Is it wise to have a main?

[TheOriginalSmasher]

Not sure if this is exactly the right place to post this, but it just has been on my mind lately.

Is there really a point in specializing in one or two different characters? Every character you fight will have to have a different stradegy, (unless you main MK)

So, with that being said, is it really smart to have a main? I think it would be wiser to just get a basic feel for every character, know there strengths and weaknesses, and learn how to fight as them.

just... is there really a point to a main?

 

[Budget Player Cadet_]

Yes. To get to truly high-level play, you will need to invest many, many hours into your character to truly understand his abilities and limitations. Investing that time in the whole cast is virtually impossible. IIRC there have been like 2 successful smashers who ever did that; Azen and Isai (?).

 

[TheOriginalSmasher]

Yes. To get to truly high-level play, you will need to invest many, many hours into your character to truly understand his abilities and limitations. Investing that time in the whole cast is virtually impossible. IIRC there have been like 2 successful smashers who ever did that; Azen and Isai (?).

but surely that doesnt mean that character will be good against another that has played that amount of time, unless its just a bad match up. it seems like it would be better to get good with everyone, and not best with 1.

 

[Jim Morrison]

Get a main. I don't have a main and probably never will and look at what I turned out.
DO NOT BECOME LIKE ME.

 

[Dumbfire]

You should lear every character. Learn the in and outside to get a good idea of your MU's.
But you should stick with one character where you are really the best with for competive reasons, and study his MU's more.. Then youre fine. I get what you mean tough.

 

[TheOriginalSmasher]

Get a main. I don't have a main and probably never will and look at what I turned out.
DO NOT BECOME LIKE ME.

I dont know you, so I don't see your problem?

 

[GreenFox]

Every character? No only S-B tier

 

[-Kiros-]

Getting a main means that you invest your time and effort into the character, knowing all the ins and outs of him/her so that you have a full understanding to be able to adapt to any situation. Having a main leads to having a higher understanding of a character, and therefore the game.

 

[Hoshi No Senshi Meta Knight]

By getting a main, you will get the basic feel of the character, and learn how to use them. If you get comfortable with their strategy, then you should main them.And by the way, MKs do have to plan different strategies depending on how your opponent fights >_>; well, for my MK at least.

 

[Mota]

Definitely choose a main.

Think of it like playing sports. If you took up Soccer, Table Tennis, swimming, marathon running and tennis, you wouldn't be as good, have the energy and the time, then say just playing one or two sports.

 

[-Kiros-]

Definitely choose a main.

Think of it like playing sports. If you took up Soccer, Table Tennis, swimming, marathon running and tennis, you wouldn't be as good, have the energy and the time, then say just playing one or two sports.

Very good analogy, I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[llamapaste]

Having a main is fun and allows you to become better with that character.

 

[Zodiac]

only if that main is meta knight, snake or diddy.

 

[TheOriginalSmasher]

Now, I understand what you are allsaying, but just because you have a main, doesn't mean you can adapt to any situation. Every character has their disadvantages, it seems logical to get good with multiple characters so it all evens out, if that makes sense.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

But it's also a lot more difficult to get better with multiple characters than just one. If you can use many characters at a high level, more power to you. But it isn't a realistic goal unless you have extreme amounts of time that you could use to learn them.

 

[TheOriginalSmasher]

Fortunatly, I do

 

[goodoldganon]

A basic understanding of at least the better characters in the game is highly desirable but to answer the topic you want it least a main and alt. Two characters you know everything about. That way you can compete at a high level realistically. Then again, each area is different. I've been in areas where I could use random and still win cause I had the most game knowledge.

 

[Rudra]

Its good to invest in a main, but its also good to have a secondary who can cover his/her (or your) bad matchups.

 

[Weet]

I would say so. I would think that trying to be good at every character would allow you to work at 10% of your potential, as to where if you focused on one character you might be able to pull off 100%.

 

[Kith]

Now, I understand what you are allsaying, but just because you have a main, doesn't mean you can adapt to any situation. Every character has their disadvantages, it seems logical to get good with multiple characters so it all evens out, if that makes sense.

