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A King's Quest For Respect: The Bowser Matchup Thread

D

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Matchup is 40-60. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
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Matchup is 40-60. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
Matchup is 40-60. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
Matchup is 40-60. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
Matchup is 40-60. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
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Matchup is 40-60. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
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Matchup is 55-45. Matchup summary coming when I feel like it.
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No offense, but why did you bother making this thread if that's your answer to most MUs?
Alot of the advantages come from knowledge and getting to know what you're going up against and how to deal with it. I would help, but I haven't fought many characters competetively myself.
 

Uncle

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Old thread is old, Swei. These days, if you want to know about a Bowser MU, you ask Zigsta or Limit in the social thread. There hasn't been any demand for a full-blown MU thread revival for a long time now, and it's likely to stay that way. Bowser's metagame just isn't worthwhile to most people, and understandably so.
 
D

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ok sorry 8[

I hope to become a great Bowser player and get back to you all. :smug:
 

Dre89

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Jaydeth and I began debating about the Ganondorf MU in the video thread so he suggested I bring it here.

Yeah, Bowser totally doesn't have that many laggy moves.

/sarcasm


He's got a lot of but he doesn't need to use many of them against Ganon. There is no reason to approach Ganon unless you're losing. Bowser can can stay out of his range, and not be forced to commit to anything. Spaced sh fire breath outranges everything he has except for sideb dowb and dash attack. The first two are always unsafe from a neutral position, and dash attack is very unsafe on shield.

All it takes is a quick spot dodge or roll from Ganon or even just a good read and you'll be eating SideB or DTilt > DAir or UAir or USmash or... Basically what I'm saying is that Ganon has a lot of options against Bowser. Options he doesn't have against other characters even. And if you get caught by SideB Ganon has several GUARANTEED follow ups.
The best follow ups Ganon gets on certain characters are iDA and ftilt. I can't remember if he gets those on Bowser, but fresh iDA is still only only koing Bowser 120%+ with good DI. It's also likely to be stale because it's probably Ganon's best approach in this MU, and if it's fresh that means he hasn't been using his best grounded move so it's unlikely he'd be doing well anyway. Ftilt could be good to get him offstage at a good angle for a reverse uair gimp though. He won't be getting many sidebs off anyway if Bowser is playing the MU properly.

Ganon is one of the worst punishers out of spotdodge in the game because his grab is so short and his quickest option is jab, which isn't even that quick.

Ganon's usmash is terrible. The only thing it's good for is using the IASA frames to catch out someone who doesn't know about them, but this is assuming MU knowledge so that won't work.

Rolls and spotdodges are just bad ways to rely on racking damage anyway, they're incredibly risky. Also, Bowser has better frame data than Ganon, so if Bowser tries to klaw his shield and he spotdodges, Bowser has frame advantage, and can easily space the kalw to be out of his grab range.

Also, even if what you're saying is true, that can pretty much all be said for Bowser too. Ganon has stronger punishes, but realistically Bowser gets better punishes out of rolls and dodges with tilts, klaws and grabs.

A moot point when you consider Ganon's hurt box < Bowser's hurt box. It's ridiculous how easy it is for Ganon to grab you with his SideB.

Again, only if you've committed to something laggy, which is unnecessary in this MU. Klaw beats sideb. Klaw is much safer than his sideb, because he can do it out of his range and probably won't get punished. If he whiffs his sideb he's likely to get punished.

You mean SH Klaw or just SH in general? I can't see how either would be more beneficial against Ganon than any other character and if it was just as simple as that Bowser wouldn't be a low tier character. And I'm pretty sure Ganon's Dash Attack isn't his longest range attack.

Because unlike other characters Ganon doesn't have the mobility or the moveset to attack from angles other than infront of Bowser. He also doesn't have a projectile to force an approach. If you sh klaw outside of the range of everything except da downb and sideb, he either stays walled, challenges klaw and loses, or tries to punish klaw with one of the three ranged moves, all of which are unsafe. DA might not have the best range out of the three, but it's quick and has the best priority (it beats out a lot of projectiles). DA is very unsafe on shield though.

Firebreath = a guaranteed SideB from Ganon. This is very bad. Don't ever do this unless they're very terrible.

Spaced sh firebreath's hitbox covers sideb's hitbox and beats it out, so there's no way you're going to to get sidebd if you're doing it properly.

Ganon's DTilt says hi and ***** your face.

