teams 101 by nmw.doc

8/10/2019 Teams 101 by NMW.doc

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Teams 101 by NMW

Teams is an underappreciated and underdeveloped aspect of Melee. I considermyself a very good teams player, but it's only because the standard is so low. Highlevel singles players often trip over each other because they haven't internalizedthe basics of teams. I can see dozens of things I do wrong every time I play teams,

but I still know that my decisions are better than most people out there. In hope ofraising the average level of skill in doubles, I wrote the following, rather lengthy,article covering the basics of teams. I hope to collaborate with some high levelplayers to write a more advanced guide in the future. tay tuned for a postfeaturing many !I"s illustrating the concepts covered.

ingles is about playing safe, being calculated until you get an opening, and thenpushing your advantage as far as you can. In a sense, you could say the same istrue for teams. #ut a more sensible description of teams is that it's a race to takeyour opponent's stocks as fast as possible. Thus, while singles at its core is abouttaking every hit as far as you can go, teams is about using your time to itsma$imum potential. In singles, time is not an important resource. %ou play thegame at whatever pace feels appropriate. In teams, you must be as brutal aspossible as fast as possible.

Basic rhythm:Most compositions have a fairly strong preference for which character should be infront and which should be in back. Try to maintain order. &hen your front line goesin, the backup follows him and improves on the team's collective positioning bybeing close behind the front, seizing whatever additional space the front playerearned. If the front player loses the neutral, the back line goes in and tries to hold

as much space as possible. hould he land a hit, he pushes the advantage. houldhe do something unsafe, then a buered roll away is likely the right option. (nee$change is generally enough time for your front line to have regained his footingand to be ready to get back into action. If they are hit o stage, you should beprepared to give up more space than if he were )ust hit into a knockdown. The )obof the support is basically to buy time until the carry is back on his feet. *on't crossup your partner unnecessarily. witching between front line and backline should bea choreographed dance. If you are in the back and cross up your teammate, thereshould be a damn good reason to do it.

Optimal positioning:

+egardless of stylistic dierences, there are situations where pretty much everygood teams player will agree about how each player should position themselves.et's say there are teams - and %. o in the neutral, the players will be arranged -- % %. I am a proponent of trying to stay together and force the other team o thestage. (ther player's like "T will earn space by going in hard and making thesituation -%-%. This can potentially earn you huge amounts of space and createdecimating team combos on a sandwiched player. However, you have to beincredibly con/dent and precise to go in deep like "T. *epending on stagepositioning, the - % - % situation can 0uickly lead to enormous advantages. #ut you


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must be aware that isolating yourself from your partner can be risky. If it becomesan - %% - situation, then the - players are separated, and %% is controlling centerstage. #eing the %% team gives you the freedom to choose which player to engage,to split into singles should it be advantageous, or to double team one person. Thisis the ideal situation for teams that have a zoning character. They push one playero stage, keep his partner walled out, and then ledge guard. (n the other hand, if

you are "T and you go in deep, you can turn the - % - % situation into an -%- 1v2by hitting the support away. % is boned. nother possibility is that you create ateam sandwich and get -%%-, where the % team has no space and can be pressuredon both sides into oblivion.

3ssentially, positioning yourself advantageously very often comes down to one ofthe following four situations. The most basic is that you and your partner movetogether, gain stage position, and push the opponents toward the ledge. The ne$tmost basic situations are the zoning one, where one team holds the center andkeeps the other team separated, and the 1v2 sandwich, where you hit one playeraway and double team his partner. If you have a 4each, heik, amus, or Marth, itis highly likely that you will be the one zoning out a character while your carry goes

to town on his partner. If you are playing double fastfaller, it is more likely that youwill use your speed to create the 1v2 sandwich. &hen playing fastfallers, yourspeed makes it easier to ditch the partner and go for a 1v2 across the stage. till, ifyou are playing a team like 4each5heik, a 1v2 sandwich is as brutal as with doublefastfallers. *ownsmashing on both sides of a character is absurdly lethal. Then thelast, most uncommon, yet highest reward situation of all if when you can get bothplayers sandwiched within a small area and space attacks on both sides of them.

