Q&A The 'Mains' Advice Thread

[Sylenzo]

Probability of troll/spambot 99.994554%

Wow! I"m 00.005446% of people! Nice!
Idk how to quote 2 posts but baby_sneak I mean matchup problems for example if I were to only main ness I'd never stands chance against rosalina and luma I am looking for a few characters that deal with almost all matchups

 

[Keeshu]

I know it's late and we're getting Smash 5 this year, but I've been trying hard to get good at playing smash mechanically. The majority of my wins come from reading what the opponent is doing and then act accordingly. However, since I don't stick to any one character for long, I don't have the super precise movement that I see top players do and it drives me nuts because it can cause me to lose matches. So because of this I've been trying to get extremely good with at least one character so I can get those precise movements. Which happens to be Meta Knight because he's my favorite character on the roster.

Initially Meta Knight was one of my worst characters that I played because I couldn't get used to his short range with no projectiles. However now that I've been trying to get better with him because someone who mains Pikachu keeps wanting to fight my Meta Knight, I've gotten significantly better at Meta Knight. Now he performs greatly better than other characters. However, now I don't seem to win as much with characters I used to play (Link and Samus). I tried picking up Sheik and I did rather well and was able to hold my own despite not playing her much in Smash 4. So I started to think instead of being a zoning type player, I became more of a speed based player. This made me wonder if forcing myself to play a certain way made me better at one style of playing, but worse at another style of playing the game. I mean there is a lack of practice involved, but usually with Link and Samus I could pick them back up on the spot and just be fine even if I stopped playing for a month or so. I feel like playing Meta Knight made me play worse with Link and Samus somehow.

So this leads up to my question. How can you know what is the best character for you to main if playing a certain character can make you play worse with another character?

Also, is it a good/bad/neutral idea to pick a character that feels very natural to you right out the gate? Cloud and Charizard feel like easiest characters I've ever picked up in Smash (though Charizard is a smidge harder to play because he can be quite sluggish sometimes).

 

[Kirb_is_the_word]

My personal thoughts, your main should be a character that:

1. you genuinely like them as characters,
2. you enjoy playing as,
3. you enjoy winning as.

Basically, step by step:

Choose a character you like already and try them out. What you like them for can be for whatever reason: for who they are, how they look, their moveset, the game they're from, etc. Lots to choose from!

Step 2 narrows it down by testing you to see if you enjoy playing as any of them. Liking a character does not necessarily mean that you will like playing as them. Try their whole move set and all sorts of whacky things that come to mind with them. You will be more sure of who you feel like playing as! Training mode and friendly games with your friends is where you do this.

Finally, once you've figured out which characters you like, it's time to try them out vs your friends in serious matches. Sometimes, you might find yourself frustrated playing a certain character: try switching to another one in this case. Enjoying winning as them basically means you savor the victories you get, while learning from your defeats. I recommend doing serious matches with "Items Off" and on a neutral stage (Battlefield, Smashville, Final Destination, etc) so that you may see how each of your characters movesets directly interact with each other.

This is what worked for me, anyways. I've played all smash games in the past, some of them casually and others competitively, but these are the steps that I've taken in the past for every Smash Bros game, and did it again when the 3DS version came out.

I found the answers to these while playing with friends rather than online, btw, since you get direct feedback from each other. I recommend you play with people close to your skill level as well. Or if you play against someone who is much more experienced than you, ask them for advice! They may know a thing or two about your character.

EDIT: Like FalKoopa said, the character boards are fantastic places to find information on your character(s). Give them a good read!

Although as much as it makes me happy reading some validation about playing a character that you like, don't things like their tier rating come into play? I always had a bias for Zelda [hence the pfp ] but it's no news to be she is one of the lowest on the "food chain" in compared to top tier characters.

 

[Reila]

Although as much as it makes me happy reading some validation about playing a character that you like, don't things like their tier rating come into play? I always had a bias for Zelda [hence the pfp ] but it's no news to be she is one of the lowest on the "food chain" in compared to top tier characters.

If you want to become the next Zero or something like that, sure, follow tier lists. If not, just try to be the best player of your chosen character.

 

[Keetblade]

I enjoy playing , as for glory matches can be pretty fun with jigglypuff. Pound can literally turn into a kill, with good enough pound accuracy and timing for the rest. I need some advice for this. Any good tips for jigglypuff?

