How do you you train?

[BananaX]

I need to know the most efficient way to train in Brawl. Is there some method commonly used by other smashboarders to train so as to maintain a competitive level of skill?

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

One would think that you'd start off with the CPUs and work your way up to Human fighters. However, not all Human players have the experience of facing high leveled CPUs.

 

[BananaX]

Well, I was easily obliterating level 9's in Melee with Fox, but here in Brawl I find that not only can I not defeat level 9's, but I don't have a good character to rely on.

 

[Depressed Man]

Playing CPUs, isn't a great way to train for playing other humans since CPUs are superhuman (they'll shield things that humans will tend to never shield) and if you watch them enough you'll notice they tend to do things in patterns.

 

[BananaX]

Bump-a-doodle-doo!

 

[Nixis]

well... if you cant fight lv 9s... then fight lv 8s!
you might want to check the character boards to find a character to main. you cant really advance if you try to use every character.
call ur friends over every day. or play with ur brother and sister. just play with humans. u cant trick those lv 9s on brawl. its impossible.
and yea most people say fighting computers doesnt really help. but its not like it'll make u suck really badly. if ur desperate, go ahead. but you wont be able to train using mind games. cuz they dont have minds.

 

[JesseWisdom]

Since I tend to Brawl with players in my own neighborhood who have their own favorite characters, I train against those as high-level computers. I'm trying to get a feel for most of the characters I'd be fighting.

For example, I was playing Lucario against a level 9 Snake on Shadow Moses, and his up attack (Don't remember if it was his smash, his tilt, or just SHUair) was making me look stupid. I got used to it, though, so I didn't get caught so much. (Level 9 Snake still kicks my ***.)

And learning the range of your character's attacks, once you've settled on a main, is a good start.

 

[matthewdw94*]

have a friend over using his best character and find your while battling him.

 

[Terios the Hedgehog]

I like the gauntlet method.

Level one: Play against every character.
Level two: Play against every character and you can't continue until you win.
Level three: Play against every character and if you lose start over at the beginning of the row.
Level four: Play against every character and if you lose start over at Mario.


Starting at Mario and going right across the board for character selection.

 

[randomae]

to learn new techniques i like just going into training mode. other than that for now i am just going to play online and with computers because i need to learn all the new characters.

 

[sathenzar]

I do a bunch of things, I sit there in training mode, and setup many different snarieos. First I really sucked with meta knight. I could not win for the life of me. But then I started with training mode, and started out with just landing every move. For example, the down+b teleport/attack move. I practiced just landing it, then running and landing it, then had them run around it, then lvl 9 cpu fighting landed it. Then mastered other techniques with him like that (mentioned on this board). I'm still doing that that's helped me out a lot. And like stated above, computers do often do thigns in patterns. It's a lot easier to predict what they're going to do. Humans depends on the skill level they are at. But that's my 2 cents anyways, just loko at some of the talent on this board and see what they do and try it out in either a real game or training mode until you get it. Gimpyfish rules all

 

[Fade016]

In melee I was strongly against fighting lvl 9s for training because all they did was rinse and repeat =/ so I just fought lvl 1s to practice combos. In brawl the AI is 6/7 years newer and imo the lvl 9s help me actually do better against humans so I fight lvl 9s because I can't go online. Most importantly try things that you like and see what helps you the most.

 

[SirroMinus1]

dont train on wi-fi.
have friends stop at your house daily after school or something.

 

[Rhambo]

I just do classic on intense, and try my hardest not to die. Also, sometimes I play online, but usually i end up versing some probable 12 year olds who can only spam F-smashes. I try and play my friends/siblings as much as I can.

 

[Dante X]

Playing with friends is what I do, maybe the gauntlet method stated above if you're alone.

 

[The Crushinator]

I'd tend to say that even the lvl 9 CPU players get very predictable after doing enough brawls with them. You can only work on your techniques and control with characters without playing against other people. A great way to work on your accuracy is to go to Training Mode, set the CPU to lvl 9 and set them to "run" setting. They will avoid you with near flawless timing, but will never shield-grab you or attack back, giving you all the set-up you need to practice whichever strategies you choose. After that, the only way to improve against fighting people, is to fight people. Even a mediocre smasher is much harder than a lvl 9 CPU due to adaptability.

 

[rigapeen]

play on wifiwars, why hasnt nobody suggested this yet. youre gonna have to get used to playing with a bit of lag. theres plenty of money/prizes to be made online just as there is live. cpu's arent worth much for training really.

 

[TheHoustonKid]

Playing CPUs, isn't a great way to train for playing other humans since CPUs are superhuman (they'll shield things that humans will tend to never shield) and if you watch them enough you'll notice they tend to do things in patterns.

Very True. If you want to be able to maybe beat computers easily then it makes sense to simply fight stronger computers. However since most people play brawl socially this isnt what you need. As you said they are pretty much superhuman... no they are not unbeatable (i didn't even have melee and I can get 1st in a match against three level 9's... it's hard but i can do it and have done it before several times. However the best training method is fighting humans directly via wifi or on the same system or computers in the mid-range levels. If you play too much against lvl 9's you will build your style of fighting around how an idealistic computer plays and then when it comes to playing against real people you will be too cautious and miss many opportunities for kills or just waste your time. Example...

