The ULTIMATE Samus Guide

Samus is a low-tier character for a reason. She struggles to KO her opponents, has a terrible melee game, gets combo'd easily and has terrible grab options. This makes her somewhat terrible. So, what are we as a Samus board going to do about it? We need to make Samus better. We need to get out there and place very high in tourneys, or just flat out win tournaments with Samus. However, because Samus isn't tourney viable, how could we accomplish this? This is where you come in. Please post anything you know about Samus that could maybe help out the Samus board. Anything and everything Samus related needs to be discussed here, with a few exceptions, such as match-ups and stages! Combos, tricks, set-ups and mind-games are all what we need to master. So if you have anything, let it be known! We cannot make Samus better unless we combine our efforts.

Samus' History

Samus Aran is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Metroid video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid, Samus is a female bounty hunter usually fitted with an armor suit with weapons that include beams and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader, Ridley, along with the energy-draining alien parasites called Metroids. Orphaned at a young age, Samus was brought up by the Chozo alien race, which trained her as a warrior. The Chozo also gave her the Power Suit, which features the ability to collapse Samus into a sphere to roll through tight areas such as tunnels.

Why Samus?

Samus has been a mixed bag in every smash game she has been in, making her nickname "Spamus" from firing rapid projectiles in large quantities, she maintains this ability in every smash game. She can also fight in close quarters combat although she does not excel in this area. Samus always tries to maintain some distance between herself and her opponent whilst racking up serious amounts of damage. Whilst she is not as versatile as most characters prepare to get destroyed by a good Samus if you don't know how to beat her.

Samus is one of the few characters in Brawl who has what we call "true combos" on alot of the cast. She has very nice range and she has a solid aerial game to boot, with all of her aerials auto cancelling nicely. Whilst her melee combat is quite pitiful to say the least, Samus excels in long range combat, utilizing moves such as Zair, missiles and Charge Shot to quickly rack up damage.

Samus is the queen of the ledge, simple as. She has one of the best ledge games in Brawl and it is EXTREMELY difficult to force her to leave. Samus can use the ledge to the point where unwinnable match ups (D3, Falco) become a lot easier to deal with.

Samus has quite a few match ups where she is destroyed and outclassed in any possible way and have so been deemed unwinnable, however, in low tier, Samus is the queen around there, and loses to a mere two characters there, whilst beating out Powerhouse Ike.

Samus is a very complex character who will take a while to learn properly, but once you do, you will see the benefits. She has a wide array of advanced techniques and there is never a dull moment with her (unless you're camping on the ledge for 8 minutes xD!!!). She is a beautiful character to behold (outside of her suit at least) and is apart of one of Nintendo's major franchises, Metroid.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Samus' Strengths:

• Amazing Projectile Game
• Zair never stales
• 7th heaviest in the game
• Very good range (nothing outranges zair)
• Good aerial game
• Racks up damage rapidly
• Has the best taunts in the game (up down really quickly to move up a few tiers )
• VERY GOOD recovery
• Gimps amazingly well
• Superb ledge game

Samus' Weaknesses:

• Worst grab in the game
• Struggles to kill
• Super missles can't kill
• Bombs don't explode on contact
• Very floaty
• Combo'd easily
• Has blindspots on some of her moves
• Has a blindspot below her
• Bad ground game
• Terrible jab
• All of her specials have terrible priority
• Useless up smash

Some of the following techniques are easy to do and very important if you want to become a good Samus main. Please learn all of these as quickly as possible, and be sure to check out the combo videos below this section to see how all these advanced moves can be linked together in battle.

*Jab Cancel

How To Perform: Simply tap neutral A and then tap down on the analog stick to crouch. Tap neutral A again and tap down on the analog stick to crouch again. Repeat the process.

Additional Information: With the jab cancel, you are also capable of linking another attack after the initial jab.

Video(s): Jab Cancel; Samus Jab Cancelling

*Jab Lock

How to Perform: U-tilt and d-throw can set up the jab lock. However, this is very situational and isn't easy to perform on humans players. The opponent must be in a state of falling but also in such a state so as to be bouncing off the ground once. When the opponent first bounces up after slamming against the ground, the jab lock can be performed by simply walking forward, then tapping neutral A, and then walking forward again and tapping neutral A again.

Additional Information: This is probably the most useless advanced technique, simply because it's situational and hard to get someone in such position. However, if the situation ever does occur, this can be very rewarding, provided you don't make a mistake. When the opponent is in his or her falling state, he or she cannot escape unless you mess up or if the opponent ends up getting hit off the stage. Against a wall, this can be used to get your opponent high up in damage percent before KO'ing.

Video(s): Samus Jab Lock/Set-Ups; Samus Jab Lock/Set-Up


Smash


*Hyphen Smash

How to Perform: At the initial frame of a dash, let go of the analog stick and tap up on the C-stick, or do a full dash and use the C-stick so that the dash will be canceled with a u-smash.

Additional Information: The Hyphen Smash should allow the u-smash to do its fullness in damage percent against tall characters. This should not be confused with the Dash Attack Canceled Up Smash (DACUS).

Video(s): Hyphen Smash with samus

Aerial

*Z-air

How to Perform: Press Z or L/R + A while in the air.

Additional Information: Your Grapple Beam will do 4% damage, and 7% damage if it is fully extended. Slight knock-back is also added if it's fully extended. It is also possible to trip Samus' opponent. This technique is very important to learn if one wishes to use Samus properly.

