M@v
Subarashii!
THE MODERN FOX MATCHUP GUIDE
Contents
1.Intro
2.FLAMEDASHING
3. Matchup Chart
4.Page guide for previous matchup discussions
5. Character overviews.(current at the bottom.
2.FLAMEDASHING
This technique is more powerful than a falcon punch and a chuck norris roundhouse combined. If you want to keep reading this guide, go ahead, but Flamedashing makes every matchup 9-1 your favor, the 1 being if you dont harness the power of flamedashing correctly and kill yourself using it. If You use Flamedashing, you win the universe. seriously.
If you somehow didn't realize I was kidding flamedashing is actually pretty bad. It is a rather gimmicky AT. Keep reading for actual matchups.
PLEASE POST INPUT!!! IT WILL HELP MAKE A MORE ACCURATE GUIDE!!!!
Special thanks to orintemple for making the original “Big Book of Fox Matchups” guide.
Link: http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=161456
PAGE GUIDE TO PREVIOUS MATCHUP DISCUSSIONS
PIKACHU: 4-6
ZERO SUIT SAMUS: 6-8, REVISIT: 83-91
METAKNIGHT: 8-11
SNAKE: 11-14
MR.GAME AND WATCH: 14-18
MARTH: 18-21
KING DEDEDE: 21-24
FALCO: 24-28
R.O.B: 28-31
KIRBY: 31-33
IKE: 33-36
ZELDA/SHEIK:36-42
OLIMAR:42-47
WOLF:47-49
DIDDY KONG:49-54
WARIO:54-59
WEEGII:59-61
PEACH:61-69
DK:69-76
TOON LINK:76-79
PIT:76-83
ICE CLIMBERS:91-97
GANONDORF:97-99
CAPTAIN FALCON:99-102
SONIC:102-112
LUCARIO:112-121
NESS:121-130
LUCAS:130-139
MARIO:139-146
BOWSER:148-155
SAMUS: 155-166
YOSHI:166-171
JIGGLYPUFF:173-?
PIKACHU
The Hardest Of them all. This matchup isnt even right. Pika got a 0-80% chaingrab on you. Good luck with that. He can dsmash right out of the CG too. Not only this, his priority is overall better than yours. The only thing you have on him is your shine. If Pika trys to thunder you directly above him, turn shine on. The bolt will go right through you, turning against pikachu, giving him a shock. A good pikachu will know this most likely, so dont expect to see this too much. Best bet is blaster. Its underhanded, but when facing a 0-80% CG. ......
Here is a great Summary by ZHAMY:
If you don't counterpick this when you have the chance something is mentally wrong with you.
ZERO SUIT SAMUS
Don't be distracted by her looks. Zero Suit Samus has one move that makes your life difficult: Dsmash. Get hit by it once and you get robbed of a good chunk of percent. The Dsmash chain has its fallbacks however. Its easy to punish from above. Example: Say a Zss is starting a dsmash and you see it coming. Jump. Now your free to Dair. Some ZSS players might try to spam it over and over, punish them for it. Now when you come up against a smart Zss, your going to need to more than that. Zss has that whip. That whip got range, more than anything you got. Therefore, Approaching probably isnt the best idea in this matchup. Pump her blaster to make come close. Spacing is essential to staying out of the way of her whip, which is fsmash,upsmash, and side b. Her tilts are decent. Dsmash and her stunner serve as setups for her tilts.
Her recovery is a tether recovery. However, she is the best tether recovering character in the game. I cant stress how good the kick after her down b is. It stays out, got made priority and insane knockback. It also spikes when it first comes out.
How to fight her: Spam her to approach. Try staying airborne to minimize the risk of dsmash. Approach from the air at 45 degree angles, it is the blindspot in her whip's range. Your airgame beats hers; if you can get her airborne, keep her there. Her aerials are mainly meant to be shorthopped and used after stun setups. You can go for a gimp, but be ready for the down b kick. If you get caught in the dsmash chain, di 45 degress, away from the chain. Thats what seems to be most effective. Try jumping out that way as well if its at higher percents.
METAKNIGHT
MK, The Best character in the game. With good reason. All his moves are lighting fast, and Dsmash is argued to be broken with its amazing power:speed ratio. You'll find a lot of Mk's that spam Dsmash and tornado. There is not much you can do here. Nair into the top of the tornado stops it. Focus your assault aerially so you dont have to face dsmash. Your outgunned air and ground here, but your best bet is air. MK can get hit by Dair-utilt, so hope and pray you can connect. MK is somewhat light, so usmash can kill him decent. Dont even try edgeguarding, MK has the best recovery.
Shadowlink84:-
Oh and concerning MK.
I would have to say 65:35 MK's advantage.
The main issue is that Mk has much more range than Fox and is equal in terms of attack speed. He also has an easier time comboing and can gimp Fox very easily. Fox really needs to play defensively because if he goes on the offensive, MK will murder him each and everytime.
it is best to try and punish mistakes if possible and if Fox cannot, maintain spacing away from Mk and use the blaster to bat and frustrate MK.
Zhamy-
MK is light and very susceptible to some of Fox's most devestating combos, and dies especially early to the standard Dair->Usmash. The very beginning of the match may pose some trouble in racking up damage reliably, simply because MK is so fast and knockback at early stages won't let you effectively DI chase because of low hitstun. However, Fox does have one other big advantage, and that is his ability to camp MK. Granted, it's not as effective because of MK's speed, but laser spam will help quite a lot. Since Fox doesn't have to approach, this opens many more of his options than "Dair->Something," and makes Fox's game much less predictable. Bairs/Nairs Become amazingly useful, and DI chased Uairs at mid percents make MK fly (off the screen). Tornado is a pain to deal with, but a Dair/Nair from the top will stop it cold. The rest of MK's arsenal is still to be feared, so don't think Fox's "advantage" makes the matchup easy. Fox can beat MK, but you're going to have to play at a very high level of prediction and thinking to utilize that tactical advantage.
