Read this if you want to go better at SSB

With Genesis around the corner, here are some things to keep in mind:



1) Do not approach if you've used your second jump unless you're absolutely certain you can land a hit or put your opponent in a bad situation. If you use your second jump and hop into a Kirby up tilt you are absolutely fucked. Be smart. Similarly, use your second jump very wisely and only when it's absolutely necessary, that's not something to be throwing around just for fun.



2) Similarly, if you've been pressured to the corner or have just recovered and are near the edge, gain stage control before you do anything else. Do not go after your opponent if you're already on the ropes. Gain some positioning first. Make sure you retreat to the neutral before doing something stupid.



3) What do you do when you're frustrated? Do you start playing super aggressively out of anger? Do you start camping out of spite? Often times when your frustration results in you switching your play style, you're about to lose even worse than you were before. Figure out how you react when you're angry and be aware of it. Make sure that doesn't happen in tournament. Try to be composed.



4) Usually when you lose your composure it's because of any one of the 4 following things:



a) The crowd is annoying. Shears is shouting GO BARK in the background. The commentators are distracting. You hear people talking about your tech errors. You get the point. Fucking put headphones in.



b) Your opponent is playing like a campy little bitch. You've been playing this game long enough to know how to deal with campers. Grow up and get over it. Don't let it get it to you. Stick with the best option. If he wants to slow down the pace then let him, camping is only the optimal strategy when the person being camped is dumb enough to rush in.



c) You're playing like shit, technically speaking. You're missing z cancels and dashes. Maybe your hands are cold. First of all, make sure you start off each set with a warm up. If that wasn't enough time, don't worry about approaching. Right now you've gotta work on you. Your tech skill is extremely important. Play a little defensively, start hopping around on the top platform maybe. Stay away from your opponent and warm your hands up. If you try fight your opponent when your techskill isn't on point, you will lose.



d) Lastly, you're losing and you don't know why. That's okay, everybody takes some time to adapt. Just don't get too impatient. Pay attention to each time you get hit. How did you lose your first stock? Why didn't your recovery work? How did he punish you? Don't let it happen again. Really pay attention to how your opponent gets in. It's important.



Don't fucking lose your composure. That is the single worst thing that can happen to you. Keep calm and find out what's wrong.



5) Despite tip 4) people will inevitably lose their composure once in a while, and when that happens, you better take advantage of that shit. In general, when people get angry they will either start camping or start playing really aggressively. Don't fucking play their game. Do not give in. Continue doing exactly what you were doing that was getting them so annoyed. If you can beat your opponent mentally, and get him in his own head, you've already won.



6) On top of remembering how your opponent hits you in the neutral, edge guards you, punishes you, etc, you have to remember how you did all of those things to your opponent. How did you get that first hit? If it works, keeping doing it.



7) If something doesn't work, then you have to realize that and immediately stop. Just because you spam up tilts on your little brother and it works doesn't mean someone like me is gonna get caught by that nonsense. If what you're trying doesn't work, accept it, and get over it. Do not let it affect you mentally. Just move on and try approaching a different way.



8) Techrolls are important. Do not fucking techroll/tech in place the same way every time. You have to mix it up. Similarly, pay attention to how your opponent techs. You might not be able to do zero to deaths every time. But if you can read your opponents rolls most of the time, that's a damn good thing and that will get you very far in this game.



9) DI is important. First of all, do it. I don't care if you're not being up aired by falcon or up tilted by Kirby or faired by pika. Fucking DI. Everything. You missed a z cancel and are about to be back aired by luigi? Who cares if it can't combo, fucking DI. It will throw off your opponent. Similar to techs. Do not DI the same way every time. If your opponent plays Kirby and you DI behind Kirby every time or DI away from Kirby every time, then you're a fucking scrub. Mix it up. Likewise, you have to pay attention to what way your opponent DIs. You play falcon and your opponent DId out of your forward air combo? Don't fucking try that combo again.



10) I'll end on this, perhaps because it is the most important. DO NOT GO INTO AUTOPILOT. If you're in autopilot you will not be thinking about any of the previous 9 tips. Going into autopilot is undoubtably the most dangerous thing you can do as a smasher. It is far worse than losing your composure. If your brain shuts off, you will lose. This game is extremely mental. It's exhausting on the brain, but if you don't use your brain you will lose. Badly. Go get a coffee, drink some water, get some sleep the night before. Do not play on autopilot. Think man.



Listen guys. Keep these things in mind when you're training for Genesis. I do really well at tournaments and even I fail to do these things all the time. But it's extremely important.



If you guys get better, then I get better. If I get better, then you guys do too. We can really grow as a community. This is the biggest our game has ever been. Let's really try to advance the meta. I'm relying on you guys.



Also, if you're really struggling about something and need help figuring out how to improve, shoot me a pm, I'm always down to lend a hand.



Train hard boys.



-Kero the Great

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