Fastest
Smash Ace
I was going to keep a lot of stuff secret to gimp early tournaments. But nobody seems to be posting anything about Zamus and I fear that without sparking interest in her, I won't be able to leech off things that everyone else finds. So, here's some Zamus tricks & tactics from someone who has brawl.
- Zamus's recovery is great. You can grab the ledge on one end of Battlefield, fall down, down-b, jump, and tether the opposite side. It's not practical as by the time you get to the other side your opponent should be edge guarding you... But the point is Zamus is crazy good at staying alive on the edge.
- Down B. At first I thought this move was crappy. But... after forcing myself to use it I realized it's amazing.
1) The optional attack spikes.
2) It has invincibility frames.
3) It has invincibility frames.
4) It has invincibility frames.
5) You can ledge cancel the attack to cancel all lag. (Hard to learn the spacing- great for edge guarding.)
6) Walljumps done with it are auto (so long as your control stick is neutral) and have special properties. For example: You can ledge stall indefinitely on FD/Battlefield by simply dropping down, hitting downb and letting the autojump sweet spot for you.
7) It has invincibility frames.
8) Toadstool jumps with it have special properties.
-You can toadstool jump from a greater range/hitbox. Even jump on those hanging on the edge or from the middle of their body.
-Special Toadstool can be done anytime during the move, or even on a SHIELDED opponent.
-The resulting jump is a special jump different than normal toadstools in that you have extreme horizontal DI and move quickly
9) You can do a reverse downb just like marth does a reverse upb.
10) It has invincibility frames - OK. We get it... invincibility frames. What's the big deal? Well, you can jump back on the ledge through your opponent and kick them! In all honesty the invincibility frames aren't THAT cool considering an air dodge does the same thing. But it doesn't eat up a jump- and can/should be used as Zamus' 3rd jump. It's essentially a quicker pre-defined movement airdodge that you can attack with.
- Dsmash!
1) It has misleading range and can hit at the very very edge of the animation with no penalty to its stun duration.
2) It will basically guarantee any move after it.... including another dsmash. It's not an infinite... the second dsmash won't stun but instead knock people away. However, it doesn't knock them away very far- so it's a really good setup for a ton of things. Most notably....
- Upb. We all know this thing "spikes", but it's very hard to do and it's easilly DIed.
1) This only spikes if Zamus is on the ground or moving downwards when she uses it.
2) Short hop->Upb on descent will cause her to float at a 45 degree angle whlie using the move- covering more range than a normal upb from the ground. It's very hard to DI a multihit move that's moving.
3) The spike can be teched. However, Zamus has long range. So a tech to left or right leads into fsmash/over b. A tech at your feet leads into... dsmash+dsmash or uptilt, etc. etc.
- Over B. "Her over B is the best move in the freakin' game" - Tapion
Contrary to what most people think THIS is her longest range attack (not counting the gun's fully charged shot). Why? Because the actual attack extends further than the whip. Here's a picture:
{Zamus Here}-/\/\/\/\O
The wavy line is the whip. The Circle is the spark that's created at the end. The spark is the sweet spot and K.O's like nobody's business. It's such a good move that it should be spammed at any opportunity. It's what keeps her away from people.
This move can go through people at short range...
(think of yoshi's grab in melee) It also has a weak hit near the whip/hilt part which knocks people into the sweet spot. So at short range it's possible to double hit, or not hit at all. Because of the whiff potential, it's not a good idea to go for those doublehits, but rather, keep sweet spotting that spark.
It also tethers sideways.
- Neutral B
I don't fight noobs, so I've had a hard time using neutral b to any effectiveness. The baby blast is too short to the point that you may as well spam another forward b. HOWEVER - unlike what people have posted, nothing is guaranteed off the baby shot. If your opponent holds shield and mashes downdodge/roll, they will get out of anything. The large shot doesn't have this issue, but the chances of nailing someone with it are low. More testing needed. Right now I hate the move.
- Upsmash
Dthrow->Upsmash will guarantee at least some hits barring an airdodge. More testing needed. I fear in certain situations it can be punished as you can DI out of the thing.
