Trillion
Smash Ace
We Sonics saw this thread on AiB about an Ike player who was having problems with Sonic and as I was reading through the responses, I realized that many people don’t understand the matchup as well as they think they do. The Ike players were an exception to this trend and were able to supply very useful strategies to their fellow Ike player. So, I decided to create a character specific guide to beating Sonic. I hope you find it useful.
To begin with, lets take a look at what our friends at AiB had to say about that Ike vs. Sonic match up.
Good info Ike mains. Now onto the other characters and I will give advice for the rest of these.
Bowser has no problem with Sonic if you know what to do about his speed. Sonic players like to run up so that they are just outside your range and then try to mindgame you. The funny thing is that they always underestimate the reach of Bowser’s forward smash. So when you see a Sonic start to run up, just give a really quick forward smash. It’ll get them every time.
Captain Falcon sucks in this game, but that doesn’t stop him from beating Sonic. Honestly, Sonic is worse than Captain Falcon and actually belongs in the very lowest tier spot. This is why Sonic players deserve to have Sonic put in steak tier, because he isn’t good enough for an actual tier listing. The biggest problem here is that Captain Falcon can actually keep up with Sonic’s speed, thus eliminating his only advantage. Captain Falcon can get easy kills by spiking Sonic’s predictable recovery with the raptor boost.
Diddy's popgun stops Sonic right in his tracks. He can't do anything about it. All of his approaches fail to it. Spindash? Popgun it. Running? Popgun it. That’s all the approaches he has so that covers it. When he goes off the stage his recovery will be very predictable, so just hop off after him and start charging your up b barrels and when you see him start to spring just let go and, voila, you spiked Sonic.
For Donkey Kong, if Sonic spins at you (and we all know he will since that is all he has) just use the forward b, he’ll get stuck in the ground so use the DK punch for the Sakurai combo and Sonic will die at like 60% because he’s so light.
Falco is in the A tier for a reason and that reason is that he can kill Sonic with a matchup that is roughly 95-5 in his favor. We all know Sonic only has 3 kill moves. Fsmash, Bair, and Downsmash. The bair is nothing to worry about. It has zero priority and any of Falco’s aerials beat it especially fair. Next his Fsmash, also has low priority, but its dangerous, so just use Falco’s reflector a lot and Sonic will never land a hit with it. The downsmash is easy too. Falco can grab him right out of it and start a chain grab. The same goes for his spindashes, just grab him and chain grab him up until about 60% and then spike him. Sonic is too heavy to recover from this in time. If he somehow manages too, then just drop off and spike his predictable recovery again. Easy win!!
Fox has a pretty good advantage against Sonic. Roughly 70 – 30 in Fox’s favor. This is because of Fox’s shine. The reflector can KO Sonic at ridiculously low percents. First, get Sonic off the stage. Then, stand right on the very edge of the stage and hold down. We all know that Sonic’s spring doesn’t let him sweet spot the edge, so when he tries just wait and then press B as he gets to it. He will get knocked off again and he will have to wait and then try again and you just do it again. This is practically an infinite on Sonic and can even take him to 300% easy.
With G&W, just camp in the middle of the stage and spam the lucky hammer, Sonic won’t be able to help running or spinning right into it and when you get a nine he will die no matter what because he is too light to survive.
Jigglypuff beats Sonic too. If Sonic stays far away and spindashes, then Jigglypuff can grab him or she can use her own rollout to beat Sonic. Jigglypuff can also wall of pain Sonic very easily due to his lack of aerial options and easily gimped recovery.
King Dedede vs. sonic is pretty easy too. Chain grab Sonic from 0 – 100% and then wait for him to come at you and just finish him off with the mecha-hammer. It’s really easy because Sonic is too heavy too ever get out of the chain grab. It’s even better because Sonic has to be in very close range of Dedede to even land an attack and since Sonic lacks any kind of mindgames or effective approach, it will always be easy for Dedede to get that first grab.
Kirby should turn into a rock as soon as he sees Sonic try to use the Spindash. Since Kirby will be invincible every time Sonic tries it and since that is all Sonic can do, Sonic will lose no matter what.
Lucario gets stronger as he takes more and more damage. Sonic does not have a single kill move. Thus, Lucario will easily take down Sonic. Also, the aura sphere will stop and even kill Sonic when he tries to spindash at Lucario.
This matchup is a total breeze for Lucas. We all know that Sonic only has spin and bair. Lucas can beat both of these by just camping the edge and spamming up smash. Fully charged is best because it will kill at 70%.
