Plue
Smash Rookie
Hello,
I've started attending tournaments for the past month and I main Lucario. I find that I have plenty of kill options if spaced correctly or if I have a hard read when I have 60% +. My biggest problem (as I perceive it) is the neutral game when Lucario is below 40%. I use his true combo U-tilt > Air Combo > Opponent's DI at the beginning while also spacing F-tilts, Short hop Nairs, SH Dairs, Jab, and dash attack. When I am higher than 40-50% that's when I begin spacing my B-reverse aura spheres, but below that the sphere isn't big enough and I usually get punished (I could be wrong, maybe I should try sphere trapping at lower percents?) because they can maneuver easily around the tiny sphere. But even if I pull a combo off or get a few tilts and jabs, that only leaves them at around 20-30%~. Then, even if I mix these moves up, I feel as if they become easy for my opponent to read and shield against. Especially since they don't have long range like some other characters, I practically have to pressure my opponent or wait for them to come to me. But this will result in me getting punished.
So my question is, what are you mostly doing in the neutral below 40% / start of the game? What are some options that have been successful for you? What are his safest approaches? This seems to be the place where I lose the matchup the most. Thank you!
I've started attending tournaments for the past month and I main Lucario. I find that I have plenty of kill options if spaced correctly or if I have a hard read when I have 60% +. My biggest problem (as I perceive it) is the neutral game when Lucario is below 40%. I use his true combo U-tilt > Air Combo > Opponent's DI at the beginning while also spacing F-tilts, Short hop Nairs, SH Dairs, Jab, and dash attack. When I am higher than 40-50% that's when I begin spacing my B-reverse aura spheres, but below that the sphere isn't big enough and I usually get punished (I could be wrong, maybe I should try sphere trapping at lower percents?) because they can maneuver easily around the tiny sphere. But even if I pull a combo off or get a few tilts and jabs, that only leaves them at around 20-30%~. Then, even if I mix these moves up, I feel as if they become easy for my opponent to read and shield against. Especially since they don't have long range like some other characters, I practically have to pressure my opponent or wait for them to come to me. But this will result in me getting punished.
So my question is, what are you mostly doing in the neutral below 40% / start of the game? What are some options that have been successful for you? What are his safest approaches? This seems to be the place where I lose the matchup the most. Thank you!
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