While there's several threads about Sonic's usefulness, the properties of his attacks, I figured this would be best in the fact that I could gather useful tactics, play victories, and other things. As well, I could drive home several points about Sonic that many players just don't seem to get. Anyway, let's begin.
FAQ:
Why are you making this?
I'm making this largely because Sonic's playstyle is viciously misunderstood. People play him like a combo ******* correctly, but when it comes time to actually KO the opponent, they always screw up. Also they really don't properly utilize Sonic's moves.
But Sonic doesn't have any killing moves!
THAT'S NOT THE ****ING POINT OF SONIC.
Sonic has no kill moves, so what? He's got bigger problems than that, like no priority, and what little power moves he has being unreliable and tough to connect with. But why are you relying on those moves in the way you are? To put it simply like HugS did in the general area:
ATTENTION: WE *ALL* SUCK AT SONIC. (This goes for me too. Yes, I also suck at Sonic, but that doesn't mean I can't recognize good strategies when I see one.)
So if we all suck as Sonic, O wise and snarky Kuja, what's the point then?
To show viable strategies so we suck LESS. And now with the miniFAQ out the way let's get to the meat of this post.
First, let's talk
general strategy.
Sonic's fast. **** fast, if you don't already know. Let's get the Captain Obvious **** out of the way and say
use that speed to your advantage. Smack your foes, then chase them and smack 'em again! Or better yet space yourself and make yourself hard to counter, predict, and hit! WOW, so obvious! Yet I see little use of that, most people tend to spam running rolls, an attack or two, and then wait for the opponent to recover and try again. Doesn't work with Sonic--he needs to keep his foes frustrated or on their toes, otherwise they will easily evade his attacks. As well, you should take advantage of a foe's lag frames and run in for the attack, something I rarely see yet, but will likely get better with time. The second and bigger thing, however, is that
the air game has changed. No longer is the ridiculous gravity from Melee around to make air battles unsafe for all not named Jigglypuff/Peach, many characters can stick to the sky and fight well. Sonic is one such character, and I don't see enough people using it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ihP_E8aeamU
Look at this video someone found (I did not make it, and I'm not the first to post it.). A level 9 computer, yes, but it's a good showcase of all of Sonic's strengths, and as well as proper useage of some of Sonic's attacks. Notice how Sonic used his homing attack to gimp DK's recovery instead of spamming it as a direct attack. This isn't as effective on human foes who float well, but it's nice to have a surprise gimp! However, the homing attack works better in certain situations I'll detail later.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QO-Sj-RYBJc&feature=related
This is a showcase of what NOT to do with Sonic. Ike's recovery isn't that hot, but Sonic NEVER took advantage of it. At one point in the video, Sonic knocks Ike out pretty far and taunts. He simply let Ike back in instead of
intercepting, like he should have. There are other times where he decides to spam his power moves. They're going to fail against Ike. DON'T BLOODY TRY IT. Don't spam his unreliable smashes to KO your foes.
So what exactly should you use Sonic's smashes for?
The forward is best used as
a surprise attack. Use it when your foe will least expect it. Don't try to connect with it for a finishing touch, whip it out when your foe can't see it coming (inb4that'swhatshesaid)
Some recent discoveries, however, have made the Fsmash perhaps more useable. A technique called Stutter-stepping, involving tapping back at a standstill/walk before quickly c-sticking a forward smash, can extend the range of this move and make it actually useable in an offensive manner. InterimofZeal states he can even outdistance Marth with it, verification pending. As far as I've played, it extends Sonic a little bit and is great for clipping troublesome foes, but I haven't gone really far with it. It is fairly practical in tourney play, since now you can actually use it as a kill move instead of praying it works as a surprise.
The down?
Get everyone out of Sonic's grill.
The up?
perhaps the only one that can be used as an offensive move, especially since you can run and up smash.
EDIT: This video shows nice techniques.
