abit_rusty
Smash Lord
THIS THREAD IS EXPIRED. http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=260102 IS THE CURRENT MATCHUP THREAD
(mikeray4 is an idiot)
Expect:
Strategy:
This is one of the most nerve racking match ups. The only way to win is to be evasive and defensive. Being offensive against MK is not a choice. It’s sad that I’m saying this, but it’s true.
At the start of the match, instantly pull out a grenade and roll away from it. Every MK wants to be the first to hit; it’s how you play him. The MK will either attack and hit the grenade or miss with a grab. If the MK tries to grab you, punish him as quickly as possible. You can’t hesitate or think twice about doing something against MK. I would use your front tilts quickly and then get out of the way. Be prepared to bring out another grenade after attempting to punish the MK.
If the MK side step dodges, be ready for the dreaded down smash. Or, maybe a grab. I’m sure every MK would want to do something that will knock you back so they won’t be hit by front tilts. If the MK successfully side step dodges, I would suggest jumping backwards and getting a grenade ready so that you can protect yourself while evading an attack/grab.
Besides MK’s front air, everyone knows that the tornado is probably one of the most annoying moves. If you see the MK about to use the tornado, shield drop a grenade and move back. If you want to be safe, you can do it a second time. It’ll be an even better idea if you toss the grenade up. You can do this by pressing B, moving backwards, and release while going backwards. It’ll cover more area so that the MK won’t go right over the grenades if you drop them.
Edge guarding or edge hugging against MK is almost impossible. I would not try it. The most you can do is charge up smashes or pull out some grenades. MK’s UP+B can go through the Nikita. It’s pretty hard hitting such a maneuverable target with it anyway. I’m pretty sure MK can easily go through Mortar as well, but it’s the best idea if you want to try to edge guard MK. What I would do is to place grenades onto the stage right when the MK is approaching. That way you can pressure the MK. There isn’t much they can do if they’re about to land in that situation. Except for trying to hit you. But, yet again, you must be quick on deciding how you want to punish the MK. Up tilt is also a great idea when MK is approaching the stage, but it has to be very precise or else you will be hit by MK’s in air attack.
Recovering is probably one of the hardest things to do against MK. The UP+B can really screw you over. Air dodging as fast as possible and fast falling is your best choice. Or, if you’re not afraid of taking some damage, you could pull out a grenade in air for MK to hit. You need to maneuver as fast as possible; even when touching the ground. Right when you hit the ground, be ready to roll, side step dodge or jump away. As you‘re landing, keep in mind that MK can move around the stage quicker than anyone. Every Snake player needs to practice fast falling and as they’re landing, side step dodging into another evasive move. You must get to know the timing of every evasive tactic. It’s a main part of Snake’s play style, especially against MK.
To DI out of MK’s front air spam of doom, an up and the opposite corner you are facing should be used to escape it. If you are afraid of being locked into one of these, just stay as agile as possible, with jumping into air dodges and using the B-Reversal technique to confuse the MK. I would advise using evasive tactics throughout the whole match. Do not get cocky and try using tilts and such by staying idle on the ground. Just be prepared for when the MK messes up. Be sure to punish him as quickly as possible. By punish I mean front tilts, up tilt, grab, and down tilt.
It’s pretty depressing that there isn’t much more you can do in this match up. MK can go right through a lot of Snake’s attacks with ease. Now go play it like Metal Gear, be evasive and quick. When the time is right, get the enemy. *salutes*
Counterpicks:
Discussion Link
Difficulty - 50:50
Expect:
Strategy:
Against a very patient Wario, this match-up can be pretty even. His ground game is rather limited, focusing on grabs/bite or a kill attempt with a smash/ftilt. If you do get grabbed, it's likely the Wario will dthrow and read your movements from there, and follow up, possibly grabbing you once more. You may get caught in this more than once, but always react differently so you won't be predicted and punished several times.
If you're at a high percent, keep yourself well spaced, as his KO options (like an fsmash/waft) have a short range. Ftilt does have a longer range so watch for that. If he's approaching with a bike, shield-dropped nades or mines will blow him out of hit, and holding the rapid jab will knock him out of it. As such, with a lacking ground game, Wario does his best work aerially.
Knowing that his approach generally consists of aerials, you should base your strategy on reacting whenever he takes to the air. If he's constantly short hopping aerials and DI'ing backwards out of safety, try mortar sliding after the aerial and as he DI's back. If he's close enough, you could try an ftilt but it's likely only the second hit will reach, and he can react to seeing the first hit and dodging the second, and immediately punishing. You can also attempt to run up and grab him (it's tough to shield grab a DI'd aerial). Beware of the SH Dair, even if you shield all the hits, he can DI behind you and turn-around Bite you out of shield. If SH Dair does hit, he can follow it up with a lot of things, possibly a smash or a grab. The best solution would be to spot dodge out of the hitstun, but Wario has many options to punish predictability. He can train you to start shielding/dodging fsmashes, only to suddenly pull out a bite or grab. Likewise, he can train you to start rolling out of the way, only to suddenly chase you out of that roll with a bite. He'll try to delay his aerials with double jumping, just wait to react to what he does after the second jump, be it dodging the aerial and punishing or following up if he's retreating. Overall, mix up your response to his actions.
Not enough attention is paid to Wario's bite, which is a very potent move. It has a long duration, and as mentioned can beat spot-dodging, but it also has the interesting property of super armor (if not, it's anti-flinching) in the start up of the bite. Essentially this means if you perform an attack but you're still close enough within the range of Bite, Wario will take damage but still successfully bite you. This is why Warios will often end aerials with Bite, or attempt to "chain-bite". Bite is useful to keep you pressured, but he has to get very close to do so, so make sure to have shield dropped nades around you to keep his distance. Also, if you're bitten with a grenade in hand, and the Wario tries to chomp, it will detonate the grenade and free you.
General recovery rules of cypher high and get grounded quickly apply in this match-up, and if you're rising in the cypher and you see him go offstage to approach you, it's likely he'll go for a bite gimp kill. Anticipate this and air dodge towards the stage and you may have a chance to grab the ledge, or else bomb jump. Or, I have yet to try this but theoretically it could work, pull out a nade at the last moment and if he bites you and tries to chomp, the nade will explode and give you another cypher. Or he could choose not to bite but the grenade may explode on its own if you're high enough, still freeing you. Just make sure you do not use cypher too close to the ledge to prevent bite kills.
Finally, what really gives Snake the upper hand in this match-up and what prevents it from being harder than even is the grab release into utilt kill. At high percents, grab Wario, wait for him to break out of it, and immediately utilt. It's entirely unavoidable and a fresh utilt is a guaranteed kill. Use it and abuse it. Keep your distance with tilts, keep him pestered with grenades, and try not to be too predictable to prevent those fatal bites and wafts, and the match is yours to win.
Counterpicks:
Bans:
Things to Watch For
What You Can Do to Win
First off, realize that spacing is key in this match. Decide whether or not you are more comfortable approaching or being approached and then adjust your strategy accordingly. Every good Falco will start the match with SHDL, if you choose to approach crawl forward under the lasers, but do not go too close to the Falco. When he stops the spam, immediately mortar slide from your crouch (this may take you some practice) towards him and start to hit him with your tilts and grenades. If you choose to let him approach, simply duck the lasers and await his movement towards you. Like I said above, a good Falco will approach with SH dairs or perhaps a side B in your direction (less likely since you can down tilt Falco out of his Phantasm pretty easily). The dairs can be shield grabbed into a down throw tech-chase, or as I prefer, an up throw into up tilt juggling.
