In Neutral What Is Working?
- I didn't think about this before, but I actually don't remember or know how I'm getting or racking up damage in neutral. I will need to pay attention to this.
- I was limiting his access to the platform and not letting him capitalize off it. Whenever the platform was in play, I would simply move to another point of the map. I don't need to worry about it, and I don't think I'm afraid of Final Destination anymore either.
- 06:34 -> We are spacing each other out and he's able to hit me with a raw dash attack. He should not be able to do this as I should be able to react.
- 06:29 -> I notice his aerial approach and I drift back. I dodge the down air and I do notice that he lands behind me.
- 05:55.73 -> He was afraid of dash-attack. If you watch the whole match, you'll notice I never dash-attack below 50% (up to this point). I was playing on instinct at this point, and during the dash, I cancelled with a crouch to wait for a reaction or spot dodge, and when none came, I simply ran in and grabbed.
In Neutral What Is Not Working?
- I should not pre-emptive Nair in neutral. I believe I was doing this because I thought he would run into it, but Lucario never approaches senselessly so it's a wasted move.
Technical Flubs
- Tournament winners
- 07:16 Empty hop to nothing? I may need to consider alternatives for empty moves; each piece of movement needs purpose. This was a mistake.
- The full dash away was unnecessary at 7:17... this could have been remedied with a fox-trot, why did I dash away fully? Maybe not comfortable with the fox-trot timing?
- 05:03 The whole sequence on the ledge was horrible. I gave up the ledge multiple times. There are couple of things I can consider.
- I could have held onto the ledge and simply rolled towards center stage. I was under 100%
- I could have held on, waited until invincibility ended
- I could have wavelanded onto the stage. I was not skilled enough
On Lucario Down-B Approaches:
- The further away that Lucario commits to a down-b approach, the easier the attack is to avoid
- Our first goal is to punish all empty down-b approaches so that Lucario is conditioned to feel that only cancelled down-b approaches are effective
- Depending on the distance of Lucario's down-b, he will have optimal mix-ups
- Our second goal is keep Lucario at a specific distance until they reach a certain percentage (above 50%) so that their down-b approaches are not safe nor optimal
- Observe distances for down-b approach
- I have one screenshot of the distance
- I'll have two screenshots of the distance
- I think I do this as a reaction to his approach; revisit this moment... and observe the distances...
At 07:24.26, we can see that because IPK believed I would still be stunned from the combo, he could approach with down-b with up-tilt. This is a very common move to cancel the down-b into because it covers short-hops, dash approaches, and is very fast and can be cancelled into other attacks.
Because of his very commitment, I was ready though and able to react perfectly with a wave-dash back. In the future, I may just be able to dash or fox-trot backwards and then run back in to punish the attack.
Again at 07:14, at a very similar distance, IPK attempts to approach with down-b. I am already in the process of wave-dashing back. The mistake I made here is I attempted to run forward and then I rolled back. I gave up an opportunity to punish his incredibly risk commitment. This is another opening. Recognize this approach.
At 06:50.93 he finally approached well. I made the mistake of not moving around and I gave Lucario the center stage. He rightfully read that I was going to toss needles or run forward, and he simply approached. I used all my needles, and the beautiful thing about all needles is that it will stop Lucario at the end of his invincibility. But I didn't shield or react after he used the down-tilt. It was good for him.
At 05:25.40 he approaches with the down-b at a closer distance. This means he has a bigger chance of hitting me, but he's still hitting at near maximum-length.
- I react early enough to get the shield from a wave-dash back, I was locked mid-dash.
- He approaches with down-tilt and cancels into up-smash which dodges my shield-grab
- The down-b was wasted because I escape
How Did I Stop His Recoveries? Where Did I Fail? What Could I Do To Cover More Options?
Study His Recoveries:
Previously near the beginning, if he wasn't going to get the ledge, he was going to land and cancel.
