Tech Skill?

[DoomCake196]

Is falcon viable without being able to l cancel and wavedash? I can short hop fair consistently but I can't shffl

 

[SLOTR]

L-canceling and wavedashing are pivotal parts of high level melee. Without them, you will not be viable, regardless of character. Work on getting your SHFFL's down. If you are trying to SHFFL a knee, the hitbox for the knee probably just isn't coming out. Don't FF the SH knee. Practicing SHFFL'ing with Falcon's Nair. Try to get the second hit of Nair to come out low. If you are having trouble L-canceling, practice SHFF without L-canceling first and then add it in once you feel comfortable. I find L-canceling is easier when I FF an aerial, but that's just me.

 

[SLOTR]

L-canceling and wavedashing are pivotal parts of high level melee. Without them, you will not be viable, regardless of character. Work on getting your SHFFL's down. If you are trying to SHFFL a knee, the hitbox for the knee probably just isn't coming out. Don't FF the SH knee. Practicing SHFFL'ing with Falcon's Nair. Try to get the second hit of Nair to come out low. If you are having trouble L-canceling, practice SHFF without L-canceling first and then add it in once you feel comfortable. I find L-canceling is easier when I FF an aerial, but that's just me.

Actually, you can be viable at locals and smaller-scale tournaments without wavedashing, at least. Look up the player Borp.

 

[DoomCake196]

I've neen trying to practice my l cancels but I keep air dodging no matter how close I am to the ground? Also, how do you wavedash, I am doing all the buttons (x,L, downwards on the control stick) but my theory for why I'm not doing it is that I'm not leaving a sufficient space in between x and the air dodge downwards

 

[gmBottles]

You just need to practice. Nothing comes easily, it comes with hard work. If you aren't prepared to work hard towards this game, you won't get very far, and you probably won't have very much fun either.

L canceling is extremely important, as well as wavedashing. They'll become natural over time, you won't even realize you're doing it. For wavedashing, you have to input the wavedash after the jump, and every character's jumpsquat varies. Fox is the fastest, and Bowser is the slowest. One of the easier characters to practice wavedashing with, in my opinion, is Samus, or maybe Luigi. Go into training mode with whatever character you are wanting to main and do 1/2 speed or something and practice inputing the airdodge right when you leave the ground.

 

[タオー]

Try doing whatever tech skill you're trying to preform slowly. Understand what makes it work (E.G. Wave dash works because you're air dodging diagonally into the ground after a jump, and is affected by your traction) and then practice preforming all the individual actions (jump-> air dodge after jump squat) in sequence until you get the desired effect. It important to first:

1. Get the tech down - Just do it until you don't need to think about the inputs

2. Tighten up the movement- trim off excess frames you waste between inputs

3. Practice doing the tech in and out of other situations/tech - pivot-> WD / WD Out of Shield / Dash-> WD (these are all examples of what you can do with WD)

If you really want to explore what makes Melee great, I recommend at least learning some of this basic tech, otherwise you will have to put A LOT of stock into your spacing, stage positioning, reads, and dumb luck. Improving your tech is a way to increase your options in any situation, remain unpredictable, and find holes in your opponents offense and defense. While Melee's complexity can be intimidating, it is one of the biggest reasons why this game is regarded so highly by many and in my opinion learning to play this game is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself. The deeper I dive into this game, the more it rewards me, and I hope you can find the same satisfaction.

 

[protato]

xxxxxxxxxx

 

[DoomCake196]

Thanks for the help! I can now wave dash 2/3 of the time but still cant l cancel but I'm getting there

 

[タオー]

I usually try to l cancel on reaction. When you're first learning, you will develop your own rhythm which is good for developing muscle memory, and bad for actual play. There's different timings (offset by hitstun) associated with whiffing an aerial and connecting, either on shield or as a hit. If you can learn to recognize when you get the hit/whiff (hit confirm) then it becomes much easier to l cancel with proper timing, and keep you from fumbling in the fray of battle.

P.S. For L- Cancelling, learn how to do it with the 'light shield', or analog input for either the left or right bumper, as pressing until you get the digital press will eat up your tech window for 40 frames at least.

 

[Mr.Enzo]

P.S. For L- Cancelling, learn how to do it with the 'light shield', or analog input for either the left or right bumper, as pressing until you get the digital press will eat up your tech window for 40 frames at least.

Could you expand on this last bit? Not sure what you mean

 

[タオー]

When you L-Cancel, you need to input a form of a shield press during your aerial right before you land to get the desired effect. There are two shield inputs, an analog and a digital input. The analog input is the input you use to activate your light shield, and the digital "button" press is for hard shield (or power shield). The digital press is the same input you use for teching the ground or a platform when still in hitstun, and every time you press that digital input, it takes up a 40 frame window where you can't tech.

tl;dr:

Everytime you input the digital press, you have to wait 40 frames to press it again, so L Cancel with the light press to keep teching an option while you SHFFL.