Q&A The 'Mains' Advice Thread

[Baby_Sneak]

That's pretty much Ryu or Wario then. Both strongly reward playing the neutral and taking full advantage of mistakes and fake outs. I'd argue that Wario is on the more defensive side while Ryu is on the more offensive side though.

A character can be orientated towards either, but a good player can always make them play either.

 

[Fatmanonice]

A character can be orientated towards either, but a good player can always make them play either.

Not really. Some characters are better suited for one or the other and it really depends on match ups too.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

5 Characters that are like Fox in Melee in terms of technical style

But then again, what do I know about Melee?

 

[TombstoneHD]

Hey guys, for some reason, I've been really finicky with using characters lately. I'd like to hear some ideas on which characters would work for me based on my player preferences and your opinions. I like characters:
-With good grab games (either having good combo and/or kill throws). Command grabs are cool too.
-Have a good weight to size ratio (being big and heavy as well as small and light is fine, but big and light is not preferable).
-I prefer to fight close ranged.
-Projectiles are cool, but not necessary.
-Prefer aerial combat to grounded.
-Someone that doesn't require too much practice (don't have as much time to play as I'd like).

Thank you guys in advance!

 

[valakmtnsmash4]

Hey guys, for some reason, I've been really finicky with using characters lately. I'd like to hear some ideas on which characters would work for me based on my player preferences and your opinions. I like characters:
-With good grab games (either having good combo and/or kill throws). Command grabs are cool too.
-Have a good weight to size ratio (being big and heavy as well as small and light is fine, but big and light is not preferable).
-I prefer to fight close ranged.
-Projectiles are cool, but not necessary.
-Prefer aerial combat to grounded.
-Someone that doesn't require too much practice (don't have as much time to play as I'd like).

Thank you guys in advance!

I think Ness is a good pick for you in my opinion.

 

[MrImperfectz]

Ok, I Main Bowser In SSB4 WiiU And I Need A Secondary, I Struggle With Edge Guarding, Projectile Spam, Being Edge Guarded, And Other Bowser Problems, (if you where wondering i didn't main bowser cuz of the recent buff i have mained him since the start of ssb4 wiiu, i mained dedede in 3ds) I Was Thinking Falco Or Pit/DPit Any Other Suggestions????

 

[NoahZark]

Ok, I Main Bowser In SSB4 WiiU And I Need A Secondary, I Struggle With Edge Guarding, Projectile Spam, Being Edge Guarded, And Other Bowser Problems, (if you where wondering i didn't main bowser cuz of the recent buff i have mained him since the start of ssb4 wiiu, i mained dedede in 3ds) I Was Thinking Falco Or Pit/DPit Any Other Suggestions????

Pit and Dark Pit are overall well rounded characters and are always good as a secondary. They help in all the areas that you have been struggling in. Other than that, Pikachu would probably work well for you, as would Mario. I personally don't think Falco would help you, because I feel he can be edge guarded easier than most of the rest of the cast.

 

[Kulty]

3) One or two matches with one of your characters, AGAINST one of your secondaries. Knowing your own character's weaknesses can better help you cover them

I have a question. About step 3, if I only have these characters, is this okay or is it too much? These are the characters that I enjoy playing the most outside of my characters.

 

[Wolfheart77]

Try to stick with one or two at a time, I'd say. But since that step is mostly just you toying around, use whatever character you'd like. You're trying to relieve boredom, not learn a new character (but for that, someone might want to fact-check me)

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

I'm back... but this time I'm not answering.

My brother claims he is a main now. He uses the same skin as me and very similar combos (albeit with a lot more Up Smash). He's almost as good as I am, and he's only been playing Mewtwo for about a week while I've been playing him for many months now. I'm running a local this weekend, and wanted to main Mewtwo, but he's in as well.

And so I'm dropping him into a sort of mid-main position.

I co-main , and I'm pretty good, but I have struggles against some characters, like and bros, and all derivatives, and among other fast characters. And I only play as a last resort. I don't want a solo main, and also I can't wait for in this case. What am I supposed to do?

Reminder on playstyle: Mid-high speed, very aerially skilled, doesn't grab often, good at finishers, prefers mid-tiers.

 

[treflo]

So here is my story for all of you. There once was a boy. He mained everything was going pretty well. He was winning constantly having fun and getting generally good at the character and invested in them. Then a new challenger appeared that gave him trouble, what do I do about this guy ? I'm looking for a secondary who has a good match up against him and hopefully also against: . Please help a young boy who just cant stand there two, he can not win the cloud match up 60% of the time due to the match up being generally bad and worrying he'll be a more common character to vs now.

