New to Mario? Let's-a go! (A2Z's Mario guide) *minor grab game update*

Hey, welcome to this guide! If you are new to Mario competitively, I intend this to be the very first place you should visit for getting to know him quickly and thoroughly. You're probably aware he's not the most formidable of characters in this game. But that probably doesn't matter to you, since after all, the real reason we all use Mario is because he's none other than the best video game character ever!

Mario is a character that needs no introduction, but more than anyone else deserves one. He's the best ****ing video game character ever. Don't believe me? Try to tell me one thing he hasn't done in video games. He's been a doctor, a teacher, a superhero, a sports professional, and has even slain huge dragons! He's the most versatile character in the history of all video games. And to top it off, he shoots fire from his hands! He's amazingly awesome.

Now how does Mario perform in SSBB? He doesn't stand out much, and that unfortunately is a bad thing for him, since Brawl is a game of abusing extremes, like range, power, and survivability. He's currently low tier in this game, but don't let that discourage you. Mario when played to his strengths can be very formidable. There are a few things you need to be aware of when using Mario.

1. Juggling combos. Mario is good, but not amazing at these. There are several combos that can be escaped with proper DI or air dodges at the right time. It's critical to know the pros and shortcomings of each of Mario's juggling options so that you can maximize the damage you can inflict on your opponent.

2. Speed. This is probably the one area Mario stands out in most. He's one of the faster characters in this game. His mobility is pretty good, and his attack speed overall is significantly faster than average mainly in terms of startup time, but on many of his attacks he also has rather low ending lag. It's important to know how fast you can go with Mario, since you will need this speed to work around your low range to create openings or to capitalize on them.

3. Range. Most of Mario's attacks have low range (with some exceptions). This means you have to work defensively to get inside the range of characters like Marth and Metaknight and G&W. It takes good spacing and some mindgames to consistently get inside and punish your opponent. And it's especially important when you're going to kill your opponent with Mario's F-smash, which I will cover later. You will need to have high understanding of your range to fully abuse your out of shield options which Mario depends on.

4. KO percents. Knowing KO percents, especially for U-smash is very important for Mario. Mario isn’t the most powerful character, and his KO moves are heavily affected by stale moves. If you use Mario’s U-smash just a little too early, it’s no longer a KO move. Knowing beforehand what percents your opponent will die at is critical for not wasting precious time and effort.

Mario all in all doesn't have anything overwhelmingly powerful, but there is significant depth to using him. Mario in fact has a lot of options that even a good player will be hard pressed to keep up with when those options are all used to their full potential.

So now to cover his attacks, they will be discussed in this order.

Jab
F-tilt
U-tilt
D-tilt
Dash Attack
F-smash
U-smash
D-smash
N-air
F-air
U-air
B-air
D-air
Grabs
F-throw
D-throw
U-throw
B-throw
Fireball
Super Cape
F.L.U.D.D.
Super Jump Punch

Jab
The Jab hits on frame 2, which is very fast. This is important to remember, since when you get inside someone's range, this attack will more often than not interrupt what they're doing if you get it off fast enough. It doesn't get shieldgrabbed between hits, so you can mess up shieldgrab happy people with this attack occasionally. There are two other useful things to note about the Jab. The three hits all counts towards diminishing returns. And Mario's Jab Cancel is pretty good. To Jab cancel, it's all about experimenting and learning the timing when you can do other moves. Alternatively, you can press Down after Jabbing to interrupt the Jab sequence, and then you get to do other moves (technically, this takes one frame longer to do, but this allows you to Jab cancel into another Jab). This works better if you intercept an aerial opponent since it will be harder for them to block your next move. Better yet, you can put your opponent in more stun time by landing both Jab1 and Jab2 of Mario’s 3 hit sequence, and Jab canceling from there gives you a 7 frame advantage on another Mario. If you're in doubt, you can simply try to grab after jabbing, and it will get them if they shield. Keep in mind when Jab canceling, you want to hit your opponent directly with Mario's fist to get the optimal hit (which gives the most hitstun). You must usually take a tiny step forward to grab them from a Jab cancel at this range. Other options to consider are Jab Canceled Up-tilt, F-tilt, D-smash, and even D-tilt, which all have their uses. One good combo for racking damage is Jab Jab F-tilt, which as far as I know is only blockable by space animals when done correctly. Lastly, if your opponent misses a tech and you Jab them, you will initiate a Jab lock where they will bounce off the ground helplessly while you can single Jab them over and over again until they reach the edge, and then you get a free F-smash whenever you’re done Jab locking them.

One last arcane use of Mario's Jab is that Mario has a wall lock at low percents with his Jab combo. If you catch someone against the wall with Mario's Jab combo, you can repeatedly Jab combo them over and over until they reach about 70%. Alternatively, repeatedly Jab canceling into Jabs can potentially make your combo last longer if they have trouble SDIing out of it. This can be helpful to know on Pokemon Stadium 1 and Delphino, which are commonly played stages where you can do this trick.

For more tips on Jab canceling, direct yourself to this thread: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=243207

F-tilt
Hits on frame 5, which is 1 frame faster than the average standing grab and the common 6 frame F-tilts that many characters have. It has more range than the Jab, which makes it a useful poke option. A few other things that can be noted are the fact it can be angled Up and Down, which is situational, but can occasionally help you poke at aerial approaches (even though a U-tilt or U-smash is usually better here) or to poke at people who are trying to ledgehop (very situational). There are IASA frames on it, making it safe on block if you’re behind someone or if you space it outside of shieldgrab range, and this quality is very useful and overlooked by most Mario users. F-tilt out of shield is also very useful as a punish option (particularly against G&W), since Mario relies on his out of shield options to get past the long range that many characters have in this game.

One fairly gimmicky trait about F-tilt is that there is a certain point in F-tilt's IASA frames as Mario puts his foot on the ground where if you perform an action at that moment, you will slide backwards a short distance. You can initiate this slide via crouching or using attacks, but for the most part it is impractical to pull off in a serious match and not very useful. If you want to get fancy, you could try doing a F-tilt, sliding backwards with Jab, and then doing reverse F-smash after the Jab for mindgames.

U-tilt
Hits on frame 5 and ends really fast. A decent out of shield option or option from a spotdodge at low percents. At low percents, it combos right into itself, and you can usually get off about 3-4 on most characters or sometimes even more on a fastfaller like Fox or Wolf. After you are done Up-tilting, your opponent will be in a prime position for you to follow up with an Up-B, an U-smash, or an U-air for even more damage. If your opponent air dodges, be ready to grab or charge an U-smash. One thing to keep in mind, try not to U-tilt an opponent that has no damage. You need to tack on about 5% to your opponent first, because otherwise they usually are able to shield after the first hit, which will ruin your chain. One fireball, or a D-throw is enough to meet this requirement. Alternatively, if you predict that they are going to block, or if they are Wolf and like using reflector to break your U-tilt chain, you can opt to simply shieldgrab after a U-tilt and then D-throw to set up new strings.

A few random things that you should know about U-tilt is that while it has terrible horizontal range, it has good vertical range and priority. Mario’s U-tilt is able to hit people who are standing above him on the platforms of Battlefield. His U-tilt is also a bit of a lingering hitbox, so it’s one of Mario’s easier options to use to punish a predicted air dodge. When fresh (assuming you don’t use U-tilt much outside of low % chains), it can be used as an emergency KO move generally in the 160s-170s. Also, never underestimate its priority. You can stop a lot of attacks above you with this move. Luigi’s N-air, and even Bowser’s Down-B are examples of moves that this attack can consistently outprioritize with good timing. Lastly, U-tilt is one of Mario’s best combo options at low percents after connecting U-air and landing. It may have competition with D-smash and grab, but the advantages of its low lag combo setup in general are not to be underestimated.

