So, with Super SmashCon about a month away, it’s time to buckle down and really start prepping. So first things first, I need to choose a main. FYI, this is going to be a long post.
I’ve narrowed it down to-
- Joker
- Zero Suit Samus
- Lucina
- Inkling
- Peach
- Pikachu
- Ness
Ness, as I’ve discussed, has been my main, since Melee. Pikachu is my main in 64 and the top-tier I’m most comfortable with. Joker is top-tier and has an insane recovery. Zero Suit Samus I don’t have good results with, but she’s top-tier and I have fun playing her. I actually have the highest online GSP with Marth, but according to every tier list, Lucina is the better of the clones. Inkling is another top-tier that I have fun playing, though I think that will be a larger learning curve for me. I’ve never really played Peach but she’s been pretty consistently in the Top 10 at majors..
I’m almost for sure going with Pikachu or Ness, but let’s see how the week plays out.
So, every night this week I warmed up in training mode and then played five online quickplay matches. Day Five was the only day I had time to get back to World of Light. Only got to play for a bit, but was able to unlock another character.
Night One I played as Joker in Online Quickplay. Went 0-5 but didn’t get blown out of any matches. Joker feels like a character that if you put the time in, can be really tough to beat. Don’t think I have the time.
Night Two I played Zero Suit Samus. Went 0-5 again, this time I had a lot of self-destructs. I was trying to edge guard or avoid edge guards and mistimed my Up-B. She’s just not a character I’m good with, though always lot fun.
Night Three I played Lucina. Went 0-5 again, but the matches felt like the closest. I don’t really know the moveset for Marth and Lucina, but I seem to play pretty well with them. I guess they just have good fundamentals.
Day Four I played as Inkling and went 0-6. The fifth match was such a blowout, I just couldn’t count it. I like Inkling, especially her movement, but I don’t win with her. I always get stuck trying to refill the ink meter. If I really put some time into Inkling that wouldn’t keep happening, but I don’t have enough time before the tournament.
Night Five I played Peach and went 0-5. Didn’t get many KOs either, but I did string together a few combos. Kept getting juggled, not much fun.
Day Six I played Pikachu and went 0-5. Well, actually 0-6 but that was because one match was so laggy I just self-destructed the final two stocks. Fought like three Captain Falcons. I don’t feel like I did too bad, I think two or three of the matches I could have won if I would have avoided the obvious smash attacks.
Day Seven I played as Ness and went 2-3! I think playing all those other characters actually improved my all-around skills. I also don’t care about being an annoying player to play online anymore, just going play to win and give a “Well-Played” or “You’re Pretty Good” after.
Though I don’t think I can take those two wins as significant improvement over the rest of the week. The first player I beat was playing as Diddy Kong and didn’t really have a strategy, they were just trying to win using Diddy’s speed. The second person I beat was a Mario that I was very well-matched up against and they won the rematch. Both games were very close and good tests of skills. Those are the kind of matches you want to get online, but they’re few and far between.
It is frustrating that Online keeps putting with opponents I can’t quite beat. My Global GSP keeps going up despite almost non-stop losing, I think because I’ve played many characters(and continued to this week) and the players that beat me must keep going up in GSP. Right now I’m over 5 million Roster GSP but no individual characters are over 3 million and none are even at the GSP they were before I played them once. According to https://www.elitegsp.com/ the average GSP needed to enter Elite Smash is 4.9 million. So, maybe if I had stuck with one character I could be in by now, or at least playing other schlubs.
Obviously, I must be improving if my Roster GSP has gone from 3 to 5 million, but because of matchmaking, it feels like I’m just treading water.
The other thing that super frustrating is how people game the lag online. Rushdown and Projectile characters can really spam their moves. I fought a Wolf and Toon Link this week that were super annoying. I couldn’t even move and my shield wouldn’t come up before the next move hit. It was super frustrating and not a learning experience at all.
On a similar note, Smash Bros Cast A Smash Bros. Podcast just ended. That podcast chronicled the host, N64 Josh trying to improve at Smash. I figured I’d give what he did a try, starting at the beginning of the podcast. So, this week I practiced shielded and spot-dodging mostly.
On Days Five and Six, I practiced against some level 9 CPUs, mostly trying to concentrate on spot-dodging and shielded. I did not do well. It felt like I’m actually getting worse because I used to be able to beat the level 9 CPUs.
On Day Six I got fed up and put the CPUs on Level 4 so I could practice just getting my dodging and shielding down.
On Day Seven, I only had time to prep in Training Mode and then play Online matches.
So, after all this rigamarole this week, what was the final decision on my Ultimate Main? Ness of course! I went through a similar crisis of faith in my character before I played in the North American Open earlier this year. That time I also tested a bunch of other characters before landing back on Ness. But I think after all this, Pikachu is solidly my secondary (and my main for Free For All battles), and Lucina is going to become my tertiary character. When I’m getting frustrated with Ness and Pikachu’s weaknesses I’ll work more on improving my game with her.
The reason I wanted to explore other characters though is to be more competitive obviously. Ness just isn’t a top-tier character. His recovery can be good but requires a lot of practice. I was gimped multiple times this week both by online opponents and by Level 9 CPUs. He’s fairly easy to juggle. Because he’s so floaty, it’s often hard to come back down from being knocked in the air without taking more damage. I self-destruct fairly frequently.
But you die by Ness’s quirks and you live by Ness’s quirks. He’s been my favorite since Melee. I love how you can chain together projectile attacks and then move in for an aerial or Smash. I love how much damage his Smash attacks do, and how they’re the easiest to load up for me. And I still get hyped whenever I hit someone with a PK Thunder 2. So, Ness stan for life I guess?
This week, I also starting prepping for the N64 Super Smash Con tournament as well. Probably not the best idea to choose the two games that are the most different to compete in.
On Night Four I played against Luigi. Started on Level 6 and went up to Level 9. Was able to win all four matches. Going to do this until I’ve defeated the entire roster. Or at least the tournament viable ones.
On Night Five I played against Mario. Lost to Level 6 CPU. Went back to Training mode and practiced separating my Tilts and my Smash attacks. Still having trouble with it, I think because of the controllers. The sticks are either too loose or too tight.
Went back and defeated Level 6 and Level 7. Lost to Level 8. Either Mario is better than Luigi (he is) or I was playing this too late (I was).
For my N64 training, I’m going to rewatch Nate L’s Smash videos and try to get the advanced techniques down. He has some great recaps – https://www.youtube.com/user/MrTomBombadille
On Day Six I watched his first advanced technique video and practiced the skills in it. Really still working on separating my tilts and smashes, much harder than it should be it seems. But after running some drills, I went back and defeated Level 8 and Level 9 Mario.
On Day Seven I ran the drills again and then went up against Captain Falcon. Falcon is one of the best characters in the game and a pain to play against. Lost to Level 6, then beat Level 6. Then lost to Level 7 twice. It’s going to take a lot of practice to defeat him.
The next month I’m going to spend prepping for Super Smash Con. Then I plan on finishing World of Light in Ultimate and finally releasing my ranking of Smash Bros games. After that, I may try to continue improving, with the final goal of reaching Elite Smash. Or more likely, I’ll move on to less stressful leisure activities. Or maybe I’ll finally give Super Smash Bros. for 3DS a try.