gallax
Smash Hero
R.O.B.
General Discussion
R.O.B.(rob) is a newcomer to the game that brings a lot to the plate. He has two projectiles in which one can stay on the stage and mess with you while the other one simply needs to be recharged after being shot. It takes a few seconds to charge and shoot, but the longer you wait to shoot it the more powerful it gets. This applies to both projectiles. He has some airiels that are just plain plain awesome while he can manipulate you on the ground with his tilts and smashes. Combine this with the best recovery in the game and you have yourself a tough matchup.
Pika's Advantages
1.) Faster
2.) recovery makes it harder for rob to gimp
Pika's Disadvantages
1.) Less Projectiles
2.) Cannot CG rob
3.) airiels< robs
4.) very hard to edgeguard rob
Strategy for Winning
General
To win against rob you are gonna have to rely on your finess as a pika player. Unlike snake or sonic where you can just man handle these characters and just brute them into their death, to beat rob you must always be careful and plan out your moves accordingly. He has great kill moves and the ability to stay alive for long periods due to his recovery.
Projectiles
The first thing that needs to be discussed are the projectiles. Rob has 2. He has a laser and an actual item(gyro) which he charges up with downb and shoots it out. The longer both are charged the more dangerous they are. The laser needs 1-2 seconds to charge after being shot to be shot again while it takes about 20 seconds to fully charge it up. The gyro can be shot instantly while taking 3-4 seconds to fully charge. Some things you need to know are that the laser can be shot at angles, so crawling is pretty much useless. The gyro cannot. The gryo, when shot, stays on the stage and continues to spin. If you run into it then you get more damage. The longer its been charged the longer it spins. And if you are not sure how powerful the laser has gotten look at rob's head. There is a red light that blinks. The brighter it is the more powerful the laser.
Now as a reaction to these projetiles it is adivsed to do a few things. For the laser, when on the ground, shield both the laser and gyro. Do not attempt to spot dodge the laser. You can try to to spotdodge the gyro once you get the timing down for it. Most robs like to use the laser when they are on the ledge. They ledge hop into a laser which makes it harder to edgehog them. Another use of the laser is when you have been sent off the stage and are flying into the air. They will shoot a laser at you and hit you so that you die. This has happened to many good players. The only thing we can do here is airdodge at the right moment. So when knocked off the stage, watch out for the laser.
Another thing that rob's like to do it shoot a gyro then laser you right after. Like it was said before, shield. More importantly, powershield the laser. If you find yourself at the gyro and you grab it, hold onto it for a few seconds then throw it up in the air. Rob cannot use another one while you are holding onto it and its in the air. And it is now your projectile too. If the thing keeps spinning and you are sure that rob is gonna pick it up and throw it at you, then knock it off the stage. Get it off and out of play. Now they can also use the laser first and then use the gyro. So be aware at all times for the projectiles.
Offense/Attacking
As for actually attacking rob, this can be difficult but its not impossible in any way. The main point that I want to stress is not to get to aggravated when your opponent is at a high percentage. It may take +130% to kill rob. So my first piece of advice before I talk about any form of aggressive play is to be patient. Just try and get damage in, no matter how small it is.
Now some people like to play rob aggessively and others tend to be more defensive. This is ok. But it really depends on the rob you are playing. If the rob like to camp, well then you need to get in close to make those projectiles less useful. If they don't use their projectiles that much then a defensive playstyle is an option.
The first thing I am going to talk about are robs tilts. Be aware that he can angle his tilts and they can outrange and cancel almost all of pikas ground approaches. They are aggravating. Their startup time is mimnimal and their lag is equally good. If you are approaching be aware that rob can angle his ftilt upwards towards you. If you are crouching he can still hit you. The tilt will not miss. Robs love their ftilt and dtilt. If you find yourself a victim of tilts be defensive. Shield. Wait till the tilt has ended and shield grab. You can spot dodge them but it leaves you with very little time to get an attack in. Grabbing allows you to pull off some combos and send rob into the air, which is where we want him.
