BlackCephie
Smash Journeyman
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2014
- Messages
- 203
So one of the most common things I see people saying, especially in tournament commentary, is that Piranha Plant is bad because of his "lack" of neutral. Its annoying to hear because these people clearly dont understand his design philosophy, and its even more annoying that many plant users I see fail to demonstrate his power. Let me break this down. ::ahem::
I think the common misconception is that if a character doesnt have an abusable aerial or free buttons, then that character has no neutral and is therefore bad. No, plant does not have those things. What plant does have is poison cloud, and THAT is the foundation of his neutral.
You dont use poison cloud right on top of your opponent because it is punishable at that range. What you DO do is spit it out at a distance, to trap landing opponents, or those hanging on the ledge. Spitting out poison cloud at a good distance away means that your opponent cannot simply run through it and punish you during the recovery frames. At this point, a ground approach is a bad idea because plant has many ways to trap, stall or damage you in the cloud. So what are the options?
Lets put projectiles, reflectors or absorption aside for a second. Your opponent will either stay where they are, which is fine because you get free stage control. If they jump, that is exactly where plant wants you. Its true, his aerials are not good as approach options. They ARE however very good as anti-airs, along with MANY other tools in his kit. YOU SHOULD GET FREE DAMAGE IF YOUR OPPONENT JUMPS OVER POISON. trying to run or roll through it shouls also get you a free punish. If you didnt get this by now, plant is exceptionally good at anti-airing and baiting out air dodges.
If your opponent is already in the air, and their aerials are strong and you dont feel safe trying to intercept, USE POISON TO COVER THEIR LANDINGS. This is one of plants best strategies and once again should net you a free punish and keep you at advantage.
I wont even go into all the other things you should do that I see a lot of new plant players not doing (such as using down b to get free punishes on projectiles, aerials and all sorts of other kinds of pressure).
As for projectiles, reflectors, pocket, etc. So what. You just made them react, good. Punish with down b anyways. Or just go into neutral b from the air.
TL:DR - Plant's neutral IS his poison cloud, coupled with the other options in his kit that supplement it. Especially neutral b. His strength lies in his ability to push opponents to the ledge, then keep them there until they die.
I think the common misconception is that if a character doesnt have an abusable aerial or free buttons, then that character has no neutral and is therefore bad. No, plant does not have those things. What plant does have is poison cloud, and THAT is the foundation of his neutral.
You dont use poison cloud right on top of your opponent because it is punishable at that range. What you DO do is spit it out at a distance, to trap landing opponents, or those hanging on the ledge. Spitting out poison cloud at a good distance away means that your opponent cannot simply run through it and punish you during the recovery frames. At this point, a ground approach is a bad idea because plant has many ways to trap, stall or damage you in the cloud. So what are the options?
Lets put projectiles, reflectors or absorption aside for a second. Your opponent will either stay where they are, which is fine because you get free stage control. If they jump, that is exactly where plant wants you. Its true, his aerials are not good as approach options. They ARE however very good as anti-airs, along with MANY other tools in his kit. YOU SHOULD GET FREE DAMAGE IF YOUR OPPONENT JUMPS OVER POISON. trying to run or roll through it shouls also get you a free punish. If you didnt get this by now, plant is exceptionally good at anti-airing and baiting out air dodges.
If your opponent is already in the air, and their aerials are strong and you dont feel safe trying to intercept, USE POISON TO COVER THEIR LANDINGS. This is one of plants best strategies and once again should net you a free punish and keep you at advantage.
I wont even go into all the other things you should do that I see a lot of new plant players not doing (such as using down b to get free punishes on projectiles, aerials and all sorts of other kinds of pressure).
As for projectiles, reflectors, pocket, etc. So what. You just made them react, good. Punish with down b anyways. Or just go into neutral b from the air.
TL:DR - Plant's neutral IS his poison cloud, coupled with the other options in his kit that supplement it. Especially neutral b. His strength lies in his ability to push opponents to the ledge, then keep them there until they die.
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