RoK the Reaper
Smash Lord
First off, I'll casually be working on this; so be sure to check for updates.]
THIS IS MY WAY OF PLAYING, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT ***** ABOUT THE **** SOMEWHERE ELSE, OR GO READ SOMEONE ELSE'S GUIDE.
Introduction: I'm RoK the Reaper and this is my guide of how I play Ike; and what all I have learned. I will continue to update this regularly, so be sure to read every section all the the time. I might have found a new use for a move or a new function for it.
I'm not very liked on this bored because of my cocky attitude; however, my skill is proof that I do well. If you don't like this guide, go read Kirk's or ComboKing's. If you do like it, be sure to comment over it. I know many go in with the intent to actually find things bad about this. That's okay. But I know you're secretly using them. Lawlz.
#1: Essential Knowledge As Ike users; there is information you need to know before you even consider taking Ike "seriously" as a main character within the competitive scene. I'm going to start with the Pros first, then the cons. Be sure to decide upon this before you try to learn him. At first, against beginner's, he's an easy choice. But once you start fighting people who use people Ike's weak against (Almost all "tournament worthy" characters) fighting becomes harder and harder. So be sure to pay attention.
#1 - Pros: First off, the advantages of Ike. Ike is a heavy-weight, which means with proper D.I. (I'll get into this later) you'll be able to stay alive to high percents. Ike has the uncanny ability of being the STRONGEST in the cast, at least, in my opinion. If you're behind by a lot, one Smash attack from Ike can even it up; killing as low as 20% at times. Ike has 3 spikes; 2 are very practical, the other is hard to connect with and very situational, but all are feasible. Almost all of his moves have the ability to kill; so you never really run out of kill options. His recovery is very tough to edge-guard at times, as it is nothing but a moving attack. Ike has one of the easiest accessible super armor moves in the game; meaning that you can save yourself quite a bit with proper timing. Coolest character, best taunt (Down taunt!) and has fire.
#2 - Cons: Ike has a mediocre recovery, meaning that his recovery can easily be gimped by the rest of the cast. Even though he has a lot of good moves, he's very slow; because of this, you could easily be put in a position where you can't hit or kill simply because you can't land them. Ike takes a great deal of prediction to be very good with. Ike isn't really good against spammers, since he is slow and has no projectiles of his own; you will grow frustrate, very much. Ike really has no combo-ability, everything is basically made up combos and things that your opponent falls into. Also, his best move "F-Smash" is very difficult to land. Has many bad character match-ups or, he's bad against many characters.
#2: The Bare Minimum: It's important that we all understand the basics and know the functions of each and every move and the purposes that they serve. So I'm about to go into a small discuss about each one of Ike's move and the function of it.
AAA Combo: This is by far Ike's quickest move and the most spammable move he has out of his entire arsenal. Also, with the jab cancel (gonna talk about this later) you can set up many combos early on in the game; you can also connect with two or more jabs before finishing the combo if your opponent doesn't D.I. correctly; it can also kill your opponent at higher pecentages.
Forward Tilt: First off a "Tilt" is when you lean your control stick in one direction and push "A". His forward tilt is a very good tilt move and one of Ike's best moves overall, if not the most important for his ground based game. It can be angled up and down to hit opponents in the air or hanging on the stage/recoverying to the stage. It's good for spacing so your opponent can't shield grab you and it is also a very good kill move in general.
Upward Tilt: This is a quick move for Ike; it kills at moderate percentages (not as low as some of his other moves) but is very effective against people that are lightweights or against people that are trying to land back on the ground. I suggest it after using a quickdraw approach or after a jab.
Downward Tilt: This is good for spiking; and I believe if you can hit with Ike's "arm" it will send them outwards, which kills very nicely. It's good for spiking again, against those characters that have a probability of messing up or not recoverying to the ledge properly (such as Rob, Link, etc.) also good for shield stabbing.
Forward Smash: The Famous "One Hitter Quitter", Fully charged this can kill anyone at about 20-35%. But in reality, it can kill most uncharged at around 75-90%. It has long wind-up time, so you'll have to predict well, or your opponent will have to run into it; and you can also "mind game" them into it. Learn how to charge it, and learn when not to charge it. Mix it up for variety purposes.
Up Smash: This, I believe; actually has more lag than Ike's F-Smash; but I use it more often anyway. It's good to use to intercept a falling opponent (Slide and do it), also it's fine for opponent's trying to recovery from the edge since it hits both above; infront, and behind him.
Down Smash: This is one of Ike's least used moves (or at least to me) but it's excellent against opponent's that love to roll "into you" or "behind you" all the time and you can't seem to attack them because of that. This is a godsend for people that love to dodge into you 24/7.
Neutral Air: This isn't quite as useful on higher pecentages, as they have to be really high to kill; but on lower percentages you will find this to be your most used nuetral. It has barely any lag and it leads into Ike's AAA combo along with many other moves you can chain into it; this is pretty much an entrance to Ike's combo game.
Up Air: This is good as a type of "Mind game". It's mostly for when people try to dodge, and you fast fall with it so it hits them as soon as they come out of it. Also good for using it to hit people from underneath who are on platforms, also can be fast fell to hit someone on the ground to begin a combo; if not used, can kill at 100% on most characters.
Back Air: This is one of Ike's most profound Kill moves, it's one of the coolest looking ones and one of the FASTEST. It can be auto-canceled and jump buffered so you can do it repeatedly to give yourself time to think if need to be. Can be RAR'd (Reverse Aerial Rushed [I'll talk about this later] ) Which makes it a very good approach, as well as edge-guarder.
Forward Air: Forward Air is probably going to be about the only Air move you may spam; It has good range, good edge-guard capability; insures that you won't be grabbed (even by Dedede and Ice Climbers) if spaced right; and can also be done while "retreating".
Down Air: Ike's Spike, pretty much; this is used for spiking. You can use it in a few other ways but the only one that reallyi matters is to spike. The landing lag is bad so you can't really use it for much else; but the spikes.. oh the spikes.
