Suddenly doing really bad?

[I_am_Error]

So I've been maining ness since day 1, and have always performed very well with him competitively, usually top 5 in tournaments. For some reason I've been really struggling to do as well as I used to, to the point where game and watch (who was my secondary) is becoming more of my main. I'd really hate to drop ness, but I'm not sure how to get better again. Am I in a character slump or something?

 

[Omastar]

There can be multiple reasons why you could be under performing. The players you play against could have gotten better, you might not know the matchup, you might have gotten predictable, are you practicing too little, are you practicing too much, are you making the right decisions, are you mentally in your own head? There can be a thousand reasons why you can be under performing so you will either have to be more specific or take a step a back from the game and self evaluate.

 

[KingNemba]

You have any videos to share? Constructive criticism might be what you need. Sometimes to transform ourselves or see mistakeswe need to review and/or get an outside perspective.

 

[I_am_Error]

There can be multiple reasons why you could be under performing. The players you play against could have gotten better, you might not know the matchup, you might have gotten predictable, are you practicing too little, are you practicing too much, are you making the right decisions, are you mentally in your own head? There can be a thousand reasons why you can be under performing so you will either have to be more specific or take a step a back from the game and self evaluate.

I mean I know that a big problem for Ness competitively is his lack of change ups, which I guess makes him a fairly predictable character, so my best guess is that everyone else is just used to how ness fights. :/ Not sure what I can do about that tbh...

 

[Envoy of Chaos]

While it is true that Ness has a rather linear game plan you are still able to mix things up. Yes you should always try your best to get a grab as it's Ness' best option for stage control, damage racking and killing but If your opponent is jumping more and simply not letting you get your grab go for aerials more instead. Ness can kill quite well with Up Air and near ledge Nair so I will often start going for those instead. If their smart they'll sit in shield more since Ness' aerials are scary. This will make getting your grabs easier.

It's all apart of just mixing your options up, sometimes I'll completely ignore getting a grab to kill and go for SHAD Up air. Sometimes I'll bait a approach and pivot grab to kill, you just have to get good at mixing things up so you can keep your opponent guessing