Ike against a Marth? Sounds dangerous!

[Slademj15]

Ike is my Second main and I've went against So many Marths with Ike, I get my butt handed to me.

Has anyone know how to defeat a Marth using Ike? I know it's possible.

 

[SaltyKracka]

Ike is my Second main and I've went against So many Marths with Ike, I get my butt handed to me.

Has anyone know how to defeat a Marth using Ike? I know it's possible.

Don't get hit. Hit them a lot.

And now for the serious part. Use fair, a lot. Always try to stay behind them. When they land, jab them if you can. If they fair right into your shield, shield-grab. Don't run into a shield breaker or Dancing Blade. If they run right at you, jump back and nair or fair. Don't let them Dolphin Slash out of shield. Don't get Countered when recovering. Don't use QD to recover. Use ftilt or usmash to kill.

 

[PltnmNgl]

Check out our character match-up thread. This matchup isn't hard, imho. However, it can get fustrating easily. Being on the more defensive side simplifies the matchup quite a bit.

 

[GSTLA]

marth vs ike = pure swordsmen fun
i have beaten marths before so yeah

 

[HeroMystic]

Marth isn't hard for me honestly. It deals a lot with punishing and keeping up the momentum, and using your awesome strength to your advantage for early kills.

It's a very fun match and one of my favorite match-ups (my first favorite is Mario vs Wario). Marth has the advantage, but Ike definitely has the tools to win.

 

[Rykoshet]

More than anything, and this is going to seem like a duh, you need to keep your *** on the stage because the second your feet leave the stage marth is in an almost unbeatable position. He can react to literally every single way you decide to come back except for maybe throwing aether early and if he doesnt get clipped you're getting hogged anyway. I've always been convinced that while this matchup isn't really a complete blowout, it hurts ike at where he sucks most so the matchup can be ridiculously easy from a marth's perspective.

1) Recover low = Countered out of aether, dolphin slashed into stage.
2) Recover high = Get faired straight out of your second jump and hit again before you can throw aether.

The answer to the first part of issue one is that you will have to throw aether the other way but there is no answer to getting dolphin slashed into the stage aside from teching it. It's honestly up to whether or not the marth is on their pure A-game when it comes to edgeguarding and if you're on your pure A-game on disrupting match tempo and punishing the few instances where marth is actually vulnerable.

Which for the record is not when he misses an aerial, because autocanceled aerials into the "oh ****" panic button dolphin slash is some straight bull****. The more advanced the marth is, the more you'll see this and you need to bait it because if the marth screws this up, this is your biggest opportunity to end the ***** quickly. Another thing is to space yourself, do not attempt to shield punish in general since the smart ones will or at least should start mixing up shield breaker to put you in a bad position. Counter is more dangerous for marth to use than it is for you in this matchup but don't get predictable with it, sadly even a countered tipper generally won't kill marth until percents any other hit in the world would have accomplished the same thing either. If you bait a counter, it should be with a front smash.

Jab cancels are also a no go due to dolphin slash, well jab cancels into shield arent a bad option but that's kind of a coin toss too. I'd say do it one or twice just to see how they react and capitalize at a % where you can take a stock quickly for it. Jab to eruption sady works if theyre overaggressive too.

I really can't speak from recent success since offline pierce pretty much romped me at my last smashfest (I was down on my character to begin with but no johns because pierce is honestly flat out one of the best marths in the country) and some drunken wifi SD shenanigans against neo didn't really do too well either lol.

 

[HeroMystic]

Ryko pretty much said it all, and the first paragraph is the most important. Marth has the power to gimp you. Easily. No questions asked, he's probably the only character that can absolutely keep you off the stage if he wanted to.

Stay on the stage and wreck him. Keep the momentum in your favor. Edgeguard whenever possible and take advantage of his predictable (but good) recovery with edgehogging.

Bait, punish, and space. Always stick with your fast moves, and don't rush into attacks like an idiot. Try to take advantage of the awesomeness of dolphin slash so you can get an easily stock kill by shielding to jab cancel instead of crouching. While it's slower, it's a lot more safe.