This situation has the potential to melt both their stocks. 4ew4ew6 is a player whois e$tremely adept at recognizing when people are going to hold their shields, whothen takes advantage of this by crossing them up and creating devastatingsandwiches.

Risk/reward in teams:

The system is skewed dramatically from singles. If you are playing against a Marth,"alco, or heik in singles, it's not common to lose your stock before being able toregain positioning after overe$tending yourself. These characters do not have thebene/t of being able to do their protracted followups in teams. In singles, laggy/nishing moves are high risk, high reward. In teams, they are low risk, high reward.

Throw out your /nishing moves much more liberally. &atch how many restsHungry#o$ throws out when teaming with 4lup. &hied rest is no big deal, hit restis a kill. 3ven if you do get hit o stage, most easily ledge guardable characters insingles can make it back to the stage with a good partner.

nalysis o! the top characters

"o$7 The best carry. The only character that can really approach safely in teams. If"o$ is the best and most challenging character in singles, it's pretty safe to say he'sthe best and even more challenging in teams. If you are a new "o$ trying to playcarry in teams, you are going to have to spend a long time trying to learn to spaceyourself safely. %ou can die in the blink of an eye, but he can bully people like noother. hine gimps are crazy in teams, especially considering how undisciplinedmany people are about going o stage. His crazy speed and shinegrab make him


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amazing at getting grabs, which synergizes well with characters like 4u and "alconwho can get devastating punishes o of them. "o$'s versatility is unmatched, soyou can even play a supporting role, using )ust shine, bair, utilts, and occasionalnairs. lso pretty good at saving partners with his up8b and dtilt.

"alco7 super underrated support. The skills that "alco players rely on to winsingles do not help them in teams. His lasers are as good in teams as in singles, butfor completely dierent reasons. He cannot control the neutral the same way hedoes in singles. #ut his lasers allow him to disrupt team combos, mess up ledgeguards, and give your partner more chances to recover with their up8b. His shine isamazing both for team combos and for going deep to save teammates o stage. Ifyou want to play "alco in teams, watch how 3uropean players or 9anguzen playhim. Make yourself hard to hit by using his amazing bair and utilts. "alco is great inteams if you can play disciplined enough not to ever put yourself in bad situations."alco is the only character who you can't ditch to go 1v2 his opponent. "alcospamming lasers from across the stage is one of the most annoying things indoubles. Having access to having a spike that's super easy to land is also an

amazing boon::people are M6;H more likely )ust to have continuous survival *I inteams because they know their teammates can help them.

"alcon7 ;an approach and play the front line if necessary. He's no "o$, but shouldyou partner with a character that is known to be bad at approaching, you willprobably want to be aggressor, or at least have a


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guards and for saving teammates with pound, uair, and dair. ynergizes well withcharacters who are good at getting grabs because grab8rest is amazing. lsosynergizes well with characters who can avoid getting wrecked in 2v1s, which aresure to come up because of how often she gets hit away and has to slowly comeback to the stage.

;ommon ;ompositions7

"o$5"alco7 This is probably the only team where "alco can really thrive. Hisstrengths are amazing for complementing "o$. et the "o$ do the approaching, andshould the "o$ hit someone toward the "alco, the "alco can probably get a bigcombo started. The team combos are great, and "alco makes it a giant pain in theass to ledge guard "o$. The goal here is to make sure the "alco is comfortable andcan maintain his stocks while making sure the "o$ has enough oensive presence togain advantages when possible.

"o$5"alcon7 This team is fast. They pack a punch. #etween shine, "o$'s usmash,and knee, you have most of the best killing moves in the game on the fastest

characters in the game. 6se your mobility to your advantage. Take to the topplatform when you are feeling scared. !rab combos are brutal. edge guardsshould generally end in one hit, with one of the attacks mentioned above as thecoup de grace. %ou can choose to go to %oshi's to smother opponents and getlightning fast kills, or you can go to *reamland and abuse your mobility. This teamis really versatile. If you play against double spacies, I would recommend the "alcondoes not approach much. gainst some characters, like 4each or Marth, "alconapproaching is not bad, but against double spacies, you really want to takeadvantage of his knee and his speed, not relying on his neutral game.

