Watching The World Burn: Zard Video Thread! [9.29.15]

[NightShadow6]

So yeah... needless to say, I haven't been updating this thread. In addition to that, I've taken on more real-life responsibilities and would like to cut down on any more Smash responsibilities I have, so if anyone wants to take over this thread, I'll PM a Mod and see if I can get you editing powers over the OP or you can just start a new thread altogether.

I can take it over for you if no one else will.

 

[metroid1117]

I can take it over for you if no one else will.

I'll give Yomi time to decide whether he wants to start a new thread or not, since he called it first. If he doesn't do it, then I'll PM a mod and see whether you can get editing rights to the OP.

 

[bubbaking]

Well if a new 2.6b thread is made, don't forget to import what's already been posted here. Best of luck with your life, metroid!

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Well, i'm fine with letting NightShadow handle it!
Go ahead

 

[metroid1117]

Lol, I guess that's that . Nightshadow, post if you're still interested and if you want to start a new thread or continue this one; if you want to start a new thread that's fine, but if you want to continue this one then I'll try to get you OP-editing powers somehow.

 

[metroid1117]

Hmm, so this thread has been really inactive... Anyway, here are some (very late) videos from the Rolla tourney on 9/14.

WR2: metroid(Charizard) vs Tmacc(MK/Pika): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUdCSHFQPO0
WS: Hylian(Stuff) vs metroid(Charizard): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fosisbEdKyk
LF: Atma(Sheik) vs metroid(Charizard): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dicttQ1Bjk
GF: metroid(Charizard) vs Strong Bad(Wario): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdVq0BMbze0

Disclaimer: none of these videos have sound, but I figured out what the problem was and solved it. My next videos will have sound.

 

[GHNeko]

good now i can watch your vids again

i cant stand soundless smash videos

 

[metroid1117]

good now i can watch your vids again

i cant stand soundless smash videos

Sooooooooooooooorry =/.

 

[GHNeko]

Its okay. We still love you. Your zard is my inspiration.

Sent from my SGH-T699 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ace55]

Awesome stuff Metroid

 

[QraQ]

Recent Charrrrrrring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw70Kg_4my0&feature=youtu.be

 

[ItalianStallion]

So I finally got a Dazzle. I'm going to now start recording my little group of newbies I'm training along with recording my own play. Because I have barely any Project M footage available, I decided I may as well post a video of my Zard playing some CPU's I recorded with the Dazzle tonight.

Couldn't figure out how to get sound. So I put music over it. Mute the music if it's not your taste.

Critique if you enjoy doing so. Sadly, with Mewtwo being released, it seems Zard will become my secondary instead of my main. Might as well try to get as much footage of him while I can since I now have my awesome Dazzle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHe7nlZbp6o&feature=youtu.be

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

www.twitch.tv/germansmash/b/471850770?t=1h8m34s

This is the only video that got recorded at the German national last week, as i had to forfeit and drive home
too bad.
Däumling is a really great melee player (ICs) and ok at P:M, the matches look rather scrubby though.
If anyone has tipps for the Wario MU or in general, i'd be more than happy to hear them!


btw, if you're not that interested in watching, skip the first match, second one is better.

 

[metroid1117]

http://de.twitch.tv/germansmash/b/471850770t=68m30s

This is the only video that got recorded at the German national last week, as i had to forfeit and drive home
too bad.
Däumling is a really great melee player (ICs) and ok at P:M, the matches look rather scrubby though.
If anyone has tipps for the Wario MU or in general, i'd be more than happy to hear them!


btw, if you're not that interested in watching, skip the first match, second one is better.

Just FYI, your link is missing a "?" between 0 and t; right now, it just takes you to the start of the video.

Anyway, good stuff Yomi. It's kinda hard to comment since it looked like Daumling was really unfamiliar with the match-up and new to Wario though. Have you tried ending combos with glair? A glair at the end of this combo would've hit instead of FAir; you probably would've died, but what's wrong with suicide styling on the last stock?

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Fixed the link. Yours takes me to the end of the whole video btw, but i guess you're talking about second match last stock?
I don't really like playing risky like that, but you're right, it would probably have killed. maybe a reverse nair would've done the job too though.

Däumling has been playing wario since 2.1, but almost exclusively in tourneys.

Next set i record i'll try to get a glair combo finisher in there for you metroid :D

 

[metroid1117]

Fixed the link. Yours takes me to the end of the whole video btw, but i guess you're talking about second match last stock?
I don't really like playing risky like that, but you're right, it would probably have killed. maybe a reverse nair would've done the job too though.

Däumling has been playing wario since 2.1, but almost exclusively in tourneys.

Next set i record i'll try to get a glair combo finisher in there for you metroid :D

Lol whoops, I typed the number in the denominator instead of the numerator >.>. Fixed.

Ahh, I see. He was probably just unfamiliar with the match-up then, because he looked pretty surprised in the player cam at certain points lol.

And yes, please do .

