Need some direction with ZSS...

[Jayse14]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but...

Hey everyone, I've been playing Zero Suit for a little while now and have been getting pretty good results with her. That being said, I need some direction so far as where to go with her next. I'm feeling a little stuck and am not sure what I should be working on at this point. Some critique and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Here is a recent replay I recorded on my phone (sorry about the quality). One match may not be enough but hopefully it will suffice as I am a little pressed for time (with a major tourney coming up in a couple days). Anyways, thanks in advance!

https://youtu.be/FBmjEDV_Qzk

 

[CaptainLoki]

Try to not always charge the paralyzer and don`t use the Side Smash so often.
You should also space with fastfall nair and zair and don`t roll all the time this is too predictable!

 

[Tobi_Whatever]

Your neutral game needs a lot of work.
Stop using fSmash at all for now.
Only use sSpecial as tether for now. It's super unsafe on shield.
Don't throw out random dSpecial kicks in the neutral game. You get tons of ending lag on shield. Any good player will block it.
SH FF nAir and SH FF bAir should be your main use in the neutral. Use them more often and learn to properly space them.
You can add SH FF uAir and SH zAir later as well.

There is more but this should suffice for now.

 

[pichuthedk]

Well that's true about the kicks but aren't their situations where you can bait a punish by kicking the shield high enough so you can jump before landing?

 

[Jayse14]

Ok thanks a lot! Also, what button layouts do you guys go with for ZSS?

 

[Tobi_Whatever]

Well that's true about the kicks but aren't their situations where you can bait a punish by kicking the shield high enough so you can jump before landing?

Yes that works, but it's nothing you should focus on imo. There are things to prioritize to get a hang of first, and that is not getting harshly punished for dSpecial kicks as soon as you play against someone capable of punishing them. I'm also pretty sure that fast enough characters can still punish you with OOS options.

Ok thanks a lot! Also, what button layouts do you guys go with for ZSS?

I use for GC
z = jump
cstick = attack
x = grab

z jump is useful because your thumb is free for cstick action while jumping.
I don't claim that this is the optimal setup but it works pretty well.

 

[GeneralBrwni]

Ok thanks a lot! Also, what button layouts do you guys go with for ZSS?

I use basically the same layout as Tobi (I've actually almost never seen anybody else use the same layout). The only thing different is I have R set to grab just because I like having a grab shoulder button in case I decide to use it. This might go without saying, but if you decide to set c-stick to attack, don't c-stick nair with the bottom corners, it's much better to have any potential misinput turn into fair, uair, or bair than dair. Especially near the edge of the stage or offstage. I basically built my layout around the idea of being able to c-stick nairs and avoid the weird momentum glitch with aerials. Also I have tapjump off, because I'm bad at utilt otherwise, and it seems like z-jump covers most advantages that tapjump has. Though now that I utilt with the c-stick that's not an issue, I guess. It's complicated

 

[Jayse14]

Ok thanks for the input! I've been trying this setup as of late

Z - grab
R - shield
L - jump (for OoS Up-B)
Cstick - attack

If nothing else I'm finding the cstick set to attack helping with side tilts. My instinct before was always to go for a side smash (especially as a punish), but often times it would be too slow and get me in trouble. Using the cstick for tilts is helping me avoid that.

On another note, should I be using my cstick for arials? I mess up Uairs without it sometimes...

 

[Tobi_Whatever]

Ok thanks for the input! I've been trying this setup as of late

Z - grab
R - shield
L - jump (for OoS Up-B)
Cstick - attack

If nothing else I'm finding the cstick set to attack helping with side tilts. My instinct before was always to go for a side smash (especially as a punish), but often times it would be too slow and get me in trouble. Using the cstick for tilts is helping me avoid that.

On another note, should I be using my cstick for arials? I mess up Uairs without it sometimes...

Yes you should absolutely use the c stick for your aerials. Always. moving away while doing bAirs for example would be impossible without it.
Also regarding jump on L, can you properly shorthop with it? I personally found it way too slow and imprecise.

 

[Jayse14]

Ok, and yup you can shorthop with the L button. It takes some getting use to for sure, but since the button is a trigger you can push it down slightly for shorthop or fully for a full jump.

Also, since I'm not altering the Z button, it allows me to play Smash on my New 3DS with the same control scheme.