OFFICIAL Sonic rFAQ! New to Sonic? Have a quick question? Ask it here!

[Labernash]

What moves should I save for KO's, what moves does Sonic use for getting damage, what percents do I use these moves and what percent do I start going for the KO?

 

[Tesh]

For that question, you should try the old guide and new videos to see some common and effective setups.

Sonic doesn't have quick OoS punishers that can kill (like a strong disjointed nair or upsmash). So most of your earlier kills will come from edgeguards with Bair/Fair or punishing landing with Dsmash or Fsmash.

Don't get greedy tho, Sonic isn't really amazing at reliable kills in his tougher matchups. If you find yourself reaching into the 170-80 range, things like a fresh nair, uptilt, Uair (its never fresh tho) or upthrow can kill.

 

[Labernash]

Alright cool, thanks man!!

Tesh too good.

 

[B.A.M.]

I just wanted to clarify something. Nair is good vs spotdodge and AD Tesh. While uair,fair and bair do indeed aerial frame trap, nair is not only an automatic frame trap if done properly ( nair when you are reaching your opponent NOT just automatically when u jump) it hits with the soft hit that either lands us a guaranteed punish in the form fair, ftilt, DA, dash grab at times even dtilt (a strong string starter that at times is hard to land) or places the opponent in a bad position. Nair doesnt have the versatility, but it has the unique factor of actually comboing into other parts of our moveset, particularly ones that tend to be some of our most potent setups for offense.

Nair is being slept on.

 

[Espy Rose]

Nair also comes out respectably fast.
SDR > SDJ > Nair is a legitimate combo that can potentially KO unwary opponents from time to time.

Also, nair on a Marth off stage is great.

 

[da K.I.D.]

that shine spike angle. lol.

I use soft hit nair predominantly to combo into grabs.

 

[B.A.M.]

yeah. Nair ***** Marth offstage. if you get a marth with a tipper dtilt or ftilt near the ledge and run off nair, ull get a soft hit then u can just spring and edgehog for the kill a ton of times. if they save their jump; just nair when they up b and GG. Ive done that ish to Mike quite a bit.

@ Espy: yeah SDR>SDJ>Nair is good. One thing i also like about SDR SDJ Nair is in mid percents they end up landing in the perfect position ( mid range) where another SDR cant be reacted to, and tilts wont reach. Then u just go for another one. that free damage lol.

@KID: I love soft hit nair> grab. Early Mid percents you can go for strong hit nair> grabs for an easy 20+ follow ups. I do like nair>ftilt though because certain percentages get you a knock down which means a super easy tech chase with SDR> aerial/footstool or just a grab which can be a ton of damage and potentially hits the opponent offstage for you to do work.

It also kinda funny when u get a soft hit nair in the air and u follow it up with like fair or even a bair lol. Man I love that move. Seriously, when ppl start SDIng ish its so helpful. It allows us to still do solid damage without the need of utilizing some setup to punish SDI.

And yes it comes out pretty fast. I just think about wherever MK would use it at it usually works out due to some of our moveset similarities.

ASCSC> Nair 4 prez

 

[da K.I.D.]

its still painfully hard to hit people with that move tho.

 

[B.A.M.]

SDI diagonally up and away as hard as you can and then spring (dair follow up if spring hits) him. You can't SDI nado, so don't let it get to that point.

Remember that kids.

@Tesh: you can SDI the first and the last hit only. SDIing the first hit of nado is HUGE and will usually be the difference between breaking out or not. Lastly if you see a nado coming, ff fair and nair if you are below him please or take the safe route and spring. Its saddening when ppl AD back into nado as if it ever worked in the 3 and half years this game existed. u either DJ cuz its frame 1 and footstool that thing cuz its stupidly easy to do ( just mash jump on his head) ff an aerial ( nair or bair probably) or you jump toward the nado and HA which will punish the landing.

 

[B.A.M.]

its still painfully hard to hit people with that move tho.