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

I was really surprised too when backthrow to fair killed at 50%

wrong DI is aweful vs charizard xD

 

[Oracle]

stuff like that is great for mixups which is why i really like this character. read the di and punish

metroid you need to nair more

 

[metroid1117]

stuff like that is great for mixups which is why i really like this character. read the di and punish

metroid you need to nair more

In what situations? You were punishing me pretty hard in our set when I tried using it to get back to the ground lol.

 

[Oracle]

just...always. nair is my bread and butter with zard

 

[metroid1117]

Hey guys, I have some Charizard videos from Saturday's tournament. Any critique would be appreciated.

vs Darkatma (Marth)
vs Dekuschrub (Marth)
GF - vs Vista (Falcon) (I was down 0-2)

It's worth noting that none of my opponents are well-versed in the match-up yet.

 

[Heroofhatz]

Hey guys, I have some Charizard videos from Saturday's tournament. Any critique would be appreciated.

vs Darkatma (Marth)
vs Dekuschrub (Marth)
GF - vs Vista (Falcon) (I was down 0-2)

It's worth noting that none of my opponents are well-versed in the match-up yet.

Those were some good matches, I especially loved your wave landing off the platform to Nair on Battlefield (and that ending to the last game vs vista, that was sick :D)


There was a bunch of stuff that I was going to say about the Marth matches that you fixed in the Falcon ones, but there are still a few things I would suggest

1. Try sourspot Fair to Dair, it is pretty likely to hit at most percents on most charters, and in my view is preferable to SS Fair to Nair (though SS Fair to Heatwave is pretty awesome at the right percents.)

2. Every now and then when you hit them up and chase them with Down B, try and hit them out of their second jump with the flame portion of Nair instead of an up air (that being said you were sniping people pretty consistently with up air), though it may not lead to as much of a combo, it still puts them in a really bad position with now jump and that high up. They'll usually DI offstage which makes your job even easier.

3. Use the later part of Nair to punish characters trying to sweetspot, it's safe and pretty reliable especially against marth (or falcon but down-tilt works just as nice in most cases).

4. Heat wave is a pretty good move to use when you are on the edge trying to get back up. Used correctly, it's safe on shield, does tons of damage, and is really easy to ledge cancel so you stay safe. Just mix it up with other stuff because it's start up is a little obvious, so maybe in the middle of glide camping or something.


Nice playing though!

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Allright, just as promised in the other thread, here are some fresh charizard 3.0 matches from this weekend!
Sadly i didn't get to play any fastfallers, so not alot of flashy stuff to see...

Without further ado:

NEWEST EDIT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bZ6xAag6tk <--- Grand Final vs Pikachu!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvRdNbRDqKQ <--- Winner Semis vs. Samus (Quicksilver is/was Germany's best Brawl player and a motivated Melee/PM newcomer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q7uaePHSa0 <--- Winner Final vs. Zamus (also a former brawler)

It's the first time playing these characters in tournament and my first time playing 3.0, so any and all tipps are appreaciated!
Things i noticed myself:
- I suck at edgeguarding non-fastfallers
- I have abandoned downthrow... I should use it more against chars with bad techrolls (Samus techroll is pretty bad). I don't know wether i can really punish neutral tech to UpB though...
- juggling floaties is pretty hard. You should play it safe and bait their second/third jump and start juggling with rising-reverse nairs.
- any falling Uair you get should be 50% or more.
- i have trouble against opponents who wait for me to come down from above.
- I forgot standard combos in GF and went for fancy downair stuff way to frequent in GF. Go for easy Usmash techchases beneath platforms.


Another thing: If you still want to get rid of your job here metroid, i'll just start a 3.0 video thread this week with these videos, and link your thread. Is that allright with you?

Spoiler

edit: after watching the samus set and getting frustrated by crappy random elements in stages just by watching it: WHY THE HELL DOES THE PM BACKROOM INSIST ON KEEPING IN STUPID MOVING/TRANSFORMING STAGES, AND EVEN WITH RANDOM ELEMENTS!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? WHY DO I HAVE TO GET RID OF A LASER OR WAIT FOR A BOMB TO FALL DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCREEN? WHY DO I NEED TO CAMP OUT CRAPPY TRANSFORMATIONS THAT ADD NOTHING TO THE STAGE? WHY DO THEY INSIST ON USING STAGES WITH DISFUNCTIONAL EDGES THAT PROMOTE SUICIDE (okay. that one is pretty far fetched, but i hate lylat cruise/PS edges.)
All this ever does is make people without hope/counterpick knowledge counterpick wacky stages and hope the odds are ever in their favor. When will we get a real stagelist for PM? I can't keep baning the same stages in hopes of saving myself and everyone involved from painfully unproductive matches on uncompetitive stages...)

 

[bubbaking]

I agree with your spoilered portion almost entirely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bZ6xAag6tk <--- Grand Final vs Pikachu!

