Brawl: More about timing than spacing?

[Randofu]

I've played Brawl for quite a number of hours at this point. Fans of Melee know that there are two huge concepts in the SSB series: timing, and spacing. Based on my observations, Brawl seems to put a huge emphasis on timing and a small one on spacing.

Why spacing seems to be less important:

1) Attacks in general seem to have larger attack areas (though some characters' areas have been reduced, like Marth and Ice Climbers).
2) You have fewer options for controlling your spacing without directional midair dodging (and wavedashing, as a result).
3) More invincibility/heavy armor frames means to space yourself correctly is to put yourself too far away to attack.
4) General floatiness makes it more important to retreat, land, and get your bearings against certain characters, rather than avoid their attack as you prepare to land near them for a counterattack.

Although spacing seems less important, it does have a few things going for it. One new thing is the plethora of attacks that change your momentum: ie, Toon Link, ROB, Sheik, Zamus, Ivysaur, and Lucario's Dairs, to name a few. I think that in the long run these attacks will be very important in the future, once we've adjusted to Brawl.

Why timing seems to be more important:

1) Shield stun is huge, but power shielding is slightly easier and extremely effective.
2) Midair dodging is essential for returning to the ground; since you don't have much control of your spacing, you need protection from "ground guarding".
3) Sidestep dodging is significantly more useful in Brawl. It's taken me a while to realize this. It really wasn't until I beat Boss Battle mode on Intense that sidestop dodging became a move that I perform frequently. I can't quite put my finger on why it's better in Brawl than in Melee, but I would guess that it provides more frames of invulnerability with fewer frames of invulnerability/lag.

Anyway, that's just my two cents on what I think the competitive Brawl play will tend towards. I'm hoping that some people will agree and that I'm not just totally off; after all, I was merely aware of the Melee competitive scene and didn't participate in it myself. Let me know what you think!

 

[Ilucamy]

I really didn't study Melee much (played it a lot though), but I think you're right. Timing seems much more important than spacing in Brawl especially when it comes to dodging attacks like Tabuu's weird red OHKO rings.

 

[Chrono Centaur]

Uhh, spacing for Bowser is still an issue, as Side-B and fair have barely any range at all. Snake's game is basically spacing with range attacks and grenades until he can get a tilt in and juggle.

I don't think the game is only or mainly about timing, spacing still seems like an issue, moreso, because attacks can be easily punished now and hitstun is next to nothing.

 

[Teben]

Timing and spacing really seem to go hand in hand, if you ask me. In fact, since you have fewer mobility options, I kind of thing spacing is even more of a task to deal with.

 

[ecstatic]

At sirlin.net you can find videos of Serlin explaining why spacing is the bread and butter (more or less) of Street Fighter. The funny thing is, the only way they can space is walking mainly (aside from the rare dashes and limited jumping.)

Also, floatiness empowers spacing. In melee, your air control was so limited (unless you were jiggs or peach) that air spacing, let alone battles, was more or less impossible. Now you can space yourself in the air, though.

My whole point is, Brawl isn't more about timing or spacing, they're both very important.


EDIT: Marth was the space-iest character in Melee, but also had the longest range, thus, your "people have larger area attacks" point is flawed.

Also, invincibility frames don't really affect spacing. It's just a way for some people to land slower attacks.

 

[Shukudai]

more stirring the pot than contributing anything, but i'd say mewtwo was spacier than marth.

 

[yoonie]

while it's true that attacks have bigger range, there's still a lot of spacing control required to sweetspot your smashes. also, the bigger ranges on recoveries means you need to be able to cover a larger area to edgeguard, which again comes down to spacing.

 

[rigapeen]

spacing is definately important. attacks have more range now so you have to know what people can do in what situations. if i do this will he be in grab range or hit range? is the shield stun long enough for me to attack him again or should i let him roll and place myself so i can hit him out of his roll?

for instance, ike cant just charge people diddy and sonic all day with fairs like other characters. they can stutter fsmash and hit even with teh shield stun. if ike hits witht the edge of the hitbox he may have space to shield/roll away. but if he attacks close enough so that he lands behind sonic/diddy hes pobably safe. so spacing is important just like it is in melee

 

[rigapeen]

while it's true that attacks have bigger range, there's still a lot of spacing control required to sweetspot your smashes. also, the bigger ranges on recoveries means you need to be able to cover a larger area to edgeguard, which again comes down to spacing.

qft. edgeguarding is really important in brawl. unlike in melee where edguarding is mostly near the edge (with some exceptions), pretty much every brawl character can jump off the stage and land a hit

 

[eazail]

Is shield stun, how long it takes to recover after blocking an attack? I'm still learning the terms, I wasnt around for Melee.

Also, what is edge guarding? Is that like jumping off and trying to keep someone from recovering back to the edge after a smash or something?

 

[rigapeen]

Is shield stun, how long it takes to recover after blocking an attack? I'm still learning the terms, I wasnt around for Melee.

yep

Also, what is edge guarding? Is that like jumping off and trying to keep someone from recovering back to the edge after a smash or something?

edge guarding is everything related to preventing someone from getting back on teh stage. includes edge hogging, spamming projectiles, jumping out and attacking, etc.