ASCSC> nair is a good way to hit with this move. cuz if they trying to aerial OoS they usually get hit by nair, and if they shield or spotdodge the nair will hit them. Nair is easy to land when ppl are on platforms because sh hits their feet, itll almost always hit. straight up dude use it like MK's nair. you can mix it up with our grab game, its excellent against ledge options, and its amazing when coupled with out dtilt frame trap that we have. just dtilt> buffer nair. they AD then they u can follow it and get a grab or sometimes even another dtilt which resets the situation. and if it hits it hits lol. Thats how I use it. Its also good when ppl are feel like ADing at low percents vs uthrow to tack on more damage (Note: understand when its gives proper hitstun, doing it early like vs a snake gives him a chance to just own you).

Also something I want to point out thats been bothering me. When people go for uthrow> buffered uair, PLEASE understand that only SOME characters need a SH uair and some a FH uair. This is important because there are cases where ppl will FH uair and whiff then get smashed. thats a waste of a good combo starter. Of course most of use are looking for regrabs anyways i just wanted to point that out. That and respect uairs range; no need to jump into **** when u can just juggle for free. sh ff uair is so safe and leads into easy landing traps.u may want the full uair damage but just take what you can get. Theres is a reason that second hit does such little damage. Uair is amazing.

 

[BSP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pwfLtKJbwAU#t=177s

I still haven't figured out how to run one direction, then start charging SD and turn around at the same time.

How do you do it?

 

[Espy Rose]

During a run/foxtrot/standing position, input sideB.
IMMEDIATELY after the input, smash your stick in the opposite direction.

If you timed it right, sideB should be turned around in that final direction.

 

[da K.I.D.]

You can tell when you do it right because a very odd looking shift of sonics position happens. Its easy to physically see

 

[True Blue]

I don't know if it's just me or not but that's hard lol. I did it, but during a match it's hard for me to do... And then doin it a lot made me lose track of the directions I was supposed to be pressing lol

 

[da K.I.D.]

It is hard but so is everything with sonic

Practice

 

[True Blue]

Will definitely need to practice a lot before apex. Only a few more days left. Gotta get all my screw ups out of the way cause recently been screwing up with my controller where I won't dash when I want to and aerials won't always come out... I feel like I have said this before somewhere lol.

But for the side b thing I just need to get the right placement for my fingers cause last night when I did it I had to reposition my hand on the right side of the controller just to do it lol

 

[da K.I.D.]

I just need to practice my inputs so my play is clean and work on my DSSDI

 

[Espy Rose]

DSSDI is the only thing I'm more or less focusing on.
I AM trying to refine my aggressive gameplay though. Be more safe while still jumping down the opponent's throat, though it revolves around reads more than anything else.

Since you know, aggro doesn't work in Brawl unless you're Meta Knight.

 

[da K.I.D.]

aggro as a playstyle doesnt work but being aggressive at times yield high rewards.

 

[Espy Rose]

It doesn't work, but I do what I can to make it work.

 

[ZenoSonic]

What would be the best way to determine how good I am with Sonic when my practice is against Lv. 9 CPUs 99% of the time?

 

[BSP]

Go to a tournament. The other sonic main that's ranked here in La. doesn't have wifi and tells me he practices against CPUs too when he's not here for a tournament.

 

[ZenoSonic]

All right then, I'll see if I can get into one. I know I'm improving but definitly not a pro yet...

 

[BSP]

Don't worry, most of us aren't. If you just keep on playing and try to improve, you'll see improvement

 

[True Blue]

Man the DSSDI kinda confused me at first cause I was kinda bad at doing the regular SDI, where you moved the controller around certain directions, because I couldnt move the sticks back and forth fast and seeing the DSSDI video just confused me more cause I felt like I had been doing that already just not fast enough. lol.

 

[JayBee]

How do you get your spin dash to be invincible? I saw it happen once in a match and i can't figure it out...

 

[B.A.M.]

LOL oh hush Kojin. Talking pure nonsense.


Hey someone PM with grab setups from neutral position. I realized after seeing a bit of you play, that my grab game is whats holding me back for the most part.