His Air Game
Getting rob to fight in the air will win you your match. His air game is very predictable since most of his moves have already been mapped out. His weekspot is his underside. He can only hit you with his bair and nair, which have a considerable startup time. But be aware...they hurt so be aware. Your uair is your friend in this match when in the uair. You can combo into nair or bair(if you save your jump). The only airiel that poses a threat is the fair. Now when I say threat I mean a move that comes out fast and has descent priority and not predictable. Robs will use the fair a lot. If you get hit by it just DI away and then use your QAC to get underneath him. The player will then panic and become a little predictable. Use pikas quickness when in the air.
Your Air Game
Pika's airiels are the game winning moves here. Not that they kill, but they set you up for everything. You need to know what you are doing in the air against rob. DO NOT use the same approach every time when facing rob. Use your fairs to shield poke as well as FFing>combo. The bair is awesome. Interchanging the fair and bair will always keep the rob wondering what is coming. SHould they shield longer or let go sooner...stuff like that. Plus you don't have to do a RAR to use the bair effectively. As for the nair and uair, use them. Shield>Sh nair when they are in front of you and at high percentages. When rob is behind you SH uair. The SH uair will hit 95% of the time if you set it up right. Watch some vids of anther if you need to learn how to set it up. As for the dair, use it, but try and not let it hit the ground. Too much lag time and rob has a great laser. It situational since you want to stay away from robs upside.
Also, another thing with the nair. Pika's and robs. They are very similar in the way they come out. Pika's is faster but robs is more powerful. Now you pika players know how good the nair is for killing so that should give you an idea of how well robs nair kills. It is one of his best killers!!!! It can hit all around him. Do not mess with his nair. Try your best to watch for the setup and punish its lag time. Its very easy to see coming since rob needs to be well above the ground to use it.
Smashes
As for robs smashes...we will start with the fsmash. He can angle this also. I know...it sucks. But now that you know you can counter the fsmash. It has terrible range compared to pikas. Rob's use this as a killing move and for damage gains. The usmash...well it has great range, it can kill, and NEVER GET ABOVE ROB!!!!!!! Never. He will use it and almost certainly kill you. If he doesn't use it, maybe because of the slight startup lag or end lag, he will use his utilt to try and juggle you. His dsmash is also very similar to pika's. Difference is that its short, harder to DI out of due to reaction times for DI'ing, and its startup time is next to nothing. That being said we pika players know how awesome our dsmash can be. Robs is better. Do not get into a dsmash battle cuz we will lose.
As for our smashes, use them for damage gains. Use you usmash more in this matchup. Try and techchase with the thunder after wards. Its always good to get a thunder in. Use your dsmash, but be aware that its easy to DI out of. Now for the fsmash. Probably your most useful smash option. Save it. Do not let it degenerate. You will use it for killing. Never use it before 105%. If you do make sure that you are getting a sweetspotted fsmash in to make it count. Saving your fsmash will help you finish the match more than any other move.
Your Tjolt
Now I usually talk about pikas projectiles first when approaching, but its good to change it up everynow and then. Pika's tjolt. Spammable. Easy to use. Great for free damage. Anotherwards...use it. Use it often. Use it when approaching to get a shield out of your opponent. If they don't then they get hit, acquire damage, flinch, and you get a free FF fair. Pika's thunder. Learn to use it against rob. Be aware that rob can reflect it. His sideB reflects. It has some startup time yes, but I have fallen victim to it and so has many others. So when thundering, or tjolting, watch out for the potential reflect. If you know its coming then just do not let the thunder hit you. Now there are vids of this player called Stealth Raptor who uses the thunder better than anyone i've seen. Watch it. Learn how to use thunder becuase it deals a great deal of damage and is awesome.
