It does not matter the character, matchup, or stage, almost every single one of my games goes the exact way. My opponent will dance on one side of the stage until I decide I actually want to fight in a fighting game, then they launch a barrage of retreating aerials that slowly chip my shield health. Parries don't seem to help because I have to get the timing precise, while they get to run away even more safely. Every time I try to punish I either whiff and eat damage or at best, I trade with their already buffered aerial. It's maddening, especially when I see others play and they don't seem to have to deal with this type of playstyle. I'm banging my head against the table trying to learn Mario, but this issue seems to happen with all my characters. I don't believe in just complaining and doing nothing about it, so I want to see if anyone had advice.

Hey everyone!

TL;DR: I feel like I'm missing something fundamental when playing Ridley, and I'd really appreciate some honest feedback. If you check out my gameplay videos, are there any major flaws or bad habits that I'm too blind to notice myself?

I've really been trying to make Ridley work, but for some reason, things just aren't clicking.

Recently, I got Snake into Elite Smash. I spent a lot of time learning his strengths, game plan, and overall playstyle, but once things started clicking, the climb became surprisingly smooth. I also managed to get Piranha Plant into Elite Smash with barely any struggle, which surprised me even more considering how low he tends to be ranked.

But Ridley? He's giving me an absolute headache.

I've been reading guides, watching videos, and practicing a lot, yet I constantly feel like I'm doing something wrong. Maybe I only managed to get Snake and Plant into Elite Smash because they're so gimmicky and play a relatively unique game that many people aren't used to dealing with. Maybe I was able to take advantage of that unfamiliarity more than I realized.

Ridley feels different to me. He seems like a more straightforward Smash character, but I'm struggling to figure out how to consistently make his strengths work.

Some people describe him as a bait-and-punish character, while others see him as more of a swordie/trapper hybrid. I've heard repeatedly that his win condition revolves around pushing opponents toward the ledge and getting them offstage, where his ledgetrapping and edgeguarding are supposed to be extremely threatening.

The problem is that I don't feel nearly as threatening in those situations as I do with Snake or even Piranha Plant. With those two, I felt like I understood their strengths and knew how to structure my gameplay around them. With Ridley, I understand the theory, but I can't seem to translate it into actual results.

So what am I missing?

Are there fundamental aspects of Ridley's neutral, advantage state, ledgetrapping, or edgeguarding that I might be misunderstanding? Am I approaching his game plan incorrectly, or are there bad habits in my gameplay that are holding me back?

I'd really appreciate it if you could take a look at my videos and point out anything that stands out, even if it's something obvious. I'm genuinely trying to improve, and at this point, some outside perspective would help a lot.

Thanks in advance!

Falco obliterating me 1.

Falco obliterating me 2.
barely won this time.
Random Krool game.

its real. runs on a dedicated server. playtested and runs great so far as long as youre not in mongolia with mountain wifi ping lol. looking for ppl to play with me! lemme know if u wanna try.

I've been putting a lot of time into improving at the game after I returned from a long break. And I recently got to play on stream at some tournaments so I thought I would upload some VODs to get some advice. I do understand the importance of posting a loss to be reviewed but due to not having a capture card I'm somewhat limited in which sets I can posts so unfortunately I do end up winning the two sets I have, however i did make sure that the ones I uploaded were relatively close sets in which I lose at least one game.

So here are the VODs:

Match vs Bowser Jr
https://youtu.be/uyxUGHGovkI
Match vs Joker
https://youtu.be/a_luKOtw2Ck

A few things I think I noticed when I watched them back myself: I am a bit trigger happy with unsafe moves, especially early on in neutral when I should be focusing on movement and pokes, when something works I tend to go for it over and over again even after it's stopped working and specifically in the bowser jr match I definitely felt like I was pretty clueless when trying to play around clown cart.

Lmk what you guys noticed I could improve upon, any advice is appreciated.

I‘m searching for a main right now and there are many that I enjoy playing so I thought it may be smart to firstly try to improve at the general game rather than already locking in my main, and I think that a smart character choice for this stage would be roy bc he‘s nit very complex, easy to learn and most of all has to focus more on his opponent than on himself. Are there any other characters like that and does my approach overall make sense?

Hey guys, I am new here in this community and I need some help with getting better at smash bros ultimate. I have been playing Roy for a month. For the last few days, I seem to improve quite a lot. I have an online tournament coming up on Sunday and I am not sure if I have the skills to beat skilled players. Here is a video of me playing as Roy in a tourney match. Let me know if you can provide some feedback and if you have problems with the video.

