Pierce7d
Wise Hermit
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2006
- Messages
- 6,289
- 3DS FC
- 1993-9028-0439
As it so happens, every once in a while, I get a message asking me to delve deeper into a topic regarding this game. Today, it was vertical spacing. As usual, rather than replying only to the person who asked the question, I present this topic to all who wish to learn.
This topic is easier to show, and tricky to explain universally (as opposed to character specifically) so if you are confused at all, feel I have left something out, or have more questions, PLEASE feel free to ask them in the thread. I'm going to suggest that when I post a video, you read the section, then watch the video, then read the section again. The sections accompanied by video are colored.
Before I can properly explain vertical spacing, I must first explain spacing in general. Spacing is properly positioning yourself so that you are at the optimal range to strike at your opponent while remaining as safe as possible. As usually, I will use Marth to demonstrate in my example. Most times, the optimal spacing with Marth while attacking is the tip of the blade. Regardless of it doing the most damage, if blocked or challenged, Marth is at the furthest point away from his opponent so that he is most likely to win the engagement. If you are Falco, trying to Bair a Marth who is spacing properly, Marth will win because he has greater range.
You don't always have to have a lot of range to space, or even more range than your opponent. If Marth is shielding, Falco still needs to space his Bair on his shield properly, else he could easily shield grab him for it. Many attacks are not able to be shield-grabbed when properly spaced.
Spacing also plays a huge role in zoning. Zoning is the act of trying to control a particular area in order to protect yourself from your opponent.
Normally, most players focus exclusively on horizontal spacing. In Brawl, while in the air, you can only control moving forwards or backwards. Aside from jumping, gliding, and a few moves, you can't really adjust moving up and down outside of fast falling, the same way you can decide to move left and right, both on the ground and in mid-air. For this reason, most of the spacing takes place horizontally, because most players will be fighting on same relative vertical plane.
However, even though we cannot freely adjust the amount we move vertically, we can exploit our opponent's lack of this ability as well, to gain an upper-hand, not only by being closer or further to and from our opponent, but by being higher or lower. This is vertical spacing.
Now, to explain vertical spacing, I usually like to use dramatic examples like Wario and Peach to explain, because they do a really good job of showing it. First Peach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqNxzP2uU0g
I lose this match. Normally, I play a much more aggressive style which is far better suited to combat a character like Peach. Her defensive power is simply lower than Marth's offensive power. However, in this match, I wanted to experiment with vertically spacing against Peach, and my opponent is also skilled in this aspect, which is why it's a perfect example for this explanation. Admittingly, I was also slightly nervous and excited to fight a skilled Peach, so I played more defensively, although that's less likely to happen today.
Peach's forward air comes out slowly, but it auto-cancels. This generally means that Peach is likely to use a falling Fair into the ground, as to not have lag when she uses it. It has a lot of range, and packs a lot of power. Normally, Marth isn't very afraid of forward aerials, since he has the best one in the game. However, Peach can also float, which allows her to adjust her horizontal spacing very, very, precisely. For this reason, I resort to vertical spacing. If Peach is aiming to zone me with Fair, she is likely going to be trying to auto-cancel, which means hitting a target on the ground, or near the ground, and she'll be falling. Peach players generally do not use a rising Fair, or approach with a floating fair without canceling, because then they will be punished out of shield in the cooldown of the attack.
Since the nature of this move calls for it to be used while falling, I can find it easier to avoid simply by being above Peach. This is why you frequently see me full-hopping. Trying to hit a Marth above you with a falling auto-cancelled Fair is far less effective, and allows me to crash down on top of Peach. Instead of going to head to head with a character that has better mobility through floating, and comparable range and safety, I simply went around. You'll note that Vanz is quite skilled, and also uses Full Hops against me because Marth's Fair suffers a similar weakness (though it has less start-up and probably less cool-down than Peach's Fair, and Nair definitely suffers this weakness.) I used Nair just to test it, and because it covers Marth for a long time while he's off the ground, while enabling me to catch a turnip and continue through with the attack, or cut through a turnip in a similar fashion.
You'll note throughout the match that Vanz and I try to navigate hits in with full hops, or cutting underneath the opponent. Being closer to the ground and lower can also be an advantage.
Vertical spacing is IMPERATIVE in winning most dittos, since you have identical horizontal range and mobility. Being on the rise or on the fall while launching your attack is generally very important.
