Is it worth it to use more than one main?

[Kira-]

I've been of the opinion that sticking with one character forever will help you improve faster and become a better player more quickly. Changing characters a lot can only slow down your improvement.

However, some people prefer to have two or more characters, either for different stages, for teams, or for counterpicks if they have trouble with a certain matchup.

I've never seen anyone get good at melee while switching mains often, but do you think it could work for some people? Do you think it's worth having a second main if your first main is a character that has a problem in a matchup (such as Falcon vs sheik/falco)?

And then if you do use a different character to counterpick, what if that character gets counterpicked? If you have one main you can deal with all matchups without worrying about the opponent's character.

 

[Deleted member]

pick one and stick with it IMO

 

[Beat!]

But there's so many fun chars D:

 

[Luxor]

Pick one good character, or one meh character and one good secondary.

 

[Kira-]

What about people like Zhu/Shiz/M2K who can use a lot of characters in the right situations

 

[JBM falcon08]

I think its the effort that you put into the character that makes you better. This includes practicing, playing, and thinking about the game.

M2k has been playing the game for a long time and is very technical and experienced. Zhu only plays two characters besides his marth sometimes from what i've seen.

I'd say Vanz is a good example of what your talking about. He has decent ICs great peach great puff and a good sheik. He also places well at nationals.

 

[>Bert<]

While I kinda consider Falco/Fox the same char on some regards, Falco is my main and I have Fox as my secondary. Fox really has no bad MU besides the chars he's 50% with (which is like 3 I think), but I feel much more comfortable playing as Falco in those matchups (especially against another Falco). BUT that being said, Falco doesn't have as good of a matchup with Sheik as Fox does. It all comes down to what you're comfortable with. If you're comfortable knowing it may take you a little while longer getting better with 2 chars than 1, then do it. If you ABSOLUTELY have to be the very best asap, then stick to the 1. Just the way I see it.

 

[Bones0]

I think playing multiple character helps you improve faster. Sometimes the best way to learn a matchup is to learn at least the basics about the character you are playing against. If you get pwned by Falcon players all the time, it would probably help to play with him so you can see his advantages and disadvantages as a character from a different point of view. You can use that information to abuse the character's disadvantages and avoid confronting their advantages when you are playing against it with your best main.

 

[rhan]

Everything Bones said.

I believe having a Main and a Secondary is the best way to go. You have a character you're really good with and has a couple bad match-ups and then your secondary covers those bad match-ups.

 

[BigWenz]

u should always have a fox in melee. regardless of if u main him or not. have a pocket fox. falco mains usually go fox gay match ups like puff n peach. other than that really just train ur main character. have ur main and have a pocket fox since fox has no bad match ups. that way u can train ur main and ur secondary automatically at worst evens the battlefield in ur favor if ur main got trashed cause of ****ty match up. but feel free to learn to different characters for friendlies. but ur tourny chars should first be ur main and learn it inside n out. then have a pocket fox if **** just hits the fan and ur main cant do anything.

 

[victra♥]

Everyone has a pocket fox

 

[Zodiac]

With always using one character you will imrpove much faster with them, this much is true. But after you main a single character for a little over a year with experience you should pick up a second to help through the scene.

 

[CloneHat]

Play low tiers, and everything will seem really easy when you move to high tiers.

 

[Stratford]

Everyone should play Falcon too. Never know when it might be needed for a Falcon only tourney.

 

[sauc3]

people keep saying just to play one character, and lately it seems like they're right, having secondaries only makes you guess you're judgment in character choice, instead of game time decisions, which is what it should really be about.

 

[Nø Ca$h]

everybody is different.

 

[Beat!]

I'm not.

10lifeofbrian

 

[Tichinde925]

If you want to win tournaments / monies, then you will just use one character over and over.

If you play for the Friendlies / Crew Battles / no monies / do whatever it is you wants to do.

