Just play the game

Just play the game. Play 50 more matches and you will understand it. You will see the patterns. You will develop the reflexes. I can’s stress it enough. If you want to improve, you have to play. Time spent not playing the game could be better spent playing the game. Thinking about the game also works. Time spent thinking about your homework, or that girl you have a crush on, could be better spent thinking about the game. Some of the best strategies I have developed came to me when I was not playing the game, only thinking about it. It is probably more beneficial than training alone on CPU’s or in training mode. That will only develop your tech skill, which is important, but will only get you so far.

All of the best players have amazing technical skill, but all of those with amazing technical skill are not the best players. The reason is simple, the most technical option is not always the best option. I have seen many players whose game suffers because of excessive movement, and even my game does at time. Perform only the actions that are necessary to execute your game plan. If you must trick your opponent into approaching you, do so with swift and flowing movements that they can understand, not hyper-fast technical skill. Concentrating too much on technical skill will also distract your mind from the more important issue at hand, what your opponent is thinking. At times I think the reason I was hit was because I was not fast enough. “If only I could turn > run > shuffle nair faster then I wouldn’t be hit when I do shield pressure!” However, I know this is not true. I was hit because the opponent predicted my next move. They knew I was thinking to bombard them with the fastest possible combination of movements and attacks. When you apply technical skill as a style, it will only hold you back. It becomes readable. I know what technical players are thinking when they play against me, they are thinking about how they can play fast. If you so blatantly tell me how you are going to play, do not expect me to play dead fish and be a part of your combo video, it’s not happening.

Any style besides pure adaptation is not going to work at the highest levels of play. Great players adapt to many pieces of their opponent that intermediate players often over look. It is not obvious, and most players probably don’t even notice themselves doing it, but there is more information to gather about your opponent than just their tech patterns or recovery. Do you notice how they react to using a single jump? What do they do when you turn your back towards them? What is their response when you start spacing for a nair? How do those reactions change based on their percentage? How do they change based on YOUR percentage? How do they change according to stage position? And so on. Not only do great players have keen observation, they are masters of stealth. They are always changing their moves and making sure not to reveal their own patterns.

Example: Your opponent is running at you from across the stage. As he gets closer, he will either

A) Dash attack, up smash, B attack, or grab.

B) Shield

a. Dodge

b. Roll left or right

c. Jump

d. Wavedash away, towards, or in place.

C) Full jump

a. Double jump

b. Attack

D) Short hop

a. Double jump

b. Attack

E) Wavedash away, towards, or in place.

F) Crouch

G) Keep running

A novice player in this situation may feel panicked and on edge. The opponent has many options, and he probably cannot predict which one they will use. Even if he could predict them, he may not know the best way to counter it. As he gains more experience, he is no longer confused by the many options available to the opponent, and he may even know some great combos to counter with after he predicts them correctly. As he gets even better, he uses less concentration to land his combo, and his thoughts are now free to profile his opponent, where he records their habits and tendencies to better counter them in the future. Players of all level have a memory bank of previous encounters with opponents, characters, stages, stocks, positions, and percentage. The best players often have a plethora of experience to call upon mid match to make quick fixes on their style to suit their opponents.

Perhaps you may even “feel” your opponent. You sense that they are confident, which means he will usually try to fake you out. You can feel their fear, so you know he will be paralyzed as you run shield pressure on him like a freight train. Their frustration makes the air tingle, it is so obvious that he will spam the stupidest moves in a desperate attempt to counter. Worst of all is when you feel them surround you, corning you, hitting you from every direction, so all you can do is pray that they make a mistake.

There is so much information to collect. Calm your mind. Be patient. Observe.