there is no way to get a guaranteed win.

 

[PerryEllis]

Nah they're pin point everytime
EDIT: ima actually ask a question. What's cheap?

Projectiles, counters, and reusable combos apparently

Looks like someone else is able to figure it out based on there experience in playing this game and ability provided be school education to comprehend the context clues.

 

[LancerStaff]

That's... Not entirely wrong.

"Tiers" exist at all levels of play. Nario and Zero's tier list won't necessarily apply, but between any two players of equal skill the character will largely be the deciding factor.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

That's wrong, no matter how much the "tiers" say your character is outclassed you still have a chance to win.
That's why you learn the match-up, and make a strategy.

 

[Ridel]

That's wrong, no matter how much the "tiers" say your character is outclassed you still have a chance to win.
That's why you learn the match-up, and make a strategy.

I think it becomes less about how the character can win, but rather about how easy it is to win with said character. Shiek obviously has a much easier time dispatching most character compared to someone like Falco. This is what I feel it really boils down to in competitive play. Most people are going to play a character that has has to put in a lot less effort then another characters. Not to say Shiek players get free wins mind you. They just have better chance of placing higher because of the lesser effort to beat certain characters IMO.

 

[komaul]

For you guys what do you gravitate towards for mains: While keeping the root of this threads factors in mind would it be the ability to win or the will to win? I guess for the most part it's a personal choice, but it's one I still find myself asking when I look at the tier lists out there still trying to find one. I can win a lot with Rosalina but should that be the deciding factor over wanting to win with other cast members?

 

[NewZen]

I've always picked my competitive main in any game based upon one thing and one thing only-Do I like them as a character?

Hell, out of my characters, one of my secondaries is placed in the High Tiers all of the time (Just look at my sig for reference), and I do better with than I ever could with , primarily because, while they both fit my style and like them, I just win with Toon more. Yeah, he's not high tier, and if I were to ever go to any grand events, I'd probably not even make it to Bracket status, but in the end, that really doesn't matter to me personally, does it?

 

[JesseMcCloud]

Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to really compete Roy and Robin are really only good as secondaries at best, but everybody else is definitely main viable.

If you're looking for a character to improve yourself or a character with no really bad matchups (and thus not requiring a secondary) then Pit would be the way to go, especially online because Pit lacks anything really abusable in lag. Pit requires matchup experience though, so it can be frustrating to fight a player using a character you're not familiar with.

What are your go-to kill moves with Pit?

 

[LancerStaff]

What are your go-to kill moves with Pit?

It's pretty matchup dependent. Pit's like Pac in where he has a lot of different ways to get KOs but they're all fairly specific. Fthrow is probably the most consistent option since grabs come pretty easily for Pit.

 

[Ravine]

Peach is so light, bouncy, and floaty, and can literally float! What is not to love about her?

 

[Baby_Sneak]

I think we need to talk about secondaries and how important and essential they can be to your game.

 

[Rinku リンク]

It actually makes me wonder how many people play the characters they play because they actually enjoy the franchise or character itself.

 

[Lochy]

I love this thread so much. I have shown countless people this thread and it really helped them. Just wanted to say my gratitude to you. Also I love the second point. Passion has always been a huge pushing point to me in my life so I'm glad you included it.(Will never get tired of Ness or Lucas' voices) Anyway great post!

 

[Reila]

It actually makes me wonder how many people play the characters they play because they actually enjoy the franchise or character itself.

Unfortunately, I doubt many "competitive" players pick characters that they love/from games they love.

 

[FoxwolfJackson]

I will honestly say that I never really truly got seriously into Smash until Smash 4. I did a few tournaments for fun in Melee and one or two in Brawl, but they were more for the experience than for winning.

I understand the idea that picking a higher tier character means more chances for success, but I have mained Jigglypuff since 64. Yes, even during the dark days of Brawl where I felt like I couldn't do anything, I stuck faithfully to the character. When Rest was nerfed between the two games, I stuck to the character, learned new combos and new KO potentials, and pushed forward. Now, I think that faith in Brawl really helped cement me in Smash 4 now that Jiggs looks a lot better again.

I think the three rules that OP said hits the nail on the head. You have to love your character, be passionate about your character, know not only the strengths and combos of your character but the weaknesses as well (so you can analyze and cover them against a bad matchup), otherwise, you're wasting your time. I could probably pick up Sheik or ZSS or Luigi or some other "top" character, but let's not forget that, unlike the other three games, patches keep coming out that alter the metagame and the tier lists. This generation, more than the others, relies less upon tiers and more upon skill and playstyles, in my honest opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

With that said, I haven't won any tournaments yet, but you know you're doing something right when go to an anime convention for fun, participate in the Smash tournament, have people laugh at seeing a Jigglypuff... only to have the crowd rally and cheer when you defy expectations and actually do well.

 

[Wayofalex's Gaming]

How You Should Choose Your Main In Competitive Smash 4.
Step 1: Try to play an underrated character.
Step 2: Lose at tournaments for doing so.
Step 3: Pick Sheik.
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Beat ZeRo (or SeaGull) at Evo 2016.

 

[Waterwraith]

I switch mains all the time(Lucina and Ganondorf are the only mains I've kept since launch. The chracters I"m the most passionate about(Peach, Ganondorf, Lucina, Pit, Sonic etc) I don't actually seem to do all that well with for some reason. compared to characters I don't really care about and picked up due to their playstyle like Roy.

I guess I gotta find a character that fits that happy medium.

 

[Boomstick720]

I seem to have a habit of picking "bad characters" for my mains.

Yet despite this, I always seem to have way more fun playing these allegedly bad characters than I do top tiers, and I find myself winning more consistently, even with the lower tiers (except for Brawl Ganondorf).

The point is, if you are willing to put in the time and effort to a character that you are passionate about, you will likely see some results.

Will you be taking tourney's left and right? Unless your main is Sheik, than no. But you will be enjoying the game more and the losses won't seem as frustrating. And believe me, when you choose a "low" or even "mid tier" main and start going competitive, you will lose. A lot. But if you keep going, and push your character to extremes, you'll be surprised with what they can do, especially in Sm4sh.

Kind of as a side note, tier lists don't matter all. Match up charts do. Luigi is (or at least was) considered a high tier character, but despite this, he has bad matchups with many low tier characters, including Shulk. Based on a tier list though, you would never see this, and many luigi players expecting to dominate a Shulk of equal skill may find themselves for a rude awakening. For another example, Ganondorf, who is often seen as the worst heavy character, actually has a slightly favorable matchup against DK who is often considered the best heavy character. Again, a tier list would not show this, and its for this reason why if you want to choose a character, look at their matchups, and determine if the unfavorable matchups matter more to you than the favorable ones.