Help me get good at Smash Bros

[Synur]

Me and my friends are pretty hard core gamers. Among our group I doubt there's a many games that at least one of us hasn't played. That being said all my friends own my ass at Smash Bros. Melee for the Gamecube. They use Mario, Ganondorf, Fox, and Link. I usually use Link myself but I'm no contender to win these matches. My goal is to not get 4th place.

For those of you who are good at this game which characters do you use and how can I get better at this game? Should I even be using Link, he seems to sluggish for the quickness of Mario and Fox.

[Wheatsauce]

I don't know as much about this game as many people here...but I would start by using/practicing with Pikachu.

Maybe watch some vids on youtube to get some ideas for strategies.

[Phoenix1010]

There are tiers of characters that you can find with a quick search. I don't think Pikachu or Link are highly recommended. I know that the best players in the world use Marth and Fox.

[jonkeponke]

go to smashboards.

or just use sheik and gay the hell out of them. i play wayyyyyyyyyy too much smash. btw the tier list is like this: fox, falco, sheik, marth, peach. marth and sheik would be the easiest to pick up from those 5.

[Shadowrun]

assuming they dont use any advanced techniques, you can get to their level really fast.

personally i play with the chars: fox (favorite), marth, dr.mario, sheik (best results)

Marth is really easy to be good with, awesome reach and edge guard.

[Synur]

[ QUOTE ]
assuming they dont use any advanced techniques, you can get to their level really fast.



[/ QUOTE ]

What are these advanced techniques? They can pull off some amazing moves, such as picking up items while in mid-air. I've learned this trick but still struggle.

[Shadowrun]

LOL dont play with items. That is not "hardcore" at all. Also considering how soon brawl is going to come out, it might not even be worth your time.

Generally, the most useful techniques will be wavedashing and l-canceling for you.

You can view lots of these techniques on youtube, here is one for wavedashing. http://youtube.com/watch?v=hVHGl4x-XnY

If you know these techniques you can beat people with pichu and mewtwo while spotting them multiple lives.

[tarheeljks]

fox has a very steep learning curve and is difficult to play effectively. the best characters are fox and marth, then sheik,falco, then peach/c.falcon/ice climbers.

if you want to switch characters i suggest sheik. sheik has the best matchups across the board and you can learn to use her very easily.

also are you using advanced techniques?

[tarheeljks]

[ QUOTE ]

If you know these techniques you can beat people with pichu and mewtwo while spotting them multiple lives.

[/ QUOTE ]

not if they are any good. anyway, if your friends aren't using advanced techs, you should be able to own them w/sheik

[Synur]

I am not using advanced techniques.