Observation: The Key to Higher Level Smash Play

[chaos_Leader]

I love it.

I am by no means, a technical/'pro' player. although I can do some of the adv. techniques, I've never seen a need to use more force than is necessary. My entire game revolves around observation and exploitation. heck, I've won matches against n00beir opponents without even striking a single blow, just by watching. I've never played against a technical/'pro', but after watching some videos, I get the sense that some of that crazy stuff is sometimes a little superfluous. it seems sometimes the slightest break in their routine could derail them entirely. Take Aniki for example, I have yet to see him wavedash or shffl more than once or twice, and he seems to hold his own against far more technical players than himself. which begs the question: Is it possible to be 'pro' without being technical?

this may be the wrong thread for this sort of thing, but whatever.

 

[Rapid_Assassin]

I am by no means, a technical/'pro' player. although I can do some of the adv. techniques, I've never seen a need to use more force than is necessary. My entire game revolves around observation and exploitation. heck, I've won matches against n00beir opponents without even striking a single blow, just by watching. I've never played against a technical/'pro', but after watching some videos, I get the sense that some of that crazy stuff is sometimes a little superfluous. it seems sometimes the slightest break in their routine could derail them entirely. Take Aniki for example, I have yet to see him wavedash or shffl more than once or twice, and he seems to hold his own against far more technical players than himself. which begs the question: Is it possible to be 'pro' without being technical?

Mindgames are more important than being technical. You want to get to a point where you're able to do everything that you want to do consistently though. Some of the crazy stuff isn't superfluous. If someone is able to overwhelm their opponent with speed, it could do a lot to destroy their opponent's morale, and it's just plain effective to move faster if you are doing so smartly. But if your opponent is moving at crazy speed and all you have to do is roll backwards and forward smash to beat him, it's a good observation to make, and allows you to gain an advantage with less effort.

To answer your question, depends on how you define technical. Some of the pros are called "technical" not because they do crazy combos that require ridiculous button mashing speed, but because they never mess up their lcancels and such. I'm guessing by your post that your definition is crazy combos. And yes, it's possible to be pro without always overwhelming your opponent with speed. Watch pros like Aniki and Masashi carefully though. They are technical in the sense that they never mess up on anything that they want to do. Watching matches like these carefully, I've seen just about every move that they do hit their opponent. (aside from those done purely to control space) Those moves that didn't hit were what cost them damage, a stock, the match, etc...

 

[Niko_K]

This thread just made my halloween. Im going to review this over and over and practice it over until I can do it without noticing.

This thread is full of win.

EDIT: Sorry for breaking the big post pattern >.<

 

[Deleted member]

Awesome thread. I dont apply it that much yet, still perfecting my tech skill (whats the point of observing your opponent if u can do what u want), but i now watch my oppenent more than myself. OBSERVATION FTW!

 

[Witchking_of_Angmar]

I know a smasher that not only observes well and spams fsmash, but also uses WD to space even better and punish well. This made him very hard for me to beat the first time I played him, especially since he was the first human smasher I ever played. I go even with him now. my main problem is punishing his fsmashes with WD out of shield and such. I can WD out of shield, but not in a human match, under pressure, so I need to continue training that so that it's just muscle memory.

 

[Problem2]

Nooo... you can't tell the secret of playing well! :o

While everyone on Smashboards strived to learn techs and combos, the more tactical players have been using "observation" to our advantages. Actually, I WASN'T like that until I met a generally great gamer and by teaching him to play well, I learned from him a very important approach to winning at anything: observation and common sense.

You can talk about all the combos you can do. I would sometimes talk about a combo to a spike or some other insane method, and all my friend would say is "why?". Anytime you learn or think up a good technique, always ask yourself "why?". Many times, the new technique isn't even practical to use, and would be waisted effort and will actually hurt yourself because you leave yourself open. When playing agaisnt my friend, the same oppourtunity I would do a combo, I could have simply f-smashed him. Of course, after we had both began doing moves with purpose, we realized that the combos were to counter or surpass the simpler techniques.

Overall, don't try to make any leaps. If you don't see a reason for doing it, don't. If you have good rivals, you'll figure out overtime why those techniques were invented.

EDIT: After looking at the thread more closely, this thread is actually outdated. lol, well I sure feel dumb now

 

[?!?]

this thread is sooo god. I have mad respect for mookirah now. he's a good teacher I bet.