This part of the stock (low damage) is all about hit and run tactics. Constantly spot dodge and roll while dropping grenades and peppering Falco with tilts and jabs. Use your mortar to cover your movements so that if you are grabbed Falco will get blown out of it. Above all, never stay on one side of Falco for too long since you will most likely get grabbed. If you are grabbed by Falco, expect to be taken all the way to the nearest edge and spiked with the dair. If this happens mash B while you are being grabbed so that you may be able to get a grenade out to mess up the chaingrab. This will not work against Falco's with perfectly timed chaingrabs, but it does work well against those who have not yet mastered the technique. If you get spiked, DI your cypher away from the stage so that Falco cannot spike you again. Once you near the end of your recovery, C4 recover and DI your second up B over the stage so that you cannot be spiked again.
Once you are above 40% you can play much more aggressively with Falco: pummel him with tilts and throws off the stage. Falco's recovery is one of the most easily gimped in the game if you know what you are doing and getting him off the stage is an easy way to get big damage or early kills. If he tries to recover high, send mortars into the air and juggle him with up tilts and up airs. An alternative to juggling is to use the nair/bair to knock Falco off the side again to begin the process again. If Falco tries to recover on a level with the stage, drop a grenade on the ground near the edge and then jump off the side and execute the nair. If you miss with the nair Falco will hit the grenade will get blown up, if you hit with the nair, you will most likely knock Falco far enough away from the edge that he will not be able to get back.
As far a racking up damage is concerned, Falco will try to hit you as much as possible with his nair, his dair, his AAA combo to shine/forward smash, his shine to tech-chase (assuming you are tripped), and his DLX canceled up smash to juggling. At this point (after you cannot be chaingrabbed) use grenade countering as much as possible. Falco will try to keep close to you and will assault you with many physical attacks which will detonate grenades. Use your tilts to set up for juggling or edgeguarding and be aware of the shine as a means for Falco to get his rhythm back if you are in control of the match. If you become airborne, drop C4 and detonate as a deterrent to his juggling and air dodge his up air, his nair, and his dair. SH bair is also a common tactic for Falco while you are grounded, but you can up tilt or shield grab him out of this if you are quick.
Falco will try to kill you by knocking off the side with a side or down smash and then gimping your recovery with a dair. Remember to always recover as high as possible and you should do alright. Falco's smashes are strong, but with good DI you should last a very long time against the down and side smashes. Beware the up smash since it comes out quickly and will kill you are very respectable levels. You should also beware of being juggled with the up air since this move will kill you if you are high up in the air.
A side note on edge-guarding: Falco's up+b is pretty mediocre. It's length is not long, so you will often find Falcos using the illusion instead. There are a few surefire ways to edgeguard his side-b recovery. You can intercept him with a well timed nair. You can predict where he lands and punish him from lag with a grab or tilt. You can also use a mortar edgeguard, or drop grenades near the ledge (or both), and possibly force him to illusion into the ledge. Before that happens, though, immediately hug the ledge to keep him from grabbing it, and he'll fall to his doom. If he does try to recover onto the stage, chances are the falling mortar or grenade will punish him. If you get him to use his up+b, meaning he'll likely below stage, a simple well-timed ledgehog will finish the job
All in all, this match truly depends on your defense/approach game at the beginning of each new stock. Keep yourself from getting chaingrabbed and spiked early, and the power of your tilts and your edgeguarding should get the better of Falco. His abysmal recovery and relatively light weight compared to Snake make this matchup easier for you to deal with and you should be able to get some early kills by keeping him off the stage or in the air as much as possible.
Counterpicks:
Bans:
Difficulty: 55:45 Snake’s favor
Things to be watch out for:
• Bananas. He will be using them a lot.
• Rocket-Barrel deploys after getting hit by a Grenade, Nikita, C4, or mine.
• KOs by spikes. Both his dair and Monkey Flip can spike.
• Banana Choke Chain Grabs.
• Banana locks on the ground. Top level Diddy’s can do this with only one Banana.
• Utilt to grab combos at very low percentages.
Strategy:
Diddy is a very unique character to play against. He has a rhythm and style all his own. The first thing that needs to be covered is Bananas. He has several uses for them and the amount will only increase as the metagame matures. One of these uses includes the Banana CC, in which he will grab release you to slip on a Banana. He’ll most likely set this up by having a banana right behind you. Good Diddys will do this across the stage until there’s no more stage. From there, Diddy will most likely attempt a spike.
Diddy can also perform Banana Locks (A.K.A. Dribbling) , which racks up damage and can set you up to get spiked. There are many other things he can do with them, including doing a forward smash and aerials while holding one. This is why it is very important to relinquish him from control of his bananas asap, which, fortunately, Snake can do so well.
You can use your dash attack, nair, and Mortar Slide to grab them. You can also grab them mid throw. This eliminates a lot of options and makes the fight much easier. Make it your top priority. Your tilts outrange most of Diddy’s moveset, so use them, but only after you have taken control of his bananas, or you will find yourself getting banana locked.
When using your Grenades, C4, Mines, or Nikita, watch out for Barrel Canelling. When he gets hit by one of the wile charging his Barrel, they will fly off of him in an unpredictable trajectory towards you and have good knockback. Diddy can also Barrel Cancel using bananas if he is not in control of them.
The factor that gives Snake an advantage in this matchup is that Diddy lacks killing power. Provided you DI and not get spiked, you will live over 150%, especially if his KO moves are stale. You can SDI out of his forward smash, thus making it harder for him to kill. This is why his KO’s have to be obtained through spikes from his Monkey Flip or dair. Make sure you recover as high and as far as you can to prevent this. On the other side, Diddy is a lightweight and your up tilt can kill him at roughly 115%. Play smart and fast and always keep his bananas in check and you will be victorious.
Counterpicks:
• Battlefield - The platforms hinder his banana tactics and you can pressure him
with your tilts easily here.
• Brinstar – The acid helps you survive spikes and the stage layout prevents him
from consistently using his bananas.
• Norfair- this is considered one of Diddy's worst stages and one of snake's best.
Bans:
• Final Destination - this is Diddy's best stage. Avoid it.
• smashville - Like a mini FD.
Discussion Link (Post 484-510ish)
Difficulty - 55:45 King Dedede's Favor
Discussed: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=241241
Expect:
Strategy:
This match is fairly easy once you get the general idea on how to beat Mr. G&W. When you first face him, his aerials might seem impenetrable. As you get more used to facing G&W, everything is easier to block. Even his back air can be stopped.
Keep yourself spaced as you first start the match. Grenades should be used frequently to nullify G&W’s aerials. When Snake starts out, he can’t do much to escape chains of attacks or grabs. Staying safe with grenades can stop G&W from chaining his neutral air or back air. You should use shield dropped grenades more than just pulled grenades. Shield dropped grenades should be used when you know G&W is about to attack or when he is approaching. You can press B in between aerials to separate you from G&W. But, you will receive quite a bit of damage after doing this.
G&W’s up air can keep Snake up in the air for such a long time. Doing aerials during this time is a bad choice. None of Snake’s aerials can do anything when facing a decent G&W. Up smash, Back air, Up air, and Front air can interrupt any of Snake’s aerials. G&W’s up air can keep you up and render everything useless. The smart thing to do is fast fall and DI yourself away from G&W. I suggest using air dodges if G&W attempts to use up air or any other sort of aerial. As you are landing, hold down shield and roll away as soon as you hit the ground to attempt to get away from G&W’s attacks.
Shield grabbing can break through aerials if the aerials don’t hit Snake up in the air first. This usually occurs when Snake is at a higher percentage. But, you can grab even after the first hit of the aerial. After the throw, get a grenade ready so you can protect yourself from G&W’s aerials. The grenade will force the G&W to go around. Use a tilt to stop G&W from going any further away from the grenade.
Edgeguarding G&W is not an easy thing. His UP+B can break through almost every attack. Charging a mortar then getting a shield dropped grenade out is your best choice. If G&W uses his down air to block the mortar, he will hit the grenade as punishment. Placing more than one grenade is also a good idea. It just takes more time to do and it takes more time to escape from that area. Mines and C4 can also be used as an edgeguard, but grenades are probably a better choice.
