Why Use a Bad Character?

[RaptorTEC]

-Which bad character do you play?

-Do you think your character is bad?
Yes, but not for many reasons. Yoshi's only flaw is his shield. Anything else that he struggles with is due to a slow shield. For example, killing. Yoshi struggling to get a kill is not due to having poor kill moves (they're actually really good imo) but more because he lacks a shield to easily punish his opponents at high percentages. Watch any match I guarantee you 99% of the time the game is ended by powershield to kill move if both players are at kill percent (99% is obviously exaggerated but you get my drift) Point is Yoshi can't do this like the rest of the cast because his shield is so slow and useless. He usually has to rely on his opponent committing to something extremely unsafe to get a kill, which doesn't really happen at high percents since players are more careful, or he has to bait the **** out of them for a kill. Or you know get lucky. It's a shame because, overall, I think Yoshi is a great character who is brought down completely by a bad shield. If he had a normal shield he would be above D3 in the current tier list imo. That's how big of an issue his shield is.

-How did you come about to playing this character?
My first game was Mario Kart 64. When I got to the character selection screen I immediately picked Yoshi. It was like love at first sight lol. Then for all the Mario Party's, Mario sports games, Mario Karts or anything that had Yoshi in it, he's the character I picked. That didn't change for Melee, or Brawl and it definitely isn't going to change for Smash 4.

-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
I love using the character. Like I said in the previous question he's the only character I use if he's available in the game. Also, I feel like I put a lot of work into my Yoshi and it would be a waste to drop him completely. It's also nice to have support from the other Yoshis.

-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch?
Lolwat

- Do you ever regret switching?
Dats for quitters.

-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
Nope.

-Feel free to add anything to this
Yoshi is a great character who has ONE MAJOR FLAW THAT NINTENDO HAS TO STOP IMPLEMENTING.

 

[Ness 682]

-Which bad character do you play?​

This is my "bad" character.​

-Do you think your character is bad?​

Of course not! A character is never the bad one, its the player's decision to decide whether they want to make them bad or not. For example, a common "flaw" considered by many for a Ness player is grab releases. I think quite the opposite! This should be a relief if you play it with the right mindset. Because people will want to grab you for that reason, it gives you more motive to avoid getting grabbed, I know I feel that way when facing against Ice Climbers.​

-How did you come about to playing this character?​

Well, as sad as it is to say, I wasn't introduced to Ness from Earthbound, and not even Super Smash Bros. 64, but Super Smash Bros. Melee. I was 6 at the time I first laid eyes on this kid, and I LOVED him. I didn't play him in 64 because we could never figure out how to unlock Ness in the first place I didn't play Earthbound until I was about 10, and until then, I REALLY LOVED HIM! By this time, I had started using Ness for everything pretty much: Video games, Internet games, Youtube, and overall Online (like right now still even to this day ). I was originaly Ness432, but my account got hacked on an online game called Runescape back in 2004, so I decided to change it to Ness520......It got hacked again....So the third and current username I go by now is Ness682 since 2006. I use this for EVERYTHING! ​

-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
What flaws? Oh yeah, tripping.....he he. I guess that's the only real one! :D​

OK OK! I'll be serious. As mentioned in if I think my character is bad, there are flaws, but nothing that I seriously have to worry about. Grab release is overrated, and if people say they died just because of it, its just saying that you died because of a move, wouldn't people still be upset if they died from a normal smash attack? (Seriously, read the above section, I don't feel like repeating myself again).​

-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
Nah, as I've said, I love Ness too much. I've devoted too much time into him in all the other games as well that I'd feel guilty for just dropping him just to win. Don't get me wrong, I want to win and show that I've gotten better, but I also want to stay loyal towards a character that I love and have stuck around with for all these years! I feel bad for people who play a certain character just because their considered by many better or easier to play. I bet we'd have A LOT more variety in characters played if people just played the characters that they genuinely enjoyed (not saying there are people like that, its just what I've seen in a majority of people, heck, for people who play MK because they love MK, that's cool too!).​

 

[Hoser]

-Which bad character do you play?
-Do you think your character is bad? I believe he's situational, not bad.
-How did you come about to playing this character? Played Roy in Melee, so I started with his replacement in brawl.
-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws? He has amazing range, power and knock back. It makes him good against characters like the Ice Climbers (hint hint MK players)
-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching? I didn't switch, but I did learn Diddy Kong, and start using him pretty often. The main reason is because there are certain match-up that Ike is terrible at, that Diddy can handle, and vice versa. They're a good combo.
-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you? No, I don't think I would.
-Feel free to add anything to this. Ike is a good match-up with Ice Climbers, due to his range and knock back. It's easy to stay out of their grab range, easier to seperate Nana and Popo due to the knockback of all his moves (and dash attack usually seperates them right away), and Ike can kill early. If people in the competitive scene started learning Ike as a counterpick to the Ice Climbers, I could see him getting a slight boost on the tier list finally. Of course, there are other characters that do well against them.