Can't Bowser fortress dtilt? Dtilt isn't even that fast and is certainly punishable, so if that's the only option he has against Bowser's shield then that's good news for Bowser.


And Bowser's is stupidly laggy.

Not when he's walling Ganon and waiting for him to approach. Bowser has frame advantage in pretty much every neutral position, and is never really forced to move from a neutral position to a disadvantaged one because Ganon can't make him approach.


And the second hit of Bowser Bomb can air dodged. Guess what I've never ever seen happen in person or in a video? Might as well say you can spot dodge every attack Ganon has on reaction for what little it matters.

You're taking this out of context. Sideb punishes lag or mistakes. You rarely see it get spotdodged because good Ganons only ever use it for these purposes. You've suggested it's a valid approach against Bowser's walling, and it rarely ever lands if being used as an approach. In fact it's rarely ever used as an approach by good Ganons because it's such a bad approach. DA is much better for approaching.

Lol, no.
His best moves against Bowser are just about all of them sans UTilt, though usual staples like SideB, DTilt and UAir are particularly amazing against Bowser.

Uair is good if he can get Bowser above him in the air, and to gimp him. Uair isn't that good against opponents infront of him though, and this is where Bowser will be most of the time. It's unrealistic to go a match without being sidebd but it's nowhere near as dangerous as you make it out to be. Dtilt probably won't do much against a shing Bowser, especially if he's flaming him. Also if he's relying on dtilt Bowser can probably just fortress it, even without shielding because he can retreat it and dtilt is too laggy to punish the retreat.
 

Uncle

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Um, what else is there to say, really?

All of Bowser and Ganon's top players already agree that the MU is in Bowser's favor, although not by a long shot. Firebreath is undeniably useful in this MU as a harassment tool, and it can rack up serious damage on a recovering Ganon. Both characters can hardcore punish each other if one of them makes a mistake (Both have smashes, Bowser can grab release chaingrab him easily then use a tilt/Klaw, Ganon has Choke tech chasing), and they both don't want to be knocked far offstage.

This MU is a very good example of what a "slightly advantageous" MU is generally like. It's simply a matter of Bowser having more reliable tools than Ganon for setting up favorable situations, as Dre covered in his post.
 

B!squick

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Why not? It's not like we have anything better to do aside from await the Wii U and the next Smash which I'm assuming will be launch title.
 

DLA

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Bowser/Ganon is even. If you ask me, Ganon actually wins by a tiny bit, though some Ganons will disagree with me.

Lol @ Limit... you know all the boards say the same thing about your character when it's time to discuss the Bowser matchup right?



Basically Bowser aint got **** on Ganon except for side B. Bowser's side B is very strong against Ganon because Ganon doesn't have good OoS options, so he'll tend to stand around in his shield a lot, which makes it easy for Bowser to side B his shield instead of hitting it with an aerial.

Bowser's flamethrower actually isn't great against Ganon. In fact if Ganon gets caught in it, it is easy for him to sDI up to Bowser and Uair him, which will usually result in Bowser taking more damage than Ganon. This is 09 ****.

Other than that... Bowser's spacing against Ganon is nothing special. Ganon can space just as well. Not to mention Bowser has a hard time landing against Ganon. Expect to get Side B'd a lot on your landings if you're fighting a good Ganon. Wizkick is also good against Bowser if he's dumb enough to try to space with retreating Fair.


Onstage Bowser wins by a bit due solely to his side B (though fortress OoS also helps). However Ganon absolutely ****s on Bowser offstage. It is really really easy for Ganon to edgeguard Bowser with reverse Uair. If bowser gets hit by this once then he's dead. Hell it's even really easy for Ganon to Dair spike him. Can't say that about a lot of characters.


Some of you might disagree with me but I'm willing to bet I have more good Bowser exp than you have good Ganon exp. Feel free to disagree with me though, I want to hear what you guys have to say.
 

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I mean, I've played Verm a lot, so....

edit: I lied, only a couple of times, I think. I can't remember, I haven't played Brawl seriously since last year..if that

And yes, obviously I know that other boards have the same opinion. I'm not oblivious to the fact that I'm using Bowser

I was asking if we were seriously discussing this because we discussed it before a while back (at least, I think so), and this thread hasn't been active since...I don't even know when. I don't think anything has really changed since I doubt Bowser has changed in the past 2 years
 

Uncle

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I'll freely admit that I haven't fought any notable Ganons. I just thought that both characters' panels in the SWF MU thread thingy agreed it was +1 Bowser, and tried to explain why they would conclude that. Weren't you on the Ganon panel, DLA?

