“What do you know about Smashing? I’ve been smashing since before you were born. Why, I had to L-cancel 15 miles across Final Destination just to keep from getting pummeled. You hear? I’ve been L-canceling back when they called it Z-canceling. Without L-canceling, I wouldn’t have been able to fight off those goons to save my life. It’s been so long, and now I’m tired. Won’t you fetch me some more stock?”
“Oh, Grandpa KirbyKid. Get your own stock.”
Ok. Enough games. I’m here to talk about L-canceling and why it’s so important for Smash. (This mostly applies to smashers who L-cancel). By hitting L, R, or Z when your character lands from an air A attack, the lag is reduced by half. This is <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=4n4s5yB7ZkE" title="L-canceling" target="_blank">L-canceling</a>. This technique allows players to move more quickly easily ramping up the overall speed of battle. All competitive smashers L-cancel (or they die).
I used to think, “If we’re going to L-cancel all the time anyway, then why have it in the game in the first place? Why couldn’t the lag from air A attacks be halved from the start so we wouldn’t have to hit so many buttons all the time?”
Now I understand the benefits that L-canceling brings to competitive smash.
<!--more-->1) The speed L-canceling brings to a players movement is a clear indicator of a more advanced player. Players who don’t L-cancel generally don’t look as active as players who do. L-canceling, as well as other technical skills, can be used to flex one’s “technical muscles.” In this way, the ability and skill levels of a player can be gauged.
2) Because the competitive smasher has to keep up with L-canceling throughout the entire match, their character’s speed becomes a clear indicator of their level of focus and stamina. It’s obvious when my enemies start to grow tired because they start missing L-cancels and they begin moving more slowly. When this happens, I know I can take advantage of my opponent’s state of weaknesses.
In a real fight you would be able to clearly see how tired your opponent is by the look on their face and how their body moved. But while playing a video game, it’s important to keep your eyes on the screen. Even if you do take a peek at your opponent next to you, you might not be able to tell how tired they are because us gamers generally look like zombies when we’re absorbed into a game. Seeing fatigue through character movement brings that element of a real fight to Smash.
All of this falls into the game design philosophy [the more visual the game is the better]. In the meantime, I’ll be L-canceling whenever I can and probably getting tired of it too. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Oh, Grandpa KirbyKid. Get your own stock.”
Ok. Enough games. I’m here to talk about L-canceling and why it’s so important for Smash. (This mostly applies to smashers who L-cancel). By hitting L, R, or Z when your character lands from an air A attack, the lag is reduced by half. This is <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=4n4s5yB7ZkE" title="L-canceling" target="_blank">L-canceling</a>. This technique allows players to move more quickly easily ramping up the overall speed of battle. All competitive smashers L-cancel (or they die).
I used to think, “If we’re going to L-cancel all the time anyway, then why have it in the game in the first place? Why couldn’t the lag from air A attacks be halved from the start so we wouldn’t have to hit so many buttons all the time?”
Now I understand the benefits that L-canceling brings to competitive smash.
<!--more-->1) The speed L-canceling brings to a players movement is a clear indicator of a more advanced player. Players who don’t L-cancel generally don’t look as active as players who do. L-canceling, as well as other technical skills, can be used to flex one’s “technical muscles.” In this way, the ability and skill levels of a player can be gauged.
2) Because the competitive smasher has to keep up with L-canceling throughout the entire match, their character’s speed becomes a clear indicator of their level of focus and stamina. It’s obvious when my enemies start to grow tired because they start missing L-cancels and they begin moving more slowly. When this happens, I know I can take advantage of my opponent’s state of weaknesses.
In a real fight you would be able to clearly see how tired your opponent is by the look on their face and how their body moved. But while playing a video game, it’s important to keep your eyes on the screen. Even if you do take a peek at your opponent next to you, you might not be able to tell how tired they are because us gamers generally look like zombies when we’re absorbed into a game. Seeing fatigue through character movement brings that element of a real fight to Smash.
All of this falls into the game design philosophy [the more visual the game is the better]. In the meantime, I’ll be L-canceling whenever I can and probably getting tired of it too. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