I watched the first couple of matches. I will watch the rest later, after I've gotten some sleep. Your first match was really good. Either you were on point or that Pika didn't know the MU very well yet, so I don't really have much to say about that. Here is my breakdown analysis of the second match:

3:14 - Odd choice. The match has just started and you're at 0%, and you choose to shield? You can CC anything Pika has to offer at that point and either jab or grab him, so you kinda set yourself up to be grabbed there.

3:27 - Zard's jab is a great anti-approach tool and combo starter, but if there's one thing it isn't, it's spammable. I think after the first whiffed jab, you should have mixed it up with something else, maybe a longer-lasting ftilt or something.

3:40 - You definitely could have milked that combo for more damage. You could have at least FH uaired once and you still would have had a guaranteed upB if you really wanted it.

3:46 - Technical error in trying to execute ledgehop nair?

3:50 - Sweetspot. You can make it from lower than that.

4:19 - You went way too deep on good DI. If the opponent DIs your bthrow well at the ledge, you can set up a fthrower wall to tack on a lot of % while they try to recover.

4:23 - One ftilt too many. This may be because I've played against a good Zard for a pretty long time, but since Zard can throw out huge hitboxes very quickly, I've become accustomed to reacting to or reading a certain action he takes and then immediately being able to counter said action if it is repeated. This Pika seems to be the same (seeing as how he readily punished your repeated jab, repeated ftilt, and soon to be repeated fair).

4:28 - One fair too many (you were baited). It is really easy to get stuck in the rut of repeating moves in a single situation without mixing it up or getting into a better position. Zard's moves take up a lot of space and are very good at zoning and catching things, but they are not spammable. You should have landed with that first fair or turned around with that DJ to do a reverse nair to cover yourself. Limiting yourself to jumping around in the air really cuts down your mobility and lets Pika bait you, like he did here.

4:36 - What was that? Were you trying to dair Pika again? I think you were trying to be too flashy here. Dair is a nice resetting tool, but you could have just gone with a guaranteed combo instead of dropping everything here.

4:48 - THAT was the time to upB Pika for the kill... You didn't have to charge the Fly for so long.

4:50 - When you are drifting backwards offstage to edgeguard the opponent from somewhat below him, you can just sweetspot nair him instead of turning around for a fair. The nair sweetspot starts out above and behind Zard, so it catches opponents who are hanging out exactly where that Pika was when you jumped for that fair.

5:00 - A couple things here. You are relying on nair too much. You could have easily caught that Pika with a sweetspotted bair for the kill. Also, I'm fairly certain that, instead of charging your Fly right where your dsmash connected to hit with the later part of your nair (a lot of 'combo time-wasting', both from the charged Fly and the nair), you could have dashed under Pika and quickly did an uncharged Fly to a faster move, like upB.

5:33 and 5:39 - You really don't have to charge your Fly for so long, IMO. Your uair would have still connected for the kill.

5:45 - Lolz...

5:53 - Did you really try to grab twice in a row like that? Remember what I said about repeating moes. Just like before, this was promptly punished by Pika.

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Wow, great analysis bubba!
I've only skimmed it now, because i'm packing up and leaving the house, but I've already seen alot of things i noticed myself and some others that are new and helpful!

I had the questionable "honor" to play almost entirely non-fastfallers this tournament, and it was the first time i've played P:M since 3.0 and longer, so it really influenced my playstyle... i spammed way to much downair to get more hitlag on the opponent and do non-standard combos, and i tried juggling with nair instead of uairs, because you can't uair juggle against samus or zamus (because of bombs and sideB)

I'd be happy if you'd take the time to do more analysis, its really helpfull!!!

I also really underestimated the pikachu player, so i tried abusing things against him i otherwise wouldn't (which explains my rather stupid spamming of moves. I thought that he must run into my hitboxes eventually since i figured he's rather new and unexperienced. He played pretty smart though, as you mentioned) whelp, enough johning/excuses... i'm unsatisfied with the way i performed. I clutched out a victory, but especially last match shows i had more to offer... I need to play quciker and more stable.

 

[Heroofhatz]

Allright, just as promised in the other thread, here are some fresh charizard 3.0 matches from this weekend!
Sadly i didn't get to play any fastfallers, so not alot of flashy stuff to see...

Without further ado:

NEWEST EDIT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bZ6xAag6tk <--- Grand Final vs Pikachu!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvRdNbRDqKQ <--- Winner Semis vs. Samus (Quicksilver is/was Germany's best Brawl player and a motivated Melee/PM newcomer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q7uaePHSa0 <--- Winner Final vs. Zamus (also a former brawler)

It's the first time playing these characters in tournament and my first time playing 3.0, so any and all tipps are appreaciated!
Things i noticed myself:
- I suck at edgeguarding non-fastfallers
- I have abandoned downthrow... I should use it more against chars with bad techrolls (Samus techroll is pretty bad). I don't know wether i can really punish neutral tech to UpB though...
- juggling floaties is pretty hard. You should play it safe and bait their second/third jump and start juggling with rising-reverse nairs.
- any falling Uair you get should be 50% or more.
- i have trouble against opponents who wait for me to come down from above.
- I forgot standard combos in GF and went for fancy downair stuff way to frequent in GF. Go for easy Usmash techchases beneath platforms.


