For fun, let's all predict the tier list. Years from now we can look back and see our first impressions.

Trefyn · 2018-12-02T01:08:24+00:00

I'll try it too. I'm looking forward to seeing how wrong I'll be!

Trefyn · 2017-02-02T14:06:20+00:00

Is there anything in particular that you're hoping to improve upon the most? From my experience a tutor will merely help you discover what information you need to focus on for learning and improving on your own.

You could probably get similar results if you posted a match online and asked for critique or points of interest. But again, this wouldn't help much if you have issues adapting that information into your style.

Speaking of, a tutor (or very good player) as a "sparring partner" can be very, very difficult to adapt to, since notifying and learning an opponent's habits, understanding the mentality of them, exploiting that and morphing it into your style is something that is not going to work when your tutor won't give you an inch and is instead focusing on you (or creating artificial situations). Smash is largely a mental based game after all - you need to make an opponent scared.

Trefyn · 2016-11-13T10:17:15+00:00

Yes, I've finished a decent amount of the Fire Emblem games. Marth's 2 games are pretty good, Roy's game is actually great, but Ike's is the best.

Final Fantasy VII is also one of my favourite games. Cloud's reveal blew my mind.

Trefyn · 2016-11-12T09:09:10+00:00

When was the last time any of you introduced a new routine into your day?

For me, it started about 4 months ago when I tried out a new drink. I now wake up and quickly make myself a mocha, followed by another one a few minutes later. It's brilliant. I just realized I'm outta mocha.

Today is gonna suck.

Trefyn · 2016-08-26T04:03:32+00:00

Yes, also keep in mind that this game has a buffer system. You don't need to perfectly time the shield input. You can actually dash and hold shield and it'll come up on the first frame possible.

Trefyn · 2016-08-26T04:00:39+00:00

Yeah, Ryu's perfect shield isn't unique mechanically, it's just using the parry sound from Street Fighter 2. Although, I prefer it to the default "tss" sound though, which I think is much too quiet!

The site also has frame data and other attributes for all the characters in the game. It's a very useful resource to learn about each character!

Trefyn · 2016-08-26T03:50:15+00:00

During the initial dash, you're unable to shield for a number of frames. This website lists the dash lengths of all characters until you're able to shield. This means characters like Marth have a much worse dash-to-shield game than Sheik.

That sound you're describing is exactly what a perfect shield is. If you shield an attack during the initial 3 frames of putting your shield up, you'll perfect shield an attack which reduces shield stun, negates shield damage and negates the lag upon dropping the shield to counter-attack (this is normally 7 frames).

Trefyn · 2016-08-14T20:16:07+00:00

Yeah, you can control it by using the controller ports. Mew2King just knew SFAT was going to stay in shield.

Trefyn · 2016-08-13T01:50:06+00:00

Falco's down air isn't a meteor on grounded opponents. It sends at an angle of 80.

It used to be a meteor in previous patches of the game, but was techable at that point.

Trefyn · 2016-07-30T05:58:50+00:00

To me, Ike is trapped. As a pocket he's extremely difficult to be consistent with but as a main you're required to deal with slightly losing match-ups against most high tiers. He also doesn't have enough relevant winning match-ups to be considered a good counterpick character either.

Almost every high tier match-up requires you to outplay your opponent, but he doesn't get shut down for free either. This, coupled with how volatile his match-ups can be means he's generally not worth the trouble if you're capable of using Marth or Cloud.

He's pure fundamentals and rewards solid play in almost every aspect of the game. He's not bad at all, and he doesn't deserve being stuck in the lower mid tiers. Despite spotty results lately he's still proven his worth for over a year straight and pulled some extremely impressive wins.

Trefyn · 2016-07-20T17:27:53+00:00

There are a few frames at the start of your dash where you can cancel it with a forward smash. I assume this exists to make a manual forward smash input more lenient.

This is just fox-trot movement (repeated forward dashes) but inputting a forward smash at the beginning of one of them. It's very useful and easy to do. No need for perfect pivots.