Next, I'll mention Fox and Wario. These characters are far more similar in playstyle than one might originally think, because of the way they utilize vertical spacing to combat other characters. I'll focus more on Wario, since he's a more relevant character.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdbdyXapc1I
Wario has great aerial mobility, which you think would make him excellent at horizontal spacing, but his utter lack of range his aerials means that a patient player can often beat him in the air or wall him out. However, Wario players have learned that by full hopping, they can easily drop in above their opponent, almost completely bypassing their main defenses. This is why approaching with Dair has become such a popular tactic with Wario. Note how in this match Malcolm starts off with Dair, and uses it mainly. It's much harder for Ally to use Uair and Utilt to zone out a character as mobile as Wario, and is harder to do, since he's approaching from above, but also approaching from the side. By not putting himself in ftilt's path, he gets to Snake MUCH easier.
Note the use of Uairs whenever applicable, and Nairs are used mainly as a GTFO move, or as a dodge punisher. Fair and Bair are RARELY ever used to approach.
Although I would've loved to feature a good match of me and R00kie to talk about Fox, I could not find a recent video online that I felt applied to the lesson at hand. Instead, you'll just have to listen.
Fox rises and falls very quickly, but has low amounts of priority. This causes him to lose many direct encounters. To avoid this, Fox camps with lasers and forces an approach. Now, Fox has decent grounded options, however, he also has an amazing fall speed. Foxes have learned to fully take advantage of this by full hopping utilizing their fast rising speed to avoid certain options like SHaerial or grab, and still being able to fall fast enough to punish with a devastating Dair->****. I merely await the day when Fox players begin mixing in Illusions away on reaction when their opponent doesn't leave themselves open.
Also, Fox's use shine to give themselves a slight vertical boost and freeze when knocked away to avoid follow-ups and juggles. Skilled Marth's and Mario's use their SideBs in a similar fashion, as to not get punished for a typical airdodge. Some MK players use DownB to escape juggles by readjusting their height and distance simultenously. All of these can be examples of types of vertical spacing.
Please note that vertical spacing is not an alternative to horizontal spacing. You must still horizontally space for your overall spacing to be efficient and effective. Vertical spacing is merely another aspect of it. Also, the same way you can space vertically to avoid a horizontal line of fire, you can space horizontally to avoid a vertical line of fire. When trying to juggle Lucario, I dare not challange their Dair with my Uair directly. Instead, I move to the side of Lucario a bit so that the Dair misses, and I can still connect with a side part of Uair, or a different aerial, like Fair or Bair.
That concludes this brief, but hopefully helpful tutorial on vertical spacing. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, improvements, or criticisms, please feel free to post.
This topic is easier to show, and tricky to explain universally (as opposed to character specifically) so if you are confused at all, feel I have left something out, or have more questions, PLEASE feel free to ask them in the thread. I'm going to suggest that when I post a video, you read the section, then watch the video, then read the section again. The sections accompanied by video are colored.
Before I can properly explain vertical spacing, I must first explain spacing in general. Spacing is properly positioning yourself so that you are at the optimal range to strike at your opponent while remaining as safe as possible. As usually, I will use Marth to demonstrate in my example. Most times, the optimal spacing with Marth while attacking is the tip of the blade. Regardless of it doing the most damage, if blocked or challenged, Marth is at the furthest point away from his opponent so that he is most likely to win the engagement. If you are Falco, trying to Bair a Marth who is spacing properly, Marth will win because he has greater range.
You don't always have to have a lot of range to space, or even more range than your opponent. If Marth is shielding, Falco still needs to space his Bair on his shield properly, else he could easily shield grab him for it. Many attacks are not able to be shield-grabbed when properly spaced.
Spacing also plays a huge role in zoning. Zoning is the act of trying to control a particular area in order to protect yourself from your opponent.
Normally, most players focus exclusively on horizontal spacing. In Brawl, while in the air, you can only control moving forwards or backwards. Aside from jumping, gliding, and a few moves, you can't really adjust moving up and down outside of fast falling, the same way you can decide to move left and right, both on the ground and in mid-air. For this reason, most of the spacing takes place horizontally, because most players will be fighting on same relative vertical plane.
However, even though we cannot freely adjust the amount we move vertically, we can exploit our opponent's lack of this ability as well, to gain an upper-hand, not only by being closer or further to and from our opponent, but by being higher or lower. This is vertical spacing.
Now, to explain vertical spacing, I usually like to use dramatic examples like Wario and Peach to explain, because they do a really good job of showing it. First Peach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqNxzP2uU0g
I lose this match. Normally, I play a much more aggressive style which is far better suited to combat a character like Peach. Her defensive power is simply lower than Marth's offensive power. However, in this match, I wanted to experiment with vertically spacing against Peach, and my opponent is also skilled in this aspect, which is why it's a perfect example for this explanation. Admittingly, I was also slightly nervous and excited to fight a skilled Peach, so I played more defensively, although that's less likely to happen today.