Video(s): Z-air

*Z-air Platform Cancel

How to Perform: When going through a moving, passable platform from below, use z-air and tap down on the analog stick. Samus' z-air will come out but cancel immediately if done correctly.

Additional Information: The Z-air Platform Cancel allows Samus to perform z-air and then follow up with an offensive or defensive move upon cancelation.

Video(s): Platform Stuff; Platform Stuff Part 2

*Z-airing Through Stages and Walls

How to Perform: This is stage dependent and can be better expressed through visual examples. Watch the video for details.

Additional Information: Mastering each stage and utilizing z-air properly upon the stages Samus steps foot on is essential to winning.

Video(s): Z-airing Through Stages and Walls


Special


*Charge Cancel

How to Perform: Charge up your Charge Shot and cancel it by shielding, rolling, spot-dodging, or even tapping Z.

Additional Information: While this isn't new, that Samus can now use her Grappling Beam to grab her opponent out of charging her Charge Shot is an entirely new discovery, which was in neither of the previous games. Properly utilizing the Charge Cancel can make Samus appear somewhat unpredictable.

Video(s): Samus Charge Cancel Examples

*Low Charge Shot

How to Perform: Just before landing, tap B to fire the Charge Shot, and Samus will fire her Charge Shot lower than normal.

Additional Information: It's difficult to pull off without some good practice. It is useful against small characters, as well as those who like to crawl.

Video(s): Samus Tech: Low Charge Shot (LCS)

*Reversed Charge Shot

How to Perform: Run at the edge of the stage or passable platform and put up your shield as if doing a shield-dash. Upon doing this, let go of your shield and tilt your analog stick in the opposite direction and press neutral B to fire your Charge Shot. This likely happens, due to the momentum that is left after shielding from a dash.

Additional Information: This is a tricky technique, because Samus' opponent might not expect it. It fires low enough to hit small characters and to go underneath Link's Hylian Shield. Items, such as Banana Peels or Power Suit Armor Pieces may be thrown in any direction prior to this technique, which may give Samus the edge to hitting her opponent with the Reversed Charge Shot.

Video(s): Reverse Charge Shot (Through Edge/Platform)

*Screw Attack Out of Shield (OoS)

How to Perform: Simply hold the L/R button and tap Up+B.

Additional Information: This works better with Tap Jump on, and it's actually recommended, simply because Samus will have invincible frames. If you have Tap Jump off, you will have to let go of your shield first and then use the Screw Attack. Those slight frames will leave you open. This attack is good against those who like to get close to you.

Video(s): Up+B Out of Shield

*Ledge Grab Cancel

How to Perform: Use the Screw Attack inbetween the edge and wall of the stage.

Additional Information: If done correctly, Samus' Screw Attack will cancel, allowing Samus to use her Screw Attack again. This can be done more than once consecutively.

Video(s): Ledge Grab Cancel

*Missile Cancel

How to Perform: Perform a short hop, tap Forward+B to fire a Homing Missile. Upon landing, short hop again and tap Forward+B again to fire another Homing Missile.

Additional Information: This is probably the quickest way to fire extra Homing Missiles at a time.

Video(s): Missile Cancel

*Double Missile Cancel

How to Perform: Perform a short hop or full hop and tap Forward+B to fire a Homing Missile. Upon landing, tap Forward+B again to fire another Homing Missile.

Additional Information: Performing short hops, whether approaching or spacing, is recommended. It is also possible to fire a Homing Missile and then a Super Missile, or a Super Missile and then a Homing Missile, or even a Super Missile and another Super Missile. You can also fire either a Homing or Super Missile and then a fully charged Charge Shot upon landing. This is all good for variety so you can have your opponent guessing.

Video(s): Missile Cancelling w/ Samus; Double Missile

*Triple Homing Missile Cancel

How to Perform: While on the stage, do a full jump and then fire a Homing Missile. Buffer the second jump and fire another Homing Missile. As you are returning to the ground, fire yet another Homing Missile. If Samus is on the edge, she can jump up from the edge and upon rising, fire a Homing Missile in the opposite direction from which she was facing. While falling, fire another Homing Missile, and when Samus touches the ground, walk off the edge and fire another Homing Missile.

Additional Information: If used properly, this can become one of Samus' best brickwalls against her opponent. If performed on the edge, it can be one of Samus' best ways to edge-guard.

Video(s): Triple Homing Missile Cancel

*Double and Triple Super Missle

How to Perform: Perform a full jump and immediately fire a Super Missile. Follow it up with another full jump, but buffer the jump with another Super Missile, and upon landing, fire another Super Missile.

Additional Information: The timing to perform this is much more difficult than it is with the Triple Homing Missile Cancel, and also practically useless as well. It might be good for opponents off-stage, but nothing a Homing Missile couldn't handle.

Video(s): Triple Super Missile

*Raigoth's Bomb Tech

How to Perform: Tap Down+B to lay a Bomb, and hold down on the analog stick. This will get rid of the lag that would be present if you did not hold down on the analog stick after laying down a Bomb.

Additional Information: This is like the jab cancel in some ways. After laying down a Bomb, you can immediately buffer a d-tilt. Moving backwards and then performing a dash attack may also be useful.

