Traumatisch
Smash Rookie
Alright, my second post at these forums so let's make it a good one. I've been checking out some of the Zelda vids in the video thread and it got me thinking about the many different playstyles that Zelda has to offer. Now, I'm making this a Zelda/Sheik thread because, of course, the combination of the two allows for even more options. So here we go.
1a) Main Offensive style (Zelda)
- Check out Darkmusician's videos for this one. He only plays as Zelda (not as Sheik) and he plays her uber-agressive. He approaches well and puts a lot of pressure on his opponents. He defends when he needs to but always tries to keep the initiative. DM uses a lot of SH Lightning Kick approaches and always goes for spikes, Uair for star-ko's etc. What this style has to offer is that, with so many of Zelda's attacks being able to kill, you are a constant KO threat to your opponent. This makes your opponent think twice about every move because openings are possible KO. The drawback of this style is that it's risky. Zelda requires a lot of precise timing and a lot of precise spacing. When you are constantly on the offense and keeping pressure on your opponent you don't have a lot of time for either, so this style asks a lot of the player behind Zelda. Not everyone (including myself) is able to keep up this amount of pace with Zelda.
1b) Main Offensive Sheik :
- Sheik's offense is, of course, all about SPEED. Her moves aren't terribly strong, but they're fast and they have little lag. Make use of these two excellent qualities that are Sheik's main weapons. Sheik has the ability to literally overwhelm her opponent with attacks. Her dash attack has a very useful angle to it to knock opponents up and jump after them to harrass them. Her other main offensive weapons are her needles, her DSmash, her aerials and her Ftilt lock. Make sure to vary the way you use your needles. They are important as damage dealers (3% per needle, 18 max damage for a single volley) but perhaps even more important for breaking an opponent's moves and momentum. They make for a nice approach by throwing six of them ahead of you and rushing in after them. Finally, Sheik's recovery is great and her aerials are strong, this equals off-stage gimping ability. Sheik's main source of kills is rushing after opponents off-stage and finishing the job there. Be aware of this, as Sheik's inability to otherwise score kills could get frustrating.
The ability to just throw non-stop offense at your opponent is what makes this style great, but it also has its drawbacks. As stated, Sheik's attacks are somewhat lacking in strength so you are always vulnerable to counterattacks if you fail to knock the enemy away. The most useful attack to counter this is the Dsmash as it makes you a hard target and because it has decent knockback. Secondly, Sheik's main weakness is her lack of KO moves. She won't be KOing her opponents until pretty high percents and this means that the Sheik sooner or later will lose the momentum of her attacks and the initiative will shift to her opponent. Because of the time it takes for Sheik to actually claim the kill, this is practically inevitable, so be prepared for it.
I will cover her defensive style in this bit as well, as I feel that there really is no such thing as a purely defensive Sheik. Sheik is an agressive contact character that needs to be played as such. The defensive options that Sheik has available are of course her needles, her chain, her speed and, again, her off-stage abilities. As stated, the needles are fantastic weapons for stopping opponents' approaches, charge-ups, recoveries, attacks etc. Basically anything can be interrupted by a single needle, so make sure you do this. Limit your opponent's options and wait for the right time to retaliate. Which brings me to her speed. From a defensive standpoint, use her speed to retreat, to respace and, again, to interrupt. Sheik's attacks come out FAST so if you see your enemy winding up to land a huge blow, poke them in the eye and get the hell out instead of getting your head bashed in *coughIKEcough*. Needles are useful for this, but seeing as Sheik is a contact character you will more often than not find yourself close enough to throw out a more decent attack to interrupt your opponent. Then the chain. I must admit, I don't use it very often myself but it definitely has its uses. The tip stuns opponents and drives them back, which can buy you some time. I often feel, though, that that time is then wasted by Sheik having to pull the chain back in. Having the chain out and swinging around and around is a decent method of quickly clearing the space about you, but be careful when you use it, because it is easy to counter. Another use for the chain is defending the ledge with it. These two methods go hand in hand and are very similar in their execution. There are a bunch of other techniques with the chain. For example, one where you can imbue the chain with the properties of a previous attack called Chain Jacketing. Look it up in the Sheik forums if you want to know more. From a defensive standpoint, it is a viable tactic to pro-actively move the fight from on-stage to off-stage. With the chain and the Vanish move for recovery and a huge second jump and powerful, fast aerials for attacking, there are but few characters who can match Sheik off-stage. Try luring your opponent into off-stage battles to try and gain the upperhand.