Another thing: If you still want to get rid of your job here metroid, i'll just start a 3.0 video thread this week with these videos, and link your thread. Is that allright with you?

Spoiler

edit: after watching the samus set and getting frustrated by crappy random elements in stages just by watching it: WHY THE HELL DOES THE PM BACKROOM INSIST ON KEEPING IN STUPID MOVING/TRANSFORMING STAGES, AND EVEN WITH RANDOM ELEMENTS!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? WHY DO I HAVE TO GET RID OF A LASER OR WAIT FOR A BOMB TO FALL DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCREEN? WHY DO I NEED TO CAMP OUT CRAPPY TRANSFORMATIONS THAT ADD NOTHING TO THE STAGE? WHY DO THEY INSIST ON USING STAGES WITH DISFUNCTIONAL EDGES THAT PROMOTE SUICIDE (okay. that one is pretty far fetched, but i hate lylat cruise/PS edges.)
All this ever does is make people without hope/counterpick knowledge counterpick wacky stages and hope the odds are ever in their favor. When will we get a real stagelist for PM? I can't keep baning the same stages in hopes of saving myself and everyone involved from painfully unproductive matches on uncompetitive stages...)

So yeah I spent like an hour and a half writing stuff and then smash boards crashed so here's the jist of what I was going to tell you.
Also the video of you playing against samus was taken down for copyright infringement, so I couldn't watch that one unfortunately.


Things you did right:

You had really awesome pressure in most of your matches, sometimes it cost you, but not very often.

You did good realizing that your opponents weren't DI-ing Bthrow correctly, and abused that quite often.

The second stock against pikachu when you were on Halberd (I think the second match?) you did an awesome job of Nair juggling, and for most floaties, I'd say that's going to be your best bet for juggles if not your only one.

CC jabs out of dash were well executed.

Using Nair as a sort of pseudo projectile blocker was really neat, it cut out a lot of Pika's pressure, so I would say keep spamming it.

Your power shields against Zamus were awesome and got you a lot.

A lot of your combo conversions were really awesome, you came up with a lot of stuff with Dair I hadn't even thought of yet



Things that could use some improvement:

Don't worry about not being able to edge guard these characters, both Zamus and Pikachu have pretty dang good recoveries, just stick to the Nair Necessities near ledge. That being said I did like your attempts to up air Zamus when she got up from tethering, but it was unreliable, and if she's offstage, she's probably at high percent and will get sent to far away for you to follow up. If you can't get the tether before she gets up, go for maybe a soft Nair to knock her down, sweetspot Fair or even Heat Wave if you're trying to kill (heck even Glair if you're fast enough though I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work. Also maybe be like Falcon and Downair but I also doubt that works.)

One thing you got caught a lot with is getting dash danced as you landed on the ground and usually eating a grab or an upsmash. One thing you might want to try is to land with heat wave, it's pretty safe on shield and is hard to dash dance correctly.

While I know that it is a lot more your style to RAR with Nair as you basic approach, there is something to be said for keeping you opponent pinned to a side of the stage with just short neutral hop Nair. There were quite a few times you had them pinned and they couldn't really escape, but then you dashed in and then they rolled away/grabbed/hit you in some way. And as I mentioned earlier, it blocks a lot of projectiles being a disjoint, so especially against a character like Pikachu, he really can't do a lot.

Don't forget to glide camp, either as a reset or as an attempt to get back on stage, it's tricky to guess and I'm pretty sure it's invincible if done correctly.


Nice matches though, I always enjoy watching your Zard!

 

[bubbaking]

OK, when I get back from work, I'll continue my analytical breakdown of your matches, Yomi.

I kinda want to shut down an inaccurate concept that seems to be becoming more and more widespread these days. Charizard's Heat Wave is not safe on block. It only seems safe to many because most P:M (and Melee, tbh) players do not WD OoS. John12346 has learned not to randomly throw out Heat Wave against me because every time he does, I promptly WD OoS and grab or smash him. It's fairly safe if you drift back with it, but at the same time, if the opponent dashes in and shields it, you can count on being punished.

 

[Heroofhatz]

OK, when I get back from work, I'll continue my analytical breakdown of your matches, Yomi.

I kinda want to shut down an inaccurate concept that seems to be becoming more and more widespread these days. Charizard's Heat Wave is not safe on block. It only seems safe to many because most P:M (and Melee, tbh) players do not WD OoS. John12346 has learned not to randomly throw out Heat Wave against me because every time he does, I promptly WD OoS and grab or smash him. It's fairly safe if you drift back with it, but at the same time, if the opponent dashes in and shields it, you can count on being punished.

It depends on the character if WD OOS will be effective against it, but considering your options when you keep getting dash danced like that, it will work every now and then. There are very few moves that are safe all the time especially when it starts to become a habit and it is one of his best options all things considered, though situation and experience will dictate what move would be preferable.

