To DD or not to DD?

[Hoefler]

I've still yet seen the purpose of dash dancing to this day. I still use it however to quazi taunt now and then. Please.. someone fill me in on uses and what not..

[1337]

Mindgames > J00.If you run in a fight wildly you WILL be smashed,but if you dashdance they might unleash their attack earily.Giving you time to counter attack.

Some Chars can use this better than others ie:marth/fox

(p.s don't mind the typos)

[FERNO]

With Fox/Falco especially Fox it doesnt give your opponent a target, the speed and keeping your opponent guessing..will you dash attack or not. If they attack then punish them. Yeah like 1337 said, mind games. On the DC++ hub look for a Tetsuya's Fox video and you will see the why Dash dancing makes a impact.
Dash dancing like all things should be done with other tactics.
With dash dancing you can go left or right at any time which can keep your opponent guessing and overwhelmed.
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

Fox/ Falco DD SHL, Up air flip kick the list goes on.

[M3D]

I think DD is overused by scrubs after they learn it and by pros before they refine their game... but it is useful when used right. There are a couple of rules to DD to make it really work.

First of all... don't overuse it in a match. If you're DD anytime you're on the ground, eventually you will get read by your opponent and he will punish you for it. Use it when you're both grounded, seperated but not at LONG range where you might as well be lasering or closing the gap.

Secondly, don't make any one dance last a LONG time. DD is best used for one or two repetitions and then ended with an attack or grab. DD'ing back and forth in one spot allows your opponent to figure out what you're doing and prepare for you to break free of it, whenever it happens. But if you dance towards, away and then towards again for your attack/grab then you've briefly confused your opponent and that's the point of DD in the first place.


So there ya have it. Do it sparingly and without a ridiculous amount of repetitions if you want it to be successful. Watch vids of Ken, Isai, Azen, KishSquared and other top players and you'll see them follow these rules. Over-use it and you'll look like a n00b and get dominated by anyone with half a brain.

/2 cents

[Shadowfury333]

DD in, harass a bit, DD out, repeat.

Once they're weak, DD in, smash until they're dead.

[choknater]

Since it's all in the mindgame, I advise that this tactic be combined with other mindgame strategies like wding backwards and triangle jumping. Be very cautious, for relying on the mindgame for a long time is a huge area for mistakes.

It's a bit better for Fox than Falco, because Fox's strongest attack can come right out of a DD.

[stilettotrap]

Fox's DD is a lot longer than Falco's as well. Falco can only run about a body width (if that) before he goes into his normal dashing animation... not great. Falco should probably stick to using backward blaster hops as an alternative to DDing, though Fox can definitely find uses for it.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know the exact order of DD distances? I know Falcon and Marth are probably the longest, but little after that.

[Glide]

The best way I've seen it used is in a VERY quick manner. A fox player from time to time will fox trot away to get some time to breathe; Due to the nature of the fox trot, fox can immediately be turned around into a quasi dash-dance to quickly catch an unsuspecting opponent with a dash-cancelled smash, or running attack. Aside from that, it just seems to be another feeble mind game made that's almost made obsolete by wavedashing.

[stilettotrap]

Not really. You can dashdance back and forth far more quickly than you can wavedash. This makes weaving in and out of the opponent's attack range that much faster, and that's the whole purpose of wavedancing and dashdancing in the first place. Granted, wavedashing gives you more options, but dashdancing is significantly faster. Some characters' dashdances are more efficient than their wavedashes anyhow. Just look at Falcon.

[Glide]

The problem with dash-dancing in and out of an opponent's range is that it's difficult to work with. That window when the turn-around is instant is only so wide; so running in to approach and turning around just doesn't work too well when you try to turn around, and have the awkward "skid and stop before I run the other way" animation. Granted, fox-trotting in and out could work, but that also doesn't allow for the insta-smash so easily. It's my opinion, (key word, opinion) that wavedashing/wavedancing is simply superior in many ways.

Edit:
Falcon; yeah, I can see that use. He has that obscene jump from a dash, so dash-dance to a shffled knee can be a bit dissorienting. I'll give on that one.

[stilettotrap]

Dashdancing isn't great for every character, like wavedancing. Characters with long initial dashing animations have good dashdances; characters with low traction and high jumping speed have good wavedashes. Then you have to consider a character's options out of a wavedash compared to those he has out of a regular dash. Though wavedashing may give a character *more* options, a character's *better* options may lie in his dashdance.

Dashing leads into dash attacks, jc dash grabs, jc usmashes, dc f/dsmashes, dc dtilts, and shffl'd aerials.

Wavedashing leads to smashes more quickly than dashing. Wavedashing gives the character any ground attacks unavailable during a dash at the expense of the dash attack (usually not a heavy loss). However, wd grabs aren't necessarily faster than jc dash grabs - if you're using someone like Ness, it's definitely faster, but then consider someone like Falcon, whose initial dash animation is faster than his wd. Shffl'd aerials from a wd don't have as much horizontal momentum, which can be good or bad depending on the situation.

Not much to say, I guess. The gist of it is that dashdancing is generally more mobile, whereas wavedancing gives more ground options. It also depends on the characters' ability to wavedance and dashdance. Marth can use both. Falcon has far more uses for dashdancing than his crappy wavedash. Someone like Mario would probably be better off wavedashing. Jigglypuff has few uses for either.

Yeah, anyhow.

[Glide]

Right. Now those are statements I can agree with. Well put Stilleto.

[PXTalon2000]

Originally posted by stilettotrap
Jigglypuff has few uses for either.


Jigglypuff has few uses for either? Really?
Like, I guess you could call it few. You can WoP out of a dash. Jiggly's dash attack is actually pretty good... Its JCed grab is pretty good, too. And its JCed upsmash isn't that bad either. Last vid I saw of AOB he used it a lot ::shrug::

One more notable option from a dashdance: the fwd B, which can be smashed for those characters who can use it.

[stilettotrap]

She really can't use either maneuver to weave in and out of the opponent's attack range, unlike Falcon or Marth. She can use dashdancing and wding it to create extra smoke or give herself some breathing room, but as for fakeouts, she has plenty of superior options. No, it's not useless, but as I said, she has few uses for it.