ICs in Doubles Play: Yes or No?

[slacker!]

A couple days ago my peepz were all discussing a recent tourney coming up. We were all hoping there would be a doubles tourney (along w/ singles) to make it more fun.

This got me questioning if I should go ICs into Doubles. . .

- In Melee, they were excellent (still not the best though) because they were able to move around quickly getting grab combos here and there and moving on/getting in quick finishers w/ usmash and fsmash because of only one reason: Wavedashing.

- Now in Brawl it's gone and we're just two big targets that yell "KILL NANA!".

- Our approaches of SH IBs/Blizz are useless because of TA so that leaves us on the defensive in approaching.

- From MY experiances, Nana gets killed easily because a smart team CAN and WILL seperate them and boom Nana's dead in 3 seconds cause you have Enemy A on you and Enemy B on Nana.






What are your thoughts on ICs job/effectiveness during 2vs2? Bad teamate/Good teamate? WHO to team with? etc.


P.S. Try to stay away from "Well so and so will happen because your teamate . . ." because this is about ICs, not your friend.

 

[Speedsk8er]

We can also double Dthrow chaingrab. >.> Not that that helps much...

I usually switch to GaW/Jiggz for doubles.

 

[slacker!]

We can also double Dthrow chaingrab. >.> Not that that helps much...

I usually switch to GaW/Jiggz for doubles.

I'll be honest and say I often switch to G&W as well. . . but for the sake of discussion let's be "perm ICs" lol.

 

[Corner-Trap]

Personally I think the IC's are bad in doubles and FFA's, I only like them for 1v1's.

 

[Elliot Gale]

I've never seen them as good in doubles either. I play Falco for that. =\

 

[Kitamerby]

Boy, I'm wondering what would happen if both people on the team used IC and alternate grabbed at the same time to incapacitate both foes and thus completely ensure victory for the team controlling the chibi eskimos...

 

[Binx]

ICs are much better in doubles now due to the fact they can stay synched, however I believe characters that are fast / have good aerial range are better for doubles. Marth, Meta, TL and the like will naturally be better in doubles. Also ICs grabs are less effective in doubles because their partner can interrupt the throws.

 

[Finch]

ICs are awful in doubles in brawl. They're slow and they can't do grab combos and they're slow and die easily. Use someone else.

 

[skuzzel]

heh, they can be used well, I double with them when my friend plays lucus. I can use vB to heal him about 30-40% per stock. That tactic also forces an approach by our enemies which is good.

You can ice block spam in 2v2, you just have to be on a ledge above your partner.

You can also B stick your v B for some good use in setting up KOs.

 

[Dan_X]

ICs in Doubles

It seems that the conclusion has already been met: ICs aren't ideal for doubles.

Cons:

• They can't safely and effectively perform grab combos without the other opponent getting involved

• Nana can and will be separated, thus your power and options are cut in half (never a good thing).

• They simply aren't as good as support, and lack aerial power that other characters excel at, namely any character with a disjointed hit box: Marth, Ike...

• They lack a bit in speed.

Their pros primarily lie in the 1vs1 arena.

Pros:

• Can perform a slew of chain grab related combos.

• Decent approach, especially while desynched. Most notably Blizzard, and Squall Hammer.

• Desynched Ice Blocks are great in that they force the enemy to advance.

• Multiple ways to desynch, allowing for good mind game potential.

• Ice Lock is very viable, especially for moving an enemy closer to the edge, then chasing and re-grabbing once they perform their get-up animation.

These pros simply aren't as impactful in a doubles match, as many of them can't be executed properly.

In the end, they aren't terrible in doubles, it's just not their strong suit. Their power comes from grab combos, grab combos that may not be possible in a team match. With out said combos, and with the fact that Nana can die off much more easily, the Ice Climbers become a below average character, as they cannot perform at their peek. With that said, that's when you look to secondary mains to fill the gap. Many other characters will perform perfectly well in doubles, picking up the slack where the Ice Climbers could not.