Either way, I could potentially see the MU as dead even, because as I already stated, both of these guys can **** each other up. I'll take back the firebreath point too, because it's only undeniably useful against Ganons who don't SDI. However, both of our characters suck at landing against each other, so that's definitely not a point in Ganon's favor. As for the offstage game, yeah, Ganon can actually **** us over, but we still have the recovery distance and relative safety of Fortress to potentially get back to the stage, while if Ganon gets knocked far enough, he's dead period.

Overall though, I'll just withhold my final opinion until I actually play a notable Ganon. People (myself included) sometimes jump the gun in deciding MU ratios.
 

DLA

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Yeah I was on the Ganon panel but we never came to any final decisions. Too much disorganization. I think we just went with whatever MU's our opponents came up with.

Like honestly, if I were to fight a Bowser in tournament, I would feel most confident with Ganon. Despite the fact that I have MK, Falco, Sheik, Pika, etc. as secondaries. That's how confident I feel in the matchup. Kirk (the old school Ike main) has a really good Bowser and I go Ganon against him every time.
 

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DLA the fire breath point is kinda pointless because no good Bowser or Charizard would hold it for long unless the opponent is offstage.

Trying to catch Ganon in the middle of the flame to rack damage is stupid and you will get SDI'd punished, I know that. I was talking about spacing with the tip of the flame, which you either don't hold at all or for very little time so they can't sdi punish you. It's particularly good for catching landings or jumps safely from a distance.

I also can't see what Ganon can do to a shield-happy Bowser, but I'm probably missing something there.
And would wizkick beat out retreating fair? I thought grounded wizkick had pretty bad priority. I'm pretty sure it doesn't beat out retreating klaw.

I'm not going to argue anything else you said because I'm not a top player.

:phone:
 

B!squick

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Spacing with Firebreath? How is that anything special against Ganon? You reset X situation, so what?

And using it against a off stage Ganon is an absolutely awful idea because he'll just SideB you when you stop and unless you're winning 2 to 1 in stocks it's only a good thing for Ganon.

And all Ganon has to do to a shielding Bowser is DTilt. Not only am I fairly certain it's safe on block when spaced right, but it pokes like a mother.

@Limit: We may have already discussed it, but finding the actual discussion in this 2000+ post thread would require more effort than any of us are willing to put in.

My own personal experience in this match-up was against TP (you Ganons know him) and it was a nightmare. If I was giving out advice it'd be: Don't Firebreath to try to gimp Ganon unless you're prepared to loss a stock; recover high when off stage because UAir beats everything; and when you get SideB'd, avoid get up attack on most occasions, you're better off rolling away if you're ever even given a choice.
 

DLA

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DLA the fire breath point is kinda pointless because no good Bowser or Charizard would hold it for long unless the opponent is offstage.

Trying to catch Ganon in the middle of the flame to rack damage is stupid and you will get SDI'd punished, I know that. I was talking about spacing with the tip of the flame, which you either don't hold at all or for very little time so they can't sdi punish you. It's particularly good for catching landings or jumps safely from a distance.

I also can't see what Ganon can do to a shield-happy Bowser, but I'm probably missing something there.
And would wizkick beat out retreating fair? I thought grounded wizkick had pretty bad priority. I'm pretty sure it doesn't beat out retreating klaw.

I'm not going to argue anything else you said because I'm not a top player.

:phone:

Yeah I was talking about fire breath because someone else mentioned it. It's not really important in the MU.


Ganon has no problems with a shield-happy Bowser (or a shield-happy ANYONE for that matter) because of flame choke. And bowser really doesn't want to get flame choked by Ganon because Bowser is one of the easiest characters in the game to follow up after it. In fact if Ganon thunderstomps right after side B, I think it covers every getup option Bowser has except for rolling away, and Ganon can just side B him again right afterwards if he does that.


As for retreating Fair, yes Fair beats Wizkick if it hits Ganon (actually I think it will probably trade). But if you're SPACING with Fair, it means you're not trying to hit your opponent, but instead cover space. So if you whiff an Fair while you're spacing, Ganon can wizkick you and hit you before you land. Since Fair lasts about 3 frames, and Wizkick lasts like... an entire second lol.
 

