Sirus109

Sorry, but I don't play online. It sucks. Not only does it make you worse at the game, but it really doesn't prove anything. I lost to some scrub once because of extreme lag and ever since he thinks he's better than me, so I don't play online.

You have to prove yourself a productive and intelligent member of the Wolf board. I'm a member, but I don't really give two ****s. It's stupid. They're stupid.

Mmm. I wouldn't say necessarily the key to mastering a character is finding characters that support them. Characters that support them (which would be characters with other qualities) are there more to help you develop skills and understand the game better than one character alone could.

The reason I play Fox, Falco, and Olimar? I love Star Fox and Pikmin. That's all there is to it. Those other characters I mentioned? I'm picking them up because I need to understand them and have a wide variety of characters I can select from come tournament time.

Well, I too am on a quest to master Wolf, so I learn as much as I can about other characters. I main Wolf, but I also play Fox, Falco, and Olimar. I'm trying to pick up ROB, Luigi, Marth, Dedede, and Ice Climbers as well, but I just don't have the time.

I probably would have mained Fox in Melee, but people just said I used him because he was the best in the game. Not my fault. I just like Star Fox. I've been Wolf since BEFORE Brawl hit the shores in America, so even if he was top tier I'd have one hell of a middle finger ready for anyone claiming I'm a tier *****.

Anywhooooo, yeah. Those kind of stuff are advanced techniques. I'm going to pull up the link for the advanced technique thingy thread, but be warned, 90% of the stuff there is worthless. I'd recommend just looking at the stuff I mentioned to you as well as glide tossing, item boosting, shield dashing, and pivoting. You should also educate yourself with the buffering system. A good way to do that is to practice Falco's chain grab.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=187873

Ah, are you familiar with Zman? He is a very good Lucas player that lives here. I'd go as far to say as one of the best. I'll see if I can't get some matches of me and my Wolf vs. him and his Lucas. That should be chalk full of learning and goodies for you.

Hmm, well, I'll pick, but first let me say this: Do you want to focus yourself on something specific or do you want to study a large range of tech skill?

What I mean by this is some characters play very similarly to others. Other characters, obviously, not so much. Depending on which characters you decide to focus on will show how your tech skill will develop and probably your general play style.

My recommendation is keep Wolf for sure. Lucas isn't that great tier wise, but he has his positives. Learn magnet pulling and B-sticking with him for sure. For Wolf, he is a great character to learn how to master boost smashing and how to use aerial mobility to its fullest with AC Fairs and Wall of Wolfs.

(Just re-read two posts ago when you said you want to be versatile, got it). Out of those I would say... if you're giong for versatility. Hmm. I'm going to say Fox for one. Fox really teaches you how to buffer attacks (because if you don't you are screwed or your gameplay is slowed down to a crawl) and will probably make your game in general faster, which can be good. DK is out because, IMO, he plays similarly to Wolf, but he is good and I recommend you come back to him sometime.... hmm, there are some really good characters among those you listed, and none of them would really be a bad choice (save maybe Sonic). I'm going to say Ike, though. With Ike it is important to master subtleties like jab canceling and pivot grabbing. He's also slow (opposite of Fox) and has a lot of lag to him, which will force you to be more cautious in your approaches and use every move to the fullest. It's all about momentum with Ike, Fox, and Wolf. Lucas I'm not so sure about (then again I guess momentum is a universal thing).

There is my recommendation, anyways.

Wolf: Boost smashing and aerial mobility. Use Up Smash and Grabs to help develop mind games (predicted the opponents reaction). Knowledge of stale moves and spacing is key for kills.

Lucas: Pressure. Dairs, PK Fires, and Jabs to keep the opponent figuring out how to best approach you. Technical things to learn as well. Pressure to open opponent up is key for kills.

Fox: It's all about buffering and using the right move. Once you hit with an attack, they should be hurting. Up tilt juggles. Don't forget about grabs. Stay in their face. Combos and speed are key for kills.

Ike: The opportunist. Use your range and power to your advantage while simultaneously knowing (perhaps taking advantage of) your weak points (lag). Jab canceling and pivot grabbing. Make the opponent afraid of every hit. Prediction is key for kills.

