Is it worth it to use more than one main?

[Supreme Dirt]

I play Mewtwo, Ganon, and Pichu.

I am of the opinion everyone should have both a pocket Fox and a pocket Pichu.

Pichu to troll with.

Fox for trouble MUs.

Stupid Falcon beating all my characters.

 

[Dr Peepee]

I'd suggest playing one character until you become great with them. Like, at least a year+ of work into them exclusively. Playing one character pushes your personal game that much farther since you learn to get around trouble spots like bad matchups/stages, but you also get to improve yourself as a player and really take skills that certain characters require more than others(like tech chases with Falcon) to a greater level if you stick to one character. When you do start working on another character or more characters for whatever reason, then those base principles you learned will transfer over and your skill with those secondaries will improve faster than they would have if you had tried to force all of that learning at once anyway.

Pocket Fox is good at covering pretty much anything lol, but it's really person-dependent. I guess if you really think you should have a good secondary for whatever because you just can't seem to get around it(which will lead to your counterpick getting counterpicked in the future, and that's a slippery slope), then go for it, but make sure your well-established "main" is seasoned by that point.


Personally, I play a fair amount of Fox, Marth, and Falcon(among the higher tiers), but I don't see switching to them as a necessity in any matchup. I feel like I can solve whatever problem I need to with Falco.

 

[Palpi]

*****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.



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

not if you ****ing move to florida ****!!!

 

[Youngling]

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.

This is a really good post

 

[Divinokage]

This is a really good post

I'm not too sure about that, because either way it's going to require hard work if you want to beat top players and you will have to learn everything anyway. =P I guess it depends what kind of standard we are talking about here.

 

[Kanelol]

we could get into semantics about hard work and devotion

but i think 0Room said it pretty damn well

either way any given individual is only going to give so much effort to smash, therefore the question becomes at what point will the amount of effort be so low as to cause diminishing returns if aforementioned smasher tries to spread his meager efforts amongst several characters (*please note, it's not just a question of effort, time devoted is a pretty major factor as well.*) that's a pretty personal, introverted question, and indubitably not for discussion in a public forum. regardless, there are very few people who will put in so little effort to something they genuinely have a passion for.

the point remains that learning to play multiple characters will be beneficial for virtually every single smasher ANYONE EVER HEARD OF KOREAN DJ

but, if you don't ever see yourself stop playing smash, (like most smashers, including myself) there's going to have to be a point where you realize you've been playing the same character for 4 years. Also, people will look at you funny if you say you have no idea how to play a space animal.

Spoiler

Seriously, everyone knows how to play a little fox

 

[Ballistics]

This is like asking if you should get married, or have a few girlfriends, I am personally of the latter opinion.

 

[Stratford]

Polygamy imo.

 

[Divinokage]

we could get into semantics about hard work and devotion

but i think 0Room said it pretty damn well

either way any given individual is only going to give so much effort to smash, therefore the question becomes at what point will the amount of effort be so low as to cause diminishing returns if aforementioned smasher tries to spread his meager efforts amongst several characters (*please note, it's not just a question of effort, time devoted is a pretty major factor as well.*) that's a pretty personal, introverted question, and indubitably not for discussion in a public forum. regardless, there are very few people who will put in so little effort to something they genuinely have a passion for.

the point remains that learning to play multiple characters will be beneficial for virtually every single smasher ANYONE EVER HEARD OF KOREAN DJ

but, if you don't ever see yourself stop playing smash, (like most smashers, including myself) there's going to have to be a point where you realize you've been playing the same character for 4 years. Also, people will look at you funny if you say you have no idea how to play a space animal.

Spoiler

Seriously, everyone knows how to play a little fox

If I tried to play Fox vs good players I would get crushed so no I don't know how to play Fox. =P

Also, like I said you have to find your own style. I learned through constantly getting hammered by people stronger than me and understanding why they are stronger. Effort means nothing if you don't try to do it right, right away. Knowing how to do it right in the first place might take a lot of trial and error but ya.. everyone has their own growth capabilities. It's the understanding of everything that will allow you to push further.