Forward Throw: The Forward throw is okay; and can be followed up with either and F-tilt or an F-Air; or possibly another grab if they shield or spot dodge waiting for the f-tilt or F-air. Be sure to mix it up and give it variety.
Back Throw: The most profound combo is "B-Throw to D-Air" but many have gotten smart to it and see it coming so it's only really something to get your opponent off the stage with. On the stage, B-Throw to Over+B works pretty well at times.
Down Throw: Down throw can be followed by a F-Air, a U-Air a Up+B or a D-Air. You have to know how your opponent will react. Because most people get caught by "D-Throw to Aether" many people immediately start air dodging as soon as they can, so know if he will air dodge and then attack.
Up Throw: Most people don't use Up throw, so I usually follow it by a double jumped U-Air (I wait for the air dodge before going into it) This is to make sure that people don't think they've dodged it... oh no, you're getting hit.
Neutral B: First off; Eruption as it is called, is used for a variety of things; but mainly it's for defense and scaring your opponent into
not hitting you or getting close to you while you recover or try to get back on the ground.
Over B: Quickdraw. You can use this as an approach; to chase or to recover (also attack). I'll explain the functions later, but I mostly use it to force people to waste their shield as well as recovery.
Down B: Counter. This is a good alternative to blocking/shielding when you see a move coming, and can dish back damage and send the opponent flying. Also useful against big projectiles.
Up B: Aether. This is good for edge-guarding, recovery; building up damage and anti-air combat. More on this later as well.
Dash Attack: This can be used in a variety of ways; mostly it's to be used to push your opponent off of the stage so that you can follow up and edgeguard; that or push him close to the edge. This has IMMENSE range, it has more than you believe so make sure you get it down; also I've heard (need to test) that if move forward and tap the C-stick down simutaneously you can instantly go into this.
#3 Terminology: Basically, in Smash; and in this guide there is certain terminology that you will need to know so you will know exactly what I'm talking about and what others are talking about should you hold a conversation with someone or have a question or comment about something.
D. I.: This is short for, "Directional Influence". If you are hit, you are flying through the air. However, it is possible to alter your flight path and reduce knockback and how much "horizontal" knockback you have. This can save you from death a lot. Such as, if you are hit by a F-Smash and need to survive, by holding away from the direction you're going and up (Diagonal up in the opposite direction) you'll fly upwards instead of straight and possibly have a greater chance of recovering. D.I. only applies when you are hit, not jumping around.
SAF: This is short for, "Super Armor Frames". Ike has two moves which gives him super armor frames. "Aether" , which occurs when he pulls his arms down and lowers his head immediately after throwing his sword to the air and "Eruption", which takes place right as he's about to thrust his sword down inot the ground. Super Armor frames SAVE LIVES. You take damage but you don't get any knockback, flinch, and you finish the move you were doing. It's possible to kill someone, even though they hit you first.
Auto-Cancel: This refers to doing an aerial move as soon as you leave the ground; a move that normally would have landing lag, doesn't have any. In other words, the lag from that aerial manuever is reduced to 0. Not every character can auto-cancel and only a few moves CAN be auto-cancel. The only one for Ike is the B-Air. N-Air barely has any lag, but is not considered to be "auto-canceled" since it's the same lag upon fast-falling as well.
Shield stab: This refers to when someone has weakened their shield to the point it no longer covers all of their body. This is when you can attack certain parts of their body to hit them, even when they have their shield on. The most common shield stabbing aerial is the legs/feet. We, as Ike players, normally achieve this through D-Smash/D-Tilt and angled down F-Tilt.
#2: "RoK's Smash Theories": Basically, what I believe allows me tow in matches that are otherwise "Unfavorable" as well as against people that seem to beat the living stuffing out of everyone else.
#1: The Aggressor: Early on within the game there is already a battle starting that isn't even Smash Bros.; It's emotional warfare. The game is merely the physical manifestation of your skill and mindset, the emotional part controls your ability to successfully pull off things. Ever notice that you seem to fight and live and make all the right choices on your last life a lot of the time? You're harder to kill? This is because you're basically fighting on your last resort and try to make no room for err0r, try things that you normally wouldn't and defend and counter attack a lot more. Every time a match begins, if you declare an opponent as easy you will dismiss all his attacks that hit you as "Luck" or "I'm getting too careless" rather than an opponent you think is hard then it's like "****it, if I don't do something I'm going to lose".
Basically, you're telling yourself who is in control or if he could easily win or if you're about even merely from the first opening of the game. I notice I have a much easier time if I can land 5 -6 consecutive strong hits within the beginning of the game, rather than them suiciding or me getting a very early kill. It's simply letting your opponent know that you're in control, you're not scared and they're going to have a hell of a match. Another thing is not to be scared of someone who carries a big name or a title. Against people who have a reputation; we automatically deem them as hard and we expect such, and because of that we play like we normally wouldn't which allows them to take care advantage of our "Anxiousness" and our, "Fear". Also, notice; the more hits you land in the row, the more defensive your opponent will get before going desperate into a rage trying to land at least a single hit. This is where frustration and the brunt of their mistakes will come in.
#2: "Pattern Prediction": Everyone has a pattern or a way they react to certain things. These things are often shown throughout the game during the same instances. However, since "pros" and better players have a tendency to have different outlets for the same situation; you will not always have the opportunity to successfully find a pattern, therefore, you have to take what has already happen and find a counter through prediction. This is somewhat easier with Ike because he has the "Counter" move which allows him to stop any attack as long as it's within those counter frames.
More on pattern recognizing is that someone might always U-Smash to guard an edge rather than wait for someone. Or someone may roll onto the stage every single time instead of jumping or edge hopping. Someone might actually roll every time that they are hit or someone comes into their vicinity; or maybe someone prefers a different method of recovery, such as using Falco and Fox's Over+B to grab an edge rather than their fire fox. It's recognizing these patterns and styles that will give you an advantage; as knowing one's opponent is the key to winning; because it forces them to believe they are making more mistakes and forces them to fight outside of their style; and thus their comfort zone.
