Okay just based off the first video, I have a few things I'd like to point out.
It seems to me *most* people underestimate the power of Marth's Shield Breaker. Many new players rarely use it at all, let alone putting it to good use. But you're doing the exact opposite and using it too much. Don't get me wrong. Shield Breaker is an amazing move and I have single-handedly changed my friends/rivals' opinions on the move (from scoffing at to fearing it). But you're using it predictably. The fact that your friend was able to perfect-shield it at least once means that you use it too much. The Shield Breaker is best used to punish your foes for relying on their shields to defend against your assault. Use it as a surprise technique. Wear down their shield a bit with tilts and such, then catch them off-guard (lol), break their shield, and score a free KO. Or do as I do and occasionally, instead of SH+FAir, SH+Shield Breaker. Most opponents instinctively shield, expecting a FAir.
You used Dancing Blade once in that match. Use it more often. It is one of Marth's fastest (if not THE fastest) attacks, and can be used to open and close combos. The more you use it, the more ways you see you can put it to best use. For example, you can Dancing Blade and end it with the up slash (pushing your foe skyward) then follow up with a UTilt for the tip. This is ALSO good for punishing opponents for their mistakes - remember it's his fastest move!
Essentially what I saw is that you used three moves as your PRIMARY assault pattern: Shield Breaker, FAir, and smashes. You threw in some DSmashes and USmashes, and occasionally I saw some NAirs, but I don't think you utilized these properly. Shield Breaker and smashes should be finishing moves. Use your quick attacks and quick combos to rack up damage and leave the finishers for just that: finishers.
Now, to point out the good things you did:
- Fair SH+FAir usage
- Mostly excellent use of Counter.
- At the end you did an excellent SH+Dbl FAir -> Dancing Blade combo. That was good.
To summarize things you should add to your gameplay:
- Vary your gameplay and use all of Marth's moves - every move has a purpose.
- Work on your spacing. Many moves missed when proper spacing would have allowed for perfect tips.
- Work on landing 95% or more of your attacks. Sitting around doing nothing is better than getting punished for missing.
- Always try more and different combos so you don't become predictable. A predictable Marth is a dead Marth.
- Punish punish punish!! Marth has many ways of punishing his foes for mistakes, and that's something you do a few times, but not often enough.
Sorry for the rant, but I really wanted to cover everything that I saw in the first video. Hopefully what I said will help you really kick *** in the future! Good luck to you, sir.