Video(s): Raigoth's Bomb Tech

*Spider Ball

How to Perform: Walk or dash toward the edge of the stage. Upon walking or dashing off the stage, quickly lay a Bomb and move the analog stick backwards. Samus should be in her Morph Ball animation and rolling backwards as if she was using the Spider Ball to keep from falling.

Additional Information: If your opponent is below the stage but returning to the edge, simply laying a Bomb this way can be quick and effective.

Video(s): Samus Brawl Bomb Tricks; Samus' Bomb Edge-Guard


Grab/Throw


*Glide Toss

How to Perform: Press and hold L/R and use the analog stick to move either left or right. While in the first few frames of rolling, use your C-stick to throw up, down, left, or right.

Additional Information: Items are not used in the competitive scene, but if you are fighting Diddy Kong, Link, Peach, Snake, Toon Link, Wario, or Zero Suit Samus, you can use the throwable objects against them while allowing yourself some space. You might also be able to combine the throwable objects with your attacks.

Video(s): Samus Glide Toss: What to DO and What NOT to Do with Bananas

*Pivot Grab

How to Perform: While running, tilt the analog stick in the opposite direction and press Z simultaneously. Samus will turn around 180° with her Grappling Beam out in the opposite direction from which she was running.

Additional Information: This is useful against characters who like to roll away as you approach. It can also be used while running away and if the opponent is chasing Samus.

Video(s): Pivot Grab with samus


*Reversed Short Hop Z-air

How to Perform: Jump back off the stage facing it and immediately fast fall and tap the Z button.

Additional Information: This may be a very quick way for Samus to edge-hog her opponent. However, the only problem with this is that tethering gives Samus fewer invincible frames, thus making this probably not the best way to edge-hog.

Video(s): Samus Edge Technique


Shield


*Shield Walk/Dash

How to Perform: While walking or running, tap L/R to put up your shield and let go. Repeat the process.

Additional Information: Samus is one of the characters that can perform this easily. It is useful against characters with fast projectiles like Falco's Blaster or Palutena's Arrow. Implementing this into Samus' game can maximize her survival on the field of battle. It is also possible to do attacks out of shielding, which can come in handy.

Video(s): Shield Dashing

*Shield Grab

How to Perform: Hold L/R and then tap A.

Additional Information: This is a very basic technique that has been in the previous games. Since Samus' grab does not retract quick enough to safely avoid getting hit if she misses, shielding an attack and then grabbing is a safer method to use.

Video(s): Shield Grab with Samus


Miscellaneous
Below are videos containing aspects of the techniques noted above, but are combined in one video. These also contain other aspects of the game that cannot be properly placed in one of the categories above.

Amazing Samus Tricks... Maybe by Sago

Angled F-Tilt/F-Smash by Xyro77

Pointless Samus Tech Video by Rohins

Samus Brawl Bomb Tricks by Tudor

Samus Infinite Double Jump

Samus Techniques by ll Mafia ll

Tudor Presents "Clean" Samus Tricks by Tudor


Below is the entire moveset of Samus. The data below includes % for every attack. The data was gathered by using Samus in bowser in Versus Mode on Luigi's Mansion. The walls were used to both stale certain moves while refresh other moves.




Fully Refreshed Jab(1st hit)=2-3%
Fully Exhausted Jab (1st hit)=1-2%



Fully Refreshed Jab (2nd hit)=6-7%
Fully Exhausted Jab (2nd hit)=3-4%
C Tier practicality (Together). Combo starter / Frame traps.

Samus' jab attack comes out on frame 3, so it's a pretty fast jab considering all of the others in the game, it can be easily cancelled into other things such as dtilt, ftilt and even smashes! However, this jab has literally NO hitstun, so be very careful when you're using it, since the attack you cancel the jab into may get shielded. Jab can also be linked into her second jab.



Fully Refreshed F-tilt=6-7%
Fully Exhausted F-tilt=3-4%
Fully Refreshed F-tilt (angled up)=9-10%
Fully Exhausted F-tilt (angled up)=4-5%
Fully Refreshed F-tilt (angled down)=9-10%
Fully Exhausted F-tilt (angled down)=4-5%
B Tier practicality. Combo starter & finisher / Edgeguarder

Ftilt is basically one of the bread and butter moves of her ground game. This move has nice knockback for comboing, and it can be angled which drastically modifies the knockback given, but all forms of angling can be combo'd. The move is a little unsafe at lower percentages but overall it's a great ground move for Samus.



Fully Refreshed U-tilt=12-13%
Fully Exhausted U-tilt=7-8%
C Tier practicality. Combo starter & finisher / Edgeguarder / KO move / Platform control

Utilt is one of Samus' longest moves and has surprisingly good knockback. This move has three different hitboxes and is quite threatening at higher percentages where at the edge of FD it kills around 120 on heavies. This move can juggle opponents well on the platforms on Battlefield and combo well into her aerials such as uair.


Fully Refreshed D-tilt=13-14%
Fully Exhausted D-tilt=6-7%
B Tier practicality. Combo starter & finisher / KO move / Punisher

Dtilt is one of Samus' standard killing moves. It comes out pretty quickly but has quite a bit of cooldown and should only be used in less punishable situations. This move is better used on floaties since it KOs them far earlier, but it still combos heavies extremely well, and leads very nicely into a uair/zair.