#3: "Mind Games": This goes hand to hand within the "Pattern Prediction". Once you're able to successfully predict moves you're able to set up and punish them. For instance. F-Smash can easily be landed against someone who rolls within the opposite direction upon being hit or caught up within a series of hits. You can jab someone once, and then immediately -- Within the opposite direction-- smash attack and it will connect. This is also true for people who roll upon you returning after dying, you can normally F-Smash in the opposite direction to kill them; this is seen vastly often. Basically; mind game is manipulating your opponent into believing something is a good move when, insead, you've already planned for him to be where he's heading in order to create a strategic opening.
Other mind games include things like; doing the same move over and over and then switching it up in order to kill. Like say you spam Triple AAA combo and never do anything else from it. Odds are that they will not be blocking or rolling; but instead trying to DI and not focus at all on guarding. It's then easier to land jab to F-Smash or double jab to an angled Up F-Tilt. Also, speed plays a main part in mind games. The less time your opponent has to think, the more time you have to take advantage of them when they're trying to figure out what they did wrong.
#3: The Basics: What I'm going to discuss here is the introduction to my fighting style or that of the one I think is most suited for competitve play with Ike. You don't have to like the way I play or the techniques but they are effective and have been helping me out. I'll get into more advanced things and mind-games and setups later; but you need to know certain things first. (Character specific match-up will come after advance).
Basic Offense: As far as offensive, you need to know that Ike's Main offensive weapons are going to be his F-Air, N-Air and Jab combo. These are the bulk of Ike's offensive movements; B-Air can be thrown in to severly boost the "speed" of Ike (Learn EARLY to "Auto-Cancel" this. Basically, to auto-cancel bair, input it as soon as you jump so there is no lag upon landing on the ground). You're going to be jumping in most of the time with your F-Air, and most of your combos are actually going to start with the N-Air. Once you get accustomed to which one to use in which situation, you're already starting to learn the basics with Ike. We know that you're going to love using Jab in certain situations; and we know F-Air is going to be your edge-guarding move as well as a kill move when they kill you and you come back later on in the game. So you just have to figure out exactly what all you plan to do for these moves. The moves you will use less likely are going to be your U-tilt, your D-tilt and your U-Air. You will find yourself using them on occasion but no where NEAR the amount of the others; out of these three, your most used will be U-tilt, the least used will be D-tilt (though it has good uses explained in the "Advance" section).
As for kill moves; a beginner's main kill move will be his F-Smash. As you get more and more into my style; your main kills will all be equally spread throughout this, your Up Smash and your F-Tilt. For now, I suggest you learning WHEN to F-Smash and when NOT to F-Smash. As it's Ike's "Game breaker" move as I call it. More on this once we get within the advanced section.
Beginner Combos: N-Air into AAA Combo; B-Throw into Over+B ; D-Throw into Up+B; F-Throw into Dash attack.
Basic Defense: On average, you're going to be shielding a vast majority of the time, and doing out of shield retreating F-Air's and Jabs in order to provide a decent defense. Also, using your Over+B after you hit is annoying and can work perfectly and setup for mind-games if you use it well enough. Also, a good defense is to use your F-tilt to push them back and make sure they know how far they need to stay back not to get hit. This will make people less and less likely to get all in your face if you know your range. You're also going to have to work on grabbing shield happy people; and for those that like to rush in, practice running away and pivot grabbing. This is especially useful against Yoshi; as most of them love to throw eggs, wait for you to block and then run up and try to grab you with their tongue. Also, retreating B-Air helps alot and retreating aerials in general.
Beginner "counters": These are the defensive movements you need to begin practicing. Using Aether to stop movement from the air; such as Kirby floating away. Using Reverse Aerial rush for edgeguarding in the air. Also, learn how to rely on grabs just as much as attacks to switch it up.
Basic Mindgames: Jab into reverse F-Smash; Drop down while holding the edge and use Up+B to stop your opponent from edgeguarding. While running at the stage like you're about to F-Air them (when they're recovering) instead; jump again and either Edgehog, prepare for F-Smash interception or D-Tilt spike.
Summary of Beginner Techniques: Before you go into the "Advanced" Technique and "Advanced Theory" section I need you to get down all of these basics. Learn the SPACING for all of Ike's aerial and tilt moves. These are the MEAT of your offense; and if you can't pull off the basics, the backbone of your style effectively you will continue to FAIL even knowing all the combos and all the tricks of the trade. Spacing and having knowledge of what every move can do; when to use that move and whose it effective against (Specific match-ups coming soon) is vital in your effort to conquer people with Ike and over come a lot of his short comings.
#4: Introduction to "Advanced" Ike Play: You can give someone all the tools of the trade like in Melee; people could wavedash/waveshine, L-Cancel, fast fall, but it's how you USE it that determines your level. Here, I'll be giving what allows me to be the "Best Ike in Dallas" Managing to beat the top players around here and earn respect for my playing style and the character I use. You may not think what I do is logical but that's why I am what I am with Ike; thinking outside of the box. I'm also going to go into theory on a lot of things and have a greater depth for advanced playstyle. So read on and make sure you've mastered the basics before you begin these things. The things I will teach you will be focused on when to go "Offensive" and when to go "Defensive" common mistakes that get you killed and you become scared and probably don't even know it. How to cheap edgeguard certain characters; and easy way to take on people that can gimp Ike; and theories on what to do when it seems that all hope is lost.
#1 - Common mistakes: I'm about to tell you a few common mistakes most people have, playing with Ike, or at least; what gets you killed most of the time in general.
#1 - OVER ROLLING, You should try to roll as less as possible. Most people hold shield, move right and left and I laugh because a good charged F-Smash destroys their shield. Also, rolling limits your control of your movement, learn to rely mainly on your own movement, and learn to counter attack more.
#2 - SPOT DODGE! I notice a lot of people don't spot dodge with Ike; It's VERY useful. I've noticed that spot dodge into Triple A combo or U-tilt works wonders, also with D-smash. Learn to use this effectively; if you run and then spot dodge, you'll also get a bit of a slide out of it.
#3 - F-Smash. DO NOT spam this move. It leaves you open, gets you punished badly and it wears the move down. Sure, it's pretty strong, but using it too much will not let it kill as low, and it gets predictable; and it's highly punishable if it doesn't land or hit a shield, this shouldn't be your "every 10 seconds" attack.
