Is playing defensive is a bad thing!?

[Ionsword]

Yesterday I was was playing with a friend an was using Marth and I was Fox. One of things that I notice is that I tend to play the hit and run game against my friend which can cause him to be frustrated. How would go about learning a different style. I tend to play very defensive.

 

[Xermo]

Defensive isn't bad. Your friend getting mad because you play defensively sounds bad. Tell him to adapt.

 

[FoxBlaze71]

Depending on the character, a defensive style isn't a bad thing. Seeing as you main Zelda, that would be the case. In this instance specifically, don't worry about it. If your style is working, then your friend just needs to adapt and stop being a whiny scrub.

Edit: Xermo and I are on the same channel, LMAO

 

[Meme]

Same thing happens with a friend who plays Peach, although he has mixed understanding of spacing and playing defesive when his Crouch-canelling strats don't work... ( º<

Your friend needs to be more patient, if he mains fox he could as well play on defense.

 

[Raijinken]

If you need to, play defensive while pretending to play aggressive. Be close enough that it doesn't look like you're running away, but far enough that they have to take the attack and risk the slipup for you to take advantage of their mistakes.

 

[Linux_F_Smash]

Never a bad thing to play defensive and use mind games to your advantage. The best guy I play against uses Ike and wins not with great tech skill. Instead he uses, his good reflexes and solid defensive(when to shield, when to dodge and good spacing).

 

[Drexel]

Being defensive isn't a bad thing at all. The plus side is you can slow the game down making it easier to get into Sudden Deaths which can help you win some crucial matches. However, if you stay one-dimensional the whole fight by being defensive the whole time, a good player will pick that up and adapt. Plus you are using Fox who has a lot of combo opportunity so if you incorporate some explosive offense to couple with good defense, you can be quite a bit better. Being unpredictable like that forces the opponent to constantly adapt and sometimes leave them unsure on what you will do next.

 

[Ionsword]

We were playing Melee when this happen FYI I meant to post this on the Melee General Discussion lol but the concepts still apply.

Being defensive isn't a bad thing at all. The plus side is you can slow the game down making it easier to get into Sudden Deaths which can help you win some crucial matches. However, if you stay one-dimensional the whole fight by being defensive the whole time, a good player will pick that up and adapt. Plus you are using Fox who has a lot of combo opportunity so if you incorporate some explosive offense to couple with good defense, you can be quite a bit better. Being unpredictable like that forces the opponent to constantly adapt and sometimes leave them unsure on what you will do next.

Being unpredictable as in using random moves?

 

[Frost | Odds]

Defensive isn't a bad thing at all; but you should note that a defensive mindset is probably a very bad way to learn to play. You can only really push your game to the limit if you're constantly trying new things that may not work. Who cares if you lose some friendlies?

 

[Narpas_sword]

are you playing defensive, or is he just not respecting neutral?

 

[Drexel]

We were playing Melee when this happen FYI I meant to post this on the Melee General Discussion lol but the concepts still apply.

Being unpredictable as in using random moves?

No. Unpredictable in regards to your tactic. For example you can start out running away/playing defensive, (competitive Smashers call this "camping"), to bait the opponent to come towards you and then you switch gears and punish them with combos when they get near as Fox is one of the best at doing that in Melee. The combos can even be unpredictable as you can chain series of moves together in almost anyway imaginable depending on how the foe moves in the air e.g jump, tumble left/right, etc. The trick to mastering it is taking some time to really familiarize yourself with the character, and by watching footage of top-notch players using that character. Plus I feel Melee is an offensively oriented game because of how the mechanics are, so it would be worth adding some aggressive offense into your playstyle.

 

[guedes the brawler]

id wager it's bad only if playing offensive would yield etter results, and you are currently losing.

otherwise i don't see why not.

 

[Boondocker]

No, defensive isnt bad. Alot of people complain about defensive playstyles (in competitive pokemon as well), but in my opinion, the more viable strategies there are the more complex and fun a game becomes.

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

No, but you can expect hate to come your way.

 

[PMS | Tink-er]

There's nothing wrong with playing to win, but you must keep in mind that most people prefer their friendlies to be very entertaining, and playing against a defensive, slow playstyle really just tends to be less fun. I'd suggest you try to play a little more carefree with this in mind and try not to bore your practice mate if playing defensively is habitual for you. If that doesn't work, then screw him for being a poor sport.

 

[victinivcreate1]

High level Melee is defensive until someone gets a hit. Then they convert it into something huge. Same for PM.

Look at Mango here. Camping with DDs until Armada commits. Mango punishes with up throw up air.

Camping until hit confirm is present in PM as well. Here we have Professor Pro styling on Rolex.

Bewteem 16:40-16:55, they have a short altercation before the situation resets to neutral. Rolex drops off the platform with an aerial which then Pro responds with DD grab. Then Pro works his mechanical tech skill and does some ridiculous combo, which puts Rolex in the air. Rolex lands safely on a nearby platform, tosses a grenade downwards at Professor pro's shield to act as landing coverage, and drops down. Pro blocks the Grenade, wavedashes back, and performs DACUS, which pops Rolex up, who had not covered his close range landing option. Pro follows up DJ Cypher, then detonates the C4 stick he had placed on Rolex in the previous combo. All of this started because of the defensive options that Professor Pro took to avoid Rolex's random aggression and poor landing coverage.

Think about it, many spacie player's main problems revolve around bad laser spacing, poor shield pressure and nair spacing, and lack of ability to deal with pressure. AKA they lack defense and don't know when to hold back.

Nothing wrong with defensive play, just make sure your hitconfirms are worth while. Mew2King is a fine example of this. He's defensive, but once he gets a hit, its basically a stock.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Yesterday I was was playing with a friend an was using Marth and I was Fox. One of things that I notice is that I tend to play the hit and run game against my friend which can cause him to be frustrated. How would go about learning a different style. I tend to play very defensive.

No it's not.

play how you feel comfortable with and only change when you think it is ideal for your playstyle.

 

[Recess]

Playing against competitive players or people who really good / love this game is one thing(defensive is good then) but then everyone else will give you hate. I was yelled at and hated on by people for juggling them in the air and not letting them land or edge guarding. Lol Just comes down to who are you playing.

 

[Phaiyte]

Your friend getting mad because you win isn't your fault. Tell him to man the **** up and adapt.

This one time, I did literally nothing to this one guy in a tournament outside of shine > Usmash and 4 stocked him twice. After it became very apparent that this was how the whole set was going to happen, every time I went for the two hit combo, I stared him down irl, telepathically letting him know "you clearly ****ed up". Over and over and over again, because he kept trying to bumrush me almost blindly because he's one of those people that are all like "omg I press more buttons that means I should win".

 

[ph00tbag]

Were you winning the majority of the time?

If yes, then there's nothing wrong.

 

[Jae]

No, there isn't anything wrong with being defensive.

You should play however you feel most comfortable playing and adjust when you believe the situation calls for it.

 

[Brim]

Yes. You should feel awful for playing the entire way Brawl plays.
Kiddin' bro.
But, no it's not a big deal, in fact I see more people playing defensively, it's not really my style tho,

*EDIT* Noo!!! I put a comma in lieu of a period on accident T_____T my days as a grammar Nazi are over!

 

[Deleted member]

http://smashboards.com/threads/drastic-improvement-under-construction-for-apex.311129/

go to the part on aggression

 

[Pr0fessor Flash]

Its not a bad thing whatever you feel more comfortable doing to win counts