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Guide Taj's Character Match-Up Discussion

Taj278

TIME TO GET PAID!
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SAMUS

Initial thoughts- She can't kill you easily if you don't let her, and she can keep you out pretty easily and build up damage slowly. You have very easy up throw KOs, but less effective forward air KOs, stick to YS, PS, FD, and BF if possible.

103% is your Magic Number on FD

OFFENSE: Your shadow ball either trades or loses to missles based on how it collides. You can do a really cool down tilt through missle trick as well so utilize that if she tries to shoot you while falling. Neutral air is probably your safest move over her shield and side step game. It ***** her shield and may eat through it allowing you to get under her and hit her with up tilts/up airs/more neutral airs. Beware down tilting at low percentages unless you're certain she's not going to crouch cancel or she's at a higher percentage so it knocks her down. Space them accordingly so she can't neutral air you out of it either. You don't really have a guaranteed down tilt > forward air > up air combo on Samus, so most of your damage may come from back air links, poorly DIed tilts, and of course grabs.

You want to put Samus off the stage as much as possible. When facing the ledge do a down throw. When facing away back throw. If Samus tries to DI your down throw back into youat low %, don't try to follow up with a forward air, you don't have time against players with an ounce of awareness, use an up tilt and look to back, up, or neutral air based on DI.

Poorly spaced tilts can be pressured with disable out of shield, though it is not guaranteed, it can just be a surprise for tilt whores. Challenge Samus' charge beam by charging your own shadow ball. Otherwise keep pressure on Samus and don't let her finish hers easily as it is her best kill move. Most good Samus players will save their charge beam for either a "surprise," tech chase, or counter to a predictable approach. When you have distance, you should be able to react to it. When you're in the fray, expect it and bait it out while not using your laggier moves. Teleport cross up with your shield up and play as close as you can while expecting her "get off me" moves like up B and down smash.

Edgeguards: Back airs. Teleport stall for even or above the stage recoveries and prepare to back air grapple. Above the stage, spaced back airs. Below the stage eating bombs and back airing is a viable option if you're not afraid of losing your second jump to a last ditch attack. On the stage to off stage Samus... down smash any failed sweet spot. If you can beat her to the edge then do it. If she grapples while you're on the edge and doesn't rise immediately, just fast fall neutral air ASAP. Really... just go get her and rack up damage while you're doing it because once she is back on the stage you should have better position and the damage you've done should lead you closer to up throw. You don't want Samus to live to higher percentages unless you're playing on DL64 and maybe FoD/BF where Samus is much more difficult to KO off the top. If you Confusion her through BF as well, be ready to punish her grapple attempt and prevent her from recovering she panics and used her second jump right away like most people. Samus is like Peach in recovery resilience for good players.

Defense: Your Offense and Defense both just need to be solid. You don't want to give Samus any kind of momentum or stock advantage. Your goal is to control the pace of the game. You want to probably play a floaty/wave dash style. By this I mean you don't want to be stuck in your shield too much, but you need to be ready to shield those big hits, and you want to be float around so it is harder for Samus to grab you. Get into that range where you can throw shadow balls more successfully than Samus can throw missles and float in that range and within your dash grab/wavedash grab range.

You generally want your shield ot be full, so retreat when you can but Samus is pretty fast and has a good tilt range, so teleport out of shield and stall by an edge when you can. Samus can't punish you easily for it. Use your teleport cross up to get through missle spam, teleport and roll back in front, keep trying to move around her in the center, and slowly get her to chase you to a side of the level. You don't want Samus to have distance on you and you don't want her to control the center.

Try to avoid being directly over Samus as she has a lot more options than you do.

Final Thoughts- It's like Peach but a little bit easier to stay inside, harder to get inside, and only a couple of kill moves that aren't as potent as Peach's. So don't get hit by Smashes and sweet spotted Neutral air and you should live to 130-150% a stock.

Questions/Comments/Concerns? I will revise this later, Sick Johns.

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DelxDoom

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I really enjoy your metagame posts because they make so much sense and are brilliant.

*shrug* Arizona is too good.
 

Omni_Smash

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wow, that's like amazing.

