Scratch

Most people on this site don't seem to have a very good understanding of how to play this game well so I am making this guide. I plan to update it until it is more or less done so post some suggestions if you have any.

INTRO

So, you think you are good when compared to your friends but find that you get killed online by other users? It is likely that you are going about the game the wrong way. The strategies for many newbies include: walking up to the opponent and spamming moves, standing and spamming projectiles, or using items. If you do any of these things, you are not good at the game, at all. But if you practice and learn the concepts in this guide you will be much better.

CHARACTERS

Some newbies have the silly concept that all characters are equal. This is not the case. Every once in a while smashboards.com, home of high level smash play compiles a list of the best characters called a tier list.

newest SSBB tier list -> http://super-smash-bros.wikia.com/wiki/Tier_list#SSBB_tier_list

Generally, any character in D tier or above is decent. The list is somewhat representative of how these characters place in tournaments. For those beginning to get into high level play I recommend using Metaknight (AKA the Super tier character). MK is good because he has many fast and powerful attacks and has best offstage ability. MK, unlike some characters doesn't have a deep character specific strategy so he is a good character to learn with. Other good starting characters include Pikachu and Marth. I will only go in to detail about MK's moves so if you need to know the good moves for other character go to smashboards.com and look it up.

STARTING OUT

Fist thing you will want to do is start playing using tournament rules
listed here -> http://super-smash-bros.wikia.com/wiki/Tournament_legal_%28SSBB%29

Next you will have to break bad habits. Such habits include:
-Relying on items and stage gimmicks
-Walking up to opponents
-Using the same moves over and over and being predictable

Habits you will want to include are these:
-Using mainly air attacks for approaches
-Using follow up moves if possible (combing)
-Spacing yourself so that you don't get hit after an attack even if it was blocked
-Dodge enemy attacks with precision
-Use directional influence (DI) when you get hit by moving the control stick towards the stage

A good way to learn to play is by watching videos of pros. For MK, videos of MewTwoKing (M2K) are good. M2K is the current world champ of SSBB.

A sample video -> http://www.scratch.mit.edu/ext/youtube/?v=glBU33vMDHg

Guide in progress, more to come.

If you don't want to wait for more info, check out this link instead http://www.boricuagaming.com/showthread.php?75-HDL-s-Informative-reads&p=438&viewfull=1#post438

Last edited by archmage (2010-03-10 15:57:20)