Does that sound good?

That's good.

My recommendation, though, would be to narrow it down. Focusing on mental capacity is good. That's better than trying to focus on tech skill and mind games simultaneously. It's a little too much to handle if you aren't proficient in either.

Experimenting with a variety of characters is good for developing tech skill, however, I would narrow yourself down to no more than three, four tops, characters. That is, at least until you've got one of the characters down to a pretty solid formula.

Dragon Ball Z is awesome, ha.

That aside, okay. That's good to hear. Well, unfortunately for you, the most important thing when it comes to mastering a character is experience. Which, of course, isn't something you can simply train or acquire in a few weeks.

I'm talking months. I've been playing Wolf for ten months and I would say that I am only now even beginning to come close to mastering him. However, I told myself before even Brawl was announced, that I would make myself a synonymous figure with Wolf. When you think of Marth, you think of Ken, the King of Smash and the man who made Marth famous. I want to be the same thing to Wolf that Ken was to Marth.

That's the kind of dedication I'm talking about.

Let's see here... how can I help? Hmm...

If you were to ask me I would say you can divide "mastering" a character into a few categories: tech skill, mental capacity, and experience. Again, all these things fall under the umbrella of dedication. I can't emphasis that enough.

Tech skill: This will be a little more in-depth than you may think. I'm sure you're thinking Wall of Wolf, Boost Smashing, etc, but it goes beyond advanced techniques. It is important to keep the basics in mind as well. This even goes as basic as DI. I know it may be silly of me to point out, but I'm very serious. You can't master the advanced without mastering the basics. In addition, this includes mastery of all tech KNOWLEDGE in general, not just skill. Understand frames, hitboxes, etc. This goes for other characters as well. You can't master a character unless you have a deep understanding of all other characters. You can take martial arts as an example that may be universally understood. You can't master Kung Fu without at least a basic knowledge of Caoperia, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Ninjutsu, etc. A corollary of that also is you need perspective. A frame of reference, by understanding the other characters and technicalities, you more fully understand your own. You can't fully comprehend something or understand it without the opposite. For instance, love and hate. To bottom line it: Tech skill includes tech knowledge. Everything from the basics to the advanced and all other characters including Wolf. Also, the game in general.

Mental Capacity: It may be tempting to substitute "mental capacity" with "mindgames," but I would avoid that mistake. It goes much farther than that. In this current era, it seems to me that "metagame" and "mindgames," or at least their true definition, slowly become more and more distorted and lost. A mindgame is forcing your opponent into a disadvantageous position of some sort and using it to your advantage. That is a very blunt explanation. However, the important question is: Why? Why do mindgames work? Why when I do this does this work? Unless you understand that you are running on "autopilot" and that is no good. You must be actively participating mentally at all times. Never go into auto pilot if you are playing for keeps. If you aren't playing for keeps, it is good to experiment and practice new things. You don't want to become routine. I find watching other Wolf players keeps me from doing this. I can see a style that isn't my own, build on it, and make it part of my game giving me yet another piece of combat I can branch off to. Again, mental capacity is all things mental, not just mind games. Knowing your opponent. Know what they like to do and what their character is capable of as well as your own. Brawl, if you were to ask for an analogy from me, is like Chess, or at least more so than most combat games. It is very mentally involved. Yes, there are technical aspects, but you have to think several moves ahead, and always mix it up. I had something else important I wanted to say here, but I forgot... maybe it'll come back.

Experience: This... is self-explanatory. Research, data, and ability will only take you so far. It is the real life application that is important. If you fail here, then you have failed from the beginning.

Now that I have that out of the way, I'd be glad to help you with specifics.

More than you bargained for, probably, huh?

There might be groups, similar to the Wolf Back Room, or Wolf clans.

However, to be honest, none of the good players participate in such groups. I've gone through the process of mastering a character and know and understand very thoroughly the trials and tribulations. The number one requirement is dedication. Do you have the dedication it takes to "master" a character?

Without the dedication, such a task is impossible.

Shoot, man. I'd be glad to help.