Watching the Opponent?/Commitment and Respecting Options

[b2jammer]

I have the hardest time trying to follow my opponent. I try to keep my eyes glued to them, but they always do the one option I'm not looking for, or I throw myself into a bad position where they can punish me, often in a vain attempt to avoid a different punish that they don't go for. So here's a (admittedly pretty big) list of things I want to know:

• How do I know when I've committed to an approach, and how do I know when my opponent has committed?
• How do I respect my opponent's options - what specifically am I looking for during a match?
• How should I be paying attention to my opponent? Should I be pretending that I am playing as them and trying to think through their moves, or should I simply have a close watch on what they're doing and be ready for anything, or something else entirely?
• How do I know when a move is safe or risky, and how do I know when to stop shielding or running away?
  
• How can I tell right where I screwed up and lost a stock (before actually losing that stock, ideally)?
• How can I practice baiting opponents and avoiding taking their bait? I usually get baited either while recovering or landing, even when I try to avoid air dodging like the plague (the most punishable and thus worst option, or at least so I thought).

I have some replays that I would like to upload soon (my router just came back on and my Wii U is wigging out on me because of it, so I can't upload them right now). By the end of both matches, I think I'm starting to get the right idea, but I can't quite articulate it.

 

[Daymaster]

I have the hardest time trying to follow my opponent. I try to keep my eyes glued to them, but they always do the one option I'm not looking for, or I throw myself into a bad position where they can punish me, often in a vain attempt to avoid a different punish that they don't go for. So here's a (admittedly pretty big) list of things I want to know:

• How do I know when I've committed to an approach, and how do I know when my opponent has committed?
• How do I respect my opponent's options - what specifically am I looking for during a match?
• How should I be paying attention to my opponent? Should I be pretending that I am playing as them and trying to think through their moves, or should I simply have a close watch on what they're doing and be ready for anything, or something else entirely?
• How do I know when a move is safe or risky, and how do I know when to stop shielding or running away?
  
• How can I tell right where I screwed up and lost a stock (before actually losing that stock, ideally)?
• How can I practice baiting opponents and avoiding taking their bait? I usually get baited either while recovering or landing, even when I try to avoid air dodging like the plague (the most punishable and thus worst option, or at least so I thought).

I have some replays that I would like to upload soon (my router just came back on and my Wii U is wigging out on me because of it, so I can't upload them right now). By the end of both matches, I think I'm starting to get the right idea, but I can't quite articulate it.

Commitment is the self-imposed limitation of options. The less options you or the opponent give themselves the more committed they are. Respecting their options is a matter of understanding what their best moves can do and doing your best to avoid them. If you're eyes are really glued to them then no, you don't need to focus on them more. A move is safe if they can't punish it without putting themselves at a disadvantage. You can tell where you screwed up by watching for where you gave the opponent the advantage that they pushed until you lost the stock. Avoiding taking bait is just a matter of keeping in mind weather or not what they are doing is truly commitment or not, as well what options they have to bait you.

 

[DunnoBro]

Perhaps this mindset might help you:

1: Don't react to what they're doing unless you have to, instead predict their optimal option within that situation or range. Don't try to get in their head so much as their characters. What would that character want to do at X range? While Y is going on?

Only until you noticed what options they did take can you start getting a feel for the opponent and understand their mindset.

Are they taking safe coverage options? Are they giving up stage control in exchange for immediate safety? etc.

2: While not perfect, you can gauge how much an opponent is committing by how much the risk giving up stage control.

Ex. If a sheik is needling, they're not committing at all. Nor if they are fair walling.

But if they're going for grabs, they're committing. They want something.

There are times when high range or low endlag moves can be considered 'committing' but dealing with these are largely on a case-by-case basis.

All your other issues unfortunately will have to come with time.

 

[b2jammer]

One other concern I have is about how I should be thinking (if much at all) during a match. Sometimes I want to remind myself to ask questions in my head like "How is my opponent trying to approach me?" or "What can I do right now without putting myself in danger?" Are there questions like that I should think about during a match, or am I thinking too hard (i.e. should I be playing the match intuitively rather than verbally)?

Thanks for the advice thus far, anyway

 

[Daymaster]

One other concern I have is about how I should be thinking (if much at all) during a match. Sometimes I want to remind myself to ask questions in my head like "How is my opponent trying to approach me?" or "What can I do right now without putting myself in danger?" Are there questions like that I should think about during a match, or am I thinking too hard (i.e. should I be playing the match intuitively rather than verbally)?

Thanks for the advice thus far, anyway

The best method to becoming good at the game is a slow one. In my eyes, it's not possible to learn the fundamentals of the game well unless you do them one at a time until they become second nature, at which point you should work on the next one until it becomes second nature and so on. Once you master the fundamentals you should then have a pretty good understanding of what to be thinking about during a match. I hate to promote myself, but I wrote ten pages about the fundamentals in my Sheik guide under the Strategy section and I don't know of any other sources that go into quite as much detail. It's geared towards Sheik but other players should be able to learn from it.

 

[b2jammer]

The best method to becoming good at the game is a slow one. In my eyes, it's not possible to learn the fundamentals of the game well unless you do them one at a time until they become second nature, at which point you should work on the next one until it becomes second nature and so on. Once you master the fundamentals you should then have a pretty good understanding of what to be thinking about during a match. I hate to promote myself, but I wrote ten pages about the fundamentals in my Sheik guide under the Strategy section and I don't know of any other sources that go into quite as much detail. It's geared towards Sheik but other players should be able to learn from it.

Fair enough. I'll look into it.

 

[Crystanium]

How do I know when I've committed to an approach, and how do I know when my opponent has committed?

The definition I'm getting for "commit" is "carry out or perpetrate". How do you know when you've committed to an approach? Well, you should know when because you're the one carrying out the act. The thing about Sm4sh and its predecessors is that the game relies mainly on predictability. You cannot say for certain when you know, so you have to teach yourself by playing different types of characters or trying out each character and understanding what leaves them open, even if it's the smallest window available.

How do I respect my opponent's options - what specifically am I looking for during a match?

You should look mostly for patterns. How many times does your opponent jump in the air? How high? How does your opponent return to the ledge? How does he get up from the ledge? If you stand next to the ledge and shield, will he try to attack in hopes your shield is diminishing, or will he try to jump up or roll behind you? Does your opponent roll? Is it often? What direction? What is the common grounded attack? What is the common aerial attack?

How should I be paying attention to my opponent? Should I be pretending that I am playing as them and trying to think through their moves, or should I simply have a close watch on what they're doing and be ready for anything, or something else entirely?

Watch them closely. What attack can you do to space yourself with while damaging your opponent?

How do I know when a move is safe or risky, and how do I know when to stop shielding or running away?

That comes with experience. You can play multiple people, try out each character, or do both.

How can I tell right where I screwed up and lost a stock (before actually losing that stock, ideally)?

I'm not sure.

How can I practice baiting opponents and avoiding taking their bait? I usually get baited either while recovering or landing, even when I try to avoid air dodging like the plague (the most punishable and thus worst option, or at least so I thought).

That depends on the character you use. If you try doing something like a short hop f-air and move backwards (tomahawk), or short hop and do nothing (empty hop), and then go for something like a grab if they block, then you baited.

I have some replays that I would like to upload soon (my router just came back on and my Wii U is wigging out on me because of it, so I can't upload them right now). By the end of both matches, I think I'm starting to get the right idea, but I can't quite articulate it.

Get a notepad and pen or pencil and write down what you did correct and what you didn't do correctly. Keep what you did correct and get rid of what you did wrong.