Advent Lee
Smash Ace
ADVANCED DIDDY STRATEGIES
(ADS was inspired by the "Sliq is Amazing and so Can You!" Guide)
The Purpose of this ADS thread is to help the Diddy Kong community with Advanced Strategies. I have seen Fatalities character playing guide as well as other good ones, however they are like a basic introduction to the character mainly meant for beginners wanting to pick him up, while this is a much more in depth look into him. This is not suppose to replace those guides, rather this should be used alongside with them. Besides after seeing most of the Diddy threads and videos out there, I noticed that many of these techs/strategies have not been used or even realized...
(ADS was inspired by the "Sliq is Amazing and so Can You!" Guide)
The Purpose of this ADS thread is to help the Diddy Kong community with Advanced Strategies. I have seen Fatalities character playing guide as well as other good ones, however they are like a basic introduction to the character mainly meant for beginners wanting to pick him up, while this is a much more in depth look into him. This is not suppose to replace those guides, rather this should be used alongside with them. Besides after seeing most of the Diddy threads and videos out there, I noticed that many of these techs/strategies have not been used or even realized...
Z-GRABBING
Description- A way to pick up items (bananas) off the floor out of your full run with low lag.
Z-Grabbing is done by pressing down and the Z button simultaneously while running over an item. This allows you to pick up bananas out of a full run without the risk of being shield grabbed that the dash attack comes with. Not only that but it has no lag in immediately throwing the banana after you grab it. Everyone is familiar with Z-Catching which is just pressing the Z button to grab a banana in the air or on a platform above. Z-Catching is really useful because it allows you to immediately throw the banana as you catch it, where as if you caught a banana with an air dodge or attack you would have to wait until the animation is completely over before being able to throw the banana. (which by then you will probably be on the floor) Well picking up a banana from the floor by Z-Grabbing follows the same concept. Its pretty simple to do and by implementing this into your game play will reduce risk of being shield grabbed or punished by using the dash attack so often. The best part about this technique is that it after you Z-Grab a banana it leaves you with so many options such as, immediately throwing it, jumping, shielding, etc... And as we all know having a lot of options is always a good thing.
Strategies- Z-Grabbing Mix Ups
1. The main strategy behind this tech is simply mixing it up. The first time you want to grab a banana use the dash attack. Now your opponent will be expecting you to dash attack the next time you want to get a banana. So this time you Z-Grab the banana and immediately throw it or if he shields then just jump above him and throw it down on him. Just observe your opponent and punish him accordingly with your many options. After a few Z-Grab mix ups your opponent should be totally confused lolz.
AIR CHASING
Description- Using a move to launch the opponent into the air, and then following their DI to where they are going to land.
Now imagine if Diddy had Snake's or GaW's Down-throw and tech following abilities. A good tech follower using Diddy could easily use this to their advantage at any percent and then end it with any of his kill moves. Well Diddy does have a move like that, its his Up-Throw. Up-Throw does 10% and launches the opponent directly straight up into the air. While they are into the air you have limited their options to either an aerial , air-dodge, or to just fall. If they do an aerial then just shield grab, if they air-dodge wait until its over and grab them, and if they just fall then just grab them. As long as you follow their DI correctly no matter what the opponent does you can just regrab them and Up-Throw them right back into the air for more air chasing. Think of this like tech following, but better because it builds damage very quickly and leaves your opponent with very little options and gives you all of your options. However there are 2 types of characters that cannot be air chased easily by Diddy. Those include any characters with multiple jumps like Jigglypuff, and any character with a move that can actually move them like Fox/Falco/Wolf's Side-B. Most of these characters can still be punished for using all of their jumps or their moving abilities, because those moves have lag upon landing. And you can also use Diddy's Reverse Side-B to continue following an opponent thats trying to avoid being air chased by using a move like Fox/Falco/Wolfs Side-B etc... The best part about this is that most Diddy players don't use their Up-Throws at all, now they have a use for it. It sets up perfectly for most of Diddy's combos/juggles and it helps with move decay. Win Win situation.
