SCOTU
Smash Hero
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…………\¸………¸•´::::::::::::::::::::::::::::¸/::::::::|..`•„; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;¸„„•* …¸„•*………So I hErD yOu LiEk Me... …………..……..`^~~~~~~~•/~•¸:::::::¸/*^-„::::¸|……*•-„_; ; ; ; ; ; ;_¸„„•*´…¸„„•<*…………………………………….
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So you want to get good? You want to play this game? Here are some easy steps to help you start playing this game correctly.
Step 1: You suck.
The first step in starting to be decent at this game is to realize that you're not any good. Once you know this, you can find the flaws in your game and start moving on. You beat all your friends? You beat everyone you've ever seen play this game? You've never lost a Wifi match? You win all your school's tourneys? No one cares. This isn't good. This is actually an indicator of being really bad if you thought you were good. Again, I'm not saying this to insult anyone. I'm saying it so that you stop boasting about how "good" you are and start working on actually getting good.
Refer to this (http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=107229) for further reading.
Step 2: Go to Tournaments
This doesn't mean your school's gaming club's tournaments, nor your local library's tournaments. This means an actual tournament. Let me define.
Tournament (n.) [a.k.a. "Tourney"] - An event that has an "SBR certified" ruleset , advertised on SWF/AiB with at least 13 attendees (the vast majority of whom are members of the swf/aib community) who pay an entry fee in an attempt to win money. (pl. Tournaments, Tourneys)
Ok, so now that you know what a tourney is, go to some. Make use of swf's Regional Zones or AiB's Tournament Listings / Tournament Calendar to find Tourneys in your area.
Remember, the best tourneys to go to are those with the most "good" people, although this will be hard for many people to figure out, since they need to realize that at most each state only has a couple "good" people. At most. Most states don't have any "good" people.
Step 2.5: Go to Smashfests
again, using swf's Regional Zones you can often find smashfests in your area. These are free get togethers with the point of having fun and getting better. These are events where you'll get to play hours of friendlies with your smash peers, and more importantly, people better than you. Always try to play the best people you can.
Step 3: Ok, now what?
ok, now that I'm at this tourney/smashfest all that's happening is I'm just getting *****. This game sucks.
This is where you get better. Stop focusing on winning, but rather focus on how to win. Find out what you're doing wrong, what the other person is doing right, and what you could be doing that would make you better. Ask the people that you're playing against for some feedback, ask how you could improve. Ask them what you kept doing wrong, most good players will be able to tell you a thing or two (or a whole bunch) of things that you kept doing that they would exploit. Try playing games where your biggest focus is on looking for what you're being punished for, and then try not doing those things at all.
Look not so much for what moves better people are using, but for the spacing that they use when they use any move. Identify what distance and angles people are at when they decide to attack (this is matchup specific).
Further Readin: Playing to Learn
Step 4: In depth critique
So now you've been to some tourneys and some smashfests and have gotten a bit of feedback. You've also been fortunate enough to get vids recorded of some of your matches. If you have some on youtube, post them in the appropriate character boards on either SWF or AiB in a thread asking for critique. You don't need to link to all of them, only like 3. If you have to choose which vids to link, link the ones you lose in, because it'll be easier for people to give you helpful advice. That's the easy part. Here's the hard part: what advice to you listen to? It will be difficult, but try to identify users who know what they are talking about. Some indicators are (usually, but not limited to) things like being around on the boards for a while, belonging to a group of smashers who are honored for their knowledge. Once you identify which advice you believe will help you the most, try to incorporate it into your game. Try to find the contact info on the person who gave you the advice, because they probably have more that they can help you with. Most people (that matter) are nice enough to answer some questions or critique a vid if you IM them some questions or whatever.
Step 5: Play the game
Now you're probably at the point where you can probably start playing the game competitively. You've reached the step where you're a scrub. This is not a bad thing, it's a good thing. You're moving in the right direction. From here on out, to get better, you will have to attend many tournaments and smashfests. You'll have to play as many people as you can, the better the people, the better. Get an idea of who regularly places at local tourneys and make a point to play them every time you can. Be sure you're always focusing on how better people are processing situations and how they're coming up with strategies as they go.
Step 5.5: By yourself
So you've got no one to smash with at the moment.
Ok, so then, what do I do with no smashers around? Watch Videos. There are an immeasurable number of vids on youtube. A good source of them can be found in Swf's Tourney vid section, where tournament matches are frequently posted and you can watch vids of high level play.
