How many mains are advisable?

[pKNeM]

Hello, I have a quick question. I have noticed that as compared to Melee and Smash64, the relative number of mains per person has increased from one-two to upwards of 5. I myself am currently testing myself with five potential mains; Marth, DK, Rob, Lucas, and MK and am considering what number to focus on would be feasible. I would most likely use the remaining as Secondarys/Counterpicks.

Competitively speaking, using Marth, Rob, and MK would be the most intellegent choices with the rest as secondarys especially due to Luca's Chain-Grab threats and DK's inefficiency against some characters however I am unsure whether to head this route.

I assume that the number of mains should be limited by your ability to develop the metagame of the characters you use and your time restraints. However, I was wondering what others would suggest and/or how many characters they are intending on learning towards competitive play.

Any information or advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

-pKNeM

 

[DarkStraw]

I think people have a bunch of mains just because the game is new and they are trying out ones that they like, i really only play GW and Olimar

 

[Juanda991]

I only have two mains, olimar and GW, hey darkstraw, we are kind of same, jaja

 

[Blizz]

I think the term 'main' is specific to one character, while the other characters are just other characters that they're skilled at, or maybe 'secondaries'. Marth was my best in Melee, though I was also very good as Jigglypuff and Falco. In Brawl, Marth is still my main, but I now play Ike, Mario, Luigi, Jigglypuff, Lucario, Olimar, and Falco. I went from three used characters to eight. All are fun to play, but I'm still the best as Marth, so I consider him my main.

 

[plasmid]

Unlike most people around here, when I choose a character as a main, I stick to just 1. In melee I used pika, then switched to Ice Climbers, but I hate the changes they made to IC in brawl so I decided to try out Lucas, who I had heard good things about (using pika as a second, but after the chaingrab thing I'm back to pika (pika's the best tho). I can still use Lucas, and consider him a secondary, but I haven't played with him since switching to pika.

I think that at the max you should have 1 main, and two secondaries. Any more would spread your practice time too thin.

 

[PK Hexagon]

More than three will cut into practice, definitely. Ideally, you'll want a main (a character you wouldn't mind blind-picking), and two secondaries (as counterpicks for when you lose).

 

[YagamiLight]

Two mains and that's it for me. I don't really believe in secondaries. You either use a character or you don't.

 

[Sonic The Hedgedawg]

enough that you'll be on at least even ground with any charcter (2 normally is enough)

 

[GhettoSheep]

I think you should decide it for yourself. How much time do you want to spend developing your characters. I know I started off only playing Marth at first. But then there were just too many great characters to play in Brawl. So now I "main" Marth but I use DDD as a strong secondary and I still like to practice with Kirby, Rob, GW and Ganon.

While you should figure this out for yourself, IMO, you should always have a true "main" One character you work on to make it as good as can be so you can compete in tournaments with it and keep improving. But of course you want to play with multiple characters, just remember to always have that character you can fall back on if you need to, in my case marth would be that character. I also spend half my practice time with him and it seems like a good amount to keep him up to par

 

[Tyr_03]

You have one main. Any others are secondaries. Azen could play numerous characters quite well in Melee but they were used as alternative options rather than saying he had 5 mains or however many it was. You should have as many secondaries as you can become proficient with. This will vary from person to person. Until you have a good bit of experience in competitive situations I would not suggest using more than 2 or 3 characters at most.

 

[Sonic The Hedgedawg]

not necessarily true.

people with the mains of:
ZSS/Samus
Shiek/Zelda
and
Squirtle/Charizard/Ivysaur

are doing themselves a great disservice if they aren't absolutely adept with all characters that are connected.

 

[PKSkyler]

I think you have one REAL main, even though you play with other characters you have one your best with by just the slightest margin, thats your main. The rest of the characters you play with are secondaries.

Not sure how to classify "Dual" characters though....(pokemon trainer, zelda/shiek, samus/zero suit...)

