Helicopter Havoc : Some very brief praise for the Up Aerial

I lied, my brief praise is actually never brief, I just have a newfound respect for the Up Air. This move is just usable in so many more situations than would at first meet the eye. This is all mainly me digressing about every single situation I've ever used it in and how effective it is, so feel free to tl;dr me.

As a KO move (Duh).

According to Project Vertical, it kills a Mario (An above average weight character) at 93% while he's on a lower platform of battlefield. It just gets insane the higher up above the stage you go, naturally. I've killed as early as 57% with this move by meeting them at the top of the stage and intercepting them. It's not a spammable move, so it's pretty much ALWAYS fresh.

As a string starter.
At low percents, it sends them RIGHT in front of you. It's a bizarre approach, obviously, but few expect a fast falled Up Aerial, of all things. Thanks to Kirk's topic (You're the best, Kirk!) it has IASA at frame 19, that's pretty early. I always like to jab right afterward, and due to the position it sends them in, the original jab sometimes combat walks itself, making the whole string 34%. Other, more complex things include Up Aerial to Aether, Up Aerial to Down Aerial to Up Tilt: very fancy, elaborate things that will probably end up dealing 40% by the time you're done with them.

As a throw follow-up.
Everyone expects Dthrow to Aether. Very few people prepare for you to chase after them with an Up Aerial that is remarkably hard to dodge, especially since it punishes air dodges so well. Ike has decent initial jump height, so this is definitely a possibility. Up Throwing them onto a platform forces them to make decisions that will also get (generally) Up Aerialed, in total leading to 20%, very handy.

While Ike is recovering.
I love how Aether protects you from above, it's an excellent thing to have. What I DON'T like is that getting to the ledge area itself is difficult when your opponent has some degree of intelligence and realizes that Aether moves forward like 5 feet horizontally. I generally solve thing problem now by just using my midair jump and the Up Aerial at the same time providing a very effective barrier to most forms of attack with the high priority shield. Fair while coming back only hits for around 3 frames. Up Aerial hits for 18. When it ends you're in perfect position for a reverse Aether back to the ledge. Really, I don't get gimped too often anymore (The only thing that may happen is sometimes getting spiked and the hits clashing, but if you see them going for this just pull back and Aethercide them).

While the opponent is recovering.
It's surprisingly hard to properly dodge the Helicopter motion of the Up Aerial. It's a very deceptive hitbox. So, nowadays, instead of going for a mildly predictable Fair, I generally go for an Up Aerial. It clashes with all sorts of things at times too. I've had it collide with a Meta Knight's Shuttle Loop and kill him off the top at a wonderful percentage. The 18 frames it's out for really makes even versatile recoveries think twice. And Ike can do the move TWICE from his initial jump off stage then do a reverse Aether. Now that's what I call edgeguarding. On a side note I hit a Falco out of his Side B with the move yesterday, that made my day.



There's more but it's rather late and I'm rather sleepy. Let's just say that this is one of my most overlooked moves in Ike's entire moveset. It comes out in a quarter of a second, lasts for longer than that and has a very nice cooldown time. It does 14% and kills ridiculously early. It has fantastic range and is an excellent vertical shield. I am using it more and more as time goes on.

Thoughts?

I always thought it was a usefull move, but never used it as an approach.. I should try that soon'ish.

During the recovery and as airdodge killer it really shines the best, but as stated it's at best when used close to the upper blastzones leading to insanely early kills.

I suggest finding an AT for this move and calling it the ROFLcopter =)

EDIT: using it during the recovery of the opponent, don't you actually save them by doing so? unless they are in 'near death %'.

Well, if you use it on a recovering opponent and it happens to not kill them (Which won't happen most of the time) then they're high enough so that you can probably recovery back and have them still in the air above you, ready to be Up Smashed.

Are you referring to a SH Up Aerial? It's a bit tricky to get the helicopter motion to hit your opponent if you're fast falling the Aerial :X. But yes, you pointed out most of the good uses of the Aerial. If I may add one more use, I would suggest using it on a falling opponent and fast falling it. Usually, Ikes tend to Dair a falling opponent if they're above them. By using an Up Aerial and fast falling, you can hit the opponent up and open yourself to more opportunities to KO your opponent or a follow-up attack.