 

[Gimpyfish62]

some new videos posted on my channel from our recent live streamed smashfest

#FreeToby has a real nice zard to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZkQtSU-1y8&list=PLwkVzVDC0Vy-MrTvw5xUcsYtmATc2PfNt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQmjo4E5suE&list=PLwkVzVDC0Vy-MrTvw5xUcsYtmATc2PfNt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9mH8W71U9Y&list=PLwkVzVDC0Vy-MrTvw5xUcsYtmATc2PfNt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr4UiLNGJt0&list=PLwkVzVDC0Vy-MrTvw5xUcsYtmATc2PfNt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB-8iNvtnIU&list=PLwkVzVDC0Vy-MrTvw5xUcsYtmATc2PfNt

If you want to support Washington smash and/or 62-bit Gaming - or you want to see more Charizard in general - please follow, like, and subscribe to the following links!

www.youtube.com/gimpyfish62
www.facebook.com/62bitgaming
www.twitter.com/62bitgaming
www.62bitgaming.tumblr.com

 

[Kuraudo]

From a Project: M tourney we have weekly here in Edmonton! While I mostly used Roy, I did switch out for Charizard at times! And... I think I never posted any Charizard videos like I said I would before. Hahah, might as well now we're in 3.0!

http://www.twitch.tv/ssbuniversity/b/490668503?t=26m32s (Kuraudo vs. FalseFalco ) Game 2. Game 1 I went Roy.
http://www.twitch.tv/ssbuniversity/b/490668503?t=179m24s (Kuraudo vs. KillLock ) Grand Finals Games 2/3. Game 1 I went Roy.

I made some foolish choices by challenging Marth's disjointed attacks with glide or glide attacks that cost me Grand Finals. Though now I realize that I mainly only used Charizard three times this whole tournament for sets. Ahahah. I'll try and use more of him another time. ^^;

Any feedback otherwise would be great though!

 

[NightShadow6]

Hey all got some matches here, critique would be awesome!

Zard vs ZSS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0ymhLuq7Hk

Zard vs Ivy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmDAQqF34Ik

Zard vs Mew2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh70KJfDmEo

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Nice, there's videos of people :D

Yeah, didn't get to creating a new video-thread yet, will be done sometime though :/ lots of stuffs to do

I have to agree with bubbaking on the heatwave thing... it's not a good idea. It will catch your opponent the first 2-3 times, but by then he will dashdance in and shield/powershield/WD OoS.
What might be worth a try though is coming down with a flamethrower, if i know they want to punish my landinglag. Yeah, i have huge problems with coming back to the ground...

about punishing tether: Sweetspotting a fair isn't that easy imo, and if they DI it right wont kill for a while. The best thing would probably be waveland to something. (Usmash if too slow for anything else.) I'd need to practice that though, so for now I'll try normal ledgejumps (without drop, just jumping from the ledge. might give you sweetspot fairs or a Downair to techchase possibility. I'd don't think weak nair would get you anything...

I like freetoby's zard, looks alot different from mine. His UpB OoS use on battlefield is really nice :D

@Mask/Nightshadow: only watched the ZSS match so far. like your ground-movement, and the 3rd stock gimp was incredible! You could use Usmash as a combo and techchase on platform tool more. You shouldn't try to follow people onto platforms in my opinion. Getting an Usmash or Utilt from below is just as effective as getting a grab or anything else.
Yeah, you use reverse SideB to recover!! I've been thinking about it alot, but haven't really used it yet... good to see it in use already

 

[Heroofhatz]

I have to agree with bubbaking on the heatwave thing... it's not a good idea. It will catch your opponent the first 2-3 times, but by then he will dashdance in and shield/powershield/WD OoS.
What might be worth a try though is coming down with a flamethrower, if i know they want to punish my landinglag. Yeah, i have huge problems with coming back to the ground...

I hadn't really thought of flamethrower, that's actually not a half bad idea.

Also real quick do you have any advice on RAR-ing Nair? I've seem to gotten worse at it and I'm just wondering if it is a timing thing or if I might be doing something wrong altogether.

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Hmm... run forward, flick the stick back, jump and rar...

i don't think there's a whole lot you can do wrong... the window is pretty forgiving!
I've played DK in brawl, so i'm used to spamming RAR anyway... just keep using it alot until it becomes natural.

 

[Heroofhatz]

Hmm... run forward, flick the stick back, jump and rar...

i don't think there's a whole lot you can do wrong... the window is pretty forgiving!
I've played DK in brawl, so i'm used to spamming RAR anyway... just keep using it alot until it becomes natural.

I guess I'll just need some more practice with it, I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't a trick to it. Thanks!

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

Small font below by Bubba

3:14 - Odd choice. The match has just started and you're at 0%, and you choose to shield? You can CC anything Pika has to offer at that point and either jab or grab him, so you kinda set yourself up to be grabbed there. <-- very good point, thank you! I never think about how to start a match, i rely on intuition... ii should plan ahead more, or i let good players control the match from the very start.

