Video critique, please.

[FE_Hector]

I'm not quite as bad as last time. I know I need to continue putting work into my lasers. Most of the time I got stuck in shine was because I screwed up my shine -> WD down input. The friendlies were from a few weeks ago, though, so I've got that down now. Past that, tear me up, guys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS0KgCGuTNc BTW, I'm the person on the far right and I'm always Red Falco. No way I'm on for even the first hour, but I am there at the very start.

 

[GenNyan]

I only watched the beginning game since i could only find your marth. Also, I'm not too great either, so grain of salt.

Falco has an amazing fast fall, you barely used it. Work on your edge guards, he was fire foxing above the stage, should've been free. Improve your ledge play; you tournament winnered, down aired from ledge and side-b'd to your death in the same stock. (Dair from ledge isn't safe, you also shot unsafe high double lasers) Overall he wasn't approaching. He just waited for you to come in with a bad approach and just punished you for it. You could have played more defensively and he wouldn't have got as many openings (he wasn't being very proactive), but if you do go the offense route, work on finding openings and applying safer pressure. You really didn't get much off your hits, practice the punish game.

 

[Scruffy_Scoundrel]

Were you the falco in the first match? If so you missed a lot of opportunities.

You went for Laser on shield a lot which isn't a bad option but you weren't doing much after it. You got a lucky laser -> d-tilt but you missed out on quite a few laser -> grabs.

 

[FE_Hector]

If it was a red Falco, then yes I was. Part of my issue vs Fox is actually that I have very little experience vs one that knows what they're doing, and just need to learn the MU in general. On my list of things to improve on in that MU are not missing lasers, playing more safely, and not just blindly approaching. It's kind of funny, seeing how aggro my Falco gets when I'm a bit nervous... especially given that I used to main Marth and pretty much only approach when I was baiting. I've just gotta get used to the slightly more intricate Falco playstyle, I suppose.

In other news, there's a high chance I'll FINALLY be having local tournies relatively soon, so there very well may be a lot more of my sets to critique and a lot more improvement coming within the next few months.

 

[C-SAF]

Vs shiek u need to cc waaaaay more. There are obviously other things, but that is the single biggest thing u could do better vs her. Its a completely different matchup when u consistently cc her tilts and aerials.

Other piece of advice which I recently became aware of in my own play is controlling ur jump when u laser. I had the same problem as I see u have where I would always advance forward when trying to laser my opponent. Ive started practicing shield stop laser into my game, and I stopped unnecessarily jumping into my opponent when I try to laser them. Spacing lasers in tight spots has become so much easier since. It is hard though so u may accidently roll a lot at first.

 

[FE_Hector]

Yeah, I've been working on different drifts an stuff when I laser quite a lot, and was consciously CCing vs my bro's Sheik earlier when we practiced. It really does make a difference.

 

[Quarry]

You are the guy at the start of the video yes? I wanna analyze these matches (tomorrow, no time today). I am by no means a PPMD but I do have a general idea of the game and I'll see what I can do. I'll post it here tomorrow if I finish it! (talking about analyzing everything you could work on btw)

 

[FE_Hector]

That sounds like it could be good. And yes, I am the Red Falco at the start (I'm always Red Falco). I think I've improved a bit since then, but it'll be good to hear what other people think. I don't think I can completely point out what's gotten better.

 

[Quarry]

Aight here we go, first time doing this sort of thing. Tell me if I'm doing it wrong in any way. Also, any wrong comments about the game should be addressed immediately so I can fix them, I don't wanna go around spreading false information!

No clue how to format this, so here comes the wall:

0:02 - The DJ dair was super predictable, and it's not a good idea without fast falling in this scenario. If you get predictable when you're high in the air, punishing you will become easy, so be aware.

0:08 - After you hit the bair, they proceed to miss a grab. Punish this instead of running away giving up stage control.

0:09 - The fsmash here seems sub optimal and sort of lazy, when you could go for something like a dair (assuming of course he didn't land on the platform), or something else that would start a combo. The fsmash isn't gonna put him off stage, and dair -> shine would do the same amount of damage with a lot better chances of following up. Fsmash is an amazing tool, but at low percent you have so many ways to combo fox around, you should save the fsmash for higher % when he's not expecting it.