That is why some people have a secondary. The whole purpose of Secondaries is to have a character to back up your main in match-ups that you've got disadvantage in. It's still not worth learning the entire cast though. I know a few people like that, and although they know a few tricks with every character, they're never very hard to beat.

 

[TheOriginalSmasher]

That is why some people have a secondary. The whole purpose of Secondaries is to have a character to back up your main in match-ups that you've got disadvantage in. It's still not worth learning the entire cast though. I know a few people like that, and although they know a few tricks with every character, they're never very hard to beat.

I suppose that is true, but it would seem like the secondary would have to be the complete opposite, in most cases. Ones weakness is the opposites strength, no?

 

[Deleted member]

Yes it is. Having a main means focusing on one character to improve your skill on.

 

[Kith]

I suppose that is true, but it would seem like the secondary would have to be the complete opposite, in most cases. Ones weakness is the opposites strength, no?

I see what you're saying about being an opposite, and you've got the right thinking. You don't necessarily have to find the exaact opposite (Like...I don't know...Jigglypuff and Bowser), but a lot of times people have a secondary who complements the weaknesses of their mains. Although there may be a character that both your main and your secondary have a slight disadvantage to, you're more likely to win a disadvantaged match with your main, than you are to win one playing a character who has an advantage, but you're not 100% comfortable using.

Think of it this way. I've beaten a few Snakes and MK's in tournament with Pokemon Trainer. If I just go by match-up charts, this shouldn't happen, and I should have used someone else. I know how to play Metaknight, but I assure you I would have lost if I had gone Metaknight. Compared to the amount of time I've invested in learning the ins and outs of Pokemon Trainer, my Metaknight did not stand a chance.

 

[TheOriginalSmasher]

I see what you're saying about being an opposite, and you've got the right thinking. You don't necessarily have to find the exaact opposite (Like...I don't know...Jigglypuff and Bowser), but a lot of times people have a secondary who complements the weaknesses of their mains. Although there may be a character that both your main and your secondary have a slight disadvantage to, you're more likely to win a disadvantaged match with your main, than you are to win one playing a character who has an advantage, but you're not 100% comfortable using.

Think of it this way. I've beaten a few Snakes and MK's in tournament with Pokemon Trainer. If I just go by match-up charts, this shouldn't happen, and I should have used someone else. I know how to play Metaknight, but I assure you I would have lost if I had gone Metaknight. Compared to the amount of time I've invested in learning the ins and outs of Pokemon Trainer, my Metaknight did not stand a chance.

I see what you are saying there. But Pokemon trainer is three different characters. a heavy, medium, and light. Do you main Pokemon trainer? Or rather one of those Pokemon together?

 

[Kith]

Well, Pokemon Trainer is different from...say Shiek and Zelda, because of the fact that you are forced to switch characters after every stock, and it's often in your best interest to switch in between stocks due to fatigue and diminished moves. There are people who claim to main Squirtle or Charizard, but it you want to survive at all in high level play, you have to master all three. Now, I definitely feel more comfortable with Squirtle, probably because he would be higher on the tier list than the other two, but I don't main him. If I'm playing a Marth or a Yoshi, I don't even use him. I tend to go Charizard, Ivysaur, Charizard.

 

[Prawn]

just play metaknight

/thread

 

[Kith]

That joke never gets old

/sarcasm

 

[Prawn]

pokemon trainer is viable

/sarcasm

 

[Kith]

In the interest of trying to maintain some level of maturity here, I'll leave it at that.
@TheOriginalSmasher: You could go ahead and pick up MetaKnight, and really you wouldn't need to have a secondary. But assuming that you want to play another character, then it would be in your best interest to pick one and learn all the details, tricks, and nuances of that character, as opposed to being a player who can play anyone, but is predictable and less skillful.

 

['V']

Mains are overrated unless you have the absolute best character.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

I think you definetley need a main for Melee, but Brawl is so much more... less strategy-based... that a good smasher can use any other Brawl character just as well as there main.

