Five Smash Bros Basics That You Should Master

So you want to be a Smash Bros. expert. Great! But becoming a better player isn’t just a matter of fast reflexes. It’s also a matter of knowing what to do. You know what they say about knowledge and power, right?

Earlier this month we coveredSuper Smash Academy‘s first “basics” video, which covered things like shield mobility, and shield grabs. This time they’re back with some new informational concepts that any Smash player should know, including:

• The ins-and-outs of tethering — the characters that can use these extended grabs, how the grabs attach to the edges of ledges, how one recovers from tether, how tether allows you to extend your reach and do mix-ups, and more.
• Diving into the wall jump — how to use it, how it can save your hide in intense situations, how to use it to surprise your opponents, and more. They also explain “wall cling,” which is a thing that only a few characters can do instead of wall jumps.
• The mysterious footstool, which is something you can use to seriously mess another character up without even attacking them. Did you know there are two kinds of footstools? And did you know that footstools are more effective against some characters than others, depending on what their recoveries are like?
• The many different ways to get back on the stage from a ledge. To sum these up in a single GIF:

• Each of these has ledge options their own strengths and drawbacks, which the video explains in greater detail. A good player knows they shouldn’t rely on a single one, as you then become predictable.
• And finally, they cover teching, a thing you can do after you get launched into a tumble or a helpless state. Basically, if you press L, R, or Z, right before you hit the ground, you can recover faster. This, too, can save your butt if you do it at the right time.

It’s all stuff that even players who consider themselves veterans can learn a thing or two from — while some of these concepts have existed in previous Smash games, they don’t necessarily work in the same way they have in the past. I for one am going to start trying to footstool on purpose more often, instead of having it always be this random thing that happens when I don’t mean for it to happen.

Wii U/3DS Basics: Part 2 – Super Smash Academy [Super Smash Academy]