School of Smash: L-canceling
Super Smash Brothers is an iconic game series enjoyed by many people. Although Masahiro Sakurai (the creator of the Smash series) intended Super Smash Bros. Melee (the second game in the series for the Nintendo GameCube) to be a party game, there were many advanced techniques that if used correctly in competitive Smash, you could get an edge. Mastering advanced techniques in Melee, can lead to combos or being able to input an attack faster, which gives you a significant edge over people who don't know that these techniques exist.
The most "basic" technique is L-canceling. Every time you use an aerial attack, which is a non-special move in the air (you can input with jump (X, Y, or Up on the control stick), then the attack button (A) for neutral air, or C-stick one of 4 ways to do other aerial attacks (You can also point on the left control stick and the A button at the same time). While doing an aerial attack, your character is falling towards the ground. When your character lands, they will experience "landing lag", which is the time between the character lands and when you input something and the character actually follows with your commands.
Melee runs in 60 frames per second. If you press the shield button (L (which is why it is called L-canceling), R , or Z button) 7 frames before landing, meaning you have 7/60 seconds to press one of the 3 buttons, the landing lag animation will go in double speed, meaning you cut your landing animation in half (rounded down).
L-canceling is useful for every character since being able to attack faster is very important. It is especially important for moves that have higher aerial landing lag, like Bowser's or Ganondorf's.
Note that Mr. Game and Watch's neutral, back, and up aerials cannot be L-canceled, since they functions as special moves, which cannot be L-canceled.
School of Smash is a series that talks about advanced techniques in Melee. This may or may not be continued. Please leave a comment if you want this series to continue.
The most "basic" technique is L-canceling. Every time you use an aerial attack, which is a non-special move in the air (you can input with jump (X, Y, or Up on the control stick), then the attack button (A) for neutral air, or C-stick one of 4 ways to do other aerial attacks (You can also point on the left control stick and the A button at the same time). While doing an aerial attack, your character is falling towards the ground. When your character lands, they will experience "landing lag", which is the time between the character lands and when you input something and the character actually follows with your commands.
Melee runs in 60 frames per second. If you press the shield button (L (which is why it is called L-canceling), R , or Z button) 7 frames before landing, meaning you have 7/60 seconds to press one of the 3 buttons, the landing lag animation will go in double speed, meaning you cut your landing animation in half (rounded down).
L-canceling is useful for every character since being able to attack faster is very important. It is especially important for moves that have higher aerial landing lag, like Bowser's or Ganondorf's.
Note that Mr. Game and Watch's neutral, back, and up aerials cannot be L-canceled, since they functions as special moves, which cannot be L-canceled.
School of Smash is a series that talks about advanced techniques in Melee. This may or may not be continued. Please leave a comment if you want this series to continue.
L-cancelling gif:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ssbwiki.com/File:Lcancelink.gif
I used to play Smash with my cousins all the time. It was always sort of just a fun distraction but I never knew there were actually professional Smash players. Just in this post alone, the simple game I used to play with family has become super technical in a way I’d never imagined.
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