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Minute Match Analysis Discussion

White Wolf

Smash Cadet
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
57
Location
Mooresville, NC
Greetings Toon Link forums!
After some time after 3.5's release, I brainstormed the idea of match analysis- but with a unique twist. As a Toonie player, you pick one match from any 3.5 set, and analyze the choices, stage positioning, option coverage, etc. of the player you chose. Due to the large amount of micro transactions during even a game of PM, try analyzing only a minute of it. This process may take a little while to complete- upwards of 30 to 45 minutes by my experience. From the notes I took, I learned a lot about how a person played our young hero, but learned a few general tips as well. Does this seem like a plausible idea to you guys?

*This idea doesn't really fall wholly under match-up discussion, and your form of analysis can be any of the factors I've listed above, or any other useful ones. This idea is meant to help evolve the thinking and decision making of our character.

TL;DR- Does breaking down a minute of Toon Link game play sound like a productive and plausible idea?
 

G13_Flux

Smash Lord
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Messages
1,076
idk if a one minute analysis would be the best. just coming from someone who likes their time to think about things, as well as make sure that their ideas are written out properly. ill do a MU though on link, as I think that is a significant MU for tink.

now tink and link have a lot of similarities between in the scope of a lot of MUs. disjoints, a similar juggle game, similar recovery, and projectiles with sometimes similar functions. a lot of these similarities can be applied to most MUs, but in the tink vs link MU i feel that it becomes most apparent. the first that needs to be covered is the dynamics of their neutral games, and one of the biggest tools for each of them also notes one of their biggest differences, the boomerang. links boomerang comes out quick, such that it can be used better at closer distances, but it doesnt have many angles, and the couple angles it does have dont really affect its use in the neutral game all the much. tinks boomerang, on the other hand, while normally is great from neutral (from somewhat of a distance at least), isnt going to be all the much use to you in the link MU, manly since his own boomerang is quicker. this means you are going to have to really use your superior mobility in order to place yourself right in front of link where you can CC him or pressure his shield. in terms of dealing with his projectiles, tinks zair is actually a pretty good move, and since they kept its relatively low endlag (10 frames!) it can be a great tool to use when spaced just outside the range of his ftilt. it wont yeild you any follow ups (like links tipped zair might), but it can put him off balance, and because of his poor defense outside nair, thats exactly what you what. anything from a CC > dtilt, zair, ftilt, a bomb, a well place rang, arrow, or jab can do the trick. it will be hard to get rangs and arrows out, but keep in mind that a point blank ranged boomerang will likely outprioritize any projectiles that he could have tried to hit you with.

now after you get the hit, is where the Mu becomes much easier. links defense consists of neutral airs, jabs, CC dsmashes, and up bs. when in the air, as long as you space your fairs and nairs correctly, you will always outprioritize his nair. learn to expect it, and respect the spacing thats required of you to beat it.

when youve got link in a staggered or tech chase position, they will try to often beat you out with quick jabs, CC dsmashes, and up bs whenever the get a few frames of action before your on continued assault. granted, up b is a terribly punishable move, and you wont catch high level links doing it too often, but the fact that its there means that you have to respect its possibility. the classic defense for link players is typically to use what ive just mentioned as close up defense, but sometimes they will instead throw out a boomerang, anticipating you to respect their space and try to bait them into getting punished by DDing (the boomerang will cover your DD quite effectively). thus you are presented with the main defensive options of a link player, and need to vary your options in order to fully keep them on their toes, ever forcing them to make the wrong move. here is where your boomerang will shine, because of all the angles and ranges it can cover, and when combined with your arrows and bombs, you can seriously cover a lot of space, up close AND from afar. smart use of his projectiles will help you eventually land into a fair or dair (yes, even the spike), and when you combine those finishers with his bair, nair, and uair (solid combo options to compliment his projectiles) youve got quite the deadly game that goes far beyond just breaking out of combos with quick nairs (say hi to all the samus and peach players, although i still love my peach).

so if all thats a mouthful, the main thing to take so far is that the neutral game will be hard for you, since he outranges you and has a quicker rang. once you can really play out your mobility tricks to get a spot front and center when hes in the endlag of an attack, you can get him off balance and its not too hard at all to combo him once youve got an understanding of his simple defense options from your chases.

in terms of killing, you have plenty of set ups to finishers as ive mentioned, and while link can normally be tricky to edge guard, tink luckily enough has the tools to deal with him. you can drop bombs off the ledge, use arrows and rangs, and use fairs and nairs to finish off the edge guard (yes, the back hit of nair has yet another use!).
 