Killing/Edgeguarding
Now for kiling rob. Maybe the most useful section here. The kill moves are the fsmash, usmash, thunder, nair, and utilt. This may be obvious but lets go through them. The fsmash is great for killing at lower percnetages as well as thunder. Usmash>techchase thunder is a great rob killer. Save your fsmash and use it at around 110% to kill. The nair is good for +130% kill to due robs weight. If if doesn't kill, don't get aggravated. You will kill him eventually. Be patient. You will have to get him at high percentages for killing. Now the utilt...great move. Comes out fast and is easy to land a thunder since it sends the rob at an awkward angle. IF you find that the rob is at a high percentage use your utilt. It comes out extremely fast compared to your other moves.
When trying to edgeguard rob...well this will prove difficult since he has by far the best recovery in the game. His bair gets him closer as well as being able to turn on/off his upb. If he tries to go above the stage use your thunder. Some robs ahve developed a strategy of staying off the edge because of the recovery ability. They are forcing us to play them where we cant really do much. You must learn how to edgeguard. we have a great recovery too. Don't be afraid to go off the ledge. Be aware of his spike though. Your thunder is a great move off the ledge. If it hits you, you stop for a split second. Use this.
When rob is edgeguarding he is extremely efficient. He can hit you with his laser to kill you. He can spike. He can ftilt you(wop). So that being said, use your skullbash whenever he WILL NOT ATTACK YOU. Use it sparingly. Your life really does depend on it. Your QA is your bf. Learn it. Use it.
The last thing that I want to talk about is when rob is hanging off the ledge. This section deserves its own section. Rob can drop down>jump>many things. He can laser you. He can nair (the nair will hit above the stage even if rob is below it). If he is hanging off the ledge tjolt him to death. Keep jumping and shielding. Do not rush in cuz they can also just hit the A button and BAM!, it will hurt. You can even jump over him and thunder. I don't care. Just do not rush him.
Helpful Video's
Gonna get anthers
Overall Matchup
R.O.B. > Pika
General Discussion
R.O.B.(rob) is a newcomer to the game that brings a lot to the plate. He has two projectiles in which one can stay on the stage and mess with you while the other one simply needs to be recharged after being shot. It takes a few seconds to charge and shoot, but the longer you wait to shoot it the more powerful it gets. This applies to both projectiles. He has some airiels that are just plain plain awesome while he can manipulate you on the ground with his tilts and smashes. Combine this with the best recovery in the game and you have yourself a tough matchup.
Pika's Advantages
1.) Faster
2.) recovery makes it harder for rob to gimp
Pika's Disadvantages
1.) Less Projectiles
2.) Cannot CG rob
3.) airiels< robs
4.) very hard to edgeguard rob
Strategy for Winning
General
To win against rob you are gonna have to rely on your finess as a pika player. Unlike snake or sonic where you can just man handle these characters and just brute them into their death, to beat rob you must always be careful and plan out your moves accordingly. He has great kill moves and the ability to stay alive for long periods due to his recovery.
Projectiles
The first thing that needs to be discussed are the projectiles. Rob has 2. He has a laser and an actual item(gyro) which he charges up with downb and shoots it out. The longer both are charged the more dangerous they are. The laser needs 1-2 seconds to charge after being shot to be shot again while it takes about 20 seconds to fully charge it up. The gyro can be shot instantly while taking 3-4 seconds to fully charge. Some things you need to know are that the laser can be shot at angles, so crawling is pretty much useless. The gyro cannot. The gryo, when shot, stays on the stage and continues to spin. If you run into it then you get more damage. The longer its been charged the longer it spins. And if you are not sure how powerful the laser has gotten look at rob's head. There is a red light that blinks. The brighter it is the more powerful the laser.
