Alright, now that I'm home from work, time to type. I feel a lot of different ways about this weekend, not just from Smash 4 itself, but I'm only going to talk about the game here.
I only entered Smash 4 singles, going Fox the entire time. It's been a while since I've been in a large tournament with pools, so for some *dumb* reason I thought there would be RR pools and I'd be able to play against everyone, which would be my ideal tournament experience. It was instead bracket pools, which meant, I only got to play against a few individuals in a tournament setting.
My first match was against a man named Revin. He used Pac-Man first game, which is an annoying matchup I have not gotten used to, and I managed to win there, in a close game. Second game he used Mario where I destroyed him.
My second match was against a Sheik whose name I forgot. I had no trouble against him. I think it might have been his first tournament, so I hope he had a good time and got some good experience against the players there.
My next match was against 6WX who 2-0'd me with Ryu. Not sure what to say here. I got off a couple of cool combos, but I wasn't prepared.
The first three matches were unsatisfying for me. I didn't have fun, win or lose, and I was just anticipating more from my tournament matches. The next match, however, sparked the beginning of a salty afternoon for me. I was up against Kaizo's Mario, with whom I've never dropped a set in any of the times I've played him, even when I mained Marth. The match was called on stream and I played the entire thing like an idiot. First game, we took it to last stock, where I had a percentage advantage. I recovered and decided to hang on the ledge too long, so he dash attacked and stage spiked me (Battlefield). Second game, I took him back to BF and went ham for a convincing win. Third game was on Smashville, where, once again, I took a convincing lead. In my hunger to close out the set, I constantly fished for kills until gradually, from punishing my obvious attempts, Kaizo racked up the percentage and threw me off stage. A combination of Fox's linear recovery, F.L.U.D.D., and being forced to recover onto the stage into a USmash (good job to Kaizo for capitalizing when it meant the most) led to the end of my tournament run. I immediately left the venue to go cool off in the car.
When I came back, I just walked around, more quiet than usual, just watching people play (though I talked to Auroura for a while about random stuff). When I finally got to play friendlies near the end of the evening, they all felt completely unsatisfying, so I just made my trek back home. Even the next day, when I came back for more friendly matches, regardless of how much play time I got or how much I was complemented by my GA peers, I didn't feel accomplished. Nothing I did (aside from Fair -> Footstool I managed to pull off on a couple of people) felt satisfying. When I won, I was frustrated because I often had to do it off of a read, and not a setup, like most Fox players seem to be able to do. When I lost, it often wasn't even close, and I'm not sure where to begin to make it closer. I keep trying to rationalize in the fact that I haven't been grinding the game as much as everyone else, but it still feels frustrating all the same. I'm not sure what to improve on or what to do to make those improvements, and I'm gradually becoming less and less motivated to seek the answers. I still have a lingering attachment to this game, so I'll still play in tournament when I'm able to, but I'm not feeling how I used to about it.
That said, one positive thing that came from this weekend was teaming with Doombot for a couple of friendlies matches in doubles. I normally avoid doubles, for lack of synergy, but from those games, I might have figured out how I like to play in doubles and might try to enter in 2v2 tournaments with certain partners.
I also got to play Rango's Ike. I only lost because [insert johns here] and [insert more johns here]. His Ike is still [insert shit talk here].
</inside joke>
Monday, November 9, 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Lessons From a Mediocre Smash Player #2 - Learning and Application
Introduction
Hey guys! As an augment to the first entry of my mediocre lessons, I decided to relay my thoughts on some additional matters that I find relevant. While the first part focused on developing your mindset as a player, I wanted to shed some light on learning as a player. In the last lesson, I a gave a supplement for your attitude and outlook as a player, in order to address the frustrations you encounter in your quest to get better. In this post, I want to emphasize aspects of how you obtain knowledge and apply it.A City to Train a Kid
Recognize that as fans of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, we have built a community. Though your development as a player may be in your own journey, there are many resources that have been established to supply you along the way.
The Library
One of the things our players are very fervent about is the constant discovery and archiving of knowledge. Looking to start using a character? Looking for techniques and strategy specific to your character? There are many resources on places like Smashboards and Smash Hub (not quite as much info as the former) to help you get started. There are often even videos for demonstration or exhibition matches from higher-leveled players. You can emulate some of the aspects of their play to incorporate into your game. One of the best things about these resources is how accurate they are. Much of the information here is either verified or gathered collectively by many knowledgeable players, so you can be confident that what you gather on these sites is useful. Many hours were put into collecting and organizing this information, so don't let it all go to waste!
The Cinema
On the topic of videos, some people learn a lot better visually, which is why the existence of live streams and recorded media are so helpful to the community. I, myself, hold critical review of one's recordings in high regard for the learning process. Being able to pause, rewind, and break down what's going on in each moment helps get the cognitive juices flowing and allows us to see what we normally wouldn't while we're in the moment. Whether you're looking at another player's video or are looking for constructive criticisms on your own recording, don't neglect the hidden power within visual learning.