 

[Hydro_Smasher]

I play like 7 chars just because I know their "general" idea of play.

but I main 2 chars, Falcon --> Fox

ARON? plays pretty much every charecter, of course, he's been playing 3 times longer than I have

 

[TheZhuKeeper]

My success against Puff / Peach and in doubles is purely due to having Fox as a secondary. I say pursue it seriously if you're willing to do so, if it doesn't work out, at least you'll have a greater perspective on the game and maybe even appreciate your character more (but have a solid main before going into secondaries, if you dabble with too many characters at first, you'll never have a reliable main).

Interesting point with the counterpicking / opponent counterpicking your counterpick. It really depends on the opponent. For example, if I know my opponent is a Peach main exclusively, I'll def go Fox. But then there are people like Connor / Vanz who have secondaries. If Connor is set on going Peach then I'll go Fox but if I don't know I'd rather risk fighting his Peach with Falco than do a Fox ditto. Vanz on the other hand seconds Puff / Sheik, both of which I'm comfortable using Fox against so it's not as much of an issue. I usually go with whatever I feel more comfortable overall, I don't really like taking chances with secondaries, it's a really uncomfortable position to be in. But that's why you work on those counterpickedx2 matchups, and sooner or later you'll have a comain. But yeah, solid main -> secondary is the way to go imo (if there's a specific matchup / stage you really don't like).

(I'm a terrible writer)

 

[0Room]

I think every character teaches you something different.

For example, Falcon teaches you to be smart with your recovery.
Ganon teaches you to waveland.
Marth teaches you to space and edgeguard.
Sheik teaches you to be simplistic and avoid excess actions.
Fox teaches you to be consistently technical or die.

I mean technically you can learn all of this things from one character, but all of these characters exemplify these things in particular.

 

[choknater]

greater knowledge can only help, not hurt!

 

[Kason Birdman]

I agree with Bones.
I think playing with different characters helps you improve all around in the game.

but I also agree with what sauc3 said. its true.

Im always like "should I go falcon against this peach?"
and **** like that.
I just end up going falco anyway.. but w.e lol.

Live without regret, thats what I say.

 

[Prince_Abu]

If u were good it wud actually matter since ur not u shud go play brawl

 

[Signia]

I'm horrible at this game, but it seems like you need to at least dabble in a character for a little while in order to fully understand a character's options. Every time I fool around with a character and get *****, I learn more about how to exploit weaknesses of a character and how the matchup is different in contrast to that matchup with your main.

Subtle things like the fact that Fox/Falcon/Falco's range of their shffl aerials are much much shorter when they can't dash around like if they're by the edge or in a shield in comparison to other characters can be learned faster by experience. And learning things by experience is the way to go for learning in general. Same thing goes in every other fighting game... you gotta be able to understand your opponent on a deep level.

 

[hungrybox]

i dual main in brawl

cuz...you kinda have to

 

[Mew2King]

i play tons of chars in melee only cuz ive been playing the game for a long time for fun (before tourneys, just messing around) and messed around with lots of chars. I mostly did it for fun, and then I accidentally got good with lots of characters as a result

 

[The Star King]

I would say get good with one character FIRST, and when you're already a good player getting good with other characters will become a lot easier.

Just look at Mango, after getting good with Puff he was able to pick up a lot of other characters and perform with them at a top level after a short time.

Sorry if this post is worded awkwardly I'm kind of off right now.

 

[Tee ay eye]

personally, i dont think so

 

[Rykard]

i think it's important to be able to start off playing a variety of characters and then slowly work your way to a more concise list of characters to use for tournaments. throughout my playing i have pretty much had a phase with almost every character in the game at some point where i would learn a bunch of stuff with a character and then see how well that knowledge stacked up against my friends. You really do learn a lot through doing this because most characters have a lot of similarities with each other that can carry over to the next. You also learn a lot about what kinds of characters your opponents have trouble fighting against and things like that which can also contribute to how you counterpick characters. Eventually, you will reach a conclusion as to what character best fits your style of play, but to me it was an important process to how i got to where i am today

 

[KirbyKaze]

Pick a character for tournament play and get good with them.

