Working on a guide for choosing a main and need your help!

[WispBae]

Hello there!

With the Smash scene growing and many more new players still to come, I though I would make a little guide highlighting each characters strengths and specialties, to help anyone take their first step into competitive Smash, or for anyone contemplating picking up another to their personal roster!

The main dilemma I have is I don't main EVERYONE in P:M, nor am I a self-proclaimed Smash genius. So, I thought I'd ask you guys, the experts to your respective mains! If you could help me out by filling out a few lines of info for me, I'll be collecting the data and responses during the week and compiling them. Once it's all collected, I'll release the guide (somewhere on the boards, not sure yet...). So if you could take a few minutes to help, I would really appreciate it!

Pros: Strengths and advantages of this character!

Cons: Weaknesses and disadvantages!

Character Specifics to Learn: Techniques exclusive to only this character (example: Squirtle's shell abilities)

Similar To: Characters that play similar to this one or have a similar strategy.

Secondaries that Compliment: A secondary character that covers certain weaknesses the main has.

(Optional) Best video example of this character in action.

Cheers!

(Sorry if you see this thread posted in multiple character forums, I find the best way to gather info is to ask directly!)

 

[Foxy K]

Pros: Can cover lots of options with desynching. Strong punish game (though most characters in PM have this) with chain throws (sorta) and desynched space control, edgeguarding. Most importantly though, they make the opponent play a different game. With few exceptions, they can't be grabbed (non grabbed Climber can jab/whatever else to break the grab). The opponent can't shield anything desynched, and shield grabbing isn't really an option even if the ICs hit the shield synched.

Cons: They have no "abusable" go-to move like Zard's nair or Marth's fair. Their most powerful tool, desynching, requires VERY careful positioning, timing, and reading. Desynching also puts them at greater risk for being separated, which leads me to the next thing: They are very gimpable. Their recovery is sub par (good distance, poor options coming in), and if the opponent knows the matchup, like, at all, they should probably be dead if they get knocked off the stage, especially since they can't recover for crap alone. Nana, though smarter, can still be killed pretty much for free by many characters.

Specifics: Learn desynching. Learn what it is, how to do it, when to apply the different methods of doing it. Learn chain throws (which are pretty neutered in this game, but there are ways to trip up people's DI, like dthrowing into side B instead of dair. If the opponent is really good at DIing the chains, dthrow, usmash, followup might be the best option. It all depends though.) Learn finishers off chain throws. Easiest is dthrow->fsmash, but there's also dthrow/fthrow->fair spike, uthrow->fsmash reverse hitbox, and dthrow->usmash. Last but definitely not least, learn the nuances of Nana. Learn how to manipulate her AI, how to resynch for recovery, how to wait for her to solo up B before synch recovering, how to listen for her solo side B, everything.

Similar To: No one? They're not even similar enough to Melee ICs that you could effectively play both versions. The other most cerebral/complicated character is Olimar, but they're hardly similar.

Secondaries: I'm really loving Charizard- He effs up Peach and Falcon, to name two. Fox would give any character a run for their money, but Charizard handles him somewhat well. Other than that, any really good character (Pit, Mewtwo, Lucas, Mario, Link, etc) would be good backup.

 

[RideTheLine]

Hello there!

With the Smash scene growing and many more new players still to come, I though I would make a little guide highlighting each characters strengths and specialties, to help anyone take their first step into competitive Smash, or for anyone contemplating picking up another to their personal roster!

The main dilemma I have is I don't main EVERYONE in P:M, nor am I a self-proclaimed Smash genius. So, I thought I'd ask you guys, the experts to your respective mains! If you could help me out by filling out a few lines of info for me, I'll be collecting the data and responses during the week and compiling them. Once it's all collected, I'll release the guide (somewhere on the boards, not sure yet...). So if you could take a few minutes to help, I would really appreciate it!

Pros: Strengths and advantages of this character!

Cons: Weaknesses and disadvantages!

Character Specifics to Learn: Techniques exclusive to only this character (example: Squirtle's shell abilities)

Similar To: Characters that play similar to this one or have a similar strategy.

Secondaries that Compliment: A secondary character that covers certain weaknesses the main has.

(Optional) Best video example of this character in action.

Cheers!

(Sorry if you see this thread posted in multiple character forums, I find the best way to gather info is to ask directly!)

Pros: Forces the opponent to switch his strategy up. This character cannot be fought on auto-pilot. Has excellent ground movement via their excellent wavedash, and has plenty of options to use out of wavedash in the forms of their high-knockback smashes and ftilt. Has an interesting projectile that allows you to put your foot in your opponents ground game. Can deny approaches with Blizzard, and also use it to edgeguard certain characters with recoveries along the lines of the spacies or Lucario. An excellent grab game, with a few chain-grabs, and an unsurpassed ability to capitalize off of a grab in general. High kill potential with bairs and smashes. Very strong punish game. A situationally great recovery. The crowd also likes to root for the underdog.

Cons: Slow air movement, and low ability to deal with an opponent pursuing you through the air. If Nana isn't synched up, your recovery is god-awful. As handy as desynch is, your opponent can cut in and strike one away from the other, leading to either a world of pain for Nana or a gimp for Popo. They're not too difficult to kill, as their floaty nature makes for an easy target, and they are far from being heavy. Though the hitboxes are disjointed, the tiny hammers have very little range, making them very easily outspaced. If you screw up a desynch, you're a sitting duck for the opponent. Going off-stage is pretty much a universally bad idea, unless you are absolutely certain you can land the gimp and zip back to stage with an up-B. Off-stage Sopo is an oxymoron, don't do it.

Specifics: As they are probably the most unique character, they have plenty of specific techniques in desynchs and chaingrabs. "Desynching" is more of an umbrella term than a tech, and can be activated through many, many methods, with the most common of which being a spot dodge or a dash dance. Situational awareness is required to know what desynch to set up and when. Also, chaingrabs should be learned to maximize early stock damage output, and bring the opponent closer to the kill range of your smashes.

Similar to: Pretty much nobody, as a whole. Sopo has some similarities to Luigi in his focus on sweeping through people with dsmashes.

Secondaries: If you ask me, Wario covers some bad match-ups in his ability to tank through characters with high kill power like Falcon, and his off-stage game is vastly better than theirs, which could counter an opponent susceptible to gimps, or one with too good of a recovery.

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJv_eyBb-Y Chudat vs. GIMR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNez45r7phw Chudat vs. GIMR (a different time)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxQ6reDa5rc Chudat vs. Pink Fresh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvb-QIyVWc8#t=466 Chudat vs. Pink Fresh (also a different time, don't watch the beginning, Chu plays Kirby)
Old videos of Chudat playing Melee are also relevant, except for the chaingrabs, just pay attention to the conceptual and fundamental aspects. A lot of modern Melee Ice Climbers stuff won't apply.