Practical Applications of Dash Dancing?

[Y-L]

Okay this question probably sounds pretty nooby, but I've mastered most AT's however I still can't find a practical purpose for dash dancing. Obviously I use it while my opponent is away for the sake of not just standing still, but how does it actually help? Most of the time I feel less safe while doing it because if I jump into an aerial I'm not always facing the way I want to be facing. What can you do out of dash dancing?

 

[PastLink]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk09c6iLLdU
mind game camping and approach sonny boy.

 

[Paradoxium]

Its for weaving in and out, just watch mango play he does it the best. your opponent cant predict if your gonna dive in or dash out, you can either bait them in and punish or go on the offensive if your close enough, if they are in shield you can trick them into shield grabbing or draining their shields. Best of all it gets them scared, they dont know what you're gonna do

 

[PastLink]

ken's also a good one to watch, keep in mind depending on the character you play, some characters can make better use of it than others.

 

[Y-L]

ken's also a good one to watch, keep in mind depending on the character you play, some characters can make better use of it than others.

I play Ike, do you know anything about that?

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

He has an amazing Dash Dance. Use it to bait and grab people.

 

[Y-L]

He has an amazing Dash Dance. Use it to bait and grab people.

Ike does have a relatively short grab range though.

 

[fabulouspants]

dash dance isnt as good in this game due to more moves covering more ground area with less lag so its much harder to bait and punish.

 

[PastLink]

dash dance isnt as good in this game due to more moves covering more ground area with less lag so its much harder to bait and punish.

ken would find a way

 

[Mera Mera]

Hmm... I will say, while dash dancing is useful, being able to smoothly transition from fox trotting to dash dancing and vice versa is way more important than dash dancing on it's own.

In most circumstances, the goal is to keep proper spacing (being near or just in the opponent's "burst range" or the range at which they could hit before you could react) in a manner such that you have solid retreating options. The reason you want to be close to the opponent is so they don't steal space from you (being near the edge is bad since you don't have room to retreat). The reason you don't want to be in their burst range is fairly obvious, you don't want to get hit. The reason you want to be able to retreat is so you can dodge attacks and then come back and punish them.

So the problem really, is that when you go into a run, you can't turn around quickly, making it both hard to maintain proper spacing, and hard to retreat when need be. Thus you fox trot, or flick your joy stick in the direction you want to move (just flick, don't hold), and then re-flick the joystick after the dash ends if you want to continue in that direction. The weird part is, you have to time flicking the joystick to go the same direction twice (fox trotting) since you have to wait for the end of the dash, but you don't have to time flicking the joystick in a different direction than you just went (dash dancing).

That all said, dash dancing does have a use on it's own, but you have to understand when and why it is useful. Dash dancing is particularly useful when your opponent is in a disadvantageous position such as being near the ledge or being in their shield. You want the tip of your dash dance to hit or slightly intersect with the tip of their burst range. The goal is to make them feel like they can't tell whether or not you will actually approach. Typically you want them to take the bait and try to hit you which you then dash away from and dash back to punish. That said, you can get a feel for how timid or hasty an opponent is in this situation, and if they are timid you can push further into their burst range -> retreat to see if they took the harder bait (if so wait and then come back and punish) and if they don't react, you can go in. You can mix up how you decide to approach, but personally I think it works best after the person fails to go for a hard bait from you, since you are already closer than usual to them, making it harder for them to react to you going back in.

 

[Terotrous]

I'll admit that Dash Dancing is something I just can't do well. I mean, I can execute it, I just never think to use it in key situations. In those high pressure situations, I'll always try to make a read with step dodge instead. I'm just too used to it to change now.

If you don't want to dash dance, you can play some characters for whom it isn't vital. Characters who use a lot of projectiles or who mainly rely on fast disjoints don't need it as much.

 

[Mera Mera]

I'll admit that Dash Dancing is something I just can't do well. I mean, I can execute it, I just never think to use it in key situations. In those high pressure situations, I'll always try to make a read with step dodge instead. I'm just too used to it to change now.

If you don't want to dash dance, you can play some characters for whom it isn't vital. Characters who use a lot of projectiles or who mainly rely on fast disjoints don't need it as much.

The projectile bit is definitely true (though dash dancing is still useful, it's just more situational since projectiles can help you zone and/or force an approach instead). However, I'm not sure I would say it's less important for characters with fast disjoints.

Marth and Roy's dash dances are quite good and pretty central to the way they play. Since they have long dashes and are fairly fast, they have great movement from fox trotting/ dash dancing. In fact I think it's easiest to learn dash dancing with these characters since their dash dance/fox trots are so good that you can see the rewards for doing so more easily with them. I took Roy as a secondary partially to get better at dash dancing/fox trotting.

The only other characters where dash dancing is less prevalent would be Wario and Jiggs, since they can weave in and out in the air.

 

[Terotrous]

The projectile bit is definitely true (though dash dancing is still useful, it's just more situational since projectiles can help you zone and/or force an approach instead). However, I'm not sure I would say it's less important for characters with fast disjoints.

May require that the disjoints are also big. I was mainly thinking about Ivysaur and Mewtwo, who don't really care if you dash dance because Bair is going to hit you anyway (also true of weavers, you can weave back all you want but the tail is too long).

But yeah, weavers have their weave instead, which serves a similar purpose. Squirtle is also a weaver.

 

[Kati]

Dash dancing is almost equivilent to staying on your toes like boxers do. If your already in the process doing so, then you won't have to start the initial dash upon deciding to/reacting with a shffl.

 

[DrinkingFood]

Ike does have a relatively short grab range though.

Ike's grab range used to be great, it was nerfed, but I'm positive it's outstandingly average now. If you're jump canceling your grabs, that's a great option out of a DD. Soft pivot->ftilt is also probably a pretty great option if they whiff on your dash away. You can also side-b out of a dash, which of course leads into many things. SHFFLing probably isn't that great most of the time at neutral as Ike since his swings are in general pretty slow to either start or end, and pretty punishable on shield if misspaced.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

I spend so much time snatching at the air when I switch from Marth to Ike ...

 

[Mera Mera]

Dash dancing is almost equivilent to staying on your toes like boxers do. If your already in the process doing so, then you won't have to start the initial dash upon deciding to/reacting with a shffl.

While not untrue, I think the more important part is that, if you only dash when you're approaching, then the opponent can easily tell when you're approaching. But if you're always dashing in and out of range, the opponent will second guess whether things are an approach or not, so when you actually approach you can get a lot closer to them before they believe it's an approach.

Although this analogy kinda works for dash dancing's use for baiting. You do dash away without reacting to the opponent simply because you know you are in range (and because you should be picky about when you approach). So a lot of times you dash away knowing the safe ranges and just happen to dodge something. Then you dash back and counter.

 

[Strong Badam]

Ike does have a relatively short grab range though.

Ike's grab range is average or above average.

 

[Thane of Blue Flames]

I would complain about the 2.1 range nerf citing "But Marth gets it!" but JC grab out of QD doesn't give me a leg to stand on ...

 

[victra♥]

this is a great example of the application of dash dancing
https://mediacru.sh/jgkJ-9A3R6OT

i've noticed players dash dance but not react when the opponent acts on it. Dash dancing is useless if you dont do anything after the bait!

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

Or
You just dash a little further in one direction, dash back, rinse and repeat
Idk