Matchup Rediscussion: Diddy Kong
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Zelda vs Diddy Kong
- What to know about this matchup...
- Bananas, bananas, bananas! Separate Diddy from his bananas as much as possible. This means taking a banana for yourself and leaving him with just one, or simply throwing both bananas off stage given the chance. Diddy is more manageable the less banana control he has. Weakening his control is normally easier said than done.
- Don't rely on Nayru's. Diddy can bait better than you; try not to use Nayru's prematurely due to its punishing cooldown. Never truly rely on this reflector as a good support tool. However, with good reads it can become useful at times. For example if you have one banana and Diddy has the other, baiting him into throwing it at you and a good read using Nayru's can grant you the possession of both bananas on stage.
- With one banana in hand, you have a few extra options. Glide tossing is a very handy tool giving Zelda 2 glide toss lengths - standard and extremely long. Both depend on the timing of the glide toss. You cannot always followup with a glide tossed banana due to Zelda's slow ground movement, but if you successfully followup, use the most damaging option available such as Dtilt setups, grabs or smash attacks. OoS bananas are also good if he happens to attack your shield.
- Diddy will make an advancement usually when 2 bananas are in place. His most damaging tactics come into play with double bananas. Try not to 'lag' with whiffed smashes and nayru's. Counter this by placing pressure on him as he pulls out bananas - he is going to have to pull them out as bananas disappear. This is a great opportunity to harass with Din's or approach to stay near him.
- Be careful of OoS bananas from him. Don't attack his shield when he has one in hand. He can punish everything Zelda does on shield with an OoS banana. If you absolutely have to approach him in this situation, go for a grab if he's conditioned to shield, or go for a jab due to its low cooldown.
- Try to apply pressure as he recovers. His rocket barrels are very susceptible to Din's Fire and the spike. A simple sourspot can be threatening enough for him. His monkey flip is great in priority but is beaten out by Zelda's Utilt and Fsmash, so should he take to the stage in this way and is in range, use these options. From afar, it's best to harass with Din's Fire.
- At kill percents, he will try setups from a banana. Fsmash and Dsmash are his best killiing moves; he can also use Fair as well as other aerials but these kill slightly later. Zelda has a long roll, giving her an opportunity to escape kill setups from a banana. You can SDI his Fsmash on hit, so learn this and also anticipate this well.
- Useful Information...
- Do you know how to properly catch bananas? SH airdodges catch bananas very easily as do aerials. Nair and Fair the most notable aerials for catching them. A banana on the ground can be caught at Dtilt range with a Dtilt, or at jab range with a jab. Dash attack can also be used to get one and attack simultaneously.
- You can Fsmash whilst holding a banana. Pick up a banana and hold down A. Everytime you now press the C-Stick forward you will charge an Fsmash. Let go of A to release the Fsmash, then simply hold A again quickly to still attack with a banana in hand.
- You can perform aerials whilst holding a banana. Simply Z drop the banana in hand and perform a falling aerial immediately to catch it.