My Control Scheme and WHY

People have been asking for a video about my controls like...since the game came out, so here it is! I go over every change I make to my controls, why I do so, and some problems further cementing my choice. Pikachu? Busted.
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[@revaxx3075]

I never understood A + B for smash until now. That's actually super cool.

[@jessanator8860]

Same. Now I can more consistently get fair/nair dragdowns into dsmash or upsmash woth Falco.

[@majikman5140]

That's like saying I've been using stick jump the whole time cause I didn't know why you would want it off

[@mario_gabriel]

@@majikman5140 but stick jump is way more obvious on why you would want it off.

[@ShionfromYT]

I use smash stick I don't use tilts

[@saintl5523]

@@ShionfromYT well most players have tilt attack off because most characters have really good tilts or need tilts like little ace relays off tilt attacks sometimes

[@JusRed48]

Been playing with tap jump off this whole time but ESAM just changed my life with up-left and up-right turnaround grabs.

[@BLamb]

Oddly enough, I find it very interesting to see the control settings of different players and the reasons for having them. I enjoyed the breakdown of your settings, ESAM! More players should do this.

[@bruce4139]

Including big d

[@Zoronii]

Damn I didn't know hold buffer works with A+B smash. That's kind of life-changing.

[@bruce4139]

So question if b is set to grab hypothetically would it still give you a smash if you pressed a and b or not

[@saviodasilveira1909]

QuacklQuacks it would

[@Crackhog]

@@bruce4139 it checks for attack + special button so no grab won't work

[@weirdpersonv]

Same with me

[@bojacxfanren]

"Claw can hurt your hand over the course of a day." >uses claw grip as default 24/7

[@TheAxiys]

Claw gang

[@ryanhunt4391]

@@TheAxiys Claw gang

[@inaquisantos8138]

Claw gang

[@LonelyMatt]

Claw gang

[@FreePokemonGiveaway]

Thought and felt the exact same thing

[@princedemo9291]

Me, a tap jump user: *sweats nervously*

[@tobyvision]

I spent two whole days trying to retrain myself to use button only jump. Couldn't do it. Those Melee habits are burned in deep.

[@LunaLuminary]

I use tap jump too but also have jump mapped to R.

[@princedemo9291]

I believe Nairo uses tap jump as well

[@slimmy5843]

@@princedemo9291 nairo doesn't even use or has a tag haha

[@dandanbro24]

@@LunaLuminary what kind of situation would you want to tap jump instead of using R?

[@sham_noway]

I see that Esam is cultured with his controls

[@FreePokemonGiveaway]

Thank you SO much for the AB smash explanation. I have not been using this feature to its full potential, I didn’t know you could just press B if you already had down and A held. Awesome video brother TYSM!

[@CarlMast1]

Wow, I hadn't thought of how the hold buffer and a+b smash interact before. As someone who plays Fox occasionally and struggled with nair->up smash consistency, this makes everything sooo much easier. Nair, keep holding a, dash forward, stick up + b. Just about as easy as smash stick with no frame window for a+b to worry about :)

[@duckdudette]

ESAM: "Having your jump button near your special button is really important." Me: Pro controller gang rise up!

[@BLamb]

Jon Barnes-Nunn Heck yeah!

[@Ahakqnqkanjssnsh]

NO

[@uhhhidk2238]

How’s elite smash?

[@PikablueRay]

Rising up. Can do rar thunders like it's nothing although jump is A and special is Y

[@jebstuart3162]

I don't own a Switch, and my friend only has Game Cube controllers. I so want to try out a Pro Controller

[@EdgeOmega]

im glad that i'm not crazy for not using B for special. i got a "gamecube" pro controller because it lets me set left trigger to jump and left bumper to special which just feels so nice to me. great video :D

[@imESAM]

To be fair, side b, forward b, and not jumped thunders are all with B

[@crrc77]

Thank you Esam for this pretty good explanation and also finally a good one in regards to A+B which actually makes sense.

[@ceyris4476]

That Nair to DownSmash with the A+B Smash! Thank you, I never knew you could do that, I only thought you could to a NeutralSmash with it!

[@ToastysBakery]

YES! I’ve been waiting since we talked on instagram. Thanks for video 🙏🏻

[@Efretpkk]

A little camera to the controller and 10/10. In any case a lot of useful info, thanks a lot!!!