 

[SummerObsession]

The less secondary's you have the more time you can invest in your Main and secondary. The more secondaries you have the less practice with each character you'll have, but the more experience you will have of how others will use your secondary character. I suggest 1 Main and 1-2 secondary.

For me I main Marth and am still thinking of a possible secondary. possibly DDD, Falco, or MK.

 

[Downshift]

not necessarily true.

people with the mains of:
ZSS/Samus
Shiek/Zelda
and
Squirtle/Charizard/Ivysaur

are doing themselves a great disservice if they aren't absolutely adept with all characters that are connected.

I'm not sure if I'd connect Zamus and Samus as I would Zelda and Shiek simply because you cant switch at will.
You can go from Samus to Zamus if you have enough time, like after a KO, to do the taunt transformation but you cant go back.
If you play Samus but not Zamus... just dont get Smash Balls.

 

[Browny]

IMO everyone should at least have 3.

one who can beat dedede (Any fast character who doesnt get owned by the CG)
one who can beat MK/G&W (anyone with big range)
one who can beat snake...







lol dont tell me you honestly thought that was possible

 

[Ilex]

I only have two mains, olimar and GW, hey darkstraw, we are kind of same, jaja

I think people have a bunch of mains just because the game is new and they are trying out ones that they like, i really only play GW and Olimar

No way, me too. I think it's good to have 1-2 'main' mains (rofl) and some others on the side just for fun, or to use if you are at a bad matchup. I play as Luigi, Pikachu and Lucas just for fun, but stick with Olimar and G&W when playing seriously.

 

[Sonic The Hedgedawg]

I'm not sure if I'd connect Zamus and Samus as I would Zelda and Shiek simply because you cant switch at will.
You can go from Samus to Zamus if you have enough time, like after a KO, to do the taunt transformation but you cant go back.
If you play Samus but not Zamus... just dont get Smash Balls.

even so... it's incredibly useful to main both... it makes you harder to counterpick

 

[Downshift]

even so... it's incredibly useful to main both... it makes you harder to counterpick

I dont know as much about Smash as most of you Melee veterans, but I dont see the advantage of maining ZSS and Samus over maining ZSS and someone else.
With Zelda/Shiek you can transform and then change the match up and style of play to throw the opponent off, but with ZSS -> Samus....
I dont know, does anyone play with items like Smash Balls on while online or in tourneys?

 

[3xSwords]

IMO everyone should at least have 3.

one who can beat dedede (Any fast character who doesnt get owned by the CG)
one who can beat MK/G&W (anyone with big range)
one who can beat snake...







lol dont tell me you honestly thought that was possible

Wrong my friend.

You main the character you want and everybody's secondary is snake. If you main snake I guess that makes your secondary wsnake.

 

[Sonic The Hedgedawg]

I dont know as much about Smash as most of you Melee veterans, but I dont see the advantage of maining ZSS and Samus over maining ZSS and someone else.
With Zelda/Shiek you can transform and then change the match up and style of play to throw the opponent off, but with ZSS -> Samus....
I dont know, does anyone play with items like Smash Balls on while online or in tourneys?

point is, you pick samus, and the opponent doesn't know whether to counterpick against samus or ZSS

 

[Thestlos]

I would say 1 or 2 mains max. Just concentrate on getting good with two characters and don't over-exert yourself.

 

[NESSBOUNDER]

I've always used 4 mains since Melee. It hasn't changed for Brawl, but I'm considering on taking up a 5th.

 

[Vegeta214]

By definition, your main is the ONE character you play most. That's usually also the character you have the most experience with and perform best with. Having about 2-3 characters as backup (secondaries) to be able to counterpick is advisable.

 

[The Real Inferno]

Here's how it works: You main as many as you can handle.

In Melee I mained G&W, Young Link, Jiggly in that order. All other characters my skills came and went because I wasn't playing with them as much.