 

[LuLLo]

I don't think it's a good idea to fight with every character in the game, for one, why would you ever use Ganon or Zelda against someone? (when you are average with them)

I DO think it's a good idea to fight with every char every once in a while in friendlies, you get a feel how that character is played and what his strengths and weaknesses are, moving limitations, punishing moves, what can be punished etc etc. You can implement that knowledge when you face that character with your main/secondary. I play on random all the time, just to get some matchup knowledge for my main and secondaries.

I main Ike and second Marth/Wario(which are better than my Ike ) and 4th place goes to IC's, this is a good character-set for a tourney, since the only char beating these as a whole is MK. I also have Ike for low-tourneys now, which makes it even better. And playing these characters to the max is more fun and rewarding for me than just playing with everyone in tourneys.

 

[Kitamerby]

NinjaLink has extensively studied every character and is known as being one of if not the best player for quite a few characters, almost all of which have been seen to be used by him in tournament, including Lucas, Pikachu, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Peach, and Ice Climbers.

As such, he never gets surprised by matchup inexperience and has risen to be one of the best players in the country.

He also claims that he doesn't main anyone and actually mains random (He has been known for going Random in tournament against important people), but we all know that he still mains Diddy Kong and only secondaries Random lol.


NinjaLink is probably the absolute best example you're going to get of a player who has spent extensive time into learning absolutely everything he can about every character in the game. Apparently, he actually started off maining the characters he had trouble using with for awhile, which was why he was originally believed to "have a new main every week." The reason he spent longer with Ice Climbers and Pikachu was apparently because it just took longer to get comfortable with them, and now after studying them more and practicing them more, he's one of the best Icies AND one of the best Pikachus, and has used both in tournament for great success.

However, I do not recommend trying to learn every character to normal players. Most people do not have the experience nor the patience to deal with the constant losing they will experience immediately upon starting off with a new character, and pretty much nobody under Pierce7D's level will usually undergo any serious gain from attempting this anyways, as they should still be concentrating on using just one or two characters to their fullest and developing their basic gameplay rather than worrying about things like character matchups.

 

[pwnzorz]

Good idea and bad idea.
Good to be good at one character and beast mode all of his/her moves.
Bad cause that character always has weaknesses and it's good to have alternatives.

 

[Ochobobo]

Unless you're NinjaLink, yes pick a main.

 

[SmashChu]

It's better to have a main no matter how you play. If you play in tournaments, it's a requirement. Only focus on one or maybe two characters (I'd say three is pushing it). Now, if you just play with friends and online from time to time, then it's not a big hassle and play as you want. You may not get as good, but you can still have fun nonetheless.

 

[smashless gama]

Learn the basic movesets and find the one that best suits you. To make it short, study the moveset for each character and find whether you are comfortable with a quick, speedy character (example: Fox), a slow, strong character (like Bowser), or an average character of good speed and strength (like Mario). You can go into more depth to things like projectiles and swords.
I have studied all of the characters and found that I am most comfortable with a fast-moving character with a sword for good reach. Thus, Marth. Toon Link is a close second, but his floatiness is something that is hard to get used to. Marth is quick, he can fly pretty well, and he's strong, in a sense. Link would be waaay up on my list if he wasn't such a terrible jumper. My top 5 are Marth, Pikachu, Game and Watch, Zero Suit Samus, and Toon Link. All of them are quick and either have projectiles or a sword (or a plasma whip).
If you have trouble finding a main, then I hope this helps.

 

[Ray Robo]

Get a main just to know who you're best with. But study your mains MU's well so u dont get CP *****.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

I main Random just because I don't find anyone who I'm super good with, but due to tiers and the like I win more often when Random chooses Meta-Knight for me compared to Ganondorf.

 

[darksamus77]

Melee was a game where you had to practice constantly with one character, perfecting moves to even have a shot at competing. Brawl requires you have a few characters that you're good with to survive, just due to the fact of weaknesses in characters in Brawl.