D-tilt
Hits on frame 5...and is pretty mediocre. The U-tilt in most situations is a better attack for combo setups, since this attack is moderately laggy at the end. There are some positives to this attack however. It has more range than the Jab, and it hits lower, so it can be a better poke on shielding opponents. Also, it has a lot less knockback than most of Mario’s attacks, meaning at high percents, it can be a viable “combo” starter when Mario’s D-throw and U-tilt start becoming fairly useless for that purpose. And then Mario also happens to be a pretty small target when crouching, and your opponent usually won’t expect Mario to crouch since they know his D-tilt is near-useless. And for laughs, if you happen to hit while standing REALLY REALLY close with this attack, there is a sweetspot that does 8% as opposed to 5%.

Dash Attack
Hits on frame 6. There isn't really too much to say about this attack. It's the fastest attack Mario can use when he's running towards your opponent, so naturally it's useful when nothing else will reach your opponent fast enough. The Dash attack weakens the longer it is out, but it is also good at punishing spotdodges or air dodges due to its lingering hitbox, and if you hit with the very end of the attack, you can recover fast enough to follow up on your opponent as they are popped in the air behind you. The Dash attack also hits low enough to hit people who are at the ledge, so it can be used to stagespike people for some cheap kills. The main drawback to this move is that if you whiff in front of your opponent, you will be easily shieldgrabbed or punished, although the attack will tend to clank harmlessly if your opponent tries to directly attack it with a ground move. It's also important to note that grabbing generally has a significantly larger reward than using the Dash attack, so all in all this is a move that should be used sparingly.

F-smash
Hits on frame 15. And wow, this is one awesome attack. It looks awesome, does an impressive 18% sweetspotted, and kills at around 90-100%. This makes it one of Mario’s best kill moves. It’s a bit on the slow side, but that will be an afterthought when you learn how tricky Mario’s F-smash can be. Mario’s F-smash, in fact, is one of the longest ranged F-smashes in the game, and there are two ways to exploit that. The first way is by abusing the fact that the charge stance makes Mario lean back a lot, and whenever someone whiffs while you charge F-smash, you can then release and punish them severely. Or the other way is by doing the stutter step, which is done by facing in the opposite direction before you F-smash, which causes Mario to laglessly take a gigantic step forward before F-smashing. To give you an idea how amazing the range is on Mario’s F-smash, the stutter step completely outranges Marth’s F-smash, and dodging Marth’s F-smash with the charge stance also lets you outrange him too. In fact, the only F-smashes in this game I know of that outrange Mario’s stutter step F-smash are Wolf, Falco, and DDD’s F-smash. And the best news is that the most commonly used attacks in this game have around 20-25 frames of ending lag, which is certainly enough time for you to get in a F-smash whenever they whiff that attack since you’re almost guaranteed to outrange them anyway. Even if you’re not killing with this attack, 18% is hard to pass up on when that opportunity arises. Seriously, if you know you’re going to land this attack, go for it. This move wins matchups.

Landing Mario’s F-smash by far is one of the most important skills you need have when using him since it is both his most powerful damage dealer and KO move. The ways I land his F-smash often involve baiting attacks and punishing when they whiff. You can often bait people by weaving in and out of their range with jumps and air dodges, and then F-smashing after they attack. Or, you can also throw out a B-air and then F-smash after B-airing. The counter to this kind of bait is spotdodging and punishing, however if you catch on that your opponent likes to spotdodge a lot, charging up that F-smash before releasing will screw them up. If you Jab someone’s shield, then Jab cancel, your opponent might try to shieldgrab, but you can get off F-smash in that time and punish them. Jab canceling and mixing up your Jabs with F-smash in general can trick your opponent into getting hit by F-smash, and near the edge, this can be a safe tactic even if they block, as if you hit their shield normally, they can get pushed off the edge. Then if your opponent likes to Jab a lot in close range, your F-smash almost always outranges your opponent’s Jab, so they will whiff on your leanback while you punish them hard with the F-smash. There are even a few combos into F-smash (usually just for damage purposes!). Your U-air juggles can often end in F-smash for example. D-air’s landing hitbox at high percents can also sometimes set up into F-smash.

Keep in mind, Mario's F-smash can be angled. The main reason to angle Mario's F-smash is to angle it upwards, as the up-angled F-smash does slightly more damage and knockback than the regular or down angled one. The down-angled one should be avoided due to being weaker. It can have its uses in hitting people on sloped terrain, very rarely sometimes poking under a worn down shield, or hitting people who linger on the ledge too long or miss the sweetspot. Generally speaking though, the regular angled F-smash is most practical for range, and the up-angled is more powerful and has a slight edge in intercepting aerial approaches.

U-smash
Hits from frames 9-12 (9 behind him, 12 in front of him). Another great attack that Mario needs to abuse. This attack is very fast, does great damage, knockback, and has pretty low lag. Everything about it is quite good, and to top it off, it’s a great out of shield option since it is an Up-smash (have Tap Jump on please!). Now the Up-smash is a pretty easy move to land, but you have to know what you’re using it for before you fight your opponent. It’s great for dealing damage or scoring KOs, but unlike your F-smash it’s not suited for both. How you use it will largely depend on your matchup or playstyle. Against easily juggled characters who don’t die off the top that early, like Link, Ike, DDD, Bowser, you will probably want to use it as a juggle tool. The Up-smash is low lag enough to spam at low percents and to start combos, and works like Up-tilt, except it does significantly more damage. Thanks to its high priority, it will rarely ever fail at juggling even if your opponent tries to attack. Now when your opponent is someone like Metaknight, G&W, or Jigglypuff, who is not ridiculously easy to juggle, but easy to kill off the top, you will want to save that Up-smash until they approach 110%. And yes, you have to know when your Up-smash is going to kill. Nothing is more disappointing than Snake barely surviving that Up-smash at 140%.

Now as for landing the Up-smash, that isn’t really hard, but can be tricky if your opponent knows it is coming. The single most reliable way to land it is to predict an air dodge and punish. Another reliable way is to face away from your opponent (the backside has the most range and comes out fastest) and Up-smash out of shield when they hit your shield. If you can predict what your opponent does from a D-throw or U-tilt, D-throw/U-tilt (and sometimes D-tilt!) sets up for Up-smash pretty well (if you can anticipate their attack or air dodge appropriately). Another good way to land Up-smash is baiting a shieldgrab by landing inside your opponent and Up-smashing. You can do this by air dodging slightly behind them (after perhaps using the Cape above their shield). Lastly, charging a Hyphen Smash or a Dash Attack Cancel Up-smash can get Mario to slide a respectable distance before Up-smashing.

As for Hyphen Smashing, keep in mind that there is a specific moment in Mario's dash where you can charge Mario's Up-smash and slide about a 3rd of FD. You can figure out this timing by charging Up-smash at around the end of Mario's initial dash animation as his feet touch the ground, and learning to master use of this technique can be very useful.

D-smash
Comes out frame 5. Yet another good Smash attack. The D-smash comes out fast, has decent range (the exact same as the Jab), great knockback + trajectory, and good damage. It’s another good out of shield option or a good option from a spotdodge. It sends people at a fairly low trajectory, meaning it gets them off the stage very easily and sets them up for edgeguards quite well, and another good thing is that it’s fairly safe on block due to being fast and pushing your opponent away a decent distance. Another thing to note is there is a hit on the backside, which is helpful for catching people who roll behind you. D-smash like Up-smash is good at KOs or damage dealing, but not both, but this isn’t as huge of a problem since the main purpose of D-smash isn’t KOs or juggling, but to get them away from you and offstage.

Since it is Mario’s fastest Smash, it’s also his most easily comboed into. Jab canceled D-smashes are obvious, and are best done when the opponent is slightly in the air first. N-air, B-air or Up-air at low percents combo into D-smash which is good for some nice damage.