[@lydianlights]

Cool tip for the A + B smash. I never thought it was that useful but that really does make that specific confirm much easier

[@striker5458]

Been waiting on this from a top player

[@geo4290]

Zero doesn't count XD

[@striker5458]

Nope. Think zero said he leaves tap jump on. I guess I’m going to have to switch c stick to tilt since everyone else is or has for years

[@Chris-nw2lf]

Alex Krick u even elite smash?

[@striker5458]

Nah bro, my falco is good though. Using doc lately

[@Chris-nw2lf]

Alex Krick use tilt stick, very unlikely u can do tilts frame 1 on command if u rnt elite smash, use tilt bro its a life safer, wanna wifi?

[@scitails]

My Pichu thanks you for the pivot grab and A+B smash tips. Very helpful.

[@pseudoiq2039]

It's just occured to me that the reason they changed and haven't "fixed" the c-stick is because it negates things like bidou tech. So thanks Esam, Sakurai ruined the c-stick because of you ;)

[@mathunit1]

"Ruined the c-stick" Fuck off.

[@heathc148]

@@mathunit1 His username is very honest

[@Balookie]

Bidou is still a thing in Ultimate you casual.

[@Vuden13]

Wdym fixed? Whats wrong with it

[@Bleyk35]

I wish more pro players would do quality guides on their mains like yours. Makes me wanna play Pika !

[@fredhuang6436]

I'm so happy you made this video

[@bdizzle7072]

this is my controller setup too. Nice to know that pro smash players do the same thing. Also in Ultimate since two button short hop is a thing I use L-Y to short hop a lot just to be more consistent, and this setup lets you do that a lot easier, especially since it lets you tap A for aerials with the thumb on Y. Like yeah it isn't necessary to use two button short hop but I like it personally

[@realmslayerxx725]

after taking 5mins to get used to your control setup... i must say you're a genius. So many techniques and combos are so much easier for input. It also gets rid of alot of ways you can accidentally input the wrong combo (jabs mainly)

[@Fightzpike]

i dont use tap jump because i’m a ken main so walking is very crucial especially in neutral. i usually slide to the top of the stick to walk around easier. i don’t have the precision to lightly tap the joystick.

[@koelee]

4:20 Pikachu's face after getting headbutt from behind.

[@renderrb8688]

why did you mention this just why

[@Sodakrul]

@@renderrb8688 because its at 420, well played

[@cdmistman]

I've gotten used to similar controls on a switch pro controller, except I use RT jump and X shield. Just didn't realize how good ab smash is until now

[@enanitossb5677]

Really cool video, the only feedback I have for it is a controller cam showing the reasons for this control scheme instead of you needing to mash the buttons for us to hear. Still though, awesome explanations!

[@Limit91]

This video helped me find a better control scheme for my personal play style. I’ve always wanted to use tap jump off but it felt so hard to jump with x and y. But now that I see you have l as jump, I might try it. Thanks for the video

[@scottthehawt8278]

Alec Quan you could try playing claw- have your index finger curled over on the X button. I play claw only for smash, helps a lot with consistent short hop and I always have a finger on the jump button

[@rubenfraracci4100]

If you are going to use it as the main jump botton maybe you should use z, it still is a shoulder botton but it's much easier and more consistent for short hopping (assuming you are using a gamecube controller, otherwise I suggest you one of the upper shoulder bottons)

[@Limit91]

I am currently used to using y to jump and fast fall. I still have stick jump on though. Is it a big deal to turn it off?

[@docmartenlicker]

Really cool video ESAM, I was a little surprised when it was just 11 minutes of GameCube controller ASMR, though

[@derekhanger2770]

hey

[@YangyChaddyDad]

These are some really interesting control set ups pretty similar to mine, but I use the z button for hopping so I don't need to claw and I can easily short hop and still reach the c stick instantly

[@pikapower98]

Looks like I’m changing my control scheme

[@brentt6714]

So many of us learned how A + B smash actually worked from this video lol Thanks Esam!

[@God0fCows]

Best controller scheme video from any pro player ever. Just goes to show, if you want something done right, Esam's gotta do it.