With Brawl I have a much wider aray of characters I'm more skilled with as I've spent a great deal more time playing Brawl than I ever did with Melee. The ability to play online of course facilitates this. BEcause of this I now main R.O.B., G&W, Dedede, Pokemon Trainer, and Sonic. I've had much more time to practice with all the characters though and while in Melee I was guarenteed to lose to my peers if I picked any of like seven characters, that number is more like five in Brawl.

I think it really depends on just how much time you have to practice with the characters you want to play with and how badly you wan't to have that versatility.

 

[everlasting yayuhzz]

I don't have a main, I have mainS. With an S. Making it plural, more than one. I play them all on the same skill level, so they are all considered mains.

 

[PK-ow!]

I think you have one REAL main, even though you play with other characters you have one your best with by just the slightest margin, thats your main. The rest of the characters you play with are secondaries.

Not sure how to classify "Dual" characters though....(pokemon trainer, zelda/shiek, samus/zero suit...)

Pokemon Trainer obviously requires you to use all three, and I'm itching to play the ones who somehow don't believe it.

I think Samus and ZSS can be divorced from each other considering the difficulty of switching, the directionality of the switching, and the fact that they were clearly designed as independent characters.

Zelda/Sheik is arguable. The inconstant load time which is just an insult to all of us, makes it harder than ever to entertain an actual dual strategy. But you can't put it aside that it might be, sometimes, good to switch during a match.

But they are still distinct characters. When you have access (or rather, have non-access) to a moveset, that's where the boundaries are of what you have to practice with. So if the question is how many guys can you practice with, Zelda/Sheik counts as two, whether or not you integrate them.

 

[orintemple]

Ideally one who was serious about going into competitive Smash would use a main and 1-2 secondaries. Anymore than that would take away from the others too much.

You would need 1 main, who you play first. This character ideally can take at least 50% of the matchups well. Then your secondary would be for the matchups that you are not proficient against with your main, or just have a plain factual disadvantage. Another secondary would be if you choose to play characters who do not have many good matchups. Basically you want to narrow your 3( at most) characters down to the 3(although prefereably 2) characters with whom you can fight any matchup comfortably using just those 2.

If you are not serious about competitive play, then this doesn't apply, just have fun with whoeevr and as many as you want. I am personally STILL in the testing characters phase. I thoguth I knew what I wanted but I have reopened the floor for new possibilities. There is nothing wrong with switching your main or secondary if you feel you no longer enjoy them, or they just aren't getting the job done.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I'd say no more than 3 but it's smart to sometimes practice as other characters so that you can learn their strengths, weaknesses, and various strategies that are effective against certain characters. With that being said, it never hurts to have secondaries so that you're prepared for most match ups.

 

[pKNeM]

Thank you for the input, it is appreciated. In my own personal situation I'm looking at maining either rob or MK (whichever one I don't choose is a strong and valid secondary/counterpick) and perhaps use marth as an additional counterpick.

Although I enjoy Lucas very much and am actually relatively good with him considering my inexperience, his issues with certain matchups and overall level of competitiveness I feel would put him more as a casual character for me. DK would most likely be in the same boat all though this would all be tentative based off of how well I can develop each.

 

[Makkun]

I don't have any mains, currently. Unless you consider playing 80% of the characters on a similar level maining... There are only a few characters I don't really know how to use yet. My goal is to be able to use every character well. In Melee I play every character. XP

Some people like having a main and a few secondaries for versatility and to stop counter-picking. I figure why not fully understand every character and have a broad horizon, while knowing character tactics for whoever I'm playing against.

 

[Admiral Pit]

I have 5 Primary Mains
1: Pit
2: Bowser
3: Metaknight
4: Zelda
5: Wario

These are characters that I will probably always use (Pit, Bowser, and Metaknight are guarenteed to stay)

The other 2 mains that make the Superior Seven are ROB and Peach.
Note that the Superior Seven is the name of the team that are my best 7 chars.
ROB and Peach i just picked up a week ago, but the list may change, but as mentioned before, the top 3 chars will Stay no matter what.
This is my background for my 5 best chars.