Now as a reaction to these projetiles it is adivsed to do a few things. For the laser, when on the ground, shield both the laser and gyro. Do not attempt to spot dodge the laser. You can try to to spotdodge the gyro once you get the timing down for it. Most robs like to use the laser when they are on the ledge. They ledge hop into a laser which makes it harder to edgehog them. Another use of the laser is when you have been sent off the stage and are flying into the air. They will shoot a laser at you and hit you so that you die. This has happened to many good players. The only thing we can do here is airdodge at the right moment. So when knocked off the stage, watch out for the laser.
Another thing that rob's like to do it shoot a gyro then laser you right after. Like it was said before, shield. More importantly, powershield the laser. If you find yourself at the gyro and you grab it, hold onto it for a few seconds then throw it up in the air. Rob cannot use another one while you are holding onto it and its in the air. And it is now your projectile too. If the thing keeps spinning and you are sure that rob is gonna pick it up and throw it at you, then knock it off the stage. Get it off and out of play. Now they can also use the laser first and then use the gyro. So be aware at all times for the projectiles.
Offense/Attacking
As for actually attacking rob, this can be difficult but its not impossible in any way. The main point that I want to stress is not to get to aggravated when your opponent is at a high percentage. It may take +130% to kill rob. So my first piece of advice before I talk about any form of aggressive play is to be patient. Just try and get damage in, no matter how small it is.
Now some people like to play rob aggessively and others tend to be more defensive. This is ok. But it really depends on the rob you are playing. If the rob like to camp, well then you need to get in close to make those projectiles less useful. If they don't use their projectiles that much then a defensive playstyle is an option.
The first thing I am going to talk about are robs tilts. Be aware that he can angle his tilts and they can outrange and cancel almost all of pikas ground approaches. They are aggravating. Their startup time is mimnimal and their lag is equally good. If you are approaching be aware that rob can angle his ftilt upwards towards you. If you are crouching he can still hit you. The tilt will not miss. Robs love their ftilt and dtilt. If you find yourself a victim of tilts be defensive. Shield. Wait till the tilt has ended and shield grab. You can spot dodge them but it leaves you with very little time to get an attack in. Grabbing allows you to pull off some combos and send rob into the air, which is where we want him.
His Air Game
Getting rob to fight in the air will win you your match. His air game is very predictable since most of his moves have already been mapped out. His weekspot is his underside. He can only hit you with his bair and nair, which have a considerable startup time. But be aware...they hurt so be aware. Your uair is your friend in this match when in the uair. You can combo into nair or bair(if you save your jump). The only airiel that poses a threat is the fair. Now when I say threat I mean a move that comes out fast and has descent priority and not predictable. Robs will use the fair a lot. If you get hit by it just DI away and then use your QAC to get underneath him. The player will then panic and become a little predictable. Use pikas quickness when in the air.
Your Air Game
Pika's airiels are the game winning moves here. Not that they kill, but they set you up for everything. You need to know what you are doing in the air against rob. DO NOT use the same approach every time when facing rob. Use your fairs to shield poke as well as FFing>combo. The bair is awesome. Interchanging the fair and bair will always keep the rob wondering what is coming. SHould they shield longer or let go sooner...stuff like that. Plus you don't have to do a RAR to use the bair effectively. As for the nair and uair, use them. Shield>Sh nair when they are in front of you and at high percentages. When rob is behind you SH uair. The SH uair will hit 95% of the time if you set it up right. Watch some vids of anther if you need to learn how to set it up. As for the dair, use it, but try and not let it hit the ground. Too much lag time and rob has a great laser. It situational since you want to stay away from robs upside.
Also, another thing with the nair. Pika's and robs. They are very similar in the way they come out. Pika's is faster but robs is more powerful. Now you pika players know how good the nair is for killing so that should give you an idea of how well robs nair kills. It is one of his best killers!!!! It can hit all around him. Do not mess with his nair. Try your best to watch for the setup and punish its lag time. Its very easy to see coming since rob needs to be well above the ground to use it.