Strategies- Below are some options you have for air chasing after the initial Up-Throw
1. Jump up and fall back down. This might trick the opponent into thinking that your going to do an aerial which will pressure them to do an air-dodge
2. Down-B banana toss. The opponent will either air-dodge to catch it or air-dodge to avoid it, either way you just pressured them to air-dodge
3. If the opponent DI's one way and then switches to another immediately and your not able to follow then use the Side-B to follow, and remember it can be reversed even in a full run
3. Stay about one dashes length away from where they are going to land, and just when they are about to land then do a running up-smash
4. Mix it up. Air Chasing is just like tech following so if you keep doing the same thing eventually your opponent will catch on to your trick.
5. Always do grab attacks. This only makes their damage meter go higher LoLz.
6. Air Chasing works best on Final Destination or other stages with little or no platforms like Smashville
SC-GLIDING
Description- Being able to glide toss while into your full run. (not dashing but full run!!)
Glide tossing for the average Diddy player is pretty easy, but ask them to try glide tossing after their initial dash while your into your full run. Most players might tell you that you cannot glide toss while into your full runing animation, and that its impossible. This is False. Remember you can glide toss out of shield, so in order to glide toss out of a full run all you have to do is cancel the run with your shield and then IMMEDIATELY glide toss. If done very quickly and correctly then you wont even see your shield come up in the first place. This is a very fast tech and probably the most useful glide toss that Diddy can do. The second most useful would be "Dribbling" which is a great way to speed up your game play, space and mind game your opponent (invented by NinjaLink). The third most useful type of glide tossing would be glide tossing forward into the opponent for combos. Shield canceled glide tossing (invented by ADVENT) is the most useful glide toss because it allows for so many possibilities. This tech is useful for offensive play and works as a great mind game. Imagine being able to just run up to your opponent and glide toss forward towards them and grab. If they blocked the banana they will get grabbed. If they try to counter attack the banana will hit them and they get grabbed any ways. Its great for defensive play. Imagine your facing a Metakinght and he begins to rush you with the tornado, well you can literally just begin running away from the tornado to build space and then do a SC-glide toss. You cannot do this with a normal glide toss. Or remember in Melee how you could run just into your opponents attacking range and then when they actually attack you would just wavedash out of range and then punish them for doing their move??? Well I'm pretty sure you can see all the possibilities with this tech. I will name a few in the strategies section below.
Strategies- Here are some specific situations to help you see the potential of SC-Glide Toss
1. This is currently the HARDEST Diddy Kong adv tech to do. Your button input should be: start a dash or full run, shield, roll, c-stick/A button. But the timing for this is very difficult and actually takes practice
2. Running right pass your opponent, and then when your right behind them immediately do a sc-glide toss right back in front of them. Great Mind Game
3. Running up to your opponent and then dribble right behind them. This will set up for a perfect and easy Banana Choke Chain Grab
4. You can use this tech to implement some Melee wave dashing mind games into your game play
5. Doing SC-Dribbling makes Diddy look incredibly fast, and gives him mobility that other characters just don't have
MONKEY FLIP STRATS
Description- Pressing Over-B Does a front flip animation that launches him horizontally.
This is my personal second favorite move with Diddy. Now we all know the basic uses for this move. Either to recover, approach, retreat, or sometimes gimp. And we also know that you can cancel the monkey flip into a kick by pressing any attack button. However this move is very versatile. Did you know that you can use both your jumps and gain one extra jump if you do it low enough to a platform or the ground? This is very useful for adding an extra hit on a finished combo. Just imagine a dash attack into up-smash/up-tilt/up-aerial into a forward aerial. Most Diddy players would think that is the last and final hit they can add to that string of combo/juggle because the forward aerial would most likely knock the opponent too far to continue and they probably wasted all of their jumps doing the combo/juggle. Well after that forward aerial you can side-b toward the opponent while falling, then jump again without touching the floor and forward-air again. Sounds too good to be true? Well believe it and try it in training mode. While holding a banana in your hand a very good and safe approach to use on all characters especially ones with chain grabs on you is to Side-B so that you will land right in front of them, but drop the banana on one of the first few frames possible right before you hit the floor. (The timing to do this perfectly will take some practice but is well worth it) If they are doing anything but shielding then they should slip on the banana, and if they are shielding then its a free grab for you. Either way you can grab them and start air chasing LoLz. Or you can get even more creative and dash behind for a quick pivot grab and begin Choke Chain Grabbing. It works like a charm.
