New/Returning Puff Player needing advice.

[FoxwolfJackson]

So, I've played Jigglypuff off and on since the 64 days, but always used another main as a "safe" alternative in more serious matches due to the risk involved in using this pink puffball (Marth in Melee and Zelda in Brawl). Now that Smash 4 is out and I've started peeking a bit into playing on a higher level, I was hoping some people here could give some tips on what I could do to improve how I play?

I have two relatively recent videos here that are examples of where I'm at right one. One's a win on For Glory and the other is a stunning loss on Anther's Ladder. Any and all critique, advice, etc. would be greatly appreciated. The only change I would have to say from those videos to now is I do a lot less rolling and a lot more spot dodging.

Loss:

Victory:

 

[Infinite901]

I'd say the biggest thing is to airdodge less. That got really predictable. Other than that:
- More Pound. Its not a safe approaching tool but its a good defensive move because the lasting hitbox stuffs a lot of moves. It's also good at pressuring sheild-heavy opponents.
- More nair. Not much to say, it's a good move.
- In those two matchups at least, don't use Rollout. Their projectiles stuff it easily.
- Don't use Sing. Like, at all.
- More edgeguard attempts. When you got your opponents off stage you really just stayed safe on stage. You only need to read one airdodge or recovery to gimp a lot of the cast.
- More tomahawks, empty hops, fading aerials, etc. 90% of your movement involved shorthop airdodges, which is a good option, but only in moderation. Mix it up.
- Less running, more jumping. What can I say, she's way more mobile in the air.
- Utilt is a good move.

That's what I would say you could improve on. Your Rests were great and you were good at getting the grabs.

 

[FoxwolfJackson]

I'd say the biggest thing is to airdodge less. That got really predictable. Other than that:
- More Pound. Its not a safe approaching tool but its a good defensive move because the lasting hitbox stuffs a lot of moves. It's also good at pressuring sheild-heavy opponents.
- More nair. Not much to say, it's a good move.
- In those two matchups at least, don't use Rollout. Their projectiles stuff it easily.
- Don't use Sing. Like, at all.
- More edgeguard attempts. When you got your opponents off stage you really just stayed safe on stage. You only need to read one airdodge or recovery to gimp a lot of the cast.
- More tomahawks, empty hops, fading aerials, etc. 90% of your movement involved shorthop airdodges, which is a good option, but only in moderation. Mix it up.
- Less running, more jumping. What can I say, she's way more mobile in the air.
- Utilt is a good move.

That's what I would say you could improve on. Your Rests were great and you were good at getting the grabs.

Gotcha! I'll start adding pound as well. I used to use it a lot more as a way to get horizontal movement back to the stage after getting launched, but I always found opponents would always shield it then grab or counterattack during the cooldown period. Any ideas how to get around that?

I'll try experimenting adding nair as well. Is there any advantage to using it over fair?

I forgot to mention that I rarely, if ever, use Rollout anymore either. It's a risky move with little to no return for the investment.

I'm a little confused by the whole tomahawks and empty hops thing you mentioned. Is there a way to look that up? I actually don't even know what shorthop airdodges are either (although I'm assuming the name is self-explainatory). Most of the way I move is imitation from playing matches on FG, recording the close matches or the ones I get thoroughly owned in, and try to imitate what I see other players doing in terms of movement and how they counter me.

I'll definitely start experimenting with utilt soon.

Thanks for all the help! : D

 

[Stickmanlolz]

Use D-air/U-air more
Use dash attack to have an easier time dealing with disjoint/projectiles as it has invincibility.
Learn some set-ups into Rest, even though you have impeccable timing and awareness when using the move(I'm Jealous) you should learn some combos just as insurance.

Other than that Infinite should have covered most anything else I would have said. Good job, FG Marios are tough.

 

[CHOVI]

Gotcha! I'll start adding pound as well. I used to use it a lot more as a way to get horizontal movement back to the stage after getting launched, but I always found opponents would always shield it then grab or counterattack during the cooldown period. Any ideas how to get around that?

I'll try experimenting adding nair as well. Is there any advantage to using it over fair?

I forgot to mention that I rarely, if ever, use Rollout anymore either. It's a risky move with little to no return for the investment.

I'm a little confused by the whole tomahawks and empty hops thing you mentioned. Is there a way to look that up? I actually don't even know what shorthop airdodges are either (although I'm assuming the name is self-explainatory). Most of the way I move is imitation from playing matches on FG, recording the close matches or the ones I get thoroughly owned in, and try to imitate what I see other players doing in terms of movement and how they counter me.

I'll definitely start experimenting with utilt soon.

Thanks for all the help! : D

A well spaced pound can sometimes be used to approach/shield damage (I think it depends on grab ranges, but pound has an immensely deceptive range and a lasting hitbox so experiment with it)

Rollout can be good but be moderate. I wouldn't say NEVER use it because it's a tool, but never use it against projectiles

Only use Sing when ledge canceled... (as a surprise tool)

Nair comes out faster than fair(I think) and also has a lasting hitbox. It's good for beating out projectiles and it comes out faster than most aerials, even if the disjoint is smaller than fair's.

Also, I'm sure you could DI out of those ZSS combos. Learn to do so.

Regarding the Mario match, your approaches need to be safer and better spaced. An example of a bad approach was when you got fsmashed (this is hard to learn for me :C )

Also try to remember to pummel when grabbing because our pummel is one of the best and it's free damage.
I'm not absolutely sure about this, but you probably shouldn't use rest when it won't kill. At least I wouldn't do it because I don't like getting big punishes (I think there's a rest percentage chart somewhere on this board)

Nice rests, nice use of dash attack to cancel moves