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Max number of "Mains"

FanGoH

Smash Rookie
Joined
Nov 23, 2018
Messages
24
Location
Tijuana
Switch FC
SW-0717-4583-9400
Hi, Smashers,

what do you think of multiple characters specializers?

benefits and cons?

how many mains are "a lot"?
 

Downshift

Smash Journeyman
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
325
Bump.

Why did no one answer this?
Is there another main topic on this that should have been linked to?
 

Predatoria

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 30, 2019
Messages
361
Location
Raleigh, North Carolina
Switch FC
SW-5219-6817-7975
Dunno, but I've always thought of it like this, regardless of which game you're playing

Your most played / best character is your main.

All others are alts.

You have one main, otherwise it is no longer fitting the definition of what a main actually is in a video game.

A player can, however, change mains over the course of their playership of a game.
 
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Ze Diglett

Smash Champion
Writing Team
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
2,811
Location
Rivals 2
NNID
ZeDiglett
Dunno, but I've always thought of it like this, regardless of which game you're playing

Your most played / best character is your main.

All others are alts.

You have one main, otherwise it is no longer fitting the definition of what a main actually is in a video game.

A player can, however, change mains over the course of their playership of a game.
This. In my book, you have one main, maybe two if you really can't decide between two characters (which I could totally understand with a roster as big as Ultimate's), and everyone else you play is a secondary or a pocket. To me, it doesn't even matter whether you play competitively or not, if you go around saying you have six mains, everyone's gonna think you're a joke.
 

GhostM

Phantom
Joined
May 3, 2019
Messages
423
Location
Off the Radar
In my personal opinion, I would say no more than two characters since it's fine to co-main two different characters. I feel a little mixed about maining three different characters since that's a strange position to be in, but it could maybe work out if you put enough effort into it. Above three mains would be a little too much since you wouldn't even be playing all of the characters that you 'main', which is why you'd place them as your secondaries. With your secondaries, you at least have some knowledge of combo game and techniques.

I could imagine that there is someone out there who claims to main all characters but have no secondaries. That would truly indeed be weird.
 

Sebas22

Smash Journeyman
Joined
May 28, 2019
Messages
317
I main these guys: :ultwario::ultincineroar::ultolimar::ultpacman::ultinkling::ultrob::ultkirby::ultkrool::ultlucas::ultvillagerf:.
The benefit to this is that you offer variety to the game, I guess. The cons is that the more mains you have, the less proficient you are at the game.
It's easier to become a master if you pick only one character, but then it becomes repetitive.... It's complicated.
 
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Mister.Kim1

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
37
Switch FC
SW-2558-6837-3970
There is really no official limit to amount of mains you can have. But focusing on two to three character to be the master is better than being half decent with 8 characters.

I can recommend 3 mains and up to 10 secondaries.
 

Crystanium

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,921
Location
California
Like Predatoria Predatoria said, you only have one main. I'd say echo fighters are exceptions, since they're practically the same. If you use one, you won't need to practice using the other. You could use the other and perform just about the same techniques and moveset. An alternate word for "main" is "primary character". Others may be referred to as "secondary" for simplicity sake, although tertiary, quaternary, &c. are acceptable as well.
 

xoazi

Smash Rookie
Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
19
Location
New Jersey
NNID
kyziii
Switch FC
SW-3315-9796-7008
I would say it's one main. You're known for playing this character and it's your favorite one. The one that makes your friends think about you when they think about that character. When you have to change because of match-up or the like, it's secondary, imo. I could see the case for two mains because of this game's roster size, but I don't see more than one for most other fighting games.
 
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DeDeDIke

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
Messages
90
Location
Vancouver
I think you should have AT MOST 2 mains. If you use any other fighters outside those 2 they will either be a secondary or a pocket. For example I main Ike with a co-main King D3, Ganon and Bowser as secondaries, and Falcon, Chrom, Lucina/Marth, and Shulk as pockets. Mastering two fighters is much more manageable then say maining 10 fighters.
 

Oddball

Smash Lord
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
1,722
I try to break it up and play as many different characters as I can. There are a few I gravitate towards and a few I tend to avoid, but mostly I want to enjoy all the characters.

I don't think you should ever aim to have a main. It should just be who you like playing most. If there's one single character that you like more than any other, that's fine. If there's a dozen characters, that's cool too.
 

Freduardo

Smash Champion
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Messages
2,331
Screw gamer terminology, time to to with something more modern, Baseball terminology!

Ever since Smash 4 I pretty much stopped calling characters “mains”, “alts”, or “secondaries”.

I have a five-man rotation. Whichever one I am currently playing best is considered the “ace”. Whichever one I am playing worst is considered for replacement.
 
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