N-air
Comes out frame 3. One of Mario’s most versatile aerials. It comes out fast and stays out for a long time, and it has low ending and landing lag. The knockback is strongest on the initial hit, which can be a good KO move undiminished or offstage, or just a general “get them off the stage” attack. The weak hit however is still useful, as at lower percents you have enough stun time to follow up with another attack like a Jab, grab, or a D-smash. The hitbox lasts so long that it will almost always get people out of their spotdodge too. Also, the other invaluable property of the weak hit is edgeguarding. N-air will almost always catch people off guard when they are offstage, and the very horizontal knockback will set up most characters to be edgehogged. Against people who are at the edge, well-timed N-airs are able to punish virtually any getup they do. Do not underestimate the priority of this attack either, as it can break you out of juggles consistently, and it can hit even the likes of Marth and Metaknight out of their Up-B. Failing to reliably do anything to G&W’s recovery is unfortunate however.

Lastly, at moderate percents, N-air can potentially set up Jab locks against people who don’t tech.

F-air
Comes out frame 16. Easily Mario’s least useful aerial by far, but it has just enough to have some applications. Firstoff, it is Mario’s most damaging aerial (at a moderate 13%), which is nice. Depending on your spacing, it’s either a meteor smash, or a moderately powerful launcher that can get people offstage or kill them when they’re offstage. Mainly, the purpose of this attack is spiking. Because it’s a meteor smash, it has decent hitstun and if you land immediately after spiking, you can often set up some combos. If your opponent doesn’t tech after being spiked and you Jab them, you get a Jab lock. And then, if you spike your opponent offstage, there is a very good chance of gimping them. Now the main thing that really limits the use of the F-air is the rather significant ending lag. It takes a while to end in the air, and the landing lag is significant, and you can’t reach the autocancel window from SHing this attack. However, a fullhopped F-air will autocancel on the platforms of BF, and if you move to even a SLIGHTLY lower elevation, a SH F-air will autocancel upon landing. One last random fact is that fullhopped F-airs end slightly before you land on the ground, meaning you can N-air or U-air before you hit the ground.

U-air
Comes out frame 4. Awesome awesome aerial. This attack comes out fast, ends quick, has virtually no landing lag, and does great damage and has very useful knockback. At low percents, it combos right into itself, which is great since you can use two of these in a SH. You can set up right into this attack from a D-throw or U-tilt. At higher percents, the attack’s relatively horizontal knockback is very useful for offstage KOs. Another awesome thing is landing with this attack lets you combo right into another move, preferably D-smash or a grab. This move is also a great attack for mixing up your approach, since it hits not just above him, but a bit in front and behind him. Try fastfalling it from various angles if you feel like mixing up your approach and you might just end up catching your opponent off guard.

B-air
Comes out frame 6. This is one solid attack, the bread and butter of Mario’s moveset. It has excellent range, comes out fast, is low lag, has great power, and you can do two in a shorthop. This is your general spacer, and it’s also one of Mario’s most valuable out of shield options. There is also a weak hit from hitting slightly late with this attack that can also set up combos, either into another B-air, a grab, D-smash, and stuff like that. Basically when in doubt, this attack is generally a solid option. Be careful though, your opponent will be expecting this attack and will try to space appropriately so they can punish you for relying too much on this attack.

D-air
Comes out frame 5. An invaluable aerial. It lingers, and is very safe on block due to its multiple hits and extremely low ending lag. The lag is so low that you can immediately U-air or N-air after doing this attack from a short hop for some nice shield pressure. However, when you connect with this attack, it’s one of Mario’s best combo starters at low percents. D-air -> U-air is practically guaranteed as long as you can follow your opponent’s DI. The other useful property to this attack is the landing hitbox, which can shield poke, or set up combos. It pops them just slightly in the air, and you usually have enough time to get in a D-smash. Keep in mind, you CANNOT SH D-air -> B-air under normal circumstances. However it is possible to do if you move to a slightly lower elevation while D-airing. And then D-air is even useful fullhopped as a fakeout since the low ending lag lets you cancel into anything else so you can mix up your approach. D-air also punishes air dodges quite effectively due to its lingering hitbox, and sends them back up with the situation reset. You can bait air dodges with this move very effectively too. If your opponent air dodges to avoid the hit from D-air, they can almost always be hit by whatever you cancel your D-air into before they can do anything else.

Remember how I mentioned you can cancel SH D-air cancels into N-air or U-air? Try Jabbing your opponent immediately after the N-air or U-air. Especially if your opponent has a slow grab, like Zelda, Link, Ivysaur, or Olimar, they cannot shieldgrab this. Normal shieldgrabs can get this if you don’t space behind them, but if you space behind them and Jab, it will punish them if they try to drop shield or jump.

All in all D-air is a unique and valuable asset that should be utilized.

Grabs
Mario’s grabs all have rather short range. Fortunately Mario’s decent walking and run speed can be used to add more distance to your grab. Mario’s regular grab comes out in 6 frames like most others. His dashgrab is one of the slower ones at 12 frames, but does have more range than his regular grab, so is useful for punishing laggy long ranged moves (make sure you don’t whiff. The lag is terrible). Mario’s Pivot grab is listed at 11 frames, but has relatively low ending lag. Most importantly, it has the most range of Mario’s grabs, comparable to that of Mario’s F-tilt, reaching a fair bit past where his hands actually grab. Mario’s pivot grab is a tool that can really help increase your options when you want to regrab your opponent from a D-throw, or can be used to punish predicted approaches.

Mario’s grab pummel does 3%, and is only average in terms of speed, however it’s worth using not just to tack on extra damage, but to work around diminishing returns. Keep in mind, using 10 different attacks allows you to completely refresh a move that you have used earlier, and since each use of a pummel counts as one separate attack, it’s even more worthwhile to get these in before throwing. Against Ness and Lucas, you have a guaranteed F-tilt out of grab release moreover, so use this to your advantage if you feel you have problems with stale moves against them.

F-throw
Does 9%. While this throw looks unspectacular, it is Mario’s 2nd most damaging throw. This throw is best used for damage racking if you’re not using B-throw, and for getting people off the stage. The angle it sends people at is pretty decent, and allows you to follow up offstage with relative ease.

D-throw
Does 6%. This does the lowest damage of Mario’s throws, but it has the advantage of being the easiest to follow up with. The low knockback of this throw means that your opponent will be right in position for you to U-air, Up-B, or sometimes U-smash and U-tilt. The main problem with this throw is that characters can immediately air dodge and attack out of it. Learning to observe these actions is crucial for making the most of this throw. If they air dodge, they can be easily regrabbed if you’re prepared for it! D-throw them again and see if they get a headache trying to figure out the best way to escape this simple trap. If you see an attack coming, U-smash and U-tilt are the easiest ways to snuff it out (be careful of using U-smash if you plan on killing with it). A smart opponent can make it more difficult to follow up by jumping away, although technically, you can U-air them before they can jump if you’re fast.

U-throw
Does 8%. Another throw that looks unspectacular. It isn’t by any means the most damaging of Mario’s throws, and it doesn’t have the greatest combo setup nor does it have real KO potential. However, the use of U-throw lies in putting your opponent above you. Use this throw over D-throw past 60%, when D-throw’s knockback starts becoming too high to easily follow up with anymore, and U-throws superior damage makes it the better option. And remember, some characters like Ike, Marth, Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Snake hate being above another character. Putting them in this position can help you control the match, and if you’re good, you can make them regret air dodging to the ground by regrabbing them, U-throwing, and starting the trap all over again!

B-throw
Does 12%. The most distinguished of Mario’s throws by far. It does pretty good damage, and has decent knockback. This move is one of your top choices if your goal goes as far as simple and consistent damage racking while getting people offstage. Alternatively, this throw can be used as a KO move at around 160-175% near the edge ONLY if you keep it fresh. It’s very easy to keep this throw fresh if you want it to be fresh, but if you use it before your opponent is at a KO%, it will be hard to refresh this move for the KO again. In teams, this throw is a very safe attack, as while you swing your opponent around, they serve as a disjointed hitbox that can smack away any teammate that tries to rescue them. Unfortunately, B-throw no longer reliably separates the Ice Climbers, so be aware of that.