 

[SJMistery]

I enjoy playing , as for glory matches can be pretty fun with jigglypuff. Pound can literally turn into a kill, with good enough pound accuracy and timing for the rest. I need some advice for this. Any good tips for jigglypuff?

Step 1: Pick a secondary, in particular, someone that can deal with characters with ladder combos like Mario, Bayonetta and ESPECIALLY Meta Knight.
Step 2: Pick another secondary that covers the bad matchups of the first, just to be sure.
Step 3: Turn the first secondary into the main, and leave Jiggs to troll, as she sadly has REALLY bad matchups against almost everything.
Step 4: Pray to Sakurai that Ultimate gives us better killpower, better combos, better grab follow-ups, better ground game... well, better everything, basically.

#BuffThePuff

 

[NINTENDO Galaxy]

Keetblade I do not play jigglypuff but you can try looking for information in her discord server or the character boards here.

 

[Heracr055]

After a few soul-crushing wake up calls that clearly demonstrate I am nowhere near where I want to be, I've decided to abandon Ryu for the remainder of this game's lifespan. I think I will focus more on my dust-ridden Jigglypuff and my occasional Toon Link. Using both should help me prepare for Puff and Young Link strategies and styles in Ultimate.

 

[Krysco]

Man, I remember posting in here before. Got as close as I ever will to a main in this game finally. Sticking with and picked up recently. The flaws of and irritate me too much to enjoy them for long amounts of time. Mewtwo is stressful to use for large amounts of time due to his weight and while Falco and Ganon are garbage, I use them in every Smash and they're the closest I get to having consistent fun with Sm4sh. Picked up Tink mostly for the boomerang since that's why I don't use Link in this game or Brawl. Still hate his dair and his aerials overall are pretty meh outside of uair. Gonna learn what I can with him until SSBU comes out and I get quite the choice in that game since there's 3 Links, hopefully all with normal boomerangs.

 

[SJMistery]

Man, I remember posting in here before. Got as close as I ever will to a main in this game finally. Sticking with and picked up recently. The flaws of and irritate me too much to enjoy them for long amounts of time. Mewtwo is stressful to use for large amounts of time due to his weight and while Falco and Ganon are garbage, I use them in every Smash and they're the closest I get to having consistent fun with Sm4sh. Picked up Tink mostly for the boomerang since that's why I don't use Link in this game or Brawl. Still hate his dair and his aerials overall are pretty meh outside of uair. Gonna learn what I can with him until SSBU comes out and I get quite the choice in that game since there's 3 Links, hopefully all with normal boomerangs.

I hear you. I love Robin but that speed is just atrocious.

 

[idiotninja1124]

I love a lot of characters but i have trouble picking the ones I like better and the ones I do better with like I love playing Mr game and watch but his floatiness is just a lot so sometimes I pick ganondorf just to not be launched off every 30 seconds

 

[Krysco]

I hear you. I love Robin but that speed is just atrocious.

Speed is honestly the least of my issues with Robin. As I said, I enjoy using Falco and Ganon who are also slow characters with Ganon in fact, being slower overall compared to Robin due to lower air speed. My problems with Robin lie pretty much everywhere else. His frame data is rather terrible with poor start up save for his frame 4 jab and his endlag isn't that great either, although his autocancels on aerials are nice. Poor frame data is common for sword users to compensate for their extra reach but...Robin hardly has that. Compared to Marth, Ike, Shulk and Cloud, Robin isn't actually that ranged of a swordsman and he also loses more range when his Levin Sword runs out. His projectiles aren't that threatening with Thoron being generally less useful than Arcthunder and Elthunder and Arcfire is incredibly easy to di out of. He has a large amount of endlag on his grab despite it not being a tether and he can't cover rolls very well, partially due to his low speed.

He's not a terrible character like Ganon and Falco are (Checkmate is a huge reason for that though due to a reliable means of ending stocks) but I honestly feel like he's Sm4sh's Pokemon Trainer. By that I mean, he's a character that the dev team focused more around their central gimmick than anything else. Stamina and type weaknesses for PT and losing reach, kill power and projectiles as you use them for Robin. At least when I use Ganon and Falco, I know the range and kill power on my moves is consistent.

Probably won't pick up Robin in SSBU due to the issues I had with him in this game but I'll have to wait till the game comes out.

