MookieRah
Kinda Sorta OK at Smash
This guide REQUIRES the 20XX hack pack mod. You cannot do these things without it at all or as well.
If this is your first time, read all of the spoiler tags, but otherwise I have made the spoiler tags to avoid clutter for those who are using this post as a reference.
Forward
This guide is for M2 players that watch videos of Taj and M2K and wonder what they can do in order to play more like that. This guide only covers technical skill. This is not a guide in the way that there have been guides before. I will not cover match ups, how to use moves, or etc. This is all about becoming the most technically solid M2 you can be in the shortest amount of time. I start out with foundational technique and then I move forward with BnB (bread and butter) combos that work on certain characters or sets of characters. I also discuss where to go from there, and how to build your own regiment.
This guide assumes that you already know the basics of advanced melee play, and the basics with Mewtwo. A few things you should probably know beforehand are as follows:
L-Canceling
Shffling
DJC (a very basic level)
Wavedashing / Wavelanding
Jump Canceled Teleports
SUNC – aka Ledge Canceled Teleports
Introduction
You need to perform all drills from both sides.
Part One: Laying Down the Fundamentals
To be continued soon. We are just getting started.
If this is your first time, read all of the spoiler tags, but otherwise I have made the spoiler tags to avoid clutter for those who are using this post as a reference.
Forward
This guide is for M2 players that watch videos of Taj and M2K and wonder what they can do in order to play more like that. This guide only covers technical skill. This is not a guide in the way that there have been guides before. I will not cover match ups, how to use moves, or etc. This is all about becoming the most technically solid M2 you can be in the shortest amount of time. I start out with foundational technique and then I move forward with BnB (bread and butter) combos that work on certain characters or sets of characters. I also discuss where to go from there, and how to build your own regiment.
This guide assumes that you already know the basics of advanced melee play, and the basics with Mewtwo. A few things you should probably know beforehand are as follows:
L-Canceling
Shffling
DJC (a very basic level)
Wavedashing / Wavelanding
Jump Canceled Teleports
SUNC – aka Ledge Canceled Teleports
Introduction
I'm going to give the M2 community a bit of tough love here, and I am not going to sugar coat this. As a whole, our execution is ****. It really is. Compare any random M2 with Taj, and you will usually see a gap the size of a mountain. The thing is, every M2 could easily attain Taj level execution or better, but nobody seems to put in the time to do so, or they aren't aware of how to go about it.
The most common piece of advice I hear when someone wants to improve is that they should play more, specifically against people, and that playing against computers is detrimental. That is complete bull****. In fact, a common problem is that people rarely put in the time to practice tech skill that they should in single player. In fact, the practice you put in by yourself is often more valuable than the games you play against people. That is because it is very difficult to learn technique and build execution while in a match against a real person.
So how does this relate to M2? Well M2 is a technical beast. He can do way more than most people think from his move set, but outside of Taj (and Iori back in the day), nobody seems to realize it. He's regarded as crap, because most players aren't really playing M2 like they should and most players have never faced a solid M2. Everyone, even Taj, can and should work to improve their execution.
This guide is here to set us straight. This is what will bring M2 up the tier list if you are willing to do your part in being a better player. That rant I just made about M2 players sucking too much? I include myself in it. I've been devising a training regiment that started only a week ago, but it has improved my execution massively. I cannot stress to you how much this has improved my Mewtwo in a short time, but it is a grind. I've been able to isolate and focus on things that were previously impossible to do in a single player setting prior to the 20XX hack pack, and it has allowed me to speed up a process that would normally take several years of learning through intuition to accomplish. This is the fast track, are you ready to give your M2 some rare candies?
The most common piece of advice I hear when someone wants to improve is that they should play more, specifically against people, and that playing against computers is detrimental. That is complete bull****. In fact, a common problem is that people rarely put in the time to practice tech skill that they should in single player. In fact, the practice you put in by yourself is often more valuable than the games you play against people. That is because it is very difficult to learn technique and build execution while in a match against a real person.
So how does this relate to M2? Well M2 is a technical beast. He can do way more than most people think from his move set, but outside of Taj (and Iori back in the day), nobody seems to realize it. He's regarded as crap, because most players aren't really playing M2 like they should and most players have never faced a solid M2. Everyone, even Taj, can and should work to improve their execution.