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I'm pretty sure you can spotdodge sideb on reaction though. Obviously you'll land it if Bowser commits to something, but it seems like it'd be easily dodgeable if Bowser is just sitting in his shield. I think fortress beats it out too, but it is unrealstic to expect to fortress it everytime.

Spaced firebreath is useful because you've just stopped whatever Ganon was going to do as well as tack on a little damage. It's much safer on Ganon than other characters.

I think the MU is probably better for Bowser in paper than on reality. However to me his superior frame data and the fact that autocanceled klaw is entirely safe on Ganon's shield are pretty big deals.
:phone:
 

Uncle

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What we really need is top-level evidence of the MU being played, and I think we can all agree on that.

Zigsta or Limit vs. DLA or Verm?

I'd enjoy watching those matches. ;)
 

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That obviously helps but that doesn't mean they're playing the MU properly. A lot of people play low tier MUs wrong due to lack of experience or not realising that they can just wait for the LT to approach and react to the LT's poor tools.

:phone:
 

DLA

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I played about a dozen friendlies with Zigsta at Genesis 2 and won all of them. Not trying to call him out or anything because I'm pretty sure I knew the MU better.

Kirk (the Ike main) also has a very good Bowser that he brings out in tournament, and I'm better at fighting him with Ganon than I am at using any of my secondaries that kinda wreck Bowser (like MK, falco, and pika). edit: well my MK wrecks him too but MK's dumb lol.


Dre, it would be dumb trying to spot dodge flame choke on reaction. It seems like the right choice if you think about it but once you get into the match you'll see it's a lot different. If you mess up the timing for the spot dodge even a bit, then you'll get grabbed. The SideB hitbox lasts a really long time. Honestly I never see anyone try to consistently spot dodge flame choke on reaction because it just doesn't work like that. Back rolling works much better actually. But there's still a chance you'll get hit by side B even after you roll.

You can't just discount a move by saying "spot dodge it"... if you could then every single move in the game would be horrible except, like, Tornado.
 

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I mean, I could get into a couple of technicalities about Bowser skill level but I'm not in a position to do much of anything since my activity has flushed down the drain in the past half-year.

I really, REALLY do not understand this firebreath argument. I thought DLA covered it when he said Ganondorf can SDI into him and UAir.

And onto spotdodging moves--yeah, I mean, you can spot dodge the move on reaction, obviously, but you can, theoretically, do that with every move that isn't multi-hitting. You can do it on reaction, but that doesn't necessarily mean it transitions on to the controller inputs. You can think one thing and not actually do it. You could be in the middle of a move, you could just make a mistake, **** happens.

I mean, I'm with DLA on this one. It's a slight advantage, but it's not like Bowser is going to rip him a new ******* or something...
 

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When it comes to Bowser, I'd be comfortable saying Bowser has the slight advantage. KingKong is the undisputed best Bowser (or was, but no longer is only by virtue of retirement) and Limit's a close second, and I've played both. I've played both sides of the fence. I've played Bowsers who were talented, but not professional Bowser players (not gonna namedrop), and professional Bowsers like KK and Limit. Inexperience with the MU belies the reality of it, which, in my opinion, is marginally advantageous for Bowser.

That being said, on the offensive, Bowser loses. On the defense, however, Bowser can keep Ganon out and he does win. People like KK who know how to turtle (lol) as Bowser and keep a fortress (puns) up actually make it surprisingly hard for Ganon to get in. Like Ganon, Bowser has ways to become more agile, and I've seldom seen people maximize that potential, but when I did see it, he was both difficult to reach and difficult to punish.
 

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DLA I never said sideb never hits, because it punishes commitments. But when Bowser is in his shield, he's not committing to anything. My point was that he can't do much to his shield except sideb.

Realistically you could spotdodge a sideb if you're just sitting in your shield. Would you even sideb a Bowser in his shield from a neutral position? I doubt it because that's incredibly risky.

Bowser will obviously get sidebd during the match, but probably not when he's in his shield. Shield dash could be a decent approach for Bower, but I'm not sure.

Limit- if you're holding fb long enough to get sdi punished you're not doing it right. Catching landings and jumps with the tip of the flame and either holding it minimally or not at all stops Ganon in his tracks and spaces pretty safely, whilst doing a little damage. It's particularly good on Ganon because of his design.

I'm not going to really challenge anything else though.

