I actually like this idea, lain. It's about the matchup between Ike and G&W, so I dont see why this doesn't fit in the Game and Watch section.
So yeah, I guess I'll give my input.
1. What is your general opinion of Ike as a character?
Ike was top tier back when we got the game. His raw power, great range, and annoying aether was just too cruel. Ike would consistently kill G&W at something around 40%. Playing wifi matches with this one person, who was a red connection, shaped my opinion about him. Recently, my wifi list has expanded with many good players that it's about full, and I've gotten a lot more experience on the top tier god that is Ike...
and he really isn't. Minus the lag, I'm given back the ability to power shield and air dodge. I'm also granted the ability to chase off the stage and gimp his silly recovery. I consistently survive to over 100% as his "deadly" moves lost their venom. My opinion has greatly changed from then, and I would imagine Ike seeing low tier; mid if he's lucky. Even if by some miracle he ends in upper-mid, this will only last a short time, and he'll drop as more characters get better tools to work with.
He's great at punishing, and if used with good prediction and knowledge of the matchup, Ike can be dangerous indeed.
2. What moves do you fear from Ike?
Hmm, I'm afraid about most his moves, if they are spaced right and landed. In general, I watch out for the Bair, which is surprisingly fast, his Ftilt, which is more dangerous than his laggy Fsmash, and the odd counter here and there. It's a mixed bag. His moves hurt and destroy G&W at low percents, but he cant deal with the speed and well timed moves of G&W.
3. Which moves do not trouble you at all?
Haha. Ike's Specials are mad easy to gimp and deal with. Aether is punished, quick draw avoided and used to gimp Ike, and eruption is no big deal at all. Counter is difficult if well placed, but as G&W will play conservatively until theres an opening, it wont see much use in this matchup, I believe. Once an opening is made, G&W will provide some decent pressure and then space himself away again, no time for a counter. Hit and run.
His smashes are also easy to punish.
4. Which moves/techniques do you use against Ike to gain the advantage?
Specifically, Chef is where it's at. You can expect G&W to use his only projectile against someone without one. It makes for a good edgeguard and it has the range on Ike. I'll avoid getting close enough for me to grab Ike, as it's not amazing (Dthrow -> Dsmash has a very small time frame to work) unless I go for the Tech chase. I don't know how big his roll is off the top of my head.
Edge guarding is among the easiest ways to score a kill against Ike. Luckily, G&W has an amazing edge and chase game. I'll go into more detail in the next question.
The Turtle is always a nice touch. Oh, and G&W's Uair! If quick drawing from above, G&W can keep an ike air bound until he's ready to bring on the pain. Ike wont be able to do anything because of the properties of G&W's Uair and that QD leaves him vulnerable.
5. What specific edgeguards do you employ versus Ike?
Firstly, the chef is amazing here. Ike falls fast enough to have severe trouble DIing away from getting multihitted by the food goods that G&W's frying pan produces. This is a good choice as they're coming down diagonally to the stage, and you can cancel the frying pan and quickly chase with a box AS Ike is still in stun from the food. It's real nice.
Dtilt all the way over the edge doesn't work that great in this case, but I can see it having some uses if you hadn't made it to the edge in time to chase/fryingpan.
The chase is a sure stock, if done right. The Fair Box -> to Fair Box pokes him much to far to recover with Aether (Vertical distance is all it has), and Ike falls quick enough that everytime he's hit with the box, he's getting lower and lower to the stage (Say goodbye to horizontal height granted by QD). The only sensible thing the Ike can do at this point is to initiate aether and hope you can pull G&W down with yourself. Too bad that G&W's UpB grants a good deal of invincibility frames.
Also, Turtle can stage spike Ike if you predict the spot where he'll go to aether recover.
Oh, and if he's grabbing the ledge and you're off the stage (lets say he used aether before you had time to turtle/box), UpB will spike him down if on a stage like Smashville.
So all in all, the matchup is in G&W's favor, despite Ike having the obvious range and weight advantage on the 2-D menace. No need to mention power here, because G&W's Fsmash is nothing to sneeze at. I'm not saying it's pointless, not at all, Ike can easily score low percent K.O. on G&W. We have to work a lot in this matchup, at the risk of getting punished. Though, it's not exactly a cakewalk on the Ike's part, either.
And thats it. You're more than welcome to quote me, and I wish you the best of luck with this project. If it goes well, I might do the same for G&W after people begin to forget about this one for ike. I hope you'll help and let me know what a good Ike will do to tear apart G&W when I come to your section :D
Peace.