KDJ can play multiple characters because he understands a lot of things. =) Just like Mango, M2k, Vanz.. etc. They can beat everybody for a damn good reason.

 

[Smasher89]

It is probably worth it IF you are willing to spend ALOT of time practicing with the characters, not only against other players, but testing stuff like % things on cpus to get a hang of how certain situations work and develop your own sollusions.

It's never hurts to be able to use a few characters as long as you have a plan you´ll stick to and follow.
Just so you don't get in a situation of not knowing which character you should use in a match. I used to pick "wierd" stages(when more stages where on) where my opponent didn´t have a clue of which char I would use, which was a quite massive advantage in itself. IC vs Falco on PPC is too good =)

 

[Palpi]

As said by my freshmen history teacher...

"Don't try hard...try smart"

 

[Zone]

Just so you all know atleast playing other characters helped me alot. Falcon made me very good at tech chasing cuz he's so focused on it and it carries to my other characters. Same goes for Zelda and shield play or falco/fox for camping/rush down/pressure. Marth to teach you the importance of spacing cuz that's his focus. All these focused playing styles carried over to my other characters.

 

[Metal Reeper]

not if you ****ing move to florida ****!!!

Give me a reason to stay <3

 

[Palpi]

Give me a reason to stay <3

I WILL MISS YOU FOREVER!!!!

caps

 

[otg]

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

I don't know how strong this comparison is. I think that most people/personal trainers who workout/exercise regularly will suggest that you constantly change up the routines you're doing. Your body gets too comfortable with the same routine, you have to shock your system if you don't want to plateau.

Personally, I play a fair amount of Fox, Marth, and Falcon(among the higher tiers), but I don't see switching to them as a necessity in any matchup. I feel like I can solve whatever problem I need to with Falco.

Falco has only even/winning matchups, I'd probably never switch either.

 

[Kira-]

I don't know how strong this comparison is. I think that most people/personal trainers who workout/exercise regularly will suggest that you constantly change up the routines you're doing. Your body gets too comfortable with the same routine, you have to shock your system if you don't want to plateau.

I am not a personal trainer and a lot of people have told me that as well. But I have read and watched so much of top powerlifters that I have to respectfully disagree. They will do assistance/supplementary exercises but not one of the top powerlifters/strongman will ever say that your body needs to be shocked by changing exercises/routines. Find the ones that work for you and stick with them. The only way your body needs to be shocked is by putting on more weight.

Falco has only even/winning matchups, I'd probably never switch either.

yeah same lol, kinda why i wanna pick up falco

 

[otg]

I am not a personal trainer and a lot of people have told me that as well. But I have read and watched so much of top powerlifters that I have to respectfully disagree. They will do assistance/supplementary exercises but not one of the top powerlifters/strongman will ever say that your body needs to be shocked by changing exercises/routines. Find the ones that work for you and stick with them. The only way your body needs to be shocked is by putting on more weight.

That's definitely true that after awhile you should just stick to what you like/what works for you, but typically if you aren't seeing many results (something I'm experiencing right now), you gotta mix up your routine. Adding more weight isn't always the right solution.

Still tho, we aren't here talking about getting in shape LET'S PLAY SOME ****ING SMASH FALCO DITTOS.

 

[Dr Peepee]

LOL uh huh

 

[WaffleBlaster]

I main a low tier, so some match ups are insanely difficult, but I have a mid tier secondary that I use alot, which is Toon Link. I tend to use Lucas more because he is more fun, it seems like more of a challenge, and Mother 3 is an insanely awesome game, and I'm really liking the fresh move set they added with P:M

I think it's good to have multiple characters that you are familiar with, it keeps you on your toes and makes it easier to predict what someone who plays your characters is thinking. Lucas is a hard character to main(in my humble opinion), so I focus most of my time on mastering him......I'm not even close.

I have Toon Link as my secondary(more like my second main, I use him pretty frequently) because he is easy to use, not much risk compared to Lucas/Ness, and (up until I got Project M)a stronger set of specials. I really don't have much weight in this conversation, I'm still very much a noob, but I find it enjoyable to play multiple characters on a regular basis, because sometimes your main just gets stale.