2) Main Defensive/Counter style (Zelda)
- The exact opposite of the above. Players who camp Din's and wait for the opponent to approach and react as needed. Zelda also has a number of moves that allow for strategic manouvering of the opponent. Din's for drawing them in, Naryu's and Reverse Naryu's for relocating your opponent and, of course, FW to relocate yourself. This style also has its merits. Not every opponent is able to respond well to purely strategic play. A lot of mindgames come into play when a battle is fought out like this. However, the drawback of this style is that a lot of mindgames come into play when a battle is fought out like this :<. For this style to work, Zelda has to be able to read her opponent well, as she is reacting to what her enemy is doing. Guiding your opponent only goes so far. Once they figure out what you're doing and how you're doing it, you have to adapt and change your pattern, or you'll be a sitting duck.
As mentioned above ; Sheik's version of this style involves a lot of needling, locking and hit-and-run tactics. Sheik doesn't have as many options for strategically placing herself or her opponent but she is, of course, much faster than Zelda so hit-and-run is basically the name of the game here.
3) Damage Racking Sheik to KO Zelda
- This style involves using the speed, the approaches and the combos of Sheik to get your opponent to a high percentage then switching to Zelda to finish them off with a well-timed blow. I feel this style is decent enough. IMHO Zelda and Sheik were meant to be played as one character, else, they wouldn't have been put in the game as one character :F. The good thing about this style is that you take away the weaknesses that both characters possess and use the two to complement each other. There are, however, two dangers that players have to be aware of. 1) Sheik almost always has a slightly worse match-up than Zelda has (note the ALMOST) as she is far lighter than Zelda, far weaker than Zelda and a lot easier to bounce around. Remember that for this style to work you have to find a good time to transform. Creating said window of opportunity is easier said than done with Sheik. 2) There is one big, common and often fatal mistake many of these players (myself included) tend to make and that's : using the wrong character for the wrong job. Often after the change from S to Z players go on playing Z as if they were S and vice versa. Rushing at your opponent as Zelda while still having Sheik's speed in mind is a sure way to die and an easy mistake to make. DON'T DO IT.
4) Yin and Yang.
- This style is one of my personal favourites as it involves a huge, almost meta-battle, mindgame. It basically involves combining an Offensive style Sheik with a Strategic style Zelda, but in a slightly different way than the Racking S to KO Z tactic. Play Zelda as the strategic, space-dominating ownage that she is. Play the mindgames, do the warping and the spamming, let them come to you and never the other way around. Drive your opponent nuts while constantly staying one step ahead and out of reach. Then, just as they are adjusting to your style of play (usually takes a stock or 2 depending on your opponent) switch to Sheik and get RIGHT in their face using your speed, your combo's, anything you can think of. It's difficult to pull this style off as it only works if the difference in tactics is great enough that your opponent has to adjust back and forth. Also it's not always easy to make your opponent adjust to you as sometimes you'll be forced to adjust to him. When this style works, however, it brings a BIG smile to my face as you can literally see your opponents style fall apart as they try to keep up with you and fail utterly
.