Fully Refreshed (all hits connect) F-air=17-18%
Fully Exhausted (all hits connect) F-air=8-9%
B Tier practicality. Combo starter & finisher / Ledge approach

Forward aerial is a very interesting aerial for Samus. It comes out on frame 7, has multiple hit boxes and can deal quite a bit of damage. It is great for ledge approaches, shield pressure and can start combos VERY nicely, especially when it's fast falled since all of Samus' aerials auto cancel.



Fully Refreshed (all hits connect) U-air=10-11%
Fully Exhausted (all hits connect) U-air=5-6%
S Tier practicality. Combo starter & finisher / Gimper / Frame trap / Platform control / Shield pressure / Damage racker

Upward aerial is joint best for best aerial for Samus. This move has disgusting priority that INCREASES as the move goes on. It combos extremely well, and leads to multiple frame traps. This move pokes the hell out of shields and links into a follow up afterwards, shielding this move is suicide. On battlefield this move is just broken, you can pressure everybody whos above you, even MK and still remain safe because of it's insanely high priority. Overall, if you're not using this move, you are doing something wrong.





Fully Refreshed D-air=14-15%
Fully Exhausted D-air=6-7%
B tier practicality. Combo starter / Gimper / Damage racker

Ahh dair, the move all new Samus players love to use. Truth be told, this is a good move, it has a very large disjoint below it, and can easily cost players early stocks, however, this move is quite sluggish on start up and is punishable if shielded. It links into many combos on grounded opponents and deals a very nice 14%.



Fully Refreshed (with tip) B-air=13-14%
Fully Exhausted (with tip) B-air=6-7%
Fully Refreshed (no tip) B-air=9-10%
Fully Exhausted (no tip) B-air=4-5%
B tier practicality. KO move

Bair has one purpose, and thats to kill. When sweetspotted, this is one of, if not the strongest kill move Samus has. It deals a very nice 14% but it's quite slow on start up and easily predicted, don't use this move oftenly otherwise you will get predictable. DO NOT TRY TO SPACE WITH THIS MOVE.




Fully Refreshed (immediate attack) N-air=8-9%
Fully Exhausted (immediate attack) N-air=4-5%
Fully Refreshed (stayed out long) N-air=5-6%
Fully Exhausted (Stayed out long) N-air=3-4%
C Tier practicality. Gimper / Combo move / Combo breaker / Sex kick

This move in melee was a godly move, it killed, it combo'd and it was a superb damage racker, now, it loses a lot, but is still pretty useful. This move, due to it's low knockback actually gimps EXTREMELY well, and is a very good combo breaker, coming out on a very impressive frame 5. This move is also a sex kick, so it does get weaker the longer it's out.



Fully Refreshed (with tip) Z-air=7%
Fully Exhausted (with tip)Z-air=7%
Fully Refreshed (no tip)Z-air=4%
Fully Exhausted (no tip)Z-air=4%
S Tier practicality. Combo starter / Combo finisher / KO move / Gimper / Damage racker / Spacing tool / Recovery

This move is the best move Samus has. Period. None of her other moves come close to rivalling it's godliness. It can combo extremely well at quite literally any percentage, it can even kill when tipped! It can force opponents off stage and doesn't even lengthen Samus' hurtbox to anywhere near the length of the actual move! This move can gimp any character who isn't named Kirby/MK/Jiggs and is Samus' best spacing tool. Spam this move like it's your lifeline, even if this move is power shielded, you can simply reset your spacing by retreating to the ledge, if you can space in the slightest, you won't get punished for using zair, especially since it also auto cancels.



Fully Refreshed (uncharged) F-smash=12-13%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged) F-smash=5-6%
Fully Refreshed (uncharged, angled up) F-smash=13-14%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged, angled up) F-smash=7%
Fully Refreshed (uncharged, angled down) F-smash=11-12%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged, angled down) F-smash=5-6%
Fully Refreshed (fully charged) F-smash=16-19%
Fully Exhausted (fully charged) F-smash=7-8%
Fully Refreshed (fully charged, angled up) F-smash=18-20%
Fully Exhausted (fully charged, angled up) F-smash= 9%
Fully Refreshed (fully charged, angled down) F-smash=15-17%
Fully Exhausted (fully charged angled down) F-smash=7-8%
B Tier practicality. KO move / Combo finisher

Fsmash is by far Samus' best smash attack and one of her best kill moves. At all three angles this move is capable of KOing (best angled up) and can really end stocks fast if the opponent doesn't DI correctly. When angled up, this move can miss smaller opponents such as Kirby and Pikachu, so watch out!



Fully Refreshed (uncharged, front hit) D-smash=14-16%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged, front hit) D-smash=6-7%
Fully Refreshed (uncharged back hit) D-smash=13-14%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged, back hit) D-smash=6-7%
Fully Refreshed (charged, front hit) D-smash=18-22%
Fully Exhausted (charged, front hit) D-smash=9-10%
Fully Refreshed (charged back hit) D-smash=18-20%
Fully Exhausted (charged, back hit) D-smash=8-9%
C tier practicality. KO move / Damage racker / Combo starter / Punisher

Dsmash is a very very sexy move, and I personally love it to bits. It can kill, not very early, but it can, especially well on floaties I may add. This move is Samus' fastest smash and covers a very large area around her. This move can combo very very well into uairs and punish rolls or attacks on your shield if you feel UpB is a bit too risky. This move does have some cooldown lag, and you will be punished if it is shielded, so be careful.