The Lounge
Data is only half the battle, though! Sometimes it's best to compare notes and experiences with other players (whether local or via forum). There are different ways to interpret data, and an alternate perspective can help you understand the game better. For example, you may understand that Pikachu's Quick Attack, based on your reading, but how do you apply it effectively? When? What can you do afterward? You'll have many questions to which player experience has the answer. Lean on your peers, particularly those with expertise in your character, in times of need.
The Dojo
Of course experience is one of the harsher teachers, and a good one, so long as you understand the lessons. This one can also lead back to the aforementioned visual learning, since the matches you play can be recorded for later review. However, you should get in the habit of being able to pick out at least a few things that you did wrong during, or shortly after, battle. The better you can do this, the better and quicker you can adapt later in the game/set. Don't just focus on the mistakes you made, however, there are some things that, if you notice you capitalized on, abuse it until the opponent finds a way to deal with it.
"What We Talkin' 'Bout?"
Now that we've done our information gathering, let's talk, for a moment, about practice.
At the lower levels of play, "practice" can be misinterpreted as the amount of time you spend playing. i.e.: "Practicing" your character's matchup against Sheik equates to getting your ass handed to you for 25 games straight. I believe this is such a crucial, crucial issue not even necessarily in regards to learning matchups, that keeps players from progressing. The essence of practice is not the practice itself, but practicing properly. Practicing efficiently. Practicing with a purpose. All the experiencing in getting trounced by TSM ZeRo's Diddy Kong isn't going to better prepare you for anyone else's Diddy unless you learn why *you* are losing against him and what *you* can do to alleviate the issues. Even then, once you've learned that, it won't help if you can't flawlessly execute your commands at the correct moments. These are the kinds of issues you want to reflect on when practicing.
One thing I like to do is separate the technical aspects of gameplay from logic and decision-making done in-game. This is because part of your practice should be dedicated to grinding out your inputs to make sure when you *do* make the decisions, you can perform them without fail. To often do I see failed B-Reverses or a Side Special that was meant to be an Up Special during recovery. I, myself, am actually guilty of rolling often in situations where I meant to drop my shield and dash. Training Mode is there to assist specifically with that. If you're constantly messing up inputs or a combo, then grind it out in training mode until you can't mess it up. Understandably, this can be boring, but there are all types of ways you can set up punishment/reward games to make it interesting. A "mini-game" I was taught in Brawl, for practicing Marth's spacing vs moving targets, is to sit on the far right side of Hyrule Temple, throw a Green Shell to the left at the wall, and try to land various tipper moves when the shell ricochets. In success, the results are immediately seen. In failure, you're tossed out to the blast zone.
I implore you, challenge yourself to polish up your inputs. Reducing misinputs and unnecessary inputs will allow you to minimize crucial mistakes, as well keep yourself in optimal position to seize opportunities, should they arise. If you don't believe me, count the times you tried to tech the floor, only to air dodge, and missed a punish or got punished while landing. Imagine what you can do if you properly tech, as intended, each time. Training mode. Use it. Grind in it. Don't know where to start? Try getting used to the ending lag of all your moves and try and use a number of them in quick succession. Try shield dashing as fast as you can. Practice B-Reversing, if you use it. Lots of ideas there.
The other half of the battle is *applying* the new things you've learned. A lot of this is a mental thing, since you can't always set up specific scenarios on your own. You have to remember to wait and bait an air dodge to set up that frame trap you've learned. You have to develop the habit of of using Utilt on reaction when someone hits your shield. There are a few ways you can go about this one:
One thing I like to do is separate the technical aspects of gameplay from logic and decision-making done in-game. This is because part of your practice should be dedicated to grinding out your inputs to make sure when you *do* make the decisions, you can perform them without fail. To often do I see failed B-Reverses or a Side Special that was meant to be an Up Special during recovery. I, myself, am actually guilty of rolling often in situations where I meant to drop my shield and dash. Training Mode is there to assist specifically with that. If you're constantly messing up inputs or a combo, then grind it out in training mode until you can't mess it up. Understandably, this can be boring, but there are all types of ways you can set up punishment/reward games to make it interesting. A "mini-game" I was taught in Brawl, for practicing Marth's spacing vs moving targets, is to sit on the far right side of Hyrule Temple, throw a Green Shell to the left at the wall, and try to land various tipper moves when the shell ricochets. In success, the results are immediately seen. In failure, you're tossed out to the blast zone.
I implore you, challenge yourself to polish up your inputs. Reducing misinputs and unnecessary inputs will allow you to minimize crucial mistakes, as well keep yourself in optimal position to seize opportunities, should they arise. If you don't believe me, count the times you tried to tech the floor, only to air dodge, and missed a punish or got punished while landing. Imagine what you can do if you properly tech, as intended, each time. Training mode. Use it. Grind in it. Don't know where to start? Try getting used to the ending lag of all your moves and try and use a number of them in quick succession. Try shield dashing as fast as you can. Practice B-Reversing, if you use it. Lots of ideas there.