Well, these were just a couple of thoughts on different ways to play the character. Real fights aren't as black and white as all this, of course, but I find that having a number of different strategies at your disposal is never a bad thing. Most players will have developed their own styles of play which usually can be categorised as any given combination of above tactics. Still, it's all about options
Finally, I'd really like to hear any thoughts you guys might have. If you have comments, suggestions or tactics of your own please share them. I love thinking about this stuff
1a) Main Offensive style (Zelda)
- Check out Darkmusician's videos for this one. He only plays as Zelda (not as Sheik) and he plays her uber-agressive. He approaches well and puts a lot of pressure on his opponents. He defends when he needs to but always tries to keep the initiative. DM uses a lot of SH Lightning Kick approaches and always goes for spikes, Uair for star-ko's etc. What this style has to offer is that, with so many of Zelda's attacks being able to kill, you are a constant KO threat to your opponent. This makes your opponent think twice about every move because openings are possible KO. The drawback of this style is that it's risky. Zelda requires a lot of precise timing and a lot of precise spacing. When you are constantly on the offense and keeping pressure on your opponent you don't have a lot of time for either, so this style asks a lot of the player behind Zelda. Not everyone (including myself) is able to keep up this amount of pace with Zelda.
1b) Main Offensive Sheik :
- Sheik's offense is, of course, all about SPEED. Her moves aren't terribly strong, but they're fast and they have little lag. Make use of these two excellent qualities that are Sheik's main weapons. Sheik has the ability to literally overwhelm her opponent with attacks. Her dash attack has a very useful angle to it to knock opponents up and jump after them to harrass them. Her other main offensive weapons are her needles, her DSmash, her aerials and her Ftilt lock. Make sure to vary the way you use your needles. They are important as damage dealers (3% per needle, 18 max damage for a single volley) but perhaps even more important for breaking an opponent's moves and momentum. They make for a nice approach by throwing six of them ahead of you and rushing in after them. Finally, Sheik's recovery is great and her aerials are strong, this equals off-stage gimping ability. Sheik's main source of kills is rushing after opponents off-stage and finishing the job there. Be aware of this, as Sheik's inability to otherwise score kills could get frustrating.
The ability to just throw non-stop offense at your opponent is what makes this style great, but it also has its drawbacks. As stated, Sheik's attacks are somewhat lacking in strength so you are always vulnerable to counterattacks if you fail to knock the enemy away. The most useful attack to counter this is the Dsmash as it makes you a hard target and because it has decent knockback. Secondly, Sheik's main weakness is her lack of KO moves. She won't be KOing her opponents until pretty high percents and this means that the Sheik sooner or later will lose the momentum of her attacks and the initiative will shift to her opponent. Because of the time it takes for Sheik to actually claim the kill, this is practically inevitable, so be prepared for it.
I will cover her defensive style in this bit as well, as I feel that there really is no such thing as a purely defensive Sheik. Sheik is an agressive contact character that needs to be played as such. The defensive options that Sheik has available are of course her needles, her chain, her speed and, again, her off-stage abilities. As stated, the needles are fantastic weapons for stopping opponents' approaches, charge-ups, recoveries, attacks etc. Basically anything can be interrupted by a single needle, so make sure you do this. Limit your opponent's options and wait for the right time to retaliate. Which brings me to her speed. From a defensive standpoint, use her speed to retreat, to respace and, again, to interrupt. Sheik's attacks come out FAST so if you see your enemy winding up to land a huge blow, poke them in the eye and get the hell out instead of getting your head bashed in *coughIKEcough*. Needles are useful for this, but seeing as Sheik is a contact character you will more often than not find yourself close enough to throw out a more decent attack to interrupt your opponent. Then the chain. I must admit, I don't use it very often myself but it definitely has its uses. The tip stuns opponents and drives them back, which can buy you some time. I often feel, though, that that time is then wasted by Sheik having to pull the chain back in. Having the chain out and swinging around and around is a decent method of quickly clearing the space about you, but be careful when you use it, because it is easy to counter. Another use for the chain is defending the ledge with it. These two methods go hand in hand and are very similar in their execution. There are a bunch of other techniques with the chain. For example, one where you can imbue the chain with the properties of a previous attack called Chain Jacketing. Look it up in the Sheik forums if you want to know more. From a defensive standpoint, it is a viable tactic to pro-actively move the fight from on-stage to off-stage. With the chain and the Vanish move for recovery and a huge second jump and powerful, fast aerials for attacking, there are but few characters who can match Sheik off-stage. Try luring your opponent into off-stage battles to try and gain the upperhand.
