Too much Samus?

[Mervis]

So I've played for nearly a year now and Samus is by far my most played character since I started playing again. Even in friendlies I play 95% Samus with like 1 Captain Falcon game mixed in. Despite the many games with her, I feel like I'm stuck in a rut and am getting worse. Any other die hard Samus mains get this from time to time? Should take a break with Samus?

 

[JerkPhil]

I had this feeling too. Then I realised a lot about my own play last May. The thing was I was playing too much on auto pilot. When I realised this, I wrote a long post in my regional smash group about it, and they should expect me to rise in skill. I was right. Now when I think through every decision, I feel I can adapt to my opponents' plays. I also get rid of most habits this way. I feel I've reached a higher level, and tournament placings reflects this.
I don't know how consciously you play, but this really helped me.

Another thing is to try to experiment with other styles. Watch IHaveSpaceBalls' matches and get inspired to play a faster, flashier Samus, or watch Duck and HugS to get inspired to play a more cautious, defensive Samus. It's really helpful to learn different styles, because in the end, it's always good to know all aspects of your character.

I spent a long time trying to find a character I liked, that suits me. If you feel Samus isn't the right for you, experiment with other characters! After all, different characters teach you different parts of the game. I believe playing Fox will improve your overall techskill, Sheik will improve your tech chase ability, and Falcon will improve your reading ability.

 

[Mervis]

I'm going to try ICs for a week. No samus. I'm already taking games off my brothers who normally stomp me every game. I like winning and climbers are fun but it's day 1 and I already miss samus. I'm hoping I stop playing on "auto pilot" by the end of the week and my samus will be less predictable.

 

[pizzacato]

If you feel like you're going on autopilot, there's two things you can do. When in true neutral, just dash dance and think. That's your time to hash out what your opponent has been doing. Second thing, when you're punishing, stop your combo early and see how they react. Even if your combo is down throw -> nair. Just down throw, and that is enough for your brain to snap out of it and make you think.

 

[Mervis]

If you feel like you're going on autopilot, there's two things you can do. When in true neutral, just dash dance and think. That's your time to hash out what your opponent has been doing. Second thing, when you're punishing, stop your combo early and see how they react. Even if your combo is down throw -> nair. Just down throw, and that is enough for your brain to snap out of it and make you think.

I should give this a try. I'm extremely habitual.

 

[Ringedge]

I have been having the same problem, so much play time with only slight improvement in the last little while, it's frustrating! This thread is literally god to me now.

 

[BBOY15]

Well today I had my first real experience playing against some of the best players in my state (just played tons of friendlies). At the beginning of the day, I had almost no chance of beating one of the fox players. By the end of the day. I adapted enough to have a 20% to 40% chance of beating fox, depending on the player. If I could adapt to that extent, then what's stopping me from adapting more? I think Samus has as much potential as your ability to read other players. Unlike other prediction-dependent characters like Bowser and Ganon, I believe Samus is just fast enough to do mindgames at the highest level, meaning you can go as far as your mind can take you.

 

[Thor]

If you feel like you're going on autopilot, there's two things you can do. When in true neutral, just dash dance and think. That's your time to hash out what your opponent has been doing. Second thing, when you're punishing, stop your combo early and see how they react. Even if your combo is down throw -> nair. Just down throw, and that is enough for your brain to snap out of it and make you think.

Hit-confirming true combos is kinda auto-pilot... your focus however should be on maximizing a punish, with a stock being the ultimate reward, so thinking about if you should perhaps try instead a tech-chase dair for more damage is important (just an example, could also tech-chase dsmash or something - not a Samus main so I don't fully know]. However, if you're not confident in your ability to do so, A) practice if it should be doable and B) take whatever is most guaranteed when you need it - if you can dthrow nair 100% and get some sort of dthrow tech chase into dair into nair 50% of the time (for instance), it may be advantageous percentage-wise to just always dthrow nair to maximize your damage output, except when you truly need the extra dair in there - this is also one aspect of thinking - what can I do vs how hard it is vs payoff.

Your goal in playing is to pick the optimal option to advance your position, be it removing a stock or maximizing percent or not getting hit and getting out of a sticky situation. So, just take dthrow -> nair at kill percents (or if you hit the first part of a guaranteed setup for a KO, take it all the way) - since it produces the optimal outcome (a KO without SD), it is best to do it, even if you think it constitutes autopilot (don't style when you need the KO if you can get it the simple way - just kill them).