If you decide to expand after, because you feel there is a benefit to doing so, then fine. But be fresh to death with a single character before expanding.

Dabbling for a few games in friendlies is negligible as far as I'm concerned. Nobody will begrudge you for picking Falcon in the all Falcon FFA on Hyrule with items or whatever. Or for entering the all Falcon tournament. Or for warming up with Fox in your first 2-3 games. Or whatever. But you really should have a defined tournament character that you play in the majority of your matches (includes friendlies, and virtually all your serious matches).

Having a bunch of mediocre, half-baked characters is not as good as having a single well-developed, effective character.

 

[otg]

i play tons of chars in melee only cuz ive been playing the game for a long time for fun (before tourneys, just messing around) and messed around with lots of chars. I mostly did it for fun, and then I accidentally got good with lots of characters as a result

Thi s

 

[CanISmash]

fox is so boring if you keep playing him so I started playing like everyone. I feel my fox / sheik are my top 2. then prolly falcon/ falco

then doc / peach /whoever. I can't play a character for too many matches consecutively for practice / friendlies so I go through a lot of characters for fun.

seems the best players always have one main tho and its the better choice to get good at a bad matchup or good cp stages for a bad matches then a different character.

 

[Divinokage]

I believe playing one character only will help you understand all the core knowledge you need for every matchup, that way there's a lot less room for weaknesses. You definitely need the deep understanding that top players have in order to defeat them.. there's absolutely no room for mistakes or fickle knowledge. I feel that playing a lot of characters from the beginning will not allow you to gain that knowledge.

Though of course once you gain that true understanding of the game then I think it's OK to choose another character as learning your own tools and the matchups once again will take A LOT less time than in the beginning. Choosing the right character for you now is subjective as everyone as their own reasons as to why someone would choose a particular character.

All in all, you play how you feel is right and comfortable for you... as long as you know that there are top players out there.. The truth is: Will multiple mains allow you to defeat them? If not then you have work to do! If so, then there's no problem. Do what's best for you. I always say doing what you love will allow you to increase your level a lot faster than normal. So ya, that's all.

Edit: M2k.. lol.. accidentally? I'm sure you do realize the amount of work you put into this game with all the frames and stuff.. Even now it's unbelievable.

 

[Cactuar]

I thought I wrote up a nice little summary regarding this topic elsewhere...

 

[Metal Reeper]

*****es don't know about me and Palpi's 8 mains lol. I lvoe playing more than 1 chracter, I'd main like....Marth/Fox or Falco if I had to though. But I'm good with Doc/Falcon/Ylink/M2 in friendlies.

Me and Palpi have infinite team combinations.

I thought I wrote up a nice little summary regarding this topic elsewhere...

Yeah I remember that, was really good. You should post so this can be /thread.

 

[Kanelol]

I'm just saying, my Fox got a **** ton better when I started playing Falco as an alt

ditto for any of my other characters

In all honesty, I think the more characters you seriously devote time to playing, the more situations you understand from a variety of different perspectives. Also, match-up experience.

 

[Pogogo]

U not playing 1 more char. U playing 10 more MUs.

 

[FoxLisk]

the one thing i would say is everyone should spend some time playing falco so they're not so damned scared of his lasers. otherwise, one main is best.

 

[Kira-]

Yeah well I kinda relate this to lifting weights.

There are a billion workout plans and diet plans and a million exercises you can do.

But in the end if you're not doing the basics and working hard on the core lifts then the rest is just useless knowledge / gimmicks.

Switching characters is like switching to a new workout plan because you're too lame to continue working hard on the original one that works perfectly fine. And you will stall because of it.

If u were good it wud actually matter since ur not u shud go play brawl

yea true it probably doesnt matter until you're like ultimate level

i play tons of chars in melee only cuz ive been playing the game for a long time for fun (before tourneys, just messing around) and messed around with lots of chars. I mostly did it for fun, and then I accidentally got good with lots of characters as a result

So do you think it was worth it?