Strategies- Fun stuff to do after your humping your opponents face
1. Press jump to do 10% and use the high vertical momentum to DI back towards your opponent and Side-B hump them again. Rinse & Repeat LoLz
2. Press jump then immediately press Down-B to pull bananas out safely and create a wall for yourself to land safely as they are falling with you
3. Press attack to do 15% damage and then immediately air-dodge and fast fall to regain composure quickly
4. You can also use the extra jump created by the monkey flip to retreat or space yourself from the opponent
ADV USES FOR PEANUT GUN
PEANUT GUN CANCELING
Description- Canceling the peanut gun animation by pressing shield. Can also be done in air.
The peanut gun is my favorite move that Diddy has and is also indisputably his most versatile move. I know that Diddy players can name a couple uses for bananas such as dribbling, edge guarding, or combing, but the peanut gun can be used for just so0o much more. There are many ways to use the peanut gun cancel. One being spamming the peanuts until your opponent approaches you, in which you cancel the next peanut your going to shoot and follow up accordingly (usually with a thrown banana to stop the opponent in their tracks) Another use is approaching your opponent with a jump while charging a peanut, if they react by rolling or trying to jump then cancel the peanut gun and punish them accordingly. This tech is mainly used to mind game the opponent or to react quickly from spamming the peanut gun.
REVERSE PEANUT GUN CANCELING
Description- Same as above but by pressing backwards before "B" Can be done in the air.
This tech is much more useful than the regular PGC (Peanut Gun Cancel) and I use this in almost every match. The first use for the RPGC (Reverse Peanut Gun Cancel) is to either do forward-airs while facing backwards, or back-airs while facing forwards. Because the RPGC turns you around in the air almost instantaneously you can literally catch you opponent off guard, or just simply turn yourself around if your already in the air and do the specific aerial that you want. The second main use for the RPGC is to turn yourself around in mid-air and toss out bananas. This can be used while recovering to protect yourself from edge-guarders, or if your knocked really high up and want to toss out bananas on the level in your opponents direction while falling the RPGC makes that possible.
PEANUT GUN BOOST
Description- Charging the Peanut Gun in the air to help recover to the stage.
Charging and shooting peanuts in the air gives Diddy horizontal momentum. The longer he charges the gun the farther he will be pushed. By using the RPGC (without the cancel of course) you can gain great horizontal recovery (but you will lose vertical recovery) This tech is best used when knocked really high up and away from the level, that way losing vertical recovery is not that big of an issue.
PEANUT GUN TAUNT CANCEL
Description- Diddy performs his super secret peanut gun taunt cancel.
Just another way to cancel your peanut gun. Just press and hold "B" Thats it LoLz.
Strategies- Things to know about the Peanut Gun
1. While using the PGC or RPGC in the air, if you air-dodge then your canceling the animation way to slow
2. To avoid getting hit by someone while doing the PGC or RPGC in the air then cancel the animation slow on purpose so you will then air-dodge
3. Fully charged peanuts do 17% no charge does 5%
4. If your opponent catches a peanut then immediately rush them, because you know they cant attack you holding that useless" projectile in their hands.