APEX was so damn fun. Im sad i didnt face any MKs though : (. I 2 stocked vvv Zero with my aggro. I think its possible to be aggro with Sonic. its just that you need to utilize cross ups and change up spacing. Things like nair on a shield and if it doesnt like itll poke you can pull back and theyll whiff a grab. or slightly crossing over. sh ff uair on the back of shield, ASC stuff, etc. For the most part Ive realized from Apex my aggro is pretty solid; i just really need to refine my grab game.

So please someone PM some setups! I love everyones style by the way. All our Sonics are fun to watch.

 

[Unsound_Shinobi]

Hey guys!!! New to competitive Sonic and looking for improvement. What's the general play style of the professional hedgehog? I tend to just run around all over the place trying to avoid attacks and get spin dashes and aerials and the occasional dash attack to wrack damage before going for a punishing f-smash or a up throw to up air/back air kill. I noticed going through the Community Guide that grabs seem to be very important, especially with pummel, but I don't tend to use it often how bad is that? Also, which AT's are closest to basic combat? I tend to feel like those would be the ones to practice first, before moving on to the more flashy or difficult ones.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

How do you do the thing where you are doing Side-B and then you suddenly "shoot off"?

Does that make sense?

 

[WedginatorX]

Spinshot im assuming.
Do a side b and then flick the cstick down quickly.
You can also do it with down b in the air but instead flick the cstick up.

 

[[FBC] Papa Mink]

I choose to hold side b and then roll from B to A.

 

[Espy Rose]

DownB in the air lets you flick the stick in any direction except one, but I can't remember which one it was.

I do sideB spinshots the same way as Mink does.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

Thanks guys, that was my only question

 

[Kinzer]

Ignoring people is not polite, you know. :/

What's the general play style of the professional hedgehog? I noticed going through the Community Guide that grabs seem to be very important, especially with pummel, but I don't tend to use it often how bad is that? Also, which AT's are closest to basic combat? I tend to feel like those would be the ones to practice first, before moving on to the more flashy or difficult ones.

Reactionary. Sonic can't really go in as he pleases, so he has to force his opponent to behave in a certain way to get in and do damage.

... Oh hey, someone actually reads the guide, yay~! <3

*Ahem.* Pummels are very important, especially for Sonic. As I've already implied earlier, it isn't easy for Sonic to dish out pain. Not only that, but considering that Sonic has one of the best grab-game in the game, there isn't much reason for you to not get the most out of it.

... Closest to combat you say? You mean which ones are more practical? Easiest to apply? You'd have to give me something else to work with. For what it's worth, just make sure you know how to Spin Shot and Shield Cancel both your Aerial Spin Charges, and your Spin Dash ( during the charge phase but before it goes to full charge). Everything else is either too simple to be considered an "advanced technique" or very difficult or hard to apply to in most matches. Still worth learning regardless, but of course get the basics down first.

 

[Unsound_Shinobi]

Ignoring people is not polite, you know. :/



Reactionary. Sonic can't really go in as he pleases, so he has to force his opponent to behave in a certain way to get in and do damage.

... Oh hey, someone actually reads the guide, yay~! <3

*Ahem.* Pummels are very important, especially for Sonic. As I've already implied earlier, it isn't easy for Sonic to dish out pain. Not only that, but considering that Sonic has one of the best grab-game in the game, there isn't much reason for you to not get the most out of it.

... Closest to combat you say? You mean which ones are more practical? Easiest to apply? You'd have to give me something else to work with. For what it's worth, just make sure you know how to Spin Shot and Shield Cancel both your Aerial Spin Charges, and your Spin Dash ( during the charge phase but before it goes to full charge). Everything else is either too simple to be considered an "advanced technique" or very difficult or hard to apply to in most matches. Still worth learning regardless, but of course get the basics down first.

Oh yay I was beginning to give up on help in the Sonic boards Thank you so much!!! And I figured if I wanted to be good with him the guide would be a good place to start Plus it was well organized and easy to read so I use it for reference every now and again now when I wanna look up something

Basically what my issue is would be that I like to control basically what my opponent can and cannot do, and I've been a Pit main recently but I haven't enjoyed playing him lately, and Sonic's the one character I've enjoyed since Brawl came out, not counting Link since 64, but I've never been good with him. So I brought him out again and found that surprisingly, all the work I put into Pit, Mario, and Bowser seem to have greatly bolstered my Sonic, since he was the one character I've used in the last week that has brought someone to kill potential without arrow camping or dying in the process.

