Resting Gettup Attack OoS

 

Because puff is light, CC makes you slide too far to rest confidently past low %s.

These numbers assume no shield DI so there is some jump travel time. If you shield DI in so that you are right next to them after shieldstun and can rest them right away it’ll be a little easier than what is listed.

Fox lying on his front
front hitbox ~8f window
back hitbox ~11f window (be careful to wait until he starts to stand up)

Fox lying on his back
front hitbox ~5f window (be careful to wait until he starts to stand up)
back hitbox ~4f window (be careful to wait until he starts to stand up)

Falco lying on his front
front hitbox ~14f window
back hitbox ~8f window

Falco lying on his back
front hitbox ~15f window
back hitbox ~5f window

Marth lying on his front
front hitbox ~8f window
back hitbox ~5f window (can dodge by crouching under it)

Marth lying on his back
front hitbox ~10f window but you have to shieldDI in
back hitbox ~7f window

Falcon lying on his front
front hitbox ~4f window
back hitbox ~9f window

Falcon lying on his back
hit1 have to wait for hit2
hit2 ~5f window

Sheik lying on her front
front hitbox ~11f window
back hitbox ~11f window (wait until she stands up)

Sheik lying on her back
front hitbox ~11f window (wait until she stands up)
back hitbox ~9f window

Peach lying on her front
front hitbox ~7f window (wait until she stands up)
back hitbox ~4f window

Peach lying on her back
front hitbox ~8f window
back hitbox ~10f window

Puff is too short to rest, should grab or dair.

Puff vs Samus OoS setplay

 

When samus pressures puff's shield, you can reliably profit provided you have a good reaction.

• dsmash = SH dair/rest 

• fsmash = SH dair/rest

• upB = upB has next to no shieldstun, so a direct punish depends entirely on if they can make it to a plat before you can after a reaction. With a good reaction and pursuit this is a rest.

• jab1= WD away (if jab2 hits you can asdi down fair/dair)
• jab2= rest 

• tipper ftilt = 50/50 WD grab/WD or shield in place and react 

• non-tipper ftilt = SH aerial 

• uptilt = SH dair isn't a true punish but gives a favorable position even on block

Fox Ledgedash Consistency

Fox Ledgedash Consistency

Fox's ledgedash is definitely the most broken technique in the game, but because the execution is tight there is a risk of SDing attached. Just how big this risk is depends on a number of moving parts, so it's a little bit complicated. In this post I will expand on the components involved, how they work together, and offer what I believe to be the optimal ledgedash methodology.

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Contents:
Components
   Cliffcatch
   Fall
   Jump
   Airdodge
ECB
Methods
   Frame Data
   Case Study
   Simulated Results
Execution Window and Standard Distribution
Consistency
Conclusion

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COMPONENTS

A ledgedash has 4 parts, Cliffcatch, Fall, Jump, and Airdodge. In order to get good galint, each of these needs to be timed appropriately. The closer they are to perfect, the greater risk that any one is performed too early and the ledgedash fails, at worst resulting in an SD, at best resulting in a ledgestand or another easily punishable action.

Cliffcatch:
When Fox grabs the ledge, he goes through 7f of cliffcatch animation. Afterward, he enters cliffwait. Starting on the second frame of cliffwait and not before Fox can release ledge. A perfect fall would give you a cliffwait frame counter readout of 0.

Fall
When Fox exists cliffwait he enters fall animation. He has to be in fall for at least 1f, so a perfect jump out of fall would give you a fall frame counter readout of 0. The longer fox falls, the lower he falls and the more invincibility he loses. Notably, if you press down to release ledge then the second frame onward of fall will be fast falled.

Jump
After falling, Fox needs to double jump toward the stage. Ideally, he does this as fast as possible in order to preserve height and invincibility. Depending on how far he fell, Fox will typically need to jump for 3 or more frames before airdodging. If everything preceding was perfect, this would give you a jump frame counter readout of 2.

Airdodge
The optimal airdodge angle is down and toward the stage at about 45 degrees (credit to kadano for the image). This angle will result in the best galint over the widest range of timings and ECB states, whereas other angles are all particular and will have striclty worse results (as will be demonstrated below). With the 45 down angle, the best possible ledgedash will result in 15f galint, which is insane.

