Camping
Camping is the act of moving to an isolated, safe place - such as a far corner of a stage - to evade opponents.
Origins
The term "Camping" is mostly known in First Person Shooter video games, where it has a slightly different meaning - when "camped", the player stands, preferably ducked and in a hiding spot, and waits until an opponent comes by. The victim has no idea that the camper is hiding, and when they realize, it is probably too late. The tactic is generally frowned upon.
In the Super Smash Bros. series
In the Smash Bros. games, camping can have several purposes, including:
- Using a spammable projectile, which can also be done to force the opponent to approach
- Charging a move that needs charging
- Stalling
- Leading the opponents into a mine or Pitfall.
- Waiting for the opponent to approach with, for example, Wario's air camping, usually done with percent or stock lead.
- In a battle with multiple fighters, waiting until the enemies have taken more damage.
Planking
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Planking is a form of camping that abuses the invincibility of stage ledges. Planking refers to repeatedly dropping off the ledge and grabbing it again, dropping off again before the invincibility wears off. It is technically possible in all Smash Bros. games, but is very difficult to edgeguard against in Brawl. Attempts to attack the planker are typically met with aerials for a gimp kill. This was named after a Californian Meta Knight user who was known for "planking" the edge. Mr. Game & Watch and Pit are more examples of characters that are notable at planking. In tournaments, excessive edge planking is usually limited through a ledge grab rule, though the rule itself doesn't prevent planking entirely (as a player can still plank and not reach the ledge grab limit). There also is a version of this called Air Planking.
Air Planking
Certain characters in every Smash Bros. game, especially Brawl, are very good at keeping themselves in the air. The most notable example of this is Meta Knight's down aerial. This was seen by people who plank as an exception to the stalling/ledge grab rules as Meta Knight's down aerial has the speed and reach to prevent opponents from approaching. Wario is also a well known plank based character, as Wario has one of the best aerial movements in the game due to a very good air speed, short hop, and air dodge. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, repeated Jigglypuff WOP's can be seen as a form of air planking, as Jigglypuff's back and neutral aerials are both great combo starters. The main example of air planking in Super Smash Bros. is Pikachu, using back and neutral aerials, but most stalling is from Fox's Blaster or Kirby's up tilt.
The comparisons to excessive stalling
Compared to excessive stalling, which is banned, planking or air planking are not banned as it is possible for the opponent to approach. It is more that they are getting themselves into a better position while still being able to hit their opponent. Or in other words, stalling just to make the time go lower is banned while minor stalling such as moving around the stage to get to a better position is not banned. This can also be compared to the infinite rule (usually chain grabs though it can also apply to other wall infinites such as Fox's shine infinite) that prevents stalling moves past 300 percent to prevent people from running the timer out.
Ledge grab rule
Due to planking being very easy to perform in Brawl, thanks to the fact that characters facing either side can sweetspot the ledge (usually with Meta Knight, though sometimes with other characters), a majority of tournaments now have a ledge grab rule. This is enforced using the end-of-match statistics, were it says on the results screen how many times a player has grabbed the ledge. If the player has grabbed over the amount of times allowed (usually in between 50 and 70 grabs, changing per state and sometimes per tournament), the person's round becomes disqualified and the opponent automatically wins the match. However, if both players exceed the ledge grabbing limit, they will often restart the match, either with the same rules, or with special rules for over-ledge grabbing applied.
Circle camping
Circle camping is a powerful form of camping where a player constantly flees from their opponent, by going around a certain stage section that prevents the opponent from intercepting them, thus running away around a "circle". Depending on the stage design, and if the fleeing character is fast enough, the opponent may never be able to reach the fleeing character, as the opponent's character is not fast enough to catch them in a straight chase, or if the stage design prevents the opponent from intercepting the fleeing character. Because of this, stages that allow circle camping are usually universally banned. Otherwise, very fast moving characters, such as Fox and Sonic, would be able to utilise game breaking camping on these stages, and be completely unbeatable by the majority of the cast.
A prominent example of a stage that allows circle camping is Spear Pillar, where a player can run away from the opponent into the underground area, and if the opponent tries to chase them in the underground area, the player can run out the other side and onto the top area of the stage.