As said before, I don't find this fight highly difficult, but Ryko fights Pierce... so yeah.

 

[Rykoshet]

He can dolphin slash out of getting aether spiked for god's sake <_<

 

[Jim Morrison]

Jab doesn't reach for enough (only 3rd hit) to be safe, so use your aerial/f-tilt range.

 

[Arturito_Burrito]

not sure what your talking about but the 3rd hit of jab is not safe at all.

 

[comboking]

don't jab cancel to much

 

[Berserker_Cross]

This indeed is one of the more difficult match-ups for Ike. Marth is swift and has astounding edgeguarding game, so I advise to do most of the fighting further away from the edge.

Keep in mind that Marth is rather light so it's best to land early kills, but the problem would be landing the finishing blow. Either bait them or hope that they screw and punish. All I can probably recommend is to space so your attacks would hit while staying out of Marth's range.

Be sure to mix up your moves to keep the Marth player guessing or else they'll exploit the weakness of your combat pattern.

 

[Ussi]

He can dolphin slash out of getting aether spiked for god's sake <_<

..if he can DS out of aether, **** Ike isn't coming back on the stage ever...

 

[Arturito_Burrito]

..if he can DS out of aether, **** Ike isn't coming back on the stage ever...

I think ryko actually did say that.

 

[comboking]

no he said Marth could DS out of it.

 

[Oceans14]

haven't played Ike long, but it seems to me that his greatest weakness against a marth is both the tipper and marth's over-b combo. Ike's jab cancel can be really useful to get in the first two hits twice and follow up with his third A hit. This deals a good 20% and has some okay knockback.

Another important thing is to abuse the range of your u-smash, uair, and fair. The uair is the perfect punishment for a failed dolphin slash on the part of the marth, or if you time it right you can hit them from below even if they try to airdodge through it.

 

[Guilhe]

He can dolphin slash out of getting aether spiked for god's sake <_<

Oh, really? Aether spiking must be one of the greatest joys of playing Ike, how dares him taking that away from me?!

 

[BladeMaster17]

What i do if im not too confident to spike marth I try and predict where he is going to land (if it looks like he isn't going to reach the legde but the stage itself) since he is in the helpless animation charge a fsmash
Also I don't know if this is wise or to but since he does more damage at the tip you may want to get close sometimes
Either way you have to use your head for this one

 

[ShinXDestiny]

I dont know about you guys but if Ike becomes useless because Aether becomes useless then you're using Ike wrong... It's alot more fun when you adapt, changing playing style with every character. Sonic and Meta knight are the best characters to play against! >,< esp. on x2 speed. even more fun if you win!

 

[Gwonam_guy]

My tactics aren't perfectly flawless, i don't take any smash bros game too seriously. but i'll try, i recently grew a keen interest in marth, and my brother mains ike and we face off all the time.

Marth generally is faster, so you'll need to use your strength to beat him, marths dash attack is pretty good on the grounds that it's fast and unexpectable. If you get in a counter for this, good.

Marths shield breaker (neutral B) is pretty lethal, if you don't dodge it quick enough, you'll be broken and marth will do as he pleases. unless you feel really confident or can see into the future, Don't counter, unless it's in the late stage where it will force-start, that's after the fourth noticeable charging sound marth makes when he charges it. you'll be better off getting it then.

Dancing blade (side B) is dodgy, because he can go three ways, multi-stab (Hold down before last button press), ordinary knock back or flung in the air (hold up before last button press). you shouldn't need to worry about about the first two as much. Flung in the air can lead to air attacks, an up smash if you poorly time your anti-air plan or a dolphin slash (marths up B). possibly the 3rd one if he's getting you off the side.

Marth can counter (down B, ike can too) every attack (unless someone corrects me, seeing as i am on the ike board) ike can throw. aether (ikes up B) is the worst because he can counter in the air, combined with dolphin slash, marth uses these two to ensure ikes feet never touches ground. you can only pray that marth screws up and gives you a chance.

