Q&A The 'Mains' Advice Thread

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Remember, is in the house! He/she's rather powerful and not too slow, if you don't mind the wait.
(No, I still think it's a waste of a DLC slot, but at least the character is very well designed. I'll be buying after I finish FE Fates.)
For now, 's powerful, fast, and newly buffed to perfect the glass cannon strategy. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Tenletters23]

Okay guys so I'm a Sheik main, but I'm looking to pick up a secondary to cover my more uncomfortable match-ups. I know that the matchup should work out to be 50/50, but sometimes I really just fail to get the kill against a competent Yoshi. I struggle at my local tournaments against Yoshi mains which dominate my local meta. I've checked the Yoshi and other high tier boards, but can't find character claiming a clear match-up advantage against Yoshi. Any advise from Yoshi mains out there?

 

[Pokemonix]

Hey guys, So I am having trouble picking a main. I like R.O.B a whole lot, but I am better with Duck Hunt and Rose and Luma. I am a melee player, so characters like falcon and sheik SHOUL be natural fits for me but they aren't, I just don't like the way they feel. So should I pick the character that is most fun or the character I do best with is my question? R.O.B = Fun, I can win often in For Glory. Duck Hunt/Rose = Not that fun, I can win most of the time in For Glory.

EDIT: Also, I forgot about Diddy, I have heard that he is one of the easiest characters to be good at, and Sm4sh is really more of a side thing for me. If I am devoting most of my time to melee still, is Diddy a good option. I have almost no experience with him.

Probably the best character for you to main would be Duck Hunt. He's a decent character with a unique move set. He is also fast-paced. All competitiveness aside, he would be an interesting choice to main.

 

[Pokemonix]

I'm still trying to find a main for SSB4 for Wii U. I feel like I'm maining a bunch of different. First, it was Toon Link. Then it was Sonic, and so on and so forth. Im mostly thinking about Ike being my main, since he's a buff and powerful fighter. Roy is next on my list, but he's my 3DS main and I don't want him to get all the spotlight.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Sheik? Bad matchups? Yeah, right. (Well for Yoshi, I think or a similar ranged fighter could help, but maybe wait for
to start seeking out a secondary for a character that is currently the #1 tournament choice.)

Pokemonix, you don't need different mains for the 2 systems. Yes, the stages are different, but not so much that you need separate mains. If you like , play him on both systems, the same for if you like him more. I suggest try out as well, since he has a playstyle intermediate between Ike and Roy plus a projectile.

 

[R3dMarthy]

So, I'm trying to decide between Sheik and Mario. Personally, I like to play as Mario more, but I'm good as Sheik as well, and Sheik is probably number 1 on the tier list. Someone tell me your experiences with either of these characters.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Mario is top tier as well, don't worry. Though Sheik is preferred for her speed and horizontal combos, Mario is the antithesis- he takes his time and launches opponents' attacks back at them with his cape, grab combo punishes, and FLUDD gimping. It's a toss-up between offense or defense which character you pick.

Can I get a second opinion on this? Mine is pretty indecisive.

 

[Tenletters23]

Sheik is definitely the better character overall with a considerably better match-up spread, but has a MUCH steeper learning curve. It will take a tremendous amount of training and research to get a basic grasp of her combos, confirms, follow ups, and kill options which are very dependent on your opponents character (the size of their hurt box, weight, falling speed, combo breaking options, and even your own rage and move staleness). Sheik has a very high skill floor, but also one of the highest skill ceilings. Thankfully, the Sheik Boards provide a ton of support to help you navigate the insane number of nuances to this character! If you're interested, check out the beginners guide on the Sheik Smashboards http://smashboards.com/threads/new-...lp-with-sheik-ask-your-questions-here.381558/

On the other hand if you're really not that competitive or don't feel like spending hours playing Smash 4 multiple times a week, Mario is likely the better fit. He's much easier to get used to and his combos and kill moves are much more straight forward. Anti+'s Mario has gone toe to toe with Zero's Sheik with the match being decided by the final blow, so Mario's definitely viable. My personal preference is Sheik, but both characters are a lot of fun to play as and are both are high tier.

