Questions about learning the fundamentals of Smash competitive

[enderilluminatus]

I already saw the guide to becoming a competitive smash player and I've started researching my local tournament scene (in sw michigan there is quite a bit luckily) but I don't want to show up without having some idea of how to play on their level. I've always been the best casual Smash player I know, but I never really felt challenged and so never tried to get better. Now my main gaming goal is to be able to hold my own at a local smash tournament. I've wanted Rosalina & Luma to be my main since they were announced but I'm not sure if that is the best character for learning. Is there a character who would be ideal for practicing a set of skills in order to be able to play the game on a tournament level? If so, I imagine I would want to main that character first before moving on to anything that appeals to me personally. Also what would those fundamental skills be? The most practicing I've ever done for smash was a few weeks ago learning how to short hop and neutral a attack at enemies with yoshi. I was getting destroyed in the air so I needed to learn it to be able to survive at all. Is there a checklist of skills like this where I would be a decent beginner competitive smasher after I had practiced them all? I hope this is clear, if not please ask me anything.

 

[Arturito_Burrito]

Try reading these they are a bit outdated but I think they would help you out a lot.

http://smashboards.com/threads/a-guide-to-playing-smash-competitively.226635/
http://smashboards.com/threads/show-me-something-new-how-to-become-one-of-the-greats.190956/
http://smashboards.com/threads/playing-to-learn.176650/

Also I recommend watching people play, checking out tournament streams and some youtube channels. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpu15uRsvI2opP78cdslj3A
https://www.youtube.com/user/CLASHTournaments

 

[Thinkaman]

The single most actionable piece of advice I can give you hear in a few sentences, besides "go out there and play good humans", is to not set your sights on or commit to a main.

Play tons of characters as you develop competitively, and you will slowly zero in on the skills you are best at. It is unlikely to be what you expect.

Play everyone, but imo I think these are the best teachers, whose play most effectively teaches general lessons that translate directly to virtually every other characters:

 

[rubiksmoose]

Hey! I'm in the same position as you (except definitely not the best smash player in my peer group). I asked reddit for advice and I think it will help you: reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/2kh76a/z/cllvn7i?context=3&sort=confidence

Also I'm not far from you likely ( I'm in Flint). Maybe we'll see each other in a tournament in of these days.

 

[Funkermonster]

I knew he worked for 13 months without a single day off, but this? Wow.... I don't think I wanna be a game designer anymore, that career is off my list! Even though I resent Sakurai's adamant nature towards competitive play and occasional arrogance,
I can't help but feel sorry for him. Even after the Wii U version of Smash is out, he still has followup work to do and is still in hell developing our game to give us all this joy.. And he refuses to think about ideas for another game until Smash is done, that's amazing. He's the reason Smash exists and the reason we're all here. I don't view him as irreplaceable, but in some ways I don't think a new Smash would be the same without him.

Sure hope he gets a vacation after all this, and maybe let someone else fill his shoes for Smash 6, he deserves it. Maybe even a PAID vacation, especially for someone who has almost no free time and developed a game for 13 months with no days off. Heard rumors that Namco was already hiring people for a Smash Bros 6. If they get a new director, my only wish is that the next one is more accepting towards competitive players.

 

[shapular]

I knew he worked for 13 months without a single day off, but this? Wow.... I don't think I wanna be a game designer anymore, that career is off my list! Even though I resent Sakurai's adamant nature towards competitive play and occasional arrogance,
I can't help but feel sorry for him. Even after the Wii U version of Smash is out, he still has followup work to do and is still in hell developing our game to give us all this joy.. And he refuses to think about ideas for another game until Smash is done, that's amazing. He's the reason Smash exists and the reason we're all here. I don't view him as irreplaceable, but in some ways I don't think a new Smash would be the same without him.

Sure hope he gets a vacation after all this, and maybe let someone else fill his shoes for Smash 6, he deserves it. Maybe even a PAID vacation, especially for someone who has almost no free time and developed a game for 13 months with no days off. Heard rumors that Namco was already hiring people for a Smash Bros 6. If they get a new director, my only wish is that the next one is more accepting towards competitive players.

Wrong thread?

I think one of the most important things you can do as a beginner is to figure out what all your moves do and what situations you can use them in. You have to know which of your moves you can use as an approach, combo starter, combo extender, GTFO move, poke, punish, KO move, and so on. Then you have to make sure you can control your character and do each move on command. Once you've got that down, you can start worrying about spacing, mindgames, reads, baits, mixups, ATs, specific combos, and things like that. One of the great things about Smash is that it's easy to do any move you want with just a direction and a button press, so there aren't really any characters that are fundamentally hard to play. I think you can basically play any character you want starting out, but know that if you pick someone like Rosalina & Luma there are going to be a lot of intricate things to learn and she'll be hard to master.

 

[Funkermonster]

My bad, I'll fix it.

 

[enderilluminatus]

Ive been playing all day on for the glory with Donkey Kong and i almost have a winning record. I'm learning a ton, especially from my losses. But beating a Yoshi or a Sheik feels incredible.

 

[enderilluminatus]

@ rubiksmoose that would be awesome. Im in kalamazoo

 

[enderilluminatus]

Spent all day playing for the glory only using dk and ended up woth a 40% win rate. I feel like a totally different smasher

 

[ConsummateK]

I'm in the same boat. I'm ready to practice the fundamentals...but I'm not actually sure yet what those fundamentals are! I'll continue reading and watching to learn, (I'm sure they are out there) and taking myself to FG when I'm feelin' fresh. I've been out of competitive gaming for awhile and it is exciting to think about getting involved again!

 

[allshort17]

Here's my shot at helping you. It's a blog series I wrote with plenty of info.

http://nintendodojo.com/blogpost.aspx?id=145743 :This specific one is the last one I wrote and links to all previous entries.

 

[ConsummateK]

This looks like a great resource. Thanks!