Pleas help me in becoming a beter Lucas

[BISON]

Well, after finally getting someone in my house to play Brawl with me that actually poses a challenge (everyone sucks) I have decided to main Lucas. He was the most fun to use out of all my mains, Kirby, MK, Snake, Ike and Lucas.

Well I'm pretty satisfied with my Lucas but I really need to know how to make him better. I refuse to b-stick as i need my c-stick for aerials and quick smashes but i can pseudo Wavebounce PKF by running opposite the direction I'm going to fire and RAR a PKF. Well I am trying to learn the other AT's i don;t know (Zap Jump to name one) but any tips on how to approach, and when to use what would be appreciated. Here is a quick summary of all I know:

I use ftilt and utilt mainly to cause damage up close
I use PKF to cause damage from afar and also to disrupt my opponent's recovery (it's quite effective actually)
I tend to spam the stick a lot when my opponent is at a high percentage
I almost always end up killing with dsmash and usmash

Well any tips or advice would be appreciated. Unfortunately i don't have the power to record a video of me playing saved me all this time writing. Well any and all advice is much appreciated

 

[redzoneNRG]

Short hopped nairs are a good offensive tool for you to try to exploit.

Usage of bairs and dairs spikes can help you if you can get them down as another means of edgeguarding if the pk fire ceases to work.


Continue with the ftilt. Excellent move.

 

[BISON]

I've tried using bairs to spike but I just can't get it to sweetspot well. Hvaen't really tried the dair as a spike move.

 

[PKboy89]

nair into utilt is ORGASMIC, love that combo >.<
Spamming the stick at high percentages, or any smash attack for that matter is just going to get you killed, despite the great speed of the stick, there is a little lag after the attack, your opponent will eventually just punish you if you spam the stick.

I'm glad that you are making good use of your tilts and upsmash and downsmash. Just remember that dsmash is one of your best defensive moves, especially on platforms. You are pretty much a brick wall on a platform, your dsmash has such a disjointed hitbox, opponents will have to think twice before they approach on a platform.

Keep using your pk fire techniques, but don't become dependent on them...its easy to space and keep distance with Lucas but the poor boy gets scared when someone gets in his face, keep your close combat game in check. Make use of his jabs, which are a lot faster then they make look.

I feel you on the c stick, I hate b sticking as well, don't worry about it. Read the b sticking forums to get more info on that, even though I hate b sticking, I suggest you try it out and experiment a little just to get a feel for it, and if you absolutely don't like it, then stick to c-sticking.

Make good use out of the rope snake. It is a awesome tether snake, and it some how magically extends offstage to about twice its normal length (I think, correct me if I am wrong) But be careful with it on stage, the after lag is real nasty and if you can't use it right, you'll find yourself not having a long enough snake and its not the fastest of grabs either.

 

[PKboy89]

I've tried using bairs to spike but I just can't get it to sweetspot well. Hvaen't really tried the dair as a spike move.

bair is tricky...it takes a little time to understand its extremely weird properties...if you think you can pull off a bair spike, then try it...but get spam happy and try to spike your opponent every time he/she gets offstage...you gotta feel it out and know when it is a good time to try it and when to ledgeguard/camp.

 

[Earthbound360]

Nair is a great combo tool. Shuffle it and lead it into tilts. Maybe even the stick sometimes.
Fair is great for mixing up with PKF. People often anticipate PKF when you SH to them, so mix it up and make them shield too early. It could even lead to a grab.
PKT is a GODLY edgeguard. Use it.
If you have trouble bair spiking, use the dair. It's easier, but it takes a bit longer and it weaker.
Dthrow to utilt is a very good and REAL, inescapable combo at lower percents. He hits them before they even fly far up.

 

[BacklashMarth]

Pk fire to pk freeze is a good combo that is difficult for the opponent to avoid (at least from my experience). Short hop nair to the jab combo is good. Also, instead of smashing opponents with high damage, just short hop fair them. The knockback is good and can lead to a good bair spike opportunity or pk freeze. If you feel like spiking at any time, go for it. If the bair misses, your recovery may still hit them and stage spike if you are lucky. Pk freeze is a good edgeguard and so is pk thunder. A nice combo to do on the ground when the opponent is approaching is Pk thunder, hit the opponent, turn it and hit yourself in the back with it. Practice this first so you don't kill yourself.