Fully Refreshed (uncharged, all hits connect) U-smash=20-24%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged, all hits connect) U-smash=10-11%
Fully Refreshed (charged, all hits connect) U-smash=29-33%
Fully Exhausted (charged, all hits connect) U-smash=14-15%
E tier practicality. Damage racker

This move is simply terrible. It can be easily DI'ed out of, has terrible starting and ending lag and is just best left alone. Unless your opponent is DIing down, you are getting punished for using this, if for whatever reason they do DI down, then you've earned yourself 24%, congratulations, your opponent is terrible.



Fully Refreshed (uncharged) Charge Shot=2-3%
Fully Exhausted (uncharged) Charge Shot=2-3%
Fully Refreshed (fully charged) Charge Shot=22-26%
Fully Exhausted (fully charge) Charge Shot=11-12%
A tier practicality. Combo starter & finisher / KO move / Gimper

This move I personally believe is overrated. It doesn't have amazing priority and is beat out by both Links bomb attacks! This move can be fired at all stages of it's charge but the cooldown from the size of the shot increases at the size gets larger. This move has a lot of start up lag so only use this if you're sure you won't get punished for it. This move combo's very nicely at early percentages and deals a whopping 26%!. It KOs quite early, for Samus at least and can be used to gimp opponents with bad recoveries like Link and Ike with baby shots.



Fully Refreshed Super Missle=9-10%
Fully Exhausted Super Missle=4-5%



Fully Refreshed Lock-on Missle=4-5%
Fully Exhausted Lock-on Missle=2-3%
B tier practicality (Both missles). Combo starter / Damage racker / Refreshing moves / Gimper

Ahh the missles, one of the many reasons Samus is known as a spammer. These bad boys come out quickly and can be missile cancelled and very quickly rack up the damage. Super missles do 10% fresh and travel pretty quickly. They can gimp opponents with bad recoveries and can combo into eachother!

Lock-on missles travel a lot slower then super missles, deal less damage and instead of charging in one direction, lock onto your opponents and follow them until their timer runs out and they explode. Lock on missiles are the better of the two types of missles simple due to the fact they eat spot dodges and can set up grabs or other follow ups. Both forms of missile have EXTREMELY low priority however.



Fully Refreshed Bombs=8-9%
Fully Exhausted Bombs=4-5%
E tier practicality. Recovery / Gimper

Bombs are simply terrible. If these actually exploded on contact like they did in melee instead of being timed, these would actually be useful. They deal no knock back to be honest and can rarely kill at 999% (useless trivia xD). However, off stage, these bad boys can really help us stall when recovering and give us a bit of a boost as well!. These bombs will knock a PK twin out of his recovery and can gimp (if you're Tudor <3).



Fully Refreshed Screw Attack=10-11%
Fully Exhausted Screw attack=6-7%
B Tier practicality. Combo finisher / KO move (if you're IsmaR) / Platform control / Out of shield option

Screw attack is by far Samus' best ground attack and out of shield option. This move can be done both grounded and aerially and both versions have their own uses. Grounded Upb is always done out of shield and deals a very nice 13% if the opponent does not DI out of it. This move comes out on frame 5 and is very nice for ending combos such as fast falled uair > upb. The aerial version of this move is not as good as the grounded version, but should never go unnoticed. This move when used on opponents in the blast zone is capable of killing them there. Another really cool thing about this move is that it EATS shields. Thats right, gobbles them up. It will easily break many many shields (unless your name is Bowser/D3/Snake/DK).



Fully Refreshed D-throw=5-6%
Fully Exhausted D-throw=3-4%
C tier practicality. Combo starter

Samus does not have a good variety of throws, but d throw is definatly one of her better ones, this move is capable of linking into ALOT of her moves such as uair and upb and simply looks awesome.



Fully Refreshed U-throw=8-9%
Fully Exhausted U-throw=4-5%
D tier practicality. Damage racker.

That's all this move does. Rack up damage. When the opponent is too high for her other throws to combo, simply throw them upwards if they are not close to an edge.



Fully Refreshed F-throw=8-9%
Fully Exhausted F-throw=4-5
C tier practicality. Combo finisher.

Fthrow is very good for getting opponents off the stage to set up gimps and ends a combo very nicely.


Fully Refreshed B-throw=7-8%
Fully Exhausted B-throw=3-4%
C tier practicality. Combo finisher.

Dthrow is very good for getting opponents off the stage to set up gimps and ends a combo very nicely. This move also is capable of killing around 250-260%.



Fully Refreshed Pummel=1-2%
Fully Exhausted Pummel=1%
Move refresher

It was oftenly believed that Samus has a bad pummel, this is NOT the case. Samus can hit all characters with her pummel and she pummels very quickly. This is a very nice move refresher and you can easily land 2-3 pummels before you need to throw the opponent or release them.


Here are some write ups for each and every move in Samus' arsenal : http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=256588



These combos have been taken out of the mass amount of pages this thread has and has been posted below. Most of these are 80-90% guaranteed while others require you to judge the opponent's DI. Practice makes perfect, so please get to work and learn these combos.