This is truly the way to go from scrub to being a top player. I myself experienced it.

 

[SmashMac]

Yeah, this is definitely the most important part about successful smashing. Learning to observe. Great thread MookieRah. You own.

 

[?!?]

People dont get that there is no such thing as a technical player and a mindgame player. there is only one. and that is just a smash player. How do you think you get people into 0 to 100% comboes? not technical skills of course you have to counter you opponent or punish them then you get into a comboes in other word like you noobs like to say "he mindgamed him to fall for his combo" in other words tech skills dont exist without mindgames cuz without mindgames you cant get people to fall into your technical comboes.

 

[Witchking_of_Angmar]

People dont get that there is no such thing as a technical player and a mindgame player. there is only one. and that is just a smash player. How do you think you get people into 0 to 100% comboes? not technical skills of course you have to counter you opponent or punish them then you get into a comboes in other word like you noobs like to say "he mindgamed him to fall for his combo" in other words tech skills dont exist without mindgames cuz without mindgames you cant get people to fall into your technical comboes.

Umm...... Silent Wolf is definitely a technical player, you can't deny that. Of course technical skill exists, and so do "mindgames," it's just that it all gets confused sometimes.

 

[?!?]

and thats why your a noob thanks for letting me know.

 

[+Faruko+]

People dont get that there is no such thing as a technical player and a mindgame player. there is only one. and that is just a smash player. How do you think you get people into 0 to 100% comboes? not technical skills of course you have to counter you opponent or punish them then you get into a comboes in other word like you noobs like to say "he mindgamed him to fall for his combo" in other words tech skills dont exist without mindgames cuz without mindgames you cant get people to fall into your technical comboes.

Contradicting is a drug, so don't do it or you'll end up like... I can't think of a good moral here, but in other words you contradicted your self there buddy.

No offense.

 

[Sandwich]

this thread is sooo god. I have mad respect for mookirah now. he's a good teacher I bet.

This is truly the way to go from scrub to being a top player. I myself experienced it.

So you fourstocked PC Chris at Super Champ Combo?

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

This is some good stuff,eventhough i already knew it. But I applaud your method and you have the right idea in mind.

 

[?!?]

No I didnt play pc but I did beat forward at FCD in the brackets

 

[Rexx]

Fascinating thread.

 

[JamieC]

This thread has improved my game play ten fold.

 

[Dr Peepee]

Very in depth and well thought-out. I'm pleased to see the real mentalities behind the pros (finally!)

 

[Knight-errant]

A good point you made that hasn't been highlighted enough is: focusing on one thing at a time. You'd be amazed at how much more you can accomplish simply by working step by step instead of trying to load up everything at once.

So, a good way to get better: take a look at Mookierah's list of suggestions again, pick ONE (and only one) of the items from the list, and practice that one thing until you do it without thinking.

 

[Yoshi'stheBombers7]

Obervation is a major key to victory. To observe you opponent helps to play mind games to fall into your traps. You can also observe better players to become better (like my sig., it inspires that one day I hope to be as good as Fumi).

 

[maximus omega]

I remember that convo about making the opponent look stupid.

I think smash is more about practicing with the right people now for the most part.

Thats why I dont think im gonna be pro at this game.

 

[NES n00b]

Teach me your ways Mookie!

 

[j00t]

That Mookie.... what a good guy. I mean dude....

Anywho, can't wait to play you again Mookie. I didn't even get to play you at G4S4....

 

[Smilez]

Subscribing.

 

[slartibartfast42]

You do know that you can subscribe to a thread without posting?

Also, why would you need to subscribe if the first post is all that matters? Oh well, I really liked what MookieRah had to say, and I think it will help my game a lot, so thanks for bumping it anyway.

 

[Strong Badam]

Holy ****.
Too many things make sense now. :o I'm gonna try some of this.

 

[Brainjack]

Establishing fear, or the feeling of helplessness, is something that even fewer people realize. All of us have felt it before, all of us has caused it before; however, few people understand truly how they did it or how they fell into it. It's also amazingly simple.