"o$54each7 In the past, lots of people have said it's the best team. "o$ is the bestcarry and 4each is an amazing support. 4lay to their strengths and it should bestraight forward. 9one, ledge guard, and save your teammate with 4each. Hold theteam positioning to let your "o$ @ourish. 4each's dsmash is also great for creatingchaos when people get an opening on the "o$. &hen people think they can hit a"o$, they often try to push it really hard, which can result in them getting bad *I ona dsmash, or )umping into it on a platform. 4each's dsmash is also an amazing toolwhen people are playing around at the ledge. It can stage spike people, let yourpartner tech, or even hit him back toward center stage.

"o$54u7 imilar to "o$54each, but with a little bit more kill power. 4u can godeeper o stage because instead of having @oat, she has a crap ton of )umps.!rab8rest is ridiculously good, and considering "o$'s speed and shinegrab, he is asgood at getting grabs as anyone else in the game. 4eople also love to hold shieldsin teams because it's pretty safe. !etting a grab is usually not that threatening. If

the "o$ and the 4u are fast and on the same page, shielding can lead to a killsuper fast. +est is also amazing for punishing rolls, and "o$ is the best character atpressuring people into rolls. 4eople spam rolls in teams because they are oftenpretty safe, but rest makes them completely unsafe. This also means that, in theconventional team spacing where the carry is in front and the support behind, techrolling into the stage means rolling into a rest.


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Marth or heik5"o$7 *ecent teams that should be played similarly to "o$54each. Thesupport zones out one player. Marth and heik both oer great control of the ledge,and they can get 0uick gimps. #etween heik's deep ledge guards and Marth's dair,they can 0uickly devastate people near the ledge. If you want to learn to play thesecompositions, watch Bor;al teams.

"alco5"alcon7 Bot the best team, but they do have a bunch of small tricks that givethem good synergy. "alco's shine can lead into "alcon's ridiculous punishes. asersand shine are amazing for saving "alcon. They both have great vertical mobility tocombo on platforms Cthough often "alco can )ust do his singles combos since no onecan catch him up thereD. "alco lacks strong /nishers, so teaming with "alcon helpscompensate for that. hine::Egrab is a pretty free kill setup in a 1v2 because youeither get a shine, a grab, or a roll. "alcon can cover the roll with a knee and reactto the other two contingencies with a knee as well.

Marth or heik5"alcon7 "alcon in general can play with most top tiers, but it reliesstrongly on being able to convert into knees o your partner's hits Ce.g. Marthfair5utilt, heik ftilt, "alco shine, and so onD. These teams need to stay really close

and be really precise. If your teamwork is not on point, these compositions aregarbage tier. #eing able to target switch and space around your teammate iscrucial. If you aren't willing to practicing spacing attacks right around yourteammate, then don't play these teams.

4each5heik7 4robably the best team without a "o$. This team wants to sticktogether. They are hard as hell to approach. If you are a fastfaller and you lose theneutral, you are likely to eat FG= within seconds. It's nightmarish to getsandwiched by these two. They can breakdance all over you by hitting down onboth sticks. They make it incredibly hard to save your teammate because their ostage presence is so strong. They are both good at buying time to not get wreckedin the 2v1, which is a situation that is bound to come up since they are not the most

mobile characters, and their recoveries can take a while. If you are an aspiringfastfallers player, 4each5heik is the team that's most likely to lead to some trauma.

