Is it that important to main a character?

[wingedarcher7]

I don't think having a main is an absolute must, but it's good to have one just for the sake of being able to practice with them and having a character that you know you can be confident with. The way I see it, try out all the characters a few times and see who you do well with, but also enjoy playing! Sure, you can win with a certain character, but what's the point if you don't have fun with their moveset?

For me, my "mains" tend to be who I just find myself picking more than other characters because I enjoy them that much more. So..necessary? Nah, unless you go into hardcore competitive playing, but if you're just playing stuff with friends and casual battles and stuff, just do whatever you want.

 

[Kori]

I don't have a main necessarily...I mean I have two or three characters that I like lol. That's really what determines it. I didn't play as Meta Knight because he was good in Brawl (although that was a part of it lol) I played as him because he was just my favorite character <3 I used to play as Blue Kirby in Melee and pretend it was a naked Meta Knight lol...

Although, I just play for fun, I'm not really into the competitive scene. I suppose for competitive reasons, if that was your MAIN focus...having one single main to practice with and get better at would give you a slight advantage.

 

[Colin Steele]

When OP says they were able to efficiently play all of the characters, it make me think they weren't efficient with most of them at all. Especially not ones with steeper learning curves like Jigglypuff, Peach, or Yoshi.

Personally, I main characters for two reasons. First of all, I always aim to get good at the game so I only focus on a few. Second, I'm simply not interested in using every single character like some people are. My interests in characters tend to be really specific. I've enjoyed Peach, Zero Suit Samus, and Jigglypuff because I find them all to be a fun and unique in playstyle. That and I find all of their character personalities appealing in some way. I just don't feel the same way towards characters like Falco or Shiek so I have no interest in using them.

Dat grievous assumption though. Thoughts like that can get you into trouble, sir!

Well I guess I'm not alone in the sense that there are a lot of changes to the Smash formula here, and there's going to be a lot to learn. In the demo so far I'm loving the Villager. I figured I'd be playing Link almost the entire time to practice his new moves, but I've actually been spending a lot of time practicing that slingshot.

I think ultimately I've just misunderstood the term main due to having some friends who actually only play a handful of characters and never deviate from them. Thanks guys!

 

[slimjim]

That depends on the option you choose:

1) You don't play in tournaments:
-- No, having a main is not necessary in the slightest.

2) You play in tournaments but don't care if you win:
-- No, having a main is not necessary.

3) You play in tournaments and you want to win:
-- Yes, having a main and at least one secondary to cover your bad matchups is a requirement.

 

[Colin Steele]

That depends on the option you choose:

1) You don't play in tournaments:
-- No, having a main is not necessary in the slightest.

2) You play in tournaments but don't care if you win:
-- No, having a main is not necessary.

3) You play in tournaments and you want to win:
-- Yes, having a main and at least one secondary to cover your bad matchups is a requirement.

I keep seeing this argument, but I'm not entirely sure that it's true. With the promise of a seemingly smooth online competitive mode, it looks like tournaments are not in fact going to be the only place that really good players hang out. Sure it's possible that tourney players will get more out of practicing with other comparable players, but that doesn't mean most of them won't go online.

Ultimately I just wonder how often I'm going to be able to go into Glory mode as some one I don't play much and not get bodied. I guess that's not a bad way to get good at a character though...

edit: grammar

 

[joetherocker]

I tend to play as like 75% of the cast with maybe three that I use more than anyone else. For Glory doesn't strike me as something you'll absolutelyneed a main for. Given the amount of people paying the game, I doubt everyone you meet on there will be a top tier tournament player.

It might be best to wait for the game, though. If you constantly get destroyed online, it'd probably be a good idea to choose a few characters to get really good with so you can win more often. Like, I plan to play as everyone on For Glory on day one just for fun, but if I lose a few times in a row I'll be falling back on Lucina/Marth to win a match or two before going back to the rest.

 

[Colin Steele]

I tend to play as like 75% of the cast with maybe three that I use more than anyone else. For Glory doesn't strike me as something you'll absolutelyneed a main for. Given the amount of people paying the game, I doubt everyone you meet on there will be a top tier tournament player.

It might be best to wait for the game, though. If you constantly get destroyed online, it'd probably be a good idea to choose a few characters to get really good with so you can win more often. Like, I plan to play as everyone on For Glory on day one just for fun, but if I lose a few times in a row I'll be falling back on Lucina/Marth to win a match or two before going back to the rest.

"...just wait..." But I can't!

Yeah I guess those top-tier players will be pretty few and far between. I guess as long as I stay consistent with the game, I should be fine.