Smashes
As for robs smashes...we will start with the fsmash. He can angle this also. I know...it sucks. But now that you know you can counter the fsmash. It has terrible range compared to pikas. Rob's use this as a killing move and for damage gains. The usmash...well it has great range, it can kill, and NEVER GET ABOVE ROB!!!!!!! Never. He will use it and almost certainly kill you. If he doesn't use it, maybe because of the slight startup lag or end lag, he will use his utilt to try and juggle you. His dsmash is also very similar to pika's. Difference is that its short, harder to DI out of due to reaction times for DI'ing, and its startup time is next to nothing. That being said we pika players know how awesome our dsmash can be. Robs is better. Do not get into a dsmash battle cuz we will lose.
As for our smashes, use them for damage gains. Use you usmash more in this matchup. Try and techchase with the thunder after wards. Its always good to get a thunder in. Use your dsmash, but be aware that its easy to DI out of. Now for the fsmash. Probably your most useful smash option. Save it. Do not let it degenerate. You will use it for killing. Never use it before 105%. If you do make sure that you are getting a sweetspotted fsmash in to make it count. Saving your fsmash will help you finish the match more than any other move.
Your Tjolt
Now I usually talk about pikas projectiles first when approaching, but its good to change it up everynow and then. Pika's tjolt. Spammable. Easy to use. Great for free damage. Anotherwards...use it. Use it often. Use it when approaching to get a shield out of your opponent. If they don't then they get hit, acquire damage, flinch, and you get a free FF fair. Pika's thunder. Learn to use it against rob. Be aware that rob can reflect it. His sideB reflects. It has some startup time yes, but I have fallen victim to it and so has many others. So when thundering, or tjolting, watch out for the potential reflect. If you know its coming then just do not let the thunder hit you. Now there are vids of this player called Stealth Raptor who uses the thunder better than anyone i've seen. Watch it. Learn how to use thunder becuase it deals a great deal of damage and is awesome.
Killing/Edgeguarding
Now for kiling rob. Maybe the most useful section here. The kill moves are the fsmash, usmash, thunder, nair, and utilt. This may be obvious but lets go through them. The fsmash is great for killing at lower percnetages as well as thunder. Usmash>techchase thunder is a great rob killer. Save your fsmash and use it at around 110% to kill. The nair is good for +130% kill to due robs weight. If if doesn't kill, don't get aggravated. You will kill him eventually. Be patient. You will have to get him at high percentages for killing. Now the utilt...great move. Comes out fast and is easy to land a thunder since it sends the rob at an awkward angle. IF you find that the rob is at a high percentage use your utilt. It comes out extremely fast compared to your other moves.
When trying to edgeguard rob...well this will prove difficult since he has by far the best recovery in the game. His bair gets him closer as well as being able to turn on/off his upb. If he tries to go above the stage use your thunder. Some robs ahve developed a strategy of staying off the edge because of the recovery ability. They are forcing us to play them where we cant really do much. You must learn how to edgeguard. we have a great recovery too. Don't be afraid to go off the ledge. Be aware of his spike though. Your thunder is a great move off the ledge. If it hits you, you stop for a split second. Use this.
When rob is edgeguarding he is extremely efficient. He can hit you with his laser to kill you. He can spike. He can ftilt you(wop). So that being said, use your skullbash whenever he WILL NOT ATTACK YOU. Use it sparingly. Your life really does depend on it. Your QA is your bf. Learn it. Use it.
The last thing that I want to talk about is when rob is hanging off the ledge. This section deserves its own section. Rob can drop down>jump>many things. He can laser you. He can nair (the nair will hit above the stage even if rob is below it). If he is hanging off the ledge tjolt him to death. Keep jumping and shielding. Do not rush in cuz they can also just hit the A button and BAM!, it will hurt. You can even jump over him and thunder. I don't care. Just do not rush him.
Helpful Video's
Gonna get anthers
Overall Matchup
R.O.B. > Pika