On Starting Characters

[Jeffbelittle]

Well, the first thread didn't actually address what I was looking for. I realized it was my fault and it was a ****storm thread to begin with; luckily however, the community is strong enough that it didn't end in disaster.

At anyrate, I have 2 Questions that I'd like people to answer that may help me get started and help others. Hell: it's also really a social thread too if you think about it.



1. WHO was the first character you started getting competent with? What made you choose this veteran?




2. WHICH character, if you had to choose one, would you pool people to learn the basics with? Support your answer with valuable facts such as why this is a good person for people to start learning with, why you'd say that, why you did or wish you started with the character, etc.



Please, have fun

 

[FoxBlaze71]

I don't think you should base your choice all on ease. Some characters, e.g. Ice Climbers, are hard to learn but can be very rewarding when played right. I can kind of see another ****storm erupting, with " PICK MY MAIN BECAUSE OF [Random fanboy bull****]. " I'm going to shape my view on this in terms to how you should choose if you want a future in competitive Brawl.

Criteria 1.) Tiers

Face it. Brawl is broken. Their are some characters that are just plain ridiculous. The solution is not to be a scrub and keep screaming, "TIERS R 4 QUEERS!". The solution is to think logically. I would not suggest going any lower than than the high tiers ( DDD, ZSS, TL, G&W, Lucario) but obviously lower than Meta Prick ( Diddy, Snake, Falco, Martha, Wario, Olitard, Icies, Pikatroll ). Some of the middle tiers are fairly solid as well but some are kind of in the gray area so I would avoid that. Try them all out, learn their tactics, watch the best players of that character use them, and see what character fits you best.

Criteria 2.) Ease

I already mentioned my disdain of picking a character by ease, but I guess it should be included since that is your preference. I would say the easiest to use out of those I listed are Martha, Olitard, and Lucario. The technical knowledge with those characters is largely general ( Short-Hop Fast Falls, Wavebounces, B-Reversals, etc. ) Go to your chosen main's respective forum and LEARN LEARN LEARN! Read their guides ( all boards have a list of important threads ), upload your gameplay videos for critique, and ask about anything you're wondering about in their Q+A thread.. Don't feel like a noob asking questions. The noob is one who doesn't ask questions and makes dumb assumptions.

Criteria 3.) Personal preference

This one is not as important to a competitive player, but keep it in mind. If you're just playing for the lulz, well go ahead and play that crappy low tier character. But if you want to advance competitively you will need to consider a solid character.

My personal choice of main: Fox

WHY I CHOSE FOX:

I personally like Fox as a character outside of the competitive viewpoint. He's fairly campy but has excellent agility and I just enjoy playing him. He's one of the better mid tiers.

I hope this better clarifies my view outside of the ****storm.

 

[Jeffbelittle]

No no. It's not about ease of... well.. let me put it this way:


It's hard to learn the concepts when playing.. Idk, Peach for example: when she plays so very different from any other character.

Speaking logically: tiers aren't for queers. I wish I could just make Ganondorf work, but that's not how it works. So I don't want a character gimped from the start.

I need to play a character I can just have a defined learning experience with. If it's not my main 6 months from now, but it taught me a lot, that's worth it.

Anyways, I hope I don't seem like some stupid prick that wants an easy way out. It's definitely not that.

My friends are getting too close in FFA now

 

[FoxBlaze71]

Another word of advice: if you don't already use a Gamecube controller, start using one. You're at the level where it's not hard to turn around and use a different controller. The GCC is just more convenient, more comfortable, and has better button placing than any of the other controllers.

 

[Jeffbelittle]

Another word of advice: if you don't already use a Gamecube controller, start using one. You're at the level where it's not hard to turn around and use a different controller. The GCC is just more convenient, more comfortable, and has better button placing than any of the other controllers.

Always used a Gamecube controller.

My timeline kind've went like this:

Smash64: Ness

Melee: Falco/Mewtwo

Brawl: I've switched so much because I feel awful and clueless all the time... I can beat a level 9 without losing a stock as Ganondorf, and feel like I was just stupidly landing fmashes. Meanwhile I can play a pretty solid aerial game fighting off the stage with R.O.B, land a spike, and lose or just barely win in a 3 stock game.


I'm mostly going to play FFA, but 1 on 1 I need to be da king

Plus winning games online wouldn't suck.

 

[FoxBlaze71]

If you want to advance competitively, forget Wifi. Input delay, lag spikes, oh God too much bull****.

I'm not a tourney*** and don't mind Wifi, but some people vehemently hate it.

It's really best if you live in a region with basically no Smash community.