White Wolf

Smash Cadet
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
57
Location
Mooresville, NC
idk if a one minute analysis would be the best. just coming from someone who likes their time to think about things, as well as make sure that their ideas are written out properly. ill do a MU though on link, as I think that is a significant MU for tink.

now tink and link have a lot of similarities between in the scope of a lot of MUs. disjoints, a similar juggle game, similar recovery, and projectiles with sometimes similar functions. a lot of these similarities can be applied to most MUs, but in the tink vs link MU i feel that it becomes most apparent. the first that needs to be covered is the dynamics of their neutral games, and one of the biggest tools for each of them also notes one of their biggest differences, the boomerang. links boomerang comes out quick, such that it can be used better at closer distances, but it doesnt have many angles, and the couple angles it does have dont really affect its use in the neutral game all the much. tinks boomerang, on the other hand, while normally is great from neutral (from somewhat of a distance at least), isnt going to be all the much use to you in the link MU, manly since his own boomerang is quicker. this means you are going to have to really use your superior mobility in order to place yourself right in front of link where you can CC him or pressure his shield. in terms of dealing with his projectiles, tinks zair is actually a pretty good move, and since they kept its relatively low endlag (10 frames!) it can be a great tool to use when spaced just outside the range of his ftilt. it wont yeild you any follow ups (like links tipped zair might), but it can put him off balance, and because of his poor defense outside nair, thats exactly what you what. anything from a CC > dtilt, zair, ftilt, a bomb, a well place rang, arrow, or jab can do the trick. it will be hard to get rangs and arrows out, but keep in mind that a point blank ranged boomerang will likely outprioritize any projectiles that he could have tried to hit you with.

now after you get the hit, is where the Mu becomes much easier. links defense consists of neutral airs, jabs, CC dsmashes, and up bs. when in the air, as long as you space your fairs and nairs correctly, you will always outprioritize his nair. learn to expect it, and respect the spacing thats required of you to beat it.

when youve got link in a staggered or tech chase position, they will try to often beat you out with quick jabs, CC dsmashes, and up bs whenever the get a few frames of action before your on continued assault. granted, up b is a terribly punishable move, and you wont catch high level links doing it too often, but the fact that its there means that you have to respect its possibility. the classic defense for link players is typically to use what ive just mentioned as close up defense, but sometimes they will instead throw out a boomerang, anticipating you to respect their space and try to bait them into getting punished by DDing (the boomerang will cover your DD quite effectively). thus you are presented with the main defensive options of a link player, and need to vary your options in order to fully keep them on their toes, ever forcing them to make the wrong move. here is where your boomerang will shine, because of all the angles and ranges it can cover, and when combined with your arrows and bombs, you can seriously cover a lot of space, up close AND from afar. smart use of his projectiles will help you eventually land into a fair or dair (yes, even the spike), and when you combine those finishers with his bair, nair, and uair (solid combo options to compliment his projectiles) youve got quite the deadly game that goes far beyond just breaking out of combos with quick nairs (say hi to all the samus and peach players, although i still love my peach).

so if all thats a mouthful, the main thing to take so far is that the neutral game will be hard for you, since he outranges you and has a quicker rang. once you can really play out your mobility tricks to get a spot front and center when hes in the endlag of an attack, you can get him off balance and its not too hard at all to combo him once youve got an understanding of his simple defense options from your chases.

in terms of killing, you have plenty of set ups to finishers as ive mentioned, and while link can normally be tricky to edge guard, tink luckily enough has the tools to deal with him. you can drop bombs off the ledge, use arrows and rangs, and use fairs and nairs to finish off the edge guard (yes, the back hit of nair has yet another use!).
Thanks for the feedback and notes! I care less about the suggested methodology and more about this type of discussion. I encourage any personalized form of note taking, and further reflection upon sets and games. I used to not belive in these practices, but I see more uses to them lately than ever.
 

Kaeldiar

Smash Ace
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
Messages
563
Location
MDVAiridian City
"One-minute analysis" works very well. Before going into my tourney yesterday, I rewatched the same game 10+ times with a friend. He and I did match analysis on the same 2 minutes of footage over and over again figuring out what I could or couldn't do. It was tremendously helpful.
 

White Wolf

Smash Cadet
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
57
Location
Mooresville, NC
"One-minute analysis" works very well. Before going into my tourney yesterday, I rewatched the same game 10+ times with a friend. He and I did match analysis on the same 2 minutes of footage over and over again figuring out what I could or couldn't do. It was tremendously helpful.
Really glad to hear it! Did you see any noticeable effects on how you played and felt? Can I watch the set you broke down? :p
 

Kaeldiar

Smash Ace
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
Messages
563
Location
MDVAiridian City
Really glad to hear it! Did you see any noticeable effects on how you played and felt? Can I watch the set you broke down? :p
Here's the match. I'm the Zelda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKWskXroxQY
We mostly looked at the second game.

The next day, my punishes were much better and I didn't over-extend as much. I got lazy during the tournament though, because I lost drive. I only played against Foxes, Captain Falcons, and Sheiks...I dropped Melee because it was boring for me. I didn't drop Melee to have to play more Melee.
 
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