[@bernardomatias24]

As a pikachu main I definitely needed this 🙏🏽

[@alexvoll1873]

i used to use x for lucas's djcz, and I am trying to pick up pika. this will be a learning curve

[@supagremlin3274]

Super helpful video, preciate man

[@kiritus2586]

Merci d'avoir mis cette vidéo en français ! J'aime beaucoup ce que tu fais 😁

[@Shikumaru123]

L Special R Attack (smashes, jab, and buffers or shoto inputs) ZL Grab ZR Jump Tilt stick (for everything else) X Jump Y Attack (for dtilt spam as ken) A Grab (X+A for Lucas double jump cancel zair) B Shield Got everything without moving my fingers around, and always confuse my friends with this setup

[@bruce4139]

I'm confused reading it but if you showed me a pic I could probably get it

[@four-en-tee]

Hey, its my control scheme! (aside from x special, i don't understand that at all). I main Cloud in Ultimate, so having jump on L helps with approaching b-airs. As for the tilt stick, i played Marth in Sm4sh, so its all i know anymore.

[@MudakTheMultiplier]

I would love to see some pro players in friendlies using each other's control schemes.

[@bruce4139]

That would be hard and what you could do is you do a tournement and you have to use your opponents main and control schemes for each match

[@Jouzujanai]

This would have been the perfect video for a camera on the controller. Thanks for the info though!

[@WoFDarkNewton]

I never use tap jump, going back to when I mained Zelda in Ultimate. If you have tap jump on with Zelda and have a preference for Up-Special, you will literally just die a bunch of times. For those who don't know, if you hold down after using Up-Special, you'll teleport in place (or a little bit to the right/left depending on how much you angle sideways while still going down). However, that only occurs if you're on the ground -- if you're in the air even an inch, your destination will slide along the ground in the direction you press (other than down). If you do press straight down, it'll go down until it hits the ground, then forward. You will easily teleport off the ledge.

[@0HHC]

Could you explain this with on-screen controls or handcam? I still can't get some of the moves you do and I don't know what I do wrong :O

[@7uxedomask]

Thank you esam! (Also, ab smash is a must for robin)

[@hakunadamatta]

Ayyy Esam with that Toby Fox Pokemon music I see you

[@Mega-Robman]

I always had big problems with tilt stick because going from x to c-stick up would take way too long to perform a well timed attack but the L jump really helps with that

[@JawshIsLive]

This strat is very underrated and alot of people don't know about this. Like people who do claw, I think their better off sacrificing to change their grab button

[@kenobieost5476]

I got very used to tap jump, it's just my instinct to just flick the stick to short hop But A+B smash looks very useful 😯

[@daileabsion7230]

Why do you use stick sensitivity medium? Great video :)

[@ogroymustang1175]

Bro how the hell did I not know about attack cancelling. Thanks ESAM.

[@yuvia1452]

In brawl and smash 4 I was a noob and didn't know you could change your controls so overtime I got used to the default controls. I'm used to smash stick which means I have to gently move the control stick and press a to do a tilt. I tried, but I SD without tap jump cuz I'm used to just flicking up.

[@Silver19897]

The Battle Tower music ;)

[@bengelbart1443]

As an decent pikachu main, this video was amazing.

[@luisamaro6626]

Do you have any specific gamecube controller modifications, like trigger plugs or cut springs?

[@AdrianGarcia-uv1bn]

But if this is a new configuration, how it was your old configuration at starts of the year?

[@Saskaruto16]

"Rumble off" you disgust me. Jk great video.

[@Saskaruto16]

@XUÉ NEMOGA STOUT Zero and Armada use rumble. Rumble is for GOATs.

[@rompevuevitos222]

@XUÉ NEMOGA STOUT Rumble is purely cosmetic, i doubt it's strong enough to make it harder to use, it can also help with timings in the same way you can use sound ques to time stuff

[@UltimateTS64]

So many people don't like it and I don't get why? It feels like it helps me react faster, but during tourneys I've been to the second adapter cord hasn't been plugged in, so there's no rumble

[@Saskaruto16]

@@UltimateTS64 If you want the rumble, plug the cord in and tell them to turn it off in custom controls if they want. Rumble does help you react faster, you can react faster to tactile stimuli (touch, vibration, etc) than you can to sound, and both are faster than sight.

[@UltimateTS64]

@@Saskaruto16 yeah I figured, that's why I don't understand why so many people don't like it?

[@AnthonySilva35]

I'm a Pika main and I use tap jump. I just like to have access to everything right there instead of having to move my thumb up to jump then back down to the C stick or A button for the attack. I can jump and have my thumb already ready for the attack. But that's just me. I don't have issues with buffering jumps or quick attack but I don't really use quick attack like that

[@trippi_3999]

Your mashing and sdi techniques? I forget you might have a video on masking I can’t remember

[@FabschOblivion669]

If you jump with L, do you have to press all the way down? Or does the adapter makes it so you only have to just press it a bit? This for me is crucial

[@quadfatheriii7976]

I do use X as special for some duck hunt things too

[@finnmonaghan4812]

Ok so I’m extremely annoyed that I’ve never used X as special. Like I’m here wondering why my double jump pk magnet cancels are inconsistent 🙄

[@PsiensGate]

You mean PSI magnet?

