Q&A Official FAQ and QnA Thread - Ask Your Questions Here!

[Rocketpowerchill]

so im finally going to a xanadu monthly saturday but ive been not going since ive picked up competitive smash
this will get me into smash community and ill have my first recorded match for critique and ill have officially lost my vcard
i just want to know what tournament scene is like since i havent experienced legit tourneys b4
do you enter a local or do you just go and play people
also wtf is the ruleset and ****
ive been sitting in my room practicing techskill and slowly improving my neutral game playing a few of my smash friends, but i still dont know how to stage strike since i never really needed to
is it RPS -> 1221
i dont know about bans and cps and character selection also
someone pls fill me in so i dont look like a dumbass

 

[ManoxMano]

What smash characters are heavily dependent on good fundamentals (footsies, mindgames)

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

.... All of them?

 

[ManoxMano]

I mean which chars can be taken far with fundamentals because its key to their play. Think balrog in sfiv

 

[john!]

by fundamentals you mean non-character specific stuff?

i'd say (out of the viable characters) falcon relies on the most "basic techniques" that aren't specific to him, like dashdancing, SHFFLing, etc... although he is still pretty risky and difficult to use.

 

[ManoxMano]

I mean footsies, reading, spacing, mindgames
I was thinking along the lines of marth or jigz but idk..

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

Fox, Falco, Sheik, Marth, Puff, Peach, Falcon, ICs, Doc, Pikachu, Ganondorf, Samus, Luigi, Mario, .. .. . . ..

 

[ToastRider]

Hi, I'm just starting to learn melee, and I'm wondering if I should get in the habit of using c stick or a+analog stick? Thanks

 

[Kadano]

Hi, I'm just starting to learn melee, and I'm wondering if I should get in the habit of using c stick or a+analog stick? Thanks

Definitely C-stick.

 

[ToastRider]

Definitely C-stick.

Okay thanks. I take it charged smash attacks aren't used very often then?

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

Charged attacks are useful sometimes, too. Cstick allows you to maintain control of your horizontal movement while attacking; if you use A it is difficult to (ex.) fair while moving backwards.

 

[ToastRider]

C stick it is then

 

[Bones0]

Okay thanks. I take it charged smash attacks aren't used very often then?

If you hold Z, you can charge smash attacks done with the C-stick.

 

[Rocketpowerchill]

when you win a match are you character locked until you lose, i pretty much understand tournament rule set now but have a few questions like this

 

[S7GF]

You can choose a different character, but whoever loses chooses after you.

I think... Don't quote me on this; I'm still a noobie to competitive play, lol.

 

[Bones0]

Go read the MBR Official Ruleset thread.

 

[DRGN]

In your guy's opinion, what is the most proper nomenclature for the different kinds of invincibility? I.e. labeling them by type (g-type invincibility, and b-type invincibility), or by calling them "Invincibility" and "Invulnerability".

I don't remember who I originally heard the former from, but I've seen it a few times. The latter is more comprehensive though.

 

[Ripple]

The only time the game ever uses invulnerability is when you respawn or get a star.

All other cases, even when its not full body, is called intangibility

 

[DRGN]

So you're saying that the term invincibility isn't correct/used?

And are you sure it's all other cases? What about the first 8 frames of throws? I'm pretty sure if you get hit during those you'll give the attacker hitlag.

 

[Ripple]

invincibility is just too generic, it's just FYI

and you're right, I forgot about throwers' invulnerability. t

 

[Bones0]

The only time the game ever uses invulnerability is when you respawn or get a star.

All other cases, even when its not full body, is called intangibility

Parry and Kirby's down-B.

 

[S7GF]

Parry and Kirby's down-B.

What's the definition of 'invulnerability'? Grabs get around both of these moves, which would lead to damage assuming the player pummels or throws, but I suppose that's a separate input/action...

 

[Ripple]

damn, I'm losing my touch about game knowledge. and I even play yoshi.

Grabs do NOT beat parry. it is invulnerability

Kirby's down-b is nothing mentioned so far. it's an entire separate body state. technically you CAN break it, or at least I think so, one of the off sets you can modify about kirby is called rock HP. it's set absurdly high so that's why it never happens. but not too sure, I've never messed with it. I'll try it out later

 

[S7GF]

damn, I'm losing my touch about game knowledge. and I even play yoshi.

Grabs do NOT beat parry. it is invulnerability

Kirby's down-b is nothing mentioned so far. it's an entire separate body state. technically you CAN break it, or at least I think so, one of the off sets you can modify about kirby is called rock HP. it's set absurdly high so that's why it never happens. but not too sure, I've never messed with it. I'll try it out later

I forgot about those opening frames. I was just thinking about those last frames that you can be grabbed out of. Stupid me.

 

[Moy]

What exactly is the reason that wavebirds are banned in tournaments? I've heard that frequency issues are the cause, but what sort of frequencies would those be?

I apologize if this has been answered before.

 

[Ripple]

wavebirds usually aren't banned at any "normal" smash tournaments.

wireless controllers are usually banned when the main game is usually street fighter/Marvel/KoF so people usually put that under smash too if they will be hosting it.

 

[G3TL05T]

Where to find a good GameCube controller?

I've bought two gamestop controllers, and both of them had cheap shoulder buttons. The analog stick also seemed neutral, but my character would just walk to the left. On one, my C-stick even broke!