3:27 - Zard's jab is a great anti-approach tool and combo starter, but if there's one thing it isn't, it's spammable. I think after the first whiffed jab, you should have mixed it up with something else, maybe a longer-lasting ftilt or something. <-- I'll adress all the repeating stuffs here: i tend to do that because I rely to heavily on people getting suprised by how quickly zard can attack and i want people to run in. I shouldn't rely on my opponents sucking though.... what would you suggest to do after a missed Jab? Dash away?

3:40 - You definitely could have milked that combo for more damage. You could have at least FH uaired once and you still would have had a guaranteed upB if you really wanted it. <-- must've expected more % for some reason... Or i was too fixed on killing him soon. my problem is usualy that i wait to long to use UpB, as you noticed later in the match.

3:46 - Technical error in trying to execute ledgehop nair? <-- nope.. just a desperate edgeguard attempt. Meant to hit with the initial startup of nair to pop him up and juggle after.

3:50 - Sweetspot. You can make it from lower than that. <-- Yeah, but Fsmash hits nonetheless i believe? I suck at sweetspotting though, i'd need to practice some to fix that.

4:19 - You went way too deep on good DI. If the opponent DIs your bthrow well at the ledge, you can set up a fthrower wall to tack on a lot of % while they try to recover. <-- good idea, i think downtilt or dashattack can be even more rewarding. I know it works on some weightclasses on DI away, i don't know which ones though... again, more practice+playing will show.

4:28 - One fair too many (you were baited). It is really easy to get stuck in the rut of repeating moves in a single situation without mixing it up or getting into a better position. Zard's moves take up a lot of space and are very good at zoning and catching things, but they are not spammable. You should have landed with that first fair or turned around with that DJ to do a reverse nair to cover yourself. Limiting yourself to jumping around in the air really cuts down your mobility and lets Pika bait you, like he did here. <-- it wasn't really spam. I tried baiting pikachu into punishing the first fair, because i thought he wouldn't know i could rejump out of the fair. So i counted on him whiffing a grab/nair/usmash. I shouldn't have gone through with the second fair after he didn't take the bait. As always, I underestimated my opponent.

4:50 - When you are drifting backwards offstage to edgeguard the opponent from somewhat below him, you can just sweetspot nair him instead of turning around for a fair. The nair sweetspot starts out above and behind Zard, so it catches opponents who are hanging out exactly where that Pika was when you jumped for that fair. <-- I was afraid sweetspot nair wouldn't have killed, so i wanted to kill tp the side. at 110% nair would probably been enough though.

5:00 - A couple things here. You are relying on nair too much. You could have easily caught that Pika with a sweetspotted bair for the kill. Also, I'm fairly certain that, instead of charging your Fly right where your dsmash connected to hit with the later part of your nair (a lot of 'combo time-wasting', both from the charged Fly and the nair), you could have dashed under Pika and quickly did an uncharged Fly to a faster move, like upB. <-- I often charge fly, because i want to see how my opponent reacts. quick fly to rejumps are easily countered by non fastfallers by jumping out. If you whiff an Uair, the combo is over. So I wait to see wether the opponent wants to jump out or counterattack. It doesn't always pay off, and alot of times instant fly would be better, but on the other hand, charged flys give you easier uair strings and counter rejumps/bombs and everything else. I don't really know what category pikachu fits into... combo like a FF or like a floatie?

5:45 - Lolz... <--- Its a move i try when i don't take the game seriously. it should work, but i can't do it. (run of,ff, fly, cancel, edgehog). It shows how much I underestimated that pika...

 

[bubbaking]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q7uaePHSa0 <--- Winner Final vs. Zamus (also a former brawler)

Alright, I only watched the first match of this set. This is actually a MU I have some experience in, because one of our best players here on Long Island mains ZSS, and ZSS:Zard is a MU I've come to hate. Kudos to you for fighting through it! Here's my breakdown:

0:04 - I can't question your first decision to go to the top platform, since so many variables are at work here, but I personally don't like going for those platforms because they are the perfect height for ZSS' upB shenanigans, and once she hits or pokes with one, hell can ensue. Even at low %'s and with a full shield, that move can cause major problems.

0:18 - Good try. You almost caught him slippin'!

0:21 - Wooaaah there! Way too much rolling and spot-dodging for anyone's taste! The first one was acceptable because you were trying to avoid punishment after you got grabbed. After that, you probably should have just shielded and/or nair'ed OoS.

0:36 - I think a RAR Nair would have been more appropriate here. It would have hit her earlier and knocked her away from the stage instead of letting her get over you and knocking her onto the stage. RAR Nair edgeguards also option-select, because if she chose to hang back instead of going over you and getting hit, she would still have to contend with the second go-around of the tail.

0:39 - I respect the chase, but after the first whiffed uair, I would have gone for something that offers a bit broader coverage, namely nair, to keep ZSS off-balance. It's really important to keep ZSS off of the neutral game, because she straight-up wins that due to her dominating stage-control.