 

[R3dMarthy]

Thanks for the comments. I might try maining both of them. Kind of like what I do in project M, I main squirtle and Marth alike. I'm not sure if I'm going to ever be participating in a sm4sh tournament though. But I will with melee so.

 

[4AV]

I'm looking to pick up another character. Currently I have Yoshi and Falco. I like that they both have a good approach option (Falco's BAir and Yoshi's FAir). I also like that they have a projectile to force approaches and stuff (Egg and Laser). The main reason i want another main is for the Rosalina, Diddy, Sonic, Pikachu and Sheik. I realize finding a charcter that beats all of these characters is impossible but i would want to cover 2 or 3. If picking up 2 characters would cover all of these then I would consider that too.

 

[Swampertrulz]

Okay, I really need a new main for the Wii U version. Ryu's style is too.....eh for me. I mean, I could do Cloud for both versions, but I want a different main for each version of Sm4sh. I'm thinking of maining another sword wielder (Maybe I could try Roy again or Link) but I'm not sure.

 

[SpiritCypher]

I've seriously been playing Sm4sh since it's release and I have not been able to settle down on one character. If I were to list all the characters I once played but no longer touch, I'd probably list half the roster. So I could use a good opinion on who I should main. My current interests are Ryu, Cloud, and Villager. I love all their games, and I think they're all equally fun to play as. But which should I strive to be the best with?

 

[NEStalgia314]

(Erased)..

 

[Zeke8877]

I have played smash 4 for about 6 months now and have really enjoyed it, but through those six months I've mained 22! diffrent characters. a problem i have think i get bored with a character and dont know who to choose and stick with and help me win. any advice?

 

[Growwiller]

"Maining" a character means exploiting them to their full potential, and playing them for a good, dedicated while. Always ready to get better them by looking for combos, and experimenting with different play styles. I doubt you've done that with 22 different characters.

My advice would be to pick whoever you think feels nicely, and play that character to it's full potential.
There's nothing wrong with picking up multiple characters, though.

Good luck!

 

[The Slayer]

To main is to know the strengths/weaknesses/matchups of one character. It would be extremely difficult to main 22 characters and do exceptionally well with them. A good way to get a main is to fit it upon your playstyle. Play a few games with said 22 characters and narrow it down to the one or two that flows with you the best.

 

[Frizz]

You can also find a main by picking your favorite Nintendo character out of the roster and then learning about them. Knowledge is power, after all.

 

[FamilyTeam]

I picked Mario way back when I first played Smash 64, because he first thing I recognized from the roster. Because I was bloody 8 years old and I had no creativity at all, I decided to always use him, and that logic was in place until I finally got the full version of Smash 4 this year.
We have opposite problems: I focused too much on one character and pretty much never experienced with the rest, while you experimented with everybody while not focusing on anyone you played.
Sit down, look at the entire roster in this game, and out of all those 22 characters you said you "mained" and try every single one of them again, and see which one you enjoy or play better the most. Either that, or pick the one you like the most as an actual character.
Or you could be somewhat of a tier ***** and pick the character that's the highest on the tier list out of those 22, that also works, but expect some people to look lowly upon you.

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

It can be a good thing that you tried playing so many characters: what you lack in actually maining someone, you gain in general knowledge on characters.

Like FamilyTeam I focus to much on one character, Zelda. Sure, i have secondaries, but I realise that I'm really bad with a character that I like, Palutena, simply because I haven't played with her that much.

As said, look at the roster, either the characters you already tried, or those that you haven't tried yet. Among those, maybe there will be a fighting style that will unsuspectedly suit you, give characters several chances.

And also simply play characters because they are characters. That's kinda the point of a crossover after all! What matters is that you have fun.

... Except if you plan to play competitively of course, winning will also be important in this case.

 

[FamilyTeam]

Hell, since you have 22 characters you said you liked playing as, you should take it as an opportunity to maybe try getting 3 mains out of this. If you plan on playing competitively, being a solo main only makes your life difficult.
Mark my words or you'll end up like me. Atleast in Smash 4, in Melee, I can actually play Doc and Sheik as well.

