@ Melo
You said my views are exaggerated, but then you exaggerated what I said. I didn't say I expected everyone to have perfect spacing, but I expect people to have good spacing, and right now the average player's spacing is bad. I win so many matches on just outspacing my opponent ALONE, with no mindgames or traps.
I didn't say that you have to have perfect reads and juggles, and never let your opponent hit the ground, but you should be able to reset my Snake into the air a couple of times in the row with MOST characters. Learning basic traps at LEAST is SUPER important for extremely hard MUs like Snake who is easily juggled, and NEEDS to be juggled. Most players cannot do this, and my Snake's airgame is BAD. (Yes, I play Snake)
I didn't say "powershield all attacks" but most people make no attempts to even powershield Lucario's fsmash, Peach or Ike's Fair, or other moves that are CRITICAL for BREAKING THOSE CHARACTERS ENTIRELY APART. Have you learned to reflexively act when you hear the powershield sound? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT POWERSHIELDING DOES?!! Most people do not know that you STILL experience shieldstun when you powershield, and it simply ELIMINATES SHIELD PUSHBACK and REDUCES SHIELD DROP TIME (I think shield drops on frame 1 if you powershield, as opposed to frame 7, but I'm not asking you to know that, even though it's pretty important). That's all. Grabbing out of powershield is NOT faster than grabbing out of regular shield (though it's better because you don't get pushed back, so you remain in grab range.) This also goes for Usmash or UpB OOS.
I never said the average player should be godlike, nor do I expect people to have my level of knowledge, or a supreme level of skill and gameplay. The stuff I listed should be basic stuff that you should know how to do if you consider yourself competent at the game. I don't use myself as the standard, I consider myself above average. I'm even saying be as good as me. But honestly, someone at my skill level should have to try harder than I do.
Average players should know how to do a lot of things they don't know how to do. They are average, but the average is bad. The average American sucks at Geography. Sure, they're average, that doesn't make them not bad. Same goes for Brawl.
I'm not even going to go into the idea that average players should probably switch to a tournament viable character. Perhaps I will open up a new thread.
Anyway, to shift back on topic, I'll start talking about the concept of Americans and our footsies.
I disagree. I think Americans AND Japanese are very camp oriented. However, we have quite different styles of camping. Furthermore, American game-play is more TRAP oriented than camp oriented.
The main mentality of American gameplay, represented in it's peak by M2k is as follows.
"If I use a move that generates pressure, I will put you in disadvantage by limiting your safe and viable options, and maintaining my own. This puts me from neutral to advantage. If I can do this better than you can, I will win the match."
This is the key to all traps, and it highlights both the offensive and defense aspects of all top level American play. We poke at each other with safe moves, that create traps, and then we take advantage and destroy opponents. Due to MK's power, and M2k's influence, top level play is extremely K.O. oriented. My personal playstyle flow chart goes something like this ->
If in neutral, assume position to apply pressure. Once in advantage, get opponent in air or offstage. Once opponent is in air, force them to grab the edge, and don't let them land. Once on edge or offstage, maintain advantage. If offstage, apply appropriate pressure to remove the stock.
Through this method, I land extremely quick K.O.s on characters not named MK. I'm currently trying to refine my style so that on average I can K.O. my opponent in 7 attacks. Of course, I don't play perfectly, but this flowchart of offensive pressure allows me to win.
From what I've seen from top level Japanese play seems to be this mentality:
"If I attack with only the safest options possible every time, I will greatly minimize damage to myself. If my health isn't depleted before my opponents, I will win the match."
It is extremely contrasting from American play. We think in terms of, "Advantage, Neutral, Disadvantage" regarding stage positioning. They merely think of remaining safe all the time.
I personally think American style is more advanced, because we have incorporated remaining safe into our traps. However, I would not be surprised to see that we would find it extremely difficult to trap the Japanese players. Since our style revolves around trapping, and theirs revolves around staying safe, we find ourselves at an interesting clash, which is why I'm so fascinated with collecting more information on the Japanese style even though I consider it more basic and slightly inferior.
I think that head to head, our style would prevail. The strategy is not necessarily superior by default, but head to head, trapping wins. Players proficient in trapping will have faced camping, and be prepared to either camp back, which is simple to do, or break the walls, which is also simple for characters like MK with amazing attack power. Additionally, being skilled at 'footsies' is superior in a game like Brawl, since powershielding is so amazing at neutralizing most projectiles in this game. Also, unlike other fighters, the projectiles in this game are dynamic, blocking is offensively viable, and characters can severely outcamp each other, often forcing an approach. In SF, not engaging in footsies can be wise, since maintaining a wall is not only simple, but it's pretty universal. In Brawl, well timed dash in shields can break most mid-level walls.
Although I'm well aware that the video of 9B and Rain was not their typical match, I feel it is a good representation of the style the Japanese hold, and made it easier to interpret their mentalities. Their option choices of how to deal with grenades and basic movement reveals many things about the way they make decisions.
One might speculate that two players of similar camping ability would wrack up damage at a similar pace. However, successfully landing one trap can result in a lot of damage. It could also be theorized that one skilled in the American style is likely to land at least one trap, which leads to an advantageous position, something we are skilled at maintaining, and overall more successful at scoring K.O.s which lets us ultimately win the match.
In conclusion, our American trapping style seems to be superior to the Japanese safety style because of our ability to score K.O.s while remaining safe. However, I will admit that M2k's camping strategies in many MUs, especially using Dair walls, seems like an blend of both styles, which is probably why it's so effective. Still, this merely reinforces my point, as m2k is an American player.
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