1) Jumpcancelled upair from a dash covers lots of range.
2) Very high priority. Well... absolute priority really, it's basically a multihit projectile.
-Fsmash
1) Faster startup than forward b, but more lag and less range.
2) Also hits behind.
3) Good for tech chases because if you're off on the spacing for the chase a bit, the behind hit may catch.
4) Does not hit as far as the animation would lead you to believe. About 1/2 of the final arc animation is just for show.
-FTilt/Uptilt/Downtilt
1) The 3 spammable shiek-like moves. Have fun!
2) Ftilt is aimable with analog (can hit a ducking Kirby)
-All Arials
Zamus cannot hit a standing target via short hop while rising. THIS IS IMPORTANT and leads to her biggest downfall. She's fast, but can't utilize that speed as she must attack on the downward portion of her jump. Her short hop simply jumps too high too quickly. The exceptions to this are large/tall characters- she can jump into uair and hit a standing bowser/dk/gannon.
1) Dair is a hilarious desperation spike.
-Throws
None of the throws combo into anything. Uthrow/Dthrow are the best because they place you underneath an opponent ripe for juggling attempts.
1) Low percents dthrow->dash->jcancelled upsmash/upb is a good surprise.
2) Mid-High percents dthrow->upair is good, but predictable. Mindgames needed.
-Jab combo
1) TERRIBLE
2) A typical jab combo vs someone good goes like this: a, a, *HIT*... WTF?!?!? You can get jabbed out of the final a even if the first two hit.
3) a, a->dtilt/uptilt/anything is more desirable, but not reliable because nobody gets trained to block the last jab.
4) You can cancel a, or a, a via duck/shield.
5) I suspect jab fakes/cancels will be an important part of most char's moves.
6) The first jab itself is great for interrupting as it's fast.
-Random stuff
1) Zamus can tether 3x before the tether will fail. It will still try to hit the edge, but it won't "stick". Each type of tether counts for the 3- forward b or up b. Meaning, you can grab the edge, drop down, tether, drop down, tether, drop down, tether, before it failing. The second your feet hit the ground you gain your 3 tethers back.
- Zamus's recovery is great. You can grab the ledge on one end of Battlefield, fall down, down-b, jump, and tether the opposite side. It's not practical as by the time you get to the other side your opponent should be edge guarding you... But the point is Zamus is crazy good at staying alive on the edge.
- Down B. At first I thought this move was crappy. But... after forcing myself to use it I realized it's amazing.
1) The optional attack spikes.
2) It has invincibility frames.
3) It has invincibility frames.
4) It has invincibility frames.
5) You can ledge cancel the attack to cancel all lag. (Hard to learn the spacing- great for edge guarding.)
6) Walljumps done with it are auto (so long as your control stick is neutral) and have special properties. For example: You can ledge stall indefinitely on FD/Battlefield by simply dropping down, hitting downb and letting the autojump sweet spot for you.
7) It has invincibility frames.
8) Toadstool jumps with it have special properties.
-You can toadstool jump from a greater range/hitbox. Even jump on those hanging on the edge or from the middle of their body.
-Special Toadstool can be done anytime during the move, or even on a SHIELDED opponent.
-The resulting jump is a special jump different than normal toadstools in that you have extreme horizontal DI and move quickly
9) You can do a reverse downb just like marth does a reverse upb.
10) It has invincibility frames - OK. We get it... invincibility frames. What's the big deal? Well, you can jump back on the ledge through your opponent and kick them! In all honesty the invincibility frames aren't THAT cool considering an air dodge does the same thing. But it doesn't eat up a jump- and can/should be used as Zamus' 3rd jump. It's essentially a quicker pre-defined movement airdodge that you can attack with.
- Dsmash!
1) It has misleading range and can hit at the very very edge of the animation with no penalty to its stun duration.
2) It will basically guarantee any move after it.... including another dsmash. It's not an infinite... the second dsmash won't stun but instead knock people away. However, it doesn't knock them away very far- so it's a really good setup for a ton of things. Most notably....