For more information on Mario's grab game, here is a fairly recent post I made. http://www.smashboards.com/showpost.php?p=9258950&postcount=3663

Fireball
Comes out frame 14. does 5%. Mario’s Fireball isn’t the best projectile, but it’s nonetheless very useful. Obviously it’s something worth spamming at mid-long distances if you feel it’s not safe to approach your opponent. They can be outprioritized easily however, so don’t use these in close range. The other great thing about Fireballs however is that Mario can easily follow up behind them and land consecutive hits from landing fireballs. Fireball -> tilt, grab, or D-smash can be a very good strategy against unprepared opponents.

Super Cape
Comes out frame 12. This move isn’t meant so much to be used offensively, but its utility lies in its amazing physics. The Cape does many useful things.

If it hits someone, it does 6%, and turns them around. It also has horizontal pushback, so when used against an aerial opponent, they get sent backwards quite far away without flinching them, making it an obvious gimp tool. One other arcane use of the Cape is in teams, as the Cape also has the property of amplifying vertical momentum such as that from knockback. The technique dubbed the Cape **** is a very effective teams strategy where you can KO opponents very early by having your partner U-throw, and then Mario caping his opponent as they go up. In singles, if Pikachu ever uses Thunder on you, it’s also possible to Cape **** him by reflecting Thunder, and then Caping Pikachu as he goes flying. Other projectiles used in close range occasionally can be Cape ***** too.

As mentioned in the example above, the Cape can reflect projectiles (even if he's facing away from them), which is a useful way of discouraging your opponent from camping. The Cape has other amazing properties, like an aerial momentum boost. This boost is most effective on the first use of the Cape in the air. The obvious application of this is for increasing the distance of Mario’s recovery or otherwise mixing it up. It gets even more useful for recovery because it autosnaps to the ledge from a very far distance, so if you’re ever in doubt about how easily you can reach the ledge, using the Cape as you approach it can help insure your ability to reliably grab it. The autosnap AND the aerial boost also give Mario a solid edgestall game, as you can reverse Cape from the ledge and quickly regrab it. The Cape also lets you change the direction you are facing offstage, so if you were ever wondering if there was a way to recover while using your B-air, the Cape can help you do this very easily. Lastly, the aerial momentum boost is very useful onstage too. With it, you can avoid predicted juggle attempts, and to otherwise add variety to your approach. Caping someone’s shield is rather safe on block due to the relatively low lag and decent pushback, and even better is that if your opponent tries to shieldgrab an aerial Cape, they will only whiff and be left open to be punished. Using the Cape on stage in general can be very helpful in maintaining an advantageous position, so learning to implement it can make you a fair bit less predictable.

One last use of the Cape is B-boosting with it. A B-boost is where you perform a special attack the instant you run off the edge, and your running momentum will directly carry onto your special attack as you do it. B-boosting with the Cape is called Cape Gliding, and this can really speed up your ability to chase people offstage if timed correctly. On Battlefield or other stages with platforms, it’s a good way to get from platform to platform. B-reversing a B-boosted Cape on a platform actually lets you slide on a platform with amazing speed which can be a flashy mindgame.

All in all the Cape is a move that can do a lot of unorthodox and unpredictable things. It’s up to you to experiment with it and find ways to use it, and in the right situations, it can really be extremely useful.

F.L.U.D.D. (Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device)
The FLUDD like the Cape is another move that does rather unusual things, but generally speaking its uses are much more subtle and less obvious than those of the Cape’s. The FLUDD pushes people away from you without doing damage. It can be charged to increase its range and pushback, and aimed while the water is being sprayed. The obvious application of this move is for edgeguarding, as the water is very much able to mess up the spacing of special moves offstage, or mess up your opponent’s momentum in general leaving them in a position where they can be followed up easily. The FLUDD works best on opponents who recover from the side, or if they don’t sweetspot the ledge directly from below, so the Side-Bs of space animals, Ike, and Luigi can be easily stopped by this move.

The FLUDD also is able to outprioritize weak projectiles. The pushback is also useful sometimes for pushing your opponent to the ledge, which can limit their options and set up edgeguard opportunites. FLUDDing is also able to kill people on stage if they use a special move that puts them in free fall, and you push them off before their special finishes up, such as Link’s Up-B, Zelda’s Side-B, not to mention anything PK Boys do in a squatting position (lol @ Ness). If you ever manage to get a shield break, FLUDDing someone while they are tumbling is a guaranteed KO if you get them offstage. Also, FLUDD can stop edge attacks and push them back offstage, which can occasionally mess someone up. If you are going against Ike, and he’s Jabbing next to the ledge, FLUDDing him offstage will usually cause him to N-air, and fall to his death as he recovers from the lag of that attack.

The other common use of FLUDD is FIHL (FLUDD Induced HitLag). When a move comes into contact with the FLUDD, hitlag frames are activated, making the attack last longer. If spaced properly, this can be used to mess up spacing, and open an opportunity to punish ending lag at the same time.

Super Jump Punch
Comes out frame 3. This is Mario’s recovery move, and frankly, it’s just average when it comes to recovery. It has acceptable range and good speed. Mario’s Up-B does however have things going for it. It’s a pretty disjointed attack, so it will outprioritize quite a few things, and it can hit people who are near the ledge from a pretty good distance. People who stay on the edge too long also get stagespiked by this attack. One of the problems with Mario’s Up-B however is that Mario is a character who retains Recovery CarryOver lag (RCO) after using his Up-B. If you didn’t land on stage after using your Up-B, the next time you land will cause you to suffer from a lag animation that’s about as long as Up-Bs landing lag. Air dodging and landing normally will trigger this animation, although there are ways to avoid it. Landing with a special move like fireballs or FLUDD charge stance (which you can shield or roll out of) lets you temporarily bypass the lag completely (until the next time you jump). The other way is landing with ledgehopped aerials, as the lag from the aerial will replace the RCO lag animation you would have gotten normally.

Aside from recovery, this move is also invaluable onstage. It does have terrible lag if you whiff, but it has the advantage of being the fastest out of shield attack in the entire game (again, keep that Tap Jump on please). Smash the control stick upwards and press B to use this directly out of shield, and use this to your advantage to punish a variety of approaches people do on your shield. Even more helpful is the invincibility frames, which let you beat all sorts of things, from G&W’s B-air, to MK’s Tornado. The invul frames are from frames 3-6, which isn’t ideal, but still VERY helpful for intercepting just about anything you need it to. Mario’s Up-B also is easily comboed into and can serve as a last ditch combo finisher when nothing else will reach the opponent, although again, just be careful about whiffing.

Other things to note about Mario’s Up-B is the ability to reverse it and angle it. Most of you who are familiar to smash may already be aware of reverse Up-Bs, the applications of which are fairly obvious. When you reverse Up-B, keep in mind that the first hitbox still hits in the direction you were originally facing in. As for angling Mario’s Up-B, it can be angled to go very diagonally, or basically straight up. To angle it straight up, without accidentally reversing your Up-B, you must tilt the control stick backwards to get the most height out of this. If you do this correctly, Mario’s Up-B is capable of landing on the top platform of Battlefield, which is not too shabby at all, and one more evasive maneuver you get from playing on Battlefield.

Mario and Stages:

There aren’t any stages Mario really shines on. Picking stages with Mario will depend on your opponent, how well they adapt to platforms, how well they recover, and how well they can deal with hazards and sloped terrain.

Neutral stages are usually the best stages for Mario to use. Mario’s U-tilt and aerials have their exploits with the platforms of Battlefield, not to mention the ability to land on the top platform with Up-B. Final Destination is a better stage if you know your opponent has trouble dealing with camping and juggling, like Ike or Bowser. Smashville is overall the most balanced stage and generally gives few glaring advantages or disadvantages, with the most noteable exploit being moving mines and C4 from Snake.