07:06~
- I went straight for the ledge, at the moment he was going to do the up-B; if he had gone for the ledge, my invincibility would have saved me;
- I pre-emptively back-aired just in case he would have gone straight for the ledge. If I held though, I had a better opportunity
- I was under 100%. What if I stood up? What if I rolled? Was back-air the best at this point?
- Once he landed, I fast-fell and just went for the grab which covered shield and instant roll; correction, I shield-grabbed
- Remembr how earlier I said he always DIs behind me? I went for 50-50 and down-threw him, he is at 97% at sweet-spot height.
- Up-smash to 113% and death.
- If he is at perfect horizontal height with the ledge, he'll most likely go for it
What Are His Habits When Pressured?
7:19~
- Observe that IPK likes to shield grab; when does he learn? It's been 3 already
How Does He React to Being Attacked?
7:19~
- Another early (pre-50%) jab to dash-grab; this time IPK adapts and instead of running away, he opts for a down-tilt
- One potential solution here is to mix up what I do after a jab; if it's at a lower percent, I can dash back and then dash back in after his move
- Considering the last few stocks and how they went, you can now see that IPK is becoming more aggressive at 5:35, simply tossing out raw down-bs. Instead of standing on the ground, my biggest mistake was double jumping in center stage.
How Does He React to Throws?
Down-Throw
- 05:50, Poorly
Back-Throw
- 07:30, Successful
- 06:22, Successful
- 05:54, Successful
- 05:29, Successful
- 05:23, Successful
How Does He Punish?
- Observe his dash-attack timings
07:17.50 the way IPK aims to hit them on a punish is to do them at the earliest possible instance so that he can hit with the edge
Why Did He Lose Stocks?
07:00 Stock Lost
- Instead of throwing backwards, I threw down and he DI'd poorly, and I got the up-smash.
06:18 Stock Lost
- Drop-zone fair off predicted back-throw DI
05:40 Stock Lost
Why Did I Lose Stocks?
06:41 Stock Lost
- I landed on stage and he punished me very hard with one aura charge.
- Consider recovering better?
06:05 Stock lost.
- I was playing perfectly and what ****ed me up was going for the crouch-cancel.
- This is where I need to pay attention to percents and distance from the ledge.
- I was close to the ledge and he approached with Fair. I was at 49% - 59%. This was a very strong move and it ****ed up me horizontally more than I thought it would.
- This was also the late hit of the nair. It was not supposed to pick me up off the stage or even hit me that far. I would have been okay with survival DI instead of crouch-cancelling
04:46 Stock Lost
- Most Important Stock Lost
Last Stock Lost
- My first mistake at the end was allowing myself to be near the ledge with my invincibility down; I simply was shook up to apply proper pressure.
- And instead of DIing UP and AWAY, I was DIing DOWN and AWAY, and then I made the mistake of jumping too early into his UP-air and that was all she wrote
Why do I choose to be aggressive?
- I'm nervous and I feel like I'm mentally losing my lead
Why do I choose to be defensive?
- I'm a stock ahead and I choose to be defensive...
The beautiful thing about being a stock ahead, it closes the stalemate and it forces Lucario to approach in riskier ways
What Punishes Were Working? How Can I Make Them Better?
- At 06:22.93 (02:03) I back-throw him. He DI's it perfectly. He is off-stage and I drop-zone fair him. This percent is at 69%. If he would have DI'd it poorly, he would have been at 77%. What could I have done there? Fair him? Look at this percent again.
- At ... near the ledge, I back-throw him. He DI's perfectly again. He's more than conditioned. He still fears DIing perfectly.
- I do the correct thing and fully needle him; he's at 19%
- I flub by going for an f-tilt instead of more needles
What Punishes Were NOT Working? What Can I Do Differently?
- 06:30, I Nair his whiffed approach, and then I jab. Instead of going for the dash-grab, I shield instead, expecting a crouch-cancel down-tilt. He rolls back. I roll back. Back to neutral.
- 06:28, I down-smash him which simply pushes him away. What are the frames? Could I have done differently? Could I have up-smashed instead? Could that have popped him up?
- For comparison, down-smash only does 13% and barely moves him. Look at the frames...