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=kvWcPzbCsDU
Thank bugball, and please don't mind the terrible spelling.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzWHFKdJNI
InterimofZeal's, in his opinion, best Sonic video. cleaning Dedede was epic to watch. Spacing game with Sonic is really good here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSmWMVwMgRg#
This last video is here, one of the earlier showcases of Sonic. It shows both sides of the coin (How sonic did better when he gimped CF instead of trying to outpower him)
Part Deux:
Weaknesses you must shield from
So yeah, we have of course the BAAAAWWWW NO KILL MOVES BAAAWWW crap out of the way. But we've got other pressing matters as I've said above. I will not sugar coat. Sonic is not going to rule the tiers, largely because of
poor priority. What does this mean? Sonic's hitboxes are small compared to the rest of his body and most other smasher's attacks, which means he can get overwhelmed by any wisely timed or predicted attack. I imagined that was implemented so Sonic doesn't pull a Fox and rule Brawl with ZOMG LIGHTNING SPEED BUTTONS but that speculation is kinda irrelevant to this topic. What does this mean? In any case
as of right now if Sonic is predictable in any shape or form he
will get owned. Someone else put this in a much better light than I could.
Secondly many of his moves are situational. They are epic in said situations but appear (and likely are) useless otherwise. You could likely take advantage of many Sonic noobs by countering his homing attack or hitting him out of his spin dash, or know that Sonic's running dash is by far his most predictable move. He's always going to use it, even if it's not particularly powerful or useful. Try and avoid using it too often if you can.
Third Part:
The Homing Attack.
This strange move looks unwieldy at first, and there are so many things about it I decided to give it its own section.
For the
Homing attack, I've found its best use is
lag punishment. What does that mean? Predict when your foe will use a lagging attack, then bash them with this. It's especially effective if you need to get by projectile spam or trying to gimp their recovery. Yo Also you can fake out your foes into thinking you will use other attacks, then strike with this one, likely very vital for making the homing gimp actually work (InterimofZeal reports it's not easy to hit a human with). Spamming it regularly however, is grounds for leaving yourself open to attack.
Press B twice to cut the amount of charging lag on Sonic's homing attack in half!
ShadowSYA's observations:
I've tried it out and found his assessment is good.
Another thing to note is that you'll have greater success with this move
when catching an opponent during their second jump. Pressure them into it if you can.
Or to put it in context (only because it's funny):
*DK gets knocked off the stage*
Sakurai: YOU MUST RECOVER--
Sonic: ***** no you can't lawl
*DK gets homing attacked by Sonic*
Rule the Fourth?
THERE IS NO RULE THE FOURTH!
Part the Fifth:
Other Special Moves.
We all know they look alike, we all know with a casual eye, it sucks. But that's before you learn how to use them properly.
The Spin Dashes look alike but are hardly worth anything for a KO, they're combo starters. Use them that way. If you need to recover, you can Forward b as well, though don't use it AFTER the second jump or you're stunned into it.
Also note that you can help Sonic's poor horizontal air speed with this move, but beware of using your second jump.
A proper video by acidictadpole shows how Spindash chasing works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l84c2oHG-5M
It will help gimps massively.
Spring Jump should be used as an escape tactic as well as recovery. Got a Ganon on your tail? Up b out of the way, then dair back to Ganon's ugly noggin, but don't spam the dair as it's a highly predictable move. You can also use it to chase foes out and finish your air combos.
Note: lrn2dodge.
I will strengthen this compedium as better strategies evolve. So I ask you... PLEASE, suck less with Sonic and stop trying to make KO moves with unreliable attacks and use his actual strengths.
Oh, and one last thing:
Side Taunt:
Spam it.
Nothing will be more grating than to hear Sonic's American voice shout "YOU'RE TOO SLOW YOU'RE TOO SLOW" over and over again. It's the best thing to anger your foe or interrupt Link/Zelda make out sessions. SPAM IT. And even if you're not playing that version or too weeaboo for it, the running taunt
just looks too **** cool. USE IT DAMMIT.
Edits:
(2/18/08) Went over current weaknesses
(2/20/08) Added InterimofZeal's video and some facts about the homing attack
(2/26/08) Added ShadowSYA's homing attack observations
(2/28/08) Added stutter step to Sonic's fsmash data
(3/1/08) Added some stuff on stutter step and the homing attack
(3/7/08) Mother****ing stickied! WOO
(3/10/08) Added some small notes in bold.
(3/14/08) Added Spindash chasing (note NOT any sort of official name)
(3/17/08) Separated Homing attack from its brethren and added a new note.
(3/19/08) Added a blurb about predictability from Aprili
but I usually go out and edgeguard since Sonic can do that, and it puts pressure on people. Also most people try to sweetspot the ledge anyway.