One question, does M2 have to worry about the "hugz" much? Up-B out of shield from Samus or is he too floaty for that to be a great threat?
 

outRAGEous

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jv 5 stocking someone in tournament is just mean. i would just stand there and let him hit me a couple of times.


also are you going to change your name to mewtwoking? wait, or is that taken\


how do you beat pikachu with mewtwo
 

Taj278

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wow, that's like amazing.

One question, does M2 have to worry about the "hugz" much? Up-B out of shield from Samus or is he too floaty for that to be a great threat?
Mewtwo doesn't really have anything that really warrants too many Up-B out of shields from Samus. Mewtwo's shield pressure is usually spaced and ground based, so if Samus ever really "needs" to up B out of shield then you're doing something that really bothers the Samus and you should be able to shield it because it should have nothing to do with vulnerability frames.

But yeah... Mewtwo is too floaty for Samus to gain much from up B, and if you force Samus into her shield like that, then you're doing something right and you should be looking for grabs and reading the sidestep.
 

Shadow Huan

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Samus isn't a very good match-up for Mewtwo... will study Taj's post.

@outRAGEous: To beat Pikachu you must outplay and read him. It's not in the least bit easy though...
 

KAOSTAR

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Haha this is an amazing place lol. I have a friend who plays samus and its a pain in the ***. I love the baby shadowballs tho lol.

Do you think its best to light shield or try and aangle my shield down so I dont get shield poked and can still potentially get a grab off.
 

Taj278

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Haha this is an amazing place lol. I have a friend who plays samus and its a pain in the ***. I love the baby shadowballs tho lol.

Do you think its best to light shield or try and aangle my shield down so I dont get shield poked and can still potentially get a grab off.
Light shielding is purely defensive. There is no utility for Light shielding and attempting to grab. You have more shield stun and you slide much further than hard shielding. If you want to play for shield grabs/WD grabs on anyone then you may as well try directing your shield downward.
 

ss118

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Playing against people like captain falcon, I get in a down throw and I can predict the tech chase away from me(like in front of me), but I have difficulty following him... I'm sure it's because I haven't completely grasped the full length of Mewtwo's awesome wavedash, but other than good ole "practice makes perfect", how exactly would I increase this length?
 

Shadow Huan

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Playing against people like captain falcon, I get in a down throw and I can predict the tech chase away from me(like in front of me), but I have difficulty following him... I'm sure it's because I haven't completely grasped the full length of Mewtwo's awesome wavedash, but other than good ole "practice makes perfect", how exactly would I increase this length?
Exactly what you said... practice. The length of the WD depends on the angle of the air dodge as well...

Being a fast-faller, C. Falcon is juggle bait if you're not getting the knee in the face constantly. Once you have him out over the edge, there's a ton of crap you can do to him, from D-smashes and F-smashes to spikes to B-Airs. Despite knowing and trying to do all of this, I still have problems against C. Falcon which is why I asked the master.
 

quak

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@outRAGEous: To beat Pikachu you must outplay and read him. It's not in the least bit easy though...
pikachu should be easy in relative to the other characters out there, downtilt destroys pika, she's pretty easy to combo with fairs and upairs, she also dies at low percents to upthrow.

all it has on you is upsmash, imo, mewtwo has the advantage on this matchup, just don't play stupid

Hey Taj: how about C. Falcon next? Unless you've already got something planned...
did somebody say FALCON?!
 

KAOSTAR

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Light shielding is purely defensive. There is no utility for Light shielding and attempting to grab. You have more shield stun and you slide much further than hard shielding. If you want to play for shield grabs/WD grabs on anyone then you may as well try directing your shield downward.
Ha ha so true. I was thinking more wavedashing in for a grab vs shield grabbing. Often if Im in a light shield and want to grab ill just switch the shields.

CAptain falcon tho lol. Thats one of my favorite matchups. dont get comboed lol. :( m2 lol so big.
 

Shadow Huan

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pikachu should be easy in relative to the other characters out there, downtilt destroys pika, she's pretty easy to combo with fairs and upairs, she also dies at low percents to upthrow.

all it has on you is upsmash, imo, mewtwo has the advantage on this matchup, just don't play stupid



did somebody say FALCON?!
Ah, the Axe Smash as I've heard it called. Pika also has Thunder, but really, "Just don't play stupid" sums it up lol.

