The Hardest Decision: Dropping Mains.

[Fortress]

I was going to say that Divekick is worlds more deep than it comes off, if that wasn't clear.

 

[JakieWinks]

I think the biggest reason it's easier to click with certain characters and have multiple mains is the amazing balance that is in PM (at least compared to the other smash games). For the most part, you won't pick a character because they're a better character, you choose them because you like them and are good with them.

I initially mained Falco and only played him for the longest time, then upon playing other characters I realized the only thing I liked about him was his dair
And now I've been forced to main the icies. I have more fun playing pika and sonic, but for whatever reason I'm much better with the icies. Probably because of the matchup, but still, I have four solid mains right now with icies in the lead.

But when playing friendlies I use more than half the roster.

 

[Marthmario]

I think the biggest reason it's easier to click with certain characters and have multiple mains is the amazing balance that is in PM (at least compared to the other smash games). For the most part, you won't pick a character because they're a better character, you choose them because you like them and are good with them.

I initially mained Falco and only played him for the longest time, then upon playing other characters I realized the only thing I liked about him was his dair
And now I've been forced to main the icies. I have more fun playing pika and sonic, but for whatever reason I'm much better with the icies. Probably because of the matchup, but still, I have four solid mains right now with icies in the lead.

But when playing friendlies I use more than half the roster.

This... is basically my situation, but I never played Falco, however I'm thinking of bumping my mains to 7.

 

[the_CAM_factor]

i really think to push a character to thier limits you should only main one char, possibly two for counterpicks.

 

[Spralwers]

multi maining is a good idea for in depth focus on different aspects of your fundamentals.

but to truly take a character to their limits, yeah you should definitely main one or two, especially with the wide spread of match ups in this game.

 

[Crescent Monkey]

But what is the point of buffing parts of your fundamentals that you won't need while playing as your main, and why would you not want to take a character to their limits? Sure other characters can cover weak matchups, but they aren't going to save you from a player who is better than you, which is going to happen if you haven't been focused on one character. Choose a main, and stick with that main, only pick up a secondary for matchups once your are already one of the best players in your scene.

 

[MysteryRevengerson]

Back in my brawl days I jumped from character to character (eventually settling on the same person every time) and never made any progress. This was probably one of the reasons for it. At lower levels you SHOULD focus on a single character (I've been maining Lucas since 2.5, but I play a lot of other characters for fun on the side) and there's a pretty big difference. I think in this game you can make a lot happen by maining a single character, however having another on standby has benefits as well. It opens up other Match-ups to you, teaches you more about that character, and can improve your overall gameplay.

So in regards to dropping a main, I feel the only real reason to do this is if you just aren't enjoying yourself playing that character, otherwise I'd say stick to them.

 

[Spralwers]

What I said had absolutely nothing to do with buffing fundamentals that you won't use as another character.

As a quick example - Hax started as Sheik because she's easy to combo with. Once he got the hang of her, he played Falco to work on his tech skill. He would've used Fox instead but he felt Fox was too technical at the time. After that, he combined what he learned with Sheik and Falco on Falcon.

Edit: Multi-maining is probably the wrong term to use. so never mind

 

[Vigilante]

I dropped my previous main, Lucario, but the reason was a bit of a necessity thing:

When Roy was being developped, I had devoted most of my time playing as him. When Roy was released, Lucario had recieved some changes, and I had grown very commited to Roy, my previous Melee main. In a sense, Roy became my new main because I had been playing him intensively for a long period of time for testing purposes and because he was very fun for me.

 

[Fortress]

My characters used to be Mario, Link, and a little bit of Luigi. This was back in my really early days, and I found that even though I gained some skill through character-specific tech and BnB mixups, that my experience was so inconsistent (tech chasing was different for each character, recovery strategy was different for them all, mindgames played out differently for each of them) and spread so thin that I wasn't gaining any real understanding of the game; that's where multi-maining limits you. You might pick up a wide variety of character-specific skills, but the way you apply fundamentals and basic knowledge is going to be changing so much for you that you're not going to be able to develop those skills to the fullest. Have a solid background and focus in the game before moving on to another character. I decided a long time ago to play Sheik exclusively, and my understanding of the game accelerated faster than I could imagine. Not only that, but because that experience developed, I was able to start excelling in matchups that I used to multi-main for in the first place with just one character.

