Is Fox solo viable?

[Kanunuu]

More specifically, is fox a strong enough character to take a major in a hypothetical environment. Can he compete against the other top tiers? Due to lack of results, I would hesitate to say yes. Having a secondary never hurts either.

 

[EpicSonicLatios]

Lack of results? Larry places top 8 in majors with fox consistently, and Xzax places well consistently too. With the nerfs to other characters, I honestly think fox is solo viable.

 

[colinies]

I think so, he doensn't get hard countered by anyone and doesnt really lose any matchups by more then 45:55, Fox has solid results and now with the other top tiers getting nerfed, especially Sheik, I think his stocked has risen. Also I think he does well vs Bayonetta which is a big deal in the current meta.

 

[luke_atyeo]

yes he is viable
see: Larry Lurr (although sometimes he pulls out weird pocket characters in high level matches)


the very fact that larry has taken solo fox so far in a lot of majors and tough tourneys means that it is possible therefore solo fox is viable.

Having a secondary CAN hurt you depending on the type of player you are, it can split your focus and skill between characters, meaning you'll never quite be as good as you could have been on each because you are too busy trying to maintain both (this doesn't apply to everyone however)

It can also cause you to doubt yourself, imagine a scenario where you are against a tough opponent, its game 3 so you've both lost and won a game with fox, you hesistate and wonder whether you should stay fox for a tight but doable chance to cinch out the set, or whether you should risk a character swap to your secondary.
You might think that going to your secondary is a good idea because the current match up you are against is better with that secondary, so you do it and lose where you might have otherwise won with fox (due to factors like not knowing your secondary as well, not knowing the matchup as well even if its better for you with your secondary, your opponent knowing or being more comfortable with this new matchup than the fox matchup, taking too long in the game to switch up from fox style to new character style, making a key mistake because you used fox muscle memory instead, etc)

Having a secondary (or even more than 2 characters) carry's both advantages and disadvantages and is not without risks, its not simply a 'you should do it because it cant hurt' option.

 

[brady_boy_26]

yes but you have to put a ton of work into the character

 

[Kanunuu]

I agree that the nerf on sheik was a huge deal for fox. But he still is gonna struggle against rosa and bayo. Larry lurr does have results, but that's one fox in comparison to the other top tiers which have a ton more results. If Larry lurr does not show up, fox will probably not even get top 32 at a super major.

luke_atyeo That's true, but only for certain people. Some people can switch between their secondaries seamlessly. I guess what I was trying to say, is that if you can do it, it won't hurt you.

 

[luke_atyeo]

luke_atyeo That's true, but only for certain people. Some people can switch between their secondaries seamlessly. I guess what I was trying to say, is that if you can do it, it won't hurt you.

did I, or did I not, say in my post that you are referring to, that what I was saying is only true for certain people?

also if its a seamless switch, than thats a result of a lot of work on both characters, which may mean that neither of those characters is as good in their hands as they would be if they just focused on the one.

 

[Kanunuu]

luke_atyeo From personal experience I can tell you that having a secondary improved my main. Knowing the limits of one character and having different play styles with another helped me expand on what my main is capable of. Having extensively mained at least 7 characters for a long period of time, I can tell you that this has helped my matchup understanding, and general knowledge of the game. Things that I can apply to all my characters. I think it can also be negative to simply play only one character. You lose a lot of flexibility if you only play one style. Unless of course your character has many styles and options. Then whatever do what you want. I think you stand nothing to lose if you can handle a secondary.

 

[FUEGO!]

I have had experience with every character in the game at this point, and I feel like Fox can be played as a solo main in this game pretty effectively. There are just things you need to know about every unique match up, but once you have that knowledge, Fox has the tools to beat anyone in this game, especially since two of his worst match ups lost some tools themselves recently.

 

[KentaKurodani]

Fox can definitely be solo-mained. The Luigi matchup isn't too bad if you know how to play the neutral, and keep yourself on stage, and Rosa isn't bad at all, because we kill her so easily and can upair her for days because she's so floaty.

 

[BrickBot]

Personally, I believe that everyone should pick up a secondary character. Even if the secondary is just for fun. Learning how other characters work and understanding the match-up spread can really help your understanding of the game. However, if you begin to feel like your main is beginning to play worse, than you should probably stop and focus on him.

 

[luke_atyeo]

luke_atyeo From personal experience I can tell you that having a secondary improved my main. Knowing the limits of one character and having different play styles with another helped me expand on what my main is capable of. Having extensively mained at least 7 characters for a long period of time, I can tell you that this has helped my matchup understanding, and general knowledge of the game. Things that I can apply to all my characters. I think it can also be negative to simply play only one character. You lose a lot of flexibility if you only play one style. Unless of course your character has many styles and options. Then whatever do what you want. I think you stand nothing to lose if you can handle a secondary.

Yeah fair enough, that can work for a lot of people, but if you dont have a secondary you can still get all the benefits you listed there. You can learn how other characters work by playing them, but if you want to do that to improve the matchup with you using fox against them, wouldn't it be better to just go straight to fighting that character as fox so you get the info you need instead of having to translate it?

Put more plainly, wouldn't it be faster and better to fight mario as fox to learn how to fight mario as fox, than to play mario against others in order to learn enough about mario to fight mario as fox?
Maybe you dont have access to a mario player so you have to do the latter, but thats the beauty of youtube.
If you are having trouble with a matchup, watch other foxes play the matchup on youtube and take notes of how they approach it.

 

[Kanunuu]

luke_atyeo Yeah I agree with you there. I've learned a lot of matchups purely through YouTube, and a lot of the meta game as well. That being said, I do think if you are struggling with a matchup so much so that you want to pick a secondary, then it would probably be beneficial to play the character to understand what he/she is capable of.