DeDeDeal with it. A guide to King DeDeDe in Smash 4. v0.2

I felt like there was a serious lack of love for DeDeDe in Sm4sh, so I went ahead and made this guide to try and get something started. Let me know if you want anything looked into and I'll try to add it when I have time - exams permitting.

Changelog:
v0.1: Added basic move information, placing the foundations for the guide to be finished in the future.
v0.2: Added some stage information and the first few matchups. Worked the information from Lavani and Jabejazz into the guide. Finally, changed the formatting to include wonderful colour! Hopefully it should be easier to see where sections begin and end now.

Credit:
@Lavani: A bunch of information regarding sourspots, hitboxes, gordos and grabs. Extremely useful so thank you!
@Jabejazz: Some corrections regarding Dair and UTilt, as well as some further information about Gordos.

Key:
Red: Main section
Blue: Sub section
Pink: Guide information
Green: Requires further testing


Guide Contents

i. Why play KD3? - Pros and Cons
ii. How to win with KD3

iii. Moveset Analysis
iv. Ground Attacks
v. Aerial Attacks
vi. Grabs
vii. Special Attacks

viii. Stages
ix. Standard