Solid Snake, quite the character. Currently occupying the second spot on the tier list you can be assured that he can be quite potent in the right hands.
Ok first of all Snake is heavy, (the third heaviest character in the game),has a fantastic and powerful close range moveset with a few moves having some deceivingly large hitboxes and his myriad of projectiles which allow him to more or less control the stage and the tempo of the game at his leisure, if he weren’t playing Pit that is.
Snakes projectile game consists of 5 projectiles; more than any other character in the game and each of them have their own distinct purposes. First are his Grenades. A projectile that comes out on frame 1 and lasts for 5 seconds before it explodes. Snake can utilize this projectile in quite a number of ways. It enables Snake to potentially get out of chain grabs as well as combos from other characters once he is able to pull it out before that opposing character’s attack connects with Snake. If he is successful then his opponent’s attack will hit the Grenade and it will explode on impact, damaging both Snake and his opponent and with Snakes heavy weight and above average recovery he won’t mind taking a little damage here or there as he will generally live to some fairly high percentages. This aspect of Snake’s game is a pure nuisance for Pit as a lot of Pit’s attacks such as Uair and Nair are multi-hitting attacks and will cause the Grenade to explode before the attack is finish. Snake can also throw these Grenades , which do roughly the same damage as one of Pit’s Arrows if they hit you directly and significantly more damage if they explode on you, however it should be of note that Pit can reflect these back at Snake using either Angel Ring or Mirror Shield without much if any harm to himself, but should be wary if Snake “cooks” the Grenade (holding it himself until it is near ready to explode) before throwing it as you won’t be able to reflect the explosion with the Angel Ring and you will get hit. However, Mirror Shield will enable you to block the explosion if you are directly behind it so most of the time you should be opting for Mirror Shield over Angel Ring when attempting to reflect Grenades.
Snakes next projectile is his C4, a projectile that can be stuck to any character or placed on the ground and detonated at Snake’s leisure. This projectile is extremely annoying as you have to constantly keep in mind where Snake has placed it and generally avoid that area of the stage as much as possible to avoid being hit. Sounds easy enough but the C4 is extremely small and camouflages well in certain stages and it’s easy to remember it’s there until it’s too late. If Snake stick the C4 to you directly then he is free to hit you whenever he pleases however when it is detonated it is possible to shield the explosion to avoid damage so if you find yourself stuck with a C4 it would be best to avoid the air until you can get the C4 to drop off or until Snake detonates it himself.
The Mortar or Snake’s Up Smash is a projectile where Snake places a launcher on the ground and fires a Mortar upwards that explodes on contact with and opponent or when it makes contact with the ground after falling, Snake is also unaffected by the resulting explosion. The Mortar can be a bit of a hassle for Pit when trying to make it back to the stage but it follows a set trajectory and is generally easy to avoid through Gliding, the use of Woi or simply spacing your jumps well. Angel Ring and Mirror Shield are again useful here in that they reflect the explosion now allowing it to hit Snake, while doing no damage to Pit. In contrast to Grenades Angel Ring is the more useful reflector here as with Mirror shield you have to be spaced very well to actually reflect the explosion and avoid being actually hit where Angel Ring’s lunging effect allows you a bit more safety when reflecting Snake’s projectile. Snake can also use this projectile in close range combat in tandem with a cancelled Dash Attack to form his Snake Dash. In a Snake Dash Snake cancels his Dash attack and immediately goes into this Up Smash which now gains horizontal momentum from the Dash Attack. It makes for quite a decent approach against most characters but isn’t really that useful against Pit as his Arrows disrupt it, his Mirror Shield reflects the direction of it and as will all other characters Snake can be shield grabbed out of it. The attack is also generally telegraphed as it is probably the only time you will see a Snake start to run towards you so you should have little trouble with it.
Snake’s remaining two projectiles are the Nikita Missile and his Landmines. Neither is used much but each has specific uses and should not be overlooked. Firstly the Landmines or Snake’s Down Smash is somewhat similar to Snake’s C4 in that they are also placed on the ground and can be difficult to see but they actually detonate on impact from anything or anyone, this includes projectiles and even Snake himself. Snake takes a little while to lay down a Landmine and if hit before he gets back up he will not place down the mine. Pit’s Arrows are extremely effective here as they prevent Snake from laying Landmines as well as explode Landmines they come into contact with. These aren’t really that much of a threat to Pit but still something that you should be on the lookout for as they do pack quite a punch if you get hit by it.
