Mario MU
*What is the ratio?
60-40 Mario's favour
*How does samus win or do well?
Ideally samus has 2 good ranges here – just outside zair range, and just inside ftilt range. Outside zair range she can destroy any fireball approaches, and just inside ftilt range you will beat everything Mario has (as long as you don’t get too close). Mario will be trying to get to a close range where he can jab but not be hit by upB. Furthermore, a lot of his moves stale nicely, allowing him to keep pressure on you until around 80% or so. Therefore your focus in this MU is to get outside his jab range (you won’t get further than that unless you hit him away).
Samus’ handling of Mario’s fireball is probably the key to this MU. If samus can out-prioritise and punish the fireball, she will be very competitive. On the other hand, mario’s fireball creates all sorts of issues when samus is off the ledge or trying to land on stage. Samus’ zair will often force Mario high as he tries to fireball, so learn to punish with uair (vs full-hopped fbs) and zair (vs short-hopped fbs).
Mario’s obvious weakness is his upB recovery, but don’t expect to gimp a good Mario very often, his great 2nd jump will let him recover to the stage the majority of the time. When you do get him far enough away to gimp, simply ledge-hog when he needs to upB. If he cape stalls instead, you need to be quick enough to re-tether.
Samus ledge-guards Mario extremely well. Utilt will get repeated kills against those inexperienced in the MU, and after that a combination of MC, zair and general prediction makes it extremely difficult for anyone to get back. Mario’s easiest return to stage is double-jump to an airdodge, or cape to DJ to bair. Happily, MC & zair will stop this most of the time, and their fast cancels give you plenty of time to ftilt him back off stage if he air-dodges. If you can get Mario to use his upB to the stage, you have a great advantage. He suffers the lag from his upB no matter how he returns, so space and fsmash him off again.
Another strength of samus’ is her charge shot. ALWAYS charge your beam at the start of the match, and any time you get some space. When Mario knows you have a full CS, his fireball game is hurt badly (FCS goes through fb), and up close you will probably get lots of chances to punish his cape (which he has to predict). The aim is not to land the CS, but to alter his game. Stop his fireballs and make him predict with cape and the MU is much easier. Note that until the Mario respects the full CS, you should be shooting it as much as possible, preferably through fireballs.
*What to watch out for
Firstly, Mario is reasonably fast and doesn’t have much lag on his moves. If he gets in close he can easily put 50% on you with one chain. He also has great vertical spacing which can make it difficult to get back to the ground.
Second, Mario’s fireball is a fantastic frametrap. If you let Mario force you into shielding a fb, expect him to put the hurt on with frame-traps and fast aerial maneuverability. Always try to zair trade with his fireballs, you will come out ahead very quickly as his fireball stales. If he fireballs from standing you are safe to shield because he can’t follow up well. The best move for beating fb from below is uair, it never fails. From the side, use zair. Nair & fair can work but are unreliable.
Mario kills far, far better than samus. Usmash is quick and beats dair clean (and nair/uair as well). Fsmash is laggy but it stutter-steps well and has a small pull-back that makes it great for evading a move to get the kill. His other kill move is the cape, and should not be underestimated – it’s pretty much the only move in the game that kills at 0%. When you are recovering, Mario will throw fireballs to force you into position for a fair. Don’t underestimate the fair! It has very deceptive range, both vertically and horizontally, and is disjointed. It’s not very powerful, but any time you get over around 80% it will cause you headaches or simply kill. Air-dodge this move, uair will NOT beat it if the fair is timed correctly. When all else fails Mario can nair/uair/bthrow you for the kill at high %.
Mario is an excellent edge-guarder. Bair will beat any move samus can pull from the edge, including get-up attack (which really irks me). F-smash will kill you around 100% at the edge, maybe higher if you have perfect DI. Run-off bair makes life scary for the samus who doesn’t want to return to stage, and fireballs create guaranteed punishes for the samus trying to 2nd-jump AD onto stage. The key to returning here is pay attention to the range and height of Mario from the ledge. If he is close and shielding, you can DJ-fair to your heart’s content. If he is jumping around, tether the ledge and return with uair as he lands (at the right distance, this is completely safe). If he backs off, don’t get on - just shoot him with missiles or hit him with a DJ zair. It’s important to watch for Mario to run-off, because he can and will kill you at obscenely low percents (bair beats samus’ ubB, ALL THE TIME). If you pay attention though, this your chance to return to stage – and samus edge-guards Mario just as well in return.