The other half of the battle is *applying* the new things you've learned. A lot of this is a mental thing, since you can't always set up specific scenarios on your own. You have to remember to wait and bait an air dodge to set up that frame trap you've learned. You have to develop the habit of of using Utilt on reaction when someone hits your shield. There are a few ways you can go about this one:
- Set a goal in friendlies to practice your new tech/strategy. This may involve intentionally putting yourself in certain situations or slowing down the pace of the game to influence the opponent to make a move on you. For more offensive strategies, you may have overreach to land a move in order to try it out (ie. a grab combo that only works at 80+%).
- Work with a training partner in order to set up the specific scenario(s). If they need to spam a character's projectiles or attempt to DI out of your combos, it's helpful to have an extra set of hands.
- Go into training mode and mentally prepare yourself:
"Do situational practice. Look at stages and position yourself in certain spots as well as the opponent. Think about every single option you can possibly do; think what your opponent can do. Judge the value of each option, risk, and reward. Check all ranges-- mid range, full screen, close up, you directly above, them directly above, diagonal from each other, etc. And this is for every character you fight against. If you know what they can do, there's no worry or surprise as you'll be ready for it." - Ninjalink
To recap, utilize training mode for technical inputs (movement, techniques, combos) and to condition practical habits. If you can't viably do the latter in training mode, purposely look for opportunity in friendlies or do some mental training. Whatever you do, grind it out. These types of things will become habit after gratuitous repetition.
Analysis
One reason I really like video review is that it makes you think. When you can break down a game in spurts of a few seconds, you can question your decision making (even if those decisions ended up with positive results). When you realize that a LOT is happening within the matter of just a few seconds, those questions stack pretty high. That much self-criticism can get the logic juices flowing and condition you to think about your decisions during or shortly after a game, to see what you can improve on in a more immediate setting. To translate, the ability to critique your play, hours or even days after a match has be done, could eventually turn into the ability to critique your play shortly after the decision is made. This ability is key in allowing you to adapt to situations and possibly turn (or keep) a match in your favor.
To reiterate, you must ask questions. "Why?" is quite a pertinent one in most cases. Each decision you make has a certain amount of risk and reward and you must be able to evaluate whether not the amount of risk warrants the reward. When you ask, "why," you're evaluating the the goal, or reward, of your decision. When you can ascertain that, you can then ask, "how?" How will you obtain your reward? Here you can evaluate all of your options available to you at the time of decision. This relates back to the last section where we touched on mental training, so take it to heart. The better and quicker you can evaluate the situation, the strong your decision making will be. This is not easily achievable, but with enough data and critical thinking, you can tighten up your game, quite a bit. At certain positions where you'd normally be punished for an attack, you may now opt for a safer move and mitigate the damage you take. In situations where you punish the enemy, you may now select a stronger option that either gives you more damage or puts the enemy in a bad position. Everything's going to be character-specific, this advice is rather broad, but just remember that you have goals and various options that you can use to reach those goals. Analyzing your gameplay is being able to evaluate these in order to play efficiently and overcome your obstacles. If you're not sure what you need to look for, peer analysis (preferably from someone knowledgeable) is also recommended, and has helped me much in the past. Don't just rely on external input, though. It's important that you are able to think and arrive at logical conclusions on your own. After all, you are the one in control of your character. No one's going to hold your hand in every game, nor will they want to.
Wax On, Wax Off
To tie all of this together, you have to break old habits and create new habits. If you've ever gotten advice from a peer, you may have taken the advice to heart or used a phrase like, "oh, now I see what you're saying," but what have you done afterward? I often see comments from players who want to stop rolling as often as they do. This is a habit that has been developed from a comfortable playstyle, and when you're in your comfort zone, it can be difficult to step outside of it. Similar to what you can do with technical practice, you can challenge yourself here. As an example, perhaps set a high-stock match with a friend. Even in a situation where it's acceptable to roll, you could set a rule to where *if* you roll, you must lose a stock. Even if you don't completely stop rolling, you're now developing a habit where you're not rolling as much.
I believe some players plateau because they don't realize that, while they are learning new things in specific areas of their gameplay, they aren't doing enough to focus and apply their new-found knowledge in order to reach the next step. They then unintentionally revert to old habits and their gameplay remains stagnant (yes, this has/is happening to me as well). With that in mind, I want to reiterate, that if you want to get better, it's not enough to simply practice-- you must practice properly. You must practice efficiently. Most of all, you must practice with a purpose. Improvement isn't just a general thing-- it's not an experience bar that fills as you learn things. At times you have to break up what you learn into jigsaws and piece the puzzle together.
Hope this helps. Cheers.
Hope this helps. Cheers.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Post-Birthday Post!
Yesterday (September 1) was my birthday. It's at the beginning of the work week, but I took the day off. I didn't do anything different that I wouldn't do on a normal off-day, except get an emissions test to renew my car tags with, but I definitely want to reflect on why this is a good birthday for me.