 

[slimjim]

I keep seeing this argument, but I'm not entirely sure that it's true. With the promise of a seemingly smooth online competitive mode, it looks like tournaments are not in fact going to be the only place that really good players hang out. Sure it's possible that tourney players will get more out of practicing with other comparable players, but that doesn't mean most of them won't go online.

Ultimately I just wonder how often I'm going to be able to go into Glory mode as some one I don't play much and not get bodied. I guess that's not a bad way to get good at a character though...

You'll be fine on For Glory mode with any spread of characters that you would like to play without getting bodied. This is because For Glory supposedly has a built-in MMR system that will make sure that a good portion of your matches are against people +-20% of your skill level, approximately.

That being said, For Glory mode, while more competitive than a For Fun match, is NOT comparable to a tournament. A decent way to hone your matchup knowledge against a variety of characters and playstyles? Yes. However, it is not where most of the top players will be spending their time. In any field with an upper echelon of players or athletes, those who are the best will spend almost all of their time training with and practicing against other people who are among the best, not random people online. This maximizes ROI for that competitive player. These practice sessions will be in local smashfests/tournies as well as in the online 1v1 mode against FRIENDS that they know are talented players.

I know this because I have played no less than 4 games competitively on a national level since 2005, and I can tell you that if you do not have at least a main (let alone a secondary) when you go to a decently-sized tournament, you will get utterly DESTROYED. For example, Random racing in Starcraft2 will get you bodied in any high-level tournament, and since there are only 3 races, you only have to know 9 matchups to play random well (Smash Random as a main would require in-depth knowledge of thousands of matchups). But still nobody does it because it does not maximize ROI. People do not like to give away free money in tournaments, so they will maximize their chances of winning. This means focusing on only a select few characters to master, and letting the rest fall by the wayside. There is NO getting around this, because you are a mortal being with finite time to think, grow, and live. You are entitled to your opinion of course, and are free to discard anything I say, but as proof of what I am saying, look at any truly top-level gamer in a game with a sizeable fanbase. You will find with a statistical variance of less than 1%, that any of the top 5 people consistently placing there will have a main, and 1-3 secondaries used to counter bad matchups/stages and surprise an opponent.

 

[Colin Steele]

You'll be fine on For Glory mode with any spread of characters that you would like to play without getting bodied. This is because For Glory supposedly has a built-in MMR system that will make sure that a good portion of your matches are against people +-20% of your skill level, approximately.

That being said, For Glory mode, while more competitive than a For Fun match, is NOT comparable to a tournament. A decent way to hone your matchup knowledge against a variety of characters and playstyles? Yes. However, it is not where most of the top players will be spending their time. In any field with an upper echelon of players or athletes, those who are the best will spend almost all of their time training with and practicing against other people who are among the best, not random people online. This maximizes ROI for that competitive player. These practice sessions will be in local smashfests/tournies as well as in the online 1v1 mode against FRIENDS that they know are talented players.

I know this because I have played no less than 4 games competitively on a national level since 2005, and I can tell you that if you do not have at least a main (let alone a secondary) when you go to a decently-sized tournament, you will get utterly DESTROYED. For example, Random racing in Starcraft2 will get you bodied in any high-level tournament, and since there are only 3 races, you only have to know 9 matchups to play random well (Smash Random as a main would require in-depth knowledge of thousands of matchups). But still nobody does it because it does not maximize ROI. People do not like to give away free money in tournaments, so they will maximize their chances of winning. This means focusing on only a select few characters to master, and letting the rest fall by the wayside. There is NO getting around this, because you are a mortal being with finite time to think, grow, and live. You are entitled to your opinion of course, and are free to discard anything I say, but as proof of what I am saying, look at any truly top-level gamer in a game with a sizeable fanbase. You will find with a statistical variance of less than 1%, that any of the top 5 people consistently placing there will have a main, and 1-3 secondaries used to counter bad matchups/stages and surprise an opponent.

No, I think you're right, thanks for the enlightenment! I guess now I have to decide if I want to participate in local tournaments, or just 'casual' it up online. I would really hate being so much better than my friends that they don't want to play with me. I experienced a little bit of that playing Brawl, and it made the game less fun, but with an online mode who needs these friends?

But really I guess I'll just have to wait and see what I'm feeling.

 

[Moldy Clay]

I mean, mains are only a thing because you want to get good at them. Playing everyone just means you'll be adequate at everyone (or not) and not really excel at anyone.

I only played Link in SSB64. And originally, only played Link in Melee, but I wound up expanding because what happened was, I was too predictable to friends. They knew what I would do.

