Psychological Warfare

[gm jack]

I've been lurking here for a good year or two now, but haven't really posted, so hello.

Does anybody else feel that Zelda has a very strong psychological game?

I seem to be able to be able to really limit what other people are willing to do with a single good response. If I manage to catch someone in a Dtilt lock, I find people are far more caution about getting close to me as they don't like the feeling of being out of control of their character. It may only take a hit or two from them to DI out, but if I manage to get a trip and Dsmash them off the stage, they get a lot more caution with their spacing, which then makes them easier targets for a quick dash attack or a F smash.

Again, as some of her grapples sort of set up for a lightning kick, if I can land one fairly early on, they really do not like the idea of being grabbed, and hence take less risks , even if it is likely to pay off. The fear of getting 20% + done very quickly for a single mistakes stops them trying to predict laggy attacks and run in with their shield up.

This use of sweet looking, big hits seems to throw a lot of people out of their stride, so that they get a lot more cautious. That's when a lot of the more aggressive people I play seem to make mistakes. I'm sure better players would be able to figure out that certain moves could have been easily punished if I tried to do then twice, but for some characters, seeing them hit off stage, no matter how little, right at the start of the game makes them easily frustrated, at which point you can pull them apart.


Anyone else do this, or am I just playing very special little guys?

 

[Kataefi]

WOW! A UK zelda? I'm so happy! Give me your friend code we must ditto sometime soon. Shame you're so far away... I'm in Brighton. There's talks of a larger tourney at uni of sussex if you're interested in representing.

Also yes this is good practise. It's all about conditioning the opponent into believing what they think you'll do whilst you do something completely different to throw them off.

Also give all your player details at the community centre on top if you can, but you're not obliged to.

 

[MrEh]

Psychological warfare? The best thing you can do is to show up at a tournament with this expression on your face.

If that's not Psychological warfare, then I don't know what is.

 

[Ochobobo]

"Psychological Warfare" reminds me that Zelda can use telepathy in the Zelda games but seems to only use it for talking to Link. She should really stop being so nice to everyone and use it to confuse the hell out of her enemies, lolol

Advanced Mindgames

 

[gm jack]

WOW! A UK zelda? I'm so happy! Give me your friend code we must ditto sometime soon. Shame you're so far away... I'm in Brighton. There's talks of a larger tourney at uni of sussex if you're interested in representing.

Also yes this is good practise. It's all about conditioning the opponent into believing what they think you'll do whilst you do something completely different to throw them off.

Also give all your player details at the community centre on top if you can, but you're not obliged to.

My friend code is already up next to my name, so add if you want, and we can organise a time when I have slightly less work. Juggling 5 A levels and something resembling a social life don't leave much free time I'm afraid.

As for a tourney, I would if I didn't suck so bad. My mentality has always been "I can win without all the fancy stuff, as they will make mistakes". I doubt that will work in a tournament.

I find that rather than them making predicting what you will do wrongly, I find I can make it work that they become overly obsessed about defending against certain attack or strings of moves. For example, if I manage to get a run of dash attacks in in which they get thrown to the floor and then dash attacked 3 or 4 times, they tend to get a bit shield happy. Then, I can run in a few times, grab and try and set up for a lightning kick or a spike (still suck at spiking, but it feels good when it lands, and it has helped my recovering to no end).

I find it really work with her side and up smashes, as their multihit shiny goodness makes people think they are taking more damage from it than they really are, as they may glance down and see the damage meter rolling up. It may ony be a % or 2 each time, but it seems to have more effect than a single hot for 15 % or so.

 

[SinkingHigher]

Zelda's moves have a VERY easy-to-manipulate knockback range. I've just started realising that I don't have to follow every NL or sourspot f-air with a dash attack. Letting them roll into your u-smash is quite fun.

Din is good too. Do a short Din to coax an air-dodge and punish with U-air.

U-smash juggling (which I believe Oh Snap taught me, iirc) is fantastic. Fox trot around to confuse the opponent (only works when there is no platforms) and when they come in for a landing U-smash. If you time and space it right they can't get away from it's range and duration. Sweeeeet. (Note, I am yet to find an aerial that out-prioritizes it, but I am certain there are some.

FW. Second best move for mind games, imo. Run to the edge and FW straight down a few times, then when they run at you hoping to catch you, aim diagonally down and forward. The lag from their dash attack should give you enough to to turn around and attack them. I find FW > F-smash works wonders if you know how to predict your opponents attack.

NL, imo, is the most underestimated move in her repertoire. Quite easy to space this move. The knock back form it tends to scare people and put them into perfect position. Use it to throw them off the side of the stage. When they try to recover, meet them with your choice of move. The more you do this the better you get. It is a GREAT set up move. Sets up for lightning kicks, spikes, dash attacks, U-smashes, etc...

Zelda's all about the mind games, but essentially a mindgame, besides knowing how to space and time attacks, is understanding your opponents patterns and predicting their moves. Knowing where someone is going to be and when they're going to be there is the most powerful thing. Keep Zelda underneath the enemy and you've won the game.

 

[JigglyZelda003]

i think Zeldas dashgrab is a tad underated, i've been using it more lately and it feels like this whoosh effect where she just sucks them in. dash grab clashes are so much fun

 

[Canvasofgrey]

To me, I don't think it's much psychological warfare as it is that Zelda does get unpredictable in terms of where she can go. Adding Fastfall Naryu glides, FW, Din glides, Transform glides, and all the stuff you can do outside of the tumbling animation, it can really screw up some people's follow ups.

 

[gm jack]

To me, I don't think it's much psychological warfare as it is that Zelda does get unpredictable in terms of where she can go. Adding Fastfall Naryu glides, FW, Din glides, Transform glides, and all the stuff you can do outside of the tumbling animation, it can really screw up some people's follow ups.

For an example of the sort of thing I mean, if they run at you, and you shield grab, pummel a few times, down throw and then Bair (I think the Dthrow => Bair is impossible to escape at midrange percentages, and can still be used to hope for a mistimed air dodge at KO levels), they are going to be very cautious about approaching you in any that leaves them open to a grab. If they hit you for 30 something % in a few seconds and most probably off the stage, putting you in danger of Zelda's aerial KO move, you are going to restrict yourself. This attempt to space better is likely to leave them nicely in range for a Fsmash or the like.

Even if Zelda doesn't have many inescapable combos, I find that a good feel for lightning kicks can at the very least force them into a bad position in order to avoid the hit. You aren't always pressuring them directly, or even damaging them. However, the fear of getting hit by some of her moves which deal a lot of damage can really limit their approach options.