Camping
Camping is the act of moving to and staying in an isolated, safe place, such as the far corner of a stage, to evade opponents.
Origin
The term "camping" initially comes from games in the first person shooter genre, with a slightly different meaning than the term used in the Super Smash Bros. series. In these games, when a player "camps", they stand in one spot where other players cannot easily counterattack them, and wait for opponents to come by. Camping can be compounded with other outside factors; "weapon camping" involves camping next to a powerful weapon, allowing for easy kills and an effectively infinite stockpile of ammunition. The tactic of camping, however, is generally frowned upon in these communities, though there exists considerable debate over its legitimacy as a tactic.
Although initially limited to first person shooters, the term later spread to other games. In fighting games, the term "camping" later became an alternative name to "turtling", where the player constantly guards against attacks in the corner of the screen, attacking only when the opponent is vulnerable.
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 special move that requires charging.
- Deliberately letting time run out, to win via stock/percent lead.
- Waiting for the opponent to approach, usually done with percent or stock lead.
- In free for alls, waiting until the opponents have sustained more damage.
- Stalling
While generally disliked in comparison to aggressive fighting, camping is considered a vital aspect of competitive Smash, especially in Brawl. The ability to camp, as well as break through opposing camping, has a major influence on a character's competitive success. Falco for example, has been a perpetual top tier character in both Melee and Brawl, due largely to his ability to outcamp nearly every other character in each game. Ganondorf on the other hand, is considered one of the worst characters in Brawl, in large part due to his inability to outcamp any other character, as well as the extreme difficulty he has overcoming opposing camping.
It is possible to camp in the Subspace Emissary by avoiding close-range combat and simply firing projectiles into enemies, staying out of range of the army's footsoldiers, but the game discourages it by making most enemies resist projectiles.
Types of camping
While camping is the general action of keeping away from the opponent, there are various methods to camping.
Projectile camping
The most common form of camping, projectile camping is the act of camping while utilising projectiles to keep the opponent away. Unlike other methods of camping, there are many characters who are incapable of utilising this method of camping, due to the obvious lack of a projectile attack, or possessing a projectile that has too short of range and/or too much start-up/ending lag to be campable with (such as Bowser with Fire Breath). While it is feasible to projectile camp with any projectile, faster projectiles, and those that are transcendent, are typically more effective at keeping the opponent away. Large, flat stages with little or no platforms, are also typically the most effective stages to projectile camp on (Final Destination being a particularly controversial example). Examples of characters that are excellent at projectile camping include Falco (who possesses a projectile with practically infinite range that is both fast and transcendent), and Olimar (who possesses a fast projectile that can rack up high damage quickly and block opposing projectiles).
Unlike other forms of camping, projectile camping is rarely done with the intention of timing the opponent out or gaining easy KOs. Instead, it is typically done to force the opponent to approach, as unless the opponent is in possession of an effective reflector or a more effective projectile, they will continue to sustain damage while the camping player doesn't. Projectile camping is also the only form of camping that can be practical in even or losing situations if the opponent refuses to approach, as it is feasible to rack up enough damage through projectiles to regain a lost lead and force the opponent to approach.
Air camping
Air camping is the act of staying away from the opponent in the air, which is typically utilised by characters capable of keeping themselves in the air for extended periods while being able to effectively defend themselves. While it is possible for any character to try air camping, it is a practical method of camping for few characters. Superior air mobility, slow falling speed, multiple or high reaching jumps, and fast aerials with sufficient reach/hitboxes to keep opponents away, are necessary attributes a character must have to be able to air camp effectively. Jigglypuff (who excelled at all the aforementioned attributes more than any other character in Melee), Meta Knight (who despite having poor aerial mobility, access to multiple jumps and an incredibly quick down aerial with great reach, allows him to keep opponents away in the air) and Wario (whose incredible air mobility and fast aerials, with long lasting hitboxes, allows him to be difficult to catch in the air), are the most prominent examples of characters who utilise air camping in the Smash Bros. series.
Platform camping
Platform camping is the act of staying away from the opponent, by utilising elevated platforms. To platform camp, a player waits on an elevated platform, and hops from platform to platform, as the opponent approaches. Platform camping is the most accessible form of camping, as essentially every character is capable of utilising it in a practical manner, though characters possessing the same attributes that benefit air camping (with faster falling speed instead) are more effective. However, how effective platform camping can be is largely dependent on the stage, with it being a very accessible tactic on stages with a plentiful elevated platform setup (such as Battlefield), while being impossible to utilise on stages that lack such platforms (such as Final Destination).
When combined with air camping, or projectile camping for a few characters with access to explosives that can hit opponents below platforms (such as Snake and Link), it can be especially effective for running time out. Platform camping alone however, is typically ineffective, and is instead usually done against characters that have access to a dangerous chain throw (such as the Ice Climbers and King Dedede), as staying on the platforms will help keep the player from being grabbed.