:phone:
 

Uncle

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That obviously helps but that doesn't mean they're playing the MU properly. A lot of people play low tier MUs wrong due to lack of experience or not realising that they can just wait for the LT to approach and react to the LT's poor tools.

:phone:
I agree that is possible, but I'll trust top-level evidence over theorycraft anyday. I don't mean just one set either, because we'd need a lot of Bowser vs. Ganon data before a fair conclusion could be made.

I played about a dozen friendlies with Zigsta at Genesis 2 and won all of them. Not trying to call him out or anything because I'm pretty sure I knew the MU better.

Kirk (the Ike main) also has a very good Bowser that he brings out in tournament, and I'm better at fighting him with Ganon than I am at using any of my secondaries that kinda wreck Bowser (like MK, falco, and pika). edit: well my MK wrecks him too but MK's dumb lol.
Genesis 2 was over 9 months ago, and those were friendlies. Not saying I don't believe your vs. Bowser prowess (because I know you're good!), but I was thinking more along the lines of a bracket or money match with Zigsta or Limit now. Beating Kirk is definitely proof in your favor, and I'd enjoy fighting your Ganon myself, if we ever cross paths at a regional/national.

I mean, I could get into a couple of technicalities about Bowser skill level but I'm not in a position to do much of anything since my activity has flushed down the drain in the past half-year.
You'll be back in the game this summer, dude. Go tear NY/NJ a new one. :cool:

When it comes to Bowser, I'd be comfortable saying Bowser has the slight advantage. KingKong is the undisputed best Bowser (or was, but no longer is only by virtue of retirement) and Limit's a close second, and I've played both. I've played both sides of the fence. I've played Bowsers who were talented, but not professional Bowser players (not gonna namedrop), and professional Bowsers like KK and Limit. Inexperience with the MU belies the reality of it, which, in my opinion, is marginally advantageous for Bowser.
Indeed, KingKong really was our best player, and it's a shame that he retired, because now our character is dying for players who can actually do work at a regional or national level. I'd also enjoy facing your Ganon, if we ever meet.
 

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Only in some aspects and matchups (compared to Vex). He wasn't full out better at everything, Vex played smarter too.

Ixis had a problem with his approach to the game that he never surpassed, but he might have been the best at counter-camping. Otherwise he was a little behind the other two.

IMO.

 

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There was a certain point where Vex just stopped using Bowser--and understandably so. At that point he was just like whatever, and apparently David and I had surpassed Vex, although I never really agreed with him.

Like Flayl said, each of them had their own little qualities that made them different from each other, but overall Vex was definitely smarter imo...I'm with Flayl on that one.

Ixis was good, but he just got into this slump of negativity and had a couple of things that he never worked out. He definitely was great at approaching though, but his attitude was just really saddening.

KK even still had a few things to work out as well, but he was our best/only shot at one point
 

Flayl

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I just noticed when I wrote counter-camping that it meant to camp against a camper. That would be funny to see, but I meant approaching like Limit said.
 
D

Deleted member 189823

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I would like tips on fighting MK, please.
There's this n00b MK player who plays really aggresively, and keeping my shield on all the time eats it out...but the main problem is getting to fight him. Short Hop Klaw doesn't work very well because MK is too short. ):
 

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Nickriddle seems to come here a lot and if he picked up Bowser he could do some damage.

Too bad ZSS is way better than Bowser, and usually when non-higher tier mains switch characters it's to a high tier.
 

Uncle

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Nickriddle seems to come here a lot and if he picked up Bowser he could do some damage.

Too bad ZSS is way better than Bowser, and usually when non-higher tier mains switch characters it's to a high tier.
That bolded part reminds me of my current thoughts on pairing up higher-tier secondaries with low-tiers. Recently, I've been thinking to myself that picking up a good secondary for Bowser kinda defeats the purpose of maining Bowser in the first place. You're either playing to win or playing to have fun/challenge yourself/advance your favorite character's metagame. If you're gonna pair Bowser up with say........Falco, for instance, then why would you ever use Bowser at all? Just use Falco for every match, because Bowser is certainly not adding any MU advantages to the pairing.

I suppose you could just play Bowser for "acceptable" MUs, and use a high/top tier for the ****ty ones, but that feels too wishy-washy to me.
 

B!squick

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I would like tips on fighting MK, please.
There's this n00b MK player who plays really aggresively, and keeping my shield on all the time eats it out...but the main problem is getting to fight him. Short Hop Klaw doesn't work very well because MK is too short. ):
Play in America. Failing that, UpB when he tornado's your shield and he wont do it as much anymore I'll wager. And just don't approach. Ever.
 

