Unintentional Sandbagging

[Shoopman]

I seem to have a problem when I play this game, and that problem is that I sandbag without even realizing it. Whenever I play Marth, it's always in the back of my mind that hes a good character with generally good matchups against everyone so I end up taking it easy and not really trying my best. By that I mean I stop dash dancing and wavedashing around, I botch most of my L-cancels, and I generally don't go for as many grabs. Contrarily, when I play crappy characters like Roy and Kirby I always go at it full force and try my hardest because I know I have to compensate for their suckage. Sometimes I do so well that I actually surprise myself. I try to fix the problem, but I never realize it's happening until after I've finished playing.

Does anyone else have this problem where they take their character for granted and get *****? It's rather infuriating and I'd like to remedy it as soon as possible.

 

[LLDL]

Yeah i do. I shoot like 10 lasers a match on average with falco lol. I try to use falco as a hand to hand character combat for some odd reason lol.

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

Understand this at higher levels it hardly matters who you pick play to win and improve. I mean if a marth doesn't take me totally serious even if they are much better than me I can still win. however a few people you can simply beat by playing smart no serious thinking just autopoilt.

if you still can't be serious with marth in like a few weeks and your still not happy with your marth then pick up someone who you can't walking f-smash all over tha place.

 

[mastermoo420]

I used to have some instances similar to this especially when I started playing. I main Fox, and, as everyone knows, he has a 4 frame jump which is significantly faster than even a 5 frame jump, let alone the other high numbers other characters have. So, whenever I played Falcon for funs, I'd think "this guy doesn't have a 4 frame jump!" and put no effort into trying to short hop when I should have been doing so. >_> Of course, I still hate slow jumps now (I actually pay attention now, though !_!) because there are sooo many frames where you can't do anything. I'm looking at you, Falco.

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

if you hate slow jumps you'll have fun as bowser with the C-stick it's fun to double stick with bowser it may be usefulf for DK or gannon for frame perfect moves.

 

[Shoopman]

I have the jumping problem too. Marth and Roy both have relatively slow jumps, so whenever I pick up Pikachu, Kirby, or Sheik I can't short hop consistently. I can do it pretty well however if I'm trying to hit that c-stick right after the jump, then it magically works much more often.

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

Well it sounds like you need to work on your tech skill a little more I can WD as everyone in the game without any problems but for luigi and peach for whatever reason I don't understand.

really don't think it will hurt you to get a little better at tech skill if you pick up someone esle. marth isn't waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy easier like bowseryou just slide your finger.

mess around some more and if marth still isn't working it can't hurt to pla play as someone esle for a little bit. also maining just ONE person sounds boring to me tournment wise no but just playing it is to me.

 

[Shoopman]

I refuse to play anyone but Marth. I know I definitely have to work on my techskill more, but that won't solve my sandbagging if my tech skill just disappears altogether.

And don't worry, I play like 5 other characters besides Marth. He does get boring after a while.

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

maybe you should play marth in a different way that forses you to focus and be more serious like how you can play as samus with SWding and SHFFM and junk that isn't easy to use.

maybe your marth could focus platoforms like waveland onto one fair 2nd jump back into another fair then run up to get a grab or move around to other platforms and junk. You could relie on his movement not his rane to land attacks. Trying new things could help you be more serious, get better in different ways, harder to adapt to, and new marth metagame. cons would be hard to get use to how you play at first not uber hard just not as simple.

try different things out.

 

[Kanelol]

i only play one person

whos way worse than me

so i sandbag 100% of the time

 

[Zodiac]

I've done this while playing marth before. not my other top tier characters but mostly marth, when I do I tend to just abuse his fsmash range and counter.

 

[Kason Birdman]

I used to have this problem but it only lasted a month or so.. I must have been bored with the game at the time or something.
Now I am back to being pretty aggresive though.

 

[Nø Ca$h]

i used to have a huge problem with unintentional sandbagging. significantly worse than you shoopman. next time we both go to a tourny il show you some stuff ^_^

edit: castlevania sotn=best game. im diggin the avatar, shoop

 

[MikeHaggarTHAKJB]

yes i do this whenever i play people that are alot worse then me. i think "ill win anyway, so i wont have to try". and i dont feel like trying because winning against people who suck isnt even fun.
but then i end up playing so poorly i lose sometimes >.>

 

[PB&J]

if u play more players that would **** u ..u would sandbag less..try it

 

[Geist]

It sounds to me like your problem could be solved by finding a really good player to beat up on you.
It also sounds like you're taking the tier list too seriously.

But I know what you're talking about, whenever I play my brother, I sandbag according to how well he's doing, because if I 3 stock him he gets discouraged. I play him a lot, so I naturally find it hard to break out of in casual matches against other people.

 

[mastermoo420]

What do you do when you go Fox/Falco and "sandbag" but still kill them while only spamming up-B? ._. Falco and Fox for top tier, I guess.

 

[MTKO]

Sometimes when I play my friend I like to play jigglypuff and marth and do really simple things. Like when I play jiggs against him all I do is jump, airdodge, roll, and rest. No other attacks at all. So I'll wait for him to miss an attack or mess up and then rest him. He tends to get very angry and cry about how cheap it is. And when I play marth against him I'll do only forward smashes and no other attacks and try not to jump at all. It's really fun to do. But I think I've gotten into the habit of sandbagging with marth against him now.

 

[Divinokage]

For me it's just like:

Friendlies = Trying some crazy stuff, experiment combos, have fun.
Tournament = No more sandbag, do what works.

