Interested in maining Mii Brawler but I have some question

[Monk of MaZe]

I heard they were really good so I want to pick them but I a few questions:

1. What are some combos or tricks I should practice with Brawler?
2. Does using anything besides the 1111 moveset count as using customs, and if not what moveset would you recommend?
3. Just in general what makes Mii Brawler good/better than the other Miis?

 

[Rhydstone]

Well I can't really answer question 1 until I answer 2. Sadly, it is most widely accepted that anything besides 1111 is "custom" but 1111 being the worst set on brawler you should choose otherwise. The viable sets are 1122, 2122, and 2222. Up b and down b 2 are almost required to make brawler better than he is with 1111. You can also do 1132, 2132, and 2232. The order going Neutral B, Side B, Up B, Down B.

Up b 2 is the infamous helicopter kick, its a very good and safe kill option with is base knock-back and low lag. Note that this is his recovery and it doesn't get lost of vertical movement but lots of horizontal. Up b 3 is Piston Punch and is a short range straight vertical move with multiple hits and high kill power. Since it has short range, it's best to pair this with another good recovery move. Down b 2 is feint jump, which is an attack that is first a jump away and then a second kick to safety. This is used to reset the neutral, to recover, and to get out of juggles. Neutral b 1 is shot put, a strong but short ranged projectile. When using this in the air it lets you slide around, so it makes the move a bit more safe but not enough to spam. Neutral b to is Ultimate Uppercut, a charged attack with lots of power. There is no real way to combo into this move since it has long start up and short range, its best as a punish from helplessness or a whiffed smash. Side b 1 is Onslaught, in this you rush forward and let out a flurry of punches then one final uppercut. This is very similar to pits side b but without the armor. It's best as a punish or a read, but note it counts as a recovery. Side b 2 is Burning dropkick, its a chargeable side b that's similar to Luigi's. It has better range and surprisingly good knock-back without charge, but it is predictable and not as popular as side b 1. This move does not count as a recovery though.

You should test out those sets your self and see which you like the best. Of course you don't even need to use these, feel free to tests with all the moves.

The combos you should learn first are d-throw into up b combos. Note these combos start and end at different percents depending on the character.
If using HK( helicopter kick): D-throw to f-air (optional second f-air) to HK. While doing this be sure to start it near an edge and bring it toward the blast line, but not too far since HK is your recovery you might SD.
If using PP( piston punch): D-throw to u-air (optional second u-air) to PP. While doing this be sure to either pick low ceiling stages or do it on the top of platforms.

At higher percents the opponent gets launched too high from d-throw, and the only hope of comboing them then is from bad reactions or a baited air dodge. Once this happens brawler has some difficulty killing. The best thing to do then is try to go for raw up b's since brawlers smashes are very laggy and he has no kill throws.

As for why brawler is better than the other miis? It's pretty much personal preference really. Gunner is a very patient projectile based character who can be campy at times. Swordfighter is a more bait and punish character, unlike brawler or gunner. Brawler is a very rush down, combo character. He's the easiest to pickup in my personal opinion.

If you have any other questions, just ask.

 

[Jigglymaster]

Hello there, I'm Dapuffster, you probably already know who I am but if not, I'm one of the best Mii Brawler players there are, so hopefully my answers will be of use to you.

I'm going to answer question 1 last because the other two are more important to answer first.

2. Currently, the community is in a big debate over this whether or not the other moves besides 1111 count as customs or not. If we lose and we are stuck with 1111, don't bother picking the character up, he's one of the worst characters in the game. However if we win or you attend a custom ON tournament. 2122, 1122, 2132, and 1132 are the best ways to go, in that order specifically.

3. Mii Brawler is better than Sword and Gunner because of the combination of his mobility, his combo potential, and the kill moves he gets from his specials. Helicopter Kick (Up Special 2) kills as absurdly low percentages when performed near the ledge, essentially carrying the opponent to the blast zone. Not many characters have this luxury let alone the other miis. this is generally why he's the best of the 3.