 

[KirbyKaze]

Sheik rarely gets stale unless I'm playing against bad people.

In which case, I just want to play Peach or Fox. And look like a robot for a few hours.

 

[Nø Ca$h]

for developements sake one character at a time is way more efficient obviously.

 

[mizujin]

I believe in quality over quantity.

However, I'm like extremely ADD so I start getting bored/losing focus if I play one character for more than like two matches in a row, so I play about five characters.

 

[FireFly]

Just play Fox and learn the M/U of every character and you should be good. Seriously.

 

[Velox]

Just play Fox and learn the M/U of every character and you should be good. Seriously.

learn puff..

though fox/falco/marth/sheik/puff can all win every matchup.


also I agree with PP and M2K. PP in regards to learning the game through the eyes of a character and M2K in regards to versatility coming with just sheer skill and seasoned experience (Azen is a good example). Also KK made a valid point of quality over quantity that should always be remembered.

 

[EpixAura]

Speaking as a particularly average player but a keen observer, I really think it's dependent on who your main is. If you main Fox/Falco, who have no distinctively bad matchups, stick with them. However, for anyone else, you'll probably want a secondary.
I'd recommend using (not necessarily secondarying) other characters, maybe just to learn the game from their perspective, but mostly just for fun. Got to keep things interesting.

 

[KirbyKaze]

Peach can win any MU.

Some are just really gay.

 

[Velox]

Honestly there's one in particular, I think once the Fox players start getting consistent with their shine combos (the great players like Jman) will be VERY tough for Peach players to beat. I know the DI makes this stuff chance, but it's still very very good against Peach and is not being done excessively at the moment. I'm talking fastliketree/mofo levels of consistency with the flatland drillshine infinite. It's beast.


oh, actually I forgot that Sheik can't win vs. Ice Climbers too btw.

 

[Redact]

Learning a secondary character to cover a weakness will mean that you do not actually improve upon that weakness or improve your original character.

If you have trouble with a specific matchup, that means you need to learn how to play your own character differently, not a new character (unless we talking like sheik v ics then that’s a different story) and in the end learning more perspective for your original character will improve your game against the whole cast, not just one character.

Going down the slope of counter picking someone with a secondary is something that I think you should do if your character really cannot handle that matchup (fox/falco/puff/marth players shouldn’t be looking towards rolling a 2nd character imo)

Whilst it is possible to get good enough at your secondary to make it a valid choice, that road is a much harder one than getting better with your original character.

This is a general perspective coming from high/top tiers, if you’re gonna play some **** like link then maybe having a 2nd is something you should think about.

 

[TheDekuNut]

if you develop bad habits like being overaggressive in order to break them i think it can be good to learn a different character. you will look at your opponent from a different perspective and (maybe) stop doing repetitious and stupid stuff.

 

[`Jammin' Jobus]

haha i have this issue. i play mostly peach/sheik but i like fox/falco/marth alot too. used to play a lot of fox..

i dunno it really depends on who you play. i feel like peach is pretty easy to play consistently so i use peach in alot of matchups. particularly vs fox/falco/samus/peach and lowers tiers.. fox is hard to consistent with.. so i kind of dropped him i like sheik vs marth/jiggs/falco. i dont like sheik dittos so thats a glaring weakness in my matchups, really need practice with the matchups

i think some of you are overating just having a main..

i feel like i can play tons of characters than go back to peach and play her as good as i can play. i dunno some matchups with peach are just hard, easier to switch to sheik

 

[Divinokage]

Getting really good at this game I've personally realized at how you can begin to use the other characters effectively.. however I still believe you really need a strong base in order for someone to do that.. if you already have a deep understanding of spacing and you don't fail L-cancels and technical stuff then I think you can play other character. For me, I've recently played Falco for a bit already and I'm finding a lot of ways of how to shut down the opponent by using the proper tools in the proper situations. Spamming unsafe moves or just have ****ty positioning will not allow you to do that.

You really need everything down to play multiple characters. You have to understand why one move is good in this situation and etc... you need quite a bit of experience imo.