 

[ScrapMettle]

I seem to have a problem when I play this game, and that problem is that I sandbag without even realizing it. Whenever I play Marth, it's always in the back of my mind that hes a good character with generally good matchups against everyone so I end up taking it easy and not really trying my best. By that I mean I stop dash dancing and wavedashing around, I botch most of my L-cancels, and I generally don't go for as many grabs. Contrarily, when I play crappy characters like Roy and Kirby I always go at it full force and try my hardest because I know I have to compensate for their suckage. Sometimes I do so well that I actually surprise myself. I try to fix the problem, but I never realize it's happening until after I've finished playing.

Does anyone else have this problem where they take their character for granted and get *****? It's rather infuriating and I'd like to remedy it as soon as possible.

I can't help with the general problem of sandbagging unintentionally, but in the case of marth just remember that your character is only good when you're spacing well; when you aren't, marth is just combo food.

 

[ranmaru]

Well I did think of something like this... Earlier in early 08.

I was practicing shiek and I wondered if she was the one doing all the work for me.

But even so, just try a different character than. Try doc. You have to WORK to win. Not too hard though, but you can manage.

Then when you do better with a lower tier character, go back to marth.


oh just read your other posts... >_>

Ok, ask yourself this.

"Why do I refuse to play other characters?"

You mean that you'd go full force against kirby because you wouldn't want him winning against you?

 

[-ShadowPhoenix-]

I think youre putting too much emphasis on the tier list.
Just because Marth is high tier doesnt mean you should not be cautious even against low tiers...

 

[ranmaru]

True you should be cautious, but I was thinking he just had it a bit reversed... well he should be cautious to EVERYONE.

I mean if marth might generally have a good match up against kirby, wouldn't it be easier to sandbag against him then higher tiers?



You'd merely be overcompensating.

Just remember that char's around your tier HAVE what it takes to take you down (meaning that fox has tools against marth, and others do too), even if you try your hardest.


You know, shoop, do you know match up's well? like do you know what you have to do to other chars and what they CAN do to you? Maybe knowing that might help.

 

[Shoopman]

I think some of you misinterpreted my first post. When I said "play crappy characters like Roy and Kirby", I meant that I was the one using them, not playing against them with Marth. I was saying that when I play as characters that have generally bad matchups against everyone, I put all my effort into it and try to glorify them as much as possible. With Marth, I've convinced myself that I have a little room for error so I don't try as hard. And with a metagame dominated by spacies, that simply is not the case.

@Ranmaru:
No, I don't know matchups that well. Or at all really. My best matchups are probably against Falcon and Peach because my friend plays them both, but I'd still get ***** by one if they were just a little better than me. I know this is massive johns, but I really haven't been playing long enough or been to enough tourneys to really get experience on my matchups. Like I said, I'm still working on getting my L-cancels to be consistent.

 

[ranmaru]

Well, have you read any guides on this board for a specific character? If not, I recommend you do. It is REALLY helpful. You have to know how to deal with other characters.

And if you are in a match, and your l cancels are still inconsistent, don't worry about it too much.

Melee isn't ALL about the l cancel. I mean, it is needed, but you can still THINK.

Like, THINK. Don't use a laggy move like doc's fair if you can't l cancel it lol. Full hop dair!

stuff like that. That was a general example. I'm not sure about roy or kirby.

 

[Shoopman]

Ironically, I can L-cancel with Roy with a good amount of consistency, and I can do it with Kirby fairly well too. Marth's L-cancels however, are the bane of my existence. I find myself trying to rush them, and it throws the timing off.

 

[Nø Ca$h]

HAHAAHA! im reading ur post as if you are saying it to me, carlos LOL.



marth is a character that gets ***** if he sandbags. he requires mad thinking and spacing. if you want to get good with him, you have to be technical enough to do what you want without thinking. that way thinking about actually playing is easier.

marth is just really hard to be mentally consistant with IMO. i usually end up dealing with mental fatigue after playing my hardest for a while..

 

[Rooktionary]

I do that too sometimes. When I'm playing someone who isn't very good I'll try to do things I normally wouldn't do because they might not be as safe or maybe I'm practicing something, but it ends up making me play worse to the point where I almost lose. Normally at my last stock I think "oh shiii, what am I doing?!" and then stop acci-bagging.

 

[Bacon Isai]

I like sandbagging.

 

[ranmaru]

Lol kurt, well if there is something in my post that relates to you, just practice a little more. I mean, even I need to practice my tech more. That way we can at least be good with the precision, and just leave our thinking to reading our opponent.

Also, if you guys get a noob player, or a player that is ok, but still not able to beat you, try playing a different way.

Try just sticking to a few moves, or just the fundamentals. That way we can be better at JUST the fundamentals at least. You gotta be. Obviously it wouldn't be about mind games, but just knowing your basic stuff and see if you can play well with just that. : D

 

[Nø Ca$h]

im extremely technical carlos. i learned how to pivot drop now. fthrow>dtilt>pivot drop edge hog watch out falcon.

but yeah shoop imma teach you some useful things shoop ^_^

 

[Shoopman]

I appreciate it lunar. It kinda sucks how the only character I can consistently do things with it Roy. But he is our boy and I love playing as him.

 

[ranmaru]

im extremely technical carlos. i learned how to pivot drop now. fthrow>dtilt>pivot drop edge hog watch out falcon.

but yeah shoop imma teach you some useful things shoop ^_^

Yes, I do notice that. You execute things as edge dair xD *death to me*

 

[Redd]

Lol, best way to fix this problem is to get *****. Always helps me step it up?

Though sometimes you're just not going to try 100%, and that's it. There are VERY few people who try their MAX all the time.

 

[ranmaru]

I try my max when I'm like at one stock lol.