The Picking of a Main...

[Sodapopped]

Hi, I'm Soda. Here's my dilemma: I absolutely love playing multiple different characters equally, but can't play more than one at once at any sort of serious level. Though I practice with CPUs and visit few tournaments I feel that I've proven to myself that I can quickly pick up most any character that I'd like to (and do decently well considering my level of practice). The following is a list of the characters I'm somewhat interested in, and pros/cons to my picking them. I hope that after reading this, readers and masters of the characters and the game can give an opinion on who seems most fitting.

PLEASE DON'T VOTE/TYPE A RESPONSE WITHOUT READING (OR AT LEAST SKIMMING) WHAT I'VE WRITTEN. THANK YOU!

Fox
Pros
-Exciting, fast, and aggressive. I enjoy fighting with an in-your-face style.
-Strong (He was #1!) and fast.
-Challenging, I worked with him for a week or two and loved challenging myself with the task of learning such a tough and technical character. I feel like I can put up a slightly better fight with Fox against some better players.

Cons
-Challenging. He's tough to learn, especially without many human practice partners/opponents.
-Very unique, hard to play along with other characters if I want to dual main (I'd prefer not to dual main for the time being).

Falco
Pros
-Fast, strong, and STYLISH. I love seeing flashy play from Mango and other great Falcos.
-Challenging, though not as much as Fox. Easy enough to learn if I dedicate myself to maining him.
-Popular. From what I can tell, Falco is pretty big in my region, so getting some IRL help could come easy if the people are willing.

Cons
-Challenging. A lot expected of him being at the top with Fox.
-In my opinion, Falco can often feel clunky and slow. Though he personally prefers the air, it's inevitable you'll be on the ground at some point. Falco's basic run speed isn't great, and true speed from the bird only comes with dedicated practice.
-Though hard-hitting and combo-heavy, Falco's combos are very precise, and the shine can be pretty tough for a newbie. Just another feature that proves the need for more dedicated practice.

Marth
Pros
-Combo-heavy, and stylish. Not just that, but his shorter combos and low-percent combos are generally easy. Though AI in Melee isn't exactly amazing, I pull off some pretty sweet stuff on CPUs of varying levels.
-Popular. Marth is pretty common, and finding help could be FAIRly easy.
-I've played Marth most and learned most about the game through him (though I ask that this doesn't sway your opinion too much).
-Strong. He just hits ya a lot.

Cons
-Obviously not as powerful as Fox/Falco.
-Well-known. The match-up is known by most people against Marth. With my little human experience, players can easily understand me no matter how I play (though this can become more irrelevant as I improve).

Falcon
I won't give Falcon the full treatment, but my thoughts on him can give a bit of insight on my Melee experience. I like his aggressiveness, however I struggle with his tech skill. I honestly don't see myself playing Falcon, and I personally feel that he isn;t strong enough or user friendly enough for a new-ish player such as me.



Wrap-up
I hope I've provided enough info on these characters to help you understand how I feel about them. Thank you for helping me out should you decide to.

PLEASE WRITE A COMMENT RESPONSE AND ANSWER THE POLL, THIS WILL ALLOW ME TO COLLECT SHORT- AND LONG-FORMAT DATA ON YOUR OPINIONS. THANK YOU!

 

[The_Most_Effectual]

If, by "fitting," you mean most noob-friendly, it's definitely Marth out of the characters you mentioned. He has much safer options and doesn't really have commit to much when he attacks, as long as you do so sparingly, and doesn't demand to much from the player technically. Coming from a fellow noob who has played all these characters and mains Marth, he's definitely the easiest and most rewarding to use at lower skill levels.

 

[20YY SS | Saiblade]

Always go for Falco! All joking aside, Marth is the easiest, Fox is easier than Falco at a lower level, and Falcon is highest risk with medium reward.

 

[SSB_Garnet]

Hey, I think this is something you should probably figure out yourself, but for input, Marth will help you learn fundamentals like spacing and will give you the easiest time stringing together combos, he was my first main and is fun until you hit your initial wall. But falcon made me fall in love with the game, for a while i couldn't win with him, but playing him made me enjoy improving so now im notably better at the game than if i had not played him. Any of these characters could be your falcon.

 

[Icyo]

The first step of picking a main is to not put pressure on yourself. I'll probably get people disagreeing with me but I'll just throw this out there as food for thought. Don't pick a main for now. Depending on how new you are, you'll probably switch around for quite some time. Some people feel naturally inclined to play a specific character as soon as they begin playing competitively. For others, mains become apparent within a month or two. Play everyone that you want to play. No one is going to win as much as a local when they're new. Use tournaments to learn. If you use all the characters that interest you for an extended period of time, eventually one will stick out to you. It took me a year to find a character that I could play at a decent level and enjoy. Just relax and do what you enjoy for now. Play characters you enjoy playing. Eventually, you will find that character. If you can be patient, you'll learn a virtue that is crucial to playing Melee and set yourself up for success by finding out who you are within the game and what you want.

 

[Sodapopped]

@ The_Most_Effectual
I've definitely found easy entry into the game through Marth, and I love using him. Expansion to more characters is just something I'd like to try to enjoy Melee as much as I can.

@ 20YY SS | Saiblade
I love Falco! However I have noticed that Fox was a much quicker transition than when I started Falco, even though I started Falco a while back before I was as good as I am now. I've been trying to get back to Falco after trying Fox for a bit and it's been the hardest switch of all for me. But I love Falco too much to let that stop me from including him in my Melee experience.