Then I bought two random 3rd party controllers that have mushy analog sticks and mushy B buttons.

Do official Nintendo brand controllers work well? What about tournament grade controllers?

 

[S7GF]

I only use Nintendo controllers. They are durable and efficient.

 

[Kadano]

I've bought two gamestop controllers, and both of them had cheap shoulder buttons. The analog stick also seemed neutral, but my character would just walk to the left. On one, my C-stick even broke!
Then I bought two random 3rd party controllers that have mushy analog sticks and mushy B buttons.

Buying 3rd party Gamecube controllers is probably the most stupid decision you can make in your entire life.

Either buy a new official controller for $50: Amazon
Play-Asia (might have to pay customs)
Or go for a used official controller in good condition for $10~15. You can find them in local listings and on Ebay.

 

[The Star King]

damn, I'm losing my touch about game knowledge. and I even play yoshi.

Grabs do NOT beat parry. it is invulnerability

Kirby's down-b is nothing mentioned so far. it's an entire separate body state. technically you CAN break it, or at least I think so, one of the off sets you can modify about kirby is called rock HP. it's set absurdly high so that's why it never happens. but not too sure, I've never messed with it. I'll try it out later

You can break Kirby's rock after 38% of damage in Smash64. Wouldn't be surprised if it was gonna be coded similarily in Melee but then they changed their mind and decided to set it unrealistically high.

 

[Eccupence]

To grab an item mid-air can you just press A? or do you have to press A + R or Z

 

[S7GF]

You can press A. It has to be very precise to grab an item out of midair though.

 

[The Star King]

You can press A. It has to be very precise to grab an item out of midair though.

Um if I'm not mistaken it must be Z/R+A. You might be thinking of Brawl.

 

[S7GF]

Um if I'm not mistaken it must be Z/R+A. You might be thinking of Brawl.

I thought that if you're standing on the ground, you can press A a few frames before the item would hit, and you would catch it. I know that dodging will catch the item in the air.

 

[The Star King]

He asked how to grab items in mid-air.

 

[S7GF]

Is he asking how to catch items that are in mid air, or to catch items when you are in mid air?

I'll guess assume the latter, though when I read the question initially, I thought "mid air" was an adjective describing the item which meant an item "flying through the air."

My bad.

 

[Strider]

Hey guys, I'm a long time smash bros player (got Smash 64 right as it came out and have been playing ever since) and I have always played a ton with my friends. We have always been pretty competitive among each other but I have never really been to any tournaments or done too much advanced techniques. I just decided lately to get into it and have been practicing some more advanced stuff.

Right now I can pretty much Short hop, L cancel, wavedash, waveland, fastfall and SHFFL on command with just about any character. I have been practicing those things in training mode and on level 1 computers but I don't know where to go from here. What techniques should I try to learn next and how should I practice them alone? I saw a video on YouTube with a bunch of advanced skills, kind of a how to play video, but I didn't really know what order to practice them beyond the first obvious ones.

 

[Bones0]

Hey guys, I'm a long time smash bros player (got Smash 64 right as it came out and have been playing ever since) and I have always played a ton with my friends. We have always been pretty competitive among each other but I have never really been to any tournaments or done too much advanced techniques. I just decided lately to get into it and have been practicing some more advanced stuff.

Right now I can pretty much Short hop, L cancel, wavedash, waveland, fastfall and SHFFL on command with just about any character. I have been practicing those things in training mode and on level 1 computers but I don't know where to go from here. What techniques should I try to learn next and how should I practice them alone? I saw a video on YouTube with a bunch of advanced skills, kind of a how to play video, but I didn't really know what order to practice them beyond the first obvious ones.

You pretty much have all the techniques you need to start actually learning strategy with your main. One thing you didn't list that is probably the most important technique in the game is dash dancing, so practice that and find a tourney or smashfest near you so you can go play other people. It's gonna be pretty hard to improve playing friends you are extremely familiar with if they aren't also stepping up their games with advanced techs.

 

[Strider]

You pretty much have all the techniques you need to start actually learning strategy with your main. One thing you didn't list that is probably the most important technique in the game is dash dancing, so practice that and find a tourney or smashfest near you so you can go play other people. It's gonna be pretty hard to improve playing friends you are extremely familiar with if they aren't also stepping up their games with advanced techs.

I'm going to be on the lookout for some, I know last year there were a few tournaments at my college and there might be some held at my local mall. My friend I play with the most is learning advanced techs too so we are doing good practicing with one another. I find it's harder for me to do the advanced techs consistently facing him though compared to when I am practicing alone for whatever reason.

Dash dancing is something I have also been working on some and though I can do a dash dance I haven't put it to much use yet because I haven't quite figured out how to. I am a bit behind though because my friend has already chosen a main and I am still torn between three. I have always had Link as my main character since I first played the game but now being competitive I know I am going to have to choose somebody else to step it up.

 

[Xyzz]

Dash dance really is easy to learn, but hard to implement correctly. Well, beyond the point of "I don't want to go over there, and staying still is making it easy for my opponent to perfectly space, so I'll just keep moving back and forth" :D
And everybody feels that way about tech being easy in practice but hard in matches. It's because you can't use all your mental focus on techskill during the later (at least you shouldn't).