Conclusion: Closing words
Becoming a good player is not easy, nor is it a short process. You will struggle while being bad for a long time, but don't let that discourage you. You should welcome the challenge of getting better as the largest driving factor of playing the game. If you do this, you'll have loads of fun and improve. Never except that you'll get better instantaneously or even quickly. Increases in skill come very infrequently, but when they do, they are noticible and you will be quite proud of yourself. Good Luck.
……………………………………..¸„•*¯…..¯*^|•-„………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………..¸•*…………..|’ ..`*•„¸…………………………………………………………………..
………………………………….ƒ`\……………’|…….*•„…………………………………………………… ………......
…………………………………|’..`\ …………..’|……….*¸………………………………………………………………
…………………………………|…..\…………..’|…………\................... .................................................. ...............
…………………………………|……\…………..’|…………’|,……………………………………………… …………..
…………………………………|…….\………….’|…………..\.................. .................................................. .............
…………………………………|……..\………….’|…………..’|¸……………………………………… ………………..
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……………………………………………`•¸…………..’|,………..|……………………………………… ………….....
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……………………………………………….¸)•^…………………..|..¯**^•-„_................................................ ..........
……………………………………………¸-•*………………………|…………¯*^•-„_........................................... ....
……ƒ*¯¯*^^-„¸¸……………………….¸-*´………………………….|…………………*•„¸…………………………….
…..|´………….*•„…………………¸•*…………………………………………………….*>¸……. .¸„„-•¸………………
…..|……………..¯*•¸…………..¸•´……………………………………………_………..|’: ::`•¸~^*::::::|……………….
…..|………………….`•¸………¸/……………………………………………../O*•¸.……|:::::::`\::::::::|’………………..
…..|,……………………`•¸…..¸/__…………………..¸-•^•-¸…………………|;;;;;`\……|::::::::`\:::::::*^•„¸…………… .
…..’|¯*•-„¸………………..`•¸.¸/¯::::¯*•-„……………..|;O,;;;\………………..`\;;;;;;|…..|::::::::::`|: ::::::::::¯^•„¸………...
…..`|…….¯^•„¸……..¸„„¸_….|::::::::::::::`^-„¸…………\;;;;;;;;|…………………`^•^*…..’|::::::::::::::::: ::::::::¸„•*………..
……’|…………¯*•-„¸.`\::::¯***^•–„¸::::::::::::`•¸………..`¸;;;;ƒ…………… ……………¸„•|:::::::::::::::::::¸„•*……………
……’|¸………………¯•\¸::::::::::::::::::::::::::::`\…………¯ ¯………..•…..•…….¸„„-•*;;¸/|:::::::::/:::::¸•*……………........
……..’|…………………`):::::::::::::::::::::::::::::`\_……… ……………__„„„„„•^*´;;;;;;;¸/..`\:::::¸/_:::::`\..........................
………|¸………………¸•´::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: \; ¯**^^^^^^^^^^^^^**¯; ; ; ; ; `•„;;;;;;¸/…..\¸:¸/….¯^•„„|¸………….......
………’|…………….¸•*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::|; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; `•¸•*……¸„•………………………………..
……….’|¸………….¸/:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|¸; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ¸„•*….¸„•* …………………………….......
…………\¸………¸•´::::::::::::::::::::::::::::¸/::::::::|..`•„; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;¸„„•* …¸„•*………So I hErD yOu LiEk Me... …………..……..`^~~~~~~~•/~•¸:::::::¸/*^-„::::¸|……*•-„_; ; ; ; ; ; ;_¸„„•*´…¸„„•<*…………………………………….
……………\¸„„………………¸/…..\¸:::¸/…….¯*^•-„„„_……¯*******¯__¸„-•¸/*´……`^•-„_.........................................
……………..\¸¯¯¯*^^^^^^^^^¸/……..`•-*………………¯¯/*********¯¯…..¸/…………….¯^•„¸……………………….
……………….\¸………….¸/…………….¸……………*|´………………¸/……………………¯*•-„……………………
…………………`•¸………ƒ………..\¸….|……………..|……………¸„-*__…………………….¸„•*…………………..
…………………….`•¸…..|………….`•¸..’|……………..|……….¸„•*…….¯¯* ^•–––„„„„„–––•^*´……………………...
……………………….¯•-¸|…………..¸•*^^\…………….|„„„„„-•^*´ƒ…………………………………………………….
………………... …………|…………¸/……`\………….|.\¸……¸•’…….………………………………………………..
……………………………’|,……..¸•’ ……..`•¸………..|…`•–•*…………………………………………………………
…………………………….`\¸|…|¸•’ ………….`•¸|…¸..ƒ…………………………………………………………….......