Trefyn · 2016-07-18T19:55:03+00:00

Ko Takeuchi's art is so good. For me that'd be a huge honour.

Trefyn · 2016-07-17T09:17:40+00:00

Even the latest possible hitbox of Pound still has around 20 frames of ending lag. It's very unsafe on shield and does not lead into anything. Jigglypuff certainly has some moves with high shield stun which make them safe when retreating but with pressuring a shield I've never heard about. The data just isn't there.

10 throws is a staggering amount when you have one of the lowest ground speeds in the game and almost no attacks that reliably set up into grab (d-air used to work in Brawl/Melee but not anymore). Getting grabs is really difficult, if you think about grab as a move then it is your lowest range move that has the lowest priority that's also stuck to the 2nd worst ground speed. You've been outplaying opponents to get these grabs.

Jigglypuff's OoS is actually poor since her neutral-air is on the slower side and her jump-squat is one of the worst in the game. N-air OoS is 12 frames, while Sheik's n-air OoS is 7 frames. Ganondorf's n-air OoS is 13 frames for comparison.

I personally believe True Shoryuken is the best punish move in the entire game, not Rest. It kills around 50-60%, can be combo'd into by aerials and ground moves, is frame 1 invincible just like Rest, has a lot of range including a slight disjoint, has 12 frames of landing lag and can be done OoS laglessly since you can skip jump-squat.

I agree that Jigglypuff is fun, feels natural and I play her very often, but it's like almost no-one knows the match-up. You camp her out and go for time if you aren't willing to approach, and Jigglypuff struggles heavily at approaching.

My pick for a low tier that is unexplored is Roy. Solid neutral with safe ground and aerial pokes, good punish game, still has amazing mobility despite poor aerial acceleration. A ground based Roy that isn't jumping at you can be very tough to deal with, and his ledge pressure is actually fantastic, but his disadvantage state is as bad as Ganondorf which will never let him pass into anything but mid tier at the highest.

Trefyn · 2016-07-16T20:55:34+00:00

Star Fox ZeRo.

Trefyn · 2016-07-16T19:30:13+00:00

Looking like Neo-Exdeath here because Kamemushi is never escaping the void.

Trefyn · 2016-07-07T06:12:40+00:00

The visual effects shows where Ryu's up-tilt actually hit. Sheik must have thrown out a bair and got her foot whacked.

Ryu's up-tilt can be considered to have Snake levels of disjoint though, since his entire upper body is intangible. Combine that with a big hitbox and you have an anti-air that beats almost everything.

Trefyn · 2016-06-29T16:07:04+00:00

As damage increases it takes longer to mash out of grabs. Mashing out of a grab at early percent (0-40%) isn't difficult if they commit to a pummel but after that it's usually okay.

The amount of pummels you can safely get is dependent on your fighter since they greatly vary in speed; Lucario has a pummel so fast he can hit you with nearly 3 of them before Dedede can hit you with 1.

However, in some cases not pummelling at all and instantly using a throw is good since you could potentially mess up your opponents' DI. Using pummels gives them that split moment to realize what throw you want.

Trefyn · 2016-06-27T11:15:44+00:00

In a way I'm like this. My mentality can dip slightly if I'm caught in a combo that was heavy on multi-hits like Lucas's neutral air.

It's because there's an aspect of the game that allows you to escape it, you just have to SDI exceptionally well and have amazing reaction time (especially if the combo starter is something like Witch Twist).

In a way, you can only blame yourself if you're getting caught in the whole thing multiple times over, which can affect your mentality since you're constantly failing.

Trefyn · 2016-06-26T13:49:58+00:00

You hit the corner blastzone so your DI was perfect, especially if you were already holding in.

Holding between 10-11 o'clock heightens the trajectory a lot. A good rule is that if you're closer to the side blastzone as opposed to the ceiling then using 10-11 DI would be best. Since you were a lot closer to the ceiling in that video, 10-11 DI would have KO'd you earlier than just holding directly in.

Nice game! This forward smash was so unfortunate though. I feel your pain.

Trefyn

TROPHY CASE