I need help learning to l-cancel

[AlbobDS]

So i've been practicing l-canceling, and its been the hardest technique for me to pick up so far. I can wave dash, but i can't l-cancel, and from what i've heard you should learn l-canceling before wavedashing, and i picked up wave dashing in a few minutes, but i've been practicing l-canceling for a while now and i just cant get the timing down. I have a couple questions.

Do different aerials have different timings for l-canceling, or am i just crazy?

If i accidentally air dodge, am i pressing l too early or to late?

I'd really appreciate some answers here, im getting frustrated.

 

[shairn]

If PM uses the same timing as Melee, the shield button input must come within 6 frames of landing on the ground while doing an aerial. If you accidentally airdodge, I think that means you've input your shield after the move's first actionable frames, which means you wouldn't have needed to L-cancel in the first place.

 

[9bit]

I think I had read that it was 7 frames, but either way you want to hit L (or R, or Z, or whatever button you use for shielding if you have custom controls) 6 - 7 frames before landing. You only need to do this if you are going to land on the ground during the animation of an aerial attack.

If you air dodge it means you weren't in an attack animation and didn't need to L-cancel anything.

Upon a successful L-cancel in PM your character will flash white a couple of times.

Practice with Link's down-air. It's the easiest to notice the difference. Do a couple without even attempting an L-cancel to get a feel for the move. Make sure you hit the ground while Link's sword is still out. Then do a few and try to L-cancel them. Remember, push the button just before you land. Good luck!

 

[AcousticAdrian]

Another important thing while learning to L-Cancel is to not fully press the L/R trigger (if that is what you are using) when L-Canceling. The reason for this is if you are hit out of your aerial while trying to L-Cancel it, you might accidentally press L/R after you are hit, meaning that you will lock yourself out of your opportunity to tech for a full 40 frames because you accidentally pressed L/R too early for the proper tech window. It's good to learn this early so you don't have to reteach yourself later, like I did. :l

Also, as for timing, the amount of frames before you touch the ground remains the same. The difference comes simply from the time it takes to approach the ground, which is affected by each character's falling speed, whether or not your opponent was shielding, whether you short hopped or full hopped, whether or not you fast-falled, or if you didn't hit anything. For hitting shields, each move has a different amount of shield stun, so you will also have to practice L-Canceling each individual move. It is good to practice L-Canceling in all of these situations.

To practice hitting shields, go to Training Mode, and drop a Starman item on your cpu opponent. Hitting an invulnerable opponent has the same amount of lag as hitting a shield, so you can just practice performing aerials on the invulnerable cpu.

 

[IceyBeef]

20xx hack pack. That is all

 

[Y-L]

When I learned L canceling I would just press L at the same time as I held down to fast fall. This works pretty consistently for 90% of characters/aerials assuming you short hop. Hope this helps.

 

[?.?]

When I learned L canceling I would just press L at the same time as I held down to fast fall. This works pretty consistently for 90% of characters/aerials assuming you short hop. Hope this helps.

This is pretty accurate, I learned via zss nair shffling but it wasn't easy. And even with a lot of practice expect to miss a few now and then.

 

[Fortress]

In layman's terms: input your cancel before you hit the ground, not as you are hitting it. That was the misconception many of the players here were under when they first tried it out.

 

[Mera Mera]

Another important thing while learning to L-Cancel is to not fully press the L/R trigger (if that is what you are using) when L-Canceling. The reason for this is if you are hit out of your aerial while trying to L-Cancel it, you might accidentally press L/R after you are hit, meaning that you will lock yourself out of your opportunity to tech for a full 40 frames because you accidentally pressed L/R too early for the proper tech window. It's good to learn this early so you don't have to reteach yourself later, like I did. :l

Does anyone know if the fail window for tech is the following 20 frames (so frames 21-40) or following 40 frames (frames 21-60) after the tech window is missed? I've heard it both ways and I'm not sure which one's right.

 

[DrinkingFood]

It's neither. It's frames 21-40 after the tech input that are set to miss the tech automatically if you weren't successful in teching during frames 1-20

 

[Mera Mera]

It's neither. It's frames 21-40 after the tech input that are set to miss the tech automatically if you weren't successful in teching during frames 1-20

Thank you. That's what I thought, but I wasn't 100% sure (ah... what you said is what I meant for the first option, I didn't clarify that "following 20 frames" meant after the 1-20 frames of the tech window, but I tried to imply it. I should have said for 20 frames following the tech window). I asked 'cause people say things along the lines of "for the following 40 frames," which it makes it sound like the fail window is frames 21-60.

 

[Jackson]

The press fast fall and L at the same time thing was working for me when doing Squirtle's Nair around the stage in Training, but when I actually hit an opponent, I felt like the timing became different and I wasn't L canceling. So, I know that hitting a shield messes up the timing, but is the timing different between hitting an opponent and hitting nothing (with an aerial)?

 

[SpiderMad]

hitting an opponent freezes the two objects/beings and during this time is where SDI occurs, practice performing said move or technique against a wall on that snake stage or on a Bowser at .5 DMG ratio

 

[Y-L]

The press fast fall and L at the same time thing was working for me when doing Squirtle's Nair around the stage in Training, but when I actually hit an opponent, I felt like the timing became different and I wasn't L canceling. So, I know that hitting a shield messes up the timing, but is the timing different between hitting an opponent and hitting nothing (with an aerial)?

The timing for L canceling differs slightly when actually hitting an opponent and even more so on a shield. Doing it at the same time is good for learning it, but in practicality once you've mastered it like that is that you want to delay the L input ever so slightly.

 

[RIDLEY is too SMALL]

So i've been practicing l-canceling, and its been the hardest technique for me to pick up so far. I can wave dash, but i can't l-cancel, and from what i've heard you should learn l-canceling before wavedashing, and i picked up wave dashing in a few minutes, but i've been practicing l-canceling for a while now and i just cant get the timing down. I have a couple questions.

Do different aerials have different timings for l-canceling, or am i just crazy?

If i accidentally air dodge, am i pressing l too early or to late?

I'd really appreciate some answers here, im getting frustrated.

Ok, first, do you know how to short hop and fast fall? These two necessary things should really come before anything else because they give you greater control over your character's aerial movement.

What some people are saying about pressing L at the same time as inputting a fast fall (as long as your jump is a short hop and not a full jump) is actually useful advice. That's how I learned how to L-cancel. Short-hop, aerial attack, and then input fast fall and L at the same time. Fast falling is never necessary for successful L-cancelling of course, but this little trick does help you understand the timing when first learning how to L-cancel.

If you successfully perform an L-cancel in Project M, your character will briefly flash white, indicating that the L-cancel occurred.

Accidentally air dodging should never happen and probably means that you're doing something wrong. Remember, the point of L-cancelling is to shorten the animation of your character landing from an aerial attack, thus allowing you to act sooner after landing. You should be pressing L sometime after you input an aerial attack and just before landing on the ground.

Also, L-cancelling does not work on B-button moves, only your standard A-button aerials.

Keep trying to figure it out. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second-nature and you begin doing it without thinking.

 

[SpiderMad]

L-cancel with light press and save your hands some ergonomic trouble in the future

 

[Jackson]

L-cancel with light press and save your hands some ergonomic trouble in the future

You mean in forcing yourself to learn it later? I've already started with the hard press, could be difficult.

 

[shairn]

Arthritis maybe?