When fighting lvl 9 computers, they are constantly aware of everything happening on the map. A human player is typically concerned with what is in their immediate fighting range. "If i can't hit it then i don't care about it". If you get a lvl 9 character damaged enough to smash it you just have to take your time and find the perfect opportunity. However for a human (or at least my friends and most of the people I come across online) all you have to do is run away from and then when they go for somebody else and get on a platform just up smash them and they will go flying. Easy kill. Computers are too smart for this. They generally will abandon the character they are fighting and fall though to go fight you face to face.

 

[cloudz]

the best way to train is to connect to wifi and PLAY people!


come on now, what are you guys thinking?!

 

[Southheat92]

This is what I do.

I have a friend who also is huge into Brawl, and we train together. (Maybe going to enter a local tourney, who knows?) Also, just as I read your post actually, I am in training mode set to 1.5x speed working on aerials. I found that after even a mere five minutes of working at the increased speed the regular game seems very sluggish and I can hit more often. If I ever find a new AT then I do the same, with the speed set to a level that makes the AT more challenging than it normally would be.

If you aren't working on anything particularly technical, find a CPU level that is a challenge, yet comfortable to play with. I, like you, was obliterating 9's in melee, but after a long break and increased AI that is no longer the case. When Brawl first cam out I found myself comfortable with 6's. At this moment, I can consistently beat 8's and many 9's.

Try to find a particular part of your game that needs work. Go into training, and drill it over and over. RARing was quite difficult for me. Now I can almost always pull it off. The same goes for a AT specific to Toon Link, my new main. I've also developed a defensive game that was never present before for me.

Like I said, find something, and make it better. Have patience, and have fun.

EDIT EDIT

Like Houston said above me, it is very important that you do not get ALL of your training against CPU's. There are intangibles that you learn from real competition. <---- Extremely vital intangibles.

 

[Garde]

Very True. If you want to be able to maybe beat computers easily then it makes sense to simply fight stronger computers. However since most people play brawl socially this isnt what you need. As you said they are pretty much superhuman... no they are not unbeatable (i didn't even have melee and I can get 1st in a match against three level 9's... it's hard but i can do it and have done it before several times. However the best training method is fighting humans directly via wifi or on the same system or computers in the mid-range levels. If you play too much against lvl 9's you will build your style of fighting around how an idealistic computer plays and then when it comes to playing against real people you will be too cautious and miss many opportunities for kills or just waste your time. Example...

When fighting lvl 9 computers, they are constantly aware of everything happening on the map. A human player is typically concerned with what is in their immediate fighting range. "If i can't hit it then i don't care about it". If you get a lvl 9 character damaged enough to smash it you just have to take your time and find the perfect opportunity. However for a human (or at least my friends and most of the people I come across online) all you have to do is run away from and then when they go for somebody else and get on a platform just up smash them and they will go flying. Easy kill. Computers are too smart for this. They generally will abandon the character they are fighting and fall though to go fight you face to face.

HoustonKid, he wasn't saying they were difficult. He was saying they're bad to practice on because of their inhuman reflexes and predictable patterns.

But to elaborate on your post, there are two ways to learn how to play fighting games. Learn to play against the AI (usually exploitable) and learn to play against opponents, a very marginal amount of skill will transfer between the two (basically timing and spacing).

The reason why this is true is because the level 9 CPUs power shield and do other things with such accuracy that it is so different from playing a human that you get trained into avoiding using moves that would be useful against a human (for instance, using Falco's blaster in Melee was incredibly useful for SHL/Blaster Hopping, but against a level 9 computer you'd always get hit by your lasers, removing one of Falco's most useful approach abilities). Also, you will often find yourselves relying on simple exploits against the AI or using different patterns of attacks, which make you very predictable. If you can't see the patterns they use, or how you use little exploits in the AI, then that just means you aren't looking close enough at how you play and how your opponents play.



As for me, I play in training mode to perfect spacing, timing, and getting as good of an understanding of my characters' properties and which moves can combo into others at which % against which type of weight class. I also play against friends with a green connection on WiFi (since most of my friends who play live at least 20 minutes away and gas is expensive), and on weekends I'll usually play with friends in real life.

EDIT: typos

 

[KiteDXX]

Isn't the "Gauntlet" you're talking about basically All-Star mode? :|

I just play against other human players, usually ones with good connection that I share FCs with.

 

[Mikezor]

Basically, the only way to get better at this game is to play other humans. Experience is everything.

 

[yoonkwun]

dont train on wi-fi.
have friends stop at your house daily after school or something.

??

What's wrong with WiFi? It's a great way for people (like me) to train with other players if you don't have any smashers that live around you.

As for training, I usually cannot go on Brawl much since the TV is usually unavailable, and during these times I search for good replays on the internet and study them, and when I finally am able to Brawl I apply them and practice them on either WiFi or level 1-4 computers. And like the previous posters mentioned, it's not good to practice on high level computers too much because you would only be practicing on inhuman AI, which wouldn't come to good use when fighting real players.

 

[Loops]

i've been playing brawl like mad and i can 3-4 stock lvl 9's, it doesn't mean though that you can beat everyone online. Some people with mediocre skills will catch you offguard and online lag is terrible at times. CPU'S dont understand how to stop and edgeguard and just fall to there demise every time when i edgeguard them with MK. Thats why when you train against computers i suggest you don't rely on there weaknesses or it won't help you to get better, i also go to training mode often and test combos putting lvl 9 on run so you can try to interpret there attacks which is difficcult.

 

[Radical Dreamer]

What a bunch of *******. Either find people online who you can play against without too much lag, or just find people locally who you can play with in person.