Fox is hampered by his poor and predictable recovery, and if you're under the stage, don't expect Fire Fox to save you. MK is a master at gimping, and you will get gimped. Varied Fox Illusions are probably your best bet for recovering, canceled, at different heights, etc. Do not try to edgeguard MK, because you will get *****. Other than that, watch out for MK's usual repetoire of quick combos and annoying gimping.
JmHS-
I usually use a hit and run tactic versus Meta.Lasers to keep at bay and dair to anything i can when he is open.If i grab him I usually do a grab attack just to get more %,and unfortanely foxs grabs dont have a safe follow up.
You cant edgeguard meta,so thats out.He can and it can be a pain.As always,be unpredictable when recovering,trying to trick him.Firefox can be very punished so if thats your only option I think is a lost stock versus meta.
Now,to kill him:The famous up smash.When he is at high % just drop shield and run upsmash.Don get predictable on that though.
Also try to be at the center of the stage most of the time.If you are colse to the edge you can eat a dsmash.
So this is a very hard matchup.As always,be patient,play safe.
RPK
Tornado information that I had posted
.Your best bet though is to approach it from the top and drop down onto it towards the eye of the tornado...You can do it with either nair or dair and sometimes even fair. Though I think your best option is Dair because the first hit gets cancel'd out and then right after the other parts of the dair make contact with Metaknight. My nairs keep getting cancel'd out most of the time. However, it still stops the tornado. If you get below him and he is low enough to you...Upsmash him out of it or if your daring enough and he is high enough, come at him with an uair...Unless you can connect with the forward smash, which can also break through. In order to break through the tornado, you have to hit metaknight himself and not the yellow...AVOID THAT AT ALL COSTS!!! DONT GET HIT BY IT!!! The thing with taking down the tornado is perfect spacing and only hitting with the attacking portion which will have the most priority. Dont put Fox in the way of it. Just hit with the tip of the attack and make sure it actually hits Metaknight.
Even if he short hops the tornado, and your close enough, you have just enough room to get close enough to the tornado without getting hit and upsmashing him out of it...And remember, 82 is his kill percent for an upsmash...
SNAKE
Im sure some of you are dying to know how snake, one of the games best characters, has a hard time vs fox. Here is why:
First, you need to fight snake in a certain way, and your blaster is crucial in this matchup.
Blaster spam him. Your blasters blow up his grenades, negating them, and it slows down his nikita missle. This will force snake to approach you, usually by a mortarslide. Be ready for it, dodge or shield it, and go for a shieldgrab or dash attack/dair to utilt combo. Your utilt crushes snake, since he’s so heavy. Your combos work against him well, so use them. As for the broken ftilt and broken utilt; never, NEVER take them head on. You wont win. Against Ftilt, dodge and grab, or shield the whole thing. Utilt is his best weapon against you. It can kill you as early as 103%(I know this from personal experience). Stay away from it. Edgeguarding is hard against him, since he gets the stupid super armor frames on his upB. You can still pull an fair on him and get some damage though. Shieldgrabbing helps a lot in this matchup as well. One last tip, if you die, and snake has a mine on the field, run to it and detontate it while you are still invulnerable.
Snake is one of my favorite matchups, and I think fox has a fairly decent time with snake. Blaster shreds his nade spam, and throws off his nikita missle. ALWAYS let snake come to you. He will probably mortar slide to do it, so be ready. Also, if you shine his mortar shell, it will work like pika's thunder, itll go through you and turn against snake. Never take ftilt head on, you won't win. Evade at all costs. Its pretty easy to see coming. Utilt, on the other hand, is not. Snake Utilt causes fox to have nightmares at night. It can kill him at 100%, and its range and priority are maddening. it makes it near impossible to approach from above. Best way, if forced to approach, is to dodge and attack his back. Your utilt combo crushes snake. You can usually get 40% off of him. Also a little trick, this works with sonic too btw, grab snake when hes in his up b and DONT hit him or throw, just let him break free. he will fall to his death. proceed to laugh hysterically at him.
letterbomb-
grab his up b from the edge and let him wiggle out, he just falls and dies.
Zhamy-
Snake's usual means of forcing approaches through grenades and whatnot is completely destroyed by good laser camping. This means that Snake has to go on the offensive...and we all know that Fox's defensive options are much better than his offensive options. Dair->Utilt works wonders, and with Snake's relatively low attack speed, fitting in other things with Dair is very possible.
His recovery is laughably predictable, and timed correctly, it's possible to pseudo-spike him with Dair, which should be abused whenever possible. Snake's air game is, for the most part, easy to deal with. Fox may have some spacing issues, but Snake's aerials don't set up for anything else on Fox, so as long as you don't take too many hits, you should be fine.
On the ground, assuming that Snake is approaching, Fox has so many options it's ridiculous. It would be a waste to try to list them all, but experiment and you'll find a groove for yourself. You will have to watch out for Mortar Sliding and Jabs, but other than that, you can dance all day around Snake. Mines need to be watched out for, but it's difficult for Snake to punish Fox's recovery, especially compared to the havoc that others can cause. Snake just doesn't have the speed to punish Illusion, and Firefox, if mixed up enough, will just blow by Snake.