G&W’s smash attacks are pretty disjointed. (What like everyone’s?) If you charge G&W while he is using a smash attack, you can still be hurt by each. Don’t think the front smash won’t hurt you, the stick can hurt you. Don’t charge G&W after when he is charging/using a smash attack. Wait for him to use the smash attack and shield grab him. Shielding into tilts is also a good plan. G&W lags a little as he finishes his smash attack. But, this is not the case for his down smash. G&W can use his down smash fairly quickly. So, using a shield grab is probably the best thing to use if you are trying to be cautious.
As you grab G&W, using a down grab is your best choice. G&W bounces too much if you throw him in other directions. You can easily tech chase down throw because G&W’s roll frames are so gimpable. Whenever you see G&W roll, punish him by grabbing him after or in between the roll. You can grab right through the blinking invincibility frames in the later part of G&W’s roll. It’s the same situation with the side step dodge. You can use front tilts to punish him for using his side step dodge. Even if you miss with the first hit of the front tilt, you can hit with the second because the invincibility frames don’t last that long with G&W.
G&W’s front air can be annoying if not guarded. Grenades can’t be used against the front air because usually G&W users use front air above Snake’s waist. G&W’s front air can really send Snake flying. Shielding through it is the best choice. You can easily punish G&W for using front air because of the amount of lag after he uses it. Just turn around and use front tilts after blocking the attack. You could also grab G&W after blocking the attack.
Guarding through G&W’s back air is a bad choice. The amount of time it takes to guard each hit of the back air deteriorates the shield quickly. The back air doesn’t help to keep the shield up either. (Who knew?!) The last hit will always get you and will most likely send you flying backwards. Like I said before, use grenades to stop this attack.
If you are ever caught in G&W’s back air/neutral air juggle and would not like to use grenades to get out, pressing the jump button and then shield to air dodge in a certain direction is your best choice. But, make sure you DI and make sure it’s in a safe direction.
To get G&W into an up tilt or some other strong attack, spread grenades throughout the map and grab him. Remember to down grab him. G&W’s roll is easy to predict and easy to gimp. Use an up tilt as he is almost done rolling. Snake can run faster than G&W’s roll. So, run up to him and ready yourself for an attack. Snake’s up tilt can probably kill G&W even if he isn’t above one hundred percent. G&W is such a light person that you can knock him far with all of Snake’s attacks. C4 is another excellent choice for killing G&W. C4 can kill G&W also, at a low percentage.
G&W’s down tilt can be spammed faster than his down smash. The only way to get past that is either trying to perfect shield into a grab or jump into a back air. His other most spammable attack, neutral A, can be escaped by DI’ing away from it. If you are shielding during it, just roll backwards. There is nothing much else you can do about it. After you are out of it, jump behind G&W and grab him immediately.
One last thing, never ever forget about G&W’s Over+B. It can be very dangerous as the match progresses. Snake has a harder time dodging such quick attacks. Always be wary of it because it could cost a whole stock. Don’t underestimate it. I did, and I lost two stock in one round.
Counterpicks:
Bans:
Expect:
Strategy:
Because of Pikachu's hit and run strategy with quick attack cancelling, Snake players often get confused as to how to deal with it. It is because many do not see past the illusion. What looks like an offensive Pika hitting you left and right with aerials, and giving you little time to respond, is really a very defensive Pika. The tell tale sign is the thunder jolt spam. It keeps you at bay and when you make a move out of frustration, pika moves in to capitalize on your mistake.
First off, do not get frustrated. This is a tough matchup, yes, but you'll make it even worse if you don't react calmly to pikachu's annoying attack style. Against thunder jolt spam, cancel it with rapid jab. Honestly, the pika can't do much except approach. If you see him coming straight for you, you can actually do the rapid jab again and catch him in it, or else ftilt. Beware of shield grabs though, and IIRC you can mash B for a nade to stop the chain grab.
Pretty soon the pika will start QAC'ing into aerials and trying to leave you guessing. What you need to know is what he will attempt through the QAC. Oftentimes, he'll go for a fast-fall fair which can lag cancel and combo into a dsmash, or a utilt->uair->nair. Dair is also common as it can leave him pretty safe above you. Bair once in a while if he has his back to you. Nair is rare since that is usually saved for a KO move. Knowing an aerial is likely to follow, your best asset in this case is grenade countering. All of Pika's aerials force him to reach "into" the shield area, so to speak, and thus always hit the grenade. If you keep up the smart grenade countering, you will notice a decrease in the amount of QAC'ed aerials that the pika does, and often hesitation.
Speaking of dsmash, do not forget that if you're caught in that, always DI hard left or right (aiming away from the edge of the stage if possible). If you do not DI, you will get caught in thunder at a high altitude and likely die at a low percent (well , low for Snake, 80-90ish%). If you end up shielding it, make sure you spot dodge near the end of the dsmash or else it will poke through your shield.
When you're recovering, you can try a stalling tactic to avoid getting hit by thunder. As you're DI-ing your fall towards the stage, and you see Pika jump out for a thunder, DI backwards and make your falling path near vertical. As soon as thunder ends, up+B towards the stage and past pika.
As for edge-guarding, it's very difficult to do anything consistently effective against a smart pikachu. Ledge dropping grenades and mortar edge-guard don't do very well due to quick-attack ledge stall. They have a chance to hit, but the pika can just be very careful and ledgehop while DI-ing away and thunder jolting. If you get up close, make sure you have a grenade in hand and shield because the pika might ledgehop into an uair or fair. There is one trick that you can apply. If you spam mortars and force the pika to go below the stage, you can fast-fall edgehog (hugging is the correct term, I think) and make his up+b miss the edge at the last moment. It's a neat trick to be used once in a while, especially against those who recover from below.
If you get the Pikachu to realize you can't be camped with thunder jolts or pressured with QAC, you're slowly shifting the match in your favor. It's your turn to make your move. Mortar slide if he's holding back on thunder jolts. Start using grenades offensively and cooking them. Plant mines and c4 during his hesitation. Use your passive aggression (oxymoron, yes) to rack up damage. However, it's surprisingly tough to finish a pika off if he plays extremely defensive at high damage. Try to fool him with the range of utilt, and although it can be tough since QAC is tricky and lagless, use ftilt for a KO move as well. You may be able to bank on a mine to KO him if he's careless, though not many experienced Pikas are.
By the way, I may have just made it seem easier said than done. This match-up is a challenge. Pikachu players are excellent at improvising and playing cautiously, yet precisely. If they make a mistake, it will be rare, but you have to force it out of them. Try to make them approach since your can easily camp thunder jolt spams, and react from there. Use your tilt range to your advantage.
Counterpicks:
Bans:
This matchup has been rediscussed, but there isn't a new summary yet so I'll leave the old one (which is still pretty accurate). Link to the New Discussion
Expect:
Strategy:
Olimar's best assets are his long reaching, quick attacks and great ability to rack up damage fast enough to put even Snake in the danger zone quickly. This is why getting punished in this match-up can be costly. You'll want to play cautious enough, and still get around his offenses to take advantage of his light weight and gimp-able recovery.
By knowing, generally, what each pikmin is used for, you can have some sort of idea of what action the Olimar will take next. It's not foolproof, since the Oli can just decide to throw the pikmin or use it for something else, but it's better than not having any idea at all. Use other elements to help you predict his actions. If you're at a high percent and he's got a blue pikmin out, chances are he's aiming for a throw kill. In that manner, avoid laggy moves or spamming mortar slide to lessen the chances of you getting grabbed. If he's got a red or purple, he may do fsmash/dsmash hoping to deal a huge blow to your damage. Anticipate this with a spot dodge and immediately punish him in the lag with a grab or tilt. Olimar's aren't always easy to read since they cycle through pikmin quickly, but it does help.