……………………………….¯¯…………………*^^^*…………………………………………………………. ...........
So you want to get good? You want to play this game? Here are some easy steps to help you start playing this game correctly.
Step 1: You suck.
The first step in starting to be decent at this game is to realize that you're not any good. Once you know this, you can find the flaws in your game and start moving on. You beat all your friends? You beat everyone you've ever seen play this game? You've never lost a Wifi match? You win all your school's tourneys? No one cares. This isn't good. This is actually an indicator of being really bad if you thought you were good. Again, I'm not saying this to insult anyone. I'm saying it so that you stop boasting about how "good" you are and start working on actually getting good.
Refer to this (http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=107229) for further reading.
Step 2: Go to Tournaments
This doesn't mean your school's gaming club's tournaments, nor your local library's tournaments. This means an actual tournament. Let me define.
Tournament (n.) [a.k.a. "Tourney"] - An event that has an "SBR certified" ruleset , advertised on SWF/AiB with at least 13 attendees (the vast majority of whom are members of the swf/aib community) who pay an entry fee in an attempt to win money. (pl. Tournaments, Tourneys)
Ok, so now that you know what a tourney is, go to some. Make use of swf's Regional Zones or AiB's Tournament Listings / Tournament Calendar to find Tourneys in your area.
Remember, the best tourneys to go to are those with the most "good" people, although this will be hard for many people to figure out, since they need to realize that at most each state only has a couple "good" people. At most. Most states don't have any "good" people.
Step 2.5: Go to Smashfests
again, using swf's Regional Zones you can often find smashfests in your area. These are free get togethers with the point of having fun and getting better. These are events where you'll get to play hours of friendlies with your smash peers, and more importantly, people better than you. Always try to play the best people you can.
Step 3: Ok, now what?
ok, now that I'm at this tourney/smashfest all that's happening is I'm just getting *****. This game sucks.
This is where you get better. Stop focusing on winning, but rather focus on how to win. Find out what you're doing wrong, what the other person is doing right, and what you could be doing that would make you better. Ask the people that you're playing against for some feedback, ask how you could improve. Ask them what you kept doing wrong, most good players will be able to tell you a thing or two (or a whole bunch) of things that you kept doing that they would exploit. Try playing games where your biggest focus is on looking for what you're being punished for, and then try not doing those things at all.
Look not so much for what moves better people are using, but for the spacing that they use when they use any move. Identify what distance and angles people are at when they decide to attack (this is matchup specific).
Further Readin: Playing to Learn
Step 4: In depth critique
So now you've been to some tourneys and some smashfests and have gotten a bit of feedback. You've also been fortunate enough to get vids recorded of some of your matches. If you have some on youtube, post them in the appropriate character boards on either SWF or AiB in a thread asking for critique. You don't need to link to all of them, only like 3. If you have to choose which vids to link, link the ones you lose in, because it'll be easier for people to give you helpful advice. That's the easy part. Here's the hard part: what advice to you listen to? It will be difficult, but try to identify users who know what they are talking about. Some indicators are (usually, but not limited to) things like being around on the boards for a while, belonging to a group of smashers who are honored for their knowledge. Once you identify which advice you believe will help you the most, try to incorporate it into your game. Try to find the contact info on the person who gave you the advice, because they probably have more that they can help you with. Most people (that matter) are nice enough to answer some questions or critique a vid if you IM them some questions or whatever.
Step 5: Play the game
Now you're probably at the point where you can probably start playing the game competitively. You've reached the step where you're a scrub. This is not a bad thing, it's a good thing. You're moving in the right direction. From here on out, to get better, you will have to attend many tournaments and smashfests. You'll have to play as many people as you can, the better the people, the better. Get an idea of who regularly places at local tourneys and make a point to play them every time you can. Be sure you're always focusing on how better people are processing situations and how they're coming up with strategies as they go.
Step 5.5: By yourself
So you've got no one to smash with at the moment.
Ok, so then, what do I do with no smashers around? Watch Videos. There are an immeasurable number of vids on youtube. A good source of them can be found in Swf's Tourney vid section, where tournament matches are frequently posted and you can watch vids of high level play.
Conclusion: Closing words
Becoming a good player is not easy, nor is it a short process. You will struggle while being bad for a long time, but don't let that discourage you. You should welcome the challenge of getting better as the largest driving factor of playing the game. If you do this, you'll have loads of fun and improve. Never except that you'll get better instantaneously or even quickly. Increases in skill come very infrequently, but when they do, they are noticible and you will be quite proud of yourself. Good Luck.