0:43 - This is a bad rolling habit. Against ZSS, if you're scared or don't know what to do, it's always safer to just stick in shield than to roll or spot-dodge, because ZSS has one of best panic-button punishers in the game - dsmash - and you got hit with it there as a prime example. Even if ZSS grabs you, there really isn't much she can do against good (S)DI. Her aerials outside of sweetspotted bair are not too strong, so she'll never really kill you. Of course, excessive shielding is also a bad thing, but it's better to hold shield for too long then to roll/spot-dodge into a dsmash and then be forced to take a big punish. Luckily for you, she mistimed her uair combo starter.

0:49 - RAR SHFFL nair gives the opponent two consecutive hitboxes to worry about and is just as fast.

0:51 - RAR nair works as a plat poke in this situation, I guess, but usmash is probably a better choice. It's faster, it pokes better, and you avoid the risk of running into a dsmash, especially now that you should know that this ZSS is comfortable with firing those off at any time. You can't really follow up off of a nair any better than a usmash, too.

0:57 - Speak. of. the. Devil! (O_O) I actually didn't see this coming, since I'm putting these in as I go through the match for the first time, but this illustrates what I was saying just above.

1:26 - One too many ftilts, especially with that spacing.

1:42 - I know you wanted to avoid that blaster, but really, you are running right into all of that ZSS' dsmash roll traps.

1:48 - I can forgive the back roll, since it allowed you to avoid the grab, but why the subsequent spot-dodge?

2:30 - Very good grab, throw, TC, and usmash follow-up, but you didn't need to charge that Fly for a full combo. I surmise that you wanted to use the momentum to carry you to other aerials without having to DJ, but as a result, that wasn't really a true combo, and on top of that, you actually ended up dropping the rest of the combo. In that situation, I generally like to go for something like: jump uair > DJ dair (maybe after another uair) for a resetting TC. I know John12346 tends to go for: jump uair > soft uair (to carry opponent down to the ground/plat) > usmash/uair > follow-up.

2:35 - Against ZSS specifically, wait for the stomp because you can punish it OoS.

2:40 - Even after ZSS indicates that she's charging a dsmash, you glided into it. You could have just glided over her instead of falling down to ledge level and received a free punish.

3:00 - You're Charizard. You can go much deeper for those gimps.

3:11 - After the bair, I personally think it would have been wiser to go for a nair instead of fair, but hey, you secured your kill.

3:17 - Gotta react faster to those and WD OoS. You definitely could have capitalized on that for a free approach. Instead you rolled back.

3:24 - I understand what you were going for here, and I'm also surprised that you didn't land that grab, but it would have been wiser to go for a full combo with jab instead of a grab to reset the situation. If you were Mario or DK, then sure, I'd tell you to go for the re-grab all day, since with those chars, grab = full combo, but that's not so with Zard. With him, a grab only means you get a TC (which is not guaranteed like a combo is), an offstage opponent (which is hard to capitalize on at such low %'s), or a combo with bad DI. Jab was guaranteed here and would have led into more.

3:30 - Stomp is daunting, but I'm almost certain that it isn't safe. Punish that s**t!

3:32 - You are kind of flailing around and letting ZSS style on your shield.

3:54 - You are dropping combos with these charged Flies. :/

4:06 - You are jumping around way too much, which is what let ZSS catch you with that dsmash. ZSS' aerial and plat mobility is too good for you to be chasing her around like that. It's better to just remain grounded and catch her on the side plats with usmash if you can.

4:38 - You don't need to charge the Fly...

5:05 - You can't allow ZSS to fall back down so easily, especially after she'd expended both her DJ and her special flip. You could have easily just remained under to challenge her descent with something instead of DDing at a distance where she could comfortably just fall to the ledge (and tag you with a sideB).

A few additional notes:

• Overall, in this MU, I would say to learn how to PS her blaster out of a dash, and subsequently WD OoS, more consistently. PS messes up ZSS a lot more than most and this tactic lets you approach more viably.
• You don't really need to charge fly unless you want to chase and harass someone who is near the top of the screen or is recovering from really high up, IMO. You dropped a lot of stuff with that.
• I don't think you should have struck to such a huge stage for the first match. IIRC, ZSS is somewhat of a FFer, so she can DI everything sorta upwards and live for a very long time. In addition, a larger stage with such far apart platforms gives ZSS plenty of room to run around and abuse her superior mobility on the ground, in the air, and on plats. I think you would have been better off on a smaller stage where you could have killed her faster and could have kept her off-balance and juggled and TC'd more easily with each hit. On DL64, it was a struggle just to catch her.
• Usmash more to cover plats. Nair is a good all-purpose tool, but usmash is better in covering plats safely.
• When ZSS if flying all over the place, try to remain grounded. ZSS may rule the plats, but you rule the ground and, by extension, the lower plats as long as you are on the ground.

Tough luck on the match, but good stuff, overall, though. This is a tough match-up!