Peach's forward air comes out slowly, but it auto-cancels. This generally means that Peach is likely to use a falling Fair into the ground, as to not have lag when she uses it. It has a lot of range, and packs a lot of power. Normally, Marth isn't very afraid of forward aerials, since he has the best one in the game. However, Peach can also float, which allows her to adjust her horizontal spacing very, very, precisely. For this reason, I resort to vertical spacing. If Peach is aiming to zone me with Fair, she is likely going to be trying to auto-cancel, which means hitting a target on the ground, or near the ground, and she'll be falling. Peach players generally do not use a rising Fair, or approach with a floating fair without canceling, because then they will be punished out of shield in the cooldown of the attack.
Since the nature of this move calls for it to be used while falling, I can find it easier to avoid simply by being above Peach. This is why you frequently see me full-hopping. Trying to hit a Marth above you with a falling auto-cancelled Fair is far less effective, and allows me to crash down on top of Peach. Instead of going to head to head with a character that has better mobility through floating, and comparable range and safety, I simply went around. You'll note that Vanz is quite skilled, and also uses Full Hops against me because Marth's Fair suffers a similar weakness (though it has less start-up and probably less cool-down than Peach's Fair, and Nair definitely suffers this weakness.) I used Nair just to test it, and because it covers Marth for a long time while he's off the ground, while enabling me to catch a turnip and continue through with the attack, or cut through a turnip in a similar fashion.
You'll note throughout the match that Vanz and I try to navigate hits in with full hops, or cutting underneath the opponent. Being closer to the ground and lower can also be an advantage.
Vertical spacing is IMPERATIVE in winning most dittos, since you have identical horizontal range and mobility. Being on the rise or on the fall while launching your attack is generally very important.
Next, I'll mention Fox and Wario. These characters are far more similar in playstyle than one might originally think, because of the way they utilize vertical spacing to combat other characters. I'll focus more on Wario, since he's a more relevant character.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdbdyXapc1I
Wario has great aerial mobility, which you think would make him excellent at horizontal spacing, but his utter lack of range his aerials means that a patient player can often beat him in the air or wall him out. However, Wario players have learned that by full hopping, they can easily drop in above their opponent, almost completely bypassing their main defenses. This is why approaching with Dair has become such a popular tactic with Wario. Note how in this match Malcolm starts off with Dair, and uses it mainly. It's much harder for Ally to use Uair and Utilt to zone out a character as mobile as Wario, and is harder to do, since he's approaching from above, but also approaching from the side. By not putting himself in ftilt's path, he gets to Snake MUCH easier.
Note the use of Uairs whenever applicable, and Nairs are used mainly as a GTFO move, or as a dodge punisher. Fair and Bair are RARELY ever used to approach.
Although I would've loved to feature a good match of me and R00kie to talk about Fox, I could not find a recent video online that I felt applied to the lesson at hand. Instead, you'll just have to listen.
Fox rises and falls very quickly, but has low amounts of priority. This causes him to lose many direct encounters. To avoid this, Fox camps with lasers and forces an approach. Now, Fox has decent grounded options, however, he also has an amazing fall speed. Foxes have learned to fully take advantage of this by full hopping utilizing their fast rising speed to avoid certain options like SHaerial or grab, and still being able to fall fast enough to punish with a devastating Dair->****. I merely await the day when Fox players begin mixing in Illusions away on reaction when their opponent doesn't leave themselves open.
Also, Fox's use shine to give themselves a slight vertical boost and freeze when knocked away to avoid follow-ups and juggles. Skilled Marth's and Mario's use their SideBs in a similar fashion, as to not get punished for a typical airdodge. Some MK players use DownB to escape juggles by readjusting their height and distance simultenously. All of these can be examples of types of vertical spacing.
Please note that vertical spacing is not an alternative to horizontal spacing. You must still horizontally space for your overall spacing to be efficient and effective. Vertical spacing is merely another aspect of it. Also, the same way you can space vertically to avoid a horizontal line of fire, you can space horizontally to avoid a vertical line of fire. When trying to juggle Lucario, I dare not challange their Dair with my Uair directly. Instead, I move to the side of Lucario a bit so that the Dair misses, and I can still connect with a side part of Uair, or a different aerial, like Fair or Bair.
That concludes this brief, but hopefully helpful tutorial on vertical spacing. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, improvements, or criticisms, please feel free to post.
