Octavium
''Fear doesn't stop death, it stops life.''
Hello smash-boards community, before I start I want to mention that I'm no competitive player so take my words with as much salt. I joined the smash community and started playing about 6 months ago with PM with my friends, and I've improved a TON over those last months and I believe my words have weight to them.
Compared to previous competitive smash games(melee and PM), smash 4 seems to be based mostly on reading your opponent and getting into their heads to punish their weaknesses and bad habits. Full Mastery of basic techs pretty much appears to be a staple for competitive play and the lack of useful ATs limits your ability if you are a fully technical player(melee/PM player), the battle between players shift into a psychological battle of adaption to the opponent's habits and weaknesses.
First problem I believe 2 stocks has is the lack of time given for the players to fully explore the opponent's strengths and weaknesses. At the moment having only 2 stocks will make exploring the opponent very risky, especially if they can capitalize well on an advantage.
Example: Testing if the opponent will shield instinctively at you approaching from air by doing an empty short hop into grab. (He does = you get a grab punish which can lead into significant damage + gain of stage control)
(He doesn't = he will tilt or grab you which can lead into significant damage to you + loss of neutral/stage control)
Example: Attempting to test the opponent's reactions by dance-trotting/dash-dancing into a boost-grab.
(He does = you get a grab punish which can lead into significant damage + gain of stage control)
(He doesn't = he will tilt or grab you which can lead into significant damage to you + loss of neutral/stage control)
Example: Testing if the opponent will spot dodge instinctively in reaction to your F-smash as ZSS (Her F-smash has tendency to trump spot-dodge)
(He does = you get an f-smash off which can deal lots of damage or even KO + may cause opponent to loose neutral)
(He doesn't = you will be punished which as harsh, or even harsher depending on the match-up)
Reading is essentially just guessing an opponent's move, the accuracy of the guess is dependent on the knowledge of the opponent's play-style. You have 2 stocks to learn as much as possible AND to avoid losing within a game. This will leave most ''reads'' up to wild guesses which is essentially random chance. Which means the better player may not always win.
Second problem I believe 2 stocks has is the harsh punishments for making a single mistake, by making a simple mistake such as being baited into an airdodge into ground can cost you a stock, even at low percents. If the opponent still has a stock advantage over you with low damage. You have no choice but to use your experience in hopes the opponents will share weaknesses that your previous opponents had, since you have no time to explore your opponent.
Which AGAIN will result you to do wild guesses for reads, which is still random chance. Making your chance for a comeback... pretty much based on your opponent's mistakes.
TLDR: 2 Stock matches don't give enough time for players to fully adapt to each-other, it makes it risky to test your opponent's reactions and may cause the better player to loose.
Well, this is only my 2 cents on the subject, feel free to discuss. Or give your arguments as to why 2 stocks should stay the norm.
Compared to previous competitive smash games(melee and PM), smash 4 seems to be based mostly on reading your opponent and getting into their heads to punish their weaknesses and bad habits. Full Mastery of basic techs pretty much appears to be a staple for competitive play and the lack of useful ATs limits your ability if you are a fully technical player(melee/PM player), the battle between players shift into a psychological battle of adaption to the opponent's habits and weaknesses.
First problem I believe 2 stocks has is the lack of time given for the players to fully explore the opponent's strengths and weaknesses. At the moment having only 2 stocks will make exploring the opponent very risky, especially if they can capitalize well on an advantage.
Example: Testing if the opponent will shield instinctively at you approaching from air by doing an empty short hop into grab. (He does = you get a grab punish which can lead into significant damage + gain of stage control)
(He doesn't = he will tilt or grab you which can lead into significant damage to you + loss of neutral/stage control)
Example: Attempting to test the opponent's reactions by dance-trotting/dash-dancing into a boost-grab.
(He does = you get a grab punish which can lead into significant damage + gain of stage control)
(He doesn't = he will tilt or grab you which can lead into significant damage to you + loss of neutral/stage control)
Example: Testing if the opponent will spot dodge instinctively in reaction to your F-smash as ZSS (Her F-smash has tendency to trump spot-dodge)
(He does = you get an f-smash off which can deal lots of damage or even KO + may cause opponent to loose neutral)
(He doesn't = you will be punished which as harsh, or even harsher depending on the match-up)
Reading is essentially just guessing an opponent's move, the accuracy of the guess is dependent on the knowledge of the opponent's play-style. You have 2 stocks to learn as much as possible AND to avoid losing within a game. This will leave most ''reads'' up to wild guesses which is essentially random chance. Which means the better player may not always win.
Second problem I believe 2 stocks has is the harsh punishments for making a single mistake, by making a simple mistake such as being baited into an airdodge into ground can cost you a stock, even at low percents. If the opponent still has a stock advantage over you with low damage. You have no choice but to use your experience in hopes the opponents will share weaknesses that your previous opponents had, since you have no time to explore your opponent.
Which AGAIN will result you to do wild guesses for reads, which is still random chance. Making your chance for a comeback... pretty much based on your opponent's mistakes.
TLDR: 2 Stock matches don't give enough time for players to fully adapt to each-other, it makes it risky to test your opponent's reactions and may cause the better player to loose.
Well, this is only my 2 cents on the subject, feel free to discuss. Or give your arguments as to why 2 stocks should stay the norm.
