Everyone picks Candy man

[Ambiguous winkyface]

80% of the people online pick Candy man. And when I really try to win I'm also far best with him. His special is absurdly powerful in both low pace and fast pace. His angles are really unpredictable at high speed, and during low speed it's very easy to bait someone in getting hit in his back by using it or the exact opposite.

Am I the only one who notices literally everyone picks him? I mean it's obvious why, but just want to verify whether it's just me.

[Vertiguous]

I think he's just very newbie friendly, because his ability can be quite annoying. I'm certain though that a more experienced player will find that he's quite easy to counter... His downward smash is almost straight down, so you can almost always hit it with a bunt or swing of your own if you anticipate it.

[Ambiguous winkyface]

Originally posted by Vertiguous:

I think he's just very newbie friendly, because his ability can be quite annoying. I'm certain though that a more experienced player will find that he's quite easy to counter... His downward smash is almost straight down, so you can almost always hit it with a bunt or swing of your own if you anticipate it.

His angle at high speed is the most unpredictable of all characters. I doubt if he's so easy to cope with even against experienced players.

[YinYin]

Become experienced and think again.
No angles are unpredictable right now.

[HiveTG]

I switched off Candyman because his angles are lacking (I know YinYin will disagree with me here). His special is good but if you are ready for it, it's not impossible to predict where it will come from.

[Blarget2]

If you smash, then nair to the right, it is a completely different angle than the almost vertical angle.

[Hatterini]

Candyman master race.

No but seriously if you want to win against better players with Candyman you'll have to really practice. Latch is probably a much better character overall imo, probably the best (also imo).

[Achelon]

All trajectories in LL are fixed, there are a lot of permutations, but the ball can't just go "anywhere" from what I've seen, so it's really just about learning the different permutations and responding to them, Candyman adds a couple of his own, but that's about it.

Also Candyman's special has the weakness of being quite easy to cancel, if you time an overtake while he activates his special, it gets cancelled outright.

[Macho Man]

Candyman is actually really easy to play against, you just have to know him. Try and play agressively early, don't let him build free special, his down smash is almost straight down making it very easy to predict. Always expect him to send his special diagonally upwards so hit from the bottom corner of your screen.

[Apperatus]

Originally posted by Sir Hatter:

Candyman master race.

No but seriously if you want to win against better players with Candyman you'll have to really practice. Latch is probably a much better character overall imo, probably the best (also imo).

I've seen some crazy candymen once they DO practice though. Candymen can do some bunt tricks that easily kept me off my rythm if they get a hold of the ball

[Barbarian]

I'm with Vertiguous here, Candyman is extremely newbie-friendly.

His angles are pretty simple, and especially on a downward strike you can easily retake your ball at low speeds with little effort. Sidenote: I wonder how many new players started up their first game with Switch, did an upward hit and went "WTF JUST HAPPENED?"

His movement mechanic is the easiest in the game by far. No wall-climbing, ceiling-skating, double-jumping or wall-jumping, just jumps really high. That's incredibly easy to grasp and utilize.

His special is the easiest in the game. No planning where you're going to send the ball (Sonata), figuring out which other direction you want to send the ball (Raptor), setting up for an unpredictable spit (Latch) or timing a flipkick to return a ball at high speeds without getting hit (Switch), just fire 'n forget at some point and hope for the best

I'm talking specifically about new player vs new player here, good Candyman players absolutely try and do specific angles at certain times in order to use the ability to the fullest. A new player could not, for example, properly utilize Sonata or Switch's special at all in the same way a new player could properly utilize Candyman's special.

I don't think Candyman is weaker or stronger than other characters, he's just the absolute easiest to get used to and play moderately well. Go to the steam community chat, play a few rounds against the people there and you'll see a pretty even split of characters amongst them. I think I have about a 50% win rate against him in the hands of really good players.

You'll probably see Candyman mains drop down to about 1/4 once people try out all the other characters and choose one that fits their playstyle instead of just the one that is the easiest to learn with. I say 1/4 and not 1/5 because I expect some people will stick with him because it's easier to continue progressing with one character than branching out and experimenting with the rest, especially if they're winning games.

TL;DR: Easiest character to learn the game with, this is normal.

[LittleHappyWolf]

Candy mans special is easily predictable and countered.

Sonata's special is like a professional Candyman. You gain more control of the ball to perform a fast unexpected flank.
Its being aware and preparing of the fact he could activate it at the end of hitstun forcing it up but generally you can easily counter.

[the beast is hungry]

at least he isnt latch

[SaltySombrero]

You're right - perople are picking Candyman more than Switch. Where's the Switch army?!

[lancedrago]

Candyman is definitely newbie-friendly; that sharp-angle bounce can easily catch people. As for his special, though, I always love guessing/reading which direction they're hitting it then catching it just out of its first teleport across the screen. Because honestly, it's not that difficult to counter most of the time if you know it's coming

[YinYin]

But how do you know it's coming?
You don't.
And if you really do the better option is picking it right off the cane.