Umby
Smash Master
Intro
The purpose of this thread is to attempt an overview of establishing possible tricks to get into your opponents head with Sonic. Mindgames are unstable and spontaneous, and therefore a solid guide establishing solid technique is probably not possible.
I believe such information will allow variety in one's game enough to land those hits that become difficult to land with time during a match, namely those kills moves.
If all goes well, I will be updating periodically. (I'll have to update anyway, seeing as I can't get all thats on mind out in one take)
And of course, I would appreciate any input from the community.
Let's get started.
Terms to Be Familiar With
Just so I don't have to make constant references without some people not knowing what I'm talking about, here's a list of Sonic specific terms (or generally applied terms listed for the specific purposes of this guide) and their acronyms:
- ASC - Aerial Spin Charge
- ASD - Aerial Spin Dash
- DD - Dash Dance
- HA - Homing Attack
- SC - Spin Charge
- SCC - Spin Charge Charge (redundant?)
- SCJ - Spin Charge Jump
- SD - Spin Dash
- SDC - Spin Dash Charge
- SDJ - Spin Dash Jump
- SDR - Spin Dash Roll
- VSDJ - Vertical Spin Dash Jump
What Are Mindgames?
Mindgames, more or less, are movement tricks used to spur on a wanted reaction from an opponent. This reaction ideally places the opponent in a position that's more advantageous for you. It could give you a way to back out into a defensive or setup for a killing move, for example. However, mindgames alone will not net you a typical playstyle that will always win games, nor will they always be as completely advantageous as you may think. You should combine your technical skill and sense of spacing to be effective with mindgames, and always be aware of an opening for an offensive. Remember, mindgames by themselves are worthless unless you can punish with them. Even trying to back out into a defensive position through mindgames is not too feasible with Sonic, since his game generally relies on constant pressure, regardless of how hit and run it may seem.
Observe Your Opponent
Well, it's hard to get into your opponent's head if you don't know what he's thinking. Granted there's a general mindset in most smashers that will make them succumb to certain tactics every now and then, but for the most part, you want to catch onto your opponent while you have the chance. If you're feeling playful enough, you can always stand still or sandbag and watch the opponent make a fool of himself. Then you also have the "run-away-then-side-taunt" method. But in the heat of battle, you're going to need to glean information quickly, which Sonic can do in a number of ways:
Dash Dance (DD)
To be friendly to the new guy, Dash Dancing is simply tapping back and forth on your control stick very quickly. Simply put you'll dash back and forth in place.
While toned down from Melee, and now prone to tripping (ugh), DD still serves as a good spacing tool. You can pretty much do anything from it, and you'll keep the opponent guessing on what your next move is. If it is in your favor, you can also lure out projectiles easily this way (remember how often Falco would SHL a campy dash dancing Fox?). There are pretty much two general actions a player will take when dealing with a Dash Dancing opponent.
1) Projectile spam.
2) Rush you.
Countering projectile spam is where I believe Dash Dancing for Sonic really shines. You can lead an opponent on, then shield dash whatever they throw out, often netting you a grab, or at least the chance for a SH Fair.
When dealing with a Rush, you'll probably encounter a dash attack, in which case you shield and punish. Be careful though, as a number of Dash Attacks in Brawl aren't completely invulnerable most of the time, and characters like Fox and ZSS can follow up quickly with consecutive attacks. In the likes of Marth and Meta Knight, who can approach with short hopped aerials, remember that Dash Dancing allows you to switch into a run into any direction, so if you wish to remain in a relatively offensive position, use it to place you midrange within the opponent. Otherwise, get away completely and setup your next offensive.
Make SURE you pay attention to how your opponent reacts in these types situations.
Double Take
Sonic is fast...
The obvious out of the way, Sonic's speed is a mindgame in itself. Most characters will just sit back and allow Sonic to come to them, since he's too fast to chase, and they might end up running into an attack the never saw coming. In this instance, they're looking to shield grab or come out of a shield with an aerial as soon as he gets close. Key word being shield. You can counter this simply by running past them and coming back for an attack, most preferably a grab. You can see DarkNES386 doing this often in his recordings. This also works for Spin Dash Rolls. Simply zoom past the shield, turn around and lead into combos or whatever. What does this have to do with observation? This allows you to see how defensive an opponent gets while under pressure. There are numerous scenarios, and I'll go over the generality of them in an update in the near future.
Your Special Moves
All but one of Sonic's specials are similar in the fact that they look like him rolled into a ball. That, coupled with his down smash and dash attack, is another mindgame in itself. @_@ As matter of fact, Sonic's specials have natural properties that easily fake out the opponent upon use.
Homing Attack (Neutral Special)
Except for recovery purposes, Homing Attack is nothing by itself. It's only generally useful solo as a surprise attack, as the stall in activation serves to complement constant speedy approaches (this means if you've been zooming around the whole match, you can use this to throw your opponent off a bit ._.).
However, of special note, a useful feature of the HA is its ability to be canceled. Pressing the special button activates HA and pressing the special button again midway through the wind up duration will cut down on the startup lag.
You're Too Slow?
If you look at discussions on how other characters like to play against Sonic (unless it's a Marth or Meta Knight discussion), you may notice that characters would rather let Sonic come to them first. This is due to the obvious fact that Sonic quickly covers alot of ground, to which he most likely gains the advantage if you try and meet him midway. You can turn this into an advantage by mixing up your playing speed for a while.
Let's face it, nothing throws off an opponent like walking and tilting for about 20 seconds when you've been Spin Dashing and Dash Attacking all day. There's even an increased chance that you'll throw off their spacing and get a load of shield grabs in (and that's a note from experience).
Slowing down comes with a conflict - you'll often find yourself sitting idle. This can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, this could help give Sonic extra surprise edge on his next attack. It can be difficult to judge and react to a still target that can burst out at you at blazing speed. On the other hand, you have heavy spammers like Pit and R.O.B. and good offensive pressure whores like Marth and Meta Knight who can easily bog you down when your sitting still.
Slowing down shouldn't grouped in with one of those simple mindgames, like screech stopping to fsmash, but more of a way to add versatility to your general approach to somewhat disrupt how the opponent will intercept you. Sonic's speed is what gives him one of is few advantages over certain characters, and stripping that away can become a boon over your game. In other words, only slow down to switch things up a bit.
At this point I'd also like to introduce to you what is known as the "Slow Run" or the "Infinite Run."
There's more experimenting to be done, I think, with applying this technique before calling it a useful mindgame, and therefore won't offer advice on using this to your advantage. Just know that it looks pretty cool.
Will be adding more soon, obviously. Leave comments.