 

[TAFJ]

I've seriously been playing Sm4sh since it's release and I have not been able to settle down on one character. If I were to list all the characters I once played but no longer touch, I'd probably list half the roster. So I could use a good opinion on who I should main. My current interests are Ryu, Cloud, and Villager. I love all their games, and I think they're all equally fun to play as. But which should I strive to be the best with?

Ryu is very technical and requires a lot of commitment and dedication. I think Cloud is way too new to claim him as a proper main, but Villager seems to be a very nice fit. The idea of how to play Villager is simple enough, and he is certainly viable. If you really think think he's fun, you love his game(s), and you think think you're (relatively) good with him, there is no reason not to choose him. If you ever with discontent with who you choose, just remember you still can play as other characters, you just focus on so-and-so competitively.

 

[Raijinken]

Just give up on maining and play whoever you feel like. Even highly skilled players don't often have wide matchup knowledge due to the saturation of Sheik at higher skill.

 

[ScrapHeap]

Is it bad that I main Falco everywhere except Sm4sh?

I love Falco to death but good god he feels NOTHING like he does in Brawl and Melee. Melee more so than Brawl since not too much is different between Brawl and Sm4sh, but after playing Falco for (nearly) the entirety of the time I've played Smash Bros. games (It's been 8 months, I counted), I have to say that I actually kinda prefer Brawl Falco to Sm4sh Falco, even if he's worse. I'm weird.

Therefore, Cloud is gonna be my main in Sm4sh when I buy him, and Falco's gonna be everywhere else.

[Also, relevant to the post above, playing the Street Fighter games for a while beforehand will give you some great places to start if you pick up Ryu. Learning how to do things in there is a lot easier than doing it in Smash, where errors with things like the Shoryuken don't mean you're falling to your death. Just make sure to play as Akuma, since he knows the Shakunetsu Hadouken, or Red Fireball, which is lower quartercircle back punch.]

 

[11volt]

Is it bad that I main Falco everywhere except Sm4sh?

I love Falco to death but good god he feels NOTHING like he does in Brawl and Melee. Melee more so than Brawl since not too much is different between Brawl and Sm4sh, but after playing Falco for (nearly) the entirety of the time I've played Smash Bros. games (It's been 8 months, I counted), I have to say that I actually kinda prefer Brawl Falco to Sm4sh Falco, even if he's worse. I'm weird.

YES. Falco just doesn't seem right in this game. I still play him a bit but he is not as fun to play compared to his Melee and Brawl counterparts. I miss his dair combo potential ;-;

 

[IamMe]

Looking for a Main. When I see Smash I enjoy seeing Nintendude, Wobbles and Hungrybox in Melee. On the Smash 4 site of things I enjoy watching players like Abadango or Serynder (Smash at Xanadu Jiggs main). In other games (mainly MMO's and MOBA I enjoy a more passive playstyle too; kiting, weaving in and out of fights slowing down or speeding up the pace of the game (though most of the time slowing down). I also played the 3DS version with Villager for the most part but when I switched to the Wii U version I didn't enjoy the playstyle. I have my Wii U for 5 days now. Playing everyday about 6 hours. From what I can tell I am a slow player. Missed techs and dropping follow ups left and right. For the time being I play Yoshi because he is a challenging character, relative high in tier, underrepresented and I enjoy the floaty nature of him; he is cute in general c: . My Smash Cornor also has a great combo tutorial for him. I am not sure though if I should stick with Yoshi. Most of the games I play against a level 9 CPU (most of the time Mario) I loose. Horribly. In every other game though I like to see and play defensive, out patientning the opponent. I feel fraudulent playing Yoshi Advice?

P.S. I am also really looking forward to Bayonetta c: But I am open for everything.

