Theory on the Wolf Metagame: The Four Types Of Wolf Players/Matchups Theard(Vids Up)

[Captain Sa10]

Feel free to ask questions, and input idea's about wolf strategy and matchups. The four types of wolf players is simply a theory and an observation of the many tendencies in current wolf players, that may cause a problem in their future play thus this thread is to inform them of these tendencies, so that we all can become well rounded wolf players. Besides, we're all wolf player's here, we dont bite...much...

from my research of not only watching videos, put partaking in some of the many wolf discussions so far, I have come up with the idea of wolf's multiple types of metagame. In this sense, I came to this conclusion after realizing the great many abilities that wolf has( good speed, great strength, a very good approaching game, and an extremely versatile recovery game. As well as aerial superiority in many situations). With that said, I'll list what I believe to be the four types of Wolf players out in the smash community now:

Aerial Wolf- The aerial wolf player focuses on wolf's juggling u-air, and the almighty back air and f-air. many of their combo's consist of aerials, and usually have the best aerial game with wolf. Like all wolf's, they still kill with the signature d-smash or f-smash. They dont usualy have the best blaster aproaches, but make up for it with the SHFF and lag-canceled bairs, and fairs.

Usually see a good number of these types of players

Battle Wolf- prefers to use a well-balanced combination of aerial and ground attacks. With this combination, wolf can not only be a threat in air but an even bigger threat while grounded. These type of players generally are the toughest, and versatile in many ways by combining his best aerials, with his best smashes, AA/AAA combo's, tilts, and a little bit of blaster.

Probably the most common of all wolf players

Shine Wolf- These players generally either use a mixture of aerial and battle wolf, or focuses on one more then the other depending on their preference of attack. By using wolf's shine to the fullest potential, shine wolf players generally are the most unpredictable and best approachers by using similar drillshing and shinespiking abilities as the melee fox player would. Some shine wolf's are range wolf's as well, making their game even more versatile.

I've seen very few, and I happen to be one of them which I am not counting myself

Range Wolf- Probably the most defensive of the four types of wolf players, considering they are staying the "safe" distance of their choice before they advance towards the enemy. the Range wolf can generally follow up with combo's after forcing the opponent to go in the right path that they wish for them to go. Range wolf's generally use their blaster, and knockback from specific moves in order to keep that safe distance, racking up damage and such. This player can generally out due any other wolf player in skill when it comes to approaching with the blaster since its one of their main sources of combat. In a sense, the Range Wolf player is generally the SHL Falco from melee, just alot cooler.

So far, I've really only seen one of these types of players



Now like I said, this is generally just my idea of how most wolf players would play. With that said, which wolf player are you? Do you prefer the heat of battle, or the security of distance? Or do you like to shine your opponents to death? Dont be shy, besides, you play wolf for christ sakes, what should you care? He pwns anyway lol. BTW, this is all so a matchup thread that will allow us to further develop the metagame of wolf, thus allowing us to get around some of the problems wolf may have with other characters.

This thread will also be a substitute for the wolf video thread since, well, that thing hasnt been updated in days.


WOLF MATCHUP VIDS

WOLF DITTOS

Magnawolf vs. Red-Alert

Magnawolf vs. Red-Alert

Mangwolf vs. Red-Alert



INFORMATIVE WOLF VIDS

Bock's Advanced Wolf Techniques Video(want to get good with wolf? watch this vid!!)

 

[teekay]

So does that mean that some people actually do shine spike with Wolf's reflector? It seems like a rather useless tactic to me but maybe I am missing something.

I'm sort of trying to develop all of these tactics. I think which one is most effective depends a lot on the character you're playing. The main areas I really need work in are effective use of his shine and juggling practice, and I guess I'd say I'm mainly a distance controller but I do often switch to really aggressive tactics when the battle calls for that.

 

[Turbowombat]

I'm still debating on my main, but am putting a lot of time and consideration into Wolf. I was a Link player in melee and liked the ranged control and ranged attack combos. For this reason I like Wolfs supreme ability to approach and the decent damage output of his blaster as a follow up to midrange knockback attacks.

I agree with teekay, his shine seems comparitively worthless, but I haven't gone in depth practice with it yet. So I'd probably fall under "battle wolf" style. I've found that if you don't allow your stronger air moves to degrade in knockback by over spamming them (see also the thread in tactics concerning finisher degradation) you can get a finisher out of almost any situation since the physics of his f-air is almost the exact same as Melee Mewtwo. Just be sure to build damage by abusing his n-air cancel A combos.

