The Essence of Wolf: A Guide to Wolf COMPLETELY REWRITTEN

[§witch]

less priority, lag doesn't matter much in a situation like that [that he isn't usually punished unless they have a long shield grab is proof [unless that's wrong, in which case i'm wrong]]. can't get shield grabbed as easily.

If they sheild you'll be right in front of them so a long sheild grab doesn't matter.

 

[Kashakunaki]

I actually follow up with dash quite a few times, so I don't think it's so "plain sucks"ish; it does have a somewhat good hit box, not much lag, pushes some people back enough so that they can't shield grab you... I don't know, but in my experience, it's been decent.
I also use his ftilt often, and it hasn't failed me much. It's a quick move that gives you good space, and it has decent priority. It does what it needs to do.
On another note, though, I do agree that utilt is very situational, I use it after a quick fair, but it does seem kind of ineffective - I'm trying to switch it out for something else... -.-'

Well, it doesn't "plain suck" but it certainly isn't a good move and shouldn't be used more than maybe twice a match. If you are going to punish them you have infinitely better options unless for some reason or another dash attack is the only thing you can hit them with quick enough.

However, I have noticed that if you space correctly it can prevent shield grabbing... sometimes. Have you ever notice when Falcon Raptor Boosts his hitbox is pulled back? This sometimes leads to attacks and grabs missing.

It is the same thing with Wolf. His body is pulled away from the opponent after the crescent kick animation, so grabs and short ranged attacks will most likely miss. Still, not the best move.

Blaster owns Dedede. He's big so he can't just jump out of the way, and even shorthop air dodges are kinda awkward. You just need to space right so he can't simply sidestep.

Also, the Blaster will deflect Waddle Dees and Doos, including if you get them with the bayonet - they'll stop in place, then the blaster will shoot them away.

You fire blaster slightly faster than he chucks 'Doos, so unless he gets persistent for a Gordo, you make him come to you.
EDIT: And even then you have the reflector. All you have to do is play slightly less. . . frenzied than normal. Wolf is more sure-footed than Dedede, and if you can cancel side B, he can't mess you up.

Just don't get grabbed.

I disagree with a few things... mainly the Doos vs. Lasers

Lasers < Waddle doos and dees

They eat the laser and though the laser stops them it doesn't kill them, so they can still attack you. Then there is the chance of getting hit by a Gordo. Minimal laser spam is alright, but I bet a pretty penny that Dedede will when in a camp fest against Wolf.

Other than that, I don't have much to say. This match up, as with DK, is all about spacing. Space space space. And don't get grabbed for the love of God.

 

[Captain Sa10]

Oh god after D3 gets his grabs in...your pretty much screwed. IF your facing a D3 period, be it experienced or not, you need to take Kashakunaki's advice: DONT GET GRABBED!! OTHER WISE HELLO **** MONTAGE FROM HELL AND BACK!!!

 

[NESSBOUNDER]

Oh, you might want to look into this: because of Wolf's height and weight and his odd falling properties, he can usually be chain palmed by Lucario to about 70% at the start of a match before he can break out of it.

 

[Kashakunaki]

Chain palmed?

Also, if you are getting grabbed by Dedede try one of two things: Shining or Grabbing

Sometimes you can break out like that.

 

[Koskinator]

I find when I'm getting chaingrabbed by D3 I just go for a quick step dodge as I hit the ground, will work in most cases.

 

[Juggalo]

Under Approaches

2. Short hop to Nair to Reflector to Downsmash. Tossing in the reflector negates any attempt of a counter attack once your nair animation is finished, once you hit the reflector, the downsmash is pretty well guaranteed at low percents.

3. Short Hop to Nair to Reflector to Front Smash. Works better than 1 and 2 when your approaching an enemy at percents of above 90.

Your reflector always has the same knockback against the same opponent, based on their weight, not percentage. So the angle of your nair when you tie it into the shine is what determines whether you can dsmash or fsmash out of it appropriately. So just take it as you go, taking advantage of however you happen to land your nair/shine.
Also, you probably already know this, but its worth mentioning for those who don't: when you nair, if the center of Wolf's body hits the enemy, it has decent knockback to get somebody off your tail (with its uber fast startup).