@ S SSB_Garnet
Like I said to Spatial_Dimensions, Marth has really let me understand Melee at a much deeper level, and I've been able to use him as a stepping stone to move on to more technical characters such as spacies. I still enjoy looking back to Marth as I work with other characters I love as well.

@ Icyo
I've definitely noticed that I'm trying too hard to make a decision. I think this is due to how competitive I am. I'm just so ready to get into tournaments and start taking out better players that I feel like I need to choose. Fortunately, I've been able to try most characters I enjoy in friendlies at tournaments, while using my fresher, more practiced, characters in tourney matches. The most important thing that I've been able to hold on to (thanks to NAKAT) is that I know not to expect amazing results at this point in my "career".


Thank you all for the advice! Please continue to voice your opinions if you feel the need.
New viewers, i ask that you still respond even though I have made this response to those who already have. I'll try to give feedback. Thanks again, everyone!

 

[Charple]

I started with marth for my first 7 months of playing Melee. I then started taking interest in all the same characters as you funny enough. I mainly started moving away from Marth because I got tired of the precision you need for him. The balls to the wall style of Falcon got me interested in him and I started using Falcon more often. After a while of that, I actually went back to Marth and found that learning stuff about the game from another characters perspective can improve your game overall. Now I have an even better Marth and a half decent Falcon. I'm not really sure what the point of this post was but basically just play your other characters in friendlies then pick one to dedicate your time to for like a month or so. Then go back to your original character and see if you want the new one or if you wanna return to your old character with newfound knowledge.

Also don't be afraid to just straight up ditch your normal main for a bit. Unless you're a top player it can only make you better for the most part.

 

[20YY SS | Saiblade]

@ The_Most_Effectual
I've definitely found easy entry into the game through Marth, and I love using him. Expansion to more characters is just something I'd like to try to enjoy Melee as much as I can.

@ 20YY SS | Saiblade
I love Falco! However I have noticed that Fox was a much quicker transition than when I started Falco, even though I started Falco a while back before I was as good as I am now. I've been trying to get back to Falco after trying Fox for a bit and it's been the hardest switch of all for me. But I love Falco too much to let that stop me from including him in my Melee experience.

@ S SSB_Garnet
Like I said to Spatial_Dimensions, Marth has really let me understand Melee at a much deeper level, and I've been able to use him as a stepping stone to move on to more technical characters such as spacies. I still enjoy looking back to Marth as I work with other characters I love as well.

@ Icyo
I've definitely noticed that I'm trying too hard to make a decision. I think this is due to how competitive I am. I'm just so ready to get into tournaments and start taking out better players that I feel like I need to choose. Fortunately, I've been able to try most characters I enjoy in friendlies at tournaments, while using my fresher, more practiced, characters in tourney matches. The most important thing that I've been able to hold on to (thanks to NAKAT) is that I know not to expect amazing results at this point in my "career".


Thank you all for the advice! Please continue to voice your opinions if you feel the need.
New viewers, i ask that you still respond even though I have made this response to those who already have. I'll try to give feedback. Thanks again, everyone!

Awesome, if you can't main him, definitely consider dual maining him and Fox or Him and Marth!

 

[FEOwain]

Marth. Out of those characters, takes the least tech skill and you can make a name for yourself from one tourney. coughSpudcough.

 

[The_Most_Effectual]

@ The_Most_Effectual
I've definitely found easy entry into the game through Marth, and I love using him. Expansion to more characters is just something I'd like to try to enjoy Melee as much as I can.

@ 20YY SS | Saiblade
I love Falco! However I have noticed that Fox was a much quicker transition than when I started Falco, even though I started Falco a while back before I was as good as I am now. I've been trying to get back to Falco after trying Fox for a bit and it's been the hardest switch of all for me. But I love Falco too much to let that stop me from including him in my Melee experience.

@ S SSB_Garnet
Like I said to Spatial_Dimensions, Marth has really let me understand Melee at a much deeper level, and I've been able to use him as a stepping stone to move on to more technical characters such as spacies. I still enjoy looking back to Marth as I work with other characters I love as well.

@ Icyo
I've definitely noticed that I'm trying too hard to make a decision. I think this is due to how competitive I am. I'm just so ready to get into tournaments and start taking out better players that I feel like I need to choose. Fortunately, I've been able to try most characters I enjoy in friendlies at tournaments, while using my fresher, more practiced, characters in tourney matches. The most important thing that I've been able to hold on to (thanks to NAKAT) is that I know not to expect amazing results at this point in my "career".


Thank you all for the advice! Please continue to voice your opinions if you feel the need.
New viewers, i ask that you still respond even though I have made this response to those who already have. I'll try to give feedback. Thanks again, everyone!

Great! You should be able to tell before long if Marth is a character who you could legitimately main long-term, or if he was just a short-term method of learning the game better.

I totally get what you're saying about feeling pressured to pick a main. When I couldn't decide between maining Marth or Peach a while back, I felt like I couldn't improve and I was stuck without a definitive main. It sucks!

 

[SwisshySwaash]

to start, i would suggest marth or sheik as they give you good fundamentals, but after that fox, falco, or peach are three that are AMAZINGLY GOOD but VERY hard to play.

 

[Rachman]

Just play whomever you like the best...spacies are definitely not the hardest to get good with and I'd argue they're actually the ones who you can get decent with the fastest. Regardless, you should play who you enjoy the most not just because it's a game and you should enjoy it first and foremost, but also because you'll see quickest results with a character you are passionate about. I could elaborate but yea, no one else can pick your main for you because you should just play who you enjoy the most.