Dolphin slash is the only attack you shouldn't try to counter unless you have the high ground, shield it instead, if a platform is above, you can hopefully up-air him. unless marth is recovering, and screws up grabbing the ledge, you set yourself up for a F-smash, ikes killer move.

Quick Draw (ikes side B) works too, it isn't forced, so you can catch him off-guard with it, eruption (neutral B) should never be used unless marth screws up horribly, seeing as i know no advantages of it. Counter will be your savior if you wish to avoid marths super moves.

As for his Final smash, don't stand in front of him, ever,

That's all i can think of without going overboard or stealing from ryko. Unfortunately, i don't tend to know all of the hip young lingo these smash players use anyway, so peace out.

 

[xYz]

nair/jab/grab alot, I **** marths.

 

[doom dragon 105]

nair/jab/grab alot, I **** marths.

I am a big fan of nair, but imo this matchup should have more fairs, in order t out range him, other wise Marth ***** in the matchup.

What I do to get around the counter is to reverse aether, idk if it''s just the marth I played is bad, but it worked.

 

[xYz]

nah dude, dont ever fair a marth... listen to me, im pretty much the best ike in your state,

 

[Berserker_Cross]

nah dude, dont ever fair a marth... listen to me, im pretty much the best ike in your state,

Why not use Fair? (Unless you're joking)

Assuming that you're not:
A retreating fair is the imo safest way to approach him while take advantage of the range and reduces the amount of shield-grabs.

Marth is one tough customer. All you can do is hope that they're off their game like everyone else is saying, or force the opposing Marth into the air above you since Marth is limited as to what to do when he has an opponent below him (either stuck air dodging or dair) so bait a counter then go for a utilt, uair, aether or anything else that would fit the situation.

Stick to your quicker moves, that's a must. Also, more than ever, be creative with your Ike because it's crucial to mix up your game. A predictable Ike is good as dead.

 

[Ricky]

Ike is my Second main and I've went against So many Marths with Ike, I get my butt handed to me.

Has anyone know how to defeat a Marth using Ike? I know it's possible.

Oh man, I use to have the same problem, I main Ike and one of my good friends mains Marth so yeah after dozens of brawls I made it the other way Ike owns -> Marth.

Qualitys with Marth.

Marth can use the down B counter same as Ike, if he uses it on you then maybe that's why Marth can pawn Ike. As you know Ike takes fairly high damage, if Marth lands an accurate down B then there you go about 30+ Damage. Moving on, Marth is much faster then Ike and can use Aerial attacks like lighting quick. Such as the regular A, forward A and so on, it can be chained easily into a Combo. Next throwing you out of distance. Not every Marth player but a few tend to try to throw you out of balance when you try come back into the arena, let's say your out of the stage as Ike and you wish to come back the Marth player will try to keep pushing you back. How to deal with this? Try quickly using Ike's down B and quickly recover by coming back into the stage, or try a level Meteor Smash. Everything usually ends up easier that way.

As far as I know Ike has to Spikes, the Air down A, and when you quickly go to the Edge (crouching ) down A. Use the second one to your advantage by timing it right when Marth is coming back with his Up B. Always works with me. Anyway if that made any sense, good luck!

 

[Palpi]

I main marth and Ike and in a nut shell like most others have said, out space marth. Lean away from slower attacks, properly places fairs and nairs for the big hit box aerial, and if he is walling well, be ready for a quick bair or landing jab combo.

 

[Palpi]

Oh man, I use to have the same problem, I main Ike and one of my good friends mains Marth so yeah after dozens of brawls I made it the other way Ike owns -> Marth.

Qualitys with Marth.

Marth can use the down B counter same as Ike, if he uses it on you then maybe that's why Marth can pawn Ike. As you know Ike takes fairly high damage, if Marth lands an accurate down B then there you go about 30+ Damage. Moving on, Marth is much faster then Ike and can use Aerial attacks like lighting quick. Such as the regular A, forward A and so on, it can be chained easily into a Combo. Next throwing you out of distance. Not every Marth player but a few tend to try to throw you out of balance when you try come back into the arena, let's say your out of the stage as Ike and you wish to come back the Marth player will try to keep pushing you back. How to deal with this? Try quickly using Ike's down B and quickly recover by coming back into the stage, or try a level Meteor Smash. Everything usually ends up easier that way.