Fenrir VII-
Well, the main point of this match is patience and precision. You basically have to be a surgeon here and only take what you know you have...
you have to realize that if you get too ambitious with a dair, usmash, or even a grab, you can be punished hardcore for it.
Snakes LOVE to turtle in their shield after forcing you to approach. you attack, they spot dodge tilt you. The difference in this match is that you don't really need to approach, unless it's clearly open. You have to do a LOT of waiting for dodges here, otherwise you take punishment.
Now all that is not to say that it's a bad match. it's certainly not. Fox is one of the best against Snake...you just have to be really careful. Personally, I believe this match is a true testament to your mindgaming ability. If you are a noob Fox, you will get hit by every tilt he throws by being predictable...so you HAVE to grow in your game and learn to be smart.
As for general strategy:
Lasers are your best friend...I'm not saying just stand there and fire away...use SHs and such...but racking that damage without real fear of punishment is nice. He will (usually) approach with mortar slide, which you can dair him out of. At that point, he's yours. dair, utilt x3, grab throw continue works...just when it's done...when he can defend himself...do NOT try to continue it. go back to lasers. If he's above 90%...that's usmash kill range...don't just go nuts and throw them all over the place...really plan it out. REALLY be careful about it. I would almost recommend disregarding your usmash unless it's just obvious...and going for a bair kill instead. Dair usmash will combo late in the % game...so watch for that.
Grabs are your second best friend. if you really want to approach Snake, a pivot wave grab is probably your safest bet as, if he dodges it, you slide out of scary range. In this match, probably up and down are your best throws. In the air, you can bait Snake out and punish him...you straight up can beat him in the air, so putting him in that position is a good idea.
Play around with shine dairs...don't just go for a dair...his utilt beats it. do a shine or two...or three, then dair his whiff. that's your best option. again, don't just be predictable about it, or he will jump and uair you out of it. mix things up.
Often in this match, it's best to just avoid confrontation. Instead of coming down with a dair, DI to the side, and just get away. start it over...even footing. It's really easy to slip into aggressiveness, and get your stock taken away just like that.
Edgeguarding...your best area here.
First of all...Snake's recovery is really easy to read. that's an overall Snake weakness in this game. USE IT AGAINST HIM.
Special things to note here. Strong Nair (hit at the beginning of the nair), uair, and bair all hit him out of his upB. The bair is underlined because it kills pretty early....so keep it in mind.
Yes, you can grab his recovery if the player is stupid enough to upB by the stage (you then DON'T attack or throw him, and he tumbles down, without a jump), but then, he just C4's his way back onto the stage...it's a great way to put dammage on him, but usually won't work to kill him. One thing I like doing is intentionally missing that grab, then edgehogging VERY quickly...often, this will surprise him into death. otherwise, a stage spiking bair is always good...and if nothing else, sure, land the grab.
When you hit him out, the Snake will usually recover high enough so you can't aerial him out of his upB (may start doing this after you catch it once). From this point, he's coming down onto the stage, where you are. If you stay on the ground (as you should) he has basically two options, if you play it correctly:
1. attack you with an aerial
2. airdodge into the ground
realize that both of these are punishable...even with an usmash out of shield... there's your killing opportunity, if you're fast enough. just be fast.
almost everytime he's in the air, and you're on the ground, he will do one of those two things. this is why I say you have to be a surgeon. He WILL give you chances, you just have to be really patient and wait for them.
That's also why I say throwing him into the air is a good idea..
basically, I say the match is straight up 5-5 even. I can see how it would be anywhere from 4-6 to 6-4 for each of the characters... but it's certainly winnable...
Some Foxes will come in here saying the match is impossible....it's not...it just requires a different Fox style and a LOT of patience and precision. certainly not that bad of a match for Fox.
MR.GAME AND WATCH
Game and watch is agreeably one of brawls elite characters. He can be very annoying to fox. 1st off, the bucket. it only takes 3 of your blaster shots to charge it. I like to bait him. Make it look like Im going to spam, fire only one shot and charge. It takes him a while to put the bucket away, so its an ideal time to strike. Not suprisingly, what causes you(and a lot of the brawl cast) problems are two moves; the fishbowl(neutral air) and the turtle(bair). These moves have insanely crazy high priority. G&Ws turtle might just be the highest priority move in the whole game. Also, G&W can instantly Dsmash out of a dthrow, so youll probably die at least once from this. Did I mention his smashes are insanely strong? One things going for you here; his weight. G&W is the second lightest character in the game, making him EXTREMELY easy to KO.
Emblem Lord-
Overall G&W has more priority, better ways to control the match and it's much easier for him to take control. And he is much much safer. Anytime Fox approaches he puts himslef in danger and has no good pokes to stay safe.
G&W is so f*ckin safe is should be illegal.
Fox may be able to trade with G&W's Dair with his U-smash, but that's not something you wanna keep going for consistently since due to the range and speed of the bair more then likely G&W will win out. The reason Fox can trade with the bair is because he can run in under G&W's bair and his leg will smash the underside of G&W's body.
This takes alot of precision to pull off and it's not something you would try for often. It's not a reliable answer to G&W's bair. The same can be said of Foxes Bair. It requires precision. G&W can just throw out walls of disjointed lingering hitboxes that Fox must deal with using his mediocre options.
If Fox shields something from G&W he gets nothing for it, if the spacing is good on G&W's attack.
G&W shields something from Fox and even if Fox tries to space then G&W can still just up b then do an aerial or shield drop d-tilt. Two very good options.
Yes, Fox can dash grab. His dash grab that would lose out to G&W's Bair.
