Smash Wii U Tips for timing/approaching

[JustTheTipperR]

Sup,

I'm a duel Mario and Ness main (cheap characters I know ok) and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or thoughts about timing your approaches in Smash 4.

As a Mario main, my main objective is to get inside the other character's bubble. However, I often find myself miscalculating the ending lag of character's moves which leads to me getting smacked as soon as I try to approach. It's almost as if a good number of the characters can act instantly after their moves end. I often find myself getting hit by moves (usually jabs and tilts) when I was almost certain that I timed my approach right to either get a grab or land a hit. I'm not sure if this is a problem with my timing or if I'm just having a hard time overcoming Mario's stubby plumber arms.

This gets even worse when I'm down a stock because the other person knows I have to be on the offensive since I'm losing and have to get in close in order to actually get any damage or combos in. This happens especially with characters that have the advantage when being approached like Zelda and Ganon.

Anyone have ideas about what I might be doing wrong and how I can improve?

 

[MarioManTAW]

It could be timing, but it could also be you're not using the correct/optimal option. What are you trying to do to get in?

 

[JustTheTipperR]

It could be timing, but it could also be you're not using the correct/optimal option. What are you trying to do to get in?

Since I'm Mario I usually try to get a grab (especially at early percents). Like with Ganon's up smash, he'll finish the move and so I dash in to get the grab and I end up with either a jab or a forward tilt straight to the face. Maybe the move is just deceptively fast and I'm just assuming he's gonna have a lot ending lag since he's Ganon, but I still find myself mistiming the ending lag of people's moves in general.

 

[MarioManTAW]

Since I'm Mario I usually try to get a grab (especially at early percents). Like with Ganon's up smash, he'll finish the move and so I dash in to get the grab and I end up with either a jab or a forward tilt straight to the face. Maybe the move is just deceptively fast and I'm just assuming he's gonna have a lot ending lag since he's Ganon, but I still find myself mistiming the ending lag of people's moves in general.

Yeah, Ganon's up-smash is notoriously deceptively quick. You might want to bait out the quick follow-up by pretending to run in, then retreat and punish the follow-up. In this case, if a Ganon sees you running toward him during his up-smash (19 frames endlag), he's likely to throw out an f-tilt (28 frames endlag). With that in mind, you can retreat just enough to avoid the punish attempt and then get one of your own. You can even punish a little faster since you're already in range from the bait. Make sense?

 

[JustTheTipperR]

Yeah I see what you mean. I think I'm giving his range too much credit too. I'm trying to wait out his attacks from too far away which shortens my window to punish his attack. Cause if you're out of range of his tilts then his only real attack options are a dash attack or warlock kick ( Wizard's foot or whatever) which can be punished if you shield it. I thought my problem was my timing and not my positioning to punish. Thanks!

 

[JustTheTipperR]

Yeah I see what you mean. I think I'm giving his range too much credit too. I'm trying to wait out his attacks from too far away which shortens my window to punish his attack. Cause if you're out of range of his tilts then his only real attack options are a dash attack or warlock kick ( Wizard's foot or whatever) which can be punished if you shield it. I thought my problem was my timing and not my positioning to punish. Thanks!

 

[JustTheTipperR]

Yeah, Ganon's up-smash is notoriously deceptively quick. You might want to bait out the quick follow-up by pretending to run in, then retreat and punish the follow-up. In this case, if a Ganon sees you running toward him during his up-smash (19 frames endlag), he's likely to throw out an f-tilt (28 frames endlag). With that in mind, you can retreat just enough to avoid the punish attempt and then get one of your own. You can even punish a little faster since you're already in range from the bait. Make sense?

Yeah I see what you mean. I think I'm giving his range too much credit too. I'm trying to wait out his attacks from too far away which shortens my window to punish his attack. Cause if you're out of range of his tilts then his only real attack options are a dash attack or warlock kick ( Wizard's foot or whatever) which can be punished if you shield it. I thought my problem was my timing and not my positioning to punish. Thanks!

 

[DartMonkey]

Dash, shield, then use an out of shield move to punish. That seems to be the best way to approach for the most part, unless you're playing someone who grabs a lot, which in that case it would better to play more aggressive and approach through dash attacks or short hops + Fair/Nair.

As far as feeling like you have to be on the offensive because you're losing...try playing more patiently in those scenarios to turn the game around. Your opponent will expect you to play aggressive, so make him work for it and take as much time as the match can go to test his patience.