Plus he's like the best hedgehog in the world anyways and I got out my old collection of cartoons and stuff from his old days that make me wanna play him even more. Anyways basically what I'm saying is that I have renewed my passion to be great with Sonic, and would really like to play him in a tournament and do fairly well, but the next tourney is in a little over a week.

So I'm looking for things to improve my approach, which I found from videos to basically be sprint in, bait an attack, sprint out, then punish, or side/over b. I also worked in a neutral b approach to beat DK's down B, and a few tilts that are hard to get past, but I feel like I'm missing something that would make my approaching game much much better.

I'm also looking for follow ups after a throw, I found that I can kind of chain grab Falco (I think it was Falco) with the forward throw at low percents, and that against the heavier characters the up throw to nair works great at low percents, but again I feel like I'm missing things, and I feel like the up throw > up b > b/u air doesn't really do it for me very often.

Finally, I need some kill set ups or something similar to practice, at high percents, between 100% to about 150% depending on character weight I tend to try up throw > up B> b/u air but the almost always DI greatly to one side so I stopped that, I also try the ASC>SD>SDJ>aerial/neutral B, but I can never get the 2 hit to happen, messing up most of the combo.

Sorry I know that was a really really long post But I'm just excited to be kinda getting somewhere with Sonic, also I put three videos in the critique thread against one of my friends that kind of shows how I approach/defend/attempt to kill so those might help visualize what I'm trying to say lol.

Thank you so much for replying btw!!!

 

[JMan8891]

Hmm...

Well, it seems like you've already got a grasp on the core concepts. Sonics fast, but doesn't have particularly fast or great priority attacks. His grab game is great, because it racks dmg safley (in that YOU control BOTH characters, and are given a free opportunity to read ur opponent after, potentially getting more dmg or yet another grab). Also, pummeling both gives that LITTLE extra dmg, AND refreshes other moves, and since Sonic lacks kill moves anyway..... lol

Lots of Sonic's have different playstyles. I've always been an espy fan myself. But there is no sure fire method. KNOW your options, play as smart as possible, minimize your openings/unsafe optuons, maximize your opponent's. Grab a lot, lol.

Last Saturday was my first ever "1st" in a tourny that wasn't low tier (back when sonic was low tier, xD). And it had 22 entrants. Now... this is South Dakota, aka: Land of the FREE, but I still won. Two weeks prior (and about a month or so before that) I got ***** in Nebraska, taking 4th the first time, and 5th the second. And I haven't played competitive since 2009, before I joined the Air Force.

And all i've done is know Sonic backwards/forwards, play safe, grab a lot, and capitalize on EVERY opportunity I can to punish my opponents. works for most of us

 

[Espy Rose]

Yes, Grab a lot.
A lot.

Not kidding. Grabs are your secondary bread and butter to spin dash combos and set ups.
To put it into perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325tiUPxkQw#t=2m25s

87% in the span of 29 seconds doesn't sound like much, but the level of control and the simple fact that it all came from consecutive grabs says a ton about Sonic's damage output just from hitting Z.

 

[Unsound_Shinobi]

Okays so enhancing the grab game, and practicing follow ups, set ups, and making everything flow smoothly Thank you guys so much!!! I think I'm gonna need to work on my reflexes a lot for this, but it's something I've been needing to do for Pit for a while too, so might as well do it for Sonic

 

[JMan8891]

LOL, espy with the pity suicide vs that bowser. You're too kind, downB jumping into teh lazrrrrrr

 

[Unsound_Shinobi]

So I has another question guys, I have insane amounts of difficulty playing Sonic on Battlefield, I always get stuck on the platforms, and I can't do the ASC-PDT, I always do a shield then dodge, so I was wondering, how do you guys easily traverse between platforms on solid ground? And do you have any advice for fight characters such as DK and Ness on Battlefield? and Finally, I need advice for the Sonic - Samus matchup in general, I have a hard time approaching between alternating missiles and mines, I feel like all I can do is sit back and PS the rockets.