Grab, pummel, pummel, up throw= 10-12%
Zair, grab, pummel, pummel, up throw=14-19%
FF U-air, Up+B= 11-16%
U air Fast-Falled -> UpB
D air -> UpB
at 0 % ONLY Charge shot -> running grab -> pummel->Pummel-> Up Throw
Running attack to UpB
F air if the last hit doesn't connect -> UpB
missile cancel -> Dash attack -> Up B
Dair->d-tilt at mid %s, otherwise they don't have enough hitstun
Dair-> charge beam (have them bounce off the ground)
Short hop super missile -> running short hop reverse bair. 17% - 21%
Short hop super missile -> Zair
Fast fall Dair -> Bair
Non-sweet spot Zair -> Grab -> Pummel -> Any Throw (preferably up or down) -> Up B
Fast-fall up-air -> up-tilt -> fast-fall up-air -> forward-air 0-53%
Fast-fall up-air -> jab-cancelled jab -> down-tilt 0-28%
Homing missile->dtilt
Dash Attack->Jab->dtilt/smash
Fully Charged Blast -> Dash Attack -> UpB
fulljump uair-> homing missile
fulljump uair->->(possiby jump to uair)->ff? fair or uair->screw attack
ff shorthop uair->screwattack
dash attack->screw attack
jab->dtilt
from the ledge-> ledgehop fair or uair->screw attack (especially effective on yoshi's)
shorthop zair->shorthop zair immediately->fulljump double zair (lame, but it works sometimes lol)
dair->chargeshot or jab to dtilt in the 40% "bounce" range
homing missile->dtilt (or jab to dtilt depending on how airborne the enemy is)
sometimes this works :/ dthrow->fully charged charge shot->dash attack (take advantage of the stun)->uthrow or fthrow
0% hm cancel ->charge shot ->dash attack -> upb = 50%+
0% hm cancel ->charge shot ->dash grab->pummel ->dthrow->jump to force air dodge->bair
30%+ nair->fastfall->ftilit
lower percents. Pointblank zair->charge shot
lower percents. Pointblank zair->jab->downtilit
uair-uair-bair medium %
and dair - upb ofc
smash missile and charge in for an dair is pretty safe too

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This section is all about frame data for everything about Samus. It will help you see what moves come out the quickest, what lasts long, and what doesn't. This is all very important for the future of Samus. Reminder: This is a work in progress and it will be under construction for a LONG time.



EVASION




DASH ATTACK/JABS AND TILTS




SMASH ATTACKS



AERIAL ATTACKS



SPECIALS




GRABS

Credit goes to: Xyro77, KillerJawz, Rohins, Sago, Cherry64, Serris, Hive, Dryn, n00b, Tudor. <3 The Samus Community.

Moves from ledge combos

1.ledge-hop fair to u-tilt- up b
2. Ledge-hop fair to up smash
3. Ledge-hop fair to up b

Involving platforms ie battlefield

1. Usmash to up b

You listed u air combos another is uair to chargeshot

Double Dair (tap jump dair quick double jump dair again)

Fair-dsmash or downtilt

Dair to bair if read di not that practical but still can be done

Runing attack to dair ie push of ledge reference rohins vid http://youtube.com/watch?v=YjEbZSZ_R8o

Bombs can lead to combos and moves
ie Bombs to dairs and forward smashes

All off combos I can think of at moment I'm sure I have more hope this helps good idea starting this thread.

Didn't see tricks here are a few
1. Samus can go under Smashville
2. On certain levels uair pokes threw level ie Llayt Cruise
3. With zair possible to poke threw level and hit characters feet just cling to edge and won't auto latch hard to explain experiment with it

I'll share tips/tricks that I feel I've either discovered or experimented with on my own.. so i won't share any other samus's tricks without their discretion

Buffering:
Samus can buffer shields, spotdodges and rolls from short hop missile cancels and whiffed short hop zairs. Sometimes I like to short hop smash missile cancel -> instantaneous roll -> bair if it connects.

Bombs:

Out of bomb crouch canceling (Raigoth cancel/bcc), Samus can buffer a variety of commands
The most useful one is probably dtilt because it comes out unexpectedly fast and being in morph ball form gives her a smaller profile, a delayed projectile to worry about, and good spacing options.

To buffer the dtilt, hold down to bcc and just tap A.. pretty simple, but how the game recognizes inputs it optimizes the bcc "down" command and the "A" command to buffer the dtilt.

Instead of dtilt, you can buffer down-angled fsmashes, instant dash attacks, etc.. that's basic bcc stuff.

For more defensive options, like with MC buffers, you can buffer shield, instant spot dodge and instant roll (if performed correctly, no landing + shield startup frames are visible). To do the instant shield, just hold down near the end frames of the bomb laying animation and hold shield. To buffer the spot dodge, hold shield and tap down twice. The first one initiates the bcc, the second one buffers the spot dodge. This is pretty useful if the opponent expects a dtilt and spaces accordingly.. The last one, instant roll, is a bit more difficult. You need to hold shield, tap down, then make a quarter circle forward/back motion (QCF/QCB) similar to arcade fighter input. By rotating the stick a quarter circle, you buffer in the down for the bcc and the forward/back for the roll in a smooth motion. I don't think its necessary to perform the quarter circle if you can press down and left/right really fast, but it helps.

Against a shielding opponent, bombing past them into a bcc fsmash eats their shield, pushes them into the bomb, which eats their shield a little more. Sometimes, opponents tend to drop the shield after the initial fsmash/dtilt and forget about the bomb, which helps to setup another fsmash/dtilt. YMMV, but I think it's decent shield pressure.