Dash to shield would be his best option, but his defensive options out of shield are crap so he can't do much once he gets in. He has u-smash, but it's only one move and G&W can just space himself well to avoid retaliation from that and then up b when he lands from a SH Bair. Dash to shield is better vs G&W's d-tilt. But still overall G&W controls the match.
Fenrir VII-
I agree that GW poops on Fox's dair. He's similar to Pit in that way...in that, you should almost disregard using it after a FH. However, GW has only several viable options...in the higher metagame, anyway.He will SH aerial your shield and drift back out of range ala Melee Jiggs.
He will do that and then dtilt your rush in. beating your ground offensive.
As for other ground moves that GW has...honestly, they should never hit a Fox. I understand things happen, and a good player can guess another person out and land it. but in general, they are not good options. Other than that...grab? leads to nothing...at least it shouldn't. dash attack? not so much.
really, that's about it. the entire GW strat in this match
I mean, don't get me wrong. GW is a good character, utilizing just a few of his moves...but when your options are basically limited to approaching with a SH, pillaring a shield and tilting an approach, or the random dair every once in a while. The thought of a character that has the speed and kiilling ability of Fox beating him shouldn't be all that farfetched.
Anyway...getting down to the details. As a Fox player, you know GW has only a few viable options. At that point, you find things that beat those options.
If he is approaching with a SH aerial: If the GW commits to using fishbowl or fair to approach you, it's a free usmash out of shield. yes it hits if the GW is not perfectly spacing. If he is. you shielded a move. The GW's next move will be most likely one of two things: either another SH aerial (jiggs from melee) or a dtilt to beat your rush. At this point, you have a choice. A run shield gets you a guaranteed grab or usmash out of shield, because the GW no longer has perfect spacing. Yes, this does work. Other than that, assuming he doesn't use fishbowl for the second aerial (which happens rarely), you get a dair grab/whatever is comboing at that %.
If he is playing defensively, which will happen quite a bit. He will keep you away with turtle and dtilt, mainly. First of all, Dair beats both of those, if he commits to something. of course, you don't go for the dair all the time, because GW > dair. Secondly, a good shield rush will put a LOT of pressure on GW, causing him to go for something or move away. GW's dodges are retardedly bad, so punishing them is easy. GW players know this, so they will jump away or attack. If they attack, 90% of the time, you can punish.
Let me repeat something I said before. if the GW SH aerials, it is very possible to trade with your usmash. usmash does nearly 20%...and GW starts dying before 90%...do the math. I'm not saying to just spam usmash...but when you can take that big of a step to a stock loss, why would you not take it?
Fox's bair goes through fishbowl and trades with fair.
Again, I say GW has nothing viable from grab. Yes he can dthrow you...but I'm assuming we've all learned to tech here. He can't get a tech chase grab. I believe tech chase usmash works, but he has to guess you out so far that if you are unpredictable in the slightest, you'll be fine.
Somebody mentioned edgeguarding.
Fox's recovery is easy to punish, if the Fox is stupid. I understand that. that's still around from the days of melee...but...if the Fox player knows what he is doing, his recovery becomes one of the most difficult to punish in the game.I know your aerials beat illusion, but why would any fox player illusion into you? Of course this becomes a guessing game, but fox has a LOT of options off the stage.
And yes, it's hard to edgeguard GW. that's true....I just don't really think you need to very much. heh. Fox should NEVER go for the off the stage kill in this match. it's just not worth it. grab the ledge, pull up and punish the turtle/roll-away.
MARTH
Marth is a very good character. He lacks a projectile, so you can force him to approach with blaster. Dair-utilt is a great combo to use. His Fsmash has bad end lag, so its punishable. Watch out for counter. he may try it mid combo, or if your going for an edgeguard. In speaking of edgeguarding, Shine spiking works beautifully on Marth, due to his poor horizontal recovery. If you dont know, his swords sweetspot is on the tip. His Dancing swords(side B) is an extremely effective combo move, since he can use several different attacks in it. Once caught, its near impossible to get out until the moves over. Shieldgrabbing is a viable option, since some of his moves had bad end lag. His Zoning is amazing though, and will make it hard to get close.
ulevo-
Fox unfortunately does not have sufficient speed to compensate for the range difference between the two characters. Aside from laser camping and using shield tactics in close range, he really doesn't have much he can do.
Marth has a FThrow (or DThrow, can't remember now) to FSmash at low percent to start the battle off for 26-27%+ if Fox gets in too close.
Fox can camp using SHDL but unfortunately due to how fast Marth is, he loses to Marths Zoning capabilities.
Their recovery is about equal. Fox coves more distance than Marth on average, but it is much easier to gimp.
Fox's kill moves are more reliable than Marths simply because they're fast, hard to punish, and most of them combo out of the Dair. So this is one benefit Fox has over Marth. However, this still presents the problem that Fox needs to get in close.
The best tactics Fox has are close quarters. However, getting into that range of fight is very difficult considering the range and speed on Marths moves. Even if Fox gets in close, it takes one Dolphin Slash mid combo or Counter or Throw in any direction to reset the spacing and then it goes back to Fox either camping or finding a way in that range again.
I like Fox a lot, but this match up doesn't smile upon him very much. 70-30 I think is fair. I wouldn't go any lower than that until something new develops for Fox's game.
zhamy-
Calling this closer to 65:35, but that's not much of a change. I think stage choice makes a Marth simply outranges Fox on the ground and has more reliable approach options.
In the air, Fox has some advantages and disadvantages. Nair and Bair clank if spaced properly, and it is very possible for Fox to punish an approach-retreat Fair from Marth.
