Alright, /v/, sit down.
I'm too tired of looking around and seeing people spouting dumb stuff about the game they play.
This is a thread made for teaching all of you the various techniques available for you in Smash 4, plus we will down into Frame data, Advanced Techniques, and other things.
For all your frame data needs please refer to this website right here: http://kuroganehammer.com/
For all of those that don't understand terms such as FAF, BKB, KBG, and such please refer to this list: http://kuroganehammer.com/Glossary
Alright, let's go.
I'll be writing as we go, so hang on tight. After we're done with this thread you'll be a lot better at the game. If you play Ganon (like 90% of /v/ apparently does) you will benefit a lot from this thread.
Starting off we're going to go into a technique that makes high level players look so fast.
Ever wondered why Sheik is as strong as she is? Want to know why giving moves more "landing lag" will do nothing?
The answer lies on what is known as an "autocancel"
An autocancel is when aerial move animation finishes before you touch the ground, resulting in you landing with only 4 frames of lag (regular landing lag) instead of the up to 12 or more you would get if you land with an attack out.
Sheik's fair, for example, comes out on frame 5 (hitbox active) and autocancels on frame 11. This one of the fastest aerials in the game and shows why sheik is so fast. She gets no landing lag whatsoever. (cont)
>>319837793
Friendly bump for potentially good thread.
>>319838582
Next up, how to play Rosalina.
Kill yourself for considering playing Rosalina.
Onto more interesting characters now.
>>319838710
And all potential is now gone.
>>319838236
If you check your character's frame data, you'll be able to see if you can autocancel an aerial as noted by Autoncancel: X Frame>
A good example for this is Ike.
http://kuroganehammer.com/Smash4/Ike
Now, Ike's Bair and Fair can be autocancelled from his Short Hop (he's on the air for 37 frames), but there's there's a problem.
His Fair can only autocancel past frame 36, which means Ike has to be LITERALLY frame perfect in order to autocancel a Fair.
However Smash 4's buffering system offers a simple workaround this problem (cont)
>>319838710
I just chose that image cause she looks like a teacher. Nothing else.
>>319838710
But she's objectively one of the more interesting out of Smsah 4's roster. Stay mad. I bet you play Pikachu or Samus.
>>319838987
Before you character jumps he enters what is known as the Jump Squat Animation. If you input an aerial during this animation, the attack will come out on the first frame you're airbone.
If you are an Ike main you can easily practice this by Short hopping and immediately pressing forward stick + A (faster than moving down to the C-stick).
If you did it correctly Ike will land with no lag. You can test it out by trying to jab immediately as you land. This is huge for slow characters like Ike because it gives him the option to apply pressure safely. This combined with the increased shield-stun allows characters to work more efficiently.
To see just how big of a difference an autocancelled move makes refer to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHnTF4GQQDA
>>319838710
>Can't play my fave character because of some salty fatso on /v/
Sure
>>319839550
For all you Ganon mains, check his frame data:
http://kuroganehammer.com/Smash4/Ganondorf
As you can see, Bair autocancels at frame 22 which makes it an extremely safe move for you to be throwing out. You can even autocancel it out of a short hop without much difficulty.
All of his other aerials, including the slow-ass Fair, can also be autocancelled but from a full jump only. You must always be very careful not to throw moves that will net you landing lag, as punishing those is extremely easy.
What if you told, however, that you can extend the frames you have in the air to autocancel moves you normally couldn't? (cont)
>>319840124
Now enters Frame cancelling.
This AT utility is very limited, but it's worth mentioning.
When using an aerial, you have to land on the ground while simultaneously hitting with the very first frame its hitboxes comes out. If successful, the aerial's hitlag will occur simultaneously with its landing lag, essentially reducing the amount of practical landing lag you have by the amount of hitlag.
The complexity of this technique, and the fact that it can be used when hitting a shield, makes it slightly irrelevant. But still worth a mention.
Talk about Shulk, please. Is there a good way to deal with his insane longend lag?