While Mario doesn’t obviously benefit from various counterpicks, he’s not terrible on any particular stage. On stages that have sloped terrain, keep in mind that SH F-air autocancels, and that SH D-air -> B-air becomes a viable mixup. The Cape is more practical on stages like Frigate that give disadvantages to bad recoveries. Stages with damageable terrain like Brinstar and Luigi’s Mansion, you can use useless moves like D-tilt on the destructible objects to work around stale moves. Luigi’s Mansion should get special notice for the ceilings making it easy for U-tilt and U-throw to set up Jab locks. A stage with a lot of ledges like Norfair allows Mario to put his solid ledge game to even better use, not to mention aid his recovery, and Norfair has other advantages like the terrain working in favor of fireball camping and utilization of Mario's quick air game.

Matchups to watch out for:

As versatile Mario is, he’s not a particularly powerful character. Mario does have some good matchups against some great characters who are ranked above him like Pikachu, Wolf, and Falco. Still, it’s more important to know how to survive in your worst matchups. Mario’s most difficult matchups are G&W, Snake, Dedede, Ice Climbers, Metaknight and Marth. These aren’t his only disadvantageous matchups, but these are common ones that you will have to be prepared for if you want to win them.

G&W
As far as it goes on a move vs move basis, G&W is a nightmare for Mario to deal with. His range on most of his attacks is very good, and very disjointed. The worst part about G&W is that most of his attacks have very low ending lag, meaning there is very little room for Mario to work his way in once G&W starts attacking. Obviously his B-air is one tough customer to negotiate with. The usual baiting into F-smash almost never works on a good G&W player because his attacks (especially his smashes) are so disjointed and have so little ending lag that if you don’t scrape yourself on his massive hitboxes while F-smashing, he usually gets to block. To make matters worse, he survives longer than you do if he knows how to DI and implement Bucket Braking (a discovery I made myself by the way) and he can KO you really early with his F-air and Smashes. Did I mention his F-air and D-air are the perfect edgeguard tools for predictable recoveries and that his Bucket filled with Fireballs KOs you at like 40%?

That being said, Mario has very specific advantages against G&W. While G&W’s ending lag is really low, his startup on the other hand is significantly slower. When you do finally manage to work in his range, you have the advantage as long as you can stay there. Jabbing is faster than anything G&W can do, and Jab canceling against G&W is very powerful against him due to is lack of options for escaping those combos (to get the best results, make sure to Jab cancel after Jab2). When you’re in his range, juggling him is actually fairly easy due to how your aerials are much faster than his in terms of startup. D-throw -> U-air combos are invaluable on him if he doesn’t air dodge. Up-B out of shield is also very valuable against G&W, able to punish his B-air and various other things he does on your shield (don’t do this against his Smashes, which are safe on block). F-tilt and Jab out of shield are necessities for poking him. While F-smash can almost never hit him before he can block on reaction, what it can do is punish him for committing to attacks. It is possible to F-smash him between D-tilts if he tries to do multiple D-tilts instead of D-tilt and then shielding. The same goes for his Smashes, in that they can be punished if he attacks out of them instead of blocking. It’s not worthwhile to save F-smash for KOs due to how unreliable it is against him, and it’s more important to wait until 110% for U-smash or D-smash out of shield to be able to KO him. And while fireballs are risky, they are useful if you can predict his attacks or if he’s at a KO percent, since the lag of the Bucket absorption will leave him open to be hit by a KO move.

Snake
Snake is quite simply put an unfairly good character. With a 4 frame F-tilt that does 21 damage that he can Jab cancel into, and a 6 frame U-tilt with more range than most swords that KOs much earlier than Mario’s U-smash, Snake is automatically a force to be reckoned with. Combined with the incredibly dangerous assortment of explosives, a broken D-throw techchase game, a good Snake is one of the most frightening matchups conceivable.

Snake however does have weaknesses that can be exploited. His options for stopping other projectiles and approaching past them are limited. Camping against him is risky, since his grenades massively outdamage your fireballs, however you can use fireballs to cover your approach. Snake’s ground game is stupidly good, but still punishable with good spacing, and your Jab has the luxury of being faster than his other attacks. U-tilt juggles are very effective against Snake due to his weight, and juggling him in general is very good due to the terrible ending lag of his aerials. Ideally, you want to get Snake offstage as soon as possible so you can set him up for a spike from your F-air. It usually will take at least two uses of F-air to gimp him, but once you land the first one, he’s basically a goner if you don’t mess up. If he tries to use C4 to recover from this, he can be footstooled out of it easily. In case he doesn’t get gimped, save both F-smash and U-smash against him. U-smash won’t KO him easily until the 160s, but securing a KO against him at any rate is massively important. F-smash depending on situation can KO him at respectable percents, as low as the 100-110 range when up angled.

Dedede
Dedede is an unusual character with a very precise moveset. He doesn’t have many exceptional moves except for his grab, and unfortunately, he can chaingrab with his D-throw. It’s possible for him to potentially infinite Mario with his D-throw if you don’t button mash out of his grab attacks in between throws. He has excellent range on a lot of moves, which combined with his great recovery gives him a solid edgeguard game. The good news about DDD is that he’s horrible at scoring the KO, so his opportunities for landing KO moves are very limited when you’re playing safely against him, and he’s easily juggled, so you can get him from 0-60% quickly with the usual U-tilt and U-air juggle tactics. That being said however, he survives ridiculously long just like Snake does. Fortunately, FLUDD and Cape can REALLY screw up his recovery, particularly his Up-B if you land them. This matchup however will be an immense chore at best due to his ridiculous grab game and great edgeguarding.

The fact that DDD wants to grab you so much can be exploited, as he's one of the easiest character in the game to bait with F-smash. Weaving in and out of his range to bait the grab and then F-smashing after he grabs is very effective as long as you don't get predictable with it. It's also important to make full use of fireballs to poke him from a distance, and remember to space D-air behind him on his shield when he's in close range.

Ice Climbers
The Ice Climbers are an obvious example of a broken character. With the potential to infinite grab anyone from 0-death, the Ice Climbers are nothing short of terrifying to face against. With a ridiculous camp game with desynched ice blocks and blizzard, not to mention their Side-B which is comparable to the infamous Mach Tornado, the Ice Climbers are at the very least quite discouraging to go up against.

With that being said, their entire game revolves around camping and waiting for you to make a spacing mistake that gets you grabbed. The good news is that it can be very difficult for them to get a grab with their poor grab range, and that Mario can be very good at separating the Ice Climbers. The matchup isn’t easy even if you don’t get grabbed, because when they are together, they still have amazing priority and power on almost all of their moves. SH D-air is a godsend in this matchup, being safe on block, and separating the Ice Climbers very easily. Your F-smash and D-smash also tend to be good at separating the Ice Climbers, although be careful as they can punish the lag of those with a grab. It’s possible to camp back at the Ice Climbers with intelligent use of fullhopped fireballs over their ice blocks, and on battlefield or smashville, the platforms make it much easier to work around their camping. Fireballs and Cape beat Blizzard and Cape can outprioritize the Squall Hammer, which can be useful as they recover. The matchup starts becoming more advantageous once the Ice climbers are separated and Nana is out of the picture, with Mario simply being a better character than the lone Ice Climber. Separating them safely at any rate is your number one priority. It will not be easy, but the possibility for it to happen does exist.

Metaknight
Metaknight is currently ranked as the best character in SSBB, and for a good reason. Almost everything Metaknight does is fast and safe on block as long as he spaces well, and that is also easy for him to do when you consider that he has overall some of the longest range in the entire game on every attack he does. Metaknight is also oddly enough, very good at scoring KOs early despite being labeled as a fast character. With fast and safe KO moves like D-smash and Up-B that are stupidly powerful, the best recovery, and a top notch combo game, Metaknight has everything going for him.

