New to smash ultimate, need some advice.

[Wigy]

Hey guys. Ive been playing smash on and off casually since the n64. Got a switch and I've been playing ultimate. I was a competitive mortal Kombat player and I've been trying to get good at this.

How do you guys go about finding and practicing combos. The combo system in this game seems a lot more fast and freestyle? How do you practice punishes as well? Frame data seems highly variable, and I just get people doing shield rolls whenever I try punish.

How on Earth do people do back airs so easily. Whenever I jump back my character faces that direction? Do I need to disable jump on analogue stick and use x ?

First post of these forums, not sure if this is the correct place for it. Any good advice for just grinding fundamentals would be good.

I've tried looking around online for tutorials but find forums are a good way of getting direct info.

Cheers

 

[channel_KYX]

Hey guys. Ive been playing smash on and off casually since the n64. Got a switch and I've been playing ultimate. I was a competitive mortal Kombat player and I've been trying to get good at this.

How do you guys go about finding and practicing combos. The combo system in this game seems a lot more fast and freestyle? How do you practice punishes as well? Frame data seems highly variable, and I just get people doing shield rolls whenever I try punish.

How on Earth do people do back airs so easily. Whenever I jump back my character faces that direction? Do I need to disable jump on analogue stick and use x ?

First post of these forums, not sure if this is the correct place for it. Any good advice for just grinding fundamentals would be good.

I've tried looking around online for tutorials but find forums are a good way of getting direct info.

Cheers

Welcome around here.
Right from the get go, I must say that these forums are super slow, so it might be a good idea to also look elsewhere for advice. I hear there are people in discord, but no clue about any server.

Let me address some of your questions:
To my knowledge, everyone and their mother plays with tap jump off. This might feel awkward for fighting game players, but you got more control over what you do. Especially short hops I find impossible with tap jump.

Before I can get to your other questions, let me ask first:
Who do you play the most?
Which controller do you use?
How many hours (roughly) do you have in smash 5 now?
Did you ever try online? If so, what is your GSP?

In general, there is no easy way in. Grind games until your hands fall off. I use online for that, because there is zero local community where I live. Depending on your replies, we can point you in some direction though.
Once you can do the basics consistently, you can also watch tournament matches, but from your questions I guess that is too early right now.

 

[Tortfeasor]

I think I was in the same boat as you. I starting playing Smash 64 and was pretty casual up until Ultimate. Then I started playing online and actually tried learning the game as opposed to learning to beat computer opponents and my circle of friends. A few things I've learned:

1. Find a main, but don't be afraid to experiment

As a kompetitve player in another franchise, you're no doubt aware that having a main is pretty essential. I assume you already have some idea of what character or characters you gel with the most. However, don't be afraid to spread your wings and try someone new every now and then. I went into the online mode in Ultimate pretty darn sure was my main, but I gave, , and a try and found them easier for me to understand and learn with. Patience is clearly a virtue when learning a character, but there comes a time when you just have to accept a particular character doesn't fit your preferred playstyle.

2. Try other characters just so you know what they can do

This is the one I probably have the most trouble with myself, but it certainly helps to at least each character a few times so you know what they're capable of.

3. Don't be afraid of training mode

I have to force myself to practice sometimes and, even though it feels like a chore, it really is the only reliable way to improve specific skills. For example, to learn to do short-hop B-air from the ground, I spent a few lunch hours going back and forth across the training stage only using short-hop B-airs. It can be tedious, but I am a lot more reliable with my B-airs now than I was before.

There are also other skills like B-reversing, wavebouncing, combos, etc. that you really need a controlled environment to learn. You can also reduce the speed so you can learn the timing easier. Check out YouTube for a plethora of videos covering any skill, fundamental, or combo you can think of.

4. Turn off tap jump and set two jump buttons you can press at the same time

Agreed. Turn of off tap jump. As soon as Smash introduced custom controls, I couldn't turn that off fast enough.

Also, set two buttons (I use A and R2 [Pro Controller] or X and R2 [GC Controller]) to jump. That way you can press them together to do a short-hop.

 

[Spiny Top]

So if you are looking specifically at how to improve combos, play training mode with the trajectory guide on, and analyze the trajectory of each of your moves and certain percentages and try to find some combos, see what leads into what at what percent. Once you find a reliable 2 piece, try to find a 3 piece or even 4 piece for it.