A couple things: recent tourney and approaching backwards

Recently went to a tournament in Tucson, have some sets up against Axe and Forward. Here's the thread.

Those vids should highlight how important it is never to mess up your guaranteed combos. I lose quite a bit of percent and even stocks off mistimed infinites, which is not at all bueno.

It's been awhile since I've fought really fast Falcos; they're scary. You can also see Axe using a lot of f-throw, which (for some reason) makes Nana drop her shield when he grabs you. That keeps her from being able to shield grab, which sucks. The throw hitbox also has strangely powerful knockback, meaning the two of you will get separated in a heartbeat. Falco can also CG with it at low percents :(

And his pressure game... ouch. The real trick to getting away from his lasers and shield pressure is simply calling whether you should roll.

You also see me having to fight off a lot of f-smashes; it isn't until the end of my set vs. Forward that I start spacing around it. Forward likes to predict the rhythm of people's movement, so by the end I was consciously trying to kill off my rhythm and make him whiff. It worked once or twice, I think :D

There's also a spacing against the f-smash where you can shieldgrab it, but I don't know what it is. You might need to wavedash into your shield so that your momentum keeps you from sliding back so far. It might also just be if he simply smashes too deep. Anybody who knows should tell me ^_^

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Part 2! This strategy seems to work decently well against many people and has helped me out a lot against Captain Falcon players. I've known about it for awhile but I'm only recently really exploring the concept of constantly facing away from Falcon.

The following are reasons why I think it's a good idea:

1) D-smash comes out behind you, so you have those few extra frames to take him by surprise. Catching people when they DI badly is how I land a lot of my KOs.

2) His forward+b is punishable from your shield with short hopped b-air; for that matter, you can wavedash into your shield, then suddenly b-air from it, and you can catch him by surprise.

3) This lets you f-tilt-guard into blizzard really really quickly as you advance. Since hitting him with de-sync'ed blizzards can give you crucial openings, finding ways to sneak them into the normal flow of battle gives you a big edge.

4) It makes your grabs very surprising, because most characters don't grab while sliding at you backwards. Facing the wrong way is a good way to bait the opponent into shielding.

Points 1 and 3 are applicable against a lot of characters, really.

That's all for now ^_^