Turtling?

[Sean²]

I'm trying to figure out this type of mentality.

I have a friend, who, in the past, has always said he has a lot of fun making games go unnecessarily long because he likes long games and the strategy involved. Basically, he likes to turtle. Hard. Nudge and poke and run away until the opponent is at a big enough percentage to actually be KO'ed. Or he'd time out, more often then not. He played top tier characters only and made Melee look like Brawl. No one enjoyed playing him because if there was no timer on when we played friendlies? Automatic 15 minute match. No approaches unless a hit was absolutely guaranteed.

Luckily he hasn't garnered much interest in Smash 4, but after playing online, I'm noticing a lot of this behavior quite often, no matter the character I play. It's not just the generic FG projectile spam play, it's a poke, then run away. No real attempts to KO. Waiting on the other side of the map, perfect shielding until an opening appears, then barely punishing, ALWAYS going for the safest option. It's like they are totally cool with the timer running out for every game.

Note: I'm not asking how to beat this playstyle, just wondering why it occurs/if anyone else experiences this type of extreme turtling. I can generally beat it, it's just not fun at all.

 

[Jeronado]

I've noticed this, usually with some Marth and Lucina players for some reason. They just stand at the edge of the stage and never approach, they also usually roll a lot. Honestly once I get the first stock I usually just stop approaching them and wait for a time out unless they finally start to approach. I always assumed that they did this cause they don't feel confident approaching and would rather just react to what you do. I had no idea there were people that found playing like that fun.

 

[Metalbro]

Players like this tend to be very smart and makes it so that they can capitalize on every mistake. It might not be fun for the opposing player but as long as they can control the pace of the game and anticipate what's gonna happen next, it's legit. I like to switch my playstyle like this against people who are a bit too aggressive and careless when trying to approach. My main DK sucks at approaching so I rely on baits and reads to really deal damage.

 

[BSME/misc]

Sheik excels at this playstyle but most people that I play that aren't sheik (good ones lol) who adopt this mindset turn out to be a bit predictable after the first few minutes. It's definitely not fun depending on the matchup, but like Jeronado said they usually make their approach options blatant as day and either get shield grabbed and juggled or fsmashed on a hard read.

Ganondorf has the roughest time with these kinds of people but one hard read is all it takes to ruin someone's day.

 

[pepi1197]

I don't understand it from people who play Diddy, Link, Fox, etc. I usually play a pester strategy with G&W because his approach is so god awful and he no longer has the speed or oomph in Smash 4 to escape from dangerous setups (I'm also not particularly skilled which exacerbates the problem). I think people do this because it's an easy way to take skill out of the game on timed matches and they can play prevent until SD.

 

[Nexin]

I have experienced this occasionally, though it is usually tolerable as long as they stay on the stage. Generally when I face a player like that, their close range abilities aren't so hot, so if I can grab them I'm usually able to score an early KO on them.

The only time I consistently find turtling unbearable is when they jump on the ledge so it is difficult to hit them and never get off. Even though I usually beat them, the match drags on far longer than it should simply because they refuse to try ko me even though my damage is exceeding 150%.

 

[Sean²]

I don't understand it from people who play Diddy, Link, Fox, etc.

Same, some of these characters are just better off making an approach. There's no need to turtle around with say, Captain Falcon.

 

[Pikalink]

A few foxes I fought before spamed lasers and runs away. I couple of Robins I fought only try to charge the tome for thoron. Then use any air move then run.
Characters with easy approaches seem to deal with playstyles like these.

 

[Nexin]

I couple of Robins I fought only try to charge the tome for thoron. Then use any air move then run.

I see those kind of Robins a lot. It's amazing how they never try to change their playstyle even when I'm blatantly trying to bait them into using that move, even more so when I'm playing Palutena and doing nothing but dash into side b.

 

[pepi1197]

I see those kind of Robins a lot. It's amazing how they never try to change their playstyle even when I'm blatantly trying to bait them into using that move, even more so when I'm playing Palutena and doing nothing but dash into side b.

They crack me up. They give me a bucket that is a damn near thermonuclear if I can get them over 35%.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

I admit, not funnest people to fight against. I would usually be wary of approaching them and even have to halt continuing during certain setup strings I land or so forth because these players will always DI away from me and find an opening as I land on the ground near them, or DI preferably off-stage or to the ledge to prevent my further pressure useless.
And boy, it's easy to be punished incase you want to approach aggro-style because they can just attack on the spot or shield-grab your attempts to damage them (with varying degrees of delays to throw me off the timing to reach).
I can beat them with some effort but they leave me exhausted, honestly.

Rosalinas with this style aggravate me the most since Rosalina's priority and range keep being too rewarding and trumping plenty attempts to hit (along with constant rolling until I whiff an opening to them for grab setups).
Yesterday I played against a Rosalina this style, barely beating her with Marth, then moved to play Robin while he switches to Wii Fit Trainer who at least is reliable against turtling, thanks to his projectile game and some disjointed hitboxes in some moves like D-Smash or dash-attack which can set up for more nastier blows. Levin Aerials, etc reward back highly for dodge reads as well. Also because can easily fall to the same pace as the turtler players.

TBH though, I don't wanna judge them entirely as this is their style of play and if it works for them, then it's definitely legit and just another playstyle people need to get better at. Though it's not the funnest to play against. It's like eating a highly bland stuffing meal.

 

[Nexin]

They crack me up. They give me a bucket that is a damn near thermonuclear if I can get them over 35%.

That's even more foolish than spamming Thoron against a reflect happy Palutena. At least when their Thunder runs out of charges, I have to to switch up my playstyle for a short period of time, but spamming it on Mr. Game & Watch means you get a free stock off them once they run out of charges.

Seriously though, I'm scared of the bucket even if it has only absorbed a single round of auto reticle, which only causes about 9% damage at most. I can't believe anybody would think spamming a powerful projectile against Mr. Game & Watch won't end horribly for them.

 

[pepi1197]

That's even more foolish than spamming Thoron against a reflect happy Palutena. At least when their Thunder runs out of charges, I have to to switch up my playstyle for a short period of time, but spamming it on Mr. Game & Watch means you get a free stock off them once they run out of charges.

Seriously though, I'm scared of the bucket even if it has only absorbed a single round of auto reticle, which only causes about 9% damage at most. I can't believe anybody would think spamming a powerful projectile against Mr. Game & Watch won't end horribly for them.

Most of the FG Robin's never see G&W which makes them forget that G&W heavily punishes Thoron and Arc Fire. The Arc Fire bucket usually won't kill but keeping it in your back pocket until they're offstage and nailing them with an aerial Oil Panic usually is enough to take the stock.

 

[1FC0]

I turtle a lot because I like safe moves, even if they are weak.

 

[Wintropy]

This happens to me very infrequently. But it does happen. It's usually a character with a projectile option and strong smashes (no offense to anybody who plays that kind of character). I tend to get impatient and rush in and promptly get punished for it. More fool me, I say.

I've only had the timer run out a scant few times, and that's because the match just reaches a stalemate. Both of us are trying our damnedest to stay alive and pressure the other into making a mistake, and sometimes it just goes to sudden death.

 

[dahuterschuter]

That's the game bro. Defense > Offense, especially when approach options are either a straight line or a slight arc through the air as in For Glory. I've even run into Falcon players who will play keep-away, because undeniably the best option in SM4sh is always to force your opponent to approach instead of approaching yourself.