Samus can cancel her ledge jump animation with a bomb at the very instant she leaves the ledge. This makes her return to the stage very very low to the ground, with a delayed projectile, and the ability to bcc into anything, really. She can vary the height at which her jump is canceled by timing the down b, and she can DI back to the ledge, off the ledge or into the stage. I think this is better than simply ledgedrop dj down b because ledgejumping counts as a "ledge animation" and I believe you're granted a few invinicibility frames for it.

And while I'm discussing ledge recovery options, for those who don't know how to rising ledgehop zair, make sure you're on a stage like Battlefield or Smashville where there is space under the stage horizontally beyond the ledge. Ledge drop, double jump and DI forward into that space and once you are past the ledge, your zair will register as an attack and not a grapple recovery.

That's probably all for now.. I just wanted to "publish" my bomb stuff.

I'll just toss out there that charge beam abuse has grown a lot on me lately. I find it an effective mind game technique to do charge shot bursts directly out of dash, as it's often what opponents least expect when you're running. You can do any special move directly out of a dash--for the neutral special, during a dash, you just let go of the joystick to let it go back to its neutral position, then press B right away. It's pretty easy and works for me a lot.

Probably common knowledge, but if you want to upB and not sweetspot on the way you you can just hold down on the control stick. Can be useful if you're edge camping and using upB to regrab, some people will run up to the edge and you get get a free upB on them.

You can upB and uair through G&W's dair if you are slightly behind him (hitting him, not his key).

Pivot grab is sexy vs laggy aerial approaches.

And ... that's all for now, I'll post more if I think of stuff.

Shield
Airdodge
Up B
...
I think those things are important to remember...
Wall hop to bair on FD to...

Hylian said:

Dash attack to up B almost always combo's. When it won't combo you can do dash attack, then pivot grab and you usually grab them.

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I find myself doing this a lot, it's a great combo (especially ***** on my favorite stage battlefield).

-very situational combo: shnair(so she kicks on the way up) nair(kick on way down) jab to dtilt when you land. That works only at low % where knockback is less, but its a fast 4 hit mele move if u get it off.

- Probably common knowledge but when landing from high above(which takes forever with samus' floatiness) dropping a bomb before hitting a dair on an opponent is very effective. I cant count the # times I've fooled my opponent into using thier up a while i delayed my landing with a bomb to a dair.(also great for off the stage spikes)

- falling shzair to rising shzair is a quick little double hit which stays low (pretty sure I saw xyro do this one alot too). Also shdair can be buffered and repeated infinitely.

GoOD GOOD! KEEP ON GOiN!!!!

There is a very easy way to gimp snakes recovery at low %s. If they are in the middle, grab them and throw them near an edge. Once they are there, dash attack. They will either slide off or get hit by the dash attack, so you can f-tilt twice, angle it up and then down if they are hit with the dash attack. If they slid off, just f-tilt angled down once (Try to read their jump so you can f-tilt again). This usually gimps their jump. Then they must cypher and you can dair it and kill them. Did this to a snake at 0 and won the match because of it.

Homing missiles are really safe for you to use. SH homing missiles are great. Even if they're reflected they barely come towards you at all. Most people will try to shield them also so use that to your advantage. Dash grab them if they shield. If they jump that's usually a free aerial. Samus excels at playing off the stage.

I think another thing that would be good to add to this thread would be spike options. Of course, her dair is killer in any situation, but I've found a bomb off the stage is a much better option against Captain Falcon and Ganondorf. What other characters is this method good for? In other words, which characters are knocked out of their UpB when hit with a bomb?

Also, you can usually get them with the bomb and then land the dair for a supersexy spike.

missle x2>charged shot>grab>Uair>Bair

I usually wait for an opponent to do their double jump to get CLOSE to me,
than short hop and release two missiles.
If theyre any good, they should try to dodge. Right before the second missile hits, i release a fully charged shot. Do a running grab (comes out quicker) while theyre absorbing the shot, than down throw.

From here my most popular decision is Uair, to Bair. Ive pretty much perfected it, although its not a "combo" i do it on 90% of the people ive faced. Even people with very good DI.

-To avoid being juggled by uptilts and upsmashes I usually airdodge into the opponent and then proceed to screw attack. Doesn't work against aerials.

-Against lasers and pit arrow spamming, I use a rising shorthopped air dodge and then cancel it into zair.

-I don't know if anybody knows this but if you launch your homing missiles whilst rising you can perform the triple missile jump with short hops.

-upair>fair (cause the upair throws the opponent sideways).

A short hop triple missle?! Is that possible? pls explain.

No, you will launch three missiles before landing but you will need your second jump.

These were the instructions given from the triple missile thread:

"-Jump - fire homing missile
-Double jump - fire second homing missile
-Fire a third missile* just before landing."

I've found that you can do it by short hop:

-short hop-fire homing missile whilst rising (so that it launches at the peak of your jump)
-double jump- fire second homing missile whilst rising (launches at peak of jump and allows time for the third missile/zair)
-Fire a third missile or zair just before landing

The reasoning behind this is that all the start up lag occurs during the rise of the jump thereby relinquishing the need for a full hop. The second missile also has to occur during the rising animation because you wont be as high as the original triple jump and thus have less time for the third missile. Also, zair will eat any of the reflected projectiles.