Planking
Planking is a form of camping that abuses the invincibility of stage ledges. Named after a Meta Knight player from Virginia called Plank who was known for "planking" the edge, planking refers to repeatedly dropping off the ledge and grabbing it again repeatedly, gaining protection given from the invincibility frames obtained from grabbing the ledge. Planking is possible in all three of the Smash Bros. games, but it is especially difficult to edgeguard against in Brawl, due to larger ledge sweetspots, a larger pool of characters that can effectively perform planking, and that Super Smash Bros. and Melee lack high-tiered characters that can plank well.
Planking is noteworthy as a tactic due to how difficult it can be to intercept; attempts to attack the planker are typically met with aerial attacks, that can set up a gimp KO, while other methods, such as projectiles, are either too inaccurate or too weak to effectively break the planking. Additionally, all characters can plank to some extent in Brawl, though having access to a fast attack that produces a large hitbox to protect the character, and being able to regrab the ledge quickly, are attributes that strengthen a character's planking ability. Meta Knight is the most notorious example of a character highly effective at planking, though Mr. Game & Watch and Pit are also examples of characters notorious for highly effective planking; Melee and SSB are notable for lacking many characters that have this property.
Planking is a controversial tactic in Brawl, due to the risk/reward factor typically being heavily skewed in the planker's favor, and the general consensus that heavy utilisation of planking is not enjoyable to fight against nor watch. Meta Knight's extreme planking ability, however, was among the primary reasons why planking was limited, as many players generally thought the tactic was unbeatable. In tournaments, excessive 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); a blanket rule in the Brawl ruleset that states "Stalling is banned" can also be applied to planking, though such determinations are up to the discretion of the Tournament Organiser.
Counters to planking
Ledge grab limit
As excessive planking is generally considered degenerate to Brawl competitive play, the majority of tournaments have a ledge grab limit. This is enforced using the end of match statistics, where it says on the results screen how many times a player has grabbed the ledge. If a match ends in time out, and a player has grabbed over the amount of times allowed (usually in between 30 and 50 grabs, with Meta Knight usually being allowed significantly less ledge grabs), they are disqualified and the opponent wins the game, regardless of remaining stock and damage count. However, if both players exceed the ledge grabbing limit, the normal time out rules apply.
Whether or not ledge grab limits should continue to be implemented is controversial, particularly after the ban of Meta Knight. An argument against the ledge grab limit is that it's a surgical and arbitrary rule, that doesn't fix the problem, and can unfairly punish a player who exceeded the ledge grab limit from being kept offstage often by the opponent, rather than planking with the intention of timing out. Another argument against the ledge grab limit is that planking is a part of the game, that is fully beatable if dealt with properly, and arbitrarily buffs characters that are poor at fighting on the ledge, such as Falco. One more argument is that Meta Knight is the only character whose planking is broken, and with him banned, a ledge grab limit becomes unnecessary and outdated. The ledge grab limit controversy exploded after WHOBO 3, a national tournament that didn't implement a ledge grab limit on characters other than Meta Knight, after Will defeated Rich Brown deep in the tournament through abusing the lack of a ledge grab limit[1]. While it has been argued that Rich Brown didn't combat Will's planking properly, the match is used for reference as proof that characters other than Meta Knight are capable of heavy, unreasonably hard to beat planking, and to show the degenerate effects unrestricted planking has on a match. The fallout after the tournament strengthened the support for ledge grab limits, and ledge grab limits have become a universal aspect of US rulesets since.
Air Time rule
An alternative anti-planking rule to ledge grab limits, is the air time rule, a rule primarily used in Japan and Mexico, that also heavily limits air camping. With the air time rule, if a match goes to time, the end of match statistics are looked at, and the player who spent more time in the air loses, regardless of remaining stock and damage percent. This rule however, is heavily criticised, and rarely implemented instead of a ledge grab limit in other areas of North America and in Europe. The main criticism of the rule is that it unfairly penalises frequently airborne characters such as Kirby or Wario, while buffing ground-based characters such as Snake and Diddy Kong. Other criticisms of the rule include the fact it overrides the game's time out rule of rewarding the victory to the player with more stocks, it limiting air camping and other such tactics the player has to be airborne for, despite such tactics not being considered degenerate/broken, and the possibility for the rule to reward victory to a player that was soundly outplayed, for something that isn't indicative of how each player performed.
Circle camping
Circle camping, a form of camping that can be unbeatable when it can be utilised by the right character, is when 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". Every character can utilise circle camping if the stage allows it, though how effective it is dependent on how fast they and their opponent can traverse the stage. 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, and the stage design prevents the opponent from intercepting the fleeing character. Because of this, stages whose design enable possible circle camping, are nearly always 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 nearly unbeatable by the majority of the cast.
A prominent example of a stage that enables 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, which can repeat until time runs out if the fleeing player does not make a mistake.