 

[treflo]

Bumparino because accidental double post.

 

[Kulty]

Guys,

Who's a good pocket character for? Is there any criterias to choose a pocket or not really? I prefer to choose between these characters:. For the moment, I haveas pockets? Are these characters okay or not?

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

You've got two borderline S tier characters. You don't need anything else.

Still stumped. Please help, I have 5 days!
Here, I'll rule out a few characters I don't want to play.

 

[MrImperfectz]

Pit and Dark Pit are overall well rounded characters and are always good as a secondary. They help in all the areas that you have been struggling in. Other than that, Pikachu would probably work well for you, as would Mario. I personally don't think Falco would help you, because I feel he can be edge guarded easier than most of the rest of the cast.

ill use mario as i used to use him alot again my friends and ill keep falco as a surprise pick

 

[-crump-]

The Legendary DJXYZ
Why would you want to try to learn a new character in 5 days when you said you've been playing Mewtwo for months with reasonable success? It seems like it would be more effective to stick with for the time being, what with such a short time remaining until your tournament.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

I'm gonna play , I think. Other characters I'd be willing to make a co-main are

 

[C0rvus]

So here is my story for all of you. There once was a boy. He mained everything was going pretty well. He was winning constantly having fun and getting generally good at the character and invested in them. Then a new challenger appeared that gave him trouble, what do I do about this guy ? I'm looking for a secondary who has a good match up against him and hopefully also against: . Please help a young boy who just cant stand there two, he can not win the cloud match up 60% of the time due to the match up being generally bad and worrying he'll be a more common character to vs now.

Villager does fine against Cloud. Falcon too. You need to gimp them both. Cloud's recovery is bowling ball bait. Also be sure to abuse shielding against Cloud, particularly when he's looking for the kill. He has no kill throws and generally struggles to deal with a shielding opponent when he wants the kill. It's an odd matchup since he's such a fast character with big moves, and he likes to camp and charge Limit. If he does this, just pelt him with moves and maybe force an approach.

I think Falcon has pretty bad matchups with the likes of and . He's one of those characters that doesn't hold strong advantages or lose badly to many characters. He's very straightforward and effective, but has his weaknesses to being pressured offstage and having a general reliance on a few moves in his kit. I would say keep trying with Villager but maybe try learning another character on the side.

 

[Funkermonster]

For those of you hyped to play Bayonetta or Corrin when they come out... do you happen to have a backup plan for if that they don't turn out to be as strong as we hoped, or you just don't enjoy them as much as you expected to? I have my heart set on playing Corrin and I'm real excited to be labbing. But while I don't think I'll be disappointed him gameplay-wise, my main isn't exactly solo viable and my secondary unfortunately still suffers the same worst matchup as he does.

I don't want to end up practicing more than 3 characters, but my current two still own -2 matchups against Sheik and I invest about a month or more of time (any less isn't enough a mere few weeks or days isn't enough to develop any character's meta) into learning a char who ends up having the same -2 matchup or more, it'd essentially mean it was a waste of time unless I like him enough to replace either of them as main/secondary. And if that happens, I'm not really expecting Sheik to be nerfed & I still can't find anyone else I enjoy that would cover said matchup: there are a few top tiers I'm looking at but most of them either have too high a learning curve to be a backup or just. If this ends up this way I don't know what I'll do, and I thought I'd come and ask for some thoughts here on a backup plan in the event that it does. If you've had the same experience with any past DLC characters that disappointed your hype, that could also help.

This is all assuming that your current main is not solo-viable and/or you don't have a secondary that really covers any important matchups. Either that or you just wanna help a guy out

 

[Aegislasher]

I'm having trouble finding a secondary to go along with my Link. I'm planning on playing Corrin when he comes out, but until then, who do you think would be good? I don't really like playing Sheik, Diddy, Rosa, or Villager.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Funkermonster I was upset at the reveal of , but I've come to realize that she has a similar gameplay style to what I expected from my ballot vote, Isaac. I plan on counterpicking her in lieu of Meta Knight.
Aegislasher Link is a very strong smasher, but is rather slow. Pick a character that's a bit weaker and a bit faster, but has a similar playstyle. Here's a few ideas- , , , , and of course

 

[FairyLip]

Who would make a good secondary to Cloud?