2) Main Defensive/Counter style (Zelda)
- The exact opposite of the above. Players who camp Din's and wait for the opponent to approach and react as needed. Zelda also has a number of moves that allow for strategic manouvering of the opponent. Din's for drawing them in, Naryu's and Reverse Naryu's for relocating your opponent and, of course, FW to relocate yourself. This style also has its merits. Not every opponent is able to respond well to purely strategic play. A lot of mindgames come into play when a battle is fought out like this. However, the drawback of this style is that a lot of mindgames come into play when a battle is fought out like this :<. For this style to work, Zelda has to be able to read her opponent well, as she is reacting to what her enemy is doing. Guiding your opponent only goes so far. Once they figure out what you're doing and how you're doing it, you have to adapt and change your pattern, or you'll be a sitting duck.
As mentioned above ; Sheik's version of this style involves a lot of needling, locking and hit-and-run tactics. Sheik doesn't have as many options for strategically placing herself or her opponent but she is, of course, much faster than Zelda so hit-and-run is basically the name of the game here.
3) Damage Racking Sheik to KO Zelda
- This style involves using the speed, the approaches and the combos of Sheik to get your opponent to a high percentage then switching to Zelda to finish them off with a well-timed blow. I feel this style is decent enough. IMHO Zelda and Sheik were meant to be played as one character, else, they wouldn't have been put in the game as one character :F. The good thing about this style is that you take away the weaknesses that both characters possess and use the two to complement each other. There are, however, two dangers that players have to be aware of. 1) Sheik almost always has a slightly worse match-up than Zelda has (note the ALMOST) as she is far lighter than Zelda, far weaker than Zelda and a lot easier to bounce around. Remember that for this style to work you have to find a good time to transform. Creating said window of opportunity is easier said than done with Sheik. 2) There is one big, common and often fatal mistake many of these players (myself included) tend to make and that's : using the wrong character for the wrong job. Often after the change from S to Z players go on playing Z as if they were S and vice versa. Rushing at your opponent as Zelda while still having Sheik's speed in mind is a sure way to die and an easy mistake to make. DON'T DO IT.
4) Yin and Yang.
- This style is one of my personal favourites as it involves a huge, almost meta-battle, mindgame. It basically involves combining an Offensive style Sheik with a Strategic style Zelda, but in a slightly different way than the Racking S to KO Z tactic. Play Zelda as the strategic, space-dominating ownage that she is. Play the mindgames, do the warping and the spamming, let them come to you and never the other way around. Drive your opponent nuts while constantly staying one step ahead and out of reach. Then, just as they are adjusting to your style of play (usually takes a stock or 2 depending on your opponent) switch to Sheik and get RIGHT in their face using your speed, your combo's, anything you can think of. It's difficult to pull this style off as it only works if the difference in tactics is great enough that your opponent has to adjust back and forth. Also it's not always easy to make your opponent adjust to you as sometimes you'll be forced to adjust to him. When this style works, however, it brings a BIG smile to my face as you can literally see your opponents style fall apart as they try to keep up with you and fail utterly
. Well, these were just a couple of thoughts on different ways to play the character. Real fights aren't as black and white as all this, of course, but I find that having a number of different strategies at your disposal is never a bad thing. Most players will have developed their own styles of play which usually can be categorised as any given combination of above tactics. Still, it's all about options
Finally, I'd really like to hear any thoughts you guys might have. If you have comments, suggestions or tactics of your own please share them. I love thinking about this stuff
. You'll find that VERY, VERY few people play Yin Yang. Many Sheik players use Sheik, then Zelda for the kill, few will play a whole match with her. Likewise, some here will begrudgingly learn enough Sheik for Zelda's tough matchups, and switch to Zelda everytime they get anywhere near kill percent. Sorry, i get depressed about how small my peer group is. I mean, it seems like fewer people than the jiggs community. 