#4 - Rushing. I notice that often people rush in with Ike's attacks. Whether it be jumping in deep with a Fair, hitting someone with a running dash attack or, even performing the full triple A combo. You will get SHIELD GRABBED. Ike has range, USE IT. Try to hit with the tip of attacks, it will keep you safe and possibly provide and opportunity to counter attack.
#5 - GIVING UP. This is the most important out of all of them. I notice that when someone deems something as hopeless, they basically give up. It's possible to come back, especially with your brains kicking into over-drive when you're put in a high-pressure, stressful situation. Don't give up ever. Fight hard until the end; you might win.
#2 - Edge-Guarding: Edge-guarding is when you knock your opponent off the stage and fight them before they land back on the stage in an effort to NOT let them. Edge-guarding builds up damage from not letting opponents come into the stage, also it's a way to get early percentage kills. Ike has a very decent edge-guard game. I'm going to describe a few of them so all of you can understand what to do and how to do it.
Edge-hog: Basically, this is when you hold the stage to prevent your opponent from grabbing it. Within the mechanics of Brawl, as it was in Melee and the first SSB; ONLY 1 PERSON CAN GRAB THE EDGE AT A TIME. Therefore, if you are holding it; your opponent cannot recover. Normally, you do this when your opponent is trying to recover. Notice you have brief invunerability when you grab the edge, in those frames that you cannot be hurt; you want to be holding the edge so that your opponent passes through you and falls to their death. I put this under advanced techniques; because in Melee, you could roll back to the stage with L or R, and while you're doing it, you would still be countered as on the edge; In brawl you have to be on the edge at all times for it to count; so it's harder against certain characters (Marth, Toon Link, Metaknight) and easier for Ike to do it against others (Lucario, Ganondorf, Captain Falcon). An easy way to do this is to run off the stage and immediately hold back; you'll instantly grab the edge. It'll take some practice because it allow must be fast fell, and sometimes you'll miss the edge; so becareful.
F-Air: Forward Air is one of the best moves; If you double jump; you can almost go off screen with the sword length of this thing. Knocking people away from the stage is beautiful; It hits hard and can set-up for an Edge-hog. Also, you can jump once, swing, and then jump forward and hit with a second F-Air, takes practice but completely possible to do. Also, you have to be very cautious with THIS MOVE, the Falling F-air, as I call it. Basically it's when you run forward, straight off the stage and F-Air. It's used to hit someone that is below the stage who you are trying to prevent from getting back. This normally results in death; but it's really tricky and you may not survive getting back on the stage.
D-Air: Down air is used in a few instances. The first one is just basic air interception; however, this won't won't normally work against more skilled people because they will just dodge it and land back on stage. The easiest thing is B-Throw into D-Air; When you throw them off the stage, immediately follow up with a D-Air and unless they know it's coming, usually it lands. Another thing is if someone is recovering (RoB, Snake) you can spike them generally from just jumping off and hitting them before they get a safe distance to the stage. You can also be holding the edge, push back to let go of the edge, jump and then D-Air to hit them if they're below you; you have to be cautious with this as well, if they're too close, they will grab the stage and leave you using Aether to get back ; OR they will hit you beforehand and you'll be embarrassingly stage spiked and fall down to your doom =[.
Aether: This is used for Anti-air, as I told you before; but it can also be used to spike. The 2nd to last hit knocks them straight down in a spike; which is why if you connect the LAST move, it pops them back up a little. Basically, when someone is trying to recover; you can use this in two ways.
The first one is stand facing towards them recovering, right infront of the edge. Use Aether, it should hit them and bring you both down; you'll be facing AWAY from the stage, but if you did it right, they will fall to their death and you'll end up holding the stage. This is good against people that want to recover high instead of trying to go low under the stage and up+B; also, if they are recovering really high, you can jump and up+B them in the air, but since the high you air, the more difficult it is to time where you should do up+B, unless you're good at this, I suggest only in emergency win or lose situations.
The second one is basically you holding onto the edge already, pushing back to let go of the stage, jumping; then immediately pushing diagonally upwards and up+B. (Notice when you let go of the stage and jump you'll be facing TOWARDS the stage, you want to be facing AWAY from the stage, to your opponent. Diagonally upwards behind you +B will turn you aorund and cause you to do Aether AWAY from the stage, you can then hold backwards and should grab the edge again, and spike your opponent if they got caught within it.)
B-Air: Very useful but not the most useful.
First use is basically you use your up+B FULL JUMP to hit people that are trying to get back to the stage, and then hold back so that you land on the stage; or the edge of the stage. It has barely any lag and it's possible to jump again afterwards (Only if you execute IMMEDIATELY after you push for a full jump) and do another B-Air to follow it up, creating a type of wall edge-guard.
Next, Is a move that is difficult but, rewarding if you can pull it off. Notice how Ike has many **HIGH RISK*** attacks? Anyways, when someone is holding the edge, you run and fall straight off the stage; there's two things you can do. As soon as you run off, tap back+A (Or C-stick back, as I do) and you'll do B-Air and attempt to slam into them so they stage spike and fall to their death, and then jump and recover. Or, you can run straight off, jump and B-Air and then use Aether and recover. Both of them will save you from dying,but the first one is more risky, since if you fast fall when doing this; you will NOT be able to make it back; but it's better than the 2nd one, because the 2nd one takes about a second longer; and by then they will have spotted what you are doing.
Eruption: Eruption is used to edge-guard certain characters and prevent certain things. It's good for it's SAF (Super Armor Frames) to stop wake-up moves from the edge and inflict it's pain. It's good for catching some characters below the stage on the recovery (Good timing) to bring them up; hit them against the stage and stage spike them, as well as hitting people that air dodge and manage to land ontop of you, where Eruption can own them hard.
Counter: This can be used when someone is trying to attack you to get back to the stage; or when someone is doing their wake-up attack upon grabbing the edge and trying to get back to the stage. Also protects you against edge-hopped moves, such as RoB's Nuetral Air. Follow up with the appropriate steps after your counter has connected.