 

[Marthmario]

My characters used to be Mario, Link, and a little bit of Luigi. This was back in my really early days, and I found that even though I gained some skill through character-specific tech and BnB mixups, that my experience was so inconsistent (tech chasing was different for each character, recovery strategy was different for them all, mindgames played out differently for each of them) and spread so thin that I wasn't gaining any real understanding of the game; that's where multi-maining limits you. You might pick up a wide variety of character-specific skills, but the way you apply fundamentals and basic knowledge is going to be changing so much for you that you're not going to be able to develop those skills to the fullest. Have a solid background and focus in the game before moving on to another character. I decided a long time ago to play Sheik exclusively, and my understanding of the game accelerated faster than I could imagine. Not only that, but because that experience developed, I was able to start excelling in matchups that I used to multi-main for in the first place with just one character.

My main issue with single maining for me is just... I can't sit down and feel content with just ONE CHARACTER. Maybe it's the ADD talking, but I have put in so much time with , that he's my best. However, I would feel bad if I dropped , , , , and , because they have all worked their way into my heart, as weird as it sounds. I have such an issue dropping mains, but a long time ago, a bunch of people told me to stick to one ore two characters, but one guy recommended four, and the way he explained it, just made sense. So I stuck with those four and after a while (mainly after playing Earthbound and Uprising) I added and . My mains feel like a family to me, and I just can't separate from them. If I was to drop 5 characters, I would still stick with , he's my main for life, regardless of game. So, basically I can't drop characters, and to be honest, I'm thinking of picking up , because, well he just clicks with me. I feel sort of a connection with as well, so he would always be in there somewhere. Also, I was at a point where I had 13 mains... It was rough, but I narrowed it down and kinda stuck with my 6.

 

[Burnsy]

If someone feels the need to be "maining" more than two characters for MU spread purposes alone, then I would say they have a patience issue when it comes to learning matchups.

Pocket characters are a bit different, you definitely dont want dozens of them imo but it can be good to have one or two for specific MUs. By definition they aren't your main so you don't need to spend much time on then, and they can help to cover holes in the combined MU spread of your mains.

 

[Marthmario]

If someone feels the need to be "maining" more than two characters for MU spread purposes alone, then I would say they have a patience issue when it comes to learning matchups.

Pocket characters are a bit different, you definitely dont want dozens of them imo but it can be good to have one or two for specific MUs. By definition they aren't your main so you don't need to spend much time on then, and they can help to cover holes in the combined MU spread of your mains.

Well, thing is, I consider all 6 of my characters "Mains", I just place them in the order I have with them in terms of skill and the order I place them on my "Main Hierarchy". So Marth would be my best character and my favorite main, with Pit would be the lowest in those terms. Don't get me wrong, I still love all my mains! ^.^

 

[bksbestbwoy]

This thread is so interesting to me just because I get to see other people going through interesting dilemmas regarding playing characters. My issue as of late has pretty much been the opposite of this thread's premise. There are too many characters with cool **** that I tend to cheat on the ones I want to work on most lately. Other people I've played have made it very clear that I should never ever ever drop or leave Marth behind (I was recently yelled at to play him because someone I was playing wifi friendlies with had a friend that demanded I play him), but with Project M, so many characters are so ****ing cool, I can't help but want to be that guy with the pocket Mario/Luigi/Toon Link/Lucas (him especially)/Falco/Metaknight/Ike/Ganondorf he can pull out whenever.

FWIW, I'm never going to drop Marth, I co-mained Pit through my Brawl days and I'm also attempting to level up a Fox. Marth has and probably always will be my favorite Smash character because I appreciate how much of his game plan is simply movement and picking your spots/spacing well. Pit is a Brawl to P:M transfer who I like for also being similarly "easy" and very mobile but also having some fun shenanigans and a great projectile. Fox is the outlier. He's inherently very technical and rewards dedicated years of play more so than random spurts because you just want to go HAM on some buttons once or twice. At the same time, I feel like he can bring a much desired burst of speed and an "overwhelming" factor to my matches should I get him up to scratch. I wish if Lucas didn't get all bat**** technically sometimes because he was actually my third ranger through Brawl, but looking at how much is offered to him now, it'd take a looooooong time just to get proficient with him and his options.