This guide is here to set us straight. This is what will bring M2 up the tier list if you are willing to do your part in being a better player. That rant I just made about M2 players sucking too much? I include myself in it. I've been devising a training regiment that started only a week ago, but it has improved my execution massively. I cannot stress to you how much this has improved my Mewtwo in a short time, but it is a grind. I've been able to isolate and focus on things that were previously impossible to do in a single player setting prior to the 20XX hack pack, and it has allowed me to speed up a process that would normally take several years of learning through intuition to accomplish. This is the fast track, are you ready to give your M2 some rare candies?
You need to perform all drills from both sides.
Part One: Laying Down the Fundamentals
Basic Fundamental Drills
Drill #1 – iDJC Fairs
Preparation
Select your CPU opponent of choice (it doesn't matter) and go to FD. At the start of the match set shields to be infinite (press down on the d-pad) and then set them to stand in shield (L + left on d-pad).
Description
Your first goal is to get the quickest fairs as possible. I will refer to this as instant DJC or iDJC. This involves inputting two jumps very quickly followed by a fair. When performing an iDJC, you do not input it like a shffl, you do not need to press down, and if you do it will likely result in poor execution. You will know that you have performed an iDJC fair if Mewtwo doesn't ever really leave the ground.
Grind this until you can do it consistently. There are no shortcuts, in fact this is the shortcut. You have to be able to perform this with ease, because this is the foundation for almost everything else. I still do this drill when warming up, it is fundamental. Once you achieve an acceptable level of execution (at least to where you can do three in a row most of the time), you can move on to the next step.
Drill #2 iDJC'd Fairs against a Shielded Opponent
Preparation
Select your CPU opponent of choice (it doesn't matter) and go to FD. At the start of the match press down on the d-pad and then once they are in the center of the stage set them to stand in shield (L + left on d-pad). Save the state (right on the d-pad).
Description
This is pretty much the same as the first drill, except that now you are actually hitting an opponent. This adjusts the timing of your L-canceling slightly, and you now also have to hit a target. More or less, follow the guidelines from the previous drill and get your execution to an acceptable level before moving forward. Whenever you push your opponent to the edge, Load your state (press left on the d-pad) to reset and start again.
Drill #3 & 4 – iDJC Fairs from Shield, DJC Fairs from Shield against a Shielded Opponent
Preparation
See drill #1 & 2
Description
This is identical to the first and second drills, except that now you are performing them from a shield. Notice that the difficulty has increased even though the only difference is that you must begin holding a shield? That means you have to overcome it. It is incredibly important for M2 to be able to land a fair from shield. An iDJC fair has considerable range and is great for punishes and often leads to combos. You must be able to perform this technique under pressure, which requires grinding out lots of practice.
Drill #5-9 – iDJC Nairs: Repeat drills 1-4 with the nair
Preparation
You know the drill by now.
Description
Now we are moving onwards to the nair. The iDJC nair, imo, is slightly harder to perform than the iDJC fair, which is why you are learning it now instead of earlier. It's performed pretty much the same way as a fair. The iDJC nair is an important tool for M2 as it is the fastest way to hit an opponent that has crossed you up.* It's also useful as a way of getting your opponent off of you if you are under pressure. It's rarely used for combos, but it is vital for solid M2 play.
*Crossups are when your opponent attacks you with an aerial and lands behind you. This is common practice, as it is safer than landing in front of one's opponent which often leaves one vulnerable to shield grabs.
Drill #10-19 – DJC Uairs and Bairs
Preparation
You know this part by now.
Description
The uair and bair require specific timings in order for them to come out as soon as possible while still having a hit box. You need to master these timings and be able to achieve good execution with these moves just like the fair and the nair. The DJC uair is often used in comboing, while the DJC bair is used sparingly to punish things when your opponent likely will not expect punished.
Drill #20 – Slingshot Bairs
As a M2 player you are very likely aware of the property in which you can jump forward and then double jump backwards with an aerial and slingshot backwards. While this comes in handy with the other aerials, it's most often used with bair. If you can do it with bair easily, you likely can do it with all of the other aerials, so there is no dire need to run a drill in which you slingshot all of your DJC aerials. The purpose of this drill is to get incredibly comfortable with this aspect of DJC, because, like everything else, you need to be able to pull this off under pressure like without breaking a sweat.
Drill #21 – Continuous iDJC Fairs against a Shielded Opponent
Now it's time for a much more difficult drill. Your goal with this drill is to perform fairs non-stop against a shielded opponent as fast as possible. You not only need to be able to perform them back to back, but also be able to turn around if you cross up your opponent and continue your assault. This is a very important drill, as you will find out later. Not only does it make your stand-alone iDJC fairs easy by comparison, but often times you will be required to perform several rapid-fire iDJC fairs. I think by now, if you have gone through each of these drills, you can understand exactly why they are laid out the way they are.