[@finnmonaghan4812]

Yeah that! Look up a ness infinite and you should find it. I think it’s pretty hard but when you land it you feel so cool!

[@PsiensGate]

@@finnmonaghan4812 I hope to God you're not a PK fire spammer. Ness has so much potential to be cool but PK fire spammers ruin him with their shit.

[@johnjo6315]

TheSilverish but tbh it’s not rlly that hard to deal with pk fire spammers, literally just short hop over the pk fire and then u have a free punish

[@PsiensGate]

@@johnjo6315 when you have a 5 minute match PK fire is bound to hit atleast twice and that's just a guarantee kill if the ness spams it then back throws or f-smashes. Do that 3 times and bam ez game for them. Short hops are free punish, yes, but not in the long-term.

[@HAILJUNE_]

For me i use the pro controller and all i change is no control stick jump and switch the ab with the xy

[@beat0life]

How do you rise up every time you use down special? It seems like even after using both jumps you still rise upwards with down special

[@deepcry]

Overall great! Thanx. But you know Esam that you can also make backair attack with jump and smash cstick? :)

[@coreyswenson6027]

Pika Chu the issue with that is that if you mess up you’ll smash attack instead of tilt

[@danielnb9908]

Are there any videos on pikachus up throw thunder?

[@SUFFERMANE]

Thank u

[@victorandonie5586]

Do this tips work with the dual Joy-Con Controller?

[@shellderp]

those two bouncing pikachus are so cute

[@MerryBlind]

I prefer Left Trigger to Shield and Right to Jump as it keeps jumps on your right hand like your brain likely is already used to, and I’ve always only shielded with my left index because I grew up on Smash 64 which had Shield on the Z-trigger. Also it’s more intuitive to RT+Y/X to short-hop if you’re into that because it’s the same hand doing both motions simultaneously.

[@genesisfgc]

I also have my x button as special move It's good for easy b reverses

[@benji2135]

Why do you use normal stick sense as opposed to high or low?

[@ramon-8003]

you have the exact same controller scheme as I do

[@N1ghthawkL06]

Are you allowed to set up your control scheme at tournaments?

[@ericjacksonii8789]

Did you disable jumping with your joystick?

[@jacksontutt3439]

I can't consistently short hop with one jump button so I will have both x and y set to jump so I can press X and Y to get a short hop. So nair loops are wacky to input for me but somehow I make it work. I also use smash stick for easier nair confirms.

[@tobyvision]

It's year 20 of me asking for a short hop button.

[@Evilanious]

I still feel like Smash could be drastically improved if Nintendo stopped pretending they have to play it with a NES controller and stopped mapping all attacks to the a-button, or any single button for that matter, while they simultaneously have 2 jump buttons and 2 shield buttons in the default layout. The fact that the input for the quicker option (tilt) takes more time and restraint is also weird and counter-intuitive. I've never had consoles until I was a little older so controllers have never felt altogether natural and when I discovered tilt-sticking I was like 'omg, I can play the game and use all the options, finally.' Also, also, why are there two jump buttons, and two jumps, but no way to separate them out by button? Instead I have to press a button for basically no time, messing me up constantly. Maybe this is just my PC roots talking, but two options should have two buttons whenever possible. Nintendo does a lot of weird things with controls, frankly, like hiding the use of one button (that I really wanted to use) in a random area, which they did in Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, or taking a game based on exploration, but making it very hard to look up and making a button which automatically makes you look at the interesting things (metroid prime). Why would you do such things when you could just not. Ok, I'll stop now, since I'm ranting in the youtube comments section about random things that annoy me at this point.

[@tobyvision]

Why in the world they don't allow you to just fully map the controller makes absolutely no sense to me. I THINK Sakurai or the developers really like the idea of analog inputs to separate this from "real" fighting games, except that turning the c-stick into essentially digital inputs negates that idea. And how about a short hop button now that we've been playing these games for 20 years?