 

[Aegislasher]

Thanks! Anyone else you would suggest? I like all of those characters but I don't know if they are right for me.

 

[Shining_Finger]

I am trying to pick a Main in Wii U, so any recommendations among these five?

 

[BlueX]

I am trying to pick a Main in Wii U, so any recommendations among these five?

What type of playstyle do you often prefer?

 

[Shining_Finger]

What type of playstyle do you often prefer?

I prefer a "Tricky" playstyle, if that is what best describes it. I picked Lucario exclusively because of his Double Team in brawl if that helps explain.

 

[BlueX]

I prefer a "Tricky" playstyle, if that is what best describes it. I picked Lucario exclusively because of his Double Team in brawl if that helps explain.

It could be best to stay with if this is your type of playstyle.

 

[Shining_Finger]

It could be best to stay with if this is your type of playstyle.

I think I will main either or .
Lucina has better speed and strength, Greninja has better speed and Shadow Sneak and they both have similar Down B counters.
Lucario's aura feature was always annoying in my opinion, as I could get my opponents up massive damage and still not KO them, since I had fairly or extremely low damage.
Any ideas on which I should choose?

 

[Deleted member]

Who would make a good secondary to Cloud?

Cloud doesn't need a secondary but if you really want one, Mario is a good secondary.

 

[BlueX]

I think I will main either or .
Lucina has better speed and strength, Greninja has better speed and Shadow Sneak and they both have similar Down B counters.
Lucario's aura feature was always annoying in my opinion, as I could get my opponents up massive damage and still not KO them, since I had fairly or extremely low damage.

can be really good at spacing and playing a patient game.

I can not comment on Greninja much except he is really fast. Try experimenting with him.

 

[Shining_Finger]

can be really good at spacing and playing a patient game.

I can not comment on Greninja much except he is really fast. Try experimenting with him.

Any tips for playing as Lucina against Ganondorf?
Should I put space between them or get as close as possible for a combo?

 

[Aegislasher]

Any tips for playing as Lucina against Ganondorf?
Should I put space between them or get as close as possible for a combo?

I'm no expert at smash but I would try to put space between you and Ganondorf because even if you do get a combo, he can just deal back the same amount of damage in two hits.

 

[Funkermonster]

I am trying to pick a Main in Wii U, so any recommendations among these five?

None of these characters are easy to be successful with imo but I would probably go for Lucario or Greninja out of those 5. Compared to the other 3 they're actually good, and stand a decent chance with most, if not all of the better characters in this game and can handle what most of the cast throws at em'. They come with the downside of being really complicated to get good with though and take lots of practice to get Greninja's combos and Lucario's weird aura mechanic. They're high tier imo but you're gonna have to lose a lot with them before you start winning.

is easy to use compared to the other 4 but she's bad, probably one of the bottom 10 or 15 characters in this game (though personally, I think she's pretty high in said 15). The other 4 you mentioned are fairly technical but with Lucina I don't think you need to learn much besides spacing aerials, dtilt, her amazing OoS options (UpB and Usmash are very good when someone hits your shield), and mixups with shield breaker & then you're good. But while she's easy to pick up and learn fundamentally she's not easy to actually win with imo; the character unfortunately suffers from crappy frame data, terrible throws, weak combos, poor kill options and a mediocre recovery. She doesn't do very well against the Top Tiers and generally lacks most of the important tools to be viable. If you wanna get by with this character you're very likely gonna need a secondary as you climb the higher ranks of play. As for the Ganondorf question, I would definitely try to space: Lucina hardly has many combos to begin with besides SideB and Falling Uairs and you don't want Ganon too close. He deals more damage than you do and has superior options for killing, his punishment game is far scarier than yours and he could totally pulverize you if you allow him to.

Unless she's your waifu or you just prefer her as a character or whatever, you're better off with than you are with Lucina anyways. They're more or less the same character and you play them them almost the exact same way, but Marth basically does everything she does better (superior kill power, more potential damage, slightly more range, and being safer on shield), and the only thing she really offers over him is consistency and being a little easier to use. You'd probably still need a secondary if you were playing him though.

I can't say as much about or though after they've been getting buffs. Before they were considered bad or mediocre characters but they seem to keep on getting goof buffs from time time so I dunno what their meta is like now. They are still very technical though and are probably around mid tier at best from what I've seen, you'd have to stick with one of them and only one of them before you start getting wins and you'd still need a secondary against the Top Tiers, I think.