As far as I know Ike has to Spikes, the Air down A, and when you quickly go to the Edge (crouching ) down A. Use the second one to your advantage by timing it right when Marth is coming back with his Up B. Always works with me. Anyway if that made any sense, good luck!

I can't see myself timing a " a crouching " dtilt on dolphin slash because doesnt dolphin slash give invincibility frames and so does grabbing the ledge.

 

[Ricky]

I can't see myself timing a " a crouching " dtilt on dolphin slash because doesnt dolphin slash give invincibility frames and so does grabbing the ledge.

It is possible. You should use it about half a second before Marth comes back. Every one of Marth's recovery is predictable since there isn't many options. Throw in a little variety practice with Ike and an opportunity should arise. I learned a different way to beat Marth's (Fighting one every day lol.) so it all works out with me.

 

[Kimchi]

Never jab cancel against a Marth. It's extremely dangerous, because Marths can jab cancel out of it. Although you can jab cancel and then pretend to finish the combo, but instead you shield. Then the Marth would Dolphin Slash out of it, which hits your shield. Then you can punish.

 

[Alus]

Then the Marth would Dolphin Slash out of it, which hits your shield. Then you can punish.

you can only wish that this would work...

 

[Kimchi]

Then the Marth would Dolphin Slash out of it, which hits your shield. Then you can punish.

you can only wish that this would work...

Not really. It works quite often for me.

 

[PltnmNgl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmfmaMhM270

 

[Ricky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmfmaMhM270

That's a good lesson how Ike can be if you show some resolve and improve his given moves.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

Marth isn't hard for me honestly. It deals a lot with punishing and keeping up the momentum, and using your awesome strength to your advantage for early kills.

It's a very fun match and one of my favorite match-ups (my first favorite is Mario vs Wario). Marth has the advantage, but Ike definitely has the tools to win.

Yeah, it really depends on the playstyle of each imo. If Marth is really good and fastfalls all the time and DI's all his aerials (look at NEO) it can be hard to hit him, because Marth's aerials are faster than Ike's, but Ike has more range, if you can use Fair and Nair to keep him away you can win, but don't get Counter gimped. And Ike mains, please don't say "Well you can use reverse Aether and not get gimped" because this is untrue, and misleading. Don't let him get into a groove or you'll lose.

That vid isn't really a great example of the matchup, because as far as I know D1 doesn't actually play Marth.

 

[PltnmNgl]

Give me a minute and I'll find a better example.

 

[Kimchi]

Yeah, it really depends on the playstyle of each imo. If Marth is really good and fastfalls all the time and DI's all his aerials (look at NEO) it can be hard to hit him, because Marth's aerials are faster than Ike's, but Ike has more range, if you can use Fair and Nair to keep him away you can win, but don't get Counter gimped. And Ike mains, please don't say "Well you can use reverse Aether and not get gimped" because this is untrue, and misleading. Don't let him get into a groove or you'll lose.

That vid isn't really a great example of the matchup, because as far as I know D1 doesn't actually play Marth.

The problem with the statement that D1 doesn't actually play Marth is that NinjaLink doesn't really play Ike either..

 

[Palpi]

Ninjalink doesn't play Ike or (insert character name here)? Of course he plays Ike unless the term everyone excludes Ike.

 

[Rykoshet]

D1 actually does use marth in tournaments when it needs to come up, and ninjalink's ike is as competitive as anyone else's since practically no one plays/places with ike except like kirk anyway >_>

 

[NinjaLink]

D1 uses marth in tourney. Dont make me school all u folks <_<

Anyway i used to like the matchup but now its annoying. If marth plays the way hes supposed to he'll never lose this matchup. If marth is patient.........thats yo azz.

 

[Rykoshet]

Marth never has to throw the first move and can always beat you out, any move he cant beat on reaction he can interrupt with dolphin slash. Fun point to note, if he DI's up but C sticks down while being hit by aether he can tipper dair you straight out of it.