THIS IS MY WAY OF PLAYING, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT ***** ABOUT THE **** SOMEWHERE ELSE, OR GO READ SOMEONE ELSE'S GUIDE.
Introduction: I'm RoK the Reaper and this is my guide of how I play Ike; and what all I have learned. I will continue to update this regularly, so be sure to read every section all the the time. I might have found a new use for a move or a new function for it.
I'm not very liked on this bored because of my cocky attitude; however, my skill is proof that I do well. If you don't like this guide, go read Kirk's or ComboKing's. If you do like it, be sure to comment over it. I know many go in with the intent to actually find things bad about this. That's okay. But I know you're secretly using them. Lawlz.
#1: Essential Knowledge As Ike users; there is information you need to know before you even consider taking Ike "seriously" as a main character within the competitive scene. I'm going to start with the Pros first, then the cons. Be sure to decide upon this before you try to learn him. At first, against beginner's, he's an easy choice. But once you start fighting people who use people Ike's weak against (Almost all "tournament worthy" characters) fighting becomes harder and harder. So be sure to pay attention.
#1 - Pros: First off, the advantages of Ike. Ike is a heavy-weight, which means with proper D.I. (I'll get into this later) you'll be able to stay alive to high percents. Ike has the uncanny ability of being the STRONGEST in the cast, at least, in my opinion. If you're behind by a lot, one Smash attack from Ike can even it up; killing as low as 20% at times. Ike has 3 spikes; 2 are very practical, the other is hard to connect with and very situational, but all are feasible. Almost all of his moves have the ability to kill; so you never really run out of kill options. His recovery is very tough to edge-guard at times, as it is nothing but a moving attack. Ike has one of the easiest accessible super armor moves in the game; meaning that you can save yourself quite a bit with proper timing. Coolest character, best taunt (Down taunt!) and has fire.
#2 - Cons: Ike has a mediocre recovery, meaning that his recovery can easily be gimped by the rest of the cast. Even though he has a lot of good moves, he's very slow; because of this, you could easily be put in a position where you can't hit or kill simply because you can't land them. Ike takes a great deal of prediction to be very good with. Ike isn't really good against spammers, since he is slow and has no projectiles of his own; you will grow frustrate, very much. Ike really has no combo-ability, everything is basically made up combos and things that your opponent falls into. Also, his best move "F-Smash" is very difficult to land. Has many bad character match-ups or, he's bad against many characters.
#2: The Bare Minimum: It's important that we all understand the basics and know the functions of each and every move and the purposes that they serve. So I'm about to go into a small discuss about each one of Ike's move and the function of it.
AAA Combo: This is by far Ike's quickest move and the most spammable move he has out of his entire arsenal. Also, with the jab cancel (gonna talk about this later) you can set up many combos early on in the game; you can also connect with two or more jabs before finishing the combo if your opponent doesn't D.I. correctly; it can also kill your opponent at higher pecentages.
Forward Tilt: First off a "Tilt" is when you lean your control stick in one direction and push "A". His forward tilt is a very good tilt move and one of Ike's best moves overall, if not the most important for his ground based game. It can be angled up and down to hit opponents in the air or hanging on the stage/recoverying to the stage. It's good for spacing so your opponent can't shield grab you and it is also a very good kill move in general.
Upward Tilt: This is a quick move for Ike; it kills at moderate percentages (not as low as some of his other moves) but is very effective against people that are lightweights or against people that are trying to land back on the ground. I suggest it after using a quickdraw approach or after a jab.
Downward Tilt: This is good for spiking; and I believe if you can hit with Ike's "arm" it will send them outwards, which kills very nicely. It's good for spiking again, against those characters that have a probability of messing up or not recoverying to the ledge properly (such as Rob, Link, etc.) also good for shield stabbing.
Forward Smash: The Famous "One Hitter Quitter", Fully charged this can kill anyone at about 20-35%. But in reality, it can kill most uncharged at around 75-90%. It has long wind-up time, so you'll have to predict well, or your opponent will have to run into it; and you can also "mind game" them into it. Learn how to charge it, and learn when not to charge it. Mix it up for variety purposes.
Up Smash: This, I believe; actually has more lag than Ike's F-Smash; but I use it more often anyway. It's good to use to intercept a falling opponent (Slide and do it), also it's fine for opponent's trying to recovery from the edge since it hits both above; infront, and behind him.
Down Smash: This is one of Ike's least used moves (or at least to me) but it's excellent against opponent's that love to roll "into you" or "behind you" all the time and you can't seem to attack them because of that. This is a godsend for people that love to dodge into you 24/7.
Neutral Air: This isn't quite as useful on higher pecentages, as they have to be really high to kill; but on lower percentages you will find this to be your most used nuetral. It has barely any lag and it leads into Ike's AAA combo along with many other moves you can chain into it; this is pretty much an entrance to Ike's combo game.
Up Air: This is good as a type of "Mind game". It's mostly for when people try to dodge, and you fast fall with it so it hits them as soon as they come out of it. Also good for using it to hit people from underneath who are on platforms, also can be fast fell to hit someone on the ground to begin a combo; if not used, can kill at 100% on most characters.
Back Air: This is one of Ike's most profound Kill moves, it's one of the coolest looking ones and one of the FASTEST. It can be auto-canceled and jump buffered so you can do it repeatedly to give yourself time to think if need to be. Can be RAR'd (Reverse Aerial Rushed [I'll talk about this later] ) Which makes it a very good approach, as well as edge-guarder.
Forward Air: Forward Air is probably going to be about the only Air move you may spam; It has good range, good edge-guard capability; insures that you won't be grabbed (even by Dedede and Ice Climbers) if spaced right; and can also be done while "retreating".
Down Air: Ike's Spike, pretty much; this is used for spiking. You can use it in a few other ways but the only one that reallyi matters is to spike. The landing lag is bad so you can't really use it for much else; but the spikes.. oh the spikes.
Forward Throw: The Forward throw is okay; and can be followed up with either and F-tilt or an F-Air; or possibly another grab if they shield or spot dodge waiting for the f-tilt or F-air. Be sure to mix it up and give it variety.
