How do you cross that "Plateau" of performance?

[Elieson]

I feel like I'm a decent sm4sh player, but I don't feel like I'm really improving on my gameplay. I still maintain what I'd consider to be roughly the same W:L ratio as I've had for probably 2-3 months now, which is still lower than where I'd like to be. The thing is, I really don't know where to go from here. I know 0 people within like 30 miles of me who even own a Wii U, nonetheless Smash, and have no time to visit tourneys due to single parent, so I'm restricted to Wifi Friendlies or FG.

Did you hit this plateau, and did you get past it?

[euklyd]

"Yes" and "haven't really, yet," respectively.

I've heard that analyzing your own replays to try and figure out what you could've been doing differently (as well as your and your opponent's habits + how to counter them) is useful, but I'm too lazy to try it.....

[Tragonight]

I get better by playing against my Amiibo or against occasional friends online. The thing about Amiibo is that they adapt to how you play and then specifically counter certain parts of it. Once you change those certains aspects, your Amiibo then has to adapt against to the change, bringing about an endless cycle of change. That's how I've always looked at it, anyway. Hell if I know how Amiibo properly function.

Of course, online I try to play against people at a higher skill level than I am, because there's no personal improvement winning against someone you know you can beat, IMO.

[Comet]

think. that's it. think about why you do things, how people react to them, what other people like to do and how you deal with whatever that is, etc...

and play a lot of people so you can get variety in ^that

Edited October 7, 2015 by PichuMaster3000

[DodgeDusk]

I asked a similar question a year ago (almost) on Smashboards. Essentially, all I can say is that if you want to break your current limit, you have to work to beat it. Study the game and character(s) you use; learn the match-ups, and what to do (and not to do) against these characters. Having a reason and/or motive may help, too. And, obviously, getting as much experience as you can is crucial, no matter the environment; if your strongest challenge can only be fought online, then go online

Edited October 7, 2015 by DodgeDusk

[Refa]

I'm not good enough to have hit a plateau yet.

[Tragonight]

I'm not good enough to have hit a plateau yet.

You don't have to be good. I'm not either. It's just the point when you feel like you're not improving anymore (and you know you can).

[Knife]

Why do you care about hitting a plateau when all you have time for is online anyways?

I pretty much get my practice from offline tourneys and friendlies, I just do wi-fi when I'm bored or want to test stuff that comes to mind immediately.

[shadowofchaos]

I've hit that plateau. Though I really have no interest in getting past this one. It would involve taking time away from more important things.

[Draco]

Yes and kind of.

I know some of those techs and junk, follow ups and combos with my mains and am even decent enough with characters I don't play. I'm not the best, for sure, but I'm pretty good, I think.

[Ragnell]

Why do you care about hitting a plateau when all you have time for is online anyways?

I pretty much get my practice from offline tourneys and friendlies, I just do wi-fi when I'm bored or want to test stuff that comes to mind immediately.

Why do you have to play in offline tournaments to want to improve? In many video game series, online literally IS the metagame.

I find myself in a similar situation as Elieson, though in my scant free time I am looking for possible opportunities to participate in my university's Smash community. Still, graduate school is not exactly conducive to long practice sessions, so I will no doubt continue to rely on WiFi for a lot of my practice.

I feel like I'm a decent sm4sh player, but I don't feel like I'm really improving on my gameplay. I still maintain what I'd consider to be roughly the same W:L ratio as I've had for probably 2-3 months now, which is still lower than where I'd like to be. The thing is, I really don't know where to go from here. I know 0 people within like 30 miles of me who even own a Wii U, nonetheless Smash, and have no time to visit tourneys due to single parent, so I'm restricted to Wifi Friendlies or FG.

Did you hit this plateau, and did you get past it?

Don't necessarily use your W/L record as the bar by which you measure improvement. If you, like me, actively seek out and repeatedly fight against people better than you, then your W/L should be a little shaky. And do remember that the community as a whole is improving along with you. Granted, there are always new players getting the game, and there are those who don't put effort into improving, but I think the online userbase as a whole has improved significantly since launch. Either that or the matchmaking mechanism we were promised has successfully paired me up with better and better people over time. The first couple months of the game, I watched people SD constantly and opponents had no sense of how to approach or defend.

[shadowofchaos]

Why do you have to play in offline tournaments to want to improve? In many video game series, online literally IS the metagame.

I find myself in a similar situation as Elieson, though in my scant free time I am looking for possible opportunities to participate in my university's Smash community. Still, graduate school is not exactly conducive to long practice sessions, so I will no doubt continue to rely on WiFi for a lot of my practice.

Don't necessarily use your W/L record as the bar by which you measure improvement. If you, like me, actively seek out and repeatedly fight against people better than you, then your W/L should be a little shaky. And do remember that the community as a whole is improving along with you. Granted, there are always new players getting the game, and there are those who don't put effort into improving, but I think the online userbase as a whole has improved significantly since launch. Either that or the matchmaking mechanism we were promised has successfully paired me up with better and better people over time. The first couple months of the game, I watched people SD constantly and opponents had no sense of how to approach or defend.

I find that the former is true.

I doubt that the match making systems is completely responsible for helping me find people who can actually tech stage spikes.

It's rare opportunity to get to polish tech chasing skills under the stage.

And Little Macs in GENERAL are getting better on SD'ing with Side B.

[Elieson]

Why do you care about hitting a plateau when all you have time for is online anyways?