I'd like to see some posts here concerning generic battle strategies though. I want to better understand his meta-game before deciding on a main.

 

[metahunter]

im probaly a mixof the battle wolf and a range wolf

 

[abit_rusty]

I switch up among the last three types in a match depending on the situation. I'd say I'm least of an "aerial wolf"...I just edeguard with bair or tack on damage at random times with fair/uair. I barely ever use nair.

 

[Valken]

What about those Wolf players that use the best option for the situation?
I main wolf and I use every one of those tactics and a little more that you've failed to mention.

If you opponent isn't competant in mid air dodging, then juggles ahoy!
If they are incompetant in mid dodging and shielding, then bash ahoy!
Shining is a great move for Wolf and every Wolf player should use it somewhat often.

Basically what I'm getting at is that if you're fighting as Wolf you will NEED to use everything. If you don't have to, if you can choose to main in one "technique" then that is entirely do to the fact that your opponent is not up to par.

 

[bLaiS]

although i really need to work on my aerial game, id say im somewhere in between ranged and battle wolf. i still try to chase with bair's off the stage because im a rebel like that. also what valken said pretty much is what anyone would strive to do with wolf i would think. adapt your strategy depending on the player and who he is playing as.

 

[Valken]

I don't think there is room for technical strategies in brawl. Technical strategies means easy guarding and decaying moves.

You must constantly out smart your opponent.

 

[Captain Sa10]

So in that cause, are their the all around wolf's as well? From some these replies, it seems that their is also two other types of wolf's:

The All around Wolf- This player uses a combination of range, aerial, and battle wolf strategies to get the job done. can make use of the shine well, and can produce an extremely powerful aerial and ground approach. This player can also utilize the abilities of his blaster, making him an even more potent fighter.

I would say that this wolf player would be the most difficult to fight against if they could trully balance out their attacks, and approaches using all of wolf's moves.

Predictor Wolf- As the name states, this wolf watches the opponent carefully, using the opponents mistakes to his advantage. Can generally be a combination of all wolf's since he/she can plan out which attack is better in which ever situation. These types of wolf's may also seek to out prioritize the opponent, thus allowing them to get even more of an advantage for a KO. In a sense, in order to be a good Predictor wolf, use must be extremely skilled in what works best in each situation.

Considering from Valken's post, I would assume that he is alittle bit like this wolf player.

But all in all, from these posts, it shows that not everyone will use the same tactics, as some may not understand wolf's shine or dislike it, or some my not enjoy wolf's aerial game. With that said, playing wolf does come with a little bit of strategy and preference of what the player choose's to do in specific situations. And Valken as your post said, "I don't think there is room for technical strategies in brawl. Technical strategies means easy guarding and decaying moves. You must constantly out smart your opponent", is proving my statement exactly. Out smarting your opponent is considered a type of strategy to win. And thus making you a different type of wolf player from others, and showing your difference of preference upon dealing with your opponent.

Now in general, I say that the best strategy for any wolf player is learning how to use some of wolf's techniques such as "scarring", and telestepping to get past that edgegguard waiting to happen. And dispite you can only "scar" specific stages, telestepping is useful. Once you learn how to tele step, you can literally bypass the opponent on the edge, go directly into a downwards or backwards throw, and anticipate their recovery, and Dair spike them. Or better, pseudo shine spike them. And yes, wolf's shine can spike, not as effectively as fox's but it will cause them to be pushed diagonally away from the edge, and gaining some downwards momentum. You can even double shine them, or possibly set up for a back aerial. That just basic strategy of the edge with wolf to me, that everyone can do.

 

[Captain Sa10]

Sorry about the double posting folks, but here's some good wolf ditto video's:

Magnawolf (Wolf) vs Red Alert (Wolf) 1


Magnawolf (Wolf) vs Red Alert (Wolf) 2

Magnawolf (Wolf) vs Red Alert (Wolf) 3

enjoy!

 

[St. Viers]

I don't play spacies much, but I'd have to say that I'm ranged wolf...when I use him (my favorite of the 3 in brawl)

 

[Bocks]

wow you cant classify this at all, cause everyone is a mixture, your type of wolf isnt determined by the player it's determined by the SITUATION (or it should be)

 

[Turbowombat]

It's not so much a matter of classifying in terms of "pick one and get good with it." It's a way of describing player tendencies. Given the length of a given game there are a finite number of moves performed and some players will be more comfortable performing some damage to finisher combos than others. Some players will deal with the same situations differently. This is not an attempt to shoehorn you, but make people aware of Wolf tendencies that are being developed to watch out for.