ECB
Fox's ledgedash frame data changes per the animation preceding cliffcatch because it will influence his environmental collision box, or ECB. Some animations, such as a firestall, leave his ECB nice and small, but other animations, such as special fall, will make it significantly bigger. This will require Fox to jump higher before airdodging to avoid colliding his ECB against the side of the stage, resulting in an SD. More than anything other component, this complicates ledgedashing.

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METHODS

Frame Data






















The above tables contain the in game result for combinations of fall duration, double jump duration, and airdodge angle (with a DJFF ECB). The numbers on the axis refer to the corresponding frame counter readout. As you can see, there is NO advantage to ledgedashing with a shallower WD-ish angle compared to a 45 down angle. It is quite terrible. Additionally, you can see on the lower tables how pressing down (thus getting a fast fall on frame 1 onward) results in similar galint but a much tighter execution demand. From this we can conclude that releasing without fast falling and airdodging at a a 45down airdodge angle is optimal.

Now let's look at the frame data for no ff, 45 down ledgedashes for different ECBs.

Now we can clearly see why ledgedashing feels so inconsistent. Pay particular attention to the WD and special fall ECBs. If you ledgedash with the perfect timing that would get 14 galint in another ECB, you are guaranteed to SD! But we can also see a clear pattern emerge. With the exception of WD ECBs, you are guaranteed a galint of 10 or better if you airdodge after DJ frame counter readout of 3 regardless of fall timing. The airdodge timing is, next to cliffwait, the most important component. Compare that to the ffall charts above, in which a single frame difference in fall can require you to delay your airdodge an extra two frames! In terms of consistency, no ff with a 45 down is clearly optimal.
- - -

Case Study: Me
But what kind of consistency is reasonable to expect? In order to come to a better understanding of what human consistency looks like, I decided to measure my own consistency at each component in frame counter.

Caveats: I am a puff main. Although I am somewhat technical, I've never practiced fox ledgedashing before. I recorded myself repeating each component for a short time period. That is to say, I would ledgedash but only focus on one particular readout at a time. According to what I've read on practice, combining them while preserving their individual accuracy is totally reasonable and just a matter of more practice but like I said I'm new to ledgedashes. At this time I am more interested in looking at the distribution and looking at how that culminates.

Cliffwait (target 1-2)
can be hard because it req such intimate knowledge of exactly when fox will grab the ledge. I practiced it from different firefox sweetspots to add a more realistic variance.
Range 1-4 (excluding a couple outliers that came from lack of exp)
Avg 1.5
Mode 1

Fall (target 0-1)
for this I tried with 3 different methods, Down input, Back input, and C-stick back input (claw).

Down Input
Range of 0-1
Avg 0.4
Mode 0

Back Input
this felt really unintuitive, would take more practice to get tighter
Range 0-4
Avg 2.4
Mode 2

C-stick Back Input
Range 0-2
Avg 0.6
Mode 0

Jump (target 3-4 (marth wavedash))
Range 2-4
Avg 3.3
Mode 3

- - -

Execution Window and Standard Distribution

As expected, all of the above exercises demonstrated a normal distribution (i.e. bell curve).
For example, these are the data points for my C-back jumps look like this

2
3333333333333333
44444444444

This kind of shape, with a a mostly but not entirely 2f range was typical. I noticed that narrower shape (stronger mode) corresponded with more familiar inputs, but the range was still about more or less 3f.

That the standard distribution of a single input will likely span 3f is the most important takeaway from this data. I think that with a good amount of practice you can reasonably expect a 3f range with a particularly strong mode. With frame counter it is practical to single in on a mode and err to one side, but you won't be able to eliminate the edge of your distribution entirely, meaning that it is reasonable to expect consistent (95%+) 3f windows, but my experience shows 2f windows to be dubious. I would of course welcome anyone to try this out for for themselves, it just takes frame counter and a notebook.

- - -

Optimal Methodology
All of this lends to the following conclusions.

I think that the optimal methodology for Fox ledgedashes should maximize galint within 3f windows in which SDing is not possible. This precludes attempting DJ readouts of 2 (the 15 galint ledgedashes) as well as using down to release UNLESS you've practiced and verified that you have a 2f range, at which point the extra galint is worth going for. When practicing, a 2f range target to one side of an SD is very practical.