Luigi is roughly 75-25% with Sonic. Sonic can’t approach Luigi at all. If a Sonic tries to get in close, then the Luigi can just Up + B and the Sonic will die as early as 50% because he is so light. He can’t stay away because he has no projectiles and Luigi can spam fireballs from just within Sonic’s range to force him to come to you.
Mario vs. Sonic is really easy. Sonic will just try to run or spin at you so just camp near the side and when he accidently rolls off, since Sonic mains seem to have very little control of they’re spins, just wait and then use the flood to push him away. It works every time without fail.
If you are being Meta Knight and Sonic is spamming spin dashes (of course he will be) from the edge, just tornado at him, make sure to be pressing forward and b as fast as you can to get him in time, remember he IS fast.
With Ness just spam pkt, its your best mindgame and Sonic lacks mindgames and since all he has is speed he wont know what to do when he sees you doing it. He'll try to run right at you and get hit by it when you pkt2 and he will die at 0%.
Peach dominates Sonic. If Sonic tries to run at her, she can just do her forward b hip blast thing and Sonic will get pushed back away. If he tries to spin at you, just hit him with the golf club. Otherwise, Sonic likes to shield a lot. If you pull out a Mr. Saturn, then just throw it at him as many times as you can. Sonic is fast, but not THAT fast, he will have no choice but to shield it every time since he has no projectiles or priority to save him. When you break his shield then use the fully charged down smash to get the easy kill.
Pikachu wins vs. Sonic at about 90 – 10 in his favor. Sonic’s horrible approaches land him in Pikachu’s downsmash which can’t be DI-ed out of which means that Sonic will be taking a lot of damage very quickly. Pikachu’s quick attack cancel lets him keep up with Sonic and he can easily hit him with Thunder because Sonic will repeatedly run into it on accident. Sonic also gets killed by Pikachu’s projectile game.
Squirtle vs. Sonic isn’t much of a matchup at all. More like a slaughter. Sonic can’t even get close to Squirtle and since he has no projectiles, Squirtle will never lose this one. If you’re being Squirtle vs. a Sonic then just use the water gun. It will stop Sonic’s run and spins from getting close to you when he does them from the other end of the stage like all Sonics try to do. When it stops him in his tracks, just run up and forward smash. Sonic doesn’t stand a chance.
With Ivysaur, just spam bullet seed whenever Sonic comes at you. He will get caught in it every time because he will think he is too fast. He won’t be able to get out until 999% because he is too heavy.
As soon as Charizard sees Sonic begin to start running, Charizard should use the forward smash. If Sonic goes off the side of the stage, then Charizard should dair spike him at every possible opportunity. Sonic’s air game sucks because he has low air speed as well as zero priority on his aerials and very slow attacks which means that Charizard, being a flying type pokemon, will always beat him in the air.
With snake, just plant fully charged down smash mines all over the stage, battlefield and Final Destination are best for this. Sonic will have to run or spin right into them because all he has is spins and running speed. Most Sonics aren’t good enough to time their run or spin to be able to jump over it in time.
Sonic vs. Sonic matchups are weird because Sonic has no mind games, it just comes down to two Sonics spamming spins at each other and whoever gets luckiest wins, sorry Sonic players reading this guide, just hope you get LuCKy.
Wario has another win versus Sonic. Here, Sonic’s horrible approaches come back to BITE him again because all Wario has to do is camp the ledge and you bite. Sonic can’t approach him because he will just get bitten and comboed.
Wolf vs. Sonic is about 90-10 in wolf’s favor. This match up is one of the very easiest. Spam the laser gun. Sonic will be forced to run or spin right into it and take about 15% just to even get in range of wolf. When he finally does get in range, stop spamming laser and start using the forward smash. The forward smash is the key to this, if you are doing it right, then you will most likely cross the full length of the stage you are playing on using it alone about 3 or 4 times minimum every match. When Sonic goes off the stage, then follow him out with a dair or a reflector, you will be his predictable recovery every time. Watch out for his bair. You can counter it using the fsmash though, so don’t worry too much.
Yoshi is a little bit closer to an even match with Sonic except for one thing. Sonic has no edge-guard game. So, the most dangerous part of the game for Yoshi no longer exists. Yoshi can spam eggs at Sonic all day since Sonic has no projectiles to fight back with.
And that’s all there is too it for every character. If you have anything I should add or want to help me fill in the information on the other characters than feel free to post it here and to discuss my tactics here as well. So now, you know how to win and you have no excuse to ever lose to Sonic ever again.
To begin with, lets take a look at what our friends at AiB had to say about that Ike vs. Sonic match up.
He is right, we Sonic’s like to wait for another character to run right up to us and into grab range before releasing our spin dashes.