 

[bubbaking]

Idk what happened, but I think the computer I'm on may have messed up the font sizes when I tried to reply to this.

3:27 - Zard's jab is a great anti-approach tool and combo starter, but if there's one thing it isn't, it's spammable. I think after the first whiffed jab, you should have mixed it up with something else, maybe a longer-lasting ftilt or something. <-- I'll adress all the repeating stuffs here: i tend to do that because I rely to heavily on people getting suprised by how quickly zard can attack and i want people to run in. I shouldn't rely on my opponents sucking though.... what would you suggest to do after a missed Jab? Dash away?

Yeah, I'm actually just like you, which is why I was able to identify the trait. It's very surprising how powerful, large, and fast Zard's tilts are, so I would also tend to fire them off repeatedly without giving them much thought, but this only really works on those who are not used to dealing with Zard's BS. After a whiffed jab, a dash away could work. I would have ftilted to have a longer-lasting hitbox without giving up my pressure. The main point I wanted to get across was to mix up your game-plan instead of going ahead with the same move.

3:46 - Technical error in trying to execute ledgehop nair? <-- nope.. just a desperate edgeguard attempt. Meant to hit with the initial startup of nair to pop him up and juggle after.

Nair takes too long to effectively juggle by the ledge, IMO. Popping him up would just help his recovery.

3:50 - Sweetspot. You can make it from lower than that. <-- Yeah, but Fsmash hits nonetheless i believe? I suck at sweetspotting though, i'd need to practice some to fix that.

It shouldn't, I believe. Zard can sweetspot the ledge from a little below it, so he should be able to avoid the fsmash. If anything, getting the sweetspot gives you a little more time so that maybe Pika mistimes it.

4:50 - When you are drifting backwards offstage to edgeguard the opponent from somewhat below him, you can just sweetspot nair him instead of turning around for a fair. The nair sweetspot starts out above and behind Zard, so it catches opponents who are hanging out exactly where that Pika was when you jumped for that fair. <-- I was afraid sweetspot nair wouldn't have killed, so i wanted to kill tp the side. at 110% nair would probably been enough though.

Yeah, it's Pika. He should be dying pretty early to a lot of things.

5:00 - A couple things here. You are relying on nair too much. You could have easily caught that Pika with a sweetspotted bair for the kill. Also, I'm fairly certain that, instead of charging your Fly right where your dsmash connected to hit with the later part of your nair (a lot of 'combo time-wasting', both from the charged Fly and the nair), you could have dashed under Pika and quickly did an uncharged Fly to a faster move, like upB. <-- I often charge fly, because i want to see how my opponent reacts. quick fly to rejumps are easily countered by non fastfallers by jumping out. If you whiff an Uair, the combo is over. So I wait to see wether the opponent wants to jump out or counterattack. It doesn't always pay off, and alot of times instant fly would be better, but on the other hand, charged flys give you easier uair strings and counter rejumps/bombs and everything else. I don't really know what category pikachu fits into... combo like a FF or like a floatie?

I guess this is just a fundamental difference between our different Zard playstyles, but I believe you should be able to true-combo into some things with uncharged Fly. Even if they can jump out, you can uncharged Fly without attacking early to force a reaction and then punish that with a DJ aerial, and if you decide to uncharged Fly uair and you whiff, you can FF to contine pressure. Players who know the Zard MU shouldn't be using their DJs early because being stuck above Zard without a DJ is suicide. Pika is neither an FFer nor a floaty. He's a light, 'normal faller', so he's pretty easy to combo at low-mid %'s.
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On a completely unrelated side-note, I have shown your vids to John12346 because I want him to play more like you. He is a former professional Brawl player (one of the best Lucarios in America), so he plays really lame and slow-paced. He's really good, but he is so NOT FUN to play against, so I'm hoping vids of faster Zards can persuade him to pick up the pace. So far, he's told me that your Zard is very smooth and I have to agree.

 

[Yomi-no-Kuni]

YEAH! BUBBA! You're my hero! Just rewatched the match twice, once after reading your stuff, once with pausing on every occasion you noted something.

Not going to respond to everything like last time, but it's appreaciated nonetheless.

These matches are literally the first time i've played vs ZZS. He deliberately picked Marth before the tournament. I'm sure i'm the king on the ground once i can shut down her projectile with PS, but as long as i get hit eveery once in a while or just mess up the PS, ZSS has the upper hand since i can't really dashdance. So i tried working with platforms. Good for me he didn't use Usmash and UpB a whole lot.

I used to be able to hit ppl on edgeguard with the late nair hitbox really reliably... i didn't manage to do that at all. I either have to practice that again, or i have to start edgeguarding with bairs...
I also need to give uncharged fly a better chance. maybe it does work better than i think it does. I doubt that alot of things truecombo against light characters.

Thanks for using my Zard as inspiration :D It's an honor

 

[NightShadow6]

Got some more videos up.

vs MewTwo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S1_L0D194s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXeM0An5h74

Vs Falco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqwDx3MP42o

Vs Ivysaur
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dH3EYUAIA