Back Throw: The most profound combo is "B-Throw to D-Air" but many have gotten smart to it and see it coming so it's only really something to get your opponent off the stage with. On the stage, B-Throw to Over+B works pretty well at times.
Down Throw: Down throw can be followed by a F-Air, a U-Air a Up+B or a D-Air. You have to know how your opponent will react. Because most people get caught by "D-Throw to Aether" many people immediately start air dodging as soon as they can, so know if he will air dodge and then attack.
Up Throw: Most people don't use Up throw, so I usually follow it by a double jumped U-Air (I wait for the air dodge before going into it) This is to make sure that people don't think they've dodged it... oh no, you're getting hit.
Neutral B: First off; Eruption as it is called, is used for a variety of things; but mainly it's for defense and scaring your opponent into
not hitting you or getting close to you while you recover or try to get back on the ground.
Over B: Quickdraw. You can use this as an approach; to chase or to recover (also attack). I'll explain the functions later, but I mostly use it to force people to waste their shield as well as recovery.
Down B: Counter. This is a good alternative to blocking/shielding when you see a move coming, and can dish back damage and send the opponent flying. Also useful against big projectiles.
Up B: Aether. This is good for edge-guarding, recovery; building up damage and anti-air combat. More on this later as well.
Dash Attack: This can be used in a variety of ways; mostly it's to be used to push your opponent off of the stage so that you can follow up and edgeguard; that or push him close to the edge. This has IMMENSE range, it has more than you believe so make sure you get it down; also I've heard (need to test) that if move forward and tap the C-stick down simutaneously you can instantly go into this.
#3 Terminology: Basically, in Smash; and in this guide there is certain terminology that you will need to know so you will know exactly what I'm talking about and what others are talking about should you hold a conversation with someone or have a question or comment about something.
D. I.: This is short for, "Directional Influence". If you are hit, you are flying through the air. However, it is possible to alter your flight path and reduce knockback and how much "horizontal" knockback you have. This can save you from death a lot. Such as, if you are hit by a F-Smash and need to survive, by holding away from the direction you're going and up (Diagonal up in the opposite direction) you'll fly upwards instead of straight and possibly have a greater chance of recovering. D.I. only applies when you are hit, not jumping around.
SAF: This is short for, "Super Armor Frames". Ike has two moves which gives him super armor frames. "Aether" , which occurs when he pulls his arms down and lowers his head immediately after throwing his sword to the air and "Eruption", which takes place right as he's about to thrust his sword down inot the ground. Super Armor frames SAVE LIVES. You take damage but you don't get any knockback, flinch, and you finish the move you were doing. It's possible to kill someone, even though they hit you first.
Auto-Cancel: This refers to doing an aerial move as soon as you leave the ground; a move that normally would have landing lag, doesn't have any. In other words, the lag from that aerial manuever is reduced to 0. Not every character can auto-cancel and only a few moves CAN be auto-cancel. The only one for Ike is the B-Air. N-Air barely has any lag, but is not considered to be "auto-canceled" since it's the same lag upon fast-falling as well.
Shield stab: This refers to when someone has weakened their shield to the point it no longer covers all of their body. This is when you can attack certain parts of their body to hit them, even when they have their shield on. The most common shield stabbing aerial is the legs/feet. We, as Ike players, normally achieve this through D-Smash/D-Tilt and angled down F-Tilt.
#2: "RoK's Smash Theories": Basically, what I believe allows me tow in matches that are otherwise "Unfavorable" as well as against people that seem to beat the living stuffing out of everyone else.
#1: The Aggressor: Early on within the game there is already a battle starting that isn't even Smash Bros.; It's emotional warfare. The game is merely the physical manifestation of your skill and mindset, the emotional part controls your ability to successfully pull off things. Ever notice that you seem to fight and live and make all the right choices on your last life a lot of the time? You're harder to kill? This is because you're basically fighting on your last resort and try to make no room for err0r, try things that you normally wouldn't and defend and counter attack a lot more. Every time a match begins, if you declare an opponent as easy you will dismiss all his attacks that hit you as "Luck" or "I'm getting too careless" rather than an opponent you think is hard then it's like "****it, if I don't do something I'm going to lose".
Basically, you're telling yourself who is in control or if he could easily win or if you're about even merely from the first opening of the game. I notice I have a much easier time if I can land 5 -6 consecutive strong hits within the beginning of the game, rather than them suiciding or me getting a very early kill. It's simply letting your opponent know that you're in control, you're not scared and they're going to have a hell of a match. Another thing is not to be scared of someone who carries a big name or a title. Against people who have a reputation; we automatically deem them as hard and we expect such, and because of that we play like we normally wouldn't which allows them to take care advantage of our "Anxiousness" and our, "Fear". Also, notice; the more hits you land in the row, the more defensive your opponent will get before going desperate into a rage trying to land at least a single hit. This is where frustration and the brunt of their mistakes will come in.
#2: "Pattern Prediction": Everyone has a pattern or a way they react to certain things. These things are often shown throughout the game during the same instances. However, since "pros" and better players have a tendency to have different outlets for the same situation; you will not always have the opportunity to successfully find a pattern, therefore, you have to take what has already happen and find a counter through prediction. This is somewhat easier with Ike because he has the "Counter" move which allows him to stop any attack as long as it's within those counter frames.
More on pattern recognizing is that someone might always U-Smash to guard an edge rather than wait for someone. Or someone may roll onto the stage every single time instead of jumping or edge hopping. Someone might actually roll every time that they are hit or someone comes into their vicinity; or maybe someone prefers a different method of recovery, such as using Falco and Fox's Over+B to grab an edge rather than their fire fox. It's recognizing these patterns and styles that will give you an advantage; as knowing one's opponent is the key to winning; because it forces them to believe they are making more mistakes and forces them to fight outside of their style; and thus their comfort zone.