0:12 - Always know when Fox is in range to short hop nair you. If he is, you don't wanna throw out empty jumps. Wall with bairs if you feel like jumping, or simply dash dance at the edge of his short hop nair range and wait to punish his approach. (It's a full jump nair in the video but a short hop one would've hit as well)


0:15 - Double lasers from ledge is not safe. Double lasers at different highs are not safe at all. This way they only need to shield one laser before they can go punish you. Also, after hitting the laser you full hop and get naired out of it. If you see this coming, you could always try to DJ over them or beat it out with a dair. I assume you wanted to short hop in this scenario, perhaps go for shield pressure or a tomahawk grab (tomahawk grabs are amazing against some people who only wanna wait until you hit their shield).

0:23 - Here fox was right next to you and you don't throw out anything, and right after you do a full jump nair, which wasn't very thought out considering fox can't get that high as quickly as you.

0:25 - This full jump onto the tree gives up your center stage control, and uses time you could've spent shooting laser or creating a wall.

0:27 - In this situation, you could've jabbed his shield before going for the ftilt. Going for the ftilt immediately gives him more options to hit you OoS.

0:30 - This could've been a shine dair instead of shine bair, and considering bair has no follow ups at this point it's guaranteed more damage, as well as having your bair fresh for killing him later (same as with fsmash, so much better when they're not stale).

0:32 - Nair on shield is not safe, especially not nairing that high. If you wanna go for an aerial, you can try landing slightly behind him as to avoid the shield grab. I usually do this with a dair and not a nair tho, but you can also use bairfor this. Be aware if they act OoS before you're attacking yourself however!

0:33 - No DI on the upthrow, allowing for the easy shine.

0:38 - Simple technical error that killed you, work more on your edge guarding tech skills if you can't hit this. Spend some time doing bairs and (shine-turnaround) dairs while offstage, and practice landing on stage. Then throw a lvl 1 fox cpu off the stage some times and see if you can time your hit and hit him (he only goes 45% every time so the practice is limited).

0:45 - Always JC you shine, if it's into a grab or aerial or a wavedash. Simply empty jumping is better than being stuck in shine.

0:46 - Again you don't DI Fox's upthrow appropriately, and gets shined for it this time as well. (Appropriate would of course but towards the center of the stage in this scenario as every other DI puts you off stage against Fox.)

Rest of the game - You just mess up on obvious mistakes like missed wavelands and side b'ing too early.


Game 2 (against Shiek):

5:41 - Yet against you go for the lazy fsmash at low percent off of the dtilt, this time it didn't work out either. Even if it did, dair would've been better as a combo starter here as well, with guaranteed shine follow up.

5:43 - Full jumps at the hop platform isn't that good, and even worse if you don't fast fall them, considering you spend such a long time in the air. All the time you're in the air like that, Shiek knows exactly where you're gonna be, and that's not good.

6:01-6:04 - Grab the ledge. Against Sheik at high percent, hold ledge after she up b's (unless the first part will hit you), then, if she lands on stage, simply jump onto stage with a bair to send her back off. Rinse and repeat until she's death. If she's closer to the stage and might land on the platform, do a quick get up from the ledge so that she can't grab it after he up b, but you still have enough time to punish her landing lag on the platform (usually bair to get her off stage again.)

6:33 - You full jumps are always followed by a dair, except the occasional time you don't do anything. This is countered by a simple WD back or just shield grabbing you after your early hit on shield. Since you don't utilize fast fall there's no way you'll get out a shine in time after the dair on shield. Falco has one of the best fast falls in the game, you should try using it more to mix you your approaches from above.

6:35 - Why do you start shooting lasers so high? The first two lasers are never gonna hit Shiek no matter what she does, and you could've hit the same laser you did with a short hop fast fall laser as well. The full jump gives your opponent a lot of time to think about what's going to happen.

6:44 - Should've been a fast get up, full jump and bair. Even if you did the fast get up and the same time you did, she could not have gone to the ledge instantly, so no need for the long roll.

6:45 - After Sheik full jumps, you do an uptilt. You then go for another uptilt, facing the wrong way. When Shiek is above you in the air like that, try moving around more, keep her guessing where you'll be when she lands. This way you might bait out a move and punish it, or simply be in a position afterwards where you won't get hit as easily when she lands.

6:50 - Dash attack is not a good approach to use multiple times per match, I see it as sort of a gimmick you can use once, but as you can see Shiek was expecting it (you used it earlier this match and it caught her off guard) and you got punished for it .

6:53 - Two techs and one get up all in place, don't get too easy to read, keep it ambiguous. This doesn't seem to be a problem you have in general though.

6:54 - After you tech in place, you have to do something as to not get hit again. SHFFL, jump onto a platform, dash dance.

7:00 - Too early roll from ledge, if Shiek up b'ed correctly, she could've grabbed the ledge there. Good idea however to get up from ledge, as she was close enough to hit you with POOF.