A theoretical best method for a more consistent ledgedash (with frame counter targets):
1) Switch to claw
2) C back (cliffwait target 1-2)
3) DJ (fall target 0-1)
3) airdodge 45 down toward the stage (jump target 3-4)

Question Word Prompts

Question Word Prompts

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Some recent thoughts

Why you enjoy the game is probably different from when you started or even from 6 months ago. Check up on that. What do you want to experience or cultivate in yourself? Why is that? Is your current routine the best way to achieve that? What would be?

Where your time goes reflects your priorities. If you don’t consistently spend time deliberately trying to get better then as of now you don’t actually want to get better more than you want to avoid the work involved.

When you choose to play the game do not allow it to conflict with your life. NEVER prioritize a hobby— or a passion— over greater priorities such as your health, finances, education, or important relationships.
I know that it’s in vogue to try to turn a hobby into a form of income via competing or streaming, but if you can’t get to a meaningful level of success part-time then you simply don’t yet have the tools to see significant success full-time.


Who you hang out with is basically who you choose to learn from. Your association is the context from which your social animal brain learns how to act. If you play with better players you will get better. If you don’t you won’t. Likewise, if you hang with assholes, you’ll unconsciously learn/normalize asshole behaviors. Actively seek out individuals that you want to learn from and imitate because you surely will.


How you play now is the result of your effort over the past two weeks. Hard work is a prerequisite for growth. Consistency is the secret sauce.

What items of practice would make the biggest impact at this time is a difficult question unless you have a deep understanding of the game. Unless you are the most knowledgeable person you know, it is most efficient to outsource that thinking to a coach. A wider perspective is invaluable.

Local Culture and Sustainable Growth

local culture and sustainable growth
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Super Smash Bros Ultimate comes out on Dec 7th. A new smash game is always a huge opportunity for local communities to thrive. I'd like to use my experience as a TO/regional coordinator-type person to speak to how to turn short-term excitement into sustainable growth by way of investing in the local culture.


WHAT DOES A NEW SMASH GAME DO?

Simply put, a new smash game always generates activity. It creates a buzz both inside and outside your community. First, that means that a certain number of people will come out of inactivity, at least briefly, to try their hand at the new game. Whether they stay on depends on if they have a worthwhile experience or not. Similarly, you'll get a wave of outsiders. Outsiders, who have not been previously initiated into a competitive smash culture, are usually looking to prove themselves, maybe make a quick buck, or see what competition is like. They always get brutally destroyed. But a certain percentage have a good time. As a TO or community, that demographic is your top priority. You want to provide a large wave of newcomers with a good enough experience that despite being humbled they enjoy the experience. The larger the initial wave and the better their experience, the more stay on, the more get good, the more bring their friends, the more take on community roles, the better for everyone.

SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS/CULTURE

While I lived in Wisconsin I saw the smash scene grow through the concentrated effort a handful of individuals. Their enthusiasm and sense of purpose rippled outward. Unfortunately, I've also seen the opposite, where a culture of toxicity or mediocrity transforms a subculture into little more than an insulated social group. In my experience, community-building involves some luck, but the primary causal thing is actually the local culture. A local culture creates expectations for how to treat each other. It'll leave a potent first impression, as well as act as a motivator that primes initiative (or lack-thereof) over the long term.

In practice, maybe the main thing to do is to crush egoism like a malevolent weed, because it is one. If in your local culture it's remotely ok to talk down to people then IT WON'T GROW. You'll get a slowly dwindling group of regulars that love to talk shit and wonder why their numbers are stagnant. Don't tolerate putting other people down, sometimes not even jokingly. It can be as simple as telling someone, "Don't be an ass, his experience is valid too." The experience of other players, no matter their skill, is more important than your ego. Sometimes this can be more subtle, like going out of your way to ask questions instead of giving pedantic advice. Careless words have a big impact. A couple of unkind comments can not just drive individuals away but shift the expectation and thus the behavior of everyone there.

Competition can bring out the worst in people, but it can just as easily bring out their best. Work hard to create the social expectation that this is a place to build each other up, not to tear anyone down, and you will be rewarded proportionally.


- - -

OTHER HACKS

Friendlies:
OMG tournaments with no friendlies/limited setups suckkkkk. Some people want a chair to watch top 8, but more people want an open setup. I'm here to play games, let me play games please.

Asking Questions:
Who is this guy?
How are they doing?
After every event ask yourself/others, what could have made this experience better?