 

[BISON]

Thanks for all the help people. I've started to try most of the combos you've mentioned and have implemented some into my game already (SH nair into utilt). Also I've tried b-sticking and it just doesn't work for me. I'll try not to spam the stick much now as I've seen that it's not all that effective. The fair really does work as a killing move so I'm looking forward to using that the next time I play. Well thanks a lot for all your help. I really appreciate it

 

[Natch]

Down+B(Magnet) is a nice attack to catch people off-guard. Most people instinctively shield/spot dodge when they see it come out, and then are immediatly hit after they unshield/they're spot dodge ends. This is because Magnet's attack happens AFTER it goes away.

It's actually Lucas' strongest non-smash kill move. It has a great knockback, though don't try to spam it too much or the opponent will easily punish you. Also, try using it as an apporach as well. Just run up, and Magnet during your dash.

Another good move is SH Fair. You can usually follow up immediatly with another SH Fair if the first one connected. His Fair's priority seems a bit eh, but it comes out so fast, it doesn't really need to outpritize an opponent's attack. It just beats them to the punch.

Also, SH Nair is the ultimate shield ****. Just remember you'll have to stop DI when doing it, so jump closer to the opponent than you would if you were doing a SH Fair.

Also, grab combo at lower percents is Dthrow->Utilt/Uair/PKT1, just so you have one more thing to add to your arsenal.

 

[BISON]

Down+B(Magnet) is a nice attack to catch people off-guard. Most people instinctively shield/spot dodge when they see it come out, and then are immediatly hit after they unshield/they're spot dodge ends. This is because Magnet's attack happens AFTER it goes away.

It's actually Lucas' strongest non-smash kill move. It has a great knockback, though don't try to spam it too much or the opponent will easily punish you. Also, try using it as an apporach as well. Just run up, and Magnet during your dash.

Another good move is SH Fair. You can usually follow up immediatly with another SH Fair if the first one connected. His Fair's priority seems a bit eh, but it comes out so fast, it doesn't really need to outpritize an opponent's attack. It just beats them to the punch.

Also, SH Nair is the ultimate shield ****. Just remember you'll have to stop DI when doing it, so jump closer to the opponent than you would if you were doing a SH Fair.

Also, grab combo at lower percents is Dthrow->Utilt/Uair/PKT1, just so you have one more thing to add to your arsenal.

I've tried the magnet and it is nice to catch people off guard, though I tend to spam it sometimes. When you say stop DI what do you mean exactly? I'm not exactly an expert on DI so if you could explain that I'd be grateful. I haven't seen that grab combo before, I'll be sure to try it out when i play Brawl again.

 

[Natch]

DI is Directional Input. You've done it before.

Remember when you got hit off the stage, and jammed the control stick in the oppisite direction? That's DIing. And in order to Nair, you must take your thumb off the control stick, which means you'll no longer have forward momentum and just drop down.

 

[Tyr_03]

Wrongo Natch. Don't spread misinformation on Directional Influence.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=155409&highlight=Directional+influence

That thread should give you a short description of what DI actually is and how to use it correctly as well as a few other things. Regular DI only works in a direction perpindicular to the direction you were hit. NOT THE OPPOSITE!!! Also DI only technically refers to your control over your movement after just being hit, not while you're doing aerials and such. But that's a common enough mistake.

 

[BISON]

Ok i gave that thread a read and I learned a thing or two. Now I understand what you said by stopping DI when you nair Natch, thanks for that. Well I guess i learned just about everything I could but, if anyone has anything to add then please do so

 

[Natch]

Wrongo Natch. Don't spread misinformation on Directional Influence.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=155409&highlight=Directional+influence

That thread should give you a short description of what DI actually is and how to use it correctly as well as a few other things. Regular DI only works in a direction perpindicular to the direction you were hit. NOT THE OPPOSITE!!! Also DI only technically refers to your control over your movement after just being hit, not while you're doing aerials and such. But that's a common enough mistake.

I had an inkling I wasn't saying it right.

Oh well, thanks for the ignorance correction.

 

[Tyr_03]

no worries