The View from the Bottom: Perspective of a Bad Smash Player

[Pigzooka]

Hi, I'm Pigzooka and I'm just not that great at Smash. If I win one game in an hour of playing, I usually call it a day because it won't happen again. I think I mostly just need more practice - one of my big problems is that the game currently feels like it moves faster than my brain, so I'm about one level above button mashing. Most of my characters that I've played extensively are at <70K GSP. Why is my perspective valuable? Because I represent a huge proportion of the playerbase. Most of the commenters on here seem to be in Elite Smash, but that can only be 10% of the playerbase. Most of us aren't that good, and have different problems than, say, it being a pain that you have to get to Elite Smash individually on each different character. So what's shaking at the very bottom of the Smash ladder?

- The skill matchups vary wildly. You can run into players who are mashing buttons and have no idea what they're doing, but also players who do know what they're doing, are pulling out their short hop aerials, hitting attacks like nobody's business, and could probably place better than last in a tournament setting, which is far above what the rest of us are capable of.
- There are awful, awful rulesets. I had 2 separate games in an hour yesterday which were 3 minutes 3 stock with assist trophies, smash balls, and poke balls on normal maps. These are made by players who have no clue what they are doing, but for those of us who want to get better it's frustrating to feel like you have no way to control what happens. Have you ever had to fight Bayonetta in the hallways of Luigi's Mansion? Horrible.
- Some characters are just better than others, but it's a different tier list than at higher levels. For example, Little Mac is probably an A-tier down here, because he can hit so hard and there's so little that can be done by unskilled players to get around and counter him. But Peach? Pikachu? Fox? These characters, good as they might be, see little success, which could end up hurting people in the long term as they pick characters that won't really serve them as they improve.

So that's my perspective. Some of this is probably the same at higher levels. I'm just reporting what I see.

 

[Luigifan18]

Sounds about right... I'm probably better than you at the game, but not by a lot.

 

[Sean²]

This video chronicles what life is like at low GSP pretty well.

 

[MG_3989]

I’m in elite with a few characters and I have a few characters that I decided to just start playing one day and I dropped pretty low with them before I climbed back up. It’s definitely a whole different game down there and I do think that it matters to balance the game for these type of players too

If you are looking to improve there are a TON of resources on this site. A lot of us here have been playing Smash since 64 came out and have a lot more experience than the lower levels so we don’t really think about it even though it is a valid part of the game and playerbase that needs to be taken into account. I’m glad you posted this because I think it’s important for more experienced and higher level players to keep in mind that this part of the game does exist and that their experience is just as valuable as higher level players

 

[RepStar]

I feel like im the only one who can play bad and competitive whenever. I purposely have low gsp characters and few elite so i can switch and fight all skill levels. I can go from ffa time all items casual as hell, to competitive real quick. U should just keep playing smash no matter the settings, just keep playing man. I believe the skill will come on its own if u just play the game alot. Ive been playing smash since 08 so after all that time i just know the game .. Its some things u just intrisically learn about the game thats covert. Like the physics, "when this move ends" , "when this move is about to happen" "where theyre gonna land" "when this character is open to get hit" or "how this character moves/works" etc...so, just keep playing. I use to suck at smash when i was 11 well 10 years later and i play like other good players now. Idk if it had to do with age or just because i played the hell outta brawl and was able to transition to ssbu really well . either way just keep playing. Idk how long itll take maybe months? but i doubt 100% youd not improve significantly.

 

[ImNotGood]

I played Brawl when I was younger, and was clueless enough to not know what moves would come from my inputs, so I really started Ultimate with no real smash experience. I kind of taught myself in a few steps. Watching good players is really a good place to start in any competitive game, as you can kind of pick up the pace of a match, and see what kind of decisions are being made and why. There’s a lot of great videos for Smash on a variety of topics, such as the different gameplay states. (Neutral Adv. Disadv.) Even if you might not have as high of a level of decision making as high level players, understanding the game and then working on mechanics/execution and real time decision making is the route that I think is best to improve. I’m a pretty mediocre GSP player because I don’t really play ranked, so I know what you mean about rulesets. Just rematch people with good rulesets and pretend the other ones didnt happen, you know? If you focus on improving 100% you won’t get as tilted, and tilt can definitely hinder growth. I came across the thread looking for something else and I know you posted this a while ago, but I figured that I’d give my input from one noobie to another in the case the advice would be any help

 

[Nagol]

I have characters on both ends of the spectrum. My sheik isn't very good but because I understand the game I usually pull off long percent strings not really giving the opponent the chance to fight back. I can't really close stocks as sheik so I just keep racking up heavy percent on the opponent. Sometimes I win sometimes I lose but everytime I wonder if the other side is okay with being combo'd like that or if they think i'm a jerk who is messing with them.

 

[ImNotGood]

I have characters on both ends of the spectrum. My sheik isn't very good but because I understand the game I usually pull off long percent strings not really giving the opponent the chance to fight back. I can't really close stocks as sheik so I just keep racking up heavy percent on the opponent. Sometimes I win sometimes I lose but everytime I wonder if the other side is okay with being combo'd like that or if they think i'm a jerk who is messing with them.