There are not many tricks to beating Metaknight. However, it should be noted that Metaknight is unable to fan away your fireballs, so there is no point in not spamming them against him. F-smash as usual is useful for outranging his stuff, and it can be very satisfying to predict a D-smash, charge F-smash right as he does it, and make him whiff as you lean back and then punish him. Up-B, U-smash, FLUDD, Cape, Pivot Grab, and F-Smash are all options you have for beating the Tornado. Make sure to save U-smash against him due to that being the most reliable KO move against him. It’s possible to Cape his recovery and gimp him, but not recommended as if he plays smart, he will usually use that as an opportunity to gimp you as you attempt to edgeguard him.

Marth
Marth is infamous in Smash. He was one of the best characters in Melee (one of Mario’s worst matchups in that game!) and while he can’t claim that title anymore, he’s still a ridiculously powerful character. His tipper attacks all KO early and do massive damage. His range is a chore to work around, and his move Dancing Blade is quite possibly the best punishing move in the entire game. To make things harder, his Up-B punishes virtually everything that touches his shield, even Mario’s D-air. Marth is a character that can destroy anyone when played intelligently.

Good Marth players are not easy to come by, but the difficulty of this matchup is one that drastically changes depending on the level of Marth player you go up against. It’s important to note that Marth has significant weaknesses. He doesn’t have any KO moves that are safe on block, he’s easily juggled, and he can be easily gimped. Your general focus is simple, in that you want to draw out his approach with fireballs and punish it out of shield. Top level Marth players don’t let let you easily exploit their weaknesses much, if at all. Marth when played properly can be ridiculously hard to approach even with out of shield options, and when Marth gets control, he can follow up very quickly. Although you want to use fireballs against him, his superior mobility and ability to outprioritize them means you must exercise more caution when he starts approaching, or you risk getting punished. Spotdodging is a bad idea against Marth since Dancing Blade punishes it. Keep in mind that if you shield Dancing Blade, it can always be shieldgrabbed after the third hit. Marth can also bait air dodges very effectively and punish them with his long ranged pivot grab, so be careful before you try to land behind him. While he can be juggled effectively, his D-air, counter, and Up-B when timed right can shut down attempts to juggle him. Edgeguarding him isn’t particularly hard, although you have to watch out for counter, and his long ranged aerials. N-air can hit him out of his Up-B, and Cape Stalling makes it easy to edgehog him when he’s in that position. FLUDD also messes up his recovery significantly, defeating the purpose of counter, and putting him in a position where he’s wide open to be followed up on. F-smash as usual is useful against him, but it’s very punishable against Marth so you must be cautious.

No stages that Mario shines on you say? I disagree. Norfair.

I guess I'll add Norfair. Even though MK and G&W are pretty stupid to deal with there lol.

Wow this is awesome, I read everything in one go.. Great job A2!

lol another great mario guide^^
how many of them do we already have?? but anyways

great job A2^^
liked it really^^

Great work son but it hurts the vision, we need pics and color

^this and

you done so well this thread needs to get stickied

Looks like something I would type as far as the descriptions go, but dtilt=useless. It's not a move, it's a curse that keeps Mario out of top tier.

Hot stuff on this guide, it describes Mario's play very nicely and shows exactly what Mario is supposed to do with each move.

-If anyone wants to be "Pro" with Mario, he must learn the "art of Dtilt" so he can overcome any challenge with honor haha, no, really, try to use Dtilt, it's a "OK" move...lul", mostly for shield poking and edge setups-

lol david... i knew you'd write a huge mother****ing wall of text on fsmash... stop loving it so much xDDDD

Dtilt is horrible.

Slow for a tilt, bad damage, only decent range, and the opponent gets out of the lag before Mario does.

its good when your putting alot of pressure/2stock lead.

Hmmm... I'd put Japes down as a bad stage, but maybe that's just me.

Veggi said:

Dtilt is horrible.

Slow for a tilt, bad damage, only decent range, and the opponent gets out of the lag before Mario does.

Click to expand...

Jab Jab D-tilt is useful! No lie! It does more damage than your regular Jab combo, and it can be used at high percents for combo setup.

fromundaman said:

Hmmm... I'd put Japes down as a bad stage, but maybe that's just me.

Click to expand...

Japes is only really bad against Falco, DK, and G&W.

Very good guide A2, very well done!

A2ZOMG said:

Japes is only really bad against Falco, DK, and G&W.

Click to expand...

Hmmm...

I dunno, I dislike it in general, since it makes our gimping much less effective, and makes us more gimpable, not to mention killing on this stage seems harder.
Wouldn't want to go there against Peach, MK, ROB, Kirby, or Lucario though

Just read through, nothing to comment on really A2. Truly an amazing guide, it covers pretty much everything a current Mario should know up till now.

Which is embarrassing since I learned a great deal here...

A2ZOMG said:

Jab Jab D-tilt is useful! No lie! It does more damage than your regular Jab combo, and it can be used at high percents for combo setup.

Japes is only really bad against Falco, DK, and G&W.

Click to expand...

Japes is bad period. Once you're in the water, you're done.

ugh, i'll go on japes to fight ness, ike, ganon, ike, CF, olimar, and other characters who has suckish recovery.

Great guide!

A few things I noticed you didn't include:

-Usmash has a sweetspot in the back, and as a result is great for hitting opponents behind you after a spotdodge.
-Cape gives a few frames of SA when it hits. This means if you reflect a projectile at someone and cape them at the same time (so very close range), they take the damage from both and you can follow up with something else (like a Dsmash.). Situational, but nice to know IMO. ThrillaGorilla had this and more in his thread about weird cape properties.



That being said, I learned a bit from this. Also, I have a question: Is it possible to do Usmash OoS with tap jump off? (I know you can do UpBs OoS by hitting jump and Bup at the same time.)

Also, I can't remember, how many frames does it take to drop your shield normally?

fromundaman said:

Great guide!

A few things I noticed you didn't include:

-Usmash has a sweetspot in the back, and as a result is great for hitting opponents behind you after a spotdodge.

Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. I've tested this a million times.

-Cape gives a few frames of SA when it hits. This means if you reflect a projectile at someone and cape them at the same time (so very close range), they take the damage from both and you can follow up with something else (like a Dsmash.). Situational, but nice to know IMO. ThrillaGorilla had this and more in his thread about weird cape properties.

Click to expand...

The situation you are describing actually is an example of the Cape ****. =/

That being said, I learned a bit from this. Also, I have a question: Is it possible to do Usmash OoS with tap jump off? (I know you can do UpBs OoS by hitting jump and Bup at the same time.)

Click to expand...

You could do that, but you're at more of a frame disadvantage trying to do it that way just because the fastest way to do it is with Tap Jump on.

Keep in mind, holding Up, and pressing Jump+A makes you do an Up-smash.

Also, I can't remember, how many frames does it take to drop your shield normally?

Click to expand...

7.

No drop lag for Up-B or U-smash out of shield if done right.

Yoshi takes 17 frames to drop shield, and cannot directly jump out of shield, meaning it takes him 23 frames to jump out of shield. If you do SH D-air -> U-air on his shield, and he doesn't spotdodge, you can grab him before he can shieldgrab or do any out of shield options.

A2ZOMG said:

No, it doesn't. I've tested this a million times.

Click to expand...

Oops, I just learned something new then. Thanks!

A2ZOMG said:

The situation you are describing actually is an example of the Cape ****. =/

Click to expand...

Make that two new things XD

A2ZOMG said:

You could do that, but you're at more of a frame disadvantage trying to do it that way just because the fastest way to do it is with Tap Jump on.

Keep in mind, holding Up, and pressing Jump+A makes you do an Up-smash.

7.

No drop lag for Up-B or U-smash out of shield if done right.

Yoshi takes 17 frames to drop shield, and cannot directly jump out of shield, meaning it takes him 23 frames to jump out of shield. If you do SH D-air -> U-air on his shield, and he doesn't spotdodge, you can grab him before he can shieldgrab or do any out of shield options.

Click to expand...

Okay, thanks very much for the info!

It's important to know how fast you can go with Mario,

whaha this made me laugh

Updated some random cool fact about Mario's Jab that has pretty much gone unmentioned. Check the last paragraph of that section.