So, you'd definitely want more than 1 character, because sometimes you fall into a trap where people will know how to counter you very easily.

So in Melee, I wound up playing a few characters. I still mostly played the same 3 or so, but I had more that I did to change things up.

In Brawl, it got out of hand, primarily because I loved playing a lot of the cast, so I just played a bunch of them. I still focused on only maybe 5 or so, but I played a lot of them in general, and casually, I'd play everyone (and then resort back to my mains/secondaries because I wasn't as good at the ones I didn't focus on).

In SSB4's demo, for example, I started playing everyone, but I transitioned to mostly only playing Link & Villager.

Playing everyone at first is a good idea, because you'll eventually find who you like the most. Whoever feels the most fun or feels right when playing. Then from there, you figure out the ones that you -really- enjoy and then you can get better at them as you gravitate.

There's no point in immediately picking a main, because you won't really know who is right for you. So you should try everybody first, and against real people, and work at it and figure out who feels right. Don't worry if like 5 or 6 characters feel right.

The only thing you DON'T want to focus on is getting caught up in Custom Moves or Miis. Since you can't use them in For Glory, learning them will not be very effective. That doesn't mean to ignore/not use them outside of it, but if your goal is to do well or 'get by' in For Glory, then you don't want to focus on "maining" a Mii Fighter or a custom version of anyone.

 

[Carrill]

Dat grievous assumption though. Thoughts like that can get you into trouble, sir!

I didn't assume anything. I just said it made me feel that way.

Also, I'm not a sir.

 

[Dan]

I think that maining a character should come naturally. You have to figure out your style, and find the character that best utilizes your style.

 

[Colin Steele]

I didn't assume anything. I just said it made me feel that way.

Also, I'm not a sir.

It's just kind of silly - "He says he was good... I think this means he was not good."
Seriously the game has been out for more than six and a half years now, and the skill cap was not nearly as high as Melee, so it should be easy to believe that some one who's played it since it came out became proficient with almost every character.

My apologies, kind denizen of Earth!

I think my question has been sufficiently answered. If you guys wanna derail and talk about who might be a good idea to main or something of the like that's fine, but we should probably make it another thread entirely, if there isn't already one.

 

[TTTTTsd]

Having a main isn't important if you're playing the game just to have fun, or even semi-competitively.

For people like me, I do the latter but I have a main anyways. It's good to have a character you're extra comfortable with and know your limits with rather well. Granted no, it's not required for either methods of play.

At the high/top levels though? Yeah, you'll want one.

 

[Carrill]

It's just kind of silly - "He says he was good... I think this means he was not good."
Seriously the game has been out for more than six and a half years now, and the skill cap was not nearly as high as Melee, so it should be easy to believe that some one who's played it since it came out became proficient with almost every character.

That's not exactly what I'm getting at. I just feel the suspicion that you're using the word "efficient" more leniently than most would.

I have a friend who proudly mains the random button and likes to use as many characters as he can. When the random button finally assigned him Peach though, he was completely out of his element. He didn't realize that her aerials were her strongest moves, he wasn't making the most of her float ability, and he didn't know her kill moves. He's still pretty decent at using the majority of the roster. There were just some characters on the roster he couldn't actually use to win.

 

[Colin Steele]

That's not exactly what I'm getting at. I just feel the suspicion that you're using the word "efficient" more leniently than most would.

I have a friend who proudly mains the random button and likes to use as many characters as he can. When the random button finally assigned him Peach though, he was completely out of his element. He didn't realize that her aerials were her strongest moves, he wasn't making the most of her float ability, and he didn't know her kill moves. He's still pretty decent at using the majority of the roster. There were just some characters on the roster he couldn't actually use to win.

I get what you're saying, but the way you worded it was a little passive-aggressive. I'm not 'efficient' in the sense that M2K is 'efficient' but yeah, if Brawl had a good For Glory mode, I could probably random any character and be comfortable with them, even Peach. Again - six years of playing Brawl, and even more playing Smash games in general.

Ultimately I was wondering how competitive For Glory would really be, and slimjim answered that for me pretty satisfactorily.

 

[Reila]

That being said, For Glory mode, while more competitive than a For Fun match, is NOT comparable to a tournament. A decent way to hone your matchup knowledge against a variety of characters and playstyles? Yes. However, it is not where most of the top players will be spending their time. .

Thank god.