5. Spamming the peanut gun gimps jumps for edge guarding and destroys ledge campers
6. You will know the peanut gun is fully charged when Diddy begins to put his hand on his head and grab his hat
7. Peanut gun to dash attack is great pressure/approach
8. Peanuts that make contact with an opponent or another projectile at the smoke created by the gun or closer have INSANE priority, and sometimes deals 6% damage instead of 5%
9. Fully charge the peanut gun all the way to see Diddy do the best taunt in the game. LoLz
BANANA CHOKE CHAIN GRAB STRATS
Description- Having an opponent grabbed while a banana is right behind them.
Everyone seems to have trouble setting up the BCC. Its incredibly easy to set up and ill teach ya how. First thing you have to know is that in order to dribble you have to cancel a roll right? Well can you roll out of your shield? Yes you can, so that means that you can dribble out of your shield. In order to set up the BCC all you need is a banana and to be standing right next to your opponent, which should be pretty easy to do. Now all you have to do is dribble forward (you should now be behind your opponent and the banana that you threw down should have hit you opponent doing 8% damage and trip them with the banana staying on the opposite side of them.) So now it should be in the order of banana, then your tripped opponent, and finally you. A great mind game to do on your opponent is to run up to them and shield. They will more over likely do one of two things. Either grab you or attack. Most of the time its an attack and then just dribble behind them out of shield throwing the banana down. thats it. Now all you have to do is grab your tripped opponent and watch them beg for mercy LoLz.
Strategies- Possibilities with the Banana Choke Chain Grab
1. If you do it across the level and get to the end, then don't throw them just let them shake out of your grab and when they do attempt a spike. Its really easy to do out of grab release
2. Make sure to get as many grab attacks as possible while BCCing your opponent
3. If you get to the end of a level or your banana disapears then throw them up and start air-chasing them. How good is it to go from a chain grab to air chasing LoLz.
EDGE TRIXXX
Edge Hogging
Description- Holding unto the ledge and using its invincibility frames so that the opponent cannot grab the ledge.
I'm Pretty sure that everyone by now knows the basics of edge hogging in Brawl. Just simply grab the ledge right before the opponent wants to recover to it. And I'm also pretty sure that everyone knows about using the Up-B to stall on ledge. But I'm going to go a little deeper into explaining other options that are available while hanging unto the ledge.
Instant Wall Jump
Description- Any character with a wall jump can do one instantaneously from holding unto the ledge.
I think this was discovered by AlphaZealot but I don't think he ever found out as to how it was actually done. In order to do this tech you have to let go of the ledge by pressing the opposite direction of the stage, then you press towards the stage, and lastly you press away from the stage again. So if you were holding unto the left ledge of Battle Field your button combination would be <-, ->, <- (left, right, left) The timing for this is very difficult because it has to be done extremely fast. There are many uses for this tech, including being able to easily pull out bananas and have them land on the stage or to just position yourself better for an forward-air or spike edge guard. I also don't think that this uses your double jump but more testing will have to be done to know for sure. But just think of the possibilities.
Peanut Gun Ledge Stall
Description- Using your peanut gun while holding the ledge.
If you let go of the ledge and immediately jump straight up you can shoot a peanut at an opponent thats waiting for you to come unto the stage or trying to edge guard you. After you shoot the peanut gun you should fall and re-catch the ledge. This is useful in warding away your opponent so you can get on the stage safely. Or just to camp the ledge and add damage. If you do it enough then your opponent should get frustrated or impatient and jump of the stage to try to knock you off, and thats when you can safely just roll on or jump on the stage. Now your edge guarding them LoLz. It works, I do it all the time in tournies.
Strategies- Things to do and remember while on the edge.
1. Do not become predictable. Mix up using the Up-B ledge stall, peanut gun ledge stall, and other things so that your opponent wont predict how you will get unto the stage
2. Peanut Gun while holding the ledge is beastly.
3. Instant wall jump to any ariel is very fast. Your opponent will not see it coming
NOTE: All of the techs/strats here were discovered by me unless i specify that it wasnt in the description, however if they have already been posted then they can keep credit, but if anything in here has not been posted up yet then ill take credit.
More updates coming soon... 
-advent-
