Tactical Tips is a page on Smashville, dedicated to helping newcomers and pros alike. 95% of you who are reading will get at least something out of this guide, while the other 5% will get nothing. I promise nothing, but I hope this guide helps.

THE GAME

     Okay, imagine Super Smash Bros. Brawl like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Rock=Strength, Scissors=Speed, and Paper=Defense. Here are the match-ups, in case you can't imagine this in your head:

• Strength beats Speed
• Speed beats Defense
• Defense beats Strength

     This is 100% accurate, but imagine this in a battle; Ike (Rock) vs Pikachu (Scissors)-who would win, in your opinion? NO items. Ike would win, only to the fact that he has super-human strength (maybe his side + A does 28% damage..?), compared to Pikachu's nimble-ness. Sure, there is a chance of Pikachu winning, but that chance is slim to none. With this little guide by your side, you have a chance at beating even some of the tougher characters (IF good at the game and picked the right character)! Below is a list of all the characters in Brawl, and which category they belong to.

Rock Characters:

• Ike
• Donkey Kong
• Ganondorf
• Bowser
• Charizard (Pokemon Trainer)
  
• Wario
• Wolf
• Link
• King Dedede
• Captain Falcon
• Snake

Scissor Characters:

• Luigi
• Diddy Kong
  
• Sheik
  
• Toon Link
• Samus
• Pit
• Kirby
  
• Metaknight
• Fox McCloud
• Pikachu
• Squirtle (Pokemon Trainer)
  
• Lucas
• Marth
• Sonic the Hedgehog

Paper Characters:

• Mario
• Princess Peach
• Yoshi
• Zelda
• Ice Climbers
• R.O.B.
• Captain Olimar
• Falco
• Ivysaur (Pokemon Trainer)
• Lucario
• Jigglypuff
• Ness

     As I said before, this isn't 100% accurate, so don't blame me if this doesn't work. I didn't know where to put Mario, so I put him in defense since he's an all-around character. Here are some basic match-ups for you, so maybe this will help a little bit:

Ganondorf (Rock) vs Sonic (Scissors)= Rock wins
Zelda (Paper) vs King Dedede (Rock)= Paper wins
Fox McCloud (Scissors) vs Princess Peach (Paper)=Scissors wins

     One more thing-if you're going against like a 5/5 Pro, who's been winning like 350 matches in a row, this guide might not necessarily help you, because ANYTHING can happen when a match starts. Maybe you'll win, maybe you won't.

TYPE OF PERSON YOU ARE

     Okay, there is a way you can determine this-it depends on your:

A) Re-actions (When something has happened to you, what do you do next?)
    and...
B) Attitude (How do you play the game?)

There are 2 classes of smashers in the world: Defense and Aggressive.

DEFENSE

     Defense is pretty self-explanatory, but let me go ahead and explain it, the easiest way I can. Defense is when you DON'T run into battle headstrong; instead, you wait and attack when they come up to you. Most of the time, you think strategically and swiftly, so it's very hard to beat someone when they're defensive. I'm not saying it's impossible, because I do it all the time, but it's harder to beat someone that's defensive, rather than to beat someone who's aggressive.

AGGRESSIVE

     Same goes for Aggressive, but I'll explain it anyways. Aggressive is when you charge in every time, rather than having the patience of waiting for something to happen or for someone to walk up to you and start fighting. It's harder to play a strategic game in this setting, but I do it because that's what type of smasher I am. Sometimes, other smashers are scared to entice an aggressive player, simply because they won't know how to re-act quick enough to an aggressive player's response. When it comes to me playing brawl, my motto is: KO first, ask questions later

     It's rare to find a defensive player, and they're usually one of the best to go against. Aggressive is easy to find-I can already name 3 people that are aggressive when it comes to playing brawl-but my friends tell me that I'm the most aggressive player, so I don't know.

TIER LISTINGS

     What's a tier? A Tier is like a list of things from #1 (being the best) to #50 (being the worst). Think of it as a staircase; #1 is at the top, #50 is at the bottom. The top stair easily dominates the bottom stair. This tier is from my perspective, of who's the best compared to the worst.


TOP TIER-----

Metaknight; Zelda/Sheik; Wolf; Zero Suit Samus; Ice Climbers; Captain Olimar; Falco

HIGH TIER-----

Marth; Ness; Ike; Jigglypuff; Ganondorf; Toon Link; Luigi; Fox McCloud; Snake; R.O.B.

MIDDLE TIER-----

Mario; Bowser; Peach; Yoshi; Samus; Pit; King Dedede; Lucario; Wario; Luigi; Lucas; Diddy Kong; Mr. Game & Watch

LOW TIER-----

Pokemon Trainer; Link; Pikachu; Kirby

BOTTOM TIER-----

Sonic; Captain Falcon; Donkey Kong

     NOTE: You MAY dis-agree with me, but as I said above, this is from MY perspective, not yours. So bashing me or flaming me in the forums for this is bull-crap and you know it. I have my reasons, too. Here are some Q's:

Q: Why is Jigglypuff in the HIGH TIER?
A: Because she is the BEST at Aerials, duh. Plus her being so slow, she has the best recovery (besides Peach) in the game.

Q: Why did you put Sonic in the bottom? He's AWESOME!!!
A:...not really. I've played against a LOT of Sonic users online and offline, and all they use is his punch, his A button combo AND his spin dash. Not to mention that his Final Smash is annoying, which adds another million points.

Q: Why is Metaknight #1?
A: Because, all of his matches have a 50/50 chance of either winning or losing, no matter WHO you are. His combos are cheap, his final smash sucks (but is GREAT if hit) and has great recovery; that about sums it up for you. Don't believe me...? Check online.

ABBREVIATIONS FOR MOVES

Aerial moves

• Back Air=Bair
• Forward Air=Fair
• Standard Air=Sair
• Down Air=Dair
• Up Fair=Uair

Sex Kick= Move, when executed, does a good amount of damage within a short time period. For instance, Fox's Side A smash.

     Even though you may never hear of these abbreviations, it's good to keep them like that, especially in a conversation with someone. Makes it a whole lot shorter.