Remzi
formerly VaBengal
One very important factor in any Super Smash Bros game is movement. We all know the basics; dashing, walking, jumping, rolling, etc. But that's not what you came here to read about, what I'm going to be discussing here are some of the more advanced movement tactics. Many of them which you probably already know and use. I will rate each technique in terms of usefulness out of 10.
Red = 1-4- (Almost) Useless
Yellow = 5-7- Occasionally Useful
Green = 8-10- Must Know
Without further ado:
Walk to Shield:
It sounds simple and it is; walk to shield is most effectively used as a way to get through projectile walls, and it works exceptionally. Just walk towards your opponent, and shield when a projectile comes at you. This works better for Marth than most characters, because of his rather high walking speed. It works best against characters such as Wolf and Toon Link. Perfect Shielding makes this approach option much more effective, as you can dash or continue to walk afterward without suffering any shield stun. So make sure to master perfect shielding projectiles.
Usefulness: 9/10
Dash to Shield:
Dash to shield is a great way to close a large gap quickly, while effectively setting up your zoning and keeping yourself out of any danger. Shielding out of a dash cancels your momentum, and is completely safe so long as you stop yourself before entering your opponents grab range. If your opponent attempts to attack you, they will strike shield, and you can either shield grab them or hit them with a dolphin slash OoS. However they will probably just assume a defensive position when they see you coming, in which case you can proceed to setup your zoning.
Usefulness: 8/10
Fox Trotting:
Fox trotting just means constantly repeating your dash animation as a way of moving. It isn't very useful for Marth. One potential use for it is a Fox Trot > Stutter Step Fsmash, however, this is generally unsafe, as Fsmash has a great amount of ending lag. There is also a high chance that you will trip.
Usefulness: 3/10
Dash Dancing:
Dash dancing is simply dashing back and forth in place. It is used for some mindgames and it is possible to fsmash directly out of a dash dance, however there really isn't much you can do with it in Brawl. There is also a very high chance that you will trip.
Usefulness: 4/10
D-tilt Crawling:
As you probably know, using D-tilt's IASA frames to preform consecutive d-tilts allows you to slowly advanced while remaining low to the ground. This is useful against projectiles such as Pit's Arrows. Against most projectiles, you'll probably want to just Walk to shield. And since a tipped D-tilt delivers some shield pushback, D-tilt crawling can be used to move you forward and poke at a shield a second time.
Usefulness: 6/10
Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR):
A RAR is performed by dashing, turning, and jumping while still in the turn-around animation. What this allows you to do is jump forward while facing backwards and not lose any momentum. With Marth, this is extremely useful to setup for an off-stage assault. Bair is great for gimping, so a RAR > Bair is a great way of going after an opponent who is recovering. You can also use a RAR to set up for a Dair spike, since the Dair's tip hitbox is much larger behind Marth.
Usefulness: 7/10
Craq Walking:
Craq Walking is, while airborne, tilting the analog backwards (behindmarth) upon landing in order to slide across the ground. This works exceptionally well coming off of a retreating nair. More on this later.
Usefulness: 6.5/10
And now, I present to you two brand new movement techniques; at least I don't think they've ever been formally introduced. The following are two techniques I discovered back in August. I sent Emblem Lord a PM about them, and he recommended that I make a topic about them. I decided that I would first learn more about them; though I've never actually found the time. So I decided I may as well present them to the rest of the Marth community to allow some others to work with them, and see if either of them can come in handy. Here they are:
Glide Walking:
Glide walking consists of two phases, those are ground and air. Glide walking on ground, means that you will be slowly tilting the analog forward and backwards as you move towards the enemy in order to constantly pivot while still technically being in a walk. With Marth, and a few other characters, doing this results in a slight momentum boost. With other characters, it has more of a rough feel, whereas with Marth each pivot is a completely smooth transition. Marth also gains the largest speed boost from what I can tell. Now, combine this with the air phase, which consists of constant Craq Walk slides and you have what I like to call Glide Walking. I gave it this name beause of how smooth the movement is, it feels like Marth is gliding. Now remember that while glide walking, every one of Marths options are open. What this allows for you to do is:
-Boost, Change, and Restore Momentum
-Approach in a new way, that your opponent will have a hard time reading and is generally safe if used right
-Mindgame your opponent, the constant change in direction will keep them guessing as any attack in your arsenal is possible
-Retreat, either with nairs, or just empty backwards jumps
-Move without losing any options
Usefulness: ?/10
Zero Accelleration Dash (ZAD):
A Zero Accelleration Dash is performed by walking full speed in one direction, then dashing in the opposite direction. What does this do? You enter a dash animation in the opposite direction, but you don't move anywhere. The dash can also be canceled into pretty much anything. So far, I've found one quite reliable way to use this. Walk towards your opponent (must be full speed), then dash in the opposite direction once you get near them. In many instances they will drop their shield, in which case you can pull out a reverse DB. You can ZAD directly out of a glide walk.
Usefulness: ?/10
Now, I'm sure those last two are a bit confusing unless you see them (especially glide walking), however I don't have a way of getting any videos up atm. So if anyone can upload some replays for me, I'd really appreciate it. If so, just PM me or post here. I put "?" for their usefulness because I haven't used them nearly enough to know how effective they can be.