#3: "Mind Games": This goes hand to hand within the "Pattern Prediction". Once you're able to successfully predict moves you're able to set up and punish them. For instance. F-Smash can easily be landed against someone who rolls within the opposite direction upon being hit or caught up within a series of hits. You can jab someone once, and then immediately -- Within the opposite direction-- smash attack and it will connect. This is also true for people who roll upon you returning after dying, you can normally F-Smash in the opposite direction to kill them; this is seen vastly often. Basically; mind game is manipulating your opponent into believing something is a good move when, insead, you've already planned for him to be where he's heading in order to create a strategic opening.
Other mind games include things like; doing the same move over and over and then switching it up in order to kill. Like say you spam Triple AAA combo and never do anything else from it. Odds are that they will not be blocking or rolling; but instead trying to DI and not focus at all on guarding. It's then easier to land jab to F-Smash or double jab to an angled Up F-Tilt. Also, speed plays a main part in mind games. The less time your opponent has to think, the more time you have to take advantage of them when they're trying to figure out what they did wrong.
#3: The Basics: What I'm going to discuss here is the introduction to my fighting style or that of the one I think is most suited for competitve play with Ike. You don't have to like the way I play or the techniques but they are effective and have been helping me out. I'll get into more advanced things and mind-games and setups later; but you need to know certain things first. (Character specific match-up will come after advance).
Basic Offense: As far as offensive, you need to know that Ike's Main offensive weapons are going to be his F-Air, N-Air and Jab combo. These are the bulk of Ike's offensive movements; B-Air can be thrown in to severly boost the "speed" of Ike (Learn EARLY to "Auto-Cancel" this. Basically, to auto-cancel bair, input it as soon as you jump so there is no lag upon landing on the ground). You're going to be jumping in most of the time with your F-Air, and most of your combos are actually going to start with the N-Air. Once you get accustomed to which one to use in which situation, you're already starting to learn the basics with Ike. We know that you're going to love using Jab in certain situations; and we know F-Air is going to be your edge-guarding move as well as a kill move when they kill you and you come back later on in the game. So you just have to figure out exactly what all you plan to do for these moves. The moves you will use less likely are going to be your U-tilt, your D-tilt and your U-Air. You will find yourself using them on occasion but no where NEAR the amount of the others; out of these three, your most used will be U-tilt, the least used will be D-tilt (though it has good uses explained in the "Advance" section).
As for kill moves; a beginner's main kill move will be his F-Smash. As you get more and more into my style; your main kills will all be equally spread throughout this, your Up Smash and your F-Tilt. For now, I suggest you learning WHEN to F-Smash and when NOT to F-Smash. As it's Ike's "Game breaker" move as I call it. More on this once we get within the advanced section.
Beginner Combos: N-Air into AAA Combo; B-Throw into Over+B ; D-Throw into Up+B; F-Throw into Dash attack.
Basic Defense: On average, you're going to be shielding a vast majority of the time, and doing out of shield retreating F-Air's and Jabs in order to provide a decent defense. Also, using your Over+B after you hit is annoying and can work perfectly and setup for mind-games if you use it well enough. Also, a good defense is to use your F-tilt to push them back and make sure they know how far they need to stay back not to get hit. This will make people less and less likely to get all in your face if you know your range. You're also going to have to work on grabbing shield happy people; and for those that like to rush in, practice running away and pivot grabbing. This is especially useful against Yoshi; as most of them love to throw eggs, wait for you to block and then run up and try to grab you with their tongue. Also, retreating B-Air helps alot and retreating aerials in general.
Beginner "counters": These are the defensive movements you need to begin practicing. Using Aether to stop movement from the air; such as Kirby floating away. Using Reverse Aerial rush for edgeguarding in the air. Also, learn how to rely on grabs just as much as attacks to switch it up.
Basic Mindgames: Jab into reverse F-Smash; Drop down while holding the edge and use Up+B to stop your opponent from edgeguarding. While running at the stage like you're about to F-Air them (when they're recovering) instead; jump again and either Edgehog, prepare for F-Smash interception or D-Tilt spike.
Summary of Beginner Techniques: Before you go into the "Advanced" Technique and "Advanced Theory" section I need you to get down all of these basics. Learn the SPACING for all of Ike's aerial and tilt moves. These are the MEAT of your offense; and if you can't pull off the basics, the backbone of your style effectively you will continue to FAIL even knowing all the combos and all the tricks of the trade. Spacing and having knowledge of what every move can do; when to use that move and whose it effective against (Specific match-ups coming soon) is vital in your effort to conquer people with Ike and over come a lot of his short comings.
#4: Introduction to "Advanced" Ike Play: You can give someone all the tools of the trade like in Melee; people could wavedash/waveshine, L-Cancel, fast fall, but it's how you USE it that determines your level. Here, I'll be giving what allows me to be the "Best Ike in Dallas" Managing to beat the top players around here and earn respect for my playing style and the character I use. You may not think what I do is logical but that's why I am what I am with Ike; thinking outside of the box. I'm also going to go into theory on a lot of things and have a greater depth for advanced playstyle. So read on and make sure you've mastered the basics before you begin these things. The things I will teach you will be focused on when to go "Offensive" and when to go "Defensive" common mistakes that get you killed and you become scared and probably don't even know it. How to cheap edgeguard certain characters; and easy way to take on people that can gimp Ike; and theories on what to do when it seems that all hope is lost.
#1 - Common mistakes: I'm about to tell you a few common mistakes most people have, playing with Ike, or at least; what gets you killed most of the time in general.
#1 - OVER ROLLING, You should try to roll as less as possible. Most people hold shield, move right and left and I laugh because a good charged F-Smash destroys their shield. Also, rolling limits your control of your movement, learn to rely mainly on your own movement, and learn to counter attack more.
#2 - SPOT DODGE! I notice a lot of people don't spot dodge with Ike; It's VERY useful. I've noticed that spot dodge into Triple A combo or U-tilt works wonders, also with D-smash. Learn to use this effectively; if you run and then spot dodge, you'll also get a bit of a slide out of it.
#3 - F-Smash. DO NOT spam this move. It leaves you open, gets you punished badly and it wears the move down. Sure, it's pretty strong, but using it too much will not let it kill as low, and it gets predictable; and it's highly punishable if it doesn't land or hit a shield, this shouldn't be your "every 10 seconds" attack.