Hey, I just noticed dash attack isn`t listed... not that its important, but still...

If d-tilt made the cut, everything else should too, lol

Oh, I missed it? Thanks.

great guide helped a lot

fromundaman said:

Hmmm... I'd put Japes down as a bad stage, but maybe that's just me.

Click to expand...

I dunno, I typically do very well on Japes. It's one of my better stages.

Threw in a random post I made into the section about Mario's grab game.

There is probably more I need to update eventually.

Stages could use an update. Guess I can add my tidbit on that sometime tomorrow.

Adding Tidbit.

Stages

When it comes to stages, you gotta wonder if Sakurai was really looking at Mario's theme (balance) in an extreme way, because Mario, barring match-up specific details, has no bad stages. At the same time, he has no "excellent" stage either. Although, this is a good thing. Mario is able to take advantage of all available stages given to him with no blatant weaknesses.

When looking at Stages, you want to look at three things.

-The Match-up.
-Your play-style.
-Your personal preferences (This can overwrite the previous two).

Stages Based on Match-Ups

When looking at match-ups, one must analyze Mario's strengths and weaknesses against said opponent, and same goes for the opponent as well. Then the next step is finding ways to cover Mario's weaknesses and minimizing the opponent's strengths. This is generally where stages help a great deal.

To enforce what A2ZOMG calls as Mario's hardest match-ups, I shall give a general list of (IMO) the best neutral and counterpick for each match-up.

Game and Watch

Neutral: Battlefield

G&W in general is a difficult match-up. G&W for the most part demands patience and extreme zoning once inside his range. As said on the first page, F-Smash isn't likely to land (though that shouldn't stop you from trying), so U-Smash should be saved for KOs. This is what stopped Yoshi's Island from being the best neutral because the ceiling is quite high.

What makes Battlefield the best is that it gives you more options to contest G&W. His zoning tactics are very straightforward and for the most part takes commitment time. What's hard about getting past G&W's aerials is that they last for a vastly long time, and the disjointed range is another problem to boot too.

This is where Battlefield's platforms come in. Up-B OOS becomes faster to recover from due to platforms, meaning you have a large window to react to G&W getting knocked away. You have a barrier against G&W's D-air shenanigans, and most of all you have the ability to platform abuse. D-throw (or U-throw) onto a platform puts the situation in your advantage because G&W's options from above gets blocked automatically, and at the same time Mario is able to get into range rather quickly.

Keep in mind though, G&W has his U-air shenanigans if he happens to under you, and N-air is a viable platform abuse tool. He also has his Dash Attack stage spike if you hang around the ledge, so be careful not to fall into that. Overall though, Battlefield gives you the better edge. G&W doesn't have a lot of platform options compared to Mario.

Counterpick: Norfair

Platforms, hazards, and a low cieling. What more could you want? Oh, how about the ability to not get gimped? The stage for the most part is perfect against G&W because it's mainly an aerial battle, and while G&W does have his long disjointed aerials, Mario has platforms, and quick OOS options to counter them. Remember, Mario's aerials are faster, and the only thing that stops Mario from attacking after avoiding/shielding a B-air is the fact it has extremely low ending lag, which means G&W is able to follow up with a quick attack, all of which are ground moves (and N-air I believe, but Mario can poke through it). There's also the ability to use hazards to your advantage to rack up damage and mess up his spacing.

However, G&W's D-air is rough to deal with when below him, and like Mario, G&W can take advantage of hazards too. Most of all, G&W's U-Smash becomes invaluable for scoring KOs especially since his is stronger than Mario's. Worst of all, taking advantage of G&W's bucketing becomes harder since camping in general becomes harder. Though, fireballs become invaluable if G&W gets his bucket to full (though you should avoid that).

Also, G&W's D-Throw tech chase gets a buff here due to limited platform range. So make sure you avoid that.

Secondary Counterpick Stage: Halberd

Snake

Neutral: Final Destination

Snake is a hard character to counterpick against, because his gameplay revolves around controlling the entire stage through camping, mines, and C4. Therefore majority of time spent is getting past his obstacles then trying to get into range of his crazy tilts. Worst of all, Snake can easily reset the situation and through his high knockback moves.

There is only one reason I consider Final Destination the best neutral stage, and that's because it's nothing but a flat stage. He can't do anything outside of planting a mine near the edge and doing his aerial C4 when recovering high. This greatly limits his stage control options and puts his main reliance on spacing, which you are able to outperform given you're good at spacing yourself. FD is also good for camping, as with Fireballs and FLUDD combined, Mario is able to outcamp Snake by FLUDDing his grenades and forcing an approach (keep in mind though Snake's range is crazy large and will require you to react accordingly to F-tilt and grabs).

Though, one bad thing about Final Destination is that the stage itself is large, which means it's harder to get Snake off the stage at the necessary percentage to get gimp kills. And of course, Snake is able to use DACUS freely here to get away (A fully-charged FLUDD spray will stop it completely however). It should also be noted that there's no platform abuse here for Mario to take advantage of, so Snake's ground game is easily usable.

Secondary Neutral: Yoshi's Island

If the stage control doesn't bother you, then Yoshi's Island automatically wins the vote for best stage to use on Snake. It's generally small, so getting Snake off the stage isn't too much of a chore, and there's an upper platform Mario can abuse on Snake. Either way though, the stage doesn't stray too far from the advantages you get from Final Destination, though Snake gains a bit of his own advantages here too. Snake's ground game is still a chore to get past, and his stage control is more wacky. Best part for Mario though is there's somewhat of a high ceiling, so Snake's U-tilt is easier to survive.

Counterpick: Jungle Japes

There's only one reason why this stage is good for Mario against Snake, and that's because Snake sucks at gimping. The extremely high ceiling makes U-tilt (and even C4/Mines) very poor for Snake, and the extremely limited ground options for Snake makes this an aerial battle, something that Snake is only average in.

Mario has a good edge on this stage, maybe even an advantage. But the side blast zones are something to watch out for. Snake still has plenty of KO power and that will be used to his advantage if you at the side of the stage. On that note: Keep in mind though Snake's camp game gets a minor buff here since his grenades covers more range from platform to platform, unlike Mario's. Though generally this can be overcome by FLUDD, and most likely you can push Snake off his platform with FLUDD as well, giving Mario an advantageous position. This is an excellent stage to fight Snake against, as long as you know how to use it.

Secondary Counterpick Stage: Frigate Orpheon

If Jungle Japes is not available, which is likely (-.-, then your other counterpick options aren't so great against Snake. Honestly though, any CP stage besides Halberd, Brinstar, and Norfair would be decent to choose against Snake, but my personal preference would be Frigate, simply because the stage is small, limiting Snake's camp options and demands close range combat, which sounds silly at first, but when you note that nearly all Snakes love to camp and stage control, it starts making sense. Of course, gimping is possible here and not particularly hard. Just make sure you get inside Snake's range and have at it.

DeDeDe (Chaingrab)

Neutral: Lylat Cruise

One of Mario's hardest matches, if not the hardest. Chaingrab is all about shutting out Mario's options and forcing him into his chaingrabs. If you can, avoid Final Destination and Smashville like the plague. Chaingrab does extremely well on FD and SV.

And don't you dare go to Pokemon Stadium. Self explanatory.

Lylat Cruise is the best Neutral you can pick against Chaingrab. The tilting stage messes up the chaingrab at times, and the stage does well enough to make Chaingrabs' vulnerable recovery somewhat exploitable. Most of all however, it screws up his camp game due to the tilting stage, while Mario's fireballs are generally not affected. This makes camping somewhat easier for Mario and can force Chaingrab to approach.

Though, Chaingrab definitely has his advantages here. He can exploit Mario's predictable recovery maybe even better than Mario can, and Lylat has somewhat of a low cieling, so U-tilt is exploitable.