*ouble @oaties7 Turns the teams meta upside down. Teams is a race to take stocks,but these guys' stocks are inherently harder to take. They live forever. If you areplaying against them, you need to play super cautious and )ust win the neutralgame almost every time. If you are the double @oaties team, your goal is to stayalive long enough to get a brutal opening on your opponents. edge guarding isessentially free in teams. #ut you can't ledge guard these characters. H#o$ and4lup are the best team to watch if you want to play double @oaty. *arrell and *arcalso had an amazing run with the same composition::if you want to learn how 4ucan shark for rests in teams, their games are a goldmine. Mac* and anz also hada pretty entertaining pe$ run. 4each54each is probably the only team that's stupidand annoying that can actually do decently.

*ouble "o$. *on't really want to talk about it. They are good at everything andtheir weakness is that they can get wrecked.

"ommon o#erarching strategies:

*ouble team the fastfaller. "alco, "o$, then "alcon, should be the preference, shouldthere be more than one fastfaller on the team.


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&hen facing double @oaties, do a bunch of bairs or other safe moves when standingin the center of the stage and also from the top platform. 4laying against double@oaties is all about controlling center stage.

Team knockdown coverage. Bot universally agreed upon, but the norm is usuallythat the person who does not get the knockdown does a strong move to cover the

tech roll into them, and the person who gets the knockdown covers the otheroptions. (n platforms, you should cover all the options with your teammate everytime. &hoever is closer to the center of the stage should cover the inward option,and whoever can get to the outside faster should cover that one. If you are goingfor reads in this situation, you are doing it wrong.

&all out someone while you gangbang his partner. heik, 4each, Marth, amus,possibly 4u, are all walling characters. This isn't to say that it doesn't apply withevery character, )ust that those characters are better at doing that than they are atother things.

*itch the opponent, even if you have an opening on him, and gangbang his partner.

"o$ and "alcon are the characters that are best at this.$ist o! common mistakes in teams and what to do instead:

Trying too hard to follow up, sometimes at the cost of the highly advantageouspositioning you have gained. The solution is simple. #ack o. "alling back,regrouping, maintaining cohesion with your partner is crucial. ometimes youcombo a heik to the ledge and it's time to call it a day. *on't waste precious timetrying fruitlessly to scare her. Bot every punish needs to end up in a kill. "orcing aplayer away from his partner is an amazing victory. Trying to punish one player toohard often results in neglecting doubles teams and free team ledge guards acrossthe stage.

Bot collapsing on your partner 0uickly enough. If your partner earns stagepositioning, then you must move with them 0uickly. (therwise, your partner canget double teamed, turning what should have been an advantage into a badsituation. #asically, see the positioning section again if you still don't understandwhy staying close to your partner is important.

;rowding your teammate. tay out of the range of any hitbo$es they are likely touse if they are in front. If you move too close to them, they will not be comfortablein throwing out moves because they know they could hit you. If they do not throwout a move, this means it's likely the opponent is going to beat them in the neutraland then hit both of you. tay about a "o$5"alcon5Marth dashdance range away.

!oing for grabs in inappropriate situations. *on't go for grabs in 2v1 or in 1v1 whenneither team is separated. *ashdance grab is the worst strategy in teams. !rabsare particularly bad for heik because her throws take so long. !etting a grab asheik basically opens yourself up to a free punish.

Improper move selection for team combos. &hile I've advocated throwing out yourkilling moves liberally in teams, when you have e$tended 1v2s, you want to usenumerous mid to weak knockback moves, sending the opponent to your partner.4lay ping pong with them. Try not to hit them too far past your partner. %ou want to


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keep them between the two of you. (n "*, you want to use more horizontal movesbecause there is nowhere to escape to. (n other stages, you may want to carry theopponent up the platforms to continue your combo. %our character's hitbo$es,vertical mobility, etc. will obviously in@uence what moves you will use. +egardlessof that, moves with lateral knockback are generally better for teams combos,whereas ones with vertical knockback are often preferred in singles.

3$posing one's self to 2v1 situations. 6nless you are an amazing "o$ player, or ifyou are 1>, you probably don't want to cross up the other team's front line often.Isolating yourself from your partner, 343;I% if he is playing a slow, supportcharacter, generally has a bad risk5reward ratio. %ou are likely to get your stockevaporated.