FALCON! I'll say it again!

BTW, "Mighty Kites" is a Scrubs reference right? much love for that show. Dr. Cox rocks!!!
 

quak

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it is yes

i'd rather not talk about c falcon match up, i already know it, im selfish and lazy

taj likes to give pointers tho
 

KAOSTAR

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I started playin m2 competitively around falcon mains lol so I kno this matchup pretty well. lol. Dont get uair-ed or kneed lol try not to get grabbed and u should do fine. (also be weary of the nair as well lol).
 

ss118

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I generally use the first hit of the nair as a free grab since you can CC it, shield the second one and then grab through it. You may have to wavedash out of shield since good falcon's will generally space to hit with the tip of the nairs.
 

KAOSTAR

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I generally use the first hit of the nair as a free grab since you can CC it, shield the second one and then grab through it. You may have to wavedash out of shield since good falcon's will generally space to hit with the tip of the nairs.
ur saying that you get hit by the first nair of falcon and CC it and then you shield the 2nd hit and then grab thru it.

Why risk gettin hit. U cant CC it forever. I mean def at least with m2 its necessary to CC attacks to get more in just this seems risky for a grab. what about just spacing the nair would with a WD and dtilt or turnaround dashattack.
 

DarkDragoon

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NNID
LordDarkDragoon
o.o I don't really have much to say at this point except teleport or NAir out of every throw, and mix up the DI a lot... to avoid a SHKnee.
-DD
 

quak

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fair is better, more priority

fair is ur best friend in this matchup

c falcon is ur chance to do amazing combos

match should go something like this: he grabs and zero to deaths you, you grab, and zero to 70 him, then he nairs you and kills you again. repeat.

favorite matchup by far
 

KAOSTAR

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fair is better, more priority

fair is ur best friend in this matchup

c falcon is ur chance to do amazing combos

match should go something like this: he grabs and zero to deaths you, you grab, and zero to 70 him, then he nairs you and kills you again. repeat.

favorite matchup by far
Ha ha tahts soooo how I remember it lol.
 

Shadow Huan

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fair is better, more priority

fair is ur best friend in this matchup

c falcon is ur chance to do amazing combos

match should go something like this: he grabs and zero to deaths you, you grab, and zero to 70 him, then he nairs you and kills you again. repeat.

favorite matchup by far
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: Exactly. Bad match-up for Mewtwo unless you can force C. Falcon out over an edge...
 

Taj278

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CAPTAIN FALCON

Initial Thoughts- Falcon is a monster, a fan favorite, and he loves everything about Mewtwo: Floaty, low range, low priority, and large. Mewtwo has some good combos, a reliable tech chase from down throw, a decent middle to high percentage edge guard, and a big fluffy shield that is higher than most characters to help combat Falcon’s aerial shield pressure. The odds are against you, but depending on your skill at reading Falcon’s approaches, how you adjust your spacing, how you call Falcon’s retreats, and how you learn to corner Falcons on your tech chases to maximize damage and increase edge guarding situations, the better your chances of beating Falcons consistently.

OFFENSE

Your offense will usually start a shield grab, throwing your shadow ball and following it up with down tilt or grabs, confusion tech chase, disabled aerial tech chase, or neutral air to tech chase.

If you start with a 0-3% grab you should use up throw and follow it up with double forward airs > rising forward air > DJC up air or Double F-air > DJC F- air > WD down tilt or whatever you want depending on DI. If they DI behind you on the up throw, you can usually assume they are going to DI continuously in that same direction and just do reverse Forward airs backwards. If they DI forward and back or vice versa, between the double forward airs, then you either have to call it or neutral air and rely on the follow up which is less consistent.

If you get the grab at 20% or higher, Falcon seems to be able to escape with horizontal DI and jumps, so you can use up throw > confusion to throw them off or you can rely on a strong down throw tech chasing game. Reverse Shadow Ball Charging can give you good shield pressure if the Falcon isn’t confident from the early game, but most of the time the Falcon will probably take stage control until you call their dash dances, corner them with your tech chases and force them off the stage with down throw or back throw.

DEFENSE

This is what you need to win against Falcon consistently. Most of your offense will stem from countering their SHFFLs with spacing, quick pivots, shield grabbing, ledge confusion, and DJC neutral air out of shield.

