What does it take to good?

[Intero]

I play on smash ladder and I when I started I got wrecked, after a while of getting whooped I started winning of good deal of matches, but I now feel like I am at my peak of skill, I now know my character inside and out and I feel like theres so much more I need to learn, is it a better ability to pick out habits of your opponent, read them better, DI, Perfect shielding? if anyone can provide any insight at all I would GREATLY appreciate it.

 

[Morbi]

I suppose "all of the above." Reading your opponent and discerning habits is the single most important thing in a competitive fighting game. That dictates the match, you are not fighting a character or a play-style, you are fighting a human being that is readily able to adapt. If you improve your DI, you obviously live longer. Power shielding is also important to practice, but not absolutely necessary. It could come in handy for some matches though and it never hurts. That being said, it is not usually something someone practices to get better either. You become a better player by competing against better opponents; as you stated, there is much to learn but those things are not as apparent until you lose. If you have any local tournaments near your area, you should probably try to enter if your goal is to improve. If and when someone beats you, ask them what mistakes you made. Learn from others. Watch some sets with Sonic and see if there is any tech you missed that you could incorporate to mix up your game-play, read the Sonic boards on here. If you are not too keen on entering an offline tournament, you could always try and practice fighting game fundamentals such as proper spacing.

 

[Jiggsbomb]

Practice, dedication, time.

 

[Xermo]

Mountain Dew and Doritos, really.

 

[Intero]

I suppose "all of the above." Reading your opponent and discerning habits is the single most important thing in a competitive fighting game. That dictates the match, you are not fighting a character or a play-style, you are fighting a human being that is readily able to adapt. If you improve your DI, you obviously live longer. Power shielding is also important to practice, but not absolutely necessary. It could come in handy for some matches though and it never hurts. That being said, it is not usually something someone practices to get better either. You become a better player by competing against better opponents; as you stated, there is much to learn but those things are not as apparent until you lose. If you have any local tournaments near your area, you should probably try to enter if your goal is to improve. If and when someone beats you, ask them what mistakes you made. Learn from others. Watch some sets with Sonic and see if there is any tech you missed that you could incorporate to mix up your game-play, read the Sonic boards on here. If you are not too keen on entering an offline tournament, you could always try and practice fighting game fundamentals such as proper spacing.

Thanks a lot for that I really appreciate it I just found out after so long of thinking there were no local tournaments that there is one an hour away...not as close as I would hope but its something. also, I like the idea of asking anyone who beats me what I did wrong or what mistakes did I make, if I follow the aforementioned advice will I be able to compete in those tournaments instead of using them purely as a opportunity to see what I do wrong? xD

 

[maxpower1227]

Go back to 1999. Play the original Smash every day until Melee comes out, then play Melee for an hour a day every day for the next 6 years. Take a break to play Brawl for a bit when it comes out, but eventually switch back to Melee and continue playing about every other day until Smash 3DS comes out. Use it to warm up for Smash Wii U. By then you should be fairly decent.

 

[SirIanAsh]

Choose Diddy Kong, thats it.
Jk just practice alot and go watch vids of your main.

 

[Intero]

Choose Diddy Kong, thats it.
Jk just practice alot and go watch vids of your main.

Haha I've done so much of that I dream on SCJ and SDJ

 

[CURRY]

I feel really bad for posting these. This is probably the third ctrl+v of these two articles that I've done in a week.
These are absolute QUALITY articles though. They're on Brawl, but a lot of Brawl knowledge is transferred over to Smash 4, so it's almost all still applicable.
http://smashboards.com/threads/brickwalls-and-traps-the-keys-to-victory.183816/
http://smashboards.com/threads/understanding-your-options-an-article-on-playing-smart.206225/

 

[Intero]

I feel really bad for posting these. This is probably the third ctrl+v of these two articles that I've done in a week.
These are absolute QUALITY articles though. They're on Brawl, but a lot of Brawl knowledge is transferred over to Smash 4, so it's almost all still applicable.
http://smashboards.com/threads/brickwalls-and-traps-the-keys-to-victory.183816/
http://smashboards.com/threads/understanding-your-options-an-article-on-playing-smart.206225/

Thanks so much man I will take a look at these right now

 

[Bearbuddy4]

(read the following comment in the voice of Mr.Miyagi from karate kid)

In order to win you must trust your instincts...only then will you become a true jedi-errm Smasher.

 

[Edigital23]

"Practice?!!!??!" - Allen Iverson