1. Assuming you're using default size and not tiny size, d-throw into helicopter kick is your main combo. Performing this at the ledge on an opponent between 30%-60% can generally cause a KO if they do not DI towards you correctly. You just down throw, jump, up b. Hold forward when doing the helicopter kick and then just as you do the final kick, hold back and grab the ledge. If they DI towards you when the d-throw happens, you will most likely not get the kill, but most people do not understand this and complain about banning Helicopter Kick instead.

In the neutral game you want to do short hop nairs into the opponent, if you land the n-air it will push them closer to the ledge where you can grab them and do the combo I just explained before. If your opponent is shield grabbing it too much then simply empty hop into their shield and grab them before they grab you.

Once you've gotten the hang of that you can do more complex combos such as ledge cancelling the kick part of feint jump into the helicopter kick, d-throwing into footstool into falling n-air for the jab reset. Using the first hit of f-air when falling to pop a grounded opponent into the air into a Helicopter Kick, and finally at low percentages attempt to d-throw into short hop fast fall f-air, where only the first hit connects and sends the opponent back to the ground for you to grab again.

 

[Dooms]

1. I'm going to comment on smallest height/weight brawler because that is what I mainly use. Small brawler is also probably the best brawler.

The main combo you're wanting to use is Dthrow -> Fair -> Helicopter Kick (2nd up special). This will generally work once you learn how to read the opponent's DI, and around the ledge this can kill as early as 20% (assuming you have rage). However, this stops working around 50-60 percent.

Outside of this, you have Uair -> Helicopter Kick, which works around 60-90%. If you're closer to the side, it will kill consistently. If you're high up, it will generally kill off of the top. Bair -> Helicopter Kick will also work if they're DI'ing towards you and you're not retreating the Bair. Dtilt can combo into Fair -> Helicopter Kick or just Helicopter Kick at lower percents as well.

I don't know if this falls under tricks, but Nair out of shield and Helicopter Kick out of shield are both very important tools to master with this character. Nair is your general hitbox you can throw out of shield that is safe because of your mobility, and Helicopter Kick. Also, cancelling Feint Jump's kick (2nd down special) with the ledge is a very useful tool to have, especially since the kick can combo into Helicopter Kick (and if you catch them with it in that position, it will probably kill at 30-40%).

Also just so you know, you're going to get most of your kills from Helicopter Kick, but U-Smash also kills. Dair auto cancels and kills as well, so throwing it out isn't a bad idea as long as you're not super predictable with it. Side-special 1 (I don't remember the name) kills, but it's kind of inconsistent and should probably only be used to hard punish a spot dodge. D-Smash can catch people recovering to the ledge (back hit will kill earlier). F-Smash has a lot of ending lag, so only use it as a hard punish.

2. As others have said, this is a debate that is going on at the moment. However, this will turn into something that differs between regions. You should ask your local TO's about what they're doing with Mii Fighters. You have a way better shot of convincing your local TO's that they should allow Mii Fighters to use all of their sets than you do convincing the masses. Trust me.

If you're wanting to use a Mii but you're forced into 1111, Gunner/Sword Fighter aren't bad choices. Brawler is the worst choice out of the three. 1111 default-sized brawler is probably bottom 5 (maaaybe bottom 10) and he has no hope of getting better through patches, so don't even bother in that regards.

If you're using small brawler, you generally want to choose 1122 or 2122. Honestly, the neutral special 1/2 depends on the matchup. Small brawler has enough mobility to where he can use Shot Put (1st neutral special) safely against characters that aren't high mobility like Sonic, Pikachu, Sheik, and Greninja, and it helps in quite a few matchups where the opponent is super zoney and won't let you in (Custom Villager is a good example). The uppercut (2nd neutral special) is a great kill option regardless, though. You can use 1132 or 2132, but I can't give any advice with that. I've never used Piston Punch (3rd up special).

3. The only thing Puffster didn't go in depth about that I can add here is the ability to mix up his recovery. Feint Jump is an amazing tool to mix your recovery up, and the fact that you have so much aerial mobility after using Helicopter Kick means that you're harder to punish than most characters are after they use up-b (meaning most people can only get a dash attack/grab off on you when they're punishing you). This goes under mobility, but I figured that I would explain a bit more.

You've chosen a rough time to start considering Brawler. I highly recommend talking to your local TO's to figure out what they're doing with Mii Fighters before committing any time to Brawler.