 

[Metalbro]

-Which bad character do you play?
Donkey Kong

-Do you think your character is bad?
Yeah. Not too bad though.

-How did you come about to playing this character?
When I first got brawl I used Falco cause I used him in Melee, after finding out I sucked ballz with him I used Marth because he was pretty easy to learn. After finding out I was trash with him too, I used Random for like a century. Eventually after learning the basic movesets of all the characters, I started playing in the AIB chat. That's where I learned that I would probably never be able to play at a high level. So then one day my cursor magically moved itself over DK and apparently the magic just never stopped, I was beating people with him in the AIB chat. So yeah. DK is magical.

-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
Because he's magical. But seriously his flaws aren't too bad. Being chaingrabbed ain't no biggie because being CG'ed with any other character wouldn't end out much different anyway. I learned to stay away from being to low when off stage. I don't know all his flaws though. So yeah.

-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching?
I use a lot of characters along side DK. I'm starting to do well with Luigi, Pit, Marth, and more that I forgot.


-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
Probably... nah.

-Feel free to add anything to this.
Did I mention DK is magical?

 

[Jr555]

-Which bad character do you play?
I main Game and Watch

-Do you think your character is bad?
Super under rated, far away from bad.

-How did you come about to playing this character?
Used to main Marth, was recommended him when I first joined competitive (friends thought they were trolling I think)

-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
Flaws are relative, even MK mains have to know the character's limits. Not to mention GW is and always will be a doubles god, which is my favourite way to play Brawl

-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching?
I use all 3 doubles gods, plus ICs. I don't think there's anything wrong with a high tier mentality, you just have to understand the character in a way that makes you a capable competitor. I think every competitor should understand the high tier characters enough to play them to a certain degree. I picked up each other character I play because I played against a better opponent who did something that made me say "**** that was cool, I have to know how to do that". There's no reason to regret any decision in smash, and that includes being willing to drop a character or pick up a new one. Effort is always a valuable commodity, and better players just put more effort in, whether you can accept it or not.

-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
Not at all, I picked GW because of Bucket Braking, and his Aerial game. I still think these features are among my favourites (even in the last monthly I attended you can see my pretty much sticking to those two things to relatively good efficiency throughout the tournament) and are relatively easy to make practical use of in almost any scenario.

-Feel free to add anything to this
A lot of people say GW has a hard time killing on the move. To me this just means you have to make reads on the move and nothing more. Tech reads are a part of the game I almost completely require to have fun, and none are more enjoyable to me than GW. Landing a good smash is fun, landing a 9 is not in my game plan, and surviving past 150% just tells me what I already believe about GW, that his small moving hitbox and survivability when hit hard are maybe more fun than anything else in this game. Farting with Wario might be a close second.

 

[Luco]

205 posts, perhaps 150-180 of them are answering your question.

I have to ask you BSP, because I remember when you started this and indeed some of the first posts you made when you were beginning to question yourself and your character, what do you think of the answer?

 

[N.T.A.O ChangeOfHeart 死の剣]

Why can't players just experiment with their character? I'm sure players like Salem, Will and many more just learned like everyone else, huh? Salem just watched Nick Riddile and Will just watched Ook, or Ripple play and mimic-ed exactly what they did... Nope! They experimented and you all should do the same thing. No character is bad, he's weak in some options (but not bad). There is always a way to fix those weak spots. How? Get on training mode and experiment(on CPUs or humans or whatever it may be).

 

[Deleted member 189823]

^Mhm...you really should. There's a new Bowser player who has barely gone to tournaments, but he's discovering all these interesting, innovative things and gimmicks for Bowser that they might just prove useful for advancing the metagame.

Bowser has quite the potential as a character, given that he has a GR Chaingrab on most of the cast. And there's a possible infinite on MK/Falco/Olimar among it.


I use a few "bad" characters because I just like them.

 

[BSP]

205 posts, perhaps 150-180 of them are answering your question.

I have to ask you BSP, because I remember when you started this and indeed some of the first posts you made when you were beginning to question yourself and your character, what do you think of the answer?

Low tier tourneys, that's it.