I typically like to face up Falcon and throw/charge shadow balls when he has distance to force some kind of action. Based on what the Falcon chooses to do to baby shadow balls determines if I like to charge instead. If Falcon stops and jabs/sidesteps shadow balls, then be prepared to follow them up, if Falcon aerials through them/hops over them, I tend to charge my ball more.

This is important because a charged/charging shadow ball usually means an offensive opportunity against aerial happy Falcon, and the aerial happy Falcons are (typically, but not always) easier to read than the Dash Dance heavy Falcon with good spacing. Falcons can be broken into a similar Marth category where you have:

Aerial shield pressure Falcons
Dash Dance heavy Falcons
Shield Dashing Falcons


Against Aerial Falcons- retreating baby shadow balls between their aerial spam, confusion out of shield to call their next SHFFL, spaced disable out of shield, wavedashing into the aerial with your shield up while preventing the cross up for a shield grab, or well timed shadow ball charges work pretty well.

Dash Dance heavy Falcons- Usually advancing AND retreating shadow balls will be necessary, long wavedash down tilts for the dash away and short for the approach. If you really feel the Falcon’s rhythm, you can even do long wave dash to disable when the Falcon retreats to a corner and you may catch him on the dash back.

Shield Dashing Falcons- Usually you have to use down tilt to stop their approach, confusion works really well when you have them cornered, and this is where your own dash dance/ wave dash game needs to shine to bait their shield grabs, quick aerials, and watch for their quick dash dances out of their shield to try and bait you back.

WHEN YOU GET GRABBED
You have to know when you need to DI up to avoid getting kneed and when to DI away to avoid getting kneed. Most Falcons love trying to intercept your recovery for some reason and overextend themselves for that kill. You have to recognize when you have time to teleport/jump air dodge, when you have to fast fall, and when you just have to DI up to minimize your horizontal distance for the inevitable knee. This part really just takes practice/experience, but if you’re aware of your options, getting grabbed at 0% or even 75% is not the end of the world, and you can turn the grabs into a 50/50 instead of a guaranteed KO.

EDGEGUARDING

Back airz, lol
Cookiez, loool
Back air falcon kicks
Down smash

You guys should know the drill.
If you need more detail then ask me since it isn’t THAT linear all the time.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Avoid Yoshi’s Story against Falcon if you can. It isn’t absolutely horrible, but despite the smaller stage, Falcon still has room to run, easier recovery, and kills you earlier than you’d might like. Dreamland is double edged since it gives Falcon more room to run, more chances to recover high, yet your own survivability is slightly increased… it is still more for Falcon since it also hinders your up throw combos a bit. FD, PS, BF, and even FoD depending on the Falcon are probably your best stages overall for guaranteed combos, escape from Falcon’s combos, cornering and edge guarding.

Falcon is manly, everyone loves him, and everyone cheers for him even after seeing the knee for 7 years. It can be a difficult match for Mewtwo, but I say it falls somewhere between the hassles and benefits of fighting Marth and Fox. It’s like fighting Marth’s grab and dash dance game with the power of Fox’s up throw up air, but you can combo him like Fox, he has no projectile, and he’s easier to edgeguard than both.
 

ChaosKnight

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nice i read some of this and it helped me alot to understand how mewtwo is used :p

im getting used to him

and i would say what an uphill battle it is against c falcon..
 

KAOSTAR

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yea falcon is a *****. but I do find it funny how hella falcon players even ones with lots of m2 exp go for that big killer combo in which u jus di away then jump under them and back air to gimpy recovery lol. then they knee u when they respawn.

but really upthrow to confusion. hmmm I use all of m2s moves alot except comboing into confusion. ill give that a try.
 

Shadow Huan

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Awesome take on C. falcon. Taj is the best!

Have you played Scar's Falcon Taj? if you're totally back in the tourny scene I'm sure you'll cross paths at some point.

*GASPS* Gimpyfish! *Waves*
 

Taj278

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I haven't played Scar's Falcon, but I played Silent Spectre's Falcon in tourney at Mango Juice with Mewtwo second match after he ***** my Marth. He won by one stock low percentage.
 
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