DLA

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That bolded part reminds me of my current thoughts on pairing up higher-tier secondaries with low-tiers. Recently, I've been thinking to myself that picking up a good secondary for Bowser kinda defeats the purpose of maining Bowser in the first place. You're either playing to win or playing to have fun/challenge yourself/advance your favorite character's metagame. If you're gonna pair Bowser up with say........Falco, for instance, then why would you ever use Bowser at all? Just use Falco for every match, because Bowser is certainly not adding any MU advantages to the pairing.

I suppose you could just play Bowser for "acceptable" MUs, and use a high/top tier for the ****ty ones, but that feels too wishy-washy to me.
In addition to Ganon, I also play about 5 or 6 secondaries in tournament. My philosophy is that I want to improve as a player, not as a specific character main.

I don't play the game solely to advance Ganon's metagame, nor do I solely play to win. I play to become the best Smash player I can. I mean, I don't owe any loyalty to Ganon or anything. If I pick up a secondary, it's because I like that secondary. Not because it will help me win.

The reason I still even play Ganon in tournament is because I honestly feel more confident using him against many players/characters than I do using my secondaries. If any of my secondaries ever gets better than my Ganon at a particular MU, then I'll have no qualms using that character instead of my Ganon in that MU. Because if I used Ganon, I would be unfairly limiting myself because of some misplaced sense of pride. I'd rather face my loss head-on than be able to say "meh I could have won if I didn't main Ganon."

I understand some people play one character because they only feel comfortable using that character in tournaments. But you gotta understand that the vast majority of people who play secondaries in tournament don't just do it to win. The fact is that you pretty much need to enjoy playing a character in order to be motivated to level that character up enough to be able to use it in tournament. In other words, they wouldn't use secondaries in tournament if they didn't enjoy using those secondaries. And this is even more true now that MK is largely banned.

It's not like you're "betraying" your character if you use a secondary in tournament. He's a bunch of pixels on a TV screen for ****'s sake. Hell I feel like Ganon betrays ME when I put so much effort into him and still get gimped at 0% by shuttle loop.

:phone:
 
D

Deleted member 189823

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Play in America. Failing that, UpB when he tornado's your shield and he wont do it as much anymore I'll wager. And just don't approach. Ever.
It's a good advice because I should play defensively against him, but...what if he doesn't approach himself and waits me to do so half the time? He'll think I'm playing "gay". I can beat him on other stages fine.

Lately I've been disliking this MU. ): It's not because of the difficulty, but I have come to realize MK really is cheap if someone who started maining him a little more than two months ago can almost top me. Now I want to try something different.
 

Uncle

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In addition to Ganon, I also play about 5 or 6 secondaries in tournament. My philosophy is that I want to improve as a player, not as a specific character main.

I don't play the game solely to advance Ganon's metagame, nor do I solely play to win. I play to become the best Smash player I can. I mean, I don't owe any loyalty to Ganon or anything. If I pick up a secondary, it's because I like that secondary. Not because it will help me win.

I respect your philosophy, and I wish that I could settle on one myself. I feel compelled to go "all-or-nothing," meaning that I'll either go all Bowser to take his metagame to the limit, or I'll only play viable characters to take myself to the limit. To me, it's more about having a focus as a player than having loyalty to a character. Of course, even if I do play to win, I'll only play viable characters that I like. This game's not worth playing if you don't enjoy who you play. Bowser may be my favorite, but there are other characters that I like and would be willing to pick up.

The reason I still even play Ganon in tournament is because I honestly feel more confident using him against many players/characters than I do using my secondaries. If any of my secondaries ever gets better than my Ganon at a particular MU, then I'll have no qualms using that character instead of my Ganon in that MU. Because if I used Ganon, I would be unfairly limiting myself because of some misplaced sense of pride. I'd rather face my loss head-on than be able to say "meh I could have won if I didn't main Ganon."

You see, I agree with that, and it kind of supports my point about the low tier main becoming obsolete with the presence of the secondary. Sure, your confidence and skill with Ganon means that he's actually your personal best choice for many MUs, but eventually, the secondaries will overtake him. That's why the middle ground (Bowser + Secondary) isn't really an option to me.