- Down-smash also lasts forever
- At 06:11.43 I made the huge mistake of jumping in place and Fairing. This is the second time I've done this. And then I go into shield which is worse. If I land in this position I need to go for jab. Luckily, either a tech flub or he reads poorly, and he up-smashes the wrong way
- At 05:54.66, he DIs the throw perfectly. Again. But because it's on stage, and in the center of the stage, I can actually reaction tech-chase if he DIs away. I had the right read too, but I miss because I did not boost grab. ALWAYS BOOST GRAB.
- At 05:50 I down-throw instead of back-throw. He DIs poorly and I go for the forward-tilt, which pops him up above me and then I forward air.
- The best part about the down-throw at this range is that if he DI'd perfectly, would I have gotten the dropzone fair? Hmmm...
- At 61% near the edge of the stage, he doesn't travel very far at all; what could I do here to extend the combo? Was forward tilt even the right idea? Soft back-air to forward-air?
- Because of the trajectory of the forward air though, I knew I was going to catch him with the needles though and I think I had full needles...
- Technical flub after the down-tilt, Lucario's windbox got me. He was not going to get the sweet-spot at the height he did the Up-B at. Consider practicing down-tilt follow-ups?
- At 05:29, I get the back throw. He DIs it perfectly. He is at a low percent and he responds with an immediate jump and a fair. I trade with bair. I think what would help in this scenario is jumping to pretend to throw needles and then merely canceling them into back air.
- At 05:23.13 I get the back throw. He DIs it okay, but also very high. I actually confirm and am able to get the dash attack.
- In this scenario, I think I can actually get a re-grab with a boost grab, but dash-attack is okay.
- Actually, it's not, at ~30% it does not send Lucario far enough, and he's able to recover quick enough to Fair me. This is the first time in the entire match I dash-attack under 50% and I was punished for it.
- 05:53 This is an interesting exchange. I missed the grab and he still spot-dodges. I expect a retaliation (he never grabs) and I think I shield perfectly, but Lucario's down-tilt shield pokes. But because I'm at such a low percent, I can crouch-cancel the down-tilt into shield-grab. I should have simply crouch-cancelled into grab. And even then, instead of shielding, I should have jabbed. Very rarely will shield be the best answer in this scenario.
- At 05:00 I need quick, from the ledge punishes to hurt a character that's stalled there. I went for Fair but I was too high. Waveland would have been quicker
How Did I Adapt During the Set? What Was His Reaction to the Change?
- In the beginning of the match I recognize he attempts to up-b close to the stage. He overshoots the stage, and I know this and I attempt to make the call and Fair him. Because it's such difficult spacing, I get clipped by his attack and I fail.
- At 06:08, I recognize that he's up-b'ing too close to the ledge again and he will overshoot again because of Lucario's recovery. This time I run away instead of attempting to call the landing spot.
- I wave-dash twice, but in the future, I should simply fox-trot away.
- On landing I need to consider how I should punish Lucario.
- Write Down Jab Stuff Here
- At 05:57, I go for jab and then down-smash. No shield, no move back and no dash-in. So far, I've changed every single thing I've done after jab and never did the same thing twice. This is excellent. It keeps him guessing. He was hit because he went for a shield grab.
- Consider making an order of things I did and the order I did them in. What were answers he would have developed? How does it work? Maybe read up on rock paper scissor strategies?
- Earlier when he landed behind me, I down-smashed him.
- 05:45 I believe his response was to shield, so I simply turned around and grabbed.
- At 85% I pummeled for some percent, then down-threw, and then up-smashed at 95%. He ALWAYS DI's back. I got the up-smash.
Where Did I Lose Mentality? What Caused Me To Make Poor Decisions When I Was Making Good Ones Earlier?
- At 05:17 I dash attack AGAIN under 50%. This is a crime at this point. I'm nervous and losing my cool.
- I dash attacked at 51% and he barely moved. I may need to adjust my rule for a higher percent. Above 65% or 70%? He's ****ing me up because I'm dash-attacking a lot more.