Ease:
It's always as easy as you make it. The more someone has to go out of their way, the less likely they will do something. This applies to things like, practicing, driving, complimenting each other, everything. Similarly, if you don't do something yourself you can't expect it from other people. Be proactive! Set a good example!
If you can make a little change to make good behavior or good numbers or good protocol or what have you easier or more frequent, make the change!!!

The Case For Playing To Win

The Case For Playing To Win

The last post spoke to the variety of motivations for playing a competitive game. Brackets are filled with different people trying to fill different needs, and that’s fine. But playing to win does come with benefits that I’d like to expand on here.

First, we should hit on an unhealthy achievement-focus vs a healthier process-focus. This is easiest to illustrate using results. Results are clean, unambiguous feedback; you either played well enough to win or you didn’t. Anything more specific gets very slippery very quickly, so as a competitor you have to use them as a foundational metric for your progress. Because of this singularity, results can be a bit of an ego-fest, can’t they? It’s tempting to use them to inform our social dynamics, including who we’re allowed to look down on. Certainly, craving the recognition that comes with wins is unhealthy. And measuring your self-worth with results is extremely unhealthy, win or lose.

But playing to win can actually be an ego-killing process. And this is, I think, it’s ultimate worth.

To a “pure” competitor, the rules of a game are an arena. Within that arena, they will use any means necessary to get the W. They play to win. They seek out and abuse the best characters, tactics, and strategies. Eventually, they have to start making decisions as to how to best use their time in order to win. But because the task (to dominate) is simple, prioritization is relatively simple.

This is in contrast with a “less pure” competitor that has other priorities, be they mastery of their character, fun, experimentation, a want to impress others, or what have you. Having other priorities is fine. It’s just more complicated because they have to reconcile those priorities within the same win-or-lose arena.

The chief value of playing to win, as opposed to an alternate priority, is that it is totally impersonal. Any conflicting desire is just that, conflicting. In order to commit to your best, you have to somewhat arbitrarily reject those desires that would have you play suboptimally. That takes discernment and grit. Chasing the W becomes a means by which you rearrange and overcome your inhibitions and subordinate impulses. That is the sort of tao of games. You commit to a process by which rather than self-assert, you may self-empty so that you can realize.

Lastly, it should be emphasized that playing to win is not some kind of moral superiority. 

Games are NOT an arena for your moralism.

Rather, there are benefits that I appreciate. Someone else at this time in their life may or may not and I should be cognizant of that.

Identifying Motivators / Why Play Melee

Identifying Motivators / Why Play Melee

Why you want to play melee influences how you can best play melee.

You can play melee for fun, for mastery, for achievement, to learn, to invent, for the social dynamic, etc. Any reason that you want to.
ALL of these are viable reasons to play. They are also attached to different systems of prioritization. As such, the best advice for each type of player would be different.

Sometimes, well-meaning individuals create unnecessary roadblocks for other people because they don’t discern or ask about their motivations. It’s easy to imagine a more competitive individual degrading a Yoshi main for not “playing to win,” or “wasting their time” but actually the personal prioritization places “achievement” lower than another aspect of competition such as “mastery.”

Similarly, we can imagine a Ganondorf main that finds it difficult to reconcile “playing to win” with “play who you find the most fun.” Despite finding some success, the tournament grind feels like an uphill labor. Is it worth it?

Before we can solve for that kind of struggle, we have to ask ourselves, what does playing melee do for me? What need am I trying to fill? After identifying motivators, it’s easier to understand our relationship to the game.

Consider your most rewarding experiences with the game. What exactly was that emotion? What were you doing? Seriously, journal it out.

It might not have been winning. It could have been learning or even discovering new tech. It could have been experience with friends. Maybe you have a list of different experiences. But chances are there is a highlight or a theme that you can better engage with. That might mean you keep doing what you’re doing, or playing a better character, or playing more often, or playing less often if at all. Maybe it means backing away from tournaments and all-inning on a tangent like TOing. You have to consider. Why commit to a process that isn’t fulfilling? Why not better engage with the parts that are?

Despite what I think is a prevalent subtextual expectation, “play to win” isn’t a fix-all. Achievement isn’t the sole good of competition. It can actually be misleading insofar as it conflicts with (rather than enables) a stronger motivation.

As such, judging the worth of your experience and orienting your behavior solely around your results is perhaps unnecessary. What is necessary is of course for you to decide. Whatever you come up with, try not to use it as an excuse for laziness. Instead, try to tailor your involvement to better achieve what you really want!