Tilting / Frustrating your Opponents

[Wonderfly~]

Have you ever fought a really salty player on For Glory? Did you notice their play change as they got angrier?

If so, this is a sign that you’ve tilted them. When someone is tilted, they tend to play more aggressive and predictable, giving you an edge mentally. Because of this, purposely trying to make your opponent mad is a viable and legitimate strategy.

There are a number of ways to annoy someone in-game, but the most obvious one is through taunting. Taunts are designed to get under your opponent’s skin, so they can be used strategically. As a Peach player, I have one of the most annoying taunts in Smash history (the one where she dances and sings “La lala lala la~” tauntingly). Against some players, I’ll throw out a few of these taunts every time I take a stock, or every time I launch them far enough. Peach’s taunting will hopefully get on their nerves and put them on tilt, which benefits me.

However, keep in mind that not everyone gets mad over taunting, and not every character can be as frustrating as Peach can.

What do you think of purposely frustrating your opponent to make them play worse? Have you ever tried it yourself, and if so, do you think you succeeded? Which taunts personally annoy you the most (If any)?

 

[Atem]

A trick that works for me while playing Bowser is nair while they are respawning. Just doing cartwheels in the air at their death really gets the opponent’s blood boiling .

 

[Deleted member]

Usually, ill do the Triforce Combo with Zelda, get a early kill and then do her Wave Goodbye taunt, people go insane

 

[Jamisinon]

I think if you played actually half-decent players it would be more beneficially to spam turnips after you take a stock hoping to get something good as opposed to simply trying to tilt an opponent. To me personally taunting is whatever, it doesn't bother me I usually don't taunt. You are right that it is a viable strategy but if you have a character that can benefit from charging a move (pac-man or samus for example) I think that should always be the priority. Just my two cents, but as Peach I think it's always more optimal to pull a turnip instead of taunting.

If you're holding a stitch face and they are getting star KO'ed then La-la-la-la-la away

 

[GatGoat]

anger has an opposite effect on me, i get hyper focused. I wouldnt suggest doing it to everyone

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

It can work but it depends. Some people irl I know will tilt hard once I put some pressure on them.

 

[Lil Puddin]

If the opponent taunts back first, I usually do the same in return. Though my default is to just spam turnips as Peach or go back to my ledge and hold down as Zelda. I also noticed people get very mad when I land 2-4 Lightning Kicks per stock. Like, they just go "omg how can someone do that it's supposed to be impossible!!! HACKER OMG!!!" and then they DC or just suicide. I think that's because people still pay too close attention to tiers, so if a bad character like Zelda is doing good then it's clear they have an unfair advantage amirite? All the more reason to BAN•ZELDA I guess.

Anyway... Trying to tilt people on purpose is usually not cool. It's not an "illegal" thing to do by ToS/gaming standards, but it can be seen as a scummy move. Though that means doing more than just taunts (sans the scummy ones).

I try to avoid using the taunts that are intentionally scummy like "is dat awl???" or "FITE ME!" or "ur 2 SLOOOOOOOW!" - though using them after dying (using the invincibility respawn time) to use it as an ironic thing is fine. After dying I use taunts as a congratulatory thing if the opponent got me good or if I just like the taunt (ie: Zelda's glitter vogue or Peach's aaa-ha).

Usually, ill do the Triforce Combo with Zelda, get a early kill and then do her Wave Goodbye taunt, people go insane

The sign of a true gorl.

 

[BigShad]

While it sometimes does work (especially if you do some of the most boring stuff like Ness Back Throw to multiple non-OK taunts), the "taunt to get bodied" combo is a true combo for a good reason.

 

[Wonderfly~]

I think if you played actually half-decent players it would be more beneficially to spam turnips after you take a stock hoping to get something good as opposed to simply trying to tilt an opponent. To me personally taunting is whatever, it doesn't bother me I usually don't taunt. You are right that it is a viable strategy but if you have a character that can benefit from charging a move (pac-man or samus for example) I think that should always be the priority. Just my two cents, but as Peach I think it's always more optimal to pull a turnip instead of taunting.

If you're holding a stitch face and they are getting star KO'ed then La-la-la-la-la away

I think you’d be surprised at how many decent players I’ve managed to get under the skin of through taunting. Of course, it won’t work on everyone, but I always try it before pulling turnips to see if it’s effective against that player. If it is, I’ll taunt them more. If not, I’ll just pull turnips.

While it sometimes does work (especially if you do some of the most boring stuff like Ness Back Throw to multiple non-OK taunts), the "taunt to get bodied" combo is a true combo for a good reason.

Taunt to get bodied situations either happen because the taunter gets overconfident, the taunter can’t adapt to the new playstyle or the taunter just happened to die right after by coincidence. It’s something that rarely happens to me so I don’t think it’s much of a problem as long as you aren’t too confident.

 

[Crucible]

Taunting will probably make me improve my play purely for the satisfaction of making you feel dumb