Now that you know the controls, it’s important to discuss their uses. So you know how to input a smash attack versus a special attack, so now what? What’s the difference and why does it matter?
In top level play of super smash bros melee every single input counts, as it could mean the difference between taking a stock and losing one. So here I’ll describe the basic uses of each input, not including the ones that are obvious like running and jumping.
A button + C stick attacks
So as I mentioned before, the more percent you have, the more Knock-back you take. Now you have many options for attacking, each with their own uses, usually changing based on your opponents percentage. I won’t be getting too in depth about combos and follow ups to attacks as these vary greatly from character to character, but rather I’ll be talking about blanket statements that apply to most, if not all, characters. First I’ll start with jabs and tilts.
Jabs and tilts are usually low knock-back attacks that come out quickly (or have a low delay from the input to the actual attack). Their uses range from quick punishes of opponents mistakes, which can often lead to follow up attacks, to something called spacing. Spacing is basically the utilization of hitboxes (which is the area an attack will cover and hit your opponent) and the threat of attacking to make your opponent either move out of an undesirable space or into a desirable one. This may sound complicated, but think of it as threatening to hit someone (God forbid). Usually that person will most likely move away so as to not get hit. It works the exact same way in game: if you threaten your opponent with an attack, they will move away. If they don’t respect the space then you can punish them with an attack. The last utilization of jabs and tilts is in approaches. Approaches are exactly what they sound like: ways you can close the space between you and your opponent relatively safely. While jabs and tilts aren’t quite as popular as some other approach methods, they still exist making a mention worth it.
The next attack on our list is smash attacks. Smash attacks are much stronger than jabs or tilts, but they take more time to come out. These will normally be used in combos where they are much more likely to hit, but can also be used in the neutral (where neither opponent is actively attacking or comboing the other). They’re generally used when an opponent is at a higher percent as they can kill way earlier than some other attacking methods, this is why they are also popular to end longer combos.
The last for these attacks are aerials. Aerials are one of the most popular attacks in Melee, as they have a wide variety of uses (depending on the character of course). They are very popular for approaching, often used to extend and end combos, and can be used for something called tech-chasing (which I can’t explain now, but definitely will in a future post). One aerial I want to go over in specific is the down air, or the dair. Many dairs hit your opponent straight down, which is either called a spike or a meteor. The main difference between a spike and a meteor smash is that you can preform a tech to cancel the downward momentum gained after being hit by a meteor. This tech is called a meteor cancel and is preformed by either jumping or using an up-special (up and B). 
Here Bowser, after being meteor smashed by Link’s dair, meteor cancels with his up special (the spinning you see shortly after the first hit).
Some dairs are spikes, some are meteor smashes, and some aren’t either of the two. There are also some other moves that are spikes and meteors that aren’t dairs.
That wraps up the attacks with the A button and C stick
Special attacks
There isn’t much to be said as far as special attacks go, as they are drastically different for each character. They are purely situational and can range from incredibly useful to rarely used. the only general blanket statement that goes for most characters is the recovery move being up special. There is one specific special attack that I want to go over for future reference: the shine.
Officially known as the reflector for the characters Fox and Falco, the shine is indisputably the best move in the game. It comes out on frame one, meaning as soon as the input is registered a hitbox comes out; can be jumped out of, meaning if you input jump while in a shine you immediately jump out of it with no end lag; has decent knock-back for Fox and knocks upward for Falco, benefiting both characters in individual ways; and is utilized in many techs. This is what it looks like in slow motion:
(the yellow indicated Falco’s hurtbox, or where he can be hit; and the green indicated invincibility)
This is all I can say in terms of special attacks, now let’s move on to the shoulder buttons.
Shields, dodges, and grabs
So with these defensive options, which should you use and when?
Shields are exactly what they sound like, they block attacks. They are represented with a bubble surrounding the character and shrink over time as well as with each absorbed hit. If the shield becomes too small, a shield break results, leaving the character in a dazed state of immobility for an easy punish. As the shield shrinks, it can leave parts of you character exposed. If these parts are hit, you take normal damage and knock-back; this is called a shield stab. You can also be grabbed out of shield, meaning a grab usually can counter a shield. Dodges, however, cannot be grabbed and thus can be used to counter grabs as well as attacks, however they require precise timing. I like to think of it as a kind of rock paper scissors, where a correct prediction (called a read) can result in a punish, while a bad read can result in you getting punished.
One last thing about the shoulder buttons is with the airdodge. In melee, when you airdodge you can input a direction to move slightly in that direction while also being invincible. You can’t attack of course, and if used midair, it puts you into a freefall in which you can’t do anything but DI left or right. No recovery moves, no jumps, nothing.
Wave Dashing
This about wraps up the basic utilization of attacks, but there’s one more thing I want to cover in this post. We’ve already talked about one tech, meteor cancels, but this next one is the most widely used and recognized tech in the melee community. It’s called wave dashing.
Melee in a fundamentally broken game. It has many exploitable mechanics, but to many this is what makes the game so fun to play and watch. Wave dashing is the epitome of this concept. Wave dashing is a tech used to quickly change momentum, alter spacing, dodge around opponents, and is used in many other techs. It is preformed by inputting a jump then immediately airdodging down and at an angle, putting your character back on the ground. This cancels any lag and you can act immediately out of a wave dash, leading to it’s incredible usefulness in Melee.
This guide shows both the inputs and actions of the character during a wavedash. (just a note the game pictured actually isn’t Super Smash Bros Melee, but a fan made game with improved graphics, more characters, and more stages all while keeping the mechanics of melee. It’s called Project M, and while it may not be Melee, the input and general effect is the exact same)
Another note with this GIF is that the wave dash is preformed by Luigi, who has the longest standard wave dash out of any character, as shown here:
Most characters have a wave dash similar to the length of that of Peach.
Thank you for reading through my second post! The posts from here on out will be focusing on more specific techs, as we got through the basics of the game. This will hopefully mean smaller posts with more quirky mechanics that make this game so unique. If you have any questions or need any more clarification please ask, as if you are confused I’m sure many others will be too. Thanks again!