 

[Fortress]

All I know, is that you're never going to see me with a signature like this:

64:
Melee:
Brawl: LOL BRAWL WHY AM I EVEN WRITING THIS IT'S TOO CLEVER FOR YOU
PM:

Bottom line, you're never (read as: 'never ever') going to succeed with any one character until you start focusing on one character.

 

[Empyrean]

All I know, is that you're never going to see me with a signature like this:

64:
Melee:
Brawl: LOL BRAWL WHY AM I EVEN WRITING THIS IT'S TOO CLEVER FOR YOU
PM:

Bottom line, you're never (read as: 'never ever') going to succeed with any one character until you start focusing on one character.

Multimaining 4 Foxes seems like it could be a good idea. I might even drop my 23 other mains in their favor.

 

[Marthmario]

All I know, is that you're never going to see me with a signature like this:

64:
Melee:
Brawl: LOL BRAWL WHY AM I EVEN WRITING THIS IT'S TOO CLEVER FOR YOU
PM:

Bottom line, you're never (read as: 'never ever') going to succeed with any one character until you start focusing on one character.

I don't feel that's necessarily true for everyone. I train with 6 characters, and throughout my training, I feel myself getting better as all of them. I can't drop one, they feel like sort of a family to me.

 

[bksbestbwoy]

Multimaining 4 Foxes seems like it could be a good idea. I might even drop my 23 other mains in their favor.

Project 20XX strats.

 

[NameChange]

I used to main Ike before 2.6, when Meta Knight came out. After that, I devoted myself to MK and dropped Ike.

 

[Burnsy]

You're going to get better a lot slower playing 6 characters rather than one or two.

Or rather, your fundamentals will improve at the same pace (possibly faster) but your character specific skill development will suffer greatly.

 

[EMP_Zurg]

why pick multiple characters when you can play green falco or tan falco

 

[Marthmario]

You're going to get better a lot slower playing 6 characters rather than one or two.

Or rather, your fundamentals will improve at the same pace (possibly faster) but your character specific skill development will suffer greatly.

Well, that's what I'm willing to deal with. I love all my mains, I could never separate them ^.^

 

[Fortress]

Well, that's what I'm willing to deal with. I love all my mains, I could never separate them ^.^

Have fun getting bopped.

 

[Burnsy]

Hey, some people do

 

[Scuba Steve]

Have fun getting bopped.

I know this might sounds crazy, but some people play to simply have fun.

 

[Fortress]

I don't feel that's necessarily true for everyone. I train with 6 characters, and throughout my training, I feel myself getting better as all of them. I can't drop one, they feel like sort of a family to me.

See, the problem is that you're getting 'better' (and I use that word in this context veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery loosely) with multiple characters and character-specific tech, but you're not improving your gamesense or building on your fundamentals in the most consistent and effective way possible. Get over that 'family' crap if you're seeking out real improvement. It is true of everybody that the concept of 'multimaining' hurts you. If you want to prove me wrong, then here's a project: go find me one player who has been a mainstay in the competitive scene, is well-known, and who has played through their entire career from start-to-finish with four or more characters.

I know this might sounds crazy, but some people play to simply have fun.

Impossible. There's no fun in this game. Reported. Fun police.

 

[Fortress]

Wow, that edit button was the 'reply' button after all.

 

[Marthmario]

Well, I have my way, you have yours.

 

[Terotrous]

There's loads of people who have only ever used one character and aren't mainstays of the competitive scene either. Most of us won't ever reach that level, so how we choose to play the game doesn't really matter.

 

[bksbestbwoy]

There's loads of people who have only ever used one character and aren't mainstays of the competitive scene either. Most of us won't ever reach that level, so how we choose to play the game doesn't really matter.