SideB from Marth gives Fox the same trouble that it gives everyone else, so while it's nothing special against Fox, it's not nice either. Marth's other ground approaches aren't horribly threatening to Fox, but that's not to say they're horrible.
Fox has trouble approaching Marth, but it's not impossible. Fair, if shielded, will poke through if done correctly. Dair is a bit harder on Marth because Marth has options, should Fox land behind him. Overall, Fox's approach isn't something to rely on.
On defense, there's the usual laser spam. And this is why the stage matters. On a larger stage, Fox has enough mobility to space well, but on smaller stages, there's just not enough room to exploit all the maneuverability that Fox has. This was covered above by another poster.
Both have pretty punishable recoveries - Fox can bait DS ridiculously easily, Marth can interrupt FFox and Illusion with relative ease.
Overall, both have relatively good combos on each other, with decent chances at killing. Marth does have a few more tricks, noticeably better range, and better approach options, which swings the match in Marth's favor. Stage does matter, though, so I'd stick this square at 35:65 to account for that.
KING DEDEDE
DDD is crazy strong, the strongest there is. He a big fat target for combos, but, like DK, its hard to approach him. This is harder than DK because DDD also has waddle dees hat stop your blaster, so no spam 4 u. The good news about this matchup.1. DDD CANNOT Chaingrab you. 2.DDDs smashes are slow, but his tilts are decent speed. If you can get in to attack, hes easy to combo.
Zhamy-
D3 is an odd matchup. It's entirely about spacing. The "Don't get hit" part of the game becomes vitally important, because each of DDD's hits hurt. Fox is the 7th lightest character, and he can't afford to get hit that many times.
Waddle Dee shouldn't scare you. Assuming you're not playing on a horribly small stage, SHDLs will annoy DDD enough. DDD has trouble approaching Fox because of speed differences. Again - spacing. Except for Bair, you can punish nearly all of DDD's approaches, although you may sometimes be limited to dash attacks, Jabs, grabs, etc.
If you have to approach DDD, a PWG will solve nearly all of your problems if you're smart about it. You're most likely to get hit out of a PWG by Ftilt, so watch for that. USmash kills safe at 127% with DI and Air Dodging. Edgeguarding isn't pretty, though. Fox's Bair gets eaten by a bunch of D3's aerials, and don't even think about shine spiking. That being said, it's difficult to kill D3 early as Fox.
Combos work wonders on this guy. Dairs can and will eat through his shield if its size has gone down a bit, and then the setups work wonders from there. Fair lands all the hits pretty often, and Bair is good for an approach.
D3 has his good spots too, mostly being that he has better range and a much better recovery/edgeguard game. Not to mention that his attacks do ridiculous damage and knockback, so Fox won't live very long. To sum it all up again: Don't get hit.
This matchup is pretty even. Both have advantages and disadvantages I'd pin it at 50:50.
Fenrir VII
if DDD is open enough for an usmash, you can feel free to use it. not only is it easy to laser the big penguin 9 times... if he throws a waddle dee, you can sit there and laser it 9 times. Of course, don't get caught being lazy, but yeah...
Also, camping in the matchup is simple. just a SHDL will hit DDD at least once. the first laser will hit the waddle dee, stopping his motion, and the second will hit DDD. Whereas yeah, the dee's stop your lasers, you also stop his camping completely...which is one of his main points in matches...so that's a load off your mind. Honestly, i believe a fox could camp the entire match and win it... sure it's lame and requires a LOT of patience, but since you can flat out out speed him, I think it's possible.
FALCO
*sigh* Falco. He can get you up to around 60% just by chaingrabbing to a gattling combo(dash attack to lagless usmash). This can become repititive, old, and AGGREVATING. You actually have overall better killing capability than him though. He has a much better projectile than you, but unlike wolf, you can reflect it back to hit him. You SHOULD be able to force falco to approach. Falcos Nair and Bair are fast, and bair is a good kill move. Falcos Fsmash has a deceptive range, be cautious. Dair combos are effective here.
Fenrir VII-
Falco's upB is nearly unusable in this game...so he's limited to overB to recover... so when he's off stage, he will recover either onto the stage or onto the ledge with it. BOTH of these are hit with a drop off, second jump toward the stage, dair (assuming it's timed decently)... This also mini-spikes him, setting him up for an edgehog... or even a shine spike.
Fox has SO many more options in recovering in the match.... so Falco's dair can't keep up with what you can do to him...
On the stage, Falco only has several killing options... The main one being Fsmash. Fsmash is very slow, though, so if it doesn't just surprise you, it shouldn't hit. Bair, dsmash...and eventually usmash will kill as well, but it's just... how do I say this? ...simple to see them coming. Falco just has problems mixing it up enough to actually kill you. and all this time, you're putting on percentage with a few SHDLs and combos. Especially if the Falco is trying and failing to cg you... you get him to +50% with no real effort... and throw him off the stage. Even if you don't have time to dair him, an utilt will beat the phantasm onto the stage...and continue the combo...
originally, before I played the match so much, I gave it almost completely to Falco... but in playing it... I realize Falco HAS to land the cg....and while he's trying, you're doing all this damage to him... Even if he lands it reliably, it's about 60%... which you've more than likely already given to him...or you will easily... add to that the fact that you kill him reliably at 100%...and you don't die for another 30% or so easily... And your edgeguarding game is MUCH more useful...and the match just isn't bad at all.