I find this easy to do because my controller settings have the jump button right next to the specials button.

You guys know you can triple missile super missiles right? I posted this a long time ago but im just making sure you all remember. It's good for pressuring your opponent when off the stage since you acn just interchange those with homing whenever they go too low/high for the super missiles to work.

I don't think you can do it with short hops though . I keep trying but it's too laggy.

I miss the old samus crew. Didn't have people like nOOb talking down to you about learning to do stuff yourself and such and saying buffer ever other word.

You don't need to SH it...its still hard even if you full hop it.

Oh I get ya Julz, I figured u meant a single short hop .

You betrayed us for IC so you would "never lose to an olimar because desynching makes it so that olimar can't get a hit" and then lost to fearless in a 5$ MM. And you say you are still here.

Mars- said:

I miss the old samus crew. Didn't have people like nOOb talking down to you about learning to do stuff yourself and such and saying buffer ever other word.

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That's not my intention at all, I love you guys. I totally did not expect this, if I did, I would have buffered a spot dodge.

but seriously. sorry if I come off that way, I'll cool it.

n00b said:

I totally did not expect this, if I did, I would have buffered a spot dodge.

Click to expand...

YOU DID IT AGAIN.

Just kidding. I don't hate you.

Anyway, as for little tricks, you can get Samus to slide using her up-smash by dashing with the control stick and hitting c-stick up immediately after starting the dash.

Serris said:

YOU DID IT AGAIN.

Just kidding. I don't hate you.

Anyway, as for little tricks, you can get Samus to slide using her up-smash by dashing with the control stick and hitting c-stick up immediately after starting the dash.

Click to expand...

You can modify this by hitting up and z at same time hold z for charged sliding up smash. You can also do slight sliding forward smash and moves out of shield slides reference rohins vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38iFi8-bEUY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVkK-v5vE2Q 2nd shows some other techsi talked about ealier

Also I just found out you can go under battlefield don't know if this is old news.

This might come off as common knowledge: holding down on left stick will take away the autofastfall property of down on cstick. What's cool is, you don't have to be holding directly down, you can press down at an angle. You can also run by pressing down at an angle. This allows you to run off dair w/o a fastfall easily.

I'm not positive about this but it looks like dtilt has IASA frames but only with dtilt. Try doing a dtilt then jabbing then doing two consecutive dtilts. To me it looks like the second dtilt comes out faster but my eyes could be playing tricks on me.

Any move + momentum on a shield that would push you off the edge cancels the animation and you're free to move in the air.

Unlike charge shots, smash and homing missiles don't need true pivot to shoot behind you, you can use them any time during your dash animation.

Samus can run off any of Battlefield's platforms to Super Missile cancel. Much faster than triple missiling.

You can b-reversal bombs, but they provide no momentum boost. You can only use it to turn around in midair. Only uses I can think of is to grapple the ledge of a stage when facing the wrong way. Mindgame potential is weak unless your foe is super observant.

Samus can "crouch" under Falco's laser by dashing to the edge of the stage and dropping a bomb when you reach the ledge. The morph ball won't bounce or move. Almost completely useless except to maybe get an opposing Falco to say "....Wow! o_O"

Quick question: What's faster? Samus' dtilt or dsmash? Both ending and starting lag.

Rohins, how do you do that half step? Do you just smash the the joystick then hit A or the C-stick a little late?

Ragnar0k said:

Rohins, how do you do that half step? Do you just smash the the joystick then hit A or the C-stick a little late?

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Half step either press A or cstick really early. I believe it's the same amount of time you have dash dance.

Today I was messing around in training mode and I found an easier alternative to the instant edgehug that's exclusive to samus because of her Zair. Basically you run off the edge with a reversed jump into a zair. This is pretty fast, and I think a little bit safer than a normal hug because you don't fastfall downwards if you screw up.

iono if youve tried this but against fatties like D3, super missile cancel -> dash usmash does like 35% if the missile connects, but since d3s usually sit in their shields waiting to infinite you the missile pressures shield down so that the usmash hits.. nedez moar testing but yep

Just something I noticed today, but does anyone use an offstage z-air to edgehog a recovery instead of going for a spike? Seemed to work rather well, but the average crowd on WiFi isn't exactly tourney-level. Just a suggestion.

Edit: This isn't the walk-off edgehog z-air option that was mentioned earlier by Spudnick, more like a edgehog mindgame to use over a d-air on a recovering opponent.

A cute alternative to pivot grabbing:

Run, shield, buffer turn during shield release, grab. You'll perform a normal standing grab instead of that squirly sliding pivot grab. I like it because it allows me to have more control of where my character will be standing at the end of the grab.

dood no, the slide in the pivot grab makes it the cutest.. it's my favorite

Does it bother anyone besides me that samus can't b-reverse her charge shots?

Or am I simply just a huge nooblet? I do it with all my other characters...

Kodachrome said:

Does it bother anyone besides me that samus can't b-reverse her charge shots?

Or am I simply just a huge nooblet? I do it with all my other characters...

Click to expand...

if by b-reverse you mean change directions in the air while shooting then yeah, she can do that.

Hmm. It's easy as heck for me, but i can't seem to do it with her uncharged shots....charged shots? One of the two. Not just changing directions, but shifting momentum, too. Not quite a b-stick motion. Iunno. Whatevah.