5. Dash to Roll to Downsmash. Run towards, do your roll so you'll be behind them, then Downsmash. Great if their shielding because they will expect a shield grab, but once they see you roll they will most likely unshield so you can get the downsmash.

Good player will most likely C-stick behind them once you roll, assuming they have a fast-acting forward smash. So this approach will work best against characters like d3, snake, and people like that. Just a little note.

Under Problem Matchups

6. Sonic- I read this on the character matchup chart on tactical discussion so I figured I better include the little rodent. I've honestly never had that much of a problem with Sonic. He is fast. He can spindash. He has no priority. You can approach him virtually any way I've stated at the beginning, just watch out for the bair and front smash, because those are really his only effective kill moves. I don't really have much to say about Sonic, just play it smart.

I'm a competent Wolf mainer and I have a friend who plays a rather mean and advanced Sonic. The thing with this matchup is that you dominate the ground. Wolf's priority pwns Sonics in the nuts every time. However, Sonic has alot more options when either of you are off the edge. Sonic's gameplay is all about controlling the battlefield, so don't let him pressure you into the situations where he would have the advantage. Watchout for grabs.
Also, Sonic's dsmash is his highest-knockback move and it hits back and forth so an intelligent Sonic will find an opportunity for it, trust me.

-

Also, another low% approach: dash attack to utilt.
I've actually been finding myself using the utilt in a few situations.

 

[CyanCyde]

I'm glad I found this guide--I'm a newbie to Wolf (not that I'm particularly good at Smash in the first place) and my playstyle is somewhere between the "defensive" Wolf and the "spammer n00b." Well...was. I found myself using his ftilt nearly as often as his fsmash though--it seems (to me, at least) that it comes out just a little bit faster, and that second hit is great for spacing. The hitbox for it seems to be absolutely massive, too.

 

[chaindude]

Under Approaches

Your reflector always has the same knockback against the same opponent, based on their weight, not percentage. So the angle of your nair when you tie it into the shine is what determines whether you can dsmash or fsmash out of it appropriately. So just take it as you go, taking advantage of however you happen to land your nair/shine.
Also, you probably already know this, but its worth mentioning for those who don't: when you nair, if the center of Wolf's body hits the enemy, it has decent knockback to get somebody off your tail (with its uber fast startup).


Good player will most likely C-stick behind them once you roll, assuming they have a fast-acting forward smash. So this approach will work best against characters like d3, snake, and people like that. Just a little note.

Under Problem Matchups

I'm a competent Wolf mainer and I have a friend who plays a rather mean and advanced Sonic. The thing with this matchup is that you dominate the ground. Wolf's priority pwns Sonics in the nuts every time. However, Sonic has alot more options when either of you are off the edge. Sonic's gameplay is all about controlling the battlefield, so don't let him pressure you into the situations where he would have the advantage. Watchout for grabs.
Also, Sonic's dsmash is his highest-knockback move and it hits back and forth so an intelligent Sonic will find an opportunity for it, trust me.



-

Also, another low% approach: dash attack to utilt.
I've actually been finding myself using the utilt in a few situations.

sooo what you say is it depends on the posistions and moves the players can pull off?...like snake vs ike situation

 

[Juggalo]

actually, they can still hit you, but it would be harder, they'd have to turn, or rely on dsmash(for d3) to try to hit you. or they could try to shbair.
But you'd have a better chance of pulling that combo off against the characters with slow moves that don't hit behind them

 

[Koskinator]

Yeah, don't try it on other wolfs or metaknights. Especially metaknights. Metaknights down smash comes out at the speed of ****ing sound.

 

[dream theater]

what is tilts again?

Is that just where you have been holding the analog stick or whatever its called on the nunchuk and you press attack and its one of wolfs other attacks?

I should look on youtube first, ill tell you if I found it.

yeah i couldnt find it.

 

[White_Lightning]

I've found that there's two of Wolf's moves that work very well against DK. The first is Wolf's Side-B. I'm dead serious about this one, the sweetspot connects like a magnet against large characters. Laser spam him, then when he starts jumping towards you, Side-B. You'll be surprised at just how easy it is to land.