R.O.B
Yet another great character. Dont even think about edgeguarding him; his recovery, along with Metaknight's, is arguable the best. You can reflect his b move laser and his top. Like Diddys banana, you can pick up the top when you shine it. ROBS Dsmash is even better than Toon Links. Fair owns this guy bad. If you connect with it in the air, every hit will connect. Go fair happy here. Dair and nair are good approaches. Watch out for spot dodge-dsmash from ROBs, most love to use this a lot. Any move where ROB fires his jets(Bair, Dair, Nair, Usmash) is extremely strong. Dair Spikes, and bair is a good kill move. ROB has a hard time hitting with his Usmash. You shouldnt have a hard time hitting him though. Go for the dair-usmash for the kill, but dont spam this. R.O.B will have a nair waiting for you if you become predictable with it. Never become predictable with fox.
KIRBY
Kirbys a fun fight. You both have a good aerial game. His Mallet hurts, watch it. Kirbys Fsmash is a great move, good at killing and has range. If a kirby does steal your blaster ability, just shine the blaster. He can be grabbed out of his down B. His Up B has a lot of priority, best just to dodge it. Foxs Fair works very well against kirby. Kirbys light, so he can be killed easily. One thing I must stress: WATCH OUT FOR KIRBYCIDES!!!!
If they are a stock up they are bound to do it. Even if they are on the same stock they may do it, or even try to spit you out under the stage. If a kirbys hanging by the ledge, expect them to try it. The priority battle here is about even. Kirby has a combo that can take you up to about 30%. Its like a down grab to aerial to grab again. HIS DAIR SPIKES!!!! This is usually his main form of edgeguarding!
IKE
Ike is another slow, but deadly type. The name of the game here is “Dodge and combo” Ike is horrifically strong, and can kill you amazingly early. But you’re the 3rd fastest character, so you can usually get out of the monster's way. His ending lag is bad(besides his bair, ill get to that in a sec), so use the openings to get in and attack. His neutral A combo is a big pain, and his utilt can be if timed right, If you can't get out of the way of neutral A, shield the WHOLE thing. Ikes usually edgeguard with either fair or charging B on the edge. This shouldnt be too much of an issure for you since fox has shine stall, and a fast side B. Ikes B air is deceptive. Its crazy fast, and its coming from a slow character. Be ready for it. If he jumping backwards at you, its pretty obvious its coming. His Side B is super easy to dodge and edgeguard, but aether isnt. Many ikes stay on the ledge, wait for you to come over, then drop and up b, giving them a free aether on you. Recognize this and watch for it.
ZELDA/SHEIK
Zelda-4:6
Sheik-25:75
Sheik- . Ftilt lock owns fox. Its that simple. You are the most vulnerable character to it. This can take 70% away if done correctly. She can upsmash you out it, resulting in death. Priority is about even here. Be ready to dodge often, especially if they are spamming their ftilt trying to lock you. She got no reflector, so you can spam her to approach. Her Up B warp CAN kill. They may try to suprise you with it. Just play this one smart, and dont go rushing in, because you might find yourself screwed by ftilt. If you can, CP this one.
Zelda-The Princess of Hyrule seems to exist just to make fox's life miserable. This is actually somewhat winnable, unlike sheik, but it is still an uphill battle. Its hard to apporach her. Her Usmash is amazing, out prioritizes all your aerials, and can kill you about 110%. Her dsmash is lighting quick, and can stop your combos. Fsmash has range. I know what your thinking. "Ok Its near impossible to approach, so ill just spam away!" Wrong. she has a reflector(naryus love), and you will wind up just dong more damage to yourself. SO you can't apporach her and you can't make her approach you...sounds fun huh? Only thing I can suggest yet again is timing. some of her attacks are slow, so time your attacks for when they stop. You have to try and space, and attack when she makes mistakes.
Sonic the Hedgedawg-
1. Farore's wind has a lot of punishable landing lag if she has to appear above the stage, which she will if you CP stages with permiable floors.
2. Zelda's Usmash is amazing against fox's aerials, but it's quite vulnerable from the ground. A running Usmash should meet her any time she uses this and you are grounded.
3. Zelda is pretty vulnerable from below. get her in the air and try to take advantage of her. She's got a nice, long airdodge, and farore's wind, so she's hard to punish when she's high up, but when she's in the air right above the ground and you are below her, you should hit her about 75% of the time as long as you know whether to attack her before or after she lands (which will vary by situation.)
4. In the air, zelda has a blindspot at every diagonal.
OLIMAR
Fox and Olimar both have things going for them in this matchup. Fox has the ability to easily gimp olimar, and outcamp him. Fox also has the upsmash, which can destroy poor Olimar pretty early. Olimar has the unpredictablility of his moves, and his devastating grab/smash ranges, which causes issues for an approaching fox. Use shine and Dsmash to get pikmin off of you. The big problem here is olimar is much better at spacing than you, thanks once again to his massive range. Where fox shines in this matchup is, well, off the stage with his shine. This is a closer match. Play smart.
WOLF
Wolf, Fox's main rival, provides a close and interesting match. He got you trumped on ground game and spacing, but you own the air and offstage. There is no significant priority advantage here; both characters got great moves on the other, and they have bad moves. Example. Fox's fsmash=bad idea. Wolf's fsmash has it beat. Wolf's upb- HORRIBLE for recovery. This is quite possibly fox's most even matchup besides a ditto of himself. The better player usually wins this fight of rivals.
DIDDY KONG
The name of the game here is banana control. If diddy gets on a roll with his banana game, look out. You have to disrupt his bananas, using your shine and running dash attacks(these pick them up). In terms of power, you have the advantage. Diddy has a better recovery than you, but its still gimpable. He is extremely vulnerable(like you are) when he uses his UP-B. Diddy's main weakness is his power. He is pretty weak, and it takes a good while to KO even fox. On the other hand you have upsmash.