He understands that Sonic players like to mindgame their opponents by running into their range and then not doing anything. He knows that Sonic players like to start our spindashes from far away and he has the insight to see that we can just be grabbed out of our spindashes
Ikes can keep Sonic on the defensive with their amazing ability to chain attacks together and pressure their opponents and we Sonics are not exception. Sonic prefers to wait for his opponent to come to him after he has a spin dash charged up. After our attacks cancel Sonic has no choice but to jab as fast as he can.
Eruption poses a big threat to Sonic who can not help running into it due to his lack of effective approaches.
This works because Sonic is not fast enough to keep up with Ike and his speedy pivot grab mindgames.
Good info Ike mains. Now onto the other characters and I will give advice for the rest of these.
Bowser has no problem with Sonic if you know what to do about his speed. Sonic players like to run up so that they are just outside your range and then try to mindgame you. The funny thing is that they always underestimate the reach of Bowser’s forward smash. So when you see a Sonic start to run up, just give a really quick forward smash. It’ll get them every time.
Captain Falcon sucks in this game, but that doesn’t stop him from beating Sonic. Honestly, Sonic is worse than Captain Falcon and actually belongs in the very lowest tier spot. This is why Sonic players deserve to have Sonic put in steak tier, because he isn’t good enough for an actual tier listing. The biggest problem here is that Captain Falcon can actually keep up with Sonic’s speed, thus eliminating his only advantage. Captain Falcon can get easy kills by spiking Sonic’s predictable recovery with the raptor boost.
Diddy's popgun stops Sonic right in his tracks. He can't do anything about it. All of his approaches fail to it. Spindash? Popgun it. Running? Popgun it. That’s all the approaches he has so that covers it. When he goes off the stage his recovery will be very predictable, so just hop off after him and start charging your up b barrels and when you see him start to spring just let go and, voila, you spiked Sonic.
For Donkey Kong, if Sonic spins at you (and we all know he will since that is all he has) just use the forward b, he’ll get stuck in the ground so use the DK punch for the Sakurai combo and Sonic will die at like 60% because he’s so light.
Falco is in the A tier for a reason and that reason is that he can kill Sonic with a matchup that is roughly 95-5 in his favor. We all know Sonic only has 3 kill moves. Fsmash, Bair, and Downsmash. The bair is nothing to worry about. It has zero priority and any of Falco’s aerials beat it especially fair. Next his Fsmash, also has low priority, but its dangerous, so just use Falco’s reflector a lot and Sonic will never land a hit with it. The downsmash is easy too. Falco can grab him right out of it and start a chain grab. The same goes for his spindashes, just grab him and chain grab him up until about 60% and then spike him. Sonic is too heavy to recover from this in time. If he somehow manages too, then just drop off and spike his predictable recovery again. Easy win!!
Fox has a pretty good advantage against Sonic. Roughly 70 – 30 in Fox’s favor. This is because of Fox’s shine. The reflector can KO Sonic at ridiculously low percents. First, get Sonic off the stage. Then, stand right on the very edge of the stage and hold down. We all know that Sonic’s spring doesn’t let him sweet spot the edge, so when he tries just wait and then press B as he gets to it. He will get knocked off again and he will have to wait and then try again and you just do it again. This is practically an infinite on Sonic and can even take him to 300% easy.
With G&W, just camp in the middle of the stage and spam the lucky hammer, Sonic won’t be able to help running or spinning right into it and when you get a nine he will die no matter what because he is too light to survive.
Jigglypuff beats Sonic too. If Sonic stays far away and spindashes, then Jigglypuff can grab him or she can use her own rollout to beat Sonic. Jigglypuff can also wall of pain Sonic very easily due to his lack of aerial options and easily gimped recovery.
King Dedede vs. sonic is pretty easy too. Chain grab Sonic from 0 – 100% and then wait for him to come at you and just finish him off with the mecha-hammer. It’s really easy because Sonic is too heavy too ever get out of the chain grab. It’s even better because Sonic has to be in very close range of Dedede to even land an attack and since Sonic lacks any kind of mindgames or effective approach, it will always be easy for Dedede to get that first grab.
Kirby should turn into a rock as soon as he sees Sonic try to use the Spindash. Since Kirby will be invincible every time Sonic tries it and since that is all Sonic can do, Sonic will lose no matter what.
Lucario gets stronger as he takes more and more damage. Sonic does not have a single kill move. Thus, Lucario will easily take down Sonic. Also, the aura sphere will stop and even kill Sonic when he tries to spindash at Lucario.
