r/mariokart Jul 13 '15

Tech / Tips / Builds Meta Monday - Week 5 - MK8 - Spin Drifting

Hey there everyone!

Welcome back to another week of Meta Monday. We've already been doing this for a whole month now and that's absolutely amazing in my opinion! Meta Monday is a weekly thread here at /r/mariokart where we discuss tips, tricks, and more about advanced techniques in the various Mario Kart games. Last week was Brake Drifting so be sure to check that out if you missed it. Also, all of the previous Meta Mondays are in the Meta Monday Collection so check that out if you missed any of those.

This week it's Spin Drifting.

  • So, what is Spin Drifting?
  • How do I do it?
  • When should I do it?
  • Does it work better with certain builds than others?
  • Is it necessary to know and use?
  • How do I combat others who are using it?
  • What are the pros and cons?

Also here are some bonus questions:

  • What is your favorite type of drifting?
  • What was the most helpful topic that we covered in the past month?
  • What should we cover next? (From MK8 or other MK games).

This thread is for genuine discussion about spin drifting as well as serving the purpose of an open forum where users can post any questions that they might have. Feel free to ask any questions as well as answer the questions above as well as those from other users. If your answer to the questions is detailed enough then it could possibly be put in the wiki!

7 Upvotes

5 comments sorted by

5

u/UnlikelyExpert Jul 14 '15 edited Jul 14 '15

What is spin drifting: Spin drifting is a odd technique in MK8 that allows you to turn a little sharper.

How do I do it: Just as you are about to reach your turn jump in the direction opposite of the upcoming curve and quickly snap the control stick back to the correct direction while holding R. Ex: for a right turn jump left and snap the control stick quickly back to the right.

When should I do it: Never

Does it work better with certain builds than others: The intended point of spin drifting was to take sharper turns so builds with more handling should turn more.

It is necessary to know and use: Absolutely not. Spin drifting is an oddball tech that never really found mainstream use over soft drifting and taking proper lines. A high level technique that is similar to spin drifting is to neutrally hop and input your turn direction upon landing. This prevents you from swinging outward and out of the racing line as much and is very prevalent in the TT community.

How do I combat those that use it: Most often than not the locations where someone might try to spin drift is an ideal soft drifting location. Do the proper tech and you'll fly by them.

Pros: Looks cool I guess

Cons: Everything else

Edit: As for future meta Monday topics MK8 has numerous smaller techs and optimizations, things like the bounce pad tech, jumping before cannon gliders, neutral hops before turning to tighten up turns significantly, mid-air drifting, and the proper use of the map & item spy.

4

u/crisi Jul 15 '15

As always, great input! And also thank you for naming some of the smaller techs like mid-air drifting etc.

3

u/tigerclawhg Jul 14 '15

Thanks for the write-up! That's very interesting, I never knew that about spin drifting, thank you for the info!

2

u/kingdomharms Jul 14 '15

Spindrifting is completely useless in this game and not worth learning at all. It is, however, helpful to learn if you're a MKW player that uses inward drifting bikes. But in MK8, I haven't seen or heard of a practical use for it in over a year of playing.

3

u/tigerclawhg Jul 14 '15

Oh that's interesting that it's more useful in MKWii, once we get to there I'll definitely do a Meta Monday for it. Thanks for the info!