Hi everyone,
Since we're closer than ever to a world without wobbling, we have ought to reconsider how we play the game as ICs mains. It's my personal belief that the climbers' unique tools have been disgustingly under-used since, well, forever. As an ICs main that doesn't wobble (I couldn't hold a wobble if I wanted to lol), I'd like to share my own insights to playing the game of Melee with less value on our Nana. This is not a guide, just general topic thread of playing the neutral with ICs without wobbling.
The Same
As our friendly Philidelphia ICs main SluG has shown us is that ICs are still capable of being played the same and yielding great results (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq-H4xx4Ixc&t=382s 2nd place over other great players). His punish game off of grab has adapted, but overall he plays the ICs as if they were 1 character; hitting as hard as Ganon with his two hammers. In fact, it seems the only desync he does is the blizzard desync. Is this type of play soon to be outdated? Is SluG carrying the ICs with his fundamental skill? Only time will tell.
The New
My point is, Nana is a tool. While you do get double damage from playing her by your side, you can cover a lot of options in the neutral with her desynced. For example, nana blizzarding and leaving Popo open to defend is many options covered by having active hitboxes out! So if a hungry fox tries to fullhop in and drill, maybe you could fsmash or bair them into submission. And even when the desyncs do not lead to punishing open neutral, they can simply take space safely for Popo. As another plus, when getting punished, it is possible to break free with your Nana. Most commonly, while Popo is grabbed you can attack with Nana to break him free (or vice versa). But also you can use other moves in different circumstances to break a combo.
I made a short video showing how differently you could use the same startup to desync (wavedashing off platform, which is very common in the game).
youtu.be
This video is of my Nana breaking a sheik's combo. Slow down the speed if you want a better look at what's happening (I cover a few of Sheik's options with the same inputs - and it works)
youtu.be
It's also always worth it to remember that Popo is more important than Nana; if Nana dies you still have your stock but Popo is your stock. It's always worth it to have Nana die instead of Popo. Which is why it could be very worth it to have Nana take the brunt of attacks and risk. For example you could have Nana jump and attack to platform while Popo stays safely underneath (while desynced). In another context, you could dash dance and let Nana take a hit to get a punish of your own. These, for the most part, aren't new things in the ICs plays - however they're seldom utilized in a meta with legal wobbling, because wobbling is your kill off grabs in that meta.
In my own play I have adopted this idea of Nana taking the risk for my Popo - Nana should be the one closer to the opponent, getting hit by getup attacks on platform and she shouldn't be locked into my movement - the resync desync is my best friend for quick desyncs without having to interrupt my movement very much at all (even if it's based on an AI and RNG in some circumstances, it's still quite reliable).
Since we're closer than ever to a world without wobbling, we have ought to reconsider how we play the game as ICs mains. It's my personal belief that the climbers' unique tools have been disgustingly under-used since, well, forever. As an ICs main that doesn't wobble (I couldn't hold a wobble if I wanted to lol), I'd like to share my own insights to playing the game of Melee with less value on our Nana. This is not a guide, just general topic thread of playing the neutral with ICs without wobbling.
The Same
As our friendly Philidelphia ICs main SluG has shown us is that ICs are still capable of being played the same and yielding great results (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq-H4xx4Ixc&t=382s 2nd place over other great players). His punish game off of grab has adapted, but overall he plays the ICs as if they were 1 character; hitting as hard as Ganon with his two hammers. In fact, it seems the only desync he does is the blizzard desync. Is this type of play soon to be outdated? Is SluG carrying the ICs with his fundamental skill? Only time will tell.
The New
My point is, Nana is a tool. While you do get double damage from playing her by your side, you can cover a lot of options in the neutral with her desynced. For example, nana blizzarding and leaving Popo open to defend is many options covered by having active hitboxes out! So if a hungry fox tries to fullhop in and drill, maybe you could fsmash or bair them into submission. And even when the desyncs do not lead to punishing open neutral, they can simply take space safely for Popo. As another plus, when getting punished, it is possible to break free with your Nana. Most commonly, while Popo is grabbed you can attack with Nana to break him free (or vice versa). But also you can use other moves in different circumstances to break a combo.
I made a short video showing how differently you could use the same startup to desync (wavedashing off platform, which is very common in the game).
ics desync stuff
slide off desyncs with fast falls and aireals changing how the desyncs turn out. just showcasing the tools that can be used.
youtu.be
nana helps
i use my nana to break a combo.Notice how if I hadn't been hit, Popo would have done a bair himself; covering several options at once.
youtu.be
It's also always worth it to remember that Popo is more important than Nana; if Nana dies you still have your stock but Popo is your stock. It's always worth it to have Nana die instead of Popo. Which is why it could be very worth it to have Nana take the brunt of attacks and risk. For example you could have Nana jump and attack to platform while Popo stays safely underneath (while desynced). In another context, you could dash dance and let Nana take a hit to get a punish of your own. These, for the most part, aren't new things in the ICs plays - however they're seldom utilized in a meta with legal wobbling, because wobbling is your kill off grabs in that meta.
In my own play I have adopted this idea of Nana taking the risk for my Popo - Nana should be the one closer to the opponent, getting hit by getup attacks on platform and she shouldn't be locked into my movement - the resync desync is my best friend for quick desyncs without having to interrupt my movement very much at all (even if it's based on an AI and RNG in some circumstances, it's still quite reliable).