SSB for 3DS Tips on Reading Opponents?

[Eiram™]

Whenever I play online with someone, whether it be with friends of For Glory, I usually have a hard time reading an opponent's habits, and how I can punish accordingly. Is there anything I can do to help improve my reading/punishing ability?

 

[3905]

The best thing you can do is pickup on their habits. If you notice a certain pattern occur a lot, such as the opponent trying to roll behind you for an attack, change up your play style and punish. So if the opponent tries to roll behind you for an attack, start charging a side smash behind you, then release as soon as they reach the other side. Another good thing to do is watch how they recover. If they like approaching the ledge a lot, try to ledge trump them for a punish. If they like recovering high, attack them in the air! My personal favorite: landing lag. If you notice an opponent air dodge a lot, get them to air dodge near the ground, they won't be able to act out of it for about 20 frames which is like perfect time for punishing it. Especially if your like me who jumps at someone with kirby hammer only to not hit them in the air

 

[mrlmaokun]

Learn how each character plays. When you get a gist of their most effective set-ups ad strings reading them gets easy. When you play a more technical opponent that adapts well reading might as well go out the window, so learn to put pressure and not relying on reads alone. Just practise your spacing and zoning for the neutral game, Smash isn't as deep as Street Fighter so in about a week or so from solely practising against characters and watching tutorials online you'll be fine.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Read air dodges and rolls. Because there's a certain amount of frames of when an air dodge is occurred. To punish air dodges, wait till the animation is finished and hit them with an attack or grab them when they reach the ground before they can dodge again.

As for rolls, if you can see the distance of where the roll is going to end, I would recommend either grabbing or a down smash. Because I usually see this as the opponent is either stalling or afraid of you.

 

[pokerus]

I don't necessarily pick up on any habits of the opponent, but it is pretty easy to do so once you have battled with someone a few times. You just gotta focus on what attacks they use at what points so you know when to block, dodge, and fight when there is an opening; what I do is just wing it and it usually works. If you do something random enough it'll throw off your opponent and distract them from what you're really trying to do.

 

[Artisan]

You need to pressure your opponent. You need to know the spacing of your character as well as your opponents. If your opponent has a long distance grab (tether grab) then you can spot dodge more often (especially if they try to start combos with it. Shield opponents who like to approach with spinning attacks and punish properly (mainly with fast grabs). Get the feel of how your character moves before you actually make your move as you don't want to move around willy nilly and get hit by something you die from. Air dodges are okay if timed properly but never use it early if your opponent wants to read it. It's best to jump away safely and go for an attack rather than fastfall and air dodge most of the time but fastfalls help too (especially in lag). Grab opponent who like to counter or abuse super armor (shield grab preferably).

 

[RedBomber]

What I tend to do is make them get used to a certain play style. For example if I'm edge guarding them and they always see my going down to try and fight them off the ledge they will start too approach from above. Once I see them repeating that option than I punish it by edge guarding above the stage.

You can also pressure opponent when it comes to the shield neutral game. If you notice them shielding a lot than go for grabs. Once they stop shielding because they know you will grab you adapt to their switch. Predict a spot dodge and go for a delayed grab or if they roll turn down smash.

Obviously at higher level of play an opponent won't be as easy to predict but if you can force them to play a certain way you should be able to take control of they match up.