 

[11volt]

Looking for a Main. When I see Smash I enjoy seeing Nintendude, Wobbles and Hungrybox in Melee. On the Smash 4 site of things I enjoy watching players like Abadango or Serynder (Smash at Xanadu Jiggs main). In other games (mainly MMO's and MOBA I enjoy a more passive playstyle too; kiting, weaving in and out of fights slowing down or speeding up the pace of the game (though most of the time slowing down). I also played the 3DS version with Villager for the most part but when I switched to the Wii U version I didn't enjoy the playstyle. I have my Wii U for 5 days now. Playing everyday about 6 hours. From what I can tell I am a slow player. Missed techs and dropping follow ups left and right. For the time being I play Yoshi because he is a challenging character, relative high in tier, underrepresented and I enjoy the floaty nature of him; he is cute in general c: . My Smash Cornor also has a great combo tutorial for him. I am not sure though if I should stick with Yoshi. Most of the games I play against a level 9 CPU (most of the time Mario) I loose. Horribly. In every other game though I like to see and play defensive, out patientning the opponent. I feel fraudulent playing Yoshi Advice?

P.S. I am also really looking forward to Bayonetta c: But I am open for everything.

My advice here is to just try as many characters as you can and see who you like and don't like. This doesn't just mean you might find your best/favourite character, but you will have an idea as to how the characters play and you might be able to fight them with more confidence since you know their options,

Also, I would play (at the least) on For Glory more than against high level CPUs since the AI is nothing like fighting a real person - they can be diabolically tough yet stupidly exploitable at the same time, and they are practically the same person whereas online you fight different people with different skill levels and playstyles.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

If you really can't choose, and are comfortable with playing anyone, main if the philosophy of him/her in the game does not bother you. Great character with a very unique playstyle, but there will be few people who will want to go out of their way to pick up a DLC that wasn't from the Smash Ballot. If not, play a character that is rarely used competitively but is still highly rated among the community. Here's a few examples to get you thinking-

wait, i said this at the top of the page, what am i thinking

 

[C0rvus]

I find it silly that people are recommending Corrin when we don't know much of anything about him. His playstyle could be anything, so I find him impossible to recommend. I would say keep trying new characters, don't give up on Yoshi if you enjoy him. He can be tricky to get the hang of. Stuff like teching comes with time. Just try to anticipate moments it may happen during matches. It's very hard to be consistent at. Even top players miss techs from time to time.

If you want a kiting character, Greninja comes to mind in particular. He's a very strong keepaway character who can shoot and poke all day, but also thrives on ambushing the opponent with fairly damaging combos. Yoshi is a pretty fast, fairly flexible character with a high learning curve. Characters like Robin, ROB, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Fox, and Lucas may interest you. Just try everyone out for a little bit and see who clicks with you and why.

 

[DarkBlueSpark]

I've been playing around a lot and I'm looking for a character that has:
-Good grab game
-Good recovery
-Good aerials

I've narrowed it down a bit to: Kirby, Sonic, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Dark Pit, Yoshi, Ness, and Meta Knight. I'd appreciate insight into these characters and opinions on which one may be best based on the 3 qualities I listed There are some issues with each character I have trouble with:

Kirby: I have a lot of trouble approaching with him and stringing together moves (mostly his tilts).
Sonic: His game seems to be mostly hit and run, which I don't really like. I find it difficult to be aggressive with him.
Pikachu: I have trouble getting the KO.
Captain Falon: I miss his grab quite often, I end up going way past the opponent. Also even when I get the grab, I miss the followups like fair or dair.
Dark Pit: Often times I'll use his recovery and he'll either go off in the opposite direction because he somehow turned around or he shoots past the ledge.
Yoshi: His grab seems to be kind of slow (punishable) and I miss often with his aerials.
Ness: Can't aim his specials at all, pretty bad at using his recovery. I get kicked around pretty easily when I use this guy :/
Meta Knight: Haven't used him too much, seems to be similar to Kirby except his reach is longer and his recovery was worse.

I would prefer a main that's solo viable. I'm not looking to pick up any secondaries yet.

One of the main things I'm confused about is, when do I decide which character is actually right and when do I start practicing with them? I've been flitting between characters for quite a long time now and yet I still can't decide. When do I reach the point of practicing?

 

[NEStalgia314]

You can also find a main by picking your favorite Nintendo character out of the roster and then learning about them. Knowledge is power, after all.