If the Olimar is camping with pikmin throws, either shield or spot dodge the pikmin. You usually don't want them to latch onto you when you're idle. However, it's alright to allow a few to latch on if it means being able to approach when the Olimar is a little too generous with the spam and you're in range of a mortar slide or ftilt. You can also choose to throw grenades against his pikmin. Mixing cooking times is imperative. In addition, throwing them straight out of neutral B (not shield dropping) works better since they go at an arc and oftentimes over the pikmin. If the Oli has any common sense he'll stop pikmin throwing to shield the nade. This gives you an opening to approach as well.
Note that utilt is the quickest way to get all Pikmin off of you, though any attack you use to hit pikmin will be diminished. However, don't focus on getting latched pikmin off yourself because Olimars can take this opportunity to approach and grab.
About grenades, they also serve a good use in this match-up to defend against an aggressive Olimar. Shield dropping nades once again is a useful tactic, forcing the Olimar to hesitate. He might start throwing pikmin, and we covered that, or approach in the air. With good spacing, you can nail him with an utilt before he gets an aerial on you, or you can grenade counter if you'd rather punish him for the aerial. Grenades serve to break up his approach on small stages, where Olimar is most lethal.
On large, open stages, the mortar is your trump card. I can't emphasize how well shooting mortars in place deters many/most of Olimar's ground approaches, and can still defend you from aerials if you stay behind the path of mortar fall. He also can't grab you in the general vicinity where you did upsmash because the mortar will land on him and allow you to escape. Overall, mortars are great at racking up damage on large stages, upping your defensive game and halting Oli's offense.
It's not too difficult recovering against an Olimar, just recover high and get grounded fast. He can dair and meteor spike you out of cypher, so avoid recovering from below. On the other hand, Olimar's recovery game is his greatest weakness, whereas Snake's edgeguarding shines. Employ every trick in the book once you get him offstage to get him to hesitate. Mines on the ledge, mortar edgeguards, dropped nades, etc. If he uses up his second jump, he's likely a goner.The important part is hugging the edge. Oli's up-b is a tether so hugging nullifies it, and he falls to his doom. There is, however, a catch, If you're at a high percent, and Oli hits you with his tether as you edgehog and you've already lost your invincibility frames, it's likely you will get stage spiked and die. It's best to get him as far out as possible to prevent this, but learning to instant-hug helps a lot.
Olimar's high priority moves and respectable camping game makes this a tough match-up in the end. You should be able to kill him at low percents with an utilt because he's light, and Snake's high knockback moves allow you to set up for that easy ledgehog kill against his tether. Play defensive and observe his actions (Olimars tend to get predictable with patterns in their attacks) and look for opportunities to punish the Olimar to grab that win.
Counterpicks:
Bans:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=175515&page=74 Discussion starts at the bottom of the page. Full synopsis coming in a bit.
(mikeray4 is an idiot)
The *NEW* Snake Matchup Thread!
Meta Knight
Difficulty - 45:55
Expect:
- Up+B that can easily gimp Snake’s recovery and could easily cause a stock.
- Quick aerials that can keep you locked into the air if not DI’d right
- Quick speed that could disorient the Snake player.
- Moves that can easily stab through Snake’s shield. Such as the down tilt.
- Moves that can interrupt the Mortar Slide and punish the Snake player severely.
- Large grab length.
- An overall move set that can render Snake useless if not escaped.
- Dash Grab to Down Throw to Short hop aerial chase.
- Tornado spam which cannot be blocked easily. Be wary that once you learn to counter the tornado, the MK will not use it. Be prepared for short hopped aerials, tilts, and instantaneous smashes.
Strategy:
This is one of the most nerve racking match ups. The only way to win is to be evasive and defensive. Being offensive against MK is not a choice. It’s sad that I’m saying this, but it’s true.
At the start of the match, instantly pull out a grenade and roll away from it. Every MK wants to be the first to hit; it’s how you play him. The MK will either attack and hit the grenade or miss with a grab. If the MK tries to grab you, punish him as quickly as possible. You can’t hesitate or think twice about doing something against MK. I would use your front tilts quickly and then get out of the way. Be prepared to bring out another grenade after attempting to punish the MK.
If the MK side step dodges, be ready for the dreaded down smash. Or, maybe a grab. I’m sure every MK would want to do something that will knock you back so they won’t be hit by front tilts. If the MK successfully side step dodges, I would suggest jumping backwards and getting a grenade ready so that you can protect yourself while evading an attack/grab.
Besides MK’s front air, everyone knows that the tornado is probably one of the most annoying moves. If you see the MK about to use the tornado, shield drop a grenade and move back. If you want to be safe, you can do it a second time. It’ll be an even better idea if you toss the grenade up. You can do this by pressing B, moving backwards, and release while going backwards. It’ll cover more area so that the MK won’t go right over the grenades if you drop them.
Edge guarding or edge hugging against MK is almost impossible. I would not try it. The most you can do is charge up smashes or pull out some grenades. MK’s UP+B can go through the Nikita. It’s pretty hard hitting such a maneuverable target with it anyway. I’m pretty sure MK can easily go through Mortar as well, but it’s the best idea if you want to try to edge guard MK. What I would do is to place grenades onto the stage right when the MK is approaching. That way you can pressure the MK. There isn’t much they can do if they’re about to land in that situation. Except for trying to hit you. But, yet again, you must be quick on deciding how you want to punish the MK. Up tilt is also a great idea when MK is approaching the stage, but it has to be very precise or else you will be hit by MK’s in air attack.
Recovering is probably one of the hardest things to do against MK. The UP+B can really screw you over. Air dodging as fast as possible and fast falling is your best choice. Or, if you’re not afraid of taking some damage, you could pull out a grenade in air for MK to hit. You need to maneuver as fast as possible; even when touching the ground. Right when you hit the ground, be ready to roll, side step dodge or jump away. As you‘re landing, keep in mind that MK can move around the stage quicker than anyone. Every Snake player needs to practice fast falling and as they’re landing, side step dodging into another evasive move. You must get to know the timing of every evasive tactic. It’s a main part of Snake’s play style, especially against MK.
To DI out of MK’s front air spam of doom, an up and the opposite corner you are facing should be used to escape it. If you are afraid of being locked into one of these, just stay as agile as possible, with jumping into air dodges and using the B-Reversal technique to confuse the MK. I would advise using evasive tactics throughout the whole match. Do not get cocky and try using tilts and such by staying idle on the ground. Just be prepared for when the MK messes up. Be sure to punish him as quickly as possible. By punish I mean front tilts, up tilt, grab, and down tilt.
It’s pretty depressing that there isn’t much more you can do in this match up. MK can go right through a lot of Snake’s attacks with ease. Now go play it like Metal Gear, be evasive and quick. When the time is right, get the enemy. *salutes*
Counterpicks:
- Final Destination : FD gives a lot of room for Snake to roam. It's easier to get out of a MK combo because of the lack of higher platforms. You can also place explosives more effectively because of how flat the map is. Dodging and spacing is probably the best on this stage for Snake against MK.
- Battlefield : Meta Knight can really destroy a Snake on this stage. MK is capable of doing combos that can take away a full stock from Snake. Avoid this stage at all costs.
- Rainbow Cruise : With not that much room to maneuver in and lack of flat land, this place is terrible for Snake to fight in. MK can easily spam UP+B and hit most of the time here.
Snake
Difficulty: 50:50
Discussion Link
Wario
Expect:
- Aerials are quick and fluid, with barely any landing lag, and are usually the prime choice for approaching. They can be delayed through double jumping, or faked by retreating completely after the double jump.
- Short hopped dair approach, DI'd backwards to be safe, and can be lag-cancelled leading into almost anything, oftentimes a grab or bite.
