Overswarm’s victory in the SWF tourney has shown that ROB’s got the ability to hang in competitive brawl. I’ve been looking at the footage from his matches that are up on youtube (finals rounds are here: http://youtube.com/user/Xsyven) and here are a few things I’ve picked up. Feel free to add other things you’ve noticed.
Use Gyros defensively. Because they can’t be run through while they’re on the ground, gyros neutralize ground approaches. In order to get around a gyro, your opponent has to dash attack, roll through it, or jump earlier than planned. All three of these options slow down the approach and give you more time to react, which is especially crucial online. Tossing a gyro near the edge slows down edgeguarders and is something you should probably be doing almost every time you’re offstage.
Learn to glide-toss. Glide-toss into ftilt/fsmash is a great combo, and I’d already been utilizing it in my ROB game. It’s one of ROB’s few good approaches, and it’s usually unexpected, especially at this point in the development of competitive brawl.
Don’t be afraid to use the full extent of ROB’s recovery. In his matches against OmegaXF he goes all the way under both battlefield and FD. It’s a useful way to exploit the absurd distance you can get from ROB’s upb. Make sure to tap B instead of holding it, and if you want to go forward, alternating bairs with thrusts gets you even more distance/momentum.
Abuse big hitboxes. Multiple times you see OS hit people in front of him with a bair, and with the very tip of fsmash. Knowing exactly what you’ll be able to hit with what moves is an important part of playing a good defensive ROB. Spacing is crucial, especially because Brawl’s slower speed makes mindgames even more important. Knowing whether an attack is going to hit or miss will win you games, plain and simple.
Use lasers whenever you can. Since you’re probably not going to kill people with them often, waiting for them to charge only makes you more predictable, because your opponent will see when you’ve got a laser charged and expect it. Also, know the trajectories of tilted lasers and how they interact with stages. I’ve gotten kills with lasers a few times on green hill zone ‘cause I knew they’d reflect off the stage at a right angle. Knowing the angles the lasers reflect at and the different ways to angle them with tilting maximizes your potential to hit people with them, which makes everything else easier for you. Also, the more you laser, the less you’ll feel the impact of stale moves everywhere else.
Use Gyros defensively. Because they can’t be run through while they’re on the ground, gyros neutralize ground approaches. In order to get around a gyro, your opponent has to dash attack, roll through it, or jump earlier than planned. All three of these options slow down the approach and give you more time to react, which is especially crucial online. Tossing a gyro near the edge slows down edgeguarders and is something you should probably be doing almost every time you’re offstage.
Learn to glide-toss. Glide-toss into ftilt/fsmash is a great combo, and I’d already been utilizing it in my ROB game. It’s one of ROB’s few good approaches, and it’s usually unexpected, especially at this point in the development of competitive brawl.
Don’t be afraid to use the full extent of ROB’s recovery. In his matches against OmegaXF he goes all the way under both battlefield and FD. It’s a useful way to exploit the absurd distance you can get from ROB’s upb. Make sure to tap B instead of holding it, and if you want to go forward, alternating bairs with thrusts gets you even more distance/momentum.
Abuse big hitboxes. Multiple times you see OS hit people in front of him with a bair, and with the very tip of fsmash. Knowing exactly what you’ll be able to hit with what moves is an important part of playing a good defensive ROB. Spacing is crucial, especially because Brawl’s slower speed makes mindgames even more important. Knowing whether an attack is going to hit or miss will win you games, plain and simple.
Use lasers whenever you can. Since you’re probably not going to kill people with them often, waiting for them to charge only makes you more predictable, because your opponent will see when you’ve got a laser charged and expect it. Also, know the trajectories of tilted lasers and how they interact with stages. I’ve gotten kills with lasers a few times on green hill zone ‘cause I knew they’d reflect off the stage at a right angle. Knowing the angles the lasers reflect at and the different ways to angle them with tilting maximizes your potential to hit people with them, which makes everything else easier for you. Also, the more you laser, the less you’ll feel the impact of stale moves everywhere else.