This matchup is a total breeze for Lucas. We all know that Sonic only has spin and bair. Lucas can beat both of these by just camping the edge and spamming up smash. Fully charged is best because it will kill at 70%.
Luigi is roughly 75-25% with Sonic. Sonic can’t approach Luigi at all. If a Sonic tries to get in close, then the Luigi can just Up + B and the Sonic will die as early as 50% because he is so light. He can’t stay away because he has no projectiles and Luigi can spam fireballs from just within Sonic’s range to force him to come to you.
Mario vs. Sonic is really easy. Sonic will just try to run or spin at you so just camp near the side and when he accidently rolls off, since Sonic mains seem to have very little control of they’re spins, just wait and then use the flood to push him away. It works every time without fail.
If you are being Meta Knight and Sonic is spamming spin dashes (of course he will be) from the edge, just tornado at him, make sure to be pressing forward and b as fast as you can to get him in time, remember he IS fast.
With Ness just spam pkt, its your best mindgame and Sonic lacks mindgames and since all he has is speed he wont know what to do when he sees you doing it. He'll try to run right at you and get hit by it when you pkt2 and he will die at 0%.
Peach dominates Sonic. If Sonic tries to run at her, she can just do her forward b hip blast thing and Sonic will get pushed back away. If he tries to spin at you, just hit him with the golf club. Otherwise, Sonic likes to shield a lot. If you pull out a Mr. Saturn, then just throw it at him as many times as you can. Sonic is fast, but not THAT fast, he will have no choice but to shield it every time since he has no projectiles or priority to save him. When you break his shield then use the fully charged down smash to get the easy kill.
Pikachu wins vs. Sonic at about 90 – 10 in his favor. Sonic’s horrible approaches land him in Pikachu’s downsmash which can’t be DI-ed out of which means that Sonic will be taking a lot of damage very quickly. Pikachu’s quick attack cancel lets him keep up with Sonic and he can easily hit him with Thunder because Sonic will repeatedly run into it on accident. Sonic also gets killed by Pikachu’s projectile game.
Squirtle vs. Sonic isn’t much of a matchup at all. More like a slaughter. Sonic can’t even get close to Squirtle and since he has no projectiles, Squirtle will never lose this one. If you’re being Squirtle vs. a Sonic then just use the water gun. It will stop Sonic’s run and spins from getting close to you when he does them from the other end of the stage like all Sonics try to do. When it stops him in his tracks, just run up and forward smash. Sonic doesn’t stand a chance.
With Ivysaur, just spam bullet seed whenever Sonic comes at you. He will get caught in it every time because he will think he is too fast. He won’t be able to get out until 999% because he is too heavy.
As soon as Charizard sees Sonic begin to start running, Charizard should use the forward smash. If Sonic goes off the side of the stage, then Charizard should dair spike him at every possible opportunity. Sonic’s air game sucks because he has low air speed as well as zero priority on his aerials and very slow attacks which means that Charizard, being a flying type pokemon, will always beat him in the air.
With snake, just plant fully charged down smash mines all over the stage, battlefield and Final Destination are best for this. Sonic will have to run or spin right into them because all he has is spins and running speed. Most Sonics aren’t good enough to time their run or spin to be able to jump over it in time.
Sonic vs. Sonic matchups are weird because Sonic has no mind games, it just comes down to two Sonics spamming spins at each other and whoever gets luckiest wins, sorry Sonic players reading this guide, just hope you get LuCKy.
Wario has another win versus Sonic. Here, Sonic’s horrible approaches come back to BITE him again because all Wario has to do is camp the ledge and you bite. Sonic can’t approach him because he will just get bitten and comboed.
Wolf vs. Sonic is about 90-10 in wolf’s favor. This match up is one of the very easiest. Spam the laser gun. Sonic will be forced to run or spin right into it and take about 15% just to even get in range of wolf. When he finally does get in range, stop spamming laser and start using the forward smash. The forward smash is the key to this, if you are doing it right, then you will most likely cross the full length of the stage you are playing on using it alone about 3 or 4 times minimum every match. When Sonic goes off the stage, then follow him out with a dair or a reflector, you will be his predictable recovery every time. Watch out for his bair. You can counter it using the fsmash though, so don’t worry too much.
Yoshi is a little bit closer to an even match with Sonic except for one thing. Sonic has no edge-guard game. So, the most dangerous part of the game for Yoshi no longer exists. Yoshi can spam eggs at Sonic all day since Sonic has no projectiles to fight back with.
And that’s all there is too it for every character. If you have anything I should add or want to help me fill in the information on the other characters than feel free to post it here and to discuss my tactics here as well. So now, you know how to win and you have no excuse to ever lose to Sonic ever again.
