Illusion-Cancelling... come check this out

I don't know if any of you knew this, but it may be an already existing technique. I call it Illusion-cancelling, dealing with Fox's and Falco's Fox/Bird Illusion. I DISCOVERED THIS ON MY OWN! It's simple:

1. Use Fox/Bird Illusion
2. Double-tap B immediately after inputting the controls for the illusion

If done correctly, the illusion should go a very short distance.

Not so much a double tap. Pressing B right when he shoots stops him from flying.

A better description is when you hear the "Shing."

What shing?

The sound you hear right before he flies away.

OH! That one, with the indigo star twinkle. Yeah.

I have done this before, all you got to do is continuously tap the B button and you will do a shorter illusion.(also good to avoid a suicide).

LISTEN TO THIS PEOPLE!!!!(I have also discovered another Fox & Falco secret). Go to corneria or to venom with a starfox character and press the left,right,down directional buttons(randomly) until your character will grouch and shake their fist really hard and the rest of the starfox team will comunicate with you like in the game "starfox 64".If you get attacked while shaking it won't happen again in that match.

anyway it is kind of dumb because the aircrafts won't attack your opponent they will just cheer you on.

I know many of you guys already knew it but if you didn't,now you know.

....later

It's just tapping left and right on the control-pad, I believe, not left, down, right.

^Exactly. I think all of us knew that trick already.

It's not pressing left and right; it's pressing down on the D-pad for one frame.

Is that right? I'm so confused now.

Tapping left/right repeatedly gives you a better chance of doing it than just trying to hit down and let go in 1/60th of a second, is all.

Canceling or shortening of the Illusion can be done incrementally; simply press B once at any point *while* your respective space animal is moving in the Illusion to stop him at that spot. Contrary to popular belief, you need not continuously tap the B button; this in fact will interfere with your ability to stop it at the increment you desire by making your input less precise. Obviously, the best way to increase your precision with Illusion-canceling is to time your pressing of B in relation to the Illusions' distinctive *ping* start-up cue.

And yes, in order to perform the hidden taunt, you must simply hold down on the control pad for a single frame. Red Alert is correct. Tobias's observation is what in fact began the popular belief that the inputs for the hidden taunt were left, right, up, etc. As he states, tapping those directions repeatedly increases your chances of doing the taunt since the pad slips up and down very slightly in the middle of all of your pressing; eventually, a single frame input from down will register.

i'm wondering whether the fact that (a very few) people know that the secret taunt is indeed down on the d-pad is because of my efforts over the years to make this more known :p.

if you can sh with fox consistently, performing the taunt by pressing down should be fairly easy as well (sh requires 2 frame hold-down - summons require 1 frame).

illusion cancelling is useful for mind games and such.

The darkboarder dude is correct. Hey hardcore smashers, go to smashboards.com and come check some useful tips and a effective way of training that I submitted for you guys in the Fox & Falco character specific forum.
....later

This ought to be amusing...

Hm... A little bit of input here on said "effective" method of training, in case anyone new stumbles upon it or these forums. Simply to clear up some often-misunderstood concepts by newer players.

"2.and go to item switch and choose 'none'"

This is virtually the only part (except for your first point, obviously) on which you will receive nigh-universal agreement. Items introduce a random element to gameplay that can tilt the battle oftentimes in the direction of the less competent player. As such, experiencing battle without the presence of items increases your familiarity with the current metagame of high-level SSBM.

"3.put 2 of your nastiest enemies (the characters that gives you a hard time to KO) in lv.9 5 stocklives.(fight until you can easily beat them.)"

Incorrect, on more than a few counts. Practicing on level 9's is a guaranteed step in the wrong direction, as I will elaborate below. At best, level 9's can be used to insure that you are stringing together your combos at such a speed where they actually register as combos. Other than that, they can only harm your gameplay (all this is assuming that you intend to enter the competitive scene, that is). Concerning playing with more than one opponent, it does virtually nothing to improve your game in and of itself. It does not enhance reactive abilities or focus or any such arguments; it simply accustoms you to circumstances in which you will never find yourself at high levels, especially since you are playing against level 9's. Indeed, "training" in this manner fosters a certain variation in your play style whether you notice it or not; you will adapt subconsciously to the style and habits of the computer, which is never a good thing. Being able to "easily beat" these characters shows nothing more than an adjustment on your part according to the CPU's flawed AI and gameplay; you are catering your play to theirs, which will result in a deterioration of your mind games and following abilities to the point that you will be significantly handicapped against truly skilled human opponents.

"4.Then do the same thing with 3 characters.(try hyrule temple so you can breathe)"

Even worse than your previous point, truthfully. Not only is Hyrule Temple absent from the current metagame, rendering your play there a virtual waste of time, but playing against three opponents is a situation in which you will never find yourself in at true metagame tournaments. It will do little more than shape your gameplay according to how you aim to exploit the AI of these three opponents to pull off your win.

"5.after you beat that go 1 on 1 vs. a cpu handicap 9 and your character in handicap 1.(this is the toughest challenge because when the cp touches you he will send you flying off the stage)"

Completely backwards, really. Again, handicaps are nonexistent at actual tournaments, and you are again "training" against a computer, which as has been emphasized earlier can only damage your game.

"6.Then after you beat that play vs. another pro and you will be amazed of your improvement(like I did)"

Entirely incorrect. Again, playing against computers (and with the admittedly ridiculous parameters you put forth) *will* cause your game to crumble in the face of a high-level player and even against above-average players who have any amount of experience with humans. The pro player will simply exploit your computer-fed habits and predict and follow your every move while you will be unable to return the favor, having been accustomed to the linear play of computers.

"7.Then you will be hardcore 10/10 smasher and thank krazyzyko for my tips."

Wrong. In order to be a "hardcore 10/10 smasher," as you put it (I will assume that that means high-level), you must attend tournaments and play good human opponents (preferably those with a variety of solid characters or one or two strong characters frequented by the metagame) as well as have nigh-flawless technical gameplay.

"8.Remember no items and always use the c-stick to increase your agility and instant reaction."

No items, yes. However, you should not attempt to force the C-Stick into your routine; if you can pull off your smashes and string combos together with the control stick, you may find that staying with that and not trying to force yourself to use the C-Stick will be more beneficial to your gameplay (unless of course you want to make use of the C-Stick, in which case, go right ahead).

Concerning your inquiry about tournaments, virtually no tournaments are held in Puerto Rico, I am sorry to say.

In summary, remember that level 9 computers, handicaps, and other such related parameters only harm the development of your game. What you should do to improve yourself is as follows:

1) Practice tech against a level 1 computer (or you may want simply to use Training Mode if you have no need for the C-Stick). A vacant human character is also a possibility, although they will obviously not be able to return to the stage should you hit them off during the course of your tech practice.

2) Play against good (and I stress "good") human players to develop mind games and following ability.

3) Attend tournaments to push further your development as a high-level player and foster ever more improvement as you play more and more skilled opponents.

There you have it. Tech and mind games, the two major concepts of SSBM and how best to improve them both.

Take all of this from someone who knows and makes use of these very methods. I like to think that they worked.