 

[Deleted member]

I have had ahuge problem the last 3 months I have had a ton of different Mains
at first it was me switching between and but in 50 matches i won 6 of them
So I went to with as my secondary
And going toAnd for specific matchups I did a bit better with winning 25% of my battles but I wanted to do better
So after getting pummeled by a pit and realized I used him a lot in Smash run I gave him a try and he won five in a row withas my secondary and for specific matchups I know a lot
And I did ok winning 35% of my matchups I was playing against CPUs for fun and I clicked with mr. Game and Watch so I saw what he could do in competitive he did all right. So I cut the number of Fighters I used to 3 and did about the same
I was trying to expand a bit because I don't have anyone with good projectiles so I cut who was kind of underperforming
In Favor ofthis was not a good idea I won about 10% of the time so I was frustrated but I vex put the beat down on seagulls Sonic with little mac so I decided to revisit Little Mac mannn that clicked he automatically he became my main and I watched a lot of vex tape and that is my main today and I think I'm pretty good with it but I'm having a hard time finding something that can counter Captain Falcon and what I mean by secondary and Main the main goes first and depending on How he does I change accordingly so secondary and Main I pretty much the same to me I've done okay with
So any ideas if you eat a pain how I play I can provide that

 

[Heracr055]

Oof, that was pretty hard to translate.
My take is that you should have one character that is your main focus, and a secondary who can step in for your main's bad matchups. Sonic is a good choice for a main since he only has a few bad matchups.

 

[Deleted member]

Oof, that was pretty hard to translate.
My take is that you should have one character that is your main focus, and a secondary who can step in for your main's bad matchups. Sonic is a good choice for a main since he only has a few bad matchups.

Ok and will share the main spot with being the secondary thanks

 

[NuzTheMonkey]

Guys, how does maining and seem? I need a secondary for so, options besides and (because I can't use them at all)?

 

[C0rvus]

Soooooo I stopped really playing this game a couple of months ago. Because graduation and mental health needed to be focused on, and I had lost the fire to win and improve a long time ago. My final assessment of the game reminds me that I never really had a main. Sort of. I always had a character or 2 that I was focused on for a given time, some were reoccurring (mostly for some reason, to a lesser extent ) so perhaps I could call them mains, or comfort picks. But, I think when I was at my best and brightest I played . In the end, I feel as if I can play most of the cast at a fairly competent level. Characters aren't particularly complicated in this game, save for a handful of them ( maybe I'm just bad at zoning. Just personally, pls no bully)

I guess my point is not to worry too much about having a main. I think being in a more competitive environment plays a big part in me sticking with characters. When you really have a main, you get to a point where you need to really study and think about your play. When I used to go to locals near home, I regretted going in with new characters, but I'm free af anyway If anything, the event costing money can be a good motivator. This process kinda naturally draws your pool of characters in and hones it down.

If you don't compete, then don't worry about things too much. I hope this doesn't come off as condescending. Your main is more or less going to be like a mascot or avatar for you, or what you put under your name on Smashboards (which I have borderline anxiety over lol).

This game is winding down in the wake of Ultimate, so idk how many posters here are even still playing. I look forward to trying to help people find characters in that game too. I forget why I started typing all of this, it's just a rambling reflection of the end of the game. Almost like a farewell to Smash 4. But if anyone still needs help, I'd be happy to try and help you.

Guys, how does maining and seem? I need a secondary for so, options besides and (because I can't use them at all)?

Marth and Bowser seems like a fine pair. They're both characters that rely on strong fundamentals. I personally think that Marth does just fine versus Rosalina; I think it could even be argued that the matchup in in Marth's favor. You could try watching some sets of the two to get a better feel for how it plays out.

Alternatively, you could just pick up Cloud. It's 2018, everyone should have a Cloud and/or Bayonetta tbh. Cloud gives Rosa a very hard time. It's probably her worst matchup.

 

[Codiac9000]

I feel like I have 4 different characters that I'm pretty elite with (Ike, Sonic, PIT, and Ness) but if I had to pick one to win it all i think i would go with ike beacuse of how well i can time to use his down b and use his strength to rack up damage pretty quickly.

 

[Collective of Bears]

So since I picked Smash 4 back up to tide me over till Ultimate, I've come to realize that is probably my best character, and that I'm enjoying characters with that high aerial mobility like him (I've also been tinkering with a little bit of and in For Glory). I'd like to find a character that fills the same general playstyle as Yoshi but is a bit more viable as a main (considering how hard he loses to the likes of who is basically unavoidable these days). I was considering picking up although my results with him so far have been less than stellar, through lack of experience or otherwise.