- Short hopped fairs DI'd backwards are an alternative safe approach.
- Fsmash has super armor frames at the start-up, and dsmash has multiple hits.
- Running/sliding usmash (I don't know the correct term for this but it's similar to the mortar slide) is also another approach tactic.
- Bite works like a grab, it has a long duration that can punish spot-dodging, and it can gimp your cypher recovery. Wario might attempt chain-biting, following your DI as you break free from each bite.
- Wario waft is a great kill move. It's commonly used as a surprise tactic, not letting it charge fully to prevent the warning glow. Not to mention, the waft is strongest right before a full charged, and still with strong KO power starting at half-charged. However, when full charged, note that the KO strength lies in Wario's head area, so try not to be below him in that scenario.
Strategy:
Against a very patient Wario, this match-up can be pretty even. His ground game is rather limited, focusing on grabs/bite or a kill attempt with a smash/ftilt. If you do get grabbed, it's likely the Wario will dthrow and read your movements from there, and follow up, possibly grabbing you once more. You may get caught in this more than once, but always react differently so you won't be predicted and punished several times.
If you're at a high percent, keep yourself well spaced, as his KO options (like an fsmash/waft) have a short range. Ftilt does have a longer range so watch for that. If he's approaching with a bike, shield-dropped nades or mines will blow him out of hit, and holding the rapid jab will knock him out of it. As such, with a lacking ground game, Wario does his best work aerially.
Knowing that his approach generally consists of aerials, you should base your strategy on reacting whenever he takes to the air. If he's constantly short hopping aerials and DI'ing backwards out of safety, try mortar sliding after the aerial and as he DI's back. If he's close enough, you could try an ftilt but it's likely only the second hit will reach, and he can react to seeing the first hit and dodging the second, and immediately punishing. You can also attempt to run up and grab him (it's tough to shield grab a DI'd aerial). Beware of the SH Dair, even if you shield all the hits, he can DI behind you and turn-around Bite you out of shield. If SH Dair does hit, he can follow it up with a lot of things, possibly a smash or a grab. The best solution would be to spot dodge out of the hitstun, but Wario has many options to punish predictability. He can train you to start shielding/dodging fsmashes, only to suddenly pull out a bite or grab. Likewise, he can train you to start rolling out of the way, only to suddenly chase you out of that roll with a bite. He'll try to delay his aerials with double jumping, just wait to react to what he does after the second jump, be it dodging the aerial and punishing or following up if he's retreating. Overall, mix up your response to his actions.
Not enough attention is paid to Wario's bite, which is a very potent move. It has a long duration, and as mentioned can beat spot-dodging, but it also has the interesting property of super armor (if not, it's anti-flinching) in the start up of the bite. Essentially this means if you perform an attack but you're still close enough within the range of Bite, Wario will take damage but still successfully bite you. This is why Warios will often end aerials with Bite, or attempt to "chain-bite". Bite is useful to keep you pressured, but he has to get very close to do so, so make sure to have shield dropped nades around you to keep his distance. Also, if you're bitten with a grenade in hand, and the Wario tries to chomp, it will detonate the grenade and free you.
General recovery rules of cypher high and get grounded quickly apply in this match-up, and if you're rising in the cypher and you see him go offstage to approach you, it's likely he'll go for a bite gimp kill. Anticipate this and air dodge towards the stage and you may have a chance to grab the ledge, or else bomb jump. Or, I have yet to try this but theoretically it could work, pull out a nade at the last moment and if he bites you and tries to chomp, the nade will explode and give you another cypher. Or he could choose not to bite but the grenade may explode on its own if you're high enough, still freeing you. Just make sure you do not use cypher too close to the ledge to prevent bite kills.
Finally, what really gives Snake the upper hand in this match-up and what prevents it from being harder than even is the grab release into utilt kill. At high percents, grab Wario, wait for him to break out of it, and immediately utilt. It's entirely unavoidable and a fresh utilt is a guaranteed kill. Use it and abuse it. Keep your distance with tilts, keep him pestered with grenades, and try not to be too predictable to prevent those fatal bites and wafts, and the match is yours to win.
Counterpicks:
- FD/Smashville/Corneria - The large, flat stages will work best for you, removing any obstructions that could complement Wario's aerial game. Corneria again has the added bonus of a low ceiling for easy utilt killing.
Bans:
- Battlefield - Wario generally outmaneuvers Snake on this stage and can keep the pressure on him.
FALCO
Difficulty - 45:55
Things to Watch For
- Obviously watch for the chaingrab, anywhere under 40% and you are in danger of being CG'd. Watch for CG to dair if you are near the edge or CG to up smash if you are closer to the center
- SH(D)L spam. If you crouch and approach a good Falco will approach you with short hopped dairs. Beware of down tilting while in a crouch because most Falco players expect it and will shield grab you out of it.
- Dair spiking your cypher recovery. This will happen a lot to you if you are not careful. Always recover away from the edge if you are low and then C4 recover to gain some height. If you are high, recover ASAP so you are above him.
- Shine spacing. Falco has a very good spacing game; the large hitbox of his forward smash combined with the tripping/push-back properties of the shine allow for a nasty setups if you are not ready for them.
- Shining your projectiles. Snake's camping game is severely handicapped by the shine. Grenades must be cooked perfectly and nikitas should be aimed above Falco and then dropped if they are to have any effect at all.
- DLX canceled up smashes. Similar to the mortar slide, Falco will often do a dash attack directly into an up smash. This won't propel him across the stage like the mortar slide, but it will rack up some nice damage.
- Phantasm spiking your edgeguarding. This is less common than the others, but if you play Falco a lot this is bound to happen to you. If you mess up the timing of an aerial while Falco uses his side B, it will spike you quite nicely (especially at higher percentages) and will catch you sorely off guard.
What You Can Do to Win
First off, realize that spacing is key in this match. Decide whether or not you are more comfortable approaching or being approached and then adjust your strategy accordingly. Every good Falco will start the match with SHDL, if you choose to approach crawl forward under the lasers, but do not go too close to the Falco. When he stops the spam, immediately mortar slide from your crouch (this may take you some practice) towards him and start to hit him with your tilts and grenades. If you choose to let him approach, simply duck the lasers and await his movement towards you. Like I said above, a good Falco will approach with SH dairs or perhaps a side B in your direction (less likely since you can down tilt Falco out of his Phantasm pretty easily). The dairs can be shield grabbed into a down throw tech-chase, or as I prefer, an up throw into up tilt juggling.
This part of the stock (low damage) is all about hit and run tactics. Constantly spot dodge and roll while dropping grenades and peppering Falco with tilts and jabs. Use your mortar to cover your movements so that if you are grabbed Falco will get blown out of it. Above all, never stay on one side of Falco for too long since you will most likely get grabbed. If you are grabbed by Falco, expect to be taken all the way to the nearest edge and spiked with the dair. If this happens mash B while you are being grabbed so that you may be able to get a grenade out to mess up the chaingrab. This will not work against Falco's with perfectly timed chaingrabs, but it does work well against those who have not yet mastered the technique. If you get spiked, DI your cypher away from the stage so that Falco cannot spike you again. Once you near the end of your recovery, C4 recover and DI your second up B over the stage so that you cannot be spiked again.
Once you are above 40% you can play much more aggressively with Falco: pummel him with tilts and throws off the stage. Falco's recovery is one of the most easily gimped in the game if you know what you are doing and getting him off the stage is an easy way to get big damage or early kills. If he tries to recover high, send mortars into the air and juggle him with up tilts and up airs. An alternative to juggling is to use the nair/bair to knock Falco off the side again to begin the process again. If Falco tries to recover on a level with the stage, drop a grenade on the ground near the edge and then jump off the side and execute the nair. If you miss with the nair Falco will hit the grenade will get blown up, if you hit with the nair, you will most likely knock Falco far enough away from the edge that he will not be able to get back.
