Is a secondary a good idea when maining Marth?

[(LOX) AdapT]

Hey, so I play competitive Smash 4 and I want to get into Competitive Melee. I have decided I want to play Marth but, in order to cover Marth's bad match-ups I thought -why not have a secondary?- but I don't know who would be a good support for Marth. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[pershona]

You really don't need a secondary at a low level, but i'd recommend one of the spacies (Fox or Falco).

 

[20YY SS | Saiblade]

You shouldn't have a secondary until higher levels, but I definitely recommend Falco.

 

[Nicholas1024]

The problem with a secondary is that it forces you to develop multiple reflexes for even basic things. For instance, different wavedash timings, different ledge dash timings, different dashdance lengths, different tech chase setups... in short, picking up a second character makes it much more difficult to have clean movement and tech skill unless you've already mastered Marth.

As far as how much Marth needs a secondary... it's not strictly necessary, but it can be helpful. Marth can beat every character in this game, but all of the top tier matchups can be tricky to some extent. He's also noticeably weaker on Dreamland in Bo5 sets, especially against floaties. I would recommend playing Marth alone for a while, figuring out which matchups you personally struggle with, and picking your secondary based off of that. For instance, I dislike playing against other Marth's and Falcon's, so Sheik would be a reasonable secondary for me. If you found yourself struggling against Sheik and Peach, you might pick up Puff instead.

 

[FE_Hector]

That's been more than entirely answered already.

http://smashboards.com/threads/good-secondaries.407221/

 

[AirFair]

I don't think you need a secondary for a while lol

 

[(LOX) AdapT]

Wow, thanks guys. I won't look for a secondary for a while then.

 

[RoyIsOurBoy_TTG]

You really don't need a secondary at a low level, but i'd recommend one of the spacies (Fox or Falco).

Why would Marth need one for the spacies? Marth is arguably the best counter to beating those characters. What you would need a secondary for are ones like Sheik and Falcon, Marth's hardest matchups at most skill levels.

 

[pershona]

Why would Marth need one for the spacies? Marth is arguably the best counter to beating those characters. What you would need a secondary for are ones like Sheik and Falcon, Marth's hardest matchups at most skill levels.

I was recommending a character for him to secondary, and spacies deal with Sheik and Falcon very well.

 

[RoyIsOurBoy_TTG]

I was recommending a character for him to secondary, and spacies deal with Sheik and Falcon very well.

Oooohhh...sorry, my bad. Yeah the spacies are definitely the best secondaries choice.

 

[Pure Royalty]

i used to be a falcon main, and when i switched to marth i hated the falcon matchup so i kept working on my falcon and i usually just ditto falcon players. the only other matchup i hate with marth is puff and for awhile i played zelda just to screw around with a low tier and i found that my zelda beats most of the puffs i know. but for you you really need to see the matchups you have a problem with and go from there. that will take time because you might think you need a secondary to beat a character but you might not. for me that was sheik, i could never win so i wanted to pick up a new character (bad idea). i just kept working on the matchup and im getting a lot better at it and should have spent the time on marth rather than falco cause i dont play him anymore.

for now im just cheesing my way through puff and falcon but im only working on marth now so i wont need a secondary for those matchups. there is still a lot for me to work on with marth

 

[FE_Hector]

i used to be a falcon main, and when i switched to marth i hated the falcon matchup so i kept working on my falcon and i usually just ditto falcon players. the only other matchup i hate with marth is puff and for awhile i played zelda just to screw around with a low tier and i found that my zelda beats most of the puffs i know. but for you you really need to see the matchups you have a problem with and go from there. that will take time because you might think you need a secondary to beat a character but you might not. for me that was sheik, i could never win so i wanted to pick up a new character (bad idea). i just kept working on the matchup and im getting a lot better at it and should have spent the time on marth rather than falco cause i dont play him anymore.

for now im just cheesing my way through puff and falcon but im only working on marth now so i wont need a secondary for those matchups. there is still a lot for me to work on with marth

You bring up a really good point at the end. "There is still a lot for me to work on with Marth". A lot of people like maining Marth because he's "not as technical" as the other top 4. However, he is rather technical, just not as much in terms of hand speed.
Marth is an extremely precise character and one who has to do a lot of adaptations because he can get predictable. He is, in my opinion, more of a mindgame opponent than the spacies or Sheik. However, he's definitely a difficult character.

 

[-ACE-]

Marth can handle anything.

 

[BlueX]

I don't think you need a secondary. It is best to focus on one character.

 

[_trix_]

I don't think marth needs a secondary, because all of his matchups in top 8 are even or super close to even(except sheik might be 4-6 and peach is pretty free). A spacie is allright for a secondary though.