#4 - Rushing. I notice that often people rush in with Ike's attacks. Whether it be jumping in deep with a Fair, hitting someone with a running dash attack or, even performing the full triple A combo. You will get SHIELD GRABBED. Ike has range, USE IT. Try to hit with the tip of attacks, it will keep you safe and possibly provide and opportunity to counter attack.
#5 - GIVING UP. This is the most important out of all of them. I notice that when someone deems something as hopeless, they basically give up. It's possible to come back, especially with your brains kicking into over-drive when you're put in a high-pressure, stressful situation. Don't give up ever. Fight hard until the end; you might win.
#2 - Edge-Guarding: Edge-guarding is when you knock your opponent off the stage and fight them before they land back on the stage in an effort to NOT let them. Edge-guarding builds up damage from not letting opponents come into the stage, also it's a way to get early percentage kills. Ike has a very decent edge-guard game. I'm going to describe a few of them so all of you can understand what to do and how to do it.
Edge-hog: Basically, this is when you hold the stage to prevent your opponent from grabbing it. Within the mechanics of Brawl, as it was in Melee and the first SSB; ONLY 1 PERSON CAN GRAB THE EDGE AT A TIME. Therefore, if you are holding it; your opponent cannot recover. Normally, you do this when your opponent is trying to recover. Notice you have brief invunerability when you grab the edge, in those frames that you cannot be hurt; you want to be holding the edge so that your opponent passes through you and falls to their death. I put this under advanced techniques; because in Melee, you could roll back to the stage with L or R, and while you're doing it, you would still be countered as on the edge; In brawl you have to be on the edge at all times for it to count; so it's harder against certain characters (Marth, Toon Link, Metaknight) and easier for Ike to do it against others (Lucario, Ganondorf, Captain Falcon). An easy way to do this is to run off the stage and immediately hold back; you'll instantly grab the edge. It'll take some practice because it allow must be fast fell, and sometimes you'll miss the edge; so becareful.
F-Air: Forward Air is one of the best moves; If you double jump; you can almost go off screen with the sword length of this thing. Knocking people away from the stage is beautiful; It hits hard and can set-up for an Edge-hog. Also, you can jump once, swing, and then jump forward and hit with a second F-Air, takes practice but completely possible to do. Also, you have to be very cautious with THIS MOVE, the Falling F-air, as I call it. Basically it's when you run forward, straight off the stage and F-Air. It's used to hit someone that is below the stage who you are trying to prevent from getting back. This normally results in death; but it's really tricky and you may not survive getting back on the stage.
D-Air: Down air is used in a few instances. The first one is just basic air interception; however, this won't won't normally work against more skilled people because they will just dodge it and land back on stage. The easiest thing is B-Throw into D-Air; When you throw them off the stage, immediately follow up with a D-Air and unless they know it's coming, usually it lands. Another thing is if someone is recovering (RoB, Snake) you can spike them generally from just jumping off and hitting them before they get a safe distance to the stage. You can also be holding the edge, push back to let go of the edge, jump and then D-Air to hit them if they're below you; you have to be cautious with this as well, if they're too close, they will grab the stage and leave you using Aether to get back ; OR they will hit you beforehand and you'll be embarrassingly stage spiked and fall down to your doom =[.
Aether: This is used for Anti-air, as I told you before; but it can also be used to spike. The 2nd to last hit knocks them straight down in a spike; which is why if you connect the LAST move, it pops them back up a little. Basically, when someone is trying to recover; you can use this in two ways.
The first one is stand facing towards them recovering, right infront of the edge. Use Aether, it should hit them and bring you both down; you'll be facing AWAY from the stage, but if you did it right, they will fall to their death and you'll end up holding the stage. This is good against people that want to recover high instead of trying to go low under the stage and up+B; also, if they are recovering really high, you can jump and up+B them in the air, but since the high you air, the more difficult it is to time where you should do up+B, unless you're good at this, I suggest only in emergency win or lose situations.
The second one is basically you holding onto the edge already, pushing back to let go of the stage, jumping; then immediately pushing diagonally upwards and up+B. (Notice when you let go of the stage and jump you'll be facing TOWARDS the stage, you want to be facing AWAY from the stage, to your opponent. Diagonally upwards behind you +B will turn you aorund and cause you to do Aether AWAY from the stage, you can then hold backwards and should grab the edge again, and spike your opponent if they got caught within it.)
B-Air: Very useful but not the most useful.
First use is basically you use your up+B FULL JUMP to hit people that are trying to get back to the stage, and then hold back so that you land on the stage; or the edge of the stage. It has barely any lag and it's possible to jump again afterwards (Only if you execute IMMEDIATELY after you push for a full jump) and do another B-Air to follow it up, creating a type of wall edge-guard.
Next, Is a move that is difficult but, rewarding if you can pull it off. Notice how Ike has many **HIGH RISK*** attacks? Anyways, when someone is holding the edge, you run and fall straight off the stage; there's two things you can do. As soon as you run off, tap back+A (Or C-stick back, as I do) and you'll do B-Air and attempt to slam into them so they stage spike and fall to their death, and then jump and recover. Or, you can run straight off, jump and B-Air and then use Aether and recover. Both of them will save you from dying,but the first one is more risky, since if you fast fall when doing this; you will NOT be able to make it back; but it's better than the 2nd one, because the 2nd one takes about a second longer; and by then they will have spotted what you are doing.
Eruption: Eruption is used to edge-guard certain characters and prevent certain things. It's good for it's SAF (Super Armor Frames) to stop wake-up moves from the edge and inflict it's pain. It's good for catching some characters below the stage on the recovery (Good timing) to bring them up; hit them against the stage and stage spike them, as well as hitting people that air dodge and manage to land ontop of you, where Eruption can own them hard.
Counter: This can be used when someone is trying to attack you to get back to the stage; or when someone is doing their wake-up attack upon grabbing the edge and trying to get back to the stage. Also protects you against edge-hopped moves, such as RoB's Nuetral Air. Follow up with the appropriate steps after your counter has connected.
Other than that, he seems like a preety straight guy.