As far a racking up damage is concerned, Falco will try to hit you as much as possible with his nair, his dair, his AAA combo to shine/forward smash, his shine to tech-chase (assuming you are tripped), and his DLX canceled up smash to juggling. At this point (after you cannot be chaingrabbed) use grenade countering as much as possible. Falco will try to keep close to you and will assault you with many physical attacks which will detonate grenades. Use your tilts to set up for juggling or edgeguarding and be aware of the shine as a means for Falco to get his rhythm back if you are in control of the match. If you become airborne, drop C4 and detonate as a deterrent to his juggling and air dodge his up air, his nair, and his dair. SH bair is also a common tactic for Falco while you are grounded, but you can up tilt or shield grab him out of this if you are quick.
Falco will try to kill you by knocking off the side with a side or down smash and then gimping your recovery with a dair. Remember to always recover as high as possible and you should do alright. Falco's smashes are strong, but with good DI you should last a very long time against the down and side smashes. Beware the up smash since it comes out quickly and will kill you are very respectable levels. You should also beware of being juggled with the up air since this move will kill you if you are high up in the air.
A side note on edge-guarding: Falco's up+b is pretty mediocre. It's length is not long, so you will often find Falcos using the illusion instead. There are a few surefire ways to edgeguard his side-b recovery. You can intercept him with a well timed nair. You can predict where he lands and punish him from lag with a grab or tilt. You can also use a mortar edgeguard, or drop grenades near the ledge (or both), and possibly force him to illusion into the ledge. Before that happens, though, immediately hug the ledge to keep him from grabbing it, and he'll fall to his doom. If he does try to recover onto the stage, chances are the falling mortar or grenade will punish him. If you get him to use his up+b, meaning he'll likely below stage, a simple well-timed ledgehog will finish the job
All in all, this match truly depends on your defense/approach game at the beginning of each new stock. Keep yourself from getting chaingrabbed and spiked early, and the power of your tilts and your edgeguarding should get the better of Falco. His abysmal recovery and relatively light weight compared to Snake make this matchup easier for you to deal with and you should be able to get some early kills by keeping him off the stage or in the air as much as possible.
Counterpicks:
- Brinstar/Norfair - The lava can help you survive the dair spikes, as well as interrupt and overall decrease chain-grab attempts.
- Corneria - The large stage and sloped/cutoff ground hinders chaingrabs, and the low ceiling gives you an earlier utilt kill.
Bans:
- FD/Smashville - For obvious laser & chaingrab-related reasons.
- Jungle Japes - You can die from a dair into the water around 30-40%. Seriously.
Diddy Kong
Difficulty: 55:45 Snake’s favor
Things to be watch out for:
• Bananas. He will be using them a lot.
• Rocket-Barrel deploys after getting hit by a Grenade, Nikita, C4, or mine.
• KOs by spikes. Both his dair and Monkey Flip can spike.
• Banana Choke Chain Grabs.
• Banana locks on the ground. Top level Diddy’s can do this with only one Banana.
• Utilt to grab combos at very low percentages.
Strategy:
Diddy is a very unique character to play against. He has a rhythm and style all his own. The first thing that needs to be covered is Bananas. He has several uses for them and the amount will only increase as the metagame matures. One of these uses includes the Banana CC, in which he will grab release you to slip on a Banana. He’ll most likely set this up by having a banana right behind you. Good Diddys will do this across the stage until there’s no more stage. From there, Diddy will most likely attempt a spike.
Diddy can also perform Banana Locks (A.K.A. Dribbling) , which racks up damage and can set you up to get spiked. There are many other things he can do with them, including doing a forward smash and aerials while holding one. This is why it is very important to relinquish him from control of his bananas asap, which, fortunately, Snake can do so well.
You can use your dash attack, nair, and Mortar Slide to grab them. You can also grab them mid throw. This eliminates a lot of options and makes the fight much easier. Make it your top priority. Your tilts outrange most of Diddy’s moveset, so use them, but only after you have taken control of his bananas, or you will find yourself getting banana locked.
When using your Grenades, C4, Mines, or Nikita, watch out for Barrel Canelling. When he gets hit by one of the wile charging his Barrel, they will fly off of him in an unpredictable trajectory towards you and have good knockback. Diddy can also Barrel Cancel using bananas if he is not in control of them.
The factor that gives Snake an advantage in this matchup is that Diddy lacks killing power. Provided you DI and not get spiked, you will live over 150%, especially if his KO moves are stale. You can SDI out of his forward smash, thus making it harder for him to kill. This is why his KO’s have to be obtained through spikes from his Monkey Flip or dair. Make sure you recover as high and as far as you can to prevent this. On the other side, Diddy is a lightweight and your up tilt can kill him at roughly 115%. Play smart and fast and always keep his bananas in check and you will be victorious.
Counterpicks:
• Battlefield - The platforms hinder his banana tactics and you can pressure him
with your tilts easily here.
• Brinstar – The acid helps you survive spikes and the stage layout prevents him
from consistently using his bananas.
• Norfair- this is considered one of Diddy's worst stages and one of snake's best.
Bans:
• Final Destination - this is Diddy's best stage. Avoid it.
• smashville - Like a mini FD.
Discussion Link (Post 484-510ish)
KING DEDEDE
MARTH
Difficulty - 55/45 Snake's Favor
Discussed: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=241241
Mr. Game & Watch
Difficulty - 60:40
Expect:
- Juggling with the Up Air.
- Powerful and sometimes inescapable aerials. In which his aerials can chain if not escaped correctly.
- Down throw tech chasing.
- Moves that can destroy projectiles. Mostly the down air. It can break through mortar.
- Down smash with considerable stun afterwards and powerful hit if you are near the edge of the hammers.
- Quick recovery that covers a lot of vertical and horizontal distance.
- Aerials that can interrupt the cypher instantly.
- Moves that can interrupt the Mortar-Slide.
- A special attack(Over+B) that can kill you in one hit if not dodged.
- Quick running speed/DI.
Strategy:
This match is fairly easy once you get the general idea on how to beat Mr. G&W. When you first face him, his aerials might seem impenetrable. As you get more used to facing G&W, everything is easier to block. Even his back air can be stopped.
Keep yourself spaced as you first start the match. Grenades should be used frequently to nullify G&W’s aerials. When Snake starts out, he can’t do much to escape chains of attacks or grabs. Staying safe with grenades can stop G&W from chaining his neutral air or back air. You should use shield dropped grenades more than just pulled grenades. Shield dropped grenades should be used when you know G&W is about to attack or when he is approaching. You can press B in between aerials to separate you from G&W. But, you will receive quite a bit of damage after doing this.
G&W’s up air can keep Snake up in the air for such a long time. Doing aerials during this time is a bad choice. None of Snake’s aerials can do anything when facing a decent G&W. Up smash, Back air, Up air, and Front air can interrupt any of Snake’s aerials. G&W’s up air can keep you up and render everything useless. The smart thing to do is fast fall and DI yourself away from G&W. I suggest using air dodges if G&W attempts to use up air or any other sort of aerial. As you are landing, hold down shield and roll away as soon as you hit the ground to attempt to get away from G&W’s attacks.
Shield grabbing can break through aerials if the aerials don’t hit Snake up in the air first. This usually occurs when Snake is at a higher percentage. But, you can grab even after the first hit of the aerial. After the throw, get a grenade ready so you can protect yourself from G&W’s aerials. The grenade will force the G&W to go around. Use a tilt to stop G&W from going any further away from the grenade.
Edgeguarding G&W is not an easy thing. His UP+B can break through almost every attack. Charging a mortar then getting a shield dropped grenade out is your best choice. If G&W uses his down air to block the mortar, he will hit the grenade as punishment. Placing more than one grenade is also a good idea. It just takes more time to do and it takes more time to escape from that area. Mines and C4 can also be used as an edgeguard, but grenades are probably a better choice.