Mario’s jab cancel deserves a special mention. If he gets close enough to land jabs (ie any time he hits your shield with an aerial that’s not dair), samus is in a very awkward position. Jabs eat your shield, you can’t hit with upB, and rolling is easy to punish. Sometimes you will land a grab or jab your way out of a cancel situation, but more often than not you will come out the loser (jab -> jab -> dsmash = 22%!). Avoid this situation at all costs by attacking mario’s approaches! If you do get caught, shield until you are out of range, or spot-dodge to jab/dilt/upB.
Mario’s other trouble move is the bair wall. It can take a long time to figure out how to beat this fast, disjointed move. The trick is to shield the first set, then adjust your spacing – dash away to RAR zair is very reliable, as is dash in to shield -> dtilt. Predicted retreating rising zair is also good. If Mario predicts a hit with bair at low % he will be trying to follow up, which will usually put him close enough for an upB OOS. Otherwise don’t use upB, it will miss and you will be punished.
Don’t rely on upB OOS in this MU. Nair and bair can both be easily spaced to hit your shield and avoid the upB. Furthermore, mario’s dair mixes up with these moves well, and if done rising Mario can use another aerial before landing. Basically don’t sit in your shield in this MU.
If Mario gets ahead on stocks, he takes a big advantage in the MU. Not only can he run away with fireballs instead of approaching, samus goes back to 0% which is when Mario is very, very strong. To get the kill, you will have to play aggressively and accept that sometimes you will get punished for it. Dashing into shield mixed with zairs to beat fireballs is the way to go, but in this situation fb/zair trades are in Mario’s favour. Be smart with zair and force Mario to the ledge where he can’t run away any more. If you get enough space, charge your CS and KO through a fireball (much easier on stages with platforms like BF).
*What stages to ban and CP(give reasons why)
Pick: FD, Lylat, Frigate, Delphino
FD gives you a great advantage, you can run away all day. Lylat is always good for samus and the moving edges can make things difficult for mario’s short upB. Frigate seems like it would be bad for samus but actually works really well. The dip in the center favours samus, and the stage change hurts Mario more than it hurts you. Mario doesn’t have much room to set up fireballs, and samus loves that most hits she lands will put Mario off-stage. Other usual suspects like delphino work well for samus.
Ban: Pictochat, Brinstar, Pirate Ship, Halberd
I really hate pictochat against Mario and always ban this stage, the edges are horrible for samus and the hazards tend to work in Mario’s favour since you are constantly running away.
Despite samus boards love for Brinstar, this stage does NOT suit samus in this MU. There isn’t enough space to maneuver and she can’t camp edges how she’d like. Mario is fast enough to get below her when she camps the side platforms, and has far better vertical spacing than us, which is what this stage comes down to.
Pirate ship I don’t like because of the slopes and the fact you are constantly running away means Mario will often be in the dip in the center of the ship, not you. The trebuchet thing blocks your movement as well.
I also feel halberd is strangely in mario’s favour. The floating transformation is horizontally very short and the platform in the middle makes it hard to MC. The flat stage seems pretty standard but again the platform in the middle can mess with MCs. The hazards seem to work against samus, perhaps because she takes time to set up any of her effective stuff. Finally, mario’s usmash, utilt and uair can all kill early here because of the low ceiling.
*Overall, what do you feel?
If you can maintain horizontal distance from Mario, samus walls him extremely effectively. Unfortunately at some point Mario is going to predict what you do and close the gap, swinging things heavily in his favour. Mario’s speed, his slight edge in taking stocks and his ability to take advantage from a stock lead make this a difficult MU for samus, but certainly winnable.
- Overall, Slight Advantage