 

[FairyLip]

Cloud doesn't need a secondary but if you really want one, Mario is a good secondary.

Excellent! I already know Mario a bit, so I'm definitely going to practice him.

Speaking of that, I should start practicing outside of FG. ^^;

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

Shining_Finger Post fixed below.
/ are not tricky, they're technical. What I mean is that they don't have any unique tricks to them, but still require a certain level of finesse on their moves.
can be tricky if you want him to be, he's pretty freeform.
One of the top local players uses , he's very unpredictable and strong, but slow and calculated at the same time. If that's your cup of tea, he's my top recommendation.
As for , well, he's my main, so I can say a lot. If you like a heavily aerial playstyle and are good at reads with smash attacks, choose him. He's not the tricky character you're looking for, but he's a whole lot of fun with a bit of practice.
You already vetoed .

So in order from fit to not as much, my opinion-

 

[C0rvus]

Robin and Mewtwo are both very competent characters with a few spotty matchups each. I wouldn't count them out. Lucina is pretty bad though. Try them all and find out who you enjoy most.

 

[Shining_Finger]

Shining_Finger / are not tricky, they're technical. can be technical if you want him to be, he's pretty freeform. One of the top local players uses , he's very technical, tricky, and strong, but slow and calculated at the same time. If that's your cup of tea, he's my top recommendation. As for , well, he's my main, so I can say a lot. If you like a heavily aerial playstyle and are good at reads with smash attacks, choose him. He's not the tricky character you're looking for, but he's a whole lot of fun with a bit of practice. You already vetoed .

So in order from fit to not as much, my opinion-

Um...Where are you getting these character types?
I was getting along fine until the "Technical" "Type" was introduced.
Edit:
If you were getting it from a thread similar to this,
http://smashboards.com/threads/the-types-of-smash-characters.392544/
which I just found, then it disagrees with both of us.

 

[The Legendary DJXYZ]

My mistake. Wherever I said technical, I meant tricky. Here, I'll go back to the post and fix it to how it was supposed to be said.

Okay, playing was definitely the right choice. I used to play him as a pocket character, and I was pretty good, but I dropped him due to his tether grab and sometimes misleading frames/hitboxes. Now, with the buffs, a lot of that is fixed and I'm a lot better. What I like most about Lucas is that his combo abilities are flexible, as in you have multiple options to follow up with instead of one "easy bake" combo. Any other characters in mind who are like that, for future reference?

 

[Champ Gold]

I am trying to pick a Main in Wii U, so any recommendations among these five?

For Robin, the best thing I can for is this:

• Spacing is your best friend.
• Don't rely or spam projectiles. It'll only hurt you for the long run.
• Make sure to grab times and levin swords after use. They have dangerous knockback and damage
• Arc Thunder>Thoron. Arc Thunder can be set up for grabs, combos and KOs
• The Air is your best friend, use the aerials to your advantage
• He has a Down Throw into UpAir combo but use it when you have your levin sword out.

 

[Shining_Finger]

My mistake. Wherever I said technical, I meant tricky. Here, I'll go back to the post and fix it to how it was supposed to be said.

Okay, playing was definitely the right choice. I used to play him as a pocket character, and I was pretty good, but I dropped him due to his tether grab and sometimes misleading frames/hitboxes. Now, with the buffs, a lot of that is fixed and I'm a lot better. What I like most about Lucas is that his combo abilities are flexible, as in you have multiple options to follow up with instead of one "easy bake" combo. Any other characters in mind who are like that, for future reference?

Obviously .
I would think may be a different version of what you are describing, since she seems to be focused on Combos.
I am thinking I should just split my focus among three characters, namely and . I was thinking of splitting my focus among only two beforehand, namely and , but I grew to like Robin. I have already bought the DLC and found I suck with Mewtwo, so I am not using Mewtwo.
I grew distaste for Lucario, so I abandoned Lucario.
Robin seems to be my best possible main for a nice feeling of Gambling. Lucina would probably be my best all-around character and I grew to admire Brolylegs after thinking of maining Lucina, so she is definitely still getting a spot. He also has the same rush of potential weakness as Lucario's Aura does.
Greninja's speed, counter and shadow sneak ability are all Pluses towards me maining him, since that feels like an improved version of Lucario. Lucario just seemed so much slower than even heavy characters like Marth, although that may just be me.