7:14 - This is one of the few times you could've put Falco's amazing full jump to use, and caught her on the top platform.

7:15 - You jump right under her with a laser, then shine afterwards. This shines doesn't have a chance to give you anything. I would suggest a shield when you're already under her like that, and shine OoS after her aerial (or do it even if she doesn't aerial.)


7:04 - Stay focused. There are zero reasons for you to do that full jump triple laser there. As I talked about earlier, it makes it super predictable where you'll be and gives an easy punish.

7:07 - I don't quite know what this side b was trying to do, guessing it was a technical error.

7:18 - Your techs are getting read at this point, and you need to stop teching in place.

Also, I wish I could do more, but this is all I have time for today it seems (also my web browser is almost dying, and I'd rather not lose everything I've written so far.

I would love to do more analysis in the future, but I'm not sure if this is helpful at all. I took a lot of inspiration from how PPMD does his analyzes (specifically the one he gave to Leffen).

 

[FE_Hector]

Q Quarry

For what you said about game 1:
- The DJ dair was really predictable, you're right. I've gotten better about not DJing as flippantly and remembering to FF whenever I opt for a full jump in order to avoid hitboxes.

- You're really right about the lack of a punish. WD back shine would've been way better.

- IDK why I fsmashed

- I really should've just utilted in order to stuff that nair... You're very right.

- We'd played a few games beforehand and he hadn't really punished me too well for the DL from ledge. I've gotten better about mixing up my ledge options, though.

- At 0:23, I actually didn't realize he would've been right next to me right then-- it was an extremely brief time. I probably could've afforded to throw out a preemptive aerial, though.

- Giving up stage positioning was really stupid, especially given how dangerous it is to be above Fox.

- I shouldn't have ftilted or jabbed his shield to be honest. I'm waiting for my copy of 20XXTE to arrive so I can practice shield pressure.

- Shine dair would have been far more optimal. I'm getting way better at being cognizant about what aerial I should throw out and when.

- Nair on shield actually is safe, but I missed my FF input. It's dair on shield that's unsafe if you don't do it low. My SHFFL nairs in general have gotten WAY better.

- My DI in general needs a lot of work, but right there I really just didn't see the uthrow coming.

- I actually just timed the bair wrong. Edgeguarding spacies is something I'm putting work into.

- I didn't intend to get stuck in shine lol. I'd meant to nair out of the shine, but once again, I haven't worked enough on shield pressure.


Game 2:

- Dtilt fsmash is actually a bit of stupid cheese that I accidentally got into the habit of after practicing against CPUs so much.

- Like I said, I've gotten into the habit of FFing properly and have gotten far more used to jumping intelligently.

- The missed ledge grab was actually cuz I was being an idiot. My intent for the inputs was a full jump reverse laser, but accidentally sideBd. I'm not sure if you saw, but I did attempt a WD edgehog. I've gotten pretty proficient with run off shine turnaround firebird to grab the edge in those situations, so I doubt I'd mess that out today.

- Like I said earlier, I've gotten more used to FFing and being more smart in general with my full jumps.

- I had no guarantee that he wasn't going to attempt to mix me up and attempt to head for the edge, so I decided to roll to cover the options properly.

- I'm relatively sure that the utilts were a result of nerves. I'm attempting to get better about avoiding nerves and just making smart decisions in general.

- I can't guarantee, but I would bet that the dash attack was an input flub.

- Okay, a portion of what I was attempting to do was actually DI behind him, tech in place, and get in a shine. I'm okay about mixing up my DI and teching against Sheiks dthrow, but I always prefer to DI behind and attempt to shine in order to test their capabilities.

- Thanks for pointing that out. Despite loving the Sheik MU so much, I seem to get hit by the upB way more than I should. Of course, knowing the hitbox would help.

- This and the next thing were probably nerves and not reacting as quickly as I could or should have.



Overall, thanks a ton for that. You pointed out a ton of stuff that I hadn't realized myself doing and messing up beforehand. You're the third or forth person to look at that set and help me out, but you've definitely done quite a lot for me. I THINK that we're supposed to have more of our fests streamed this semester due to our main guy having a better laptop, so hopefully I'll have more material soon. Also the off chance that I'd be able to film a set or two w/ my bro sometime soon.

 

[Klemes]

Would you still be interested for me to watch it and give you my insight ? Or are you satisfied with your answers for this bit of video ?

 

[FE_Hector]

No, I think I'm fine for those games. Thanks for offering, though. Hopefully I'll have more sets up soon.