First, it has been a while since I viewed my birthday as "special." Even now, it somewhat feels like just another day to me. All the warm wishes and any small gifts received are, of course, most appreciated, but each year passes by without significant even for me. I'd never felt like the day was anything worth celebrating-- I hadn't done anything significant in life and was failing as both a student and employee, during their respective time frames. A couple of months ago, however, thanks to a friend's referral, I was able to get out of the frustrating and exhausting work of retail and found a new, invigorating job at Kabbage, Inc. The work environment and perks are great, the people I work alongside are all phenomenal, and the pay is set to have me financially stable for the first time in my life. At my previous jobs, it was very difficult for me to have extra funds for leisure. I'd stopped attending Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments simply because I didn't have the cash or was always schedule to work on Saturdays. Even if I just wanted to spend time with friends, I was often reluctant to spend money on the necessary gas, since my usual crew are all each 45+ minutes away from me. This past Friday, however, I got paid, took care of my bills, and splurged. I somewhat side with the notion that "money doesn't buy happiness," but I'm *very* happy with my purchases.
First, it has been a while since I viewed my birthday as "special." Even now, it somewhat feels like just another day to me. All the warm wishes and any small gifts received are, of course, most appreciated, but each year passes by without significant even for me. I'd never felt like the day was anything worth celebrating-- I hadn't done anything significant in life and was failing as both a student and employee, during their respective time frames. A couple of months ago, however, thanks to a friend's referral, I was able to get out of the frustrating and exhausting work of retail and found a new, invigorating job at Kabbage, Inc. The work environment and perks are great, the people I work alongside are all phenomenal, and the pay is set to have me financially stable for the first time in my life. At my previous jobs, it was very difficult for me to have extra funds for leisure. I'd stopped attending Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments simply because I didn't have the cash or was always schedule to work on Saturdays. Even if I just wanted to spend time with friends, I was often reluctant to spend money on the necessary gas, since my usual crew are all each 45+ minutes away from me. This past Friday, however, I got paid, took care of my bills, and splurged. I somewhat side with the notion that "money doesn't buy happiness," but I'm *very* happy with my purchases.
- Avermedia LGP - This cool little portable recording device will allow me to help get some media out for my local Smash 4 community. I've always stood by video analysis being one of the best tools for helping players improve (especially for me), so I'm expecting this to get good mileage. I'm not really a good commentator, but it'll also allow me to stream games from home, should I choose to do so.
- This cool hoodie I said I'd get YEARS ago (which conveniently came in the mail on my birthday). Having a logo with my namesake on it is particularly relevant to me.
- Pre-ordered Persona 4: Dancing All Night from Amazon to get all the bonus stuff.
Material stuff aside, I've felt much better in the past few months, despite how monotonous my daily activities are. Most years, I don't even really realize my birthday has passed, but yesterday I was actually looking forward to hearing from anyone who thought to wish me a good day. I'm grateful for the opportunity that was presented to me to improve my personal life, but I also wanted to take some time and let everyone know how much I appreciate everyone's thoughts and how much they mean to me. Looking forward to another year with all of you, but filled with even greater things.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Lessons From a Mediocre Smash Player
Introduction
Since my blog entries are infrequent and the potential audience for this post may not know me, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Michael Martin, better known by my gamer tag, "Umby." I hail, generally, from Atlanta, GA (GPS/postal service seems confused as to what city my address is actually in) and frequent Smash 4 tournaments around the area. I've been in the competitive scene for Smash since late 2007. Never was good in Melee, was comparatively at a similar skill level in Brawl as I am now. I've gotten my feet wet in other competitive fighting games such as, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Persona 4 Arena, and a little bit of Tatsunoko vs Capcom, so some concepts I learned from these games, I've been able to translate into my Smash gameplay. Initially a Marth main, I've transitioned to a Fox main in Smash 4.The purpose of this particular blog entry is to help some of the lower level players step their game up to the next level. I am by no means a top player, as a matter of fact, I frequently get 9th and occasionally 7th place at most of my local tournaments. Pretty mediocre by my standards. I am by no means a technical player, despite how flashy I may occasionally look when I move (of course, playing Fox helps that illusion). However:
- I do think while I play
- Despite my lack of overall game knowledge, I am very rational in my thoughts in discussions
- The few higher level players I know personally and respect seem to imply that I'm at least overall solid as a player
That said, I'm in that awkward spot where I know and experience some of the troubles people having improving in a competitive environment, but have had at least a little insight into the thoughts that go into higher level play. Hopefully the thoughts I convey here will help make that small step onto the Plateau of Mediocrity, so that those ready to grind past that level will have a foundation. Let's get started.
Suit Up!
Before we even get into playing the game, it's important to play comfortably. Maximizing your efforts revolves, in part, of making sure your inputs and movement are crisp and minimizing as many input errors as possible. This part caters more towards personal preference. Like buying a set of new clothes, you may need to try out certain things to see what fits you. This can range from:
- Literally the type of garments you wear (i.e. some people wear gloves for a better grip / due to sweaty palms. If it's cold, of course make sure you have the proper gear to stay warm (or don't if you prefer the chill). Some people use Gunnars / No Scope glasses to prevent eye fatigue, if that's your issue.
- Music - Some people need to drown out the distraction of the crowd behind them, some people need a rhythm either to stay calm or get hyped up. Whatever your reasoning is, make sure you have some good, functioning earphones.