Falling on top of tall characters with UAir for the shield stab is funny (but unlikely, unfortunately).

Out of habit, I never use UAir for anything except killing; the less you use it, the more likely they'll forget about it until it's too late. I should consider DThrow -> UAir more, especially if I read an airdodge. If you condition your opponent to jump out of the DThrow in an attempt to avoid the UAir, you can always Aether them instead.

Funny seeing how I was thinking to myself that Uair isn't used as often for the reason you stated. I tried using it outside the same way I normally used which was for a KO.

In a match me vs Kirby, I jumped off stage with Uair and missed. The Kirby player I faced always had of trying to spike me, so when he went for a spike, I used another Uair while doing a second jump. It caught him offguard and KO'd him on the spot.

If anything, we should possibly post this in the Ike move tier list, where ever it is.

I olove how awesome this move is but hate how I see Ikes rarely use this move. This move is very good and should be used more often but not spammed. All the reasons you listed I incorperate the U-air into my playstyle. I've actually gotten a few kills from using it when my opponents recover. Just drop down, u-air when they're above or next to you, they go flying away and you recover (you can recover from this move depending on where you activate it).

So thanks for realizing the awesomeness of this move Light.

this move ***** for tech chasing onto platforms. omg best uair ever for that (that's not CF's in Melee).

SCOTU said:

this move *****. omg best uair ever

Click to expand...

I agree.

I agree, uair is delicious.

I've been using dthrow -> uair for a while now, actually... it just seemed obvious because of its length and hitbox.

And of course, it's really good for conditioning, if you so opt to use it more frequently. Once your opponent is punished for early airdodges one too many times, they'll start to airdodge later... In which case you hit them with a bair.

OMG KIRK INORITE?!?!? Coming from a melee fox main, that says a lot!

I'd also need to add that the uair is a beast of an airtech punisher (airdodge after hit)

Wow, I didn't think that the Uair could be used as an effective edgegaurding tool at all as well as the Uair being a combo starter when your opponent is at a low %. I guess I might incorporate it more in my edgegaurding game.

What shocked me even more though, was how you said that you used the move to ward off opponents who attempted to attack you further offstage! I always have a constant fear of using ANY of Ike's aerial moves offstage because I constantly think that I might not be able to recover from the cooldown lag in time to Aether back up to the stage.

I do however, like using his Uair as a kill move when my opponent is at a fairly high % because it can KO them almost 100% of the time when I use it. I also like the Uair because it completely ***** people who are on top of platforms like the ones on Battlefield especially when you use it at the center of the platform. By doing this, you can limit their options on how to dodge the move properly as their only options are to perfect shield it or to predict it coming and jump off the platform. Lastly, the Uair is also capable of ****** people who spam air dodges in the air (obviously) and spot dodges when they are above you because the Uair lasts longer than their invincibility frames which is very handy I think.

Anyway, I found this information both interesting and useful as it will definately help me to improve my game both onstage and especially offstage after I've been knocked off and the enemy decides to continue their pursuit on me offstage as of now, I can attempt to nail them with the Uair instead of using the predictable airdodge offstage. However, I've got to put it into practice, especially if I'm to overcome my fear of attacking opponents when I'm knocked off the stage!

BTW, what's IASA Frames? Is it the frame where the move begins to attack people and also what does it stand for?

IASA = Interruptable As Soon As

and indicates the earliest frame that another action can be performed.

Up tilt + short hop + Uair is a great combo. It works almost everytime I use it.

Yes, helicopter havoc is an awesome move. I love how it seems to last forever. I've KOd people with it about 2 seconds after I actually started the attack.

I've noticed I've gotten much better with that move since I've been on this thred, btw.

Sorry, I accidentally posted twice. I didn't know I was the last to post before. I wrote the 2nd half of the previous post in a different post but when I realized I had already posted on this thread, I copied it into the other post. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that.

When I used Ike at first, I ended up using that move a lot, pwning my friend xD But then lately when I play Ike (even though I main Lucas now I still like to bring him out once in a while) I'm always Bairing everyone!

That will remain my favorite of his aerials, but Uair is definitely a priority now. Good read <3