Bot capitalizing on 1v2s. *on't run away and try to hit the @oaty at 2


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shitty "alco because their lasers are always counterproductive and end up messingup their teammate more than the opponents.

+olling into the other team, both out of shield in on knockdowns. This is an easyway to get yourself killed. If you are in the normal --%% positioning, tech behindyour partner and let them defend you.

Bot taking your partner's stock. 1v2 is basically hopeless if your opponents havedecent teamwork. 3ven if your teammate is better than you, taking his stock isusually the right thing to do.

+eading tech rolls into your partner's zone. This is their zone. et them cover it.

!oing for the right option too late. *on't try to make up for not seeing something0uickly enough by doing something that's too optimistic once you react. If youdidn't notice that your partner got a grab, that you should help them recover, or anyother number of situations, keep your composure and think about what's the bestthing to do now. 4eople fre0uently fumble over their partners because they realizewhat they should have done and then try to do it when the time window haspassed.

edgehop aerials. !enerally it's better to let your partner try to create space foryou than to do something risky from the ledge. If your teammate is nearby and youare on the ledge, don't get greedy and try to attack. In all likelihood, your partnerwill be able to be able to help you get back on stage without you having to take anyrisk.

!oing ostage to ledge guard. If you are against a "o$ and you go ostage to ledgeguard, you will probably get shined. !oing o stage is not good in teams. tickwith your teammate, have one person grab the ledge, and the other person coverthe onstage option. Team ledge guards are easy and optimal. The ability for

4each54u to safely go o stage to ledge guard is a big reason why they areamazing teams characters.

+ecovering to the ledge. !ood players hold onto the ledge in teams. *on't e$pectthem to try to get o and cover on stage options. That's what their partner is for.

4ushing someone onto the edge while your partner is recovering. This is nichescenario but it comes up surprisingly often. omeone is ledge guarding yourteammate. %ou try to pressure them to so your partner can recover. They shieldand your attack hits them onto the edge, messing up your partner's recovery. Try togo for a grab in this situation instead.

etting go of the ledge. s implied above, you should hold onto the ledge. Takingaway recovery to the ledge makes it dramatically easier for your partner to coverthe remaining options.

Bot helping a recovering partner. This is usually )ust bad awareness. %ou have todevelop your map awareness and watch everyone on the screen. Try hard not tofocus on anyone. &atch everything. This is the hardest part of teams.


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Trying to recover when it's hopeless. If your partner is getting comboed on thestage, kill yourself as fast as possible to get back in the fray sooner. Half a secondis enough for someone to eat K=

Trying too hard to help a recovering partner. "alcon is a good e$ample of acharacter who usually sucks at saving his teammate. It's generally not worth it do

run o stage and try to up8b your partner back onto the stage. If you are at a highpercent and feel you have little to lose, then it might be worth it to go for it. #utputting a fresh stock at risk for having a chance to save your teammate is rarely agood idea Cif you are at a massive de/cit, then it is probably worthwhileD. (ne ofthe strengths of 4each, 4u, and "alco is that they can so fre0uently save theirteammates without e$posing themselves to any risk.

ide note7 I don't believe there is a good consensus about what someone with apro)ectile should do when their partner is under duress. My rule of them would bethat you should try to approach, even if your character is bad at approaching, ratherthan using pro)ectiles to try to help them. *o not do this is you aD know that it willnot work, or bD know that your pro)ectiles will be eective in helping to save your

partner. In the /rst situation, do your best to use your pro)ectile to be as annoyingas possible. "alco is the e$ception to my rule of thumb. His lasers are almostalways enough to save your partner.

%&ndamental' easy to implement strategies:

If you combo someone ostage while an opponent does the same to your partner,it's usually best to save your teammate. If the kill you are going to net is a lowpercent kill, if you are playing characters that struggle in the neutral, or if you knowit's guaranteed, it might be ok to go for the kill. #ut generally, it is better to saveyour teammate. Many characters can get saves that are very diAcult to stop, and ifyou run across the stage while an opponent is still recovering, you may be able tosetup at 1v2 situation.