WARIO
Wario is a strange character. He is one of the best, but Wario players seem to be somewhat rare. Wario's like dair, spotdodge-smash. His bite beats pretty much anything. Wario's air movement is very unpredictable, which makes this fight hard. Its hard to gauge exactly where he is going. His clap(up air) is a very deadly killer, probably his best kill move. And watch out for the fart too. A half charged fart actually has more knockback than a full one, be aware.
WEEGEE
A very hard fight. Luigi's aerials beat all of yours. Luigi can uptilt combo like you can. Luigi's aerial dominance almost completely rules out aerial attacks for you besides sh aerials. Fsmash and upb are his two best killers, and they are both as good as your upsmash. They both suffer from horrible range though, which is a huge boost. Beware of the dreaded jab upB combo. Luigi's usually start using it around 60-65%. Luigi's recovery follows a predictable path:
Side B-DownB-Upb
Your best chance of gimping him is tornado(down B) phase of his recovery.
PEACH
Dont be deceived by the formal dress. Although Princess Peach is not as good as her melee form, she is still a force to be reckoned with. Peach has an amazing recovery, A good air game, and, suprisngly, a 40% CG on you. Her greatest strength, however, might be the fact she has such a strange play style. And due to the lack of Peach players, this can cause confusion in opponents. I have been experimenting with Peach, and she is hard to learn due to this. She is light, but in this fight this isnt a glaring weakness, since Fox is no heavy weight himself. Her weakness comes with KOing. She has 3 Solid KO moves: Upsmash, Fair, and Fsmash. They all have their flaws. Upsmash can rival fox's upsmash in terms of power, but its sweetspot to do this is very small, at the tip of the crown. Fair has a slow startup, and this move is easy to see coming. If your over 100% and peach is floating toward you; expect fair. Fsmash has 3 different forms, a Golf Club, a Tennis Racket, and a Frying Pan. The Golf club is the best for KOing. Problem is, the weapon peach uses is completely random.
To fight peach, avoid being grabbed at low percents. Its hard to uptilt combo her, but fair and nair to well against her in the air. Upsmash, as always, is a great killer. Most likely, you will both be living to high percents. When this happens, watch for peach's 3 kill moves.
This match is close, but the CG throws this slightly in the Princess's favor.
DK
Ratio-5:5
This matchup is very similar to Kind DDD's matchup. DK is the master of spikes. Always keep this in mind when you try to gimp him. Dk, like all other heavies, succumbs to fox's combo abilities. At the same time however, he has a noticeable range advantage on you.
The main difference between fighting DK and DDD comes off-stage. Dk, as mentioned before, has an arsenal of spikes at his disposal, and an good horizontal recovery. His weakness is his Vertical recovery, which is one of the worst in the game. You can try to gimp him, but his up b beats anything you have in the air, so it will be tricky. Big piece of advice: do NOT get hit by DK's smashes. You will go flying. You will die. You will cry. The key to winning here is being patient, waiting for your openings, and punishing DK's mistakes.
TOON LINK
Toon Link is a well balanced character. He has a variety of projectiles, average priority, a decent killing game, and an acceptable recovery. unfortunately for TL, Fox is "Good" in many areas.
First, the projectile game. You probably wont be using your blaster much, but TL has it worse. You have plenty of options vs his spam game. TL's projectile come out slow. Fox's speed can create or close distance fast. Shine works against his arrows and boomerang. And his bombs are not hard to dodge.
Fox's upsmash serves well yet again in this matchup. Tl's upsmash is his best kill move. Its less powerful and slightly slower than yours. TL does his best in this matchup when he zones midrange. It makes it tricky to get close to him, due to his fsmash, and he can punish you with projectiles if you run. Be aware of this. Your combos work well, and TL has uptilt combos as well. TL's defense from above isnt too good. You can shine stall him, and punish accordingly for jumping too early/late.
The deathknell of toonlink is the fact the shine outprioritizes his upb. TL is easy picking for fox off stage. Be very aggressive offstage with fox. TL can cause problems for you with bombs and arrows. If he is daring, he might try a down air spike. Play smart, and this should be a win for you.
PIT
Pit Is well balanced. He has no blaring weaknesses. But he has no obvious areas he is EXTREMELY good in. Anyway, Priority battle is about even here. Pits kill moves are fsmash, bair, and glide attack. Pit's recovery is very good, it is hard to edgeguard. He cant spam you; shine eliminates that part of the problem. There is no real way you have to play this matchup. Just play smart, ad never be predictable.
ICE CLIMBERS
ICs are brutal. They can CG you all over the place. They can CG to spike you. Their CG abilites are mind-boggling. It is ESSENTIAL to separate them and keep them separated if you want to win. Fighting popo one-on-one is a very manageable fight. Shine works well for getting them apart.
As simple and basic as this sounds, Dont get grabbed. Its. That. Simple. You get grabbed, you will get arguably the worst beating you can receive in this game. Ban FD against these guys FOR SURE. The ICs aerial priority is sickening as well. If you cant get them separated, your going to lose, unless the IC player is terrible. This matchup is as simple as that.
GANONDORF
Ganondorf. He might "Hit like a bus full of fat people", but he suffers in almost every other aspect. Hes slow, low priority, easily gimpable recovery, no projectile, and slow attack speed. One shine spike from fox sends ganon to his doom. One dair and hes eating uptilt combos. There is almost nothing he can do to stop you. Above all this, you force him to approach you. Just be VERY wary of his attacks, they are very powerful. If you get over confident you could eat an early death.