 

[Tecnoid]

Roy is like the most unbalanced thing i have ever seen in smash, when he is not killing you at 20% without rage, he is chain grabbing fastfallers and heavy weight characters. The reason why he is my main

 

[Kulty]

Hi guys,

It has been a long time since I came back here, but is there a mains' advice thread for Smash Ultimate? There are some things I want to prepare before starting to play the game, and one of them is picking up the # of fighters.

I have a pretty huge dilemma on how many characters I should focus on, so I'm gonna give info on my intent and purposes along with concerns (WARNING: this post will be quite long):

Spoiler: Background and intent as a Smasher

I got introduced to competitive Smash since Brawl (but also played some competitive Melee). I do intend to play more ranked matches or go to tournaments for Ultimate more than any game before, but for different purposes than winning. My intent of playing the Smash series is TO BE THE MOST OPTIMAL I could possibly be with my favorite characters, but NOT TO BECOME THE BEST OR TO WIN TOURNAMENTS. I feel like becoming the best at a character puts a lot of stress into Smashers, and I don't want to have to deal with that pressure of constantly getting harassed or blamed for poor performance and results. My goal as a Smasher is just to BECOME REALLY GOOD AND OPTIMAL with my favorite fighters, but not necessarily the best. I prefer to play Smash competitively, and I also like to play for fun (kinda have the best of both worlds), but in order for me to balance both, I don't like to have a lot of characters, which leads to my next point.

In competitive Smash, most people will tell me that it's best to focus on not more than 3 fighters, with 2 being considered (by the majority) to be the most optimal. While I agree myself, I can't help myself to feel like playing three fighters just bc of one mode in Smash Ultimate that might be viable in competitive play: SQUAD STRIKE. At the same time, my goal is to be optimal, which means I tend to focus on less characters as possible. So right now, I'm stuck on a dilemma of playing either 2 or 3 characters (regardless of the option, I'm still gonna focus on one character at a time). So I made a list of pros and cons that I feel of either option:

Having 2 fighters over 3 (Pros): + more time allocated to each, can cover MUs perfectly fine with two (but it depends), optimal, still fine for Squad Strike
Cons: - slightly more redundant, some MUs are bad for both
Having 3 fighters over 2 (Pros): + more character variety, perfect for Squad Strike, can cover more MUs
Cons: - less time for each, tend to spread too much, may be unnecessary

Even with the 3 fighters option, I still plan to focus on just two of them and leave the third one as a secondary for warm-up or fundamentals.

Finally, these are the characters that I'm the most interested in for Ultimate: (Honorable mentions:). I know it's not a lot, but since it's Ultimate, I want to only consider my favorite fighters in Smash history (i.e veterans that I enjoy in every single Smash iteration, and only 3 characters qualify for this for my case) and some newcomers to limit myself while also having options.

What do you guys think of this? I know it's a lot of text, so sorry about that. But what should I do about this dilemma of either 2 or 3 fighters to focus on? Thank you for taking the time. I really appreciate it.

 

[ThatGreenPigeon]

Hey Smash Community, I am lost. Im a casual, Who is easy to main and easily beats spammers

 

[J05hster]

Hey guys,what characters' main focus is the aerial game? What characters are high risk high reward?

I'd say Zero Suit

 

[1FC0]

Hey Smash Community, I am lost. Im a casual, Who is easy to main and easily beats spammers

Spammers of what? There is no character to beat spammers in general, you just need to have a counter to whatever they are spamming and spam that back.

 

[pants the terrible]

BOWSERYOSH
37773
WE DID OUR DUTY

GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU FOR PLAYING ME <3

 

[1FC0]

What would you advice me for a main?
Here are my preferences:

• Good projectiles
• Good recovery
• Can combo from throws
• Can kill from throws
• Has reflector
• Is able to produce an item
• Is R.O.B.
• Is difficult to KO
• Can set traps

I am looking for a character that fits all of these criteria.

 

[Nah]

well, going by your list of criteria 1FC0 , I can say for certain that R.O.B. would not interest you as a main, with this

Is R.O.B.

being the biggest disqualifier, nevermind that R.O.B. doesn't fit any of the of other criteria

in my totally expert opinion, I believe that perhaps Ganondorf or Mythra is more what you're looking for