I want to learn Sonic...

[Kulty]

Hi guys,

After I was so desperate and disappointed by howandare designed competitively (I still love him more than many other fighters in the series, but not as much as before), I decided to move into PM. To my surprise, I really do like him due to his tools giving him quite some creativity. Even though he's a bit technical, I think I understand in general how this character works. Since I've decided who to solo-main betweenor, I wanted to get started and learn Sonic by the meantime. I have some questions:
1) How should I play neutral with Sonic?
2) BnB combos for Sonic?
3) Advanced techniques that are essential to Sonic's metagame?
4) Good solo daily practice routine for Sonic?
5) When to use Somersault over Spin Charge and vice-versa?
6) Things that I should avoid doing in neutral and any part of a game?
EDIT: 7) If someone asks you if Sonic is the right character for them, what would you guys say?

Spoiler: Example with Melee Marth

Credits goes to the youtube channel SSBM tutorials ''Are you a Marth player?''
He stated that Marth is the character for you if:
1) You prefer being in control
2) You like being threatening from long ranges
3) You like being precise
4) You enjoy juggle combos

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions.

 

[Avro-Arrow]

So, I'd like to say good choice for a long term investment. But I also don't think he's the right character to learn the game with. That being said, if you already understand how option coverage works at a trivial level, then Sonic is a good choice. He's also a lot of fun too.

Here's a starter pack of sorts for the character. Sonic 101.

1) neutral is about running around a lot to make them whiff an attack. It's also about conditioning them to expect one thing, only to do another and punish them. This mindset transfers over to the punish game too since Sonic's comboes are all a mindgame of DI somewhat similar to ZSS or Sheik.

Can't get into specifics since that's obviously MU dependent.

2) side b is a great combo starter; depending on DI it can lead into a grab, aerial, baseball slide or a special move.

Uthrow dair at 0-30% is guaranteed if a little strict on window to land it.

3) if you're just learning the character, focus on jump cancelled grabs and spinshot. Also focus on your recovery. There's a lot more but it's too much to start off the get go.

4) practice dash dance with side b, DD with wave dash, shffl aerials, combo game, recovery.

5) down b at the introductory level is only good for linking into an aerial kill at 100%+ and for distance on recovery. Side b is the standard spin2win since it sets up comboes, kill moves, grabs ledge, and conditions the opponent in neutral game.

6) avoid shffling aerials a lot against characters with strong anti-airs. Avoid dashing back to punish everything your opponent's does, it gets predictable. Don't spam side and down b in neutral; they are good tools but not sufficient to replace poor "fundamentals" (dash dancing and more importantly its applications, unpredictability, adapting to opponent).

7) gotta go fast!

Honestly the best place to start learning the character is Star's guide which is stickied in this character board.

 

[Wild Whirlwind]

Combo.........
:D
Suggestion :
Dash>pivot grab>down throw> jab>Side B> fair

 

[Omniscient X]

I would say one of the most crucial components to Sonic is being familiar with F-Air and how to land it, often times wavedashing is beautiful to set up the short hop to perfect distance to punish opponents recovery and knowing how to use the most potent KO tool in Sonic's arsenal is a must.

Like Avro said above the ability to dash dance effectively is huge because Sonic's speed immediately creates an effective bait game but you can't always be baiting opponents lest you invoke a hard punish. Learning how to close neutral is huge because the more effective your neutral game is the more powerful your bait game is by consideration.

Tech chasing D-Throw is useful to get down as well.
-Omni