maelstrom218
Smash Lord
So, I was attending this small tourney (more like an organized set of friendlies), and there was this Ganon player that I usually play against, so I know that I'm better than him. . .except, he usually plays drunk, so I hadn't accurately gauged his skill level.
Anyways, so we start off the match on FD, and suddenly, I'm getting *****. I'm trying my best to be as evasive as possible so I can avoid f-air/f-tilt/u-air spacing and land shffl'd aerials, but no matter how carefully I approach, I get *****, because his range is overwhelming me. I lose.
I get pissed, of course. There's no way in bloody, effin' Hades that some random Ganon player--who admittedly spaces very well, and times grabs even better--is going to beat my mediocre Mario. So I rematch him.
This time, instead of trying to be evasive, bypass his spacing, and attempt to land hits, all I do is try to grab. That's it. I spend 100% of my time trying to grab. Screw shffl'd aerials, screw tilts (except u-tilt
), screw smashes and fireballs. All I do is grab.
And somewhere in the Land of the Rising Sun, and the remote village of Carlisle PA, the spirit of Brown Mario and the Cape is smiling on my sunny soul. Because now, for some strange reason, I'm ****** the literal excrement out of Ganon. I win the first match, I lost the second--but almost came back from a 3-stock deficit after I pull a Silv-style rising d-air -> shffl'd u-airs -> f-smash up-angled combo--and win the 3rd. And all I did was grab.
And then it occurs to me. . .MARIO NEEDS TO GRAB. That's all he needs to do to win. Everything else--shffl'd aerials, SHABAWDs, projectile approaches, tilts/smashes, even edgeguarding--all that stuff is secondary compared to the OVERWHELMING NECESSITY OF GRABBING. Because grabs lead to an insta-combo, and without the grab, combos are pretty much impossible.
I can't believe that I didn't incorporate this into my thinking process. I mean, I know that Mario needs grabs to combo, but that knowledge really didn't wheedle its way into my playstyle. I feel like such an idiot.
So yeah, long story short: Mario needs to grab. Duh.
Anyways, so we start off the match on FD, and suddenly, I'm getting *****. I'm trying my best to be as evasive as possible so I can avoid f-air/f-tilt/u-air spacing and land shffl'd aerials, but no matter how carefully I approach, I get *****, because his range is overwhelming me. I lose.
I get pissed, of course. There's no way in bloody, effin' Hades that some random Ganon player--who admittedly spaces very well, and times grabs even better--is going to beat my mediocre Mario. So I rematch him.
This time, instead of trying to be evasive, bypass his spacing, and attempt to land hits, all I do is try to grab. That's it. I spend 100% of my time trying to grab. Screw shffl'd aerials, screw tilts (except u-tilt
), screw smashes and fireballs. All I do is grab. And somewhere in the Land of the Rising Sun, and the remote village of Carlisle PA, the spirit of Brown Mario and the Cape is smiling on my sunny soul. Because now, for some strange reason, I'm ****** the literal excrement out of Ganon. I win the first match, I lost the second--but almost came back from a 3-stock deficit after I pull a Silv-style rising d-air -> shffl'd u-airs -> f-smash up-angled combo--and win the 3rd. And all I did was grab.
And then it occurs to me. . .MARIO NEEDS TO GRAB. That's all he needs to do to win. Everything else--shffl'd aerials, SHABAWDs, projectile approaches, tilts/smashes, even edgeguarding--all that stuff is secondary compared to the OVERWHELMING NECESSITY OF GRABBING. Because grabs lead to an insta-combo, and without the grab, combos are pretty much impossible.
I can't believe that I didn't incorporate this into my thinking process. I mean, I know that Mario needs grabs to combo, but that knowledge really didn't wheedle its way into my playstyle. I feel like such an idiot.
So yeah, long story short: Mario needs to grab. Duh.