Nikita Missiles are remote controlled missiles that Snake has to direct himself. Snakes cannot move when using the Nikita so you should aim take advantage of that as much as possible. Nikita Missiles are normally used to edgeguard but they aren’t much of a thread to Pit as they are only fast when travelling in a straight line but very slow when changing direction. Spacing your jumps, air dodging, Woi and Gliding should allow you to easily out maneuver one of them. Nikita Missiles can also be reflected back at Snake with your Mirror Shield; however the Angel Ring will only slow them down as will any other damaging move. Generally it isn’t really a projectile you should be too concerned about. Overall your projectile game is better than his in this matchup as it will limit his own as well as force him to approach. Abuse that fact and try to keep control of the tempo of the match.
Now that projectiles are out of the way we can look at Snakes close range moveset and offstage game. Snake has some ridiculous range on his close range attacks and they are all very powerful and for the most part outclass your own in both aspects. In terms of close range combat Snake will generally only be using 3 melee moves, his F-Tilt, his U-Tilt and his Jab combo. His F-Tilt is comprised of 2 hits. An initial hit with his knee which can sometimes trip you followed by a two handed swing. It has incredible range and when fresh will do 21%. Pit doesn’t have any moves that outrange the lunge of the second hit of his F-Tilt aside from his Angel Ring which wouldn’t be the most ideal move to be using in this situation so your best option will be to try to shield grab the first hit or to simply wait out both hits before trying to retaliate. Once spaced well Pit’s SH Fair outranges anything Snake can throw at you from off the ground aside from the second hit of his F-Tilt so it will mostly likely be your move of choice when attempting to take Snake on from close range. Snake’s U-Tilt is another commonly used move that has deceiving range for its looks and is also incredibly powerful, KOing Pit off the top of the screen when fresh before 100%. You cannot shield grab Snake out of his U-Tilt so it is best to simply shield it then retaliate with your own F-Tilt which has the same range. Mirror Shield can reflect the direction of the U-Tilt as well as protect you from it if recovering from above so that’s also another option here. Snakes Jab combo is also extremely good, does 14% when fresh and simply tells most characters to GTFO of Snake’s face as it has good knockback for as simple AAA combo. Your best response to it would be to shield grab after the first two hits or reply with a D-Tilt or F-Tilt of your own after all three hits. Pit can chaingrab Snake to around 40% with his Forward Throw so don’t hesitate to chase after Snake after your initial throw provided you are still at a low percentage. Another thing to watch out for when at close range would be Snake’s Down Throw as it can be tech chased into a myriad of options, I won’t analyze any of them here but try to be as unpredictable as possible with your getting up options as to avoid any kind of tech chase.
As far as Snake’s aerial game is concerned, it’s pretty lackluster. On the contrary this is where Pit excels and where he should be aiming to take the matchup every time. The only moves Pit really has to be remotely concerned with here are Snake’s Fair which can spike and his 4 hit Nair which has a fairly powerful final blow. However it is avoidable with good DI so as far as Snakes aerial game is concerned Pit really has nothing to fear. A lot of Pit’s moves such as his Dair, D-Tilt and Down Throw propel opponents upwards (ironic since they are all downwards aimed attacks) and these three moves should be staples when fighting Snake at close range.
Snake’s recovery is above average in that it allows Snake to recover really high into the air easily enabling him to get back to the stage once knocked in a horizontal direction. However, Snake is relatively easy for Pit to gimp once he gets him offstage as his recovery has a fairly obvious trajectory and really isn’t too hard for Pit to take advantage of. WOP Fairs and Bairs are the way to go to in taking Snake out offstage. Arrows aren’t as useful as they are with other characters because Snake’s Cypher gives him superarmor frames and it would require to Pit at least half charge his Arrows before they are capable of taking him off the Cypher, time better spent simply jumping off the stage after Snake or using Wing Refresh to chase after him.
Overall the match is a relatively easy one for Pit in comparison to the other top tier characters. Your Arrows and two Reflectors are the keys to your success here as they limit Snake’s projectile game and force him to play in a more offensive manner, one that be capitalized on fairly easily with some smart playing. Don’t think this match will be a walk in the park however, as Snake is powerful and his attacks will kill you at relatively low percentages. Aim to take the fight to the air and offstage and you should be able to win it.
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