Then there's Wolf's Dair spike. During DK's recovery, he's very easy to hit with this attack.

A while back, I was playing against a DK player. He's a very good player and had his fair share of wins against me, but when I tried the above tactics, I 4-stocked him and I've even got the replay if anyone wants to see.

 

[snadmonkey]

I disagree with this threads Ideas that wolf should stay grounded. Wolf dominates the air with his bair. I can basically outduel almost any character in the air with his bair and quick jumps. If ur opponent stays grounded the fairs no land lag will just tear em apart by combining with grabs/jabs. Then mix it in with an air dodge to dsmash.

Also, stop using the reflector so much! Look I use to use the reflector alot when I found it had invis frames and such. In all honesty though if you can use it to attack or defend, odds are there was a better attack. The only time its cost effective and necessary is if ur trying to defend against an attack u can't air dodge, or willl get hit by after ur airdodge. For instance wolf's on Bair is quick enough, that if they air dodge 1, the second one can hit them as they leave airdodge.

Since I've stopped using the reflector as much I've done much better competitvely. I went form like 100th to 18th on GB when I made that change. Also dtilt is complete sexiness. It is faster than ftilt if ur opponent is shielding and has good range, it can be combo'd from a couple moves at low precents or hihg. But the basic thing that makes it good is that it trips, leaving ur opponent very vulnerable, using this near edges is very good, since they can't roll away and have almost no option to escape a follow up. I just like spamming dtilt against players near the edge who are just shielding waiting for you to approach, as long as it can outrange thier ftiilt, this will give them untold problems.

Btw, I have downspike some of the top MK's while they are recovering, just fake it, double jmp and spike, usually they shuttle loop at ur fake and are in perfect range for the double jumped one. Also experiment with just how far out you can go with bair on edgegaurding, you will be able to dominate alot of players who are unable to compete off the stage.

Rant, finished for now.

 

[Koskinator]

I disagree with this threads Ideas that wolf should stay grounded. Wolf dominates the air with his bair. I can basically outduel almost any character in the air with his bair and quick jumps. If ur opponent stays grounded the fairs no land lag will just tear em apart by combining with grabs/jabs. Then mix it in with an air dodge to dsmash.

Also, stop using the reflector so much! Look I use to use the reflector alot when I found it had invis frames and such. In all honesty though if you can use it to attack or defend, odds are there was a better attack. The only time its cost effective and necessary is if ur trying to defend against an attack u can't air dodge, or willl get hit by after ur airdodge. For instance wolf's on Bair is quick enough, that if they air dodge 1, the second one can hit them as they leave airdodge.

Since I've stopped using the reflector as much I've done much better competitvely. I went form like 100th to 18th on GB when I made that change. Also dtilt is complete sexiness. It is faster than ftilt if ur opponent is shielding and has good range, it can be combo'd from a couple moves at low precents or hihg. But the basic thing that makes it good is that it trips, leaving ur opponent very vulnerable, using this near edges is very good, since they can't roll away and have almost no option to escape a follow up. I just like spamming dtilt against players near the edge who are just shielding waiting for you to approach, as long as it can outrange thier ftiilt, this will give them untold problems.

Btw, I have downspike some of the top MK's while they are recovering, just fake it, double jmp and spike, usually they shuttle loop at ur fake and are in perfect range for the double jumped one. Also experiment with just how far out you can go with bair on edgegaurding, you will be able to dominate alot of players who are unable to compete off the stage.

Rant, finished for now.

Please do me a favor and point out exactly where in this thread I have stated for Wolf to stay grounded? If you would look, most of his approaches are started in the air. 3 of his 6 kill moves are in the air. His reflector owns and I guarantee I would beat you using my reflector liberally.

 

[snadmonkey]

In ur strat section and in most matchups u recommend waiting around shooting lasers or exploiting fsmash. Also, I'm pretty positive I'd beat ur wolf if you really think that reflector spam is that good.

BTW, if you have the reflector out zelda's din fire won't hit you, and in general she isn't a tough fight if you can properly space back airs.