- Controls - This requires the most experimentation. By general consensus, some controllers and controller settings are recommended for both general and specific inputs, but make sure you use what is the most comfortable for you. For example, I use a GCN Controller. I make two separate tags for two different controls; one for Fox, where I change my C-Stick to "Attack" and one for Marth / Everyone else where I leave it on "Smash." In both cases, I use "Grab" on my X button, add an extra "Attack" on my R trigger, and turn the in-game Rumble feature off. You'll see a lot of different and weird things, so don't be afraid to try stuff out!
Now these are all just examples and suggestions. If all you need is the bare minimum, don't feel like these options are "enhancers." They are simply there to compliment the player.
The Mindset
I've been paying attention to what some of my local players are saying post-match / post-tournament. Comments range from "I should have beaten this person," to "I don't know how to deal with this character!" Some of you may be especially disappointed in your tournament placings due to this, but there are some key things you need to remember and acknowledge in order to improve:
You're Ass.
You have the potential to be a great piece of ass, but at the moment you are the backside of a stereotypical, anemic, white girl.
But...
Don't enter a match or competition thinking you can't win. How can you play at your best if you don't believe you can even be on top? The road to improvement is more than just wanting to improve- it's wanting to *win.* The mind of a worm (that knows he's a worm) still needs the heart of a champion to crawl out of the dirt.
A loss is a loss.
"It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning is winning!" Maybe you could have won if you did something different. Good. Acknowledge that you've made errors and learn from it. Don't blame the match on those errors, though. All anyone cares about is the result. YOU care about them for your personal growth, however. Don't brood over the loss, but reflect on your gameplay. The ability record your matches greatly helps with this. Take the L and move on to the next round or event.
Improvement comes over time (and sometimes in pieces).
This is obvious, but in the eagerness to gain power, we tend forget this simple fact. Maybe you got wrecked in a matchup you're unfamiliar with. That night you ask your colleagues what you can do to improve in the matchup. You receive sound advice on what to do, but on the next encounter with your mortal foe, you still get wrecked, despite the small improvements you've made. THIS IS NATURAL. Playing is more than applying "X" to "Y" and expecting immediate and drastic results. Along with what to apply, you need to know how to apply it. Along with those, you must actively process in-game factors as they happen, which is linked to your situational awareness, processing speed, and reaction time. These are internal aspects which, if they are lacking, may need to be worked on separately before you can move forward. Even in other fighting games, players use alternative games and activities of varying genres to improve on such aspects as reaction time. Sometimes you just need to play the match more with what you've learned, and look for ways to apply it each time. Maybe you can even have a training buddy to help you practice in specific scenarios. I won't expound on this for now, but make sure you understand the basic concept.
Composure
A tricky segment, as it varies from player to player, but it is important, nonetheless. Often, especially for new tournament-goers, we find ourselves caught by tournament nerves. Maybe in a high-octane match, you're sooooo close to closing out the match, you get the jitters and make several technical mistakes. Ideally, while you may not want to always be calm, you want to be composed enough that all of your decisions are sound. So many matches have been lost by the player in the lead from being over-eager to close the game. When the adrenaline is flowing, sometimes nature overrides our rational thought, and we pay for it. I can't give solid advice to provide resolution for this, but it must be addressed so that you may work towards finding your own solution. As aforementioned, some players find solace in playing music during their games. Breathing practices are a tried-and-true way. When you lose that stock, take a second for yourself before you leave the platform. Whatever you have to do, find it, or you may find yourself SDing at 0% when your opponent is 150% on their last stock.
I wanted to address this in the "mindset" category because it is linked to how you feel and think about the game. All of what I've mentioned thus far is what I've taken in as a player, and the more I became attuned with it, the more composed I've become. I lost a match? Losing is frustrating, but I take comfort in the fact that I can learn from it to improve for the next encounter. I've come to terms that I am going to lose at times, and that's fine. At this point, the loss isn't important. There are other things to waste my brain energy on.
Think of this as a circumvention to getting frustrated. Frustration leads to bad decision making and sometimes, unwarranted blame, neither of which are supplemental to progress. This is a competitive environment, yes, but in part, it's a fun game that we love to play. They key is to drown out negative energies with positive thoughts and ideals.
Consume and Adapt
A little League of Legends humor there for some of you. :D
Adaptation is one of the most dynamic aspects of any fighting game, in my opinion. Here is where you transition from the character vs character and tie in the players (Player + Character vs Player + Character). Here is where you truly put your matchup knowledge to work. Here is where you punish your opponent for dash attacking all the time.
Here is where you force your opponent to wise up, or lose.
The Download
Your first goal is observation. There is so much information flowing in, I know, but when it comes to breaking the opponent, it is imperative to observe what they are doing. Any habits that you can find, it is your job to anticipate and exploit them. Even if you simply become more adept in defending or avoiding their offensive habits, this is an EXTRAORDINARY step in the right direction. Hell, the moment you learned to shield grab an incoming attack (...you do know how to shield grab, right?), you took a step in the right direction. But to reiterate, you must OBSERVE. Here's an idea on just how to do that from a post I recently made on Facebook:
This is just my method, but your peripheral may be advanced such that you can pick up on your opponent, just like that. Once again, video review is also helpful here. There are things that you miss in the moment that you can catch when you're able to just step back and watch. Hell, sometimes you just need to be hit by the same thing 3 times before you realize what's happening. That's fine too.
