Should you call lots of assists or not?
I say that the answer to your question is both an emphatic yes AND an emphatic no. Thus there is no right or wrong answer to your question due to it’s vague nature.
1]Who are you calling it against?
-Are you facing someone who knows what they’re doing?
2]What characters are you calling the assist against?
-Are you facing someone with assist killing power like Sent, Cable, etc…
-What assists does your opponent have and where are they?
3]Can you protect it if it’s blocked without compromising your pointman’s safety?
-Are you liable to get snapped or just die anyways leaving your assist ripe for the picking?
4]What are your primary, secondary and possibly tertiary reasons for calling it?
-Are you using it as a combo igniter/extender or are you being defensive?
-Are you trying to zone him so he can’t get to you or are you tossing the assists around randomly like their name is bacon?
Here are the biggest threats to assists. Most have no need for explaination. [no perticular order]
1]Other people’s assists
-Capcom assist, Tron-y, Sent[a/y]etc… on countercalls, Sentinels, Dooms, and Spirals as snuffs
2]Point character hypercombos
-AHVB,/ Rocketpunch XX HSF, dhp, micropause, repeat,/ Hailstorms, etc…
3]Red health depletion
-The pointman dying or getting snapped out forcing the assist to fall in losing his /her red health. Possibly getting guardbroken after losing the rest.
4]Helper infinites
-Just like 3 except your assist is on point getting popped up repeatedly instead of falling in. Then you STILL have the potential threat of getting guardbroken.
That said, assists are WAY too useful. You can’t ignore and forget them entirely, or even partially. They’re an integral part of your strategy. Before chosing your characters or fighting the match, think of what your character will do if it accomplishes or fails to accomplish it’s intended use and have a backup plan. That’s what the pause between the time you choose your characters and when the match begins is for. Further thought towards your strategy.
I’ve been the victim of helper infinites and AHVB before. Makes you look stupid, you don’t want that.