 

[Koskinator]

I said to not fight DK, Metaknight and Game and Watch in the air, and to stay grounded if your going to be playing defensively, and also to incorporate Wolf Walling, which is what you should do. Read the OP before ranting next time.

 

[Koskinator]

In ur strat section and in most matchups u recommend waiting around shooting lasers or exploiting fsmash. Also, I'm pretty positive I'd beat ur wolf if you really think that reflector spam is that good.

BTW, if you have the reflector out zelda's din fire won't hit you, and in general she isn't a tough fight if you can properly space back airs.

Oh well as you said before, the reflector isn't that great, so why even use it at all?

EDIT: Sorry for double post

 

[dream theater]

Koskinator you're smart

what is tilts?

is that where you are already holding up on the stick and you attack making wolf just kick one leg up? and same for any direction?

 

[Koskinator]

lol @ random compliment

and yes, that is what tilts are. For the absolute best demonstration of a tilt, watch the how to play video on your game disc under Data<--Movies<--How to Play

 

[dream theater]

Ok so I think I've got all moves down pat

fsmash - forward smash
dsmash - down smash
usmash - up smash
fair - forward air
dair - down air
uair - up air
nair - neutral air
bair - back air
ftilt - forward tilt
utilt - uptilt
dtilt - down tilt
bside? b special side
bup - b special up
dthrow - down throw
fthrow - forward throw
bthrow - back throw
uthrow - up throw

I think thats it

besides reflector and shield and short hop

is short hop where you would just hop once

 

[Koskinator]

reflector is wolfs down B
Shield is the R trigger if your using gamecube
Short hop is when you jump half your normal height, done by lightly pressing up or X

 

[dream theater]

hmm ok
thanks
i just pwnt my friends because I learnt how to use variety and now im super good booyeah

 

[dr0go]

is it just me or is anyone else having trouble with falco because of chainthrowing.he gets 50% of advantage everytime i play against one.anybody have any solutions?

 

[dream theater]

never have a problem against him

what is chaingrab?

 

[snadmonkey]

Ya, thats an unfortunent aspect of wolf drogo, vulnerable to chain grabs. Basically u just wanna use spacing and quick moves to prevent grabs. The downside is you can't stop the chiang rab, the plus side is you know that falco is only really aiming for the grab. Most players like D3 falco/pikachu that want to chain grab get so hell bent on getting that grab, that you can totally control the match. But if u wanna use any high lag moves for some reason, make sure ur back is close to an edge, so falco can only do a couple grabs. You can escape falco's at a medium precent I don't know actual number, and pikachu's at like 50% ish, Basically just use back air spacing and A combos or aerials landing on his backside, or just try and force all combat to be in the air.

 

[Captain Sa10]

This thread is slowly turning into a guide on Wolf's character in general lol, which is a good thing on that fact. Keep up the good work Kos.

THis is just random information lol, so you dont have to pay attention if you like:

Wolf's Bair, aimed in the opposite direction of the opponent, has a disjointed hitbox towards his upper portion of his body(around his neck it seems) that cuts the knockback of the bair around half the distance when it connects. What's funny is, if you ever want to be really fancy, you can use that disjointed hitbox, and combo directly into an Upsmash/Utilt(I found a bit more effective with this then with 0 lag Fair)/0-Fair/smashes/etc. I wouldnt recommend doing it often but if you can learn to hit with that box, then you can pull off some pretty weird yet awesome combo's.

 

[Kashakunaki]

I've found that there's two of Wolf's moves that work very well against DK. The first is Wolf's Side-B. I'm dead serious about this one, the sweetspot connects like a magnet against large characters. Laser spam him, then when he starts jumping towards you, Side-B. You'll be surprised at just how easy it is to land.

Then there's Wolf's Dair spike. During DK's recovery, he's very easy to hit with this attack.

A while back, I was playing against a DK player. He's a very good player and had his fair share of wins against me, but when I tried the above tactics, I 4-stocked him and I've even got the replay if anyone wants to see.

I'll have to test that out. Good points.

I disagree with this threads Ideas that wolf should stay grounded. Wolf dominates the air with his bair. I can basically outduel almost any character in the air with his bair and quick jumps. If ur opponent stays grounded the fairs no land lag will just tear em apart by combining with grabs/jabs. Then mix it in with an air dodge to dsmash.