Or, by using them to get past 3000 feet in the Homerun Contest, and then growing to like their playstyle. Random chance had just as much an influence on my choice of main.

 

[Azuresquall1783]

Greetings all and Happy Holidays!

So I've played Smash since the original, and there was this one time I took the game a little more seriously in an effort to improve and play at a higher level. Not tournament worthy, but a level I could be proud of where I understood mechanics and advanced techniques, as well as when to apply them at a casual level, friendly match over weekends level. That was in Melee with Falco and Peach.

Up until recently I haven't been getting into Sm4sh, but I've suddenly had an urge to get into it after hearing a lot of positive aspects about when compared to Brawl, which was too slow for my taste and ultimately drained my interest in Smash over time.

I struggle with settling on a main to really dig into the game with. I've spent the better half of 2 months, a little bit everyday, watching vids, reading guides, trying out all the different characters, practicing techniques, and playing online matches by picking random, and I still can't settle on character I want to really hammer out (until Bayonetta, lol).

Things I tend to like to do when playing Sm4sh: SHFF'ing aerials, combos, being offensive, having multiple safe offensive options

I'm hoping perhaps more advanced fighters here would analyze characters in games I've played in the past and give me some suggestions

Super Smash Bros, Melee: Falco, Peach
Super Smash Bros, Brawl: Ike
Street Fighter IV: Juri, Akuma
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Dr. Doom, Trish, Spider-Man
Tekken Tag 2: Feng, Asuka
Guilty Gear: Milla Rage
Blazblue: Noel Vermillion, Hazama

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

@Spark: I can't say any specific one, but I can rule out a few on their recovery:
@Azure: Survey says...

Pick your pick and merry christmas. I'm taking a break for a while.

(eedit: I was tired, ok? If I offended anyone (totally not my intent), sorry about that.)

 

[Frizz]

@Spark: I can't say any specific one, but I can rule out a few on their recovery:
@Azure: Survey says...

Pick your pick and merry christmas. I'm taking a break for a while.

Not to change the topic or anything, but you DO know that you mentioned other people, right? Imagine what they're thinking right now, heh.

 

[NEStalgia314]

But, seriously, who would be a good secondary for Ganon? Cloud is working so far, his approaches can counter some of Ganon's toughest matchups, like Duck Hunt and CF, but I would rather him be a second main. Any ideas?

 

[andyjew]

How does everyone feel about ike as a competitive main? im comfortable with him in brawl but how is he in smash 4?

 

[NEStalgia314]

How does everyone feel about ike as a competitive main? im comfortable with him in brawl but how is he in smash 4?

"Competitive main" is a loaded term, any main is competitive with a skilled enough player, but there are incredibly bad MUs which may push you to one character or another. I say you try Ike offline in training or whatever, and if you like his playstyle, go with it. I wouldn't overly worry about his "competitiveness."

 

[andyjew]

"Competitive main" is a loaded term, any main is competitive with a skilled enough player, but there are incredibly bad MUs which may push you to one character or another. I say you try Ike offline in training or whatever, and if you like his playstyle, go with it. I wouldn't overly worry about his "competitiveness.
ok thank you but how does his game play compare to brawl? is he still a heavy hitter? can he still finnish real early like in brawl?

 

[NEStalgia314]

He still hits very hard, and is pretty mobile as well. You'd have to look at a list of changes from brawl, but he seems similar. Then again, I don't main him. Lol.

 

[andyjew]

Oh lol i guess ill just have to wait until the game finally comes in the mail. ill just have to see for my self.

 

[Deleted member]

But, seriously, who would be a good secondary for Ganon? Cloud is working so far, his approaches can counter some of Ganon's toughest matchups, like Duck Hunt and CF, but I would rather him be a second main. Any ideas?

Mario is a great and easy character that can be good secondary with little commitment.

How does everyone feel about ike as a competitive main? im comfortable with him in brawl but how is he in smash 4?

I don't know too much about Ike, but he is generally conceived to be a good character with results. There were three Ikes in top 32 in the major tournament, The Big House 5. If you want to main him, I suggest you to go for it!