Once you've read your opponent's book, you'll need to publish it. This will vary, obviously, based on the player/character matchup, but you'll need to pick the right option for the right situation. I'll refer to shield grabbing, once again, because it's quite possibly the most common and relatable punishment scenario. I learned, earlier on, during my time playing Brawl, when playing an opponent of a lower level than I, I would run into "dumb" things and take unnecessary damage for it. However, some of these opponents had a tendency to dash attack or otherwise attempt an unsafe move, both of which I could shield. From there, whether the most optimal or not, the easiest option would be to shield grab. You'll find similar scenarios in some of your matches and it's up to you to figure out the best way to deal with it with your character. Make sure to ask your character's fellow players or visit character-specific forums if you're not completely sure. There's knowledge to be found everywhere.
The more optimal your punish, the more you can potentially frustrate your opponent...
And we just address what can happen when you're frustrated, didn't we?
Same Bus, Different Driver
Have you ever thought to yourself or witnessed someone saying something along the lines of,
"I play with Player A's Diddy and I do well. I know the matchup and Player B doesn't place as well as Player A. I should be able to beat Player B,"
only to get rocked, soundly, by Player B? There are character-vs-character specific things that you can exploit in any matchup, yes, but different playstyles among different people can make crucial changes into how you have to approach or defend against them. If course, when you play someone familiar, you're better prepared for what they can do with a character, but you often have to download the next player to make sure you succeed.
I'm going to reference a couple of players in my state, Limbs and Newly. Limbs is a Luigi main who often places above me. I have had a chance to play him numerous times in bracket. While I have a losing record, I believe I've put up a good performance, such that even when our matches aren't as close, he has to work for it. Currently, I believe I've slowly made improvements vs Luigi as a whole. Now, in one tournament, I played against Newly. I've seen him play several characters, but in our first match in the set, he decided to play Diddy. Not sure how frequently he plays the character, but in my time playing against him in that matchup, I didn't consider him a threat. He decided to play Luigi afterward (still not sure how frequently he uses the character), and while I still had it in my head that I was the better player, based on viewing some of his habits, I did much worse than when I played against Limbs, someone I'm more used to playing. I literally got 0-death'd off of one grab on Delfino on game 3, early in the first stock. In another case, I got to Loser's Finals against my friend, Justice, who is a Luigi main. Prior to our last set, I had a consistent winning record against the man. Was up 2-1 in a best of 5 and lost an entire set, not making the correct adjustments, while he in turn did everything he needed to do to win. It's very easy to slip up when you lack a certain respect for your opponent and fail to adapt, so throw underestimation out the window in serious matches.
Character Substitution
Let's make it clear that changing characters is not (necessarily) the answer to your problems. Sure, a lot of people gain a proficiency in one character and pick up 1-2 more to deal with characters that have a very strong advantage vs that main character, but trying to pick up a new character is not going to immediately solve any troubles that you may have. If you are going to pick up a new character for that purpose, ask yourself these questions:
- Who / what am I having trouble with?
- Why do I have trouble with it?
- Can I alleviate this trouble with extra effort through my main character?
- What all characters can I use to viably deal with this trouble?
- How, specifically, do these characters deal with this trouble?
- Which of these characters do I enjoy playing the most?
And once you acknowledge that using an alternative character may not automatically yield results:
- Am I willing to put as much time into learning this character as I do my main?
It's easy to say you want to learn Pikachu to handle the Fox and Diddy matchups you have so much trouble with, but that's not an indication that how to win those matchups just comes naturally to you by playing the character. Even then, for all you know, you, as a Ganondorf main, probably just had to make a few adjustments to your gameplay in order to better handle those matchups with your main character. However you decide to handle the situation, these are crucial questions to ask yourself AND answer. Otherwise, you may just be wasting time better spent on personal improvement.
Afterthought
The thoughts I've laid out here are relatively broad, I think. I do my best to provide examples for you to better relate to, but the reality is that no one can specifically tell any individual how to be better at what they do. All I can offer is some form of guidance, from my perspective, and provide some general information and suggestion so that you can think and make better decisions for yourselves. Everyone enjoys a different way of playing and must figure out a way to make the game cater to their needs. When I solidified myself as a Marth main, at one point I asked my colleagues, "Instead of being a zoning / trapping character, what tools can I use to be a more aggressive Marth?" I got varying answers to my question, but that's not important. What is important is that you use as much information as possible to make the game work for you. It's not always easy, sometimes it may not even be viably possible, but it's important to think and ask questions. It's important to experiment. It's important to observe and learn. It's important to be willing and able to change how you perceive the game. It's important to give it time. No matter how much you improve or intend to improve, don't forget that it's also important to have fun. Make winning a high priority, but don't make it your entire reasoning for playing the game.
