The following guide is a break down of Solo Showdown (SSD), in which my aim is to dissect each aspect of competitive Showdown.
Disclaimer
This guide is by no means a guide on how to win in SSD, but rather, a documentary of the various aspects of it thereof. If you're looking to achieve Rank 35, you might want to search elsewhere.
Also, important note: this guide will not cover SD below 800 trophies, due to the word "competitive" in the title.
Preface
I'm going to assume that the majority of players are 3v3 players, which is good since a majority of tourneys are done in 3v3s. That said, SSD is an untouched subject, & is something worth noting. Before we document the guide, we need to first establish what the title means.
Firstly, "competitive". This refers to the state where each player in the lobby knows what they're doing. For ease of use, we'll refer to "competitive" as games above 800 trophies.
Secondly, "SSD". A 10 player Solo mode. This means that I will not be covering Duos here. If this entire series does well, I'll be doing a guide for Duos as well.
Builds
A build can be defined as a construct to the game before the start of a match. An example of a build is Kairos' video here.
In SSD, a build consists of a brawler & its Star Power & Gadget. In general, the rule of thumb is to use:
- Passive Star Power / Gadget. This implies that it is commonly used. An example of this is Jacky's Hardy Hard Hat.
- Survival Star Power / Gadget. This refers to anything that increases your lifespan. For example, 8-Bit's Extra Life & Bea's Honeycoat.
If you you fail to build, you build to fail.
Anyone can build properly.
Discovering Modifiers
Currently, there are 4 modifers. This consists of None, Energy Drink, Robo Boss, Healing Mushrooms, Meteor Shower.
- None. Probably the most predictable match. Extremely boring, but it's recommended that you push here, due to the fact that it's consistent. Low randonmness, stable spawns, do go a long way when a player is pushing Rank 35 in Solos.
- Energy Drink (ED). Undoubtedly the most random mod, players may want to adopt camping, as players with ED will rampage throughout the map. Skirting the perimeter of the poison (ie staying as close to poison as possible)*.
- Robo Boss. Despite it being random, it is an extremely effective mod to gain trophies. Key point to note is that the first boss doesn't spawn within 5 tiles of the mid, so it is advised to stay as far away from the mid as possible.
- Healing Mushrooms. Definitely the most pervasive for teaming. Any brawler that teams will do well here. Tanks will also do well as long as they travel in herd (ie. team).
- Meteor Shower. While created as a response to widespread teaming, it is mostly accepted that this mod has been extremely ineffective at combating it. A general guideline would be to follow the game play of None, however, fast Builds will do better due to better dodging.
The Art of Camping
An entire post can be made revolving around camping, however, I'll summarize this for 1 reason: camping is largely ineffective in competitive Solos. Despite this, there are a few takeaways, which are extremely adequate especially in ED.
As shown in the diagram, Pink isn't an ideal place to camp as it's exposed towards the centre bush. In contrast, Red is far more ideal as the walls serve as a "meat shield". From this we can deduce 2 criteria for a good bush:
- The bush must be in the perimeter. This isn't as obvious, but players who camp in centre / side bushes will inevitably be pinched & sandwiched, thus making themselves vulnerable.
- The bush must be surrounded by an L-shape wall. L-shape walls > Square-shape walls as L-shape walls provide more surface area.
"Staying still while camping is certain death, be constantly moving." ~Kosuke, 2k 8-Bit.