G&W’s smash attacks are pretty disjointed. (What like everyone’s?) If you charge G&W while he is using a smash attack, you can still be hurt by each. Don’t think the front smash won’t hurt you, the stick can hurt you. Don’t charge G&W after when he is charging/using a smash attack. Wait for him to use the smash attack and shield grab him. Shielding into tilts is also a good plan. G&W lags a little as he finishes his smash attack. But, this is not the case for his down smash. G&W can use his down smash fairly quickly. So, using a shield grab is probably the best thing to use if you are trying to be cautious.
As you grab G&W, using a down grab is your best choice. G&W bounces too much if you throw him in other directions. You can easily tech chase down throw because G&W’s roll frames are so gimpable. Whenever you see G&W roll, punish him by grabbing him after or in between the roll. You can grab right through the blinking invincibility frames in the later part of G&W’s roll. It’s the same situation with the side step dodge. You can use front tilts to punish him for using his side step dodge. Even if you miss with the first hit of the front tilt, you can hit with the second because the invincibility frames don’t last that long with G&W.
G&W’s front air can be annoying if not guarded. Grenades can’t be used against the front air because usually G&W users use front air above Snake’s waist. G&W’s front air can really send Snake flying. Shielding through it is the best choice. You can easily punish G&W for using front air because of the amount of lag after he uses it. Just turn around and use front tilts after blocking the attack. You could also grab G&W after blocking the attack.
Guarding through G&W’s back air is a bad choice. The amount of time it takes to guard each hit of the back air deteriorates the shield quickly. The back air doesn’t help to keep the shield up either. (Who knew?!) The last hit will always get you and will most likely send you flying backwards. Like I said before, use grenades to stop this attack.
If you are ever caught in G&W’s back air/neutral air juggle and would not like to use grenades to get out, pressing the jump button and then shield to air dodge in a certain direction is your best choice. But, make sure you DI and make sure it’s in a safe direction.
To get G&W into an up tilt or some other strong attack, spread grenades throughout the map and grab him. Remember to down grab him. G&W’s roll is easy to predict and easy to gimp. Use an up tilt as he is almost done rolling. Snake can run faster than G&W’s roll. So, run up to him and ready yourself for an attack. Snake’s up tilt can probably kill G&W even if he isn’t above one hundred percent. G&W is such a light person that you can knock him far with all of Snake’s attacks. C4 is another excellent choice for killing G&W. C4 can kill G&W also, at a low percentage.
G&W’s down tilt can be spammed faster than his down smash. The only way to get past that is either trying to perfect shield into a grab or jump into a back air. His other most spammable attack, neutral A, can be escaped by DI’ing away from it. If you are shielding during it, just roll backwards. There is nothing much else you can do about it. After you are out of it, jump behind G&W and grab him immediately.
One last thing, never ever forget about G&W’s Over+B. It can be very dangerous as the match progresses. Snake has a harder time dodging such quick attacks. Always be wary of it because it could cost a whole stock. Don’t underestimate it. I did, and I lost two stock in one round.
Counterpicks:
- Lylat Cruise - Easier stage for Snake to maneuver around in. Also, the stage can mess up the timing of G&W's aerials and gives Snake a chance to punish. This is due to the movement of the stage as time progresses.
Bans:
- Rainbow Cruise - An easy place for G&W to use his aerials constantly against Snake. Snake doesn't have much time to space and defend himself from G&W's aerials.
Pikachu
Difficulty - 47:53
Expect:
- Thunder Jolt spam. Full hops make this move lag-less and the pika can approach you in shield with a grab.
- Quick Attack Cancelling (QAC) into aerials/thunder jolt/thunder
- Dsmash has a wide range and sends you up vertically if you do not DI, setting you up perfectly for a thunder.
- Thunder kills at low percents if you're hit high above the stage. It also has a sweetspot where it touches pikachu. If you get hit there, you will be sent at a lower angle and farther distance.
- Fthrow chain grab on Snake, often finishing with an upsmash.
- Thunder edge-guarding, usually offstage, to intercept your cypher
- Quick aerials, fair and bair have multiple hits
- Can juggle Snake with a combination of utilts and uairs.
- Nair has a sweetspot that has good KO potential.
Strategy:
Because of Pikachu's hit and run strategy with quick attack cancelling, Snake players often get confused as to how to deal with it. It is because many do not see past the illusion. What looks like an offensive Pika hitting you left and right with aerials, and giving you little time to respond, is really a very defensive Pika. The tell tale sign is the thunder jolt spam. It keeps you at bay and when you make a move out of frustration, pika moves in to capitalize on your mistake.
First off, do not get frustrated. This is a tough matchup, yes, but you'll make it even worse if you don't react calmly to pikachu's annoying attack style. Against thunder jolt spam, cancel it with rapid jab. Honestly, the pika can't do much except approach. If you see him coming straight for you, you can actually do the rapid jab again and catch him in it, or else ftilt. Beware of shield grabs though, and IIRC you can mash B for a nade to stop the chain grab.
Pretty soon the pika will start QAC'ing into aerials and trying to leave you guessing. What you need to know is what he will attempt through the QAC. Oftentimes, he'll go for a fast-fall fair which can lag cancel and combo into a dsmash, or a utilt->uair->nair. Dair is also common as it can leave him pretty safe above you. Bair once in a while if he has his back to you. Nair is rare since that is usually saved for a KO move. Knowing an aerial is likely to follow, your best asset in this case is grenade countering. All of Pika's aerials force him to reach "into" the shield area, so to speak, and thus always hit the grenade. If you keep up the smart grenade countering, you will notice a decrease in the amount of QAC'ed aerials that the pika does, and often hesitation.
Speaking of dsmash, do not forget that if you're caught in that, always DI hard left or right (aiming away from the edge of the stage if possible). If you do not DI, you will get caught in thunder at a high altitude and likely die at a low percent (well , low for Snake, 80-90ish%). If you end up shielding it, make sure you spot dodge near the end of the dsmash or else it will poke through your shield.
When you're recovering, you can try a stalling tactic to avoid getting hit by thunder. As you're DI-ing your fall towards the stage, and you see Pika jump out for a thunder, DI backwards and make your falling path near vertical. As soon as thunder ends, up+B towards the stage and past pika.
As for edge-guarding, it's very difficult to do anything consistently effective against a smart pikachu. Ledge dropping grenades and mortar edge-guard don't do very well due to quick-attack ledge stall. They have a chance to hit, but the pika can just be very careful and ledgehop while DI-ing away and thunder jolting. If you get up close, make sure you have a grenade in hand and shield because the pika might ledgehop into an uair or fair. There is one trick that you can apply. If you spam mortars and force the pika to go below the stage, you can fast-fall edgehog (hugging is the correct term, I think) and make his up+b miss the edge at the last moment. It's a neat trick to be used once in a while, especially against those who recover from below.
If you get the Pikachu to realize you can't be camped with thunder jolts or pressured with QAC, you're slowly shifting the match in your favor. It's your turn to make your move. Mortar slide if he's holding back on thunder jolts. Start using grenades offensively and cooking them. Plant mines and c4 during his hesitation. Use your passive aggression (oxymoron, yes) to rack up damage. However, it's surprisingly tough to finish a pika off if he plays extremely defensive at high damage. Try to fool him with the range of utilt, and although it can be tough since QAC is tricky and lagless, use ftilt for a KO move as well. You may be able to bank on a mine to KO him if he's careless, though not many experienced Pikas are.
By the way, I may have just made it seem easier said than done. This match-up is a challenge. Pikachu players are excellent at improvising and playing cautiously, yet precisely. If they make a mistake, it will be rare, but you have to force it out of them. Try to make them approach since your can easily camp thunder jolt spams, and react from there. Use your tilt range to your advantage.