Also, stop using the reflector so much! Look I use to use the reflector alot when I found it had invis frames and such. In all honesty though if you can use it to attack or defend, odds are there was a better attack. The only time its cost effective and necessary is if ur trying to defend against an attack u can't air dodge, or willl get hit by after ur airdodge. For instance wolf's on Bair is quick enough, that if they air dodge 1, the second one can hit them as they leave airdodge.

Since I've stopped using the reflector as much I've done much better competitvely. I went form like 100th to 18th on GB when I made that change. Also dtilt is complete sexiness. It is faster than ftilt if ur opponent is shielding and has good range, it can be combo'd from a couple moves at low precents or hihg. But the basic thing that makes it good is that it trips, leaving ur opponent very vulnerable, using this near edges is very good, since they can't roll away and have almost no option to escape a follow up. I just like spamming dtilt against players near the edge who are just shielding waiting for you to approach, as long as it can outrange thier ftiilt, this will give them untold problems.

Btw, I have downspike some of the top MK's while they are recovering, just fake it, double jmp and spike, usually they shuttle loop at ur fake and are in perfect range for the double jumped one. Also experiment with just how far out you can go with bair on edgegaurding, you will be able to dominate alot of players who are unable to compete off the stage.

Rant, finished for now.

For once I think I agree with everything you said, Snadmonkey.

Ok so I think I've got all moves down pat

fsmash - forward smash
dsmash - down smash
usmash - up smash
fair - forward air
dair - down air
uair - up air
nair - neutral air
bair - back air
ftilt - forward tilt
utilt - uptilt
dtilt - down tilt
bside? b special side
bup - b special up
dthrow - down throw
fthrow - forward throw
bthrow - back throw
uthrow - up throw

I think thats it

besides reflector and shield and short hop

is short hop where you would just hop once

There you go. Nice.

Ya, thats an unfortunent aspect of wolf drogo, vulnerable to chain grabs. Basically u just wanna use spacing and quick moves to prevent grabs. The downside is you can't stop the chiang rab, the plus side is you know that falco is only really aiming for the grab. Most players like D3 falco/pikachu that want to chain grab get so hell bent on getting that grab, that you can totally control the match. But if u wanna use any high lag moves for some reason, make sure ur back is close to an edge, so falco can only do a couple grabs. You can escape falco's at a medium precent I don't know actual number, and pikachu's at like 50% ish, Basically just use back air spacing and A combos or aerials landing on his backside, or just try and force all combat to be in the air.

Again, I surprisingly agree with you... mostly.

This thread is slowly turning into a guide on Wolf's character in general lol, which is a good thing on that fact. Keep up the good work Kos.

THis is just random information lol, so you dont have to pay attention if you like:

Wolf's Bair, aimed in the opposite direction of the opponent, has a disjointed hitbox towards his upper portion of his body(around his neck it seems) that cuts the knockback of the bair around half the distance when it connects. What's funny is, if you ever want to be really fancy, you can use that disjointed hitbox, and combo directly into an Upsmash/Utilt(I found a bit more effective with this then with 0 lag Fair)/0-Fair/smashes/etc. I wouldnt recommend doing it often but if you can learn to hit with that box, then you can pull off some pretty weird yet awesome combo's.

I actually don't like the ZL (Zero Lag) Fair that much. I mean, it is great in all, and you land with zero lag, but the time it takes you to go from landing the attack to hitting the ground gives the opponent substantial time to grab.

Bairs win. Space space space!!!

 

[snadmonkey]

Btw I played the top online ranked DK that I know of and the side B really is effective against DK. I've never been a huge fan of the move offensively, but its so good against Dk since he's so tall and he has to jump if u laser(typical response). I had only used side B for scarring or recoverying, but now I think i might start to use this as a mix up move to tall non projcetiles chars, as thier shops are usually predictable.

 

[Captain Sa10]

well I agree about the O lag fair, I prefer bair mostly but thats just my style of play. Although it still serves it's uses when I need, and it has definetly helped in some of my past matches.

