Fox has been gimped- so why do I keep winning?

[MajiNfraze]

So I was a Fox/Sheik/Doc main in SSBM, and I'm a TL/ROB/Fox main in SSBB. I'd been using TL against melee friends at local fests and online play, but I kept losing to Ike and Marth players (fsmash ftw?).

I started using Fox, and was horribly disappoined with how nerfed he is- Utilt is slower, shine is garbage for combos (no waveshine /cry), sh nair momentum is crappy, fsmash is nerfed both in knockback and speed, and I can't dtilt uair anymore.

I feel like my hands are covered in novacaine playing Fox, but yet, I've been WINNING with him rather frequently. Other than well timed dash-canceled usmashes, and drillshines that only build damage and space, I can't figure out what makes him good.

Anyone care to enlighten me? Fox feels mid-teir at best, but I've been beating people that my SH projectile spammin', RAR bairin', fair ledgeguardin' TL loses to.

 

[Mann]

I don't think you understand that when people say gimped, nerfed, etc, it's comparing the potential of the character between Melee and Brawl. That doesn't automatically mean they will suck in the game.

 

[slave1]

he is just sexy. he is like robs gyro but even better. his radius is nine blocks

 

[Doc Chronic]

I don't think you understand that when people say gimped, nerfed, etc, it's comparing the potential of the character between Melee and Brawl. That doesn't automatically mean they will suck in the game.

Precisely, Marth got nerfed as well but in the hands of a pretty good player, he is still very lethal.

 

[Andromeda]

Because in comparison to the other characters in Brawl he is still quite good? He may appear slower than he was in Melee, but that doesn't make him bad in Brawl.

 

[MajiNfraze]

Lulz, I fully understand the terms nerfed, gimped, buffed (i'm a wow player) and fox has been hit with the nerfbat square in the face.

Marth isn't really nerfed- he plays different, but he's still upper/top teir material. I don't think Fox will even make upper teir, but I've been beating Marth and Ikes (some of the more "ezmode" characters I'd think) and I'm having trouble landing anything other than dair-utilt, dair-shine, dashcanceled usmash (for kills) and random dsmashes for spacing.

Any good Fox's out there wanna toss in a bit of knowledge? I miss my furry friend and I'm trying to figure out whether he's worth sticking with.

 

[Superstar]

Its common knowledge, but you can also follow a drill with jab, grab, utilt, dtilt, dsmash and usmash depending on the percentage. Utilt is at almost any percentage, smash is after 50 against Pit, and Usmash is after 100%. After a utilt at low percentages you can follow with another utilt or if you are lucky a usmash.

 

[Samuman]

I actually see mostly the same results with Fox that I did in Melee, except I'm getting just completely torn apart by Yoshi's, Olimar's, and Lucas'.

 

[ThaDirtyG]

I played Pika in Melee and got quite good with him. Unfortunately Brawl Pika just spams smashes and was no fun at all to play (although he was significantly better...).

I found Fox actually played more like Pikachu from Melee... silly isn't it? In any case I find he has a lot of risk but offers great rewards when it pans out. Although he is slower now, he still has some great advantages in Brawl. His shine for example, nerfed as it is, can still deal out some unexpected punishment.

Mostly I just find that he's great for dealing out damage, and with his amazing up-smash you can take a stock pretty quickly. I guess to me that's what makes him great, is his ability to get a character to 90%+ quickly, and then kill them with an easy up-smash. Mix the odd shine and toe spikes in and you've got a powerful comboer and killer with a bunch of sneaky tricks.

My thoughts anyway.

 

[LoyalSoldier]

One thing I notice about fox is his smash moves actually get rid of people at a decent percentage. That is one thing I notice a lot of speed characters have had problems with. They often have to use the smash moves to shove the other player off the platform and then have to do extra work to finish.

I think he is a victim of the slower game pace since he doesn't seem as fast as he used to, but non the less he is still a good character.

 

[orintemple]

Fox is still a hell of a lot faster than most characters in the Brawl even with his nerfs from Melee. The thing is, he was TOO godly in Melee. It was to a ridiculous point how good he was. Now they made him kind of where it is sensible for him to be.

In any case, I think you are beating Ike just because you can laser camp him and tear him apart with combos. Plus he has a hard time hitting you. Marth...thats wierd. You must be playing crappy Marth's cause that man is a beast.

 

[ThaDirtyG]

I've thought more about this overnight and this is my simple conclusion: he can do damage quickly, and his smashes kill at low percents.

His aerial attacks (fair and dair especially) are great for setting up combos and both do considerable damage, and in general, his moves just lead into combos better than most characters in brawl.

And then his f-smash, u-smash, and d-smash are all solid killing moves. And lets not forget the uair!

So even though he might feel terrible in comparison to Melee fox, you are probably doing well with him because he can kill so effectively.