Counterpicks:
- Battlefield - The platforms hinder his QAC tactics, as well as thunder jolt spam.
- Yoshi Island - Similarly, the large platform acts the same way to hinder pikachu.
Bans:
- FD - Pika can camp with thunderjolts and has an easy time hitting you with thunder. Also, overall he has better mobility which is one of his strongest assets.
Olimar
Difficulty - 40/60 Olimar's advantage
This matchup has been rediscussed, but there isn't a new summary yet so I'll leave the old one (which is still pretty accurate). Link to the New Discussion
Expect:
- He has Pikmin. When thrown, pikmin will do damage over time if they latch onto you. Here's what you should know about each color:
-Red: These Pikmin dominate the knockback department. Often used for KO moves, and at the least sending you flying far offstage. Expect fairs/bairs or fsmashes/dsmashes aiming for horizontal kills. Note: They are immune to your explosives.
-Blue: These are sort of the universal-use pikmin. They have decent power in terms of attacks, and incredible prowess in throws. Their grab range is extended and back throw with a blue pikmin is lethal at upwards of 150% damage.
-Yellow: These pikmin are more inclined to combo-ing. They don't have much knockback, but they have enough stun to be able to chain aerials with them.
-Purple: These brutes boast the greatest damage of pikmin, also potential KO-ing pikmin. Fsmash and dsmash, along with up-throw, have great vertical killing power. They have an exception when thrown, they hit the opponent for one attack rather than latch and do damage over time.
-White: The weakest in terms of melee attacks, yet the best in terms of damage over time. Expect these to usually be thrown at you for a respectable 30%, give or take, when allowed to be latched for the full extent.
-Blue: These are sort of the universal-use pikmin. They have decent power in terms of attacks, and incredible prowess in throws. Their grab range is extended and back throw with a blue pikmin is lethal at upwards of 150% damage.
-Yellow: These pikmin are more inclined to combo-ing. They don't have much knockback, but they have enough stun to be able to chain aerials with them.
-Purple: These brutes boast the greatest damage of pikmin, also potential KO-ing pikmin. Fsmash and dsmash, along with up-throw, have great vertical killing power. They have an exception when thrown, they hit the opponent for one attack rather than latch and do damage over time.
-White: The weakest in terms of melee attacks, yet the best in terms of damage over time. Expect these to usually be thrown at you for a respectable 30%, give or take, when allowed to be latched for the full extent.
- Olimar can short hop, throw a pikmin, and immediately fair before he hits the ground. This is sometimes used as an approach, as shielding/dodging the first pikmin can make you susceptible to the incoming fair if you don't expect it.
- Pikmin set off proxy mines. Pikmin spam gives him a more than decent camping game, especially with Red pikmin that nullify your nikita/nades.
- He has disjointed hitboxes on all aerials(except nair) and all smashes.
- Against Snake, a common combo from 0-10% is upthrow->upsmash. Quick 25-30%+ depending on the pikmin used for upsmash. In fact, expect to be combo'd out of throws often.
- Other low % combos include:
dthrow -> grab
dthrow -> fair -> grab
dthrow -> fsmash -> grab - Uair, Nair, and Utilt have extended hitboxes (multiple hits) and juggle Snake well. Overall he dominates Snake in the air. No surprise there.
- He can grab you out of mortar slide.
- Olimar is not slow. He can maintain the pressure and follow up with many of his attacks, especially aerials. He often does best on small stages, where he can make Snake feel cramped very quickly.
Strategy:
Olimar's best assets are his long reaching, quick attacks and great ability to rack up damage fast enough to put even Snake in the danger zone quickly. This is why getting punished in this match-up can be costly. You'll want to play cautious enough, and still get around his offenses to take advantage of his light weight and gimp-able recovery.
By knowing, generally, what each pikmin is used for, you can have some sort of idea of what action the Olimar will take next. It's not foolproof, since the Oli can just decide to throw the pikmin or use it for something else, but it's better than not having any idea at all. Use other elements to help you predict his actions. If you're at a high percent and he's got a blue pikmin out, chances are he's aiming for a throw kill. In that manner, avoid laggy moves or spamming mortar slide to lessen the chances of you getting grabbed. If he's got a red or purple, he may do fsmash/dsmash hoping to deal a huge blow to your damage. Anticipate this with a spot dodge and immediately punish him in the lag with a grab or tilt. Olimar's aren't always easy to read since they cycle through pikmin quickly, but it does help.
If the Olimar is camping with pikmin throws, either shield or spot dodge the pikmin. You usually don't want them to latch onto you when you're idle. However, it's alright to allow a few to latch on if it means being able to approach when the Olimar is a little too generous with the spam and you're in range of a mortar slide or ftilt. You can also choose to throw grenades against his pikmin. Mixing cooking times is imperative. In addition, throwing them straight out of neutral B (not shield dropping) works better since they go at an arc and oftentimes over the pikmin. If the Oli has any common sense he'll stop pikmin throwing to shield the nade. This gives you an opening to approach as well.
Note that utilt is the quickest way to get all Pikmin off of you, though any attack you use to hit pikmin will be diminished. However, don't focus on getting latched pikmin off yourself because Olimars can take this opportunity to approach and grab.
About grenades, they also serve a good use in this match-up to defend against an aggressive Olimar. Shield dropping nades once again is a useful tactic, forcing the Olimar to hesitate. He might start throwing pikmin, and we covered that, or approach in the air. With good spacing, you can nail him with an utilt before he gets an aerial on you, or you can grenade counter if you'd rather punish him for the aerial. Grenades serve to break up his approach on small stages, where Olimar is most lethal.
On large, open stages, the mortar is your trump card. I can't emphasize how well shooting mortars in place deters many/most of Olimar's ground approaches, and can still defend you from aerials if you stay behind the path of mortar fall. He also can't grab you in the general vicinity where you did upsmash because the mortar will land on him and allow you to escape. Overall, mortars are great at racking up damage on large stages, upping your defensive game and halting Oli's offense.
It's not too difficult recovering against an Olimar, just recover high and get grounded fast. He can dair and meteor spike you out of cypher, so avoid recovering from below. On the other hand, Olimar's recovery game is his greatest weakness, whereas Snake's edgeguarding shines. Employ every trick in the book once you get him offstage to get him to hesitate. Mines on the ledge, mortar edgeguards, dropped nades, etc. If he uses up his second jump, he's likely a goner.The important part is hugging the edge. Oli's up-b is a tether so hugging nullifies it, and he falls to his doom. There is, however, a catch, If you're at a high percent, and Oli hits you with his tether as you edgehog and you've already lost your invincibility frames, it's likely you will get stage spiked and die. It's best to get him as far out as possible to prevent this, but learning to instant-hug helps a lot.
Olimar's high priority moves and respectable camping game makes this a tough match-up in the end. You should be able to kill him at low percents with an utilt because he's light, and Snake's high knockback moves allow you to set up for that easy ledgehog kill against his tether. Play defensive and observe his actions (Olimars tend to get predictable with patterns in their attacks) and look for opportunities to punish the Olimar to grab that win.
Counterpicks:
- Rainbow Road/Frigate Orpheon - These stages take advantage of Olimar's subpar recovery. On Rainbow road, there are almost no ledges except for the ship. On Orpheon, the right hand side has no ledge, and the stage is constantly flipping upside down.
Bans:
- Luigi's Mansion - Olimar's high priority smashes dominate the ground level, and his pikmin can pass through the pillars on the sides.
- Battlefield - Olimar can really do a number on you by keeping the pressure on you constantly on this small stage.
Ice Climbers
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=175515&page=74 Discussion starts at the bottom of the page. Full synopsis coming in a bit.
The strategy I posted is what worked best from my experience, it consists of my observations and I actually started winning with it. 