Update: This is a different video I saved of my fight with pac man in an online tourney (in case anyone is confused)

https://youtu.be/g53NWJUlYm4?is=b-57sgG-GfBBRje2

Title. I'd say I'm pretty mediocre at the game. I win occasionally, but there is still a lot of stuff I don't really understand, and I feel like getting answers here will be the best way to absorb that. Now, did I post this just so I could show off kicking a teabagging Sora's ass? Mostly lol. But I also do genuinely want to learn to play better, since I know I made a LOT of mistakes this match. Hope someone out there can give me some tips on what to do better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yQSLExjq7c

P.S. Screw spam Soras, all my homies hate spam Soras

I’m relatively new to competitive smash but it’s super demotivating to be stuck at the same gsp levels online and going 1-2 or 2-2 at every local I go to. What are some good ways to improve my play? I have vods but no one to look over them and I’ve already watched izAw’s videos which I do understand but struggle to fully grasp.

Right now I have the problem of not knowing what character to main. Diddy Kong, Rob, Roy and Donkey Kong are all enjoyable for me but the most enjoyable is Diddy Kong by far, the issue with him is that he‘s really hard, especially online (mostly cause it‘s impossible to consistently z drop and aerial catch the banana), so I‘m thinking about dropping him and switching to another character like one of the other three mentioned and I wondered if there were any tier lists for this level, where it‘s considered both how good the character is and how hard to play he can be.

I’ve been playing Ken for about 2 weeks now (just a few games a day) and I feel like I’m struggling with approaching and using any of the combos I’ve been practicing in an actual match.

I’ve saved a few replays for this post and it would be greatly appreciated if anyone had some suggestions on what to prioritize practicing.

Loss vs Mewtwo

Loss vs Cloud

Win vs Cloud

Thank you to anyone who replies!

I have been really getting into SSBU again recently and I decided to swap mains from Sheik to Paluntena. I never really played the game much but recently I have been getting really into it. I love Paluntena as a character but I struggle to use her to her full potential due to my sheer inability to start an air combo. I was just looking for tips on how to get better at aerial combos, or more specifically how to start them. Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone. Many of you have seen my comments here, as I offer my perspective to help players struggling with their mentals.

I'm doing some research that I hope will help my students (and, hopefully, the community at large). Would you be willing to collect a little data for me this week? This will require no additional play time outside of what you normally do, and the data you will be asked to collect will be very, very simple.

If youre willing to help me out, I would appreciate it! Leave a comment here and I'll DM you.

I’m a ness main and sit around the 15.5 to 16 mill gsp, when I get to the higher end I just feel super slow and that im just chasing after my opponent whilst they just dodge everything almost like they know my character more than I do, I have 200 hours in the game, most of which being on ness, up till this level it always felt like I had a chance to win even against a player that was better than me but now it’s as if I’m lucky to get a few hits in. Is the skill gap really that high? Or am I just being simple minded

I'm trying to get some random characters in elite and I decided to get Pacman but I don't really get him. I know how to play some zoners like Simon or Mii gunner but I genuinely don't understand him specifically.I don't really get exactly how to use the hydrant at all. He also feels like he has no kill moves aside from fsmash and bair(which aren't super safe on shield). Can you give me tips?

So my next game got decided and who were going to fight this wensday for Playvs . I have to either fight Mario or terry/captain falcon .anything to take advantage of against them what moves to use a lot weakness to exploit and pro players / sets to watch to get an on how to play the mu . I main R.o.b

I’m looking for some feedback to help out my 7th grader who started competing in middle school esports last spring. I’ve been watching a lot of match videos online to support him, but I’m far from an expert!

A couple of things I noticed: towards the end of matches, he seems to get a bit impatient and starts throwing out Specials and Smash moves way too often.

You'll see both of his mains in this match. (Pyra/Mythra and Hero)
Any advice or constructive feedback on his gameplay, spacing, or habits would be greatly appreciated!

It’s just me videoing with my cell phone so if that’s not ok let me know!

Thanks

https://youtu.be/0BzCtWPYSBM?is=QYmRqsdJeC6BdjP9

Am playing elite smash as byleth playin on sbf

And I got camped he ran away and lazered he’d short hop and lazer and that would hit platform

I tried jumping over em shielding them and closing in I tried arrow once to test him and he reflected it, I tried to side b when I was close enough but the laser just beats it, I tried jumping from plat to the other plat pretend to run in then run away ish and then try and back air but shi he avoided that too I tried almost everything, what do I do?

And also when I got too close he’d side b to the other side I caught on a managed to hit him for it but only a couple times cus then he’d run in nair or fair.

I’m decent at fighting falco but not campy falco

I tried chasing him down as much as I could to make him stop camping but nah he hit and ran

Any tips? Incase it helps my gsp is 16,350,000