I understand some people play one character because they only feel comfortable using that character in tournaments. But you gotta understand that the vast majority of people who play secondaries in tournament don't just do it to win. The fact is that you pretty much need to enjoy playing a character in order to be motivated to level that character up enough to be able to use it in tournament. In other words, they wouldn't use secondaries in tournament if they didn't enjoy using those secondaries. And this is even more true now that MK is largely banned.

Oh, I'm definitely aware of that. Most people really do only play who they like, and that's great. I'd only question the logic of keeping the low tier around, because if you have a superior secondary that you also like, then why use the low tier anymore? Regardless of their reason for keeping the low tier around, I'll respect their decision, just as much as I'd respect someone who's only playing to win. All I would do is ask, because I like learning what motivates players to do what they do.

It's not like you're "betraying" your character if you use a secondary in tournament. He's a bunch of pixels on a TV screen for ****'s sake. Hell I feel like Ganon betrays ME when I put so much effort into him and still get gimped at 0% by shuttle loop.

Betrayal? That's certainly not what I'm worried about, because like you said, he's just pixels on a TV screen. ;)

All I want is a clear goal and a clear focus. Do I want to work towards becoming the best Bowser, or do I want to work towards becoming the most successful player I could possibly be? I'll have fun pursuing either goal, so it's a tough choice for me. It's all a matter of determining what matters more in my eyes.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your views, DLA. You definitely gave me some food for thought.


:phone:
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B!squick

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It's a good advice because I should play defensively against him, but...what if he doesn't approach himself and waits me to do so half the time? He'll think I'm playing "gay". I can beat him on other stages fine.

Lately I've been disliking this MU. ): It's not because of the difficulty, but I have come to realize MK really is cheap if someone who started maining him a little more than two months ago can almost top me. Now I want to try something different.
Aside from not approaching, I guess the only other thing you could do is Jab. A lot. Jab and throw out FTilts because if spacing if key in this game, it's the rule if you want any hope of beating Meta Knight. And don't forget about Klaw.
 

Uncle

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I've said this before, but go for trades often against MK, because our damage output and superior weight make us great at trading. MK will never win if he's forced into a straight-up slugfest with Bowser, which is why you need to do your best to play your game, not his. Stay mostly grounded, don't commit to anything that will end up getting you punished hard, and make every grab release opportunity count. Remember, he can be chaingrabbed out of an air or ground release. Also, he has no right to call you "gay," because he's the one playing MK! :glare:

Even if you do everything right, there's still a high chance of defeat, though. A competent MK who doesn't underestimate Bowser is an undeniable hard counter to him. That doesn't mean the MU is unwinnable, but it does mean that significantly outplaying your opponent is mandatory. Just try your best and capitalize on any mistake he makes with extreme prejudice............or play a better character. :awesome:
 

Dre89

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A good MK probably won't approach Bowser often as he has no reason to.

The problem I find with trying to initiate trades when someone approaches is that most characters have the mobilty to avoid your attempt (which is usually ftilt or upb) and punish it. If you don't throw it out prematurely, you get hit or are forced into evsaive action and don't trade, unless you get lucky and upb oos a whiffed move (which isn't really a trade I guess).

I just personally struggle with mobile characters who mix up their approach and have the ability to punish our standard spacing tools.
 

Uncle

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Dre, you're not alone. It's a universal struggle for Bowsers everywhere to deal with that sort of thing. We feel your pain, and that's why I said that a good MK that knows the MU can't possibly lose to Bowser.

In fact, that's the biggest problem with Bowser and low tiers, in general. Most of their (limited) success comes from people not respecting or knowing what they're capable of. Once they wake up, though, they'll put us to rest with their better characters. Sure, you could say "I'll just improve and outplay them all," but chances are, they're improving too!

Furthermore, we're not playing an underrated character like Lucas. Bowser is conclusively terrible, and he has hurdles he'll never overcome. Low Tier For Life.

I know I sound incredibly pessimistic here, but I can't see it any other way. Bowser offers next-to-nothing to the player who wants to win. We only play him because we love him, and for some of us, love is all we need.
 

Dre89

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Bowser's biggest problem is the lack of representation and lack of high level players.

Theoretically he'd be decent if someone could perfect that pivot regrab thing out of a GR, and was an insane player, but that's not going to happen.



Still, we should try to advance him beyond the standard klaw- upb oos- bomb cancel- ftilt- jab cancel- grab release playstyle. He's got some decent boxing mix ups and some other niche stuff that should really be explored.

:phone:
 
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