&hen you die and your partner is going to die imminently, wait for them to diebefore dropping from the respawn platform. *ouble invincibility is amazing. &henboth you and your partner come down invincibly, you have complete control. Itgenerally leads to the situation where both of you are in the center and the otherteam is isolated. If it doesn't, it's probably because the other team was dumb andgot themselves both cornered in the same part of the stage, which is even worse.

&hen your partner is getting pressured, hit his shield and force whoever ispressuring him to shield. If he does not shield, you will get a hit. 3ither way, yourpartner is no longer being pressured and can roll away. &hen your partner iscornered or trying to recover, attack whoever is pressuring him. The same situation

arises. The opponent must block, evade, or get hit. ll three of those options allowyour partner to get back onto the stage.

&hen your partner is getting comboed, swing in that direction with your bread andbutter spacing moves, such as Marth's fair or "alcon's nair. If you hit both yourteammate and the opponent, then your teammate is no longer getting comboed.Moreover, you might even be able to follow up on your opponent. Then, if you areable to space one additional attack on him without hitting your teammate, this


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might start a team combo. t worst, you end the combo and your teammate takes2=, and at best, you get a big opening.

In situations where your teammate is not at kill percent and your opponent is,where you cannot properly space an attack around your teammate, hit them bothwith your killing move. ;ommunicate to your partner in advance to always survival

*I in these situations. ometimes when your partner gets a grab, you are notproperly spaced to hit only your opponent. If your partner can live too, then )usttake the kill.

&hen your Cnon:@oatyD partner is recovering, run to his side of the stage. *o yourbest to hold some position to let him safely get to the ledge. If this is not possible,grab the ledge and use whatever stalling possible to hold it until your partner isthere. earning to time your ledgehop aerial, waveland, or whatever you opt for isreally crucial. !enerally you want to do it as late as possible, such that your partnersnaps the ledge as soon as you let go, but other factors may in@uence yourdecision. If you were not able to refresh your invincibility, you might go sooner. Ifyou have practiced with your partner, you might be able to share the ledge. This is

particularly bene/cial if there is a disparity between your two characters' ability toget back on the stage. +efreshing your invincibility one additional time and thenletting your "o$ teammate do invincible ledgedash could very well be the bestoption.

&hen you have an opponent sandwiched, space attacks on both sides of them. Ifone hit lands, they are boned. !enerally their only option to get out is a roll, so tryto be cognizant of that. till, neglecting to cover the roll might sometimes be okbecause the reward for landing a hit is so high. ike I said, teams is about gettingas much done as you can in the shortest possible time.

+ead missed techs. It's harder to keep track of everything in doubles. 4ay attentionto how someone is controlling their character. !uessing a missed tech often leadsto a kill. If someone is in hitstun and tries to tech, then you hit them before they hitthe ground, they are going to miss the tech. Moreover, if someone misses one tech,they are likely to miss subse0uent ones because of trying to press the trigger toolate for the initial one. (nce you get a 1v2 knockdown and someone misses a tech,they should get obliterated. !et comfortable with going for the read on a missedtech rather than a reactionary grab on a techroll.

+ead tech rolls toward their teammate. In teams, several defensive habits arehighly prominent because they are very strong. mong them are shielding a lot,rolling, continuous survival *I, and tech rolling toward one's partner. +ead theseand punish them.

bout me7 I'm an aspiring "alcon player from Bor;al. Though I am not near a topplayer currently, my rate of improvement has impressed many, and I /nally havesome wins under my belt. ;urrently, I am trying to do commentary fre0uently,especially on doubles, where commentator knowledge is often lacking. I'm alsoalways trying to show that "alcon is a viable character. I hope you en)oyed the readand can implement some of my ideas in your own play. "ollow me LBM&hittier on

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teams 101 by nmw.doc

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