Umbrasquall
Smash Ace
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2007
- Messages
- 504
Mindgames
~ Beyond the Combos ~
~ Beyond the Combos ~
I noticed that there has been a FAQ on everything smash related, except mindgames. Anyone that has asked so far has been told that mindgames cannot be taught. But I believe that there are basic tenets of this technique that can be helpful to everyone if listed out. Since the last tournament, I've realized how important mindgames are if you wanted to be any good at all beyond learning the techniques. So I quickly jotted down what I have noticed about mindgames by watching videos, and my own playing experience. Note that I'm far from an expert on this subject. Like my Online Play/Vista FAQ, the ideas here are pretty basic, and I hope everyone can contribute a little to make this a good guide.
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Elementary Techniques
1. Motion
This is simple to understand. It's always important to keep moving in a game. This makes you unpredictable and harder to hit. Know your character well and know which techniques you can do quickly straight out of a dash when the opportunity presents itself. Standing still by using the excuse of getting ready to edge-guard is also not an excuse. It's much better to stay in motion and jump back into the edge-guard position the instant before you do it. There are very specific methods to counter edge-guards and being unpredictable will heighten your chances of a successful guard. Sub-techniques of motion include dash-dancing, teleporting, etc. A caveat is to vary your motion. The goal here is to try to be unpredictable, if the only thing you're doing is dash-dancing and attacking, or rolling an smashing, then your opponent will figure out your pattern easily and adjust to pwn you.
2. Fake-outs
Another easy to understand, but harder to master technique. Faking your opponent out will help you confuse your enemy. Keep an eye out for an opportunity to jump in and land a good hit and/or start a combo. There are two main types of fake outs.
a) The first is the defensive fake out. This type of fake out involves using rapid, small movements and attacks to keep your enemy at bay. You're basically playing games with your opponent's head. A very well implementation of this by malva can be seen starting at 1:35 in this match against moogle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kOcIpyUqgw
b) The second type is the offensive, "bait", or "set-up" fake out. This is done by doing an attack that obviously will not hit in an attempt to lure your opponent into attacking. Of course, you will need to know the timing well enough so that you are ready when the other character rushes you and do the appropriate counter setup. A very obvious video demonstration of this strategy by malva against tigerbombz can be seen at 2:59 of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrQXlKvTD4w
Intermediate Techniques
1. Keep calm (Juggernaut momentum factor)
When someone starts owning, they sometimes can be on a streak for 2-3 stocks, or even 5 stocks. Sometimes you can do semi-well in against a person, but having lost the first round, you get owned in the second one. I refer to this as the momentum factor. The momentum factor is a very important mindgame and there are several things to be aware of about this addicting/humiliating phenomenon.
We all know how exciting it is when you've got your opponent in a combo, it feels good. And that's when you screw up. Your victim gets a lucky DI in, or hits a wall and lands on the ground. It's important in these situations to just STOP briefly and calm down. Your opponent is on the ground, and he has only 4 choices of action. He can get up and attack, just get up, or roll in two directions. It's pretty obvious what which way he is using as soon as the animation starts. Once you know, you can then land an appropriate attack before he gets the chance to shield or escape, so not to lose your momentum. The same works if you're the one being comboed. I cannot recall how many times that I've panicked and rolled predictably in an attempt to escape, only to get ***** further as my character stands up. (Video ex. of Kurtis panicking in a match against malva, I'm sure you've all seen it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouUooMEHqig Note all the mistakes Kurtis made.) The important thing to keep in mind is to STAY CALM. Think about what you're doing. Take a small breather on your spawn platform and don't rush into anything for a while. Revenge is sweet but make sure you're clearheaded enough not to screw up again. Running away a little bit and match stalling for a few seconds is totally acceptable and will help your opponent lose his ownage streak. If you are familiar with sports, this is the exact same strategy basketball coaches employ when the opponent team is dominating. The coach will call a timeout to help break the streak.
2. Use the environment
To play smart, you have to know how each stage can help you. I'm not talking about mastering ledge-grabbing either, although that would be good. I'm talking about knowing things about the game that can save you in a pinch. Like which stages you can go through after an up-b move, knowing that Link's up-b extends through the structure on the right side of Hyrule, knowing that the lava in Samus's level will shoot you up and to the opposite direction you're facing (video ex. 0:39 of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_5OMw6EWUQ, etc.
Advanced Techniques
1. Play smarter
This is probably the hardest technique to master. You really can't achieve with one night of practice. You have to understand the game innately. How each character moves, the hitboxes for each attack, the priority... etc. Look at 1:38 of this video, where malva does a b-air with pika as to get out of the range of fox's up-smash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urUBMrtXwyA It is subtle things like that that normal people all miss in the face-paced action that makes the difference.
You will need to out predict your opponent. Essentially, you always have to be one step ahead of your enemy. Adjusting your combo to which way you predict your opponent is going to DI is a good example. And when you're on the defense, predict how your attacker will predict you will DI and DI in the opposite direction... etc etc and back and forth. This is what separates most of the elite players from the good and advanced players. While it is obviously harder to think ahead of a better player then a poor one, experience will help you adjust. And until you really get a feel of every aspect of the game, this step is going to be a pain because there's just not enough time to think about what you're going to do in a fast-paced round.
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Mindgames are essential to be any good. Mindgames and unpredicatableness differentiates a good human player from a really good computer player. Practicing combos in training mode will only get your so far. You can have the best reactions in the world, and have mastered all the techniques and combos for every character, and still get owned by a player who doesn't know any techniques but can out maneuver you mentally. That said, I hope my input on this topic helped some people, and I hope others can add to what I've said. Good luck smashing everyone!