 

[Hyal]

-Which bad character do you play?
Zelda
-Do you think your character is bad?
So bad it hurts playing with her, so only casual matches. I tried to get better, but because my main was Marth and my second was Peach, it really wasn't that important.
-How did you come about to playing this character?
I was a little girl when I first played Meele. Back then I knew nothing about games, so I just thought Zelda to be a really pretty lady.
-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
Because she is fun and I really like her style. Her magic looks awesome, and this game lacks female characters.
-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching?
-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
Nah, no need. I learned from her too, and had fun.

 

[ぱみゅ]

I swear is something in the sparkles that hypnotises every single Zelda main, THE SPARKLES!

 

[nat pagle]

^Mhm...you really should. There's a new Bowser player who has barely gone to tournaments, but he's discovering all these interesting, innovative things and gimmicks for Bowser that they might just prove useful for advancing the metagame.

Bowser has quite the potential as a character, given that he has a GR Chaingrab on most of the cast. And there's a possible infinite on MK/Falco/Olimar among it.

I contest, gimmicks are useful in meta game and in tournaments, but if opponents develop strategies to counter them (see Hax vs. amsah in EVO) they'll rag on the weaknesses all day. The "bads" tend to be one or two trick ponies that hinge on the success of a specific way of playing, but then flop when people get accustomed to it.

That's why the top tiers stay top tier. Their strengths are overwhelming and they don't fall over against gimmicks.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

Yeah, I'm not really saying that those gimmicks will get them through. That's one of the reason that I don't work on them, because they seem rather situational. It's just an example I felt on bringing up on how a novice Bowser player put quite the dedication into discovering things like that, that even I don't.
I think another reason why some bad characters are getting worst MU spread & results is the lack of players willing to comit themselves to their character.

 

[Naroghin]

I always feel a sense of accomplishment when someone I'm playing against won't believe me that Link is one of the lowest tier characters, or claims he's overpowered/unbalanced.

 

[L∈O]

Which bad character do you play? Luigi...

Do you think your character is bad? No. I think he is a "more or less character", worthy to be mid tier. I also don't like of the term "bad character", it seems a bit, err, heavy. For me, this term is only usable for low tier characters, and it can be relative...

How did you come about to playing this character? He is my favorite video game character of all and my main character since Melee, so when I unlocked Luigi in Brawl, I mained him again. Also, in that time, I knew nothing about Tier List, Matchups etc...

If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws? For many reasons...
1: As I said before, he is my favorite video game character and my main since Melee. He also marked my childhood and means a lot to me (I even have a Luigi's costume), so it follows that I have fun playing with him...
2: I believe he's a little underrated in the current Tier List. He should be Mid Tier instead of Lower-Mid, and it should be in the 26th or 27th position. If someday a Luigi player with good skills to perform perfect shields and great use of spotdodges appears, I believe the view that some players have of Luigi could change a little bit. Warning: this is just what I think...
3: Lack of ability with other characters: Now this is a problem that has been cursing me for a long time. It doesn't matter how much I try, it always seems that I suck badly with other chars. I tried many of them, like Olimar, Falco, Fox, Donkey Kong etc, but I never reach a level which satisfies me. I'll never drop Luigi, he always will be my main, but I really wanted to main a second one, to help in some MU's, especially against Meta Knight, King Dedede and Marth...

If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching? Guess I don't need to answer these...

If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you? I would pick up a secondary (maybe Olimar or Falco), but wouldn't change my main. After all, playing means more than just winning...

 

[bigtonybt]

-Which bad character do you play? Mario
-Do you think your character is bad? No because i dont believe it entirely depends on the character. If a person is skilled enough they can use their characters skill to their advantage. There are definetely some flaws in certain characters but i really think if someone is skilled enough they can win with any character.
-How did you come about to playing this character? I loved mario since super mario world and i really enjoy his fluid movements and how he takes on any opponent. I also learned hes somewhat of an underdog which i really get a lot of satisfaction out of winning because of this.
-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws? I enjoy being the underdog and coming out on top. I feel like mario is a very adaptable character and can be used to handle a good variety of situations
-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching? nope and i will never switch.
-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you? no because i believe mario can still win.

 

[Pikmin1211]

-Which bad character do you play?

-Do you think your character is bad?
Yes.
-How did you come about to playing this character?
When I was a kid (like 3/4 when Melee was about one year old) I first started to play Smash bros. Of course, I also loved Bowser from Mario 64 because he was so freakin' cool looking, so I picked Bowser. For once, it was a game I could play as Bowser, without karts or any crap like that, and I loved it!
-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
Generally, because it's fun! I love and always will adore Bowser, because you can't beat a Dragonic Turtle Ox.
-If you've stopped using this character, who did you switch to using? What drove you to switch? Do you ever regret switching?
I didn't stop; and don't think I will.
-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
No, of course not! HE'S FREAKIN' BOWSER! XD

 

[AbidingTruth]

-Which bad character do you play?
Main: Secondaries (the bad ones at least):

-Do you think your character is bad?
Bad would not necessarily be the term I use, but I do think they are both a bit lacking, especially when compared to other characters.