My best example is once again Marth, whom has become my champion in terms of establishing fear. Marth is already a character MANY players hate to play against, and a lot of players go into the fight already afraid of tippers and early ledgeguard kills. KNOW THIS. People are nervous at tournaments, even high level players are a bit nervous. You can USE this, as long as you stay calm. All it takes for me to scare an opponent is to make a few smart moves in the beginning. Focus on getting a few of those tippers off. All it takes is a few tips. While I don't advocate it, smack talking amplifies things. Catch your opponent in a few stupid tippers, and remind them that they were careless or just downright stupid to be caught in it in the first place. All you are doing right now, is working on their morale.

Once you have landed a few (or if you have landed a few) your opponent will already start to feel a lot of pressure. Especially in the case of Marth. They will start to fear your tips, and this places doubt in their mind. They begin to second guess themselves and are easily frustrated. At this point they make a lot more mistakes which leads to a lot more tips. It's a snowball effect that leaves most players on their knees, unable to realize what is really going on namely because most players aren't fully aware of what is going on. It gets worse and worse, and by the end of the first match, they have already lost the set. You have completely and totally destroyed their morale. Not only that, they will probably even play worse in their next matches. Ever wondered exactly why you were having a bad smash day? A lot of times it wasn't so much you were playing bad, it's because your morale has gone so low that you are afraid of everything your opponent throws at you.

hahahahahha love it. i main this strat

 

[BrawlLover]

I just started playing competitive tournaments recently. My tech skill is below average. Because of that, I based my entire game around observing the opponent. I've done ok at a few tournaments. I find playing this way to be second nature(i.e i always look at my opponents char instead of my own. It just seemed logical). I feel that everyone does this at some level, especially at tournaments. You'll just see people playing much better in tournament matches because now they are completely focused on their opponent and getting the win

man, that's so true, observing is such an important tactic

 

[Stratford]

I find the point about watching your opponent's character instead of your own very interesting. I shall experiment.

In reference to imposing fear, I agree that you can win a set before the first match is over by making your opponent feel stupid. However, if your opponent is a good observer as well, this is not as likely to happen. A key benefit to observing, besides the immediate effects like punishing a missed tech, is knowing how to adapt to your opponent. If you're getting ***** in the first match anyway, that's a great time to study your opponent.

 

[Mew2King]

just be good and ull win

 

[Niko_K]

^^ Advice from a champion.

Take it.

 

[Brainjack]

ummm im sure you're sweet and all but i find most of this stuff obvious

 

[DtJ Jungle]

and sort of inherent...why wouldnt you observe then adapt?

 

[Cactuar]

Why do people keep bumping threads that are like, forever old.

This is useful stuff though.

 

[BrawlLover]

Hey CACTUAR!

that sounds so gay charles, i don't understand how you can stand being called that constantly

 

[Brainjack]

i think its kinda hot.

 

[IShotLazer]

Isn't this when you're supposed to experience true mind games anyway?
I actually did this to my Fox a good while ago... Sadly being told these things didn't really help so much as experiencing it personally.
It sounds bad, but I wanted to do the same thing as you did Mookie. Make my opponent feel ********. All I would do is run around performing the dumbest attacks out of nowhere. Every one of Foxs attacks became another weapon that I could abuse to make my opponent look dumber. The more awkward I could have used my attacks the better I was doing what I wanted. It started out with my just Upsmashing my opponent. I wouldn't even have to run anywhere, I would just walk. Somehow I was just paying more attention to where my opponent was going to go. I actually KNEW what he was going to do. I was just able to walk up to my rolling opponent and Upsmash. Naturally I tried this with other attacks, especially Fox's B-air.
It's weird because before this point I still watched my opponent to see what he was doing but I wasn't able to predict him nearly like I could after this point. It was like being able to see maybe a move or two ahead in chess, then suddenly seeing five to six moves.
I think the true key point was having fun with what I was doing at the moment. For such a long time I had fun with the process, but didn't LOVE the process. I wanted to get better, and that was main drive. Everytime I start looking at the game in a different perspective it becomes that much more interesting. Not trying something new in this game is just being an idiot. You learn so much quicker this way. It's like reality finally sets in and you understand what you're actually supposed to be doing in this game.

Also I'd like to point out is that me and my friends started developing more unique styles when this point hit us. We were no longer mimics to what we saw.

 

[PB&J]

Im Pb&j Im Pb&j Im Pb&j :d