My hope is to use online practice to gain enough skill and confidence to take it to an offline tourney, maybe going to Katy or The Woodlands and facing off against you even. As it is right now, I feel like I'd just be wasting my time and my competitor's time by participating in an offline tourney, and I assume that practicing online will help me reach some improved skill level.

I'm not good enough to have hit a plateau yet.

Are you good enough to Refa though?

Don't necessarily use your W/L record as the bar by which you measure improvement. If you, like me, actively seek out and repeatedly fight against people better than you, then your W/L should be a little shaky. And do remember that the community as a whole is improving along with you. Granted, there are always new players getting the game, and there are those who don't put effort into improving, but I think the online userbase as a whole has improved significantly since launch. Either that or the matchmaking mechanism we were promised has successfully paired me up with better and better people over time. The first couple months of the game, I watched people SD constantly and opponents had no sense of how to approach or defend.

You know, that's a valid point that I've told many people, but never really listened to myself. It's good to hear that from someone else

It's rare opportunity to get to polish tech chasing skills under the stage.

And Little Macs in GENERAL are getting better on SD'ing with Side B.

I'll agree with this

And that. I think I've got my Suicide Haymakers down to 1 per months

[Knife]

My hope is to use online practice to gain enough skill and confidence to take it to an offline tourney, maybe going to Katy or The Woodlands and facing off against you even. As it is right now, I feel like I'd just be wasting my time and my competitor's time by participating in an offline tourney, and I assume that practicing online will help me reach some improved skill level.

Are you good enough to Refa though?

You know, that's a valid point that I've told many people, but never really listened to myself. It's good to hear that from someone else

I'll agree with this

And that. I think I've got my Suicide Haymakers down to 1 per months

You wouldn't really be wasting anyone's time because you'd be filling the pot.

Seriously though, go play on Anther's Ladder if you online. I find that site frustrating and pointless because the offline Houston scene is so great, but I guess for those out in the boondocks, it is an acceptable alternative.Or just commit to going to an offline tourney once a month/quarter or something.

Also @Ragnell, Smash is terrible online competitively

Edited October 8, 2015 by Knife

[Zera]

Smash Bros is heavily based on matchups, so the only way to get past the plateau is to master enough characters that you can take on any matchup. I've plateaued with Meta Knight and King Dedede, and am working on Samus right now. The best players know the strengths and weakness of all characters.

[shadowofchaos]

Smash Bros is heavily based on matchups, so the only way to get past the plateau is to master enough characters that you can take on any matchup. I've plateaued with Meta Knight and King Dedede, and am working on Samus right now. The best players know the strengths and weakness of all characters.

I disagree with this.

People say that about all fighting games. And yet we have Japanese "character gods" in the arcade scene.

Edited October 8, 2015 by shadowofchaos

[Zera]

Could you explain that for me? Is it a "character who's a god" or "player who is a god with one character"?

[Myke]

the latter. just mastering the frame data for that one moveset so perfectly that even in poor matchups they still win 2-0

Study the game and character(s) you use; learn the match-ups, and what to do (and not to do) against these characters.

this, and studying your own behaviour, is key. it also helps to study other players and their playstyles to see what they do right and wrong

[Zera]

the latter. just mastering the frame data for that one moveset so perfectly that even in poor matchups they still win 2-0

You still need to know your opponent's hitbox sizes and frame data, as well as how their moves work together. It is impossible to win a bad matchup if you only have knowledge of the character you're playing.

[Icemario]

I feel like since Day 1, I've been steadily improving then in the middle of the summer holidays, I hit the very peak of my ability (aka the plateau) and improvement was very hard and slow from there, but I was really just trying to understand match-ups with my mains better rather than hone my own skills.

Then certain setbacks plus school reduced the time I could play, and restricted the level of play I could muster, and I feel like I'm stuck in the same lesser level until something there changes.

[Knife]

How do you even know if you hit a peak. The game is maturing and people are getting better at the game, not just you.

[euklyd]

You still need to know your opponent's hitbox sizes and frame data, as well as how their moves work together. It is impossible to win a bad matchup if you only have knowledge of the character you're playing.

you can win without having intimate knowledge of the character you're fighting, especially if you have a good grasp of the mental game and can control your character as an extension of yourself

[Myke]

You still need to know your opponent's hitbox sizes and frame data, as well as how their moves work together. It is impossible to win a bad matchup if you only have knowledge of the character you're playing.

yeah but knowing the matchups is part of learning the character

[Slade]

In Brawl I always played 1v2/3 (level 9) and that sort of forged me into the player I was before Smash 4 (This method isn't for everyone). So I was going into Smash 4 thinking it would be like Brawl but I was totally wrong and had to change my whole playstyle and it took me a while to:

-Find my characters

-Adapt to almost every character I play against

-Not to be an asshole online (There're so many people who take Smash WAY TOO seriously and I restrain myself from responding to "Usuk", "Get Rekt M8", "Spammer" and omfg this one is so common "Lag" lol)

In Smash 4 there is the essence that there will always be a better player than you, and the only way to get better (IMO):

-Change up your gameplay

-Adapt to every character you play against

-Cut rolling (It starts to become predictable and easy to punish)

-Study your opponents (I learned this the hard way, the way you play against one specific character should not be against every character, for example: Little Mac lol)

-Play Little Mac smart

From this joke I am not saying the people who play Little Mac have no skill (A majority of players who play Little Mac don't have skill lol) there are actual really good Little Macs out there.

Don't expect to be really good in a day or two because (for me) it took me quite a while to be skilled in this game. But I'm sure other players have there own opinion on what makes you "good" but Good luck! ;D

Edited October 11, 2015 by Slade