Secondary Neutral Stage: Yoshi's Island

Unfortunately, Chaingrab Mains will almost always strike Lylat Cruise. Don't expect it to be usable. In which case, you can try to get here. It provides some of the benefits from Lylat, and as a bonus it has a high ceiling, making U-tilt less exploitable. As a coin-side though, DDD's recovery improves due to the ledges, as he can perform a straight Up-B ledge grab. This shouldn't affect Mario too much though.

Counterpick: Jungle Japes

It should be obvious why this is a good counterpick stage against Chaingrab. Extremely high cieling, lacks effective chaingrab spacing, and screws up camping. Treat this like the Snake Match-up this fight, only with less F-tilt *******ry and more shield-grabbing problems. Be sure to DI his grabs effectively otherwise you'll be getting KO'd from B-throw at the side of the stage. Overall, Mario is able to force Chaingrab into situations he doesn't like in this stage.

Secondary Counterpick Stage: Norfair

Since JJ will more than likely be banned, the next best stage would be Norfair. The major platform abuse as well as the aerial preference makes this stage very good. Just watch out for Chaingrab's U-tilt, and you'll also have to work harder to KO Chaingrab since gimping won't be happening here. Best part about this stage though is the chaingrab is very avoidable here.

Third Counterpick Stage: Rainbow Cruise

If Norfair is banned, Rainbow Cruise is your next bet. The advantages are a bit obvious, but you do have to watch out for Chaingrabs' U-tilt as the stage does have a low cieling. There's also a part of the stage where Chaingrab can Wall infinite Mario (at the very top of the stage's transition), so make sure you stay away from that.

More to come.

Nice.........

makes me ask my self why I can't make post like this

Hero good read. There's a lot of useful bits I can use to help my game. Especially versus Snake. Brinstar is definately an underrated counterpick for Mario, and good to show others how it benifits our game. Japes seems wacky for Snake, but you make it seem nice. I should try Lylat, Japes, and Norfair more.

However I think you made an error at this part;

He can exploit Mario's predictable recovery maybe even better than Mario can, and Lylat has somewhat of a low cieling, so U-tilt is exploitable.

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Doesn't Lylat have a highest ceiling out of all neutrals? Unless you mean due to all the platforms and Chaingrab's stupid u-tilt range, making it easier to land, then yes I would agree Lylat would make it easier for him to do u-tilt sheninigans.

"Marth is infamous in Smash. He was one of the best characters in Melee (one of Mario’s worst matchups in that game!) and while he can’t claim that title anymore, he’s still a ridiculously powerful character. His tipper attacks all KO early and do massive damage. His range is a chore to work around, and his move Dancing Blade is quite possibly the best punishing move in the entire game. To make things harder, his Up-B punishes virtually everything that touches his shield, even Mario’s D-air. Marth is a character that can destroy anyone when played intelligently.

Good Marth players are not easy to come by, but the difficulty of this matchup is one that drastically changes depending on the level of Marth player you go up against. It’s important to note that Marth has significant weaknesses. He doesn’t have any KO moves that are safe on block, he’s easily juggled, and he can be easily gimped. Your general focus is simple, in that you want to draw out his approach with fireballs and punish it out of shield. Top level Marth players don’t let let you easily exploit their weaknesses much, if at all. Marth when played properly can be ridiculously hard to approach even with out of shield options, and when Marth gets control, he can follow up very quickly. Although you want to use fireballs against him, his superior mobility and ability to outprioritize them means you must exercise more caution when he starts approaching, or you risk getting punished. Spotdodging is a bad idea against Marth since Dancing Blade punishes it. Keep in mind that if you shield Dancing Blade, it can always be shieldgrabbed after the third hit. Marth can also bait air dodges very effectively and punish them with his long ranged pivot grab, so be careful before you try to land behind him. While he can be juggled effectively, his D-air, counter, and Up-B when timed right can shut down attempts to juggle him. Edgeguarding him isn’t particularly hard, although you have to watch out for counter, and his long ranged aerials. N-air can hit him out of his Up-B, and Cape Stalling makes it easy to edgehog him when he’s in that position. FLUDD also messes up his recovery significantly, defeating the purpose of counter, and putting him in a position where he’s wide open to be followed up on. F-smash as usual is useful against him, but it’s very punishable against Marth so you must be cautious."

I'd only add that Dash Attack is great against his air game because it turns Marth's back to mario where he'll have to use his laggier D-air or B-air on Mario so you can set up easier with a second dash attack or fox trot->shield grab.

I don't want to see anything discussing Marth for awhile DX...I know that matchup more than I know my left testicle...

Though..you did a good job explaining the matchup...I'm sure people will get a good idea on what to do reading this

Quite the metaphor Famous, haha.

The Master of Mario said:

"Marth is infamous in Smash. He was one of the best characters in Melee (one of Mario’s worst matchups in that game!) and while he can’t claim that title anymore, he’s still a ridiculously powerful character. His tipper attacks all KO early and do massive damage. His range is a chore to work around, and his move Dancing Blade is quite possibly the best punishing move in the entire game. To make things harder, his Up-B punishes virtually everything that touches his shield, even Mario’s D-air. Marth is a character that can destroy anyone when played intelligently.

Good Marth players are not easy to come by, but the difficulty of this matchup is one that drastically changes depending on the level of Marth player you go up against. It’s important to note that Marth has significant weaknesses. He doesn’t have any KO moves that are safe on block, he’s easily juggled, and he can be easily gimped. Your general focus is simple, in that you want to draw out his approach with fireballs and punish it out of shield. Top level Marth players don’t let let you easily exploit their weaknesses much, if at all. Marth when played properly can be ridiculously hard to approach even with out of shield options, and when Marth gets control, he can follow up very quickly. Although you want to use fireballs against him, his superior mobility and ability to outprioritize them means you must exercise more caution when he starts approaching, or you risk getting punished. Spotdodging is a bad idea against Marth since Dancing Blade punishes it. Keep in mind that if you shield Dancing Blade, it can always be shieldgrabbed after the third hit. Marth can also bait air dodges very effectively and punish them with his long ranged pivot grab, so be careful before you try to land behind him. While he can be juggled effectively, his D-air, counter, and Up-B when timed right can shut down attempts to juggle him. Edgeguarding him isn’t particularly hard, although you have to watch out for counter, and his long ranged aerials. N-air can hit him out of his Up-B, and Cape Stalling makes it easy to edgehog him when he’s in that position. FLUDD also messes up his recovery significantly, defeating the purpose of counter, and putting him in a position where he’s wide open to be followed up on. F-smash as usual is useful against him, but it’s very punishable against Marth so you must be cautious."

I'd only add that Dash Attack is great against his air game because it turns Marth's back to mario where he'll have to use his laggier D-air or B-air on Mario so you can set up easier with a second dash attack or fox trot->shield grab.

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Isn't dash attack incredibly easy to dodge? Couldn't just punish with Dancing Blade, Shield-grab, Dolphin Slash OoS or Counter? (It's that easy)

Dash attack is good against his AIRGAME when marth is falling in the air and cannot shield. Dash Attack has a lingering hitbox and attacks below where counter and Marth's less laggy moves can reach. The priority is also good and as for lag it lasts as long as D-smash but you can hit on frame 23 while the last hit of D-smash can only hit on frame 14. How well you use Dash attack depends more on how late you can hit the opponent with the attack. Marth's Fall speed makes landing Dash attack easier because Mario has an opportuniy (4 frame landing lag and 5-7 frames to attack low enough to damage Mario) inbetween where Mario can hit with Dash attack and Marth doesn't have enough time to attack. If you use this to gauge how far Mario can Move with Dash attack to approach Marth then Mario could hit with Dash attack after Frame 15 pretty easily given the range Dash attack covers in that time and Marth would still be in lag. From then on there would only be 22 frames of Lag which is 2 frames less than Up-tilt and Marth only has his Laggy D-air and B-air to Attack Mario with Shield grabbing is much easier.

Basically Mario can hit with Dash Attack during Marth's landing lag and then followup with other moves like grabs or smashes.