- Upb. We all know this thing "spikes", but it's very hard to do and it's easilly DIed.
1) This only spikes if Zamus is on the ground or moving downwards when she uses it.
2) Short hop->Upb on descent will cause her to float at a 45 degree angle whlie using the move- covering more range than a normal upb from the ground. It's very hard to DI a multihit move that's moving.
3) The spike can be teched. However, Zamus has long range. So a tech to left or right leads into fsmash/over b. A tech at your feet leads into... dsmash+dsmash or uptilt, etc. etc.
- Over B. "Her over B is the best move in the freakin' game" - Tapion
Contrary to what most people think THIS is her longest range attack (not counting the gun's fully charged shot). Why? Because the actual attack extends further than the whip. Here's a picture:
{Zamus Here}-/\/\/\/\O
The wavy line is the whip. The Circle is the spark that's created at the end. The spark is the sweet spot and K.O's like nobody's business. It's such a good move that it should be spammed at any opportunity. It's what keeps her away from people.
This move can go through people at short range...
(think of yoshi's grab in melee) It also has a weak hit near the whip/hilt part which knocks people into the sweet spot. So at short range it's possible to double hit, or not hit at all. Because of the whiff potential, it's not a good idea to go for those doublehits, but rather, keep sweet spotting that spark.It also tethers sideways.
- Neutral B
I don't fight noobs, so I've had a hard time using neutral b to any effectiveness. The baby blast is too short to the point that you may as well spam another forward b. HOWEVER - unlike what people have posted, nothing is guaranteed off the baby shot. If your opponent holds shield and mashes downdodge/roll, they will get out of anything. The large shot doesn't have this issue, but the chances of nailing someone with it are low. More testing needed. Right now I hate the move.
- Upsmash
Dthrow->Upsmash will guarantee at least some hits barring an airdodge. More testing needed. I fear in certain situations it can be punished as you can DI out of the thing.
1) Jumpcancelled upair from a dash covers lots of range.
2) Very high priority. Well... absolute priority really, it's basically a multihit projectile.
-Fsmash
1) Faster startup than forward b, but more lag and less range.
2) Also hits behind.
3) Good for tech chases because if you're off on the spacing for the chase a bit, the behind hit may catch.
4) Does not hit as far as the animation would lead you to believe. About 1/2 of the final arc animation is just for show.
-FTilt/Uptilt/Downtilt
1) The 3 spammable shiek-like moves. Have fun!
2) Ftilt is aimable with analog (can hit a ducking Kirby)
-All Arials
Zamus cannot hit a standing target via short hop while rising. THIS IS IMPORTANT and leads to her biggest downfall. She's fast, but can't utilize that speed as she must attack on the downward portion of her jump. Her short hop simply jumps too high too quickly. The exceptions to this are large/tall characters- she can jump into uair and hit a standing bowser/dk/gannon.
1) Dair is a hilarious desperation spike.
-Throws
None of the throws combo into anything. Uthrow/Dthrow are the best because they place you underneath an opponent ripe for juggling attempts.
1) Low percents dthrow->dash->jcancelled upsmash/upb is a good surprise.
2) Mid-High percents dthrow->upair is good, but predictable. Mindgames needed.
-Jab combo
1) TERRIBLE
2) A typical jab combo vs someone good goes like this: a, a, *HIT*... WTF?!?!? You can get jabbed out of the final a even if the first two hit.
3) a, a->dtilt/uptilt/anything is more desirable, but not reliable because nobody gets trained to block the last jab.
4) You can cancel a, or a, a via duck/shield.
5) I suspect jab fakes/cancels will be an important part of most char's moves.
6) The first jab itself is great for interrupting as it's fast.
-Random stuff
1) Zamus can tether 3x before the tether will fail. It will still try to hit the edge, but it won't "stick". Each type of tether counts for the 3- forward b or up b. Meaning, you can grab the edge, drop down, tether, drop down, tether, drop down, tether, before it failing. The second your feet hit the ground you gain your 3 tethers back.
