DtJ Hilt
Little Lizard
Alright, tell your friend this. Here's my opinion on the match and what he should do differently. If he can get in here and read this, that'd be great.
About him being "Grab Happy", the way he was doing it was... well, bad. throwing out grabs that much makes you extremely predictable. Also in several of the situations, grabs weren't the best option. Fsmash would have been better if placed there instead. Or usmash actually.
Also, the throws he was using were off for his pikmin color
Up Throw
I cringed every time I saw an up throw >.> It got extremely diminished fast and in almost every situation, down throw would have been better. For red and white you never want to use up throw... ever >.>... Blues and Purples work alright with up throw when the opponent is at killing percents (around 130 - 150% average depending on opponent). Yellow up throw should almost never be used, but I've used it quite a bit, to be honest. I'll do this when I don't plan on getting an up throw kill (i plan on getting a kill with a smash or forward/back throw) and they're at percents to where a combo or tech chase from my grab isn't too likely. Considering that up throw is the best throw for yellow grabs, i'll do so if the above conditions are met. Otherwise, never.
Back/Forward Throw
If it's not a blue, don't use them. Plain and simple. Grab your opponent with a red and your back's to the ledge? They're over 100%? Think you can get them off the stage and get a gimp? Don't waste your time. It will not benefit you and the only thing you'll be doing is staling your throw for when you do get a blue grab and could get the kill. Only other pikmin that's even close to worthwhile with forward/back throw is purple, but that's at really high percents when a purple up throw would kill anyways.
Down Throw
Use it. Use it a lot. Hell, use it as much as you can. Probably one of Olimar's most used attacks, and it has good reason to be. Down throw has two purposes. The first is to combo at low percents. Learn the basic Olimar down throw combos, like down throw to up smash, or down throw to forward air to fast fall to grab. Olimar's grab combos are amazing, and not using them is going to handicap your Olimar too much. The other thing I like about down throw is that it puts your opponent in a difficult position. After about 40% until about 80%, maybe a bit higher, after they get hit by a down throw, they're too close to you to safely escape without you being able to punish them for their action. Basically, the way I look at it is: They have to land sometime. So when they do, be there to punish them. Plan where they're gonna land and have an attack ready for that general area. Forward Smash, Grab, Down Smash, even Up Smash works really well for this.
Speaking of Up Smash, use it a lot more. It's probably Olimar's best move
Also, aerials aren't bad. Use them more. Look for openings your opponent has to land an aerial. If you can beat out what they're doing against you, beat them out. Yellow foward air is amazingly good. Use it. Too many times there was a yellow in front and there was the position to fair, but it didn't happen.
Also, it's debated that purple pikmin are the best of the five. However, this is only if they're used for the right purposes. You used them a lot for dashing grabs, which definitely isn't what they're good for. Purple Dash Grabs should only really be used when you know your opponent's going to shield and you can punish them for it. Otherwise, shield grabs should mostly be used for purple grabs. Other than grabs, though, purples are best for two things. Up Smash and Pikmin Toss. Purple Pikmin Toss, since it's a solid object, is amazing. It throws your opponent off, works as a defense, even works as an approach to an extent. Very rarely do I use purples for anything other than pikmnin toss. Up Smash and Down Smash with purples are amazing due to their knockback, and being able to kill most of the cast under 100%.
Also learn to whistle guard. There are sixteen frames in Olimar's Whistle that has super armor, use them. It's almost the perfect shield, especially in the air. If you're opponent's going to try to kill you in a predictable way (there was one situation where the toon link jumped right up under you and threw out an up air), throw out the whistle. Practice it a lot, it's amazing.
But just keep working on it. You'll get it down.
About him being "Grab Happy", the way he was doing it was... well, bad. throwing out grabs that much makes you extremely predictable. Also in several of the situations, grabs weren't the best option. Fsmash would have been better if placed there instead. Or usmash actually.
Also, the throws he was using were off for his pikmin color
Up Throw
I cringed every time I saw an up throw >.> It got extremely diminished fast and in almost every situation, down throw would have been better. For red and white you never want to use up throw... ever >.>... Blues and Purples work alright with up throw when the opponent is at killing percents (around 130 - 150% average depending on opponent). Yellow up throw should almost never be used, but I've used it quite a bit, to be honest. I'll do this when I don't plan on getting an up throw kill (i plan on getting a kill with a smash or forward/back throw) and they're at percents to where a combo or tech chase from my grab isn't too likely. Considering that up throw is the best throw for yellow grabs, i'll do so if the above conditions are met. Otherwise, never.
Back/Forward Throw
If it's not a blue, don't use them. Plain and simple. Grab your opponent with a red and your back's to the ledge? They're over 100%? Think you can get them off the stage and get a gimp? Don't waste your time. It will not benefit you and the only thing you'll be doing is staling your throw for when you do get a blue grab and could get the kill. Only other pikmin that's even close to worthwhile with forward/back throw is purple, but that's at really high percents when a purple up throw would kill anyways.
Down Throw
Use it. Use it a lot. Hell, use it as much as you can. Probably one of Olimar's most used attacks, and it has good reason to be. Down throw has two purposes. The first is to combo at low percents. Learn the basic Olimar down throw combos, like down throw to up smash, or down throw to forward air to fast fall to grab. Olimar's grab combos are amazing, and not using them is going to handicap your Olimar too much. The other thing I like about down throw is that it puts your opponent in a difficult position. After about 40% until about 80%, maybe a bit higher, after they get hit by a down throw, they're too close to you to safely escape without you being able to punish them for their action. Basically, the way I look at it is: They have to land sometime. So when they do, be there to punish them. Plan where they're gonna land and have an attack ready for that general area. Forward Smash, Grab, Down Smash, even Up Smash works really well for this.
Speaking of Up Smash, use it a lot more. It's probably Olimar's best move
Also, aerials aren't bad. Use them more. Look for openings your opponent has to land an aerial. If you can beat out what they're doing against you, beat them out. Yellow foward air is amazingly good. Use it. Too many times there was a yellow in front and there was the position to fair, but it didn't happen.
Also, it's debated that purple pikmin are the best of the five. However, this is only if they're used for the right purposes. You used them a lot for dashing grabs, which definitely isn't what they're good for. Purple Dash Grabs should only really be used when you know your opponent's going to shield and you can punish them for it. Otherwise, shield grabs should mostly be used for purple grabs. Other than grabs, though, purples are best for two things. Up Smash and Pikmin Toss. Purple Pikmin Toss, since it's a solid object, is amazing. It throws your opponent off, works as a defense, even works as an approach to an extent. Very rarely do I use purples for anything other than pikmnin toss. Up Smash and Down Smash with purples are amazing due to their knockback, and being able to kill most of the cast under 100%.
Also learn to whistle guard. There are sixteen frames in Olimar's Whistle that has super armor, use them. It's almost the perfect shield, especially in the air. If you're opponent's going to try to kill you in a predictable way (there was one situation where the toon link jumped right up under you and threw out an up air), throw out the whistle. Practice it a lot, it's amazing.
But just keep working on it. You'll get it down.
