Transition into competitive melee

[Burnt~Ramen]

I've been recently thinking about getting into competitive melee, since I can beat everyone at my game store, and do pretty well against my friends except against the only one who plays in tournaments. I'm not quite at the level at the top players in my area, however, so I was wondering how to take my smash game to the next level. I'm a decent technical player, and can do most of the advanced techniques except for doing two lasers in one short hop and consistantly wave-shining, but still make stupid mistakes (occasionally forgetting to tech, walking into attacks, ect). Is there a specific way that will improve my play the fastest? Or should I just practice against players one day/tech skill the next?

 

[KrIsP!]

A similar thread was just made if you want to steal that advice.

In the end it all boils down to practice tech skill in your room while playing people whenever you can. You can read character specific stuff and get mu advice but just start with playing a lot in a competitive setting.

 

[Theftz22]

I think you forgot about not being able to waveland, up-B OOS, wavedash OOS, double shine, shine grab, jc grab, or press the R button. Scrub.

Also, what happened to "it's impossible to learn how to press B faster"?

 

[Bones0]

Back when I was still starting out (at least playing vs. humans for the first time), Mahone told me some people SHDLed with Y and B . I was 99% sure he was either mistaken or trolling. It seemed so impossible to go in between buttons that fast back then. XD

 

[Acryte]

KirbyKaze had a great thread on basic "noob slayers" though I can't seem to find it using the Search function of the site now -_-

Also I had a great thread on Mentorship in smash, provided you can find someone to mentor you. Might help you and them understand what to look for and expect. Some people suck as mentors even though they're good at Melee just because they whoop on you without ever helping to teach you and bring you up in the game. That thread kinda provides guidance to both the Mentor and the Student.

 

[Bones0]

Even the good mentors usually give horrible advice. I think at some point it's the player's responsibility to simply use input from others as a way to spark ideas of their own, and not so much to "take notes".

This method is also buffed by the fact that there are often chunks of the game that you need to understand before you can really appreciate some advice. A top player can talk to a new player about spacing 24/7, but until they play a thousand hours and wrap their mind around how spacing affects every interaction, it will just be a lost cause. That's why I'd recommend people to be open to advice, but focus on fitting it into your current view of the game as a whole. As your Melee comprehension increases, advice that you've heard a million times takes on entirely new meanings (often meanings that are way more helpful than your previous take on it).

 

[JKJ]

For me, I don't know how it happened.
I practiced tech skill for a long period without ever improving. ~4 months of my life were spent on techskill practice, and I still got beat by my n00b of an older brother.
Once I got ALL of my tech-skill down (that includes obscure stuff like pivots, WD'ing OoS, Up-b OoS, UpSmash OoS, doubleshines, walljump recoveries, etc.) I began to play against more people, more often, and eventually went to my first tournament. I was so confident, in hindsight it was hilarious. I said to my parents, "I'll probably make it to Winner's Finals, hopefully at least Loser's, maybe Grand Finals." I got 2-0'd in both my sets. LOL.
From there, I began to watch TONS more videos, and read TONS more melee stuff. Also, I just went to more tournaments. I can't say enough for just PLAYING good players, over, and over, and over again.
Here, read this: http://www.smashboards.com/threads/295524/