I'd like to ask you all to try and work with these techniques to see if you can figure out uses for them.
That's all, I hope you learned something about Movement Tactics with Marth, whether it be the old stuff, or the new. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment or ask questions.
Red = 1-4- (Almost) Useless
Yellow = 5-7- Occasionally Useful
Green = 8-10- Must Know
Without further ado:
Walk to Shield:
It sounds simple and it is; walk to shield is most effectively used as a way to get through projectile walls, and it works exceptionally. Just walk towards your opponent, and shield when a projectile comes at you. This works better for Marth than most characters, because of his rather high walking speed. It works best against characters such as Wolf and Toon Link. Perfect Shielding makes this approach option much more effective, as you can dash or continue to walk afterward without suffering any shield stun. So make sure to master perfect shielding projectiles.
Usefulness: 9/10
Dash to Shield:
Dash to shield is a great way to close a large gap quickly, while effectively setting up your zoning and keeping yourself out of any danger. Shielding out of a dash cancels your momentum, and is completely safe so long as you stop yourself before entering your opponents grab range. If your opponent attempts to attack you, they will strike shield, and you can either shield grab them or hit them with a dolphin slash OoS. However they will probably just assume a defensive position when they see you coming, in which case you can proceed to setup your zoning.
Usefulness: 8/10
Fox Trotting:
Fox trotting just means constantly repeating your dash animation as a way of moving. It isn't very useful for Marth. One potential use for it is a Fox Trot > Stutter Step Fsmash, however, this is generally unsafe, as Fsmash has a great amount of ending lag. There is also a high chance that you will trip.
Usefulness: 3/10
Dash Dancing:
Dash dancing is simply dashing back and forth in place. It is used for some mindgames and it is possible to fsmash directly out of a dash dance, however there really isn't much you can do with it in Brawl. There is also a very high chance that you will trip.
Usefulness: 4/10
D-tilt Crawling:
As you probably know, using D-tilt's IASA frames to preform consecutive d-tilts allows you to slowly advanced while remaining low to the ground. This is useful against projectiles such as Pit's Arrows. Against most projectiles, you'll probably want to just Walk to shield. And since a tipped D-tilt delivers some shield pushback, D-tilt crawling can be used to move you forward and poke at a shield a second time.
Usefulness: 6/10
Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR):
A RAR is performed by dashing, turning, and jumping while still in the turn-around animation. What this allows you to do is jump forward while facing backwards and not lose any momentum. With Marth, this is extremely useful to setup for an off-stage assault. Bair is great for gimping, so a RAR > Bair is a great way of going after an opponent who is recovering. You can also use a RAR to set up for a Dair spike, since the Dair's tip hitbox is much larger behind Marth.
Usefulness: 7/10
Craq Walking:
Craq Walking is, while airborne, tilting the analog backwards (behindmarth) upon landing in order to slide across the ground. This works exceptionally well coming off of a retreating nair. More on this later.
Usefulness: 6.5/10
And now, I present to you two brand new movement techniques; at least I don't think they've ever been formally introduced. The following are two techniques I discovered back in August. I sent Emblem Lord a PM about them, and he recommended that I make a topic about them. I decided that I would first learn more about them; though I've never actually found the time. So I decided I may as well present them to the rest of the Marth community to allow some others to work with them, and see if either of them can come in handy. Here they are:
Glide Walking:
Glide walking consists of two phases, those are ground and air. Glide walking on ground, means that you will be slowly tilting the analog forward and backwards as you move towards the enemy in order to constantly pivot while still technically being in a walk. With Marth, and a few other characters, doing this results in a slight momentum boost. With other characters, it has more of a rough feel, whereas with Marth each pivot is a completely smooth transition. Marth also gains the largest speed boost from what I can tell. Now, combine this with the air phase, which consists of constant Craq Walk slides and you have what I like to call Glide Walking. I gave it this name beause of how smooth the movement is, it feels like Marth is gliding. Now remember that while glide walking, every one of Marths options are open. What this allows for you to do is:
-Boost, Change, and Restore Momentum
-Approach in a new way, that your opponent will have a hard time reading and is generally safe if used right
-Mindgame your opponent, the constant change in direction will keep them guessing as any attack in your arsenal is possible
-Retreat, either with nairs, or just empty backwards jumps
-Move without losing any options
Usefulness: ?/10
Zero Accelleration Dash (ZAD):
A Zero Accelleration Dash is performed by walking full speed in one direction, then dashing in the opposite direction. What does this do? You enter a dash animation in the opposite direction, but you don't move anywhere. The dash can also be canceled into pretty much anything. So far, I've found one quite reliable way to use this. Walk towards your opponent (must be full speed), then dash in the opposite direction once you get near them. In many instances they will drop their shield, in which case you can pull out a reverse DB. You can ZAD directly out of a glide walk.
Usefulness: ?/10
Now, I'm sure those last two are a bit confusing unless you see them (especially glide walking), however I don't have a way of getting any videos up atm. So if anyone can upload some replays for me, I'd really appreciate it. If so, just PM me or post here. I put "?" for their usefulness because I haven't used them nearly enough to know how effective they can be.
I'd like to ask you all to try and work with these techniques to see if you can figure out uses for them.
That's all, I hope you learned something about Movement Tactics with Marth, whether it be the old stuff, or the new. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment or ask questions.