-How did you come about to playing this character?
Kirby came from my love for the Kirby series in general, it being my favorite Nintendo series. Naturally when I got and played Smash Bros as a kid, I played Kirby.

During the summer of 2013, I would play WIFI matches with my friends and sometimes for fun we would all pick random. During these matches, I had gotten R.O.B. a number of times and from there I developed an interest in the character and worked on improving my skill with him

-If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
I hold some sentiment to Kirby, having played his games and series for many years of my childhood, so that could be part of the reason. Another is also probably my inner hipster coming out reveling in playing a more uncommon character and getting good with him. But overall, I actually do like Kirby's playstyle. I love his bair, his dair meteor smash being multi-hit doesn't bother me at all and I love taking people down way below the stage with him, I love landing hits with the aerial hammer, which I feel I've gotten good at harnessing the double swing, I love following short hop dairs with tilts, I love his 0% grab combos/follow ups, and his neutral B gives him a unique gameplay completely unmatched by other characters IMO, as you can add your opponents strength into your own playstyle.

I first learned of wavebouncing using R.O.B. and he still remains probably my best character at using it, which adds a more complicated gameplay that I enjoy learning and mastering. I love his long ranged attacks with the laser and top. Speaking of the top, I also greatly enjoy his long distance glide toss. I find using R.O.B. slightly easier to overcome his flaws than Kirby with his long distance attacks and the glide toss serving as another approach option. Between the glide tossing, wave bouncing and laser spam, I have a lot of fun using him.

-If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
Probably not. Despite the flaws, I enjoy these characters and the feel of them. If I did have to pick another better main though, it would probably be Not because of his placing on the tier list, but simply because he also comes from the Kirby universe.

-Feel free to add anything to this
I feel that anyone who mains a mid or low tier character does it at least partially for the hipster factor. Everyone loves to be a hipster at heart, and there's just something inexplicably satisfying about getting good and beating others with an unconventional or uncommon character. Even telling others who you main gives a small feeling of like "Yep, that's right. I main _________" Again, I can't say for certain, but I get that certain feeling and I can only assume the same for others.

 

[LancerStaff]

Which bad character do you play?
Pit, according to your list.

Do you think your character is bad?
No, but he's definitely underrated by both sides of the community.

How did you come about to playing this character?
Sakurai announced Kid Icarus: Uprising, so I wanted to check out the character.

If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
Because the character fits me. The only other character that fits is Meta Knight. And I first got into competitive play as him, so the first thing I learned was all the arrow tricks. I still use him because he's my best.

If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
No, but if you're handing out time travel coupons I'd like to go back and tell myself to play as him sooner.

 

[Shadow the Past]

Which bad character do you play?


Do you think your character is bad?
G&W is pretty terrible. He struggles severely with approaching and with pressuring shield. If a person just sits in their shield and waits for me to try and throw out a move, they can almost always punish it, regardless of what move I use. His grab has terrible range, his tech chase is difficult and rarely amounts to anything. One thing that is nice is he kills ridiculously early with all of his smashes (his D-smash is actually a bit broken imo). His high tier matchups are extremely difficult (Marth, Diddy, IC's, Snake especially). Pretty much the only way to beat people is through gimmicks.
Wolf, on the other hand, I find to be a resonably decent character in comparison to G&W. He has much more mobility and options to deal with high-tier MU's that G&W simply doesn't have. The main problem is that he gets wrecked by a few matchups (Pikachu, D3) which makes him fairly unviable, and very unrepresented, as well as the fact he requires quite a bit of precision to do exactly what you want. Seagull is putting in work with him though, getting 9th at Apex with just Wolf.

How did you come about to playing this character?
I played Falco before G&W, and I would use G&W as a goof off character. Eventually I just got more comfortable in G&W and used him in every match instead of Falco. Wolf was a similar fashion, switching from G&W. I simply played them because they felt fun to me.

If you still use this character, why do you continue doing so despite their flaws?
G&W I never really touch anymore. Wolf I still practice every now and then but he's simply not someone I can stand to use in tournament anymore.

If you could go back in time to the point where you started using your bad character and had the ability to choose someone else at that point, would you?
I would choose MK. I had originally played MK, but when the MK ban came around, I switched to Falco, which ultimately lead to G&W and Wolf. Now I'm back at MK. If I had practiced MK the entire time I played Smash competitively, I feel I could be a much better player now (not to say that I'm necessarily bad because of playing bad characters.)