Unless the long string is a true combo, there’s usually a chance for the recipient to get out, from my understanding. If they don’t use their air-dodge or don’t use it wisely it’s their fault that they’re getting combod anyways. So in a sense, they always have a chance to fight back, and it’s their fault that they aren’t the one comboing you. I’d rather get combod than camped any day, and I doubt anybody thinks you’re a jerk or messing with them, because they’re getting outplayed in that instance. Honestly, instead of worrying about what the person on the other side of the screen thinks, I’d be hyped after pulling off a sick combo.

 

[Nagol]

Unless the long string is a true combo, there’s usually a chance for the recipient to get out, from my understanding. If they don’t use their air-dodge or don’t use it wisely it’s their fault that they’re getting combod anyways. So in a sense, they always have a chance to fight back, and it’s their fault that they aren’t the one comboing you. I’d rather get combod than camped any day, and I doubt anybody thinks you’re a jerk or messing with them, because they’re getting outplayed in that instance. Honestly, instead of worrying about what the person on the other side of the screen thinks, I’d be hyped after pulling off a sick combo.

You would be hyped up until you realize you can't kill them so all that work was for nothing

 

[Luigifan18]

I have characters on both ends of the spectrum. My sheik isn't very good but because I understand the game I usually pull off long percent strings not really giving the opponent the chance to fight back. I can't really close stocks as sheik so I just keep racking up heavy percent on the opponent. Sometimes I win sometimes I lose but everytime I wonder if the other side is okay with being combo'd like that or if they think i'm a jerk who is messing with them.

Lucky you, I can't combo at all.

 

[Nsk1341]

I recently started trying Roy and I got my butt handed to me. Within a few matches I dropped from 3,000,000 to around 70k. I still got matched with people at 4,000,000...who would still gain GSP when they beat me! I don't understand how it works at all - or if it does? I'm very frustrated because I bought a USB Ethernet adapter, a GC adapter, and the season pass. I'm kicking myself because the online experience, matchmaking, and ranking systems are poorer than I expected.

I hope Nintendo improves things.

 

[FartyParty]

I know your pain. I'm not down in the dumpster anymore, but I was when this game came out. Before Ultimate I hadn't played any Smash Bros in 10-11 years since college where my friends and I casually played Melee, Brawl, and Smash 64. And I bought Ultimate with no intention of getting into serious play. Heck I wasn't even aware that 1v1 no items play was much of a thing, but then launch weekend had awful lag and people were saying there was less lag playing 1v1 no items, battlefield or omega only so I gave it a shot. And I loved it. I loved the absence of randomness and actual competition. But I was bad. So bad.

Once I settled on Lucina as a main, my GSP with her was probably 50 K. Two months of training and playing everyday and I climbed from those depths at <100 K and rose over 3 mil GSP. And now I am solidly in the above average to good range of the playerbase, and not just with Lucina either but as a whole. But I absolutely remember the struggle of escaping the bottom. You gain so little GSP for winning and even if you win a few in a row, one loss can wipe out all your gains. And you NEVER know what ruleset you're going to get next. Heck I used rematch ppl I had no chance against not for the experience but simply b/c they were using the same rules.

I hope you are able to have fun even while losing a lot and I hope you're able to escape the low-GSP dumpster fire if that is your desire!!

 

[MalanoMan]

Hi, I'm Pigzooka and I'm just not that great at Smash...

Hi Pigzooka! Thanks for your insight. You're probably correct. Most people on here would fall in the top 10 - 20 % of players based on skill. So its important to get new perspectives!

Based on my experiences in the low 100ks I've definitely seen some similar stuff. Rules that make no sense, low tier characters winning games... At the lower tiers, I honestly think that Nintendo did a great job of balancing the game. Like you said, their main audience is a more causal smash player, and the character balancing definitely caters to them.

I recently started trying Roy and I got my butt handed to me. Within a few matches I dropped from 3,000,000 to around 70k. I still got matched with people at 4,000,000...who would still gain GSP when they beat me! I don't understand how it works at all - or if it does? I'm very frustrated because I bought a USB Ethernet adapter, a GC adapter, and the season pass. I'm kicking myself because the online experience, matchmaking, and ranking systems are poorer than I expected.

I hope Nintendo improves things.

Lets keep our fingers crossed for Update 3.0.0!

 

[ItsASquid]

You will never be worse than me. I've played for 3 years and I STILL can't beat the famous For Glory stereotypes. I'm too stupid to ever be respected at this game

 

[Nsk1341]

You will never be worse than me. I've played for 3 years and I STILL can't beat the famous For Glory stereotypes. I'm too stupid to ever be respected at this game

Whoa, I don't think it has anything to do with your intelligence!

 

[Xelrog]

I know it's not the ideal response, but have you tried Arenas? Don't people host those and make them publicly visible online, not just limited to friends? Maybe you could try hosting one and see if people join? That way you could control the ruleset.

Or maybe the online Arenas mode is as barren as vanilla Brawl right now. I don't know, I haven't looked.