CAPTAIN FALCON
Captain Falcon, The combo and knee master of melee. Well, Sakurai and crew must of not have liked that, because poor falcon got the biggest shaft out of anyone. He still retains a few of his good traits though, most notably his speed. The first thing you will notice vs falcon is he will have no trouble keeping up with you speed wise. Also, dont underestimate him. Falcon can be tricky in good hands. Knee is still powerful, just a lot harder to land. Its easier to land when you fastfall it, so get out of the way if a falcon is fast falling on you. Falcon punch can be manipulated and turned around midair, making it surprisingly unpredictable. The problem with falcon is that none of his moves lead into other moves. His priority is bad too. A good Falcon is one that predicts his opponents well so he can have moves waiting for where they are going. Therefore, the best way to fight falcon is to be as unpredictable as possible. Mix it up. Dish out all the tricks fox has to offer. As for offstage, Shine spiking is the best method here. Watch for falcons side b, its a meteor and can send you to an early death if your careless. Play smart, be unpredictable, and you should come out on top.
SONIC
YOUR....TOO....SLOW! Sometimes these words will make want to punch sonic in the face. The hedgehogs play style is about baiting, speed, and hit-and-run tactics. To sum this up, this matchup follows a certain order playing as fox:
1. Spam lasers
2. bait
3. dodge
4. punish
5. Rinse
6. Repeat
Its all about baiting and punishing. If you catch sonic open hes extremely vulnerable. He can combo you very well if you let yourself get caught in his start up attacks. You have a projectile: sonic doesnt. Making him approach is essential. Note: Never, EVER use standing lasers on sonic. He has the speed to punish you for it, even on large stages like fd. Shdl and Shtl. As for kill moves, hes got bair, fsmash, and upair. A common sonic tactic is to get you above them somehow, then they will upb-->upair very rapidly. This is crucial to know since sonic can use this to interrupt shine stall baits. Play smart and let sonic come to you. Dont try to force your hand here; let him come into your hands, and punish him.
LUCARIO
Lucario is a character that is a master of spacing. He also has amazing range on a lot of his moves and the uncanny ability to become stronger when he takes more damage. In order to fight lucario effectively, you need to kill him before he gets to too high of a percent, or pay the consequences.(For reference, this ability maxes out at 170% and Lucario's moves deal double the knockback.) Therefore, I highly recommend keeping your upsmash fresh so you can kill him early. You need to play a good spacing game aaginst Lucario, due to his good priority and range. Poke nairs, stalll dairs, and camp at lower percents. You dont want to blaster spam him at higher percents; your just making the problem worst. What it comes down to is that you have to overcome the spacing gap between you and Lucario, and kill him early. His biigest weaknesses are his bad recovery and the slow speed of his smashes.
NESS
The 1st mother boy gives you more trouble than Lucas, mainly due to his better priority. Several of his moves, fair in particular, can beat your moves. Ness has a slightly better killing ability than Lucas as well. Ness can make it miserable to approach-which you have to thanks to ness's downb- and punsih you for mistake. You can make him pay on recovery. Your shine can cause sheer chaos with his pk thunder, whether you shine spike ness, or reflect his pk thunder with it.
LUCAS
This matchup should be played similar to ness, but you dont have to worry as much about the kill high priority moves. Do be careful and not fall into Lucas's upsmash. It hurts. You can screw his recovery the same way as ness. Also, Lucas has extended grab range, so be aware of this little extra boost.
MARIO
The handy dandy plumber provides a close matchup. The #1 worry on your list is that cape; dont get gimped by it. Mario's will likely be cape happy vs you, so make sure you do not make your recovery predictable. Take the recovery route that gives him the smallest chance of a cape connection. At the same time, be aggressive with shine spike when your edgeguarding him; it beats his upb. Be careful of the fludd as well. Some mario use in creative ways to gimps, such as slowing your illusion down, causes setups. Pretty striaght forward fight on the ground, use the usual mix up of approaches and camp when necessary.
BOWSER
SAMUS(Powersuit)
Samus sadly got a big nerf in brawl.(I'm still mad at this since I played her in melee). Anyway, She still has a strong projectile game, and expect a lot of it this matchup. Keep your reflector ready at all times. The one improvement worth mentioning is Zair. This is a godly spacing tool. If you use shine right, you'll force samus to space you with this. It doesnt do much damage, but it has a hight priority and can disrupt attacks. Slowly work your way in close. you can dominate samus up close on the ground. Be aware of her c-c-c-combbreaker upb out of shield. Off stage, she has a nasty spike. You have to be careful when recovering vs samus. She can:
1.missle spam you
2. Spike you
3. come out after you.
recovery is a big pain for you in this matchup. Samus on the other hand has a great recovery. Her better game offstage and your better game onstage makes this even. Honestly though, the best move Samus has against you is transforming into Zero suit samus.
YOSHI
Summary later
JIGGLYPUFF
LINK
Link is a character whos strong points are ultimately overshadowed by his poor recovery. Fox has a general priority advantage vs link, and it isn't hard for fox to camp or approach him. I would recommend poking nairs, as links upsmash beats dair. Any projectile spam is negated by shine. Link also suffers from slow speed and mediocre killing moves. Although Upsmash works, the best way to kill Link is with shine spiking. He is near helpless against it. Get link off the ledge, one shine, and a ledgehog. Dead Link. In the face of fox's speed and superior priority and edguarding, Fox has an easier time here.
POKEMON TRAINER
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