 

[Deleted member]

this is a great guide, but next you should add more in the basic strategy section... Because thats a very important part

 

[Juggalo]

I actually don't like the ZL (Zero Lag) Fair that much. I mean, it is great in all, and you land with zero lag, but the time it takes you to go from landing the attack to hitting the ground gives the opponent substantial time to grab.

Bairs win. Space space space!!!

Ever tried immediately DI'ing backwards after initiating the 0fair? its evasive and offensive, helping with spacing. I don't do it too often (unless somebody's dumb enough to let me), but it makes it very hard to grab you afterwards.

 

[0RLY]

3. Falco- Falco is also a *****. His blaster makes Wolfs look like Samus' charge shot. His reflector is just an overall pain in the ***. His front smash is predictable because of the big windup, so just toss up a reflector to negate that. Approach with Wall of Wolf, lead them into front smashes, then try to get Falco into the air and keep bairing and use fair too. Go for the odd meteor, but be sure not to get spiked yourself from his Phantasm.

I cried in real life. No joke. ;_;

 

[Illussionary]

Great guide i learned a ton

 

[Captain Sa10]

If you guys wish to learn more on wolf, you could always visit allisbrawl.com. Their wolf boards are a bit underdeveloped but has some(very little) that we havent posted yet. It's also a good experience to check out and see what their fights look like(alot more AAA and 0 Lag Fair's, as well as reflector's. Although, I think they dont have a clue about the Wall Of Wolf).

 

[Koskinator]

No Major Updates for Awhile

Hey guys, just posting to let you all know that I wont be able to update the guide on large scale for quite awhile. My computer got completely f***ed today. It gave me a blue screen with an error message and said it had a physical memory dump >.< Im assuming my entire hard drive was wiped clean. The only reason I'm able to post right now is because I'm using the keyboard from my f***ed comp and plugging it into my Wii for speed. Once I get my computer fixed, which might not be for awhile because of my monentary standings, I'll update the guide as soon as I can. I'll try to do little updates from my Wii, but there will most likely be nothing major for quite awhile.

 

[Loup17]

Hi to the Wolf community (as good a place as any xP)

That truly sucks Kosk, like wow.

there's a few bits that i think you should add to the guide, basic stuff, but useful to people just learning about wolf's moves (which i figure alot of the people who read this guide are >.> )

you can tipper with both wolf's side smash, and his ftilt, not for any additional damage, but you do get slightly better horizontal knockback. same with his dsmash, the flight path is more horizontal if they get hit by the end of it, making it slightly better at killing (the blasts of air). also, as a tipper the ftilt doesn't have that weird slowdown. on a side note, if another character gets close during the delay on the ftilt, the second hit can hurt them too. oh and his running attack can hit people above him. mmm, i don't think you mentioned scarring either, or any of his edge tricks...

and that if you're too close, the fsmash goes through the person without the second hit, and that if you're about wolf's height from the ground and use his blaster he'll like slam down to the ground quickly as he pulls it out.

for the record i'm not implying that you don't know any of these things, i'm just pointing out that they're kinda important for this to be a comprehensive guide of wolf, even better than the amazing point it is at now. also i remember hearing that his dtilt can trip people, though i haven't tested it myself. (i just heard it today. yes i like parentheses xP )

oh and i realize that with the incredible lameness that is the computer crash, nothing would change anytime soon, and i wouldn't expect it to, just throwing this stuff out there.

 

[Koskinator]

Yeah, It does really suck, and welcome to Smashboards btw. I have mentioned scarring and semi scarring in the advanced techniques part of the guide. I realize I haven't informed on how to use scarring into your regular gameplay, but as my last post implied, computer crash of eternal death, so I wont be able to do anything major for awhile. But thanks for the criticism.

 

[Koskinator]

Just posting to let you all know that my computer is fixed now, thank god. For some reason it fixed itself overnight and when I turned it on this morning it just, worked. So I got a fixed computer and got a sizeable update on the guide. Nice.

 

[Captain Sa10]

now that I know that wolf can tip to great a even more deadly angle, then this is going to step my game up even further. BTW that must have really sucked while your comp was out of condition lol. I've had that happen to me a crap ton of times before.