New Player Help

[Jageru]

I used to play this game a lot when I really little, and I've been watching just about every melee video on Youtube that you can find (and there are a lot of them), so I've been interested in playing for a while. Now I've finally recieved my Smash 4 controller and bought an adapter, and I've been practicing some tech skills like wavedashing, shield dropping, ledge dashing, platform canceling, L cancelling, shuffling, etc. However, all this means nothing if you don't know when to use them and how.

Where can I get some actual experience? In CSGO, you just simply queue up in competitive, and it matches your rank with other people similar to you so you can progress through the game with baby steps. Also, I know how to platform cancel and multishine and shield drop, but I still don't even know how to DI or SDI. Is there some way I can practice this? I've tried spawning bombs and throwing them on myself, but I'd like something maybe more dynamic than that.

Also, what version of Melee should I be playing on? I'm currently on 1.02. I assume this is the version I should be on.

If anyone can point me to some resources, that'd be great. I know you can play other players via netplay, but I always just end up playing someone who is miles ahead of my skillset, and I don't even understand why I end up losing. Where can I get some decent practice?

 

[Jamsu]

The most effective way for you to play against other players your skill level I can think of is smashladder's ranked system, and it isn't even very effective at finding other people who have the same skill level as each other. When you do run into somebody who is miles ahead of where you, try to find out what it is you're doing that lets your opponent take advantage of you, and then try to change your habits. There's a better explanation of this in this video.

how to DI here and how to SDI here. I think these are best practiced playing against real people

Yep, 1.02 is good.

You can find your local smash scene's facebook here if you want to find a tourney near you
SSBM Tutorials is a good youtube channel
Here's the melee library where you can read about a lot of useful stuff

don't be afraid to ask for advice when playing with somebody miles ahead of yourself

I'm sorry if I'm confusing and I hope this helps in some way

 

[Lola Luftnagle]

Quite...I'm no competitive player myself but I've practiced the same ATs to get by. Don't know much about netplay but here's a few suggestions:

• I see y'all are new to DI. Well, y'all can practice this easier with multihit moves. Pokéballs such as Chikorita, Hitodeman, Matadogars, and even Entei; 's f-smash, 's d-smash, anyone with multihit weak jabs. There's a lot of those kinds of moves.
• Y'all have the current version of Melee, so y'all cool there.
• I'll assume you're familiar with Smashwiki. Y'all can check out Smashvods and vods.co to see archived tournament matches to see what players do in various situations. Here on Smashboards, there's character forums where y'all can get help with something you struggle with. Also, don't forget there's guides for each character.
• Practice often, and it doesn't have to be everyday. Don't worry overmuch about winning right now; just stay patient and have fun with it.

 

[MercuryPenny]

I see y'all are new to vectoring

vectoring/lsi is smash 4, melee's di is launch angle influence

 

[Lola Luftnagle]

Oops, my bad. But at least he'll have a fairly powerful survival tech to look forward to employing in Smash 4.

 

[Jageru]

Thanks for the responses guys! I guess I'll just end up trying to find some people by skill range to play with. I'll try out the ladder when I'm a bit more adaptable and skilled.