That's all from me for now. If you have any comments or want to pick the brain of mediocrity drop some comments. Hopefully, whoever reads this finds it useful. If not, well that shows you just how much even I have to improve as a player. Learning never ends.
Peace.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
A Day To Myself (aka ADVENTURE TIME!)
It's been a while since my last blog entry, and truthfully it's not going to become a frequent thing in the near future. But it's also been a while since I've done any leisure activities, alone, outside my home and I need and outlet to jot it down and share.
To begin, my goal for today was to not be at home from 2:30 to 9:30pm and spend only a small amount of money. Considering how unimaginative I can be and how much of a shut-in I am, this is actually a tall task for me. I centered my plan around obtaining a Gamecube adapter for the Wii U. This morning, I did a quick search on its availability at the nearest GameStop and found one at the Sugarloaf Mills location...in Lawrenceville, GA... about an hour's drive from me... I figured the gas expenditure would hurt, but that automatically accounts for two out of the seven hours I needed to fill. Thus, I confirmed a reservation for the item, played a couple of League of Legends ranked games to make it back to Gold IV rank, printed out a $10 GameStop coupon, and left for a bit of my own Adventure Time!
Before heading in the direction of the adapter, I figured it'd be more efficient to take a trip to the dollar movie theater in Fayetteville. Catching a movie would certainly help fill in the hours, but the showtimes are so specific and far in between, that scheduling them after a two hour ride would be problematic. On top of that, there was a Big Hero 6 showing at 2:40, approximately 10 minutes after I left (with the location being 10 minutes from home).Granted the movie is already out in stores, but hey, I haven't seen it yet and it's only a dollar. Why the hell not? Before I get into that, let me get this out of the way real quick:
I enjoyed Big Hero 6, though. Reminds me of the fantasies I had when I was a kid, when I could pretend all my closest friends were superheroes. The hero tropes, overall, weren't the most inventive, but as a teamed force they made for some interesting action, especially from Honey Lemon and Go Go Tomago. I could also draw somewhat of a parallel between this and an anime I like called Heroman. The most base premise is the same - little kid obtains a powerful, white robot and eventually fights alongside him against the bad guys. Definitely a lot more to this movie than that, but whenever I see Baymax, I always end up thinking of Heroman.
At this point. it's only about 4pm. Past lunch time. I'm not really that hungry, but I decided to stop in at Stevi-B's for an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. This will give me time to sit and plan my next move, but if it turns out I AM that hungry, then I only spend $6 and I can go back for seconds. And thirds. And they have white cheese pizza. Aside from the impending sick feeling from a ton of grease, I see no downside here. While chowing down, I log in to Facebook to see two important posts. The first of which:
was drawn by Feywilde. I've recently become a fan of Steven Universe and this is, quite honestly, one of my favorite pieces by this artist and probably my favorite fan art of Garnet from the show. Cheers.
The next post was one from my friend, Peru. He suggested that everyone check their local GameStop for adapters that may have just shipped in. There's a store in the area, so before setting sights on that hour-long drive, I pop in and low and behold, there's one new and available for purchase. I scoop it up before anyone else has the chance to walk in. Great! I just saved a bunch of gas! But it's only 5:30... what do I even do now? I contemplated seeing another movie, but the next showing for anything of interest wasn't for another two hours. I decided to pull my last resort and go to the library.
Still in the Fayetteville area, the local library here is one I've never be-
Actually, I haven't been to any library in quite some time... huh. In any case, I'd plan to just chill and play Tales of Hearts R on my PS Vita for a couple of hours. Instead, I went back to an old habit and picked up a Walter Mosley book. My parents inadvertently put me onto Walter Mosley as a kid. There's a VHS movie adaptation of Devil in a Blue Dress that I watched all the time back then. When I found out it was originally a book, when I did read, I usually chose one of Mosley's mystery series starring private eye, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. The book I picked out today that mentioned a return of Easy was titled Debbie Doesn't Do it Anymore, though rather than the classic detective, it focuses on an adult video actress who goes by the stage name of Debbie Dare. This one caught me off guard, as I've never really thought about what a porn actress might think or say or how the act off-camera. Through Mosley's writing, I got a glimpse of a possibility- Debbie Dare admits herself that when it comes to certain things, she just doesn't give a fuck, but she shows legitimate intelligence and compassion for those she cares about. Her job puts her in front of (and underneath) the genitals of many men, but she understands it as, describes, and treats it as a profession. Given the nature of the work, I'd bet the average person doesn't see it as any more professional than prostitution, but actually putting a fictional story about the industry into intricate words, I'm convinced otherwise. I didn't really get too far in the book, but pairing that with my earphones and the Kimi no Todoke soundtrack kept me occupied until 7pm, where I traveled back to the movies.
To tie up the evening, I shelled out another dollar to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1. I honestly didn't plan to be impressed here. It was simply a means to fill in two hours. Can't really say much about it. I didn't dislike the movie, but it wasn't exactly a hype point in the day. Nothing really stuck to me that even makes me want to talk about it.
So, yeah. Was about half an hour off the mark, but that's an acceptable time to just walk around Wal-mart for a bit, then head home. I just feel somewhat accomplished today, as I found ways to entertain myself contrary to my norm (and within budget!). It also felt nice to be out by myself. Thus closes a successful Adventure Time, until next go-round.
