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- Feb 1, 2019
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Hello everyone! I recently published a guide for new and mid-level players trying to level up their competitive Smash Ultimate game!
You can find it right here!
In addition to the "Look inside" preview you can find on Amazon, here is an excerpt from Chapter 4 that I hope you all find interesting.
Chapter 4 – Jazz or Classical?
In this chapter we’re going to be looking at the two basic types of Smashers with the goal of finding out where you fall on the spectrum which can help you discover what aspects of play you need to improve.
On a very basic level, there are two types of musicians: Those who follow the music and what’s been written by the composer, and those who improvise and play from their head. Competitive Smash players can similarly be divided into two camps. Much like the classical musician, these Classical Smashers spend a healthy amount of time outside of the game thinking about matchups, theory crafting, and figuring out the most ideal way to string together combos and confirm kills. These are the players that play by the book, they let logic and their prior game-plan dictate their actions. Then, you have the jazz musicians who can play for hours without looking at a single written note. They improvise and play off of their fellow musicians to make something that sounds good and is also completely unique. These types of Smashers rarely let their brain know what their fingers are doing. If you ask them why or how they did what they did after the match, they probably couldn’t tell you. Their attacks and movement patterns flow into each other and they are both adaptive and unpredictable. The best Smash players in the world have an equal mix of both of these playstyles, and it’s what you should strive for. Right now you probably lean more towards one playstyle or the other, maybe even drastically so. Neither style is better or worse than the other, but by figuring out what kind of a Smash player you are, you can know what you do well and what you need to improve on. If you’re not sure then consider these traits:
Traits of a classical Smash player:
· Thinks about Smash when not actively playing
· Researches characters and matchups
· Always has a plan
· You can talk pretty well about how you play
Traits of a jazz Smash player:
· You just know what to do at certain points of the match (and are right)
· Go for plays that ‘would look cool’ or ‘be so hype’
· You feel comfortable on any character
· You have trouble talking about how you play
It’s very important to find a balance between these two styles. A classical player may get frustrated that their plan isn’t working and be unable to adapt. A jazz player could fall victim to an odd character choice by their opponent because they didn’t do their homework on the matchup. It’s important to have a plan and think about Smash when you’re not playing, but it’s also imperative to be fluid and adapt if your game plan isn’t working to try to find something new that does work.
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Please let me know what you think! If you're interested, you can purchase the full book on Amazon right here. It's available in both eBook and Paperback formats.
If you do buy it please leave a review on Amazon, it would really help me out!
You can find it right here!
In addition to the "Look inside" preview you can find on Amazon, here is an excerpt from Chapter 4 that I hope you all find interesting.
Chapter 4 – Jazz or Classical?
In this chapter we’re going to be looking at the two basic types of Smashers with the goal of finding out where you fall on the spectrum which can help you discover what aspects of play you need to improve.
On a very basic level, there are two types of musicians: Those who follow the music and what’s been written by the composer, and those who improvise and play from their head. Competitive Smash players can similarly be divided into two camps. Much like the classical musician, these Classical Smashers spend a healthy amount of time outside of the game thinking about matchups, theory crafting, and figuring out the most ideal way to string together combos and confirm kills. These are the players that play by the book, they let logic and their prior game-plan dictate their actions. Then, you have the jazz musicians who can play for hours without looking at a single written note. They improvise and play off of their fellow musicians to make something that sounds good and is also completely unique. These types of Smashers rarely let their brain know what their fingers are doing. If you ask them why or how they did what they did after the match, they probably couldn’t tell you. Their attacks and movement patterns flow into each other and they are both adaptive and unpredictable. The best Smash players in the world have an equal mix of both of these playstyles, and it’s what you should strive for. Right now you probably lean more towards one playstyle or the other, maybe even drastically so. Neither style is better or worse than the other, but by figuring out what kind of a Smash player you are, you can know what you do well and what you need to improve on. If you’re not sure then consider these traits:
Traits of a classical Smash player:
· Thinks about Smash when not actively playing
· Researches characters and matchups
· Always has a plan
· You can talk pretty well about how you play
Traits of a jazz Smash player:
· You just know what to do at certain points of the match (and are right)
· Go for plays that ‘would look cool’ or ‘be so hype’
· You feel comfortable on any character
· You have trouble talking about how you play
It’s very important to find a balance between these two styles. A classical player may get frustrated that their plan isn’t working and be unable to adapt. A jazz player could fall victim to an odd character choice by their opponent because they didn’t do their homework on the matchup. It’s important to have a plan and think about Smash when you’re not playing, but it’s also imperative to be fluid and adapt if your game plan isn’t working to try to find something new that does work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please let me know what you think! If you're interested, you can purchase the full book on Amazon right here. It's available in both eBook and Paperback formats.
If you do buy it please leave a review on Amazon, it would really help me out!
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