Drill #1 – iDJC Fairs
Preparation
Select your CPU opponent of choice (it doesn't matter) and go to FD. At the start of the match set shields to be infinite (press down on the d-pad) and then set them to stand in shield (L + left on d-pad).
Description
Your first goal is to get the quickest fairs as possible. I will refer to this as instant DJC or iDJC. This involves inputting two jumps very quickly followed by a fair. When performing an iDJC, you do not input it like a shffl, you do not need to press down, and if you do it will likely result in poor execution. You will know that you have performed an iDJC fair if Mewtwo doesn't ever really leave the ground.
Grind this until you can do it consistently. There are no shortcuts, in fact this is the shortcut. You have to be able to perform this with ease, because this is the foundation for almost everything else. I still do this drill when warming up, it is fundamental. Once you achieve an acceptable level of execution (at least to where you can do three in a row most of the time), you can move on to the next step.
Drill #2 iDJC'd Fairs against a Shielded Opponent
Preparation
Select your CPU opponent of choice (it doesn't matter) and go to FD. At the start of the match press down on the d-pad and then once they are in the center of the stage set them to stand in shield (L + left on d-pad). Save the state (right on the d-pad).
Description
This is pretty much the same as the first drill, except that now you are actually hitting an opponent. This adjusts the timing of your L-canceling slightly, and you now also have to hit a target. More or less, follow the guidelines from the previous drill and get your execution to an acceptable level before moving forward. Whenever you push your opponent to the edge, Load your state (press left on the d-pad) to reset and start again.
Drill #3 & 4 – iDJC Fairs from Shield, DJC Fairs from Shield against a Shielded Opponent
Preparation
See drill #1 & 2
Description
This is identical to the first and second drills, except that now you are performing them from a shield. Notice that the difficulty has increased even though the only difference is that you must begin holding a shield? That means you have to overcome it. It is incredibly important for M2 to be able to land a fair from shield. An iDJC fair has considerable range and is great for punishes and often leads to combos. You must be able to perform this technique under pressure, which requires grinding out lots of practice.
Drill #5-9 – iDJC Nairs: Repeat drills 1-4 with the nair
Preparation
You know the drill by now.
Description
Now we are moving onwards to the nair. The iDJC nair, imo, is slightly harder to perform than the iDJC fair, which is why you are learning it now instead of earlier. It's performed pretty much the same way as a fair. The iDJC nair is an important tool for M2 as it is the fastest way to hit an opponent that has crossed you up.* It's also useful as a way of getting your opponent off of you if you are under pressure. It's rarely used for combos, but it is vital for solid M2 play.
*Crossups are when your opponent attacks you with an aerial and lands behind you. This is common practice, as it is safer than landing in front of one's opponent which often leaves one vulnerable to shield grabs.
Drill #10-19 – DJC Uairs and Bairs
Preparation
You know this part by now.
Description
The uair and bair require specific timings in order for them to come out as soon as possible while still having a hit box. You need to master these timings and be able to achieve good execution with these moves just like the fair and the nair. The DJC uair is often used in comboing, while the DJC bair is used sparingly to punish things when your opponent likely will not expect punished.
Drill #20 – Slingshot Bairs
As a M2 player you are very likely aware of the property in which you can jump forward and then double jump backwards with an aerial and slingshot backwards. While this comes in handy with the other aerials, it's most often used with bair. If you can do it with bair easily, you likely can do it with all of the other aerials, so there is no dire need to run a drill in which you slingshot all of your DJC aerials. The purpose of this drill is to get incredibly comfortable with this aspect of DJC, because, like everything else, you need to be able to pull this off under pressure like without breaking a sweat.
Drill #21 – Continuous iDJC Fairs against a Shielded Opponent
Now it's time for a much more difficult drill. Your goal with this drill is to perform fairs non-stop against a shielded opponent as fast as possible. You not only need to be able to perform them back to back, but also be able to turn around if you cross up your opponent and continue your assault. This is a very important drill, as you will find out later. Not only does it make your stand-alone iDJC fairs easy by comparison, but often times you will be required to perform several rapid-fire iDJC fairs. I think by now, if you have gone through each of these drills, you can understand exactly why they are laid out the way they are.
To be continued soon. We are just getting started.
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although they could be a few frames slow at their slowest. I'm going to say this because it really helped my melee mewtwo: practice iDJC's in PM. they're much faster and yield more potential. if you master pm's idjc's (they get FAST, and you must fast fall your idjc's), then you're golden for melee.