To begin, my goal for today was to not be at home from 2:30 to 9:30pm and spend only a small amount of money. Considering how unimaginative I can be and how much of a shut-in I am, this is actually a tall task for me. I centered my plan around obtaining a Gamecube adapter for the Wii U. This morning, I did a quick search on its availability at the nearest GameStop and found one at the Sugarloaf Mills location...in Lawrenceville, GA... about an hour's drive from me... I figured the gas expenditure would hurt, but that automatically accounts for two out of the seven hours I needed to fill. Thus, I confirmed a reservation for the item, played a couple of League of Legends ranked games to make it back to Gold IV rank, printed out a $10 GameStop coupon, and left for a bit of my own Adventure Time!
Before heading in the direction of the adapter, I figured it'd be more efficient to take a trip to the dollar movie theater in Fayetteville. Catching a movie would certainly help fill in the hours, but the showtimes are so specific and far in between, that scheduling them after a two hour ride would be problematic. On top of that, there was a Big Hero 6 showing at 2:40, approximately 10 minutes after I left (with the location being 10 minutes from home).Granted the movie is already out in stores, but hey, I haven't seen it yet and it's only a dollar. Why the hell not? Before I get into that, let me get this out of the way real quick:
I cannot watch Disney's animated short, Feast, more than the one time I saw it today. I'm not tough enough. Can't deal.
I enjoyed Big Hero 6, though. Reminds me of the fantasies I had when I was a kid, when I could pretend all my closest friends were superheroes. The hero tropes, overall, weren't the most inventive, but as a teamed force they made for some interesting action, especially from Honey Lemon and Go Go Tomago. I could also draw somewhat of a parallel between this and an anime I like called Heroman. The most base premise is the same - little kid obtains a powerful, white robot and eventually fights alongside him against the bad guys. Definitely a lot more to this movie than that, but whenever I see Baymax, I always end up thinking of Heroman.
At this point. it's only about 4pm. Past lunch time. I'm not really that hungry, but I decided to stop in at Stevi-B's for an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. This will give me time to sit and plan my next move, but if it turns out I AM that hungry, then I only spend $6 and I can go back for seconds. And thirds. And they have white cheese pizza. Aside from the impending sick feeling from a ton of grease, I see no downside here. While chowing down, I log in to Facebook to see two important posts. The first of which:
was drawn by Feywilde. I've recently become a fan of Steven Universe and this is, quite honestly, one of my favorite pieces by this artist and probably my favorite fan art of Garnet from the show. Cheers.
The next post was one from my friend, Peru. He suggested that everyone check their local GameStop for adapters that may have just shipped in. There's a store in the area, so before setting sights on that hour-long drive, I pop in and low and behold, there's one new and available for purchase. I scoop it up before anyone else has the chance to walk in. Great! I just saved a bunch of gas! But it's only 5:30... what do I even do now? I contemplated seeing another movie, but the next showing for anything of interest wasn't for another two hours. I decided to pull my last resort and go to the library.
Still in the Fayetteville area, the local library here is one I've never be-
Actually, I haven't been to any library in quite some time... huh. In any case, I'd plan to just chill and play Tales of Hearts R on my PS Vita for a couple of hours. Instead, I went back to an old habit and picked up a Walter Mosley book. My parents inadvertently put me onto Walter Mosley as a kid. There's a VHS movie adaptation of Devil in a Blue Dress that I watched all the time back then. When I found out it was originally a book, when I did read, I usually chose one of Mosley's mystery series starring private eye, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. The book I picked out today that mentioned a return of Easy was titled Debbie Doesn't Do it Anymore, though rather than the classic detective, it focuses on an adult video actress who goes by the stage name of Debbie Dare. This one caught me off guard, as I've never really thought about what a porn actress might think or say or how the act off-camera. Through Mosley's writing, I got a glimpse of a possibility- Debbie Dare admits herself that when it comes to certain things, she just doesn't give a fuck, but she shows legitimate intelligence and compassion for those she cares about. Her job puts her in front of (and underneath) the genitals of many men, but she understands it as, describes, and treats it as a profession. Given the nature of the work, I'd bet the average person doesn't see it as any more professional than prostitution, but actually putting a fictional story about the industry into intricate words, I'm convinced otherwise. I didn't really get too far in the book, but pairing that with my earphones and the Kimi no Todoke soundtrack kept me occupied until 7pm, where I traveled back to the movies.
To tie up the evening, I shelled out another dollar to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1. I honestly didn't plan to be impressed here. It was simply a means to fill in two hours. Can't really say much about it. I didn't dislike the movie, but it wasn't exactly a hype point in the day. Nothing really stuck to me that even makes me want to talk about it.
So, yeah. Was about half an hour off the mark, but that's an acceptable time to just walk around Wal-mart for a bit, then head home. I just feel somewhat accomplished today, as I found ways to entertain myself contrary to my norm (and within budget!). It also felt nice to be out by myself. Thus closes a successful Adventure Time, until next go-round.
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