 

[Captain Sa10]

As I stated before, its really just upon preference. I understand that everyone is a mixture, thus making every wolf player similar in many ways, but, some people prefer to use specifics such as more aerial or more smashes, making them that particular type of wolf player. I wasnt trying to state that you can be just one of these types of players, but what you choose to focus more on then others. It's a proven fact that you cant just be one type, which is why all wolf players are versatile in their own ways. In most SITUATIONS, the wolf player has a variety of options, and depending on what they choose comes down to their own preference.

To put it in simpler terms, Are you more aerial or more grounded? Are you more of a shine person or a blaster person? I understand that its impossible to be just one of these since it takes all these types to make up what is wolf in general. I can see where your coming from Bocks about playing it by situations, but according to most of the players on this forums research, you can produce a multitude of answers to that particular situation because of wolf's versatility. EVERYONE is an all around wolf player, but from that all around wolf players comes either a player thats more keen towards aerials, a player thats more keen in his tilts or smashes, a player that prefers to use his blaster to get in some or a majority of his damage, and a player that places a shine in between his attacks every now and then. And yes, everyone does this , but the question is:

What do you do more of?? Just as wombat said.

 

[Resident_Smash_Genius]

I prefer to run in close and take full advantage of his sweeping attacks. I also love his air atacks, so beastly. He reminds me of sheik from melee so much, just 100x cooler and with a fox-like moveset.

 

[NOVA1106]

i pretty much play the 4 diff. style of wolf but i prob play aerial wolf the most

 

[Ookami-kun]

Heh, I do hope to see high-level Wolf vids.

 

[Sneakz]

Well I really enjoy startin out with 3 blaster shots usually annoying the player enough to either jump/run at me which I punish both with a Sheild Grab or my new method of Shining there move and sending the back to hell with >A . I Shine alot actually and I dont know about you guys but I just don't think its fair how awesome Wolf's Shine is, it cancels every single attack (At least all that use's body ie Not Swords but I think it cancels the Attack also but doesn't do dmg to the opponent ... I haven't tested this fully but there have been times when Math's Sword just didn hurt me or flinch me when I Shined)

I also beleive that Wolf cant shine spike, his hard to angle ^B doesn't do much good for recoveries but I do like its use in Multiplayer matches >.<

Well now that Doc's gone Wolf is my new main and since we are all starting on a new page unlike me and Melee I am to be the best and so far to my Block I am >.<

 

[Seraphi-Kid]

What is this I don't even.

This is not an RPG, stop trying to make it one. Everyone is going to use a mix of those tactics at one point or another. You are not defined by what strategies you use in certain situations, and if you pride yourself on doing the same thing over and over? Enjoy fighting real people instead of, you know, the computer, because they will see your pattern pretty quickly. This is almost as bad as that "I DISCOVERED BAIRS" thread.

Pointless thread.

 

[Captain Sa10]

Ovbiously Seraphi you failed to notice and didnt understand the posts ahead. This not classifying wolf players, this is simply showing tendencies that other wolf players have. What it's showing is the many things you OVERUSE and thus should refrain from doing so often. ALL players wish to reach utter greatness with wolf, but you must first find your weakness before you can move forward. In fact, most of what i've stated is from my own experience playing against humans, AND realizations from other wolf players as well as video proof showing what you tend do do more often. if you havent noticed, with is an extremely versatile character, thus showing his many different moves that can be played in that situation. Some prefers to bair into an opponentwhiile another prefers to shine them. In both cases, you could use either approach coming up with the same results just different on the ways it was initiated. You may think of this as a pointless thread simply because of your ignorance, and lack of knowledge upon the purpose of this thread. These are only theories, and thus are subject to change, which is what we ALL here on the wolf forum's striving for: making everyone a well balanced wolf player, in ALL SITUATIONS.

Your post, Sraphi-Kid, is pointless.

 

[Twilightwolf]

I am more of a "Spam Blaster... then punish with Fsmash/Usmash... repeat" Wolf.

Hey, you do what works. (and stop what doesn't work)

 

[Captain Sa10]

Yes! Exactly!!! That is one of the main points of this thread!!! Getting around those tendencies that may cause trouble for you in the future, and eventually you'll stop Spam Blasting, work around to incorporate all your moves. I've got problems with shining alot, but I've gotten away from that (although I still do it often).

For everyone's reference, I'll be adding Bock's wolf techniques vid, and the two ditto's as well. I'll also be placing more vids of other playes up on the first page.