[@rouge-ish324]

Tbh I like the uniqueness of the controls are but I have major gripes with some of the features For example, smash attacks seem to not have anything to do with the timing of the stick reaching 100% and the button press unless you put sensitivity at low. Dashing too, I feel like if dashing wasn't so sensitive, one stick tilts would get more use, and walking would be used more for microspacing. Shield tilting can be majorly useful, but dodging is SO easy, you're forced to use two buttons to tilt when dodging can be performed instead like a smash input in relation to speed

[@herrgobel3652]

Dear Mr. Lew, Since i saw ur control guide, i tried the same control. But since then i'm 2 trained the new gameplay with this controller option. I have 2 train this remote, but since i've played this new option, i can't play my old options actually really like i did before.. 😂 I'm in strugle withe the air today.. What's wrong with me? I'm feeling like a noob now 😂

[@HOPOFFXD]

Esam your a goddddddd!! I'd love to speak with you sometime !

[@galenburnett9791]

I think every intermediate and above player in Ultimate must use Attack-Cancel to Instant-Back-Air; not uncommon at all. I think the only other way to do it is to do a loop with the L-Stick as in Ledge-Grabbing and Wave-Bouncing, which is awkward.

[@jayku_9]

I have L(sheild), R(Jump) Y(jump) X(Grab) A+B smash on, Tilt stick, Tap jump off, High Sens, and rumble is like w/e, little similar

[@smashgambits]

Do you notice much of a difference for stick sensitivity? Also, have you thought about switching to a Pro controller (maybe with slats cut into the stick for more accurate upB angles)? I found it really easy to switch from GC to Pro, so I was wondering if you still used GC because of habit or if there was a concrete reason to stay?

[@LloydTheZephyrian]

To be fair, a first-party GC controller has Nokia brick phone levels of durability.

[@PlayPodOG]

what i use: ...default. (except back buttons are flipped) played the default way since the first smash. i can't change it now

[@leo-oo1xn]

Did u know what ist the beat settings for Captain falcon?

[@plzrd]

Can you explain a little more why you use Attack Cancel Bair/Uair instead of normal RARs Also any tips on practicing Attack Cancels with Pika or how to know you’ve done it correctly. Instant RAR doesn’t feel too difficult but when I try to run up AC it looks the same as traditional RARing and I’m pretty sure I’m not doing it right. Thanks

[@imESAM]

Consistency. It's a lot easier to mess up an iRAR over the same motion

[@Dacweepa64]

What's your opinion on Mewtwo?

[@vernontk]

I'm still trash, but mapping jump to L trigger helped my short-hop aerial game a lot.

[@mac9506]

ab smash is inconsistent for me. i just slam the big green button aand my left stick in the direction i want and i dont get speacials

[@RB92.]

Swap Z and X and we use the exact same controls. Good reasoning.

[@smgperri]

Stick sensitivity?

[@UltimateTS64]

Mine isn't too far off, I just don't have X is still jump instead of special, A+B smashes are off, and is rumble on. I play Ridley so I don't think A+B smashes are that useful for me, but it could help my Mario 🤔

[@Doberbull]

Why medium sensitivity instead of high?

[@weak7897]

I have the same controls except a grab on the x button because z feels inconvenient

[@brianbrady3331]

Why only medium sensitivity tho?

[@Selsius96]

I have L set to jump as well, but for me it's my only jumping button. I had to re-learn how to play Smash, because before I always used stick jump, but accidentally double jumped way too often resulting in unnecessary deaths, so I turned it off. I don't use X or Y to jump, because I think it's awkward and I like to use my thumb only for A, B and the C stick. Since I never used L to shield, I figured I set my jump to it, because even though I never used it, my index finger always rests on it.

[@vertsang5424]

Same. Y for grabs a and b as normal. C stick for smash attacks. The problem is I never use Z or X and now i’m Wondering if x would not be better than b for specials

[@Selsius96]

@@vertsang5424 I have the C stick for Tilt Attacks and use Z for grabs. X and Y I never use. A and B are normal as well. I have A+B Smash Attacks turned off, but I might turn it on after this video.

[@aidansparks8445]

why stick sensitivity to medium?

[@Meracog]

Almost the same layout as me except r is jump instead of l

[@paradox4878]

Ok it's probably about time I learn how to attack cancel...

[@mikeoxlong9641]

do people aeriel with c stick or joystick?

[@proballa27]

Wait you didn'tt didn't go over the sensitivity set to medium

[@lukass.9612]

Does Esam still use these controls?

[@ShadamAran]

I have used a jump on shoulder buttons on every video game I have played for over a decade, its way too useful to ignore no matter the style of game.