Landings and How to Punish Them

[Abortion Doc]

I want to talk about what I think is one of the stronger points of Mega Man's game: punishing opponents who are falling to the stage. Yesterday I had a series of competitive MM dittos with a friend. The matches were heated and close, but one reliable tactic stuck out to me that we were both frequently using: anticipating one another's landings and meeting them with Crash Bombs or Fsmashes. As the matches went on, I found myself pleasantly surprised at how effective a simple charged forward smash was at nailing an opponent out of the air. My opponent (nor I, for that matter) was seldom able to reliably avoid the Fsmash with an airdodge or shield. My hypothesis for this outcome is that the new airdodge mechanics make landings much more punishable than in previous Smash games, as you cannot airdodge into the ground and quickly shield the way you could in Brawl. This, coupled with the fact that MM's Fsmash is capable of hitting opponents on and slightly above the ground, makes it an outstanding tool for punishing landings.

At lower percents, Crash Bomb may be a more favorable option as it has longer range and makes way for follow ups that can lead to more damage. If you can line it up well, shooting CBs at an opponent in the air is effective. An accurate shot will either stick them as they are falling, or force an airdodge which will put you at a frame advantage as they land with lag from their airdodge.

NOTE: Punishing landings with fsmash is not recommended against characters with reflectors. Stick to an option which is not as telegraphed, and has a lower risk/reward ratio like Metal Blade or CB.

What methods for punishing landings have you discovered?

 

[Blade Knight]

For opponents who like to come down with a reflector, or who overuse them in anticipation of an fsmash or similar projectile, the Top Spin and Mega Upper are both good punishment options. You can even train them to come down with a reflector by pegging them with Metal Blades or Crash Bombs until they consistantly use their reflector as an option, then punish them with other options. Even fox trotting into an Up Smash is also great if you're close enough.

My experience otherwise has been similar to yours, with good timing a charged forward smash can cover many of an opponent's options on their way to the ground, air dodging included. I do think MM's grab is also decent, since he has an alright grab range and decent options out of throws.

 

[Z1GMA]

Ya, Mega Man is definitely good at punishing ppl in their landing.
If they've wasted their DJ, an Fsmash can create a nasty shenanigan:
Airdodge = hit
Up+b = punished for using up+b (at least the majority of character) MM can dashgrab or maybe even CB them after their up+b.
They could possibly cancel the Fsmash with an aerial, but I have yet to see Fsmash's priority.

Another nice thing about a charged Fsmash, is that it can sort of hit ppl who try to attack you from above.
Takes good timing, though.

 

[Abortion Doc]

They could possibly cancel the Fsmash with an aerial, but I have yet to see Fsmash's priority.

I haven't double checked but I'm pretty sure Fsmash is different from MM's other moves in that it doesn't "clank" with anything. From my observation it only interacts with enemy hurtboxes and reflectors.

 

[ぱみゅ]

Dtilt is also useful for this, it covers a lot of ground.

 

[iiGGYxD]

Good analysis here. I'd have to say that I mostly use fsmash to punish landings (and them recovering back to the stage) With the few mechanic changes in this game, punishing landing lag is a big part of the game now. I like to bait airdodges with metal blades when they are around full hop height, then punish the landing with a semi charged dsmash or utilt depending on % or which move is fresh.

 

[Tornado_Man]

Dtilts, Crash Bombs, and grabs are my go-to punish tools