Pit: He will stay as a Main no matter what. His 2 reflectors and his great Projectile as well as his versatility keep him here. He teaches the projectile spammers a lesson, which Bowser normally couldnt.

Bowser: He will stay as a Main no matter what. His heavy armor and good Mindgames with his Infinite Jump keep him here. Plus he was my first favorite Nintendo char, known him for 10 years. Bowsercide is a must to teach spammers a lesson.

Metaknight: He will stay as a Main no matter what. What my other chars lack was Speed, and Metaknight is perhaps the only Speed char that I like. I gotten to the point where I can kill quickly with him.

Zelda: She was temporaily removed after problems with Spammers, and was too predictable. She came back after some lessons. She wasnt used for about a week or 2. Her absence was the reason why I picked up Peach. Now both Peach and Zelda are in my arsenal.

Wario: He is enjoyable to play with, and I wont leave him out. He is humorous and I enjoy annoying my opponents with him. He stays.

I used to have King Dedede, and I might bring him back. However, losing to spammers brought him down as well as him being predictable.

Now, in my opinion, 3 mains would be advisable, one to fill in the other's weakness. Take example for my top 3
Pit: Mediumweight, Has a projectile with 2 reflectors, and can glide. He is versatile, and somewhat balanced in weight class, size, speed, and Power, the "All-around" character.
Bowser: Heavyweight with a lot of power, with a Semi-Projectile (Firebreath). His Power will help Kill quickly, along with some mindgames from his Infinite Jump.
Metaknight: Fast Lightweight that can keep up with cowards (Mainly Fox spammers).

You can learn from this.

 

[Ayaz18]

It matters, if you put all your sweat into someone who's crap (like me, and Falcon) you should main as a second someone really broken for tournies, like Snake :D

 

[Steck]

You can only have one main but three secondaries are good to make up for certain weaknesses. For example I main G&W who can handle most characters. But my secondaries counter certain characters: Toon Link- Diddy and G&W(I don't like dittos), Bowser-Ike, Falco- Olimar
oh and character I use just for fun- Falcon

 

[N M E]

Well i'm going to main random and have Marth as my secondary.


-N M E
Europe

 

[TehBo49]

Technically speaking, there's no limit to how many mains you can have. If you are equally good with every character & you play them all the same amount of time, then you main every character. However, this would obviously take a long time to master every character & most people tend to favor a certain character.

 

[wasabicheese]

well, falco can take out almost everyone, and MK and marth can take out his weaknesses. they're my alts tho. (i believe u have one main)

 

[BrawlBro]

I didnt read this whole thread but i think its a common known principle to stick to one thing and get good with that instead of being, as the cliche goes, a "jack of all trades"

Getting REALLY good with one character will allow you to win more than being decent with 3.

Sometimes even when im bored with marth I force myself to play him just to keep my skill up and become used to his playstyle.

 

[MidnightAsaph]

I really only have Fox. He's my main. I made Wolf my second with Dedede. I really only practice with Fox though. Wolf and Dedede are my 'for funz'.

 

[Sonic The Hedgedawg]

You should have:
1* main
a few strong secondaries
several characters with which you are familiar

* if the character is Samus/ZSS, Zelda/Shiek or PTand all his pokes, it's advisable that you be able to main as all connected characters.

 

[JigglyZelda003]

I don't have any mains, currently. Unless you consider playing 80% of the characters on a similar level maining... There are only a few characters I don't really know how to use yet. My goal is to be able to use every character well. In Melee I play every character. XP

Some people like having a main and a few secondaries for versatility and to stop counter-picking. I figure why not fully understand every character and have a broad horizon, while knowing character tactics for whoever I'm playing against.

lol thats just like me. i knew how to play as everyone in melee and played as practically everyone then. i think however many mains you want to have and can practice with is the right amount.