Methinks Fortress' advice is meant more for people who have shown the interest in "gittin' gud™" [in the sense of reaching that competitive level] and might be in that nebulous area where a bunch of characters have something that appeal to them but they need to find one to really go all in with. It's not a condemnation of you for maining the random button.

At least that how I'm understanding this current exchange.

 

[Fortress]

I just assumed that everybody who landed in this thread, or on the boards for that matter, had interest in the competitive scene and developing their skills in it. Yeah, that's the context that everything I've said has been in.

 

[Terotrous]

Well there's differing levels of good. Most people won't be Mew2King, but you could be good enough to play against other good players and do okay.

I don't think using multiple characters prevents you from reaching this level.

 

[Soft Serve]

In Melee I counterpick people with different fox colors, either forcing me and the opponent to match or try to color coordinate with the stage we're going to. I change color a lot after they declare stage choice, mostly because all of fox's colors suck.

While in PM I think it will become more of a matchup/counter picking game, I still try to focus effort onto one character that doesn't have any matchups they struggle too much in. Diddy fits really well in that, and I have enough trouble switching between Fox in melee and Diddy in PM that i doubt I could dual main or any **** like that.

Having more than one character that you use in bracket causes a lot more self-doubt to come into my head. I often think in pm between games "Should I just go back to fox for this one match? I know how to play fox vs shiek really well so I don't have to deal with her as diddy" instead of contemplating what I did wrong and where to fix the actual problems in my game that got my punished. If you're not smart and godlike at smash in general dual maining is very difficult unless you use each character for specific matchups only.

I do GnW secondary in both games now though so I pull him out in low tier brackets and friendlies and teams sometimes.

 

[Saito]

>Not playing as many characters to learn their intricacies.
>Not using every bit of knowledge from each character you play to further your gameplay
>Not applying every concept universally to reach a stable balance of playing every character at least somewhat good.

Cmon guise.

 

[Marthmario]

>Not playing as many characters to learn their intricacies.
>Not using every bit of knowledge from each character you play to further your gameplay
>Not applying every concept universally to reach a stable balance of playing every character at least somewhat good.

Cmon guise.

Wow. I never saw it like that.

 

[Fortress]

>Not playing as many characters to learn their intricacies.
>Not using every bit of knowledge from each character you play to further your gameplay
>Not applying every concept universally to reach a stable balance of playing every character at least somewhat good.

Cmon guise.

>Not sticking with one character so as to not spread your skills thin as ****
>Not learning knowledge of the game through one character to deal with things that you pick twenty characters to deal with
>Never being able to apply fundamentals through one consistently through experience

You all could stand to do some light reading.

 

[Saito]

>Not sticking with one character so as to not spread your skills thin as ****
>Not learning knowledge of the game through one character to deal with things that you pick twenty characters to deal with
>Never being able to apply fundamentals through one consistently through experience

You all could stand to do some light reading.

>Not being able to retain the skills of each character.
>Not being versatile, like an actor, to meld into the mindset of each character.
>Denying yourself the experience of playing new characters and learning new tricks with those characters and applying applicable ones to other characters.
>Not being able to apply fundamentals through all consistently through experience.

Fortress please.

It's not like we don't have best characters. We just don't limit ourselves to the one or two.

 

[Marthmario]

>Not being able to retain the skills of each character.
>Not being versatile, like an actor, to meld into the mindset of each character.
>Denying yourself the experience of playing new characters and learning new tricks with those characters and applying applicable ones to other characters.
>Not being able to apply fundamentals through all consistently through experience.

Fortress please.

It's not like we don't have best characters. We just don't limit ourselves to the one or two.

I like to experiment with more than one character... I enjoy the game much more in the process, and I practice as each one as well.

 

[Saito]

Bad players add a major impact for tournaments; attendance. Bad players comprise the majority of tournaments far and away. More importantly, they add to the prize money. When you play bad players in tournament, secretly thank them in your head for being bad. Without their relative badness, you could not be on your own pillar of relative goodness. Their lack of ability is what fills your wallet. Do not be mean to them as it serves only to push them away from tournaments, effectively lowering your long-term revenue. When you play them in a set, accept your free win, receive your due amount of bacon, and move on.

****. I lol'd

10/10 umbreon.