 

[DJ3DS]

My experience is that if I am playing solo, online or am specifically trying to beat someone, I will always go towards a specific character. In any fighting game there is always a character I like best (Voldo in Soul Calibur, Sagat in Street Fighter, Raiden in Mortal Kombat) and I will tend to use these characters disproportionately often - in fact, Smash Bros and Mortal Kombat are the only games where I would consider myself to even have "secondaries". It is simply more fun for me to stick to the character I enjoy the most as I don't get bored of a single character like some people do. But when playing for fun against other people (the full casual experience), it is definitely fun to mix things up, both for people playing and watching.

 

[RayAllen123]

I play everyone but have an undying urge for Luigi. I think mastering one character and knowing the ins and outs of every match-up is the first step to understanding the entire roster.

 

[Colin Steele]

So I think what people are saying is that the match-ups are more important than really learning some ones move-sets. That makes sense. I hope there will be a dedicated match-up thread in the future.

 

[mario123007]

So I think what people are saying is that the match-ups are more important than really learning some ones move-sets. That makes sense. I hope there will be a dedicated match-up thread in the future.

There got to be a character you are just good at using, it would also be impossible for someone to main a newcomer so soon, but mastering a character makes you feel good doesn't it?

 

[RascalTheCharizard]

I think ultimately I've just misunderstood the term main due to having some friends who actually only play a handful of characters and never deviate from them. Thanks guys!

No, that's what a main is. If you have more than let's say 5 "mains", you do not main characters.

All the people who post "my mains" in their signatures and then list 10-20 characters make me roll me eyes.

 

[Smallgenie549]

I'm not a competitive player, but having a main is really something that comes naturally. It's a character you're better at using and have fun playing with. There's no reason you can't enjoy other characters either.

 

[ferioku]

The real reason is to focus on a character so that the others don't hinder your playstyle, it is honestly better to stick to a few.

Id say pick your first mains and your second. For example I main Shulk, Kirby, Little Mac, Megaman and Ness, whilst the other half belong to Dr Mario, Robin, Toonlink Charizard and Sheik. I won't play my second main's quite as much but I will definitely play them much more than the other characters.

 

[VKatana]

Honestly speaking, one of the hallmarks of a truly expert Smash player would be the versatility to take any character and knowing how to use them just based on the basic mechanics of the game and the advanced strategies they're used for. Each character has unique moves but they've all got the same control input which is extremely easy to memorize, then apply advanced strategy.

 

[Pazzo.]

Everyone's different, as some prefer one or two, while others play all characters.

I like a 'team' of around 4-6, as I'm usually better at managing a large group of skills without getting overwhelmed. But I can understand people sticking to just one.

 

[Senario]

First step to getting better is picking at most one or 2 characters to learn fully.

Once you have learned everything about those two you can go play other chars and likely still make them look good.

Dont just look at which is your favorite character, look at what is fun to play.

Picking more than that will require a lot more time to get just as good as you would be with one or two characters. It is kinda exponential for chars vs time.

 

[Ryuji]

The best person I ever played against in Brawl actually would not play anyone other than Marth, Rob, Meta-knight, and Snake. Seriously in the few sessions I played with him he never once used another character. I almost just don't really respect that style of play though - like are you so devastatingly afraid of losing that you refuse to explore other possibilities? I mean I guess I can't blame him since as cool as Brawl's roster was, it wasn't exactly a balanced game.
Samus is certianly the most fun for me in Melee, it was really sad for me to see her in the state she was in in Brawl. I'm hoping she'll make a comeback.

It's not really a matter of fear of losing, it's playing with the characters you're most comfortable with. I for one would never use a character I'm no good with - it's just not fun. I would much rather use characters I enjoy playing with. Do note though that I'm not saying I won't go down the deep end with other characters, as I'd be perfectly willing to choose others characters if I'm up to it. Maybe for fun, or maybe just because I'm tired of using the same characters over and over. But it's never simply because I don't want to lose. Sticking with characters you like is not something to find fault with.

 

[Yurika]

If you prefer sticking with a character you know you're good at and enjoy using, maybe so. If you prefer using a mixed bag of characters from time to time, maybe not. It's already difficult enough using characters I suck with just to "prove" what I can do in larger scales I know truly I'm not a part of, that kind of ruins the fun for myself, while it might be easy for others conversely to experiment with the like. I'd never go outside of my comfort zone though even if I were against the best users of the top tier characters, all I'd just do is give it my best regardless of what may come. One last thing is that I embrace my individual preferences for Game and Watch and Kirby, I don't see any personal benefit in using whoever's "good" when I know I'm content with using who I like.

But it's really up to you OP, you can either experiment with all sorts of characters to be versatile and unique, or you can embrace whoever you're the best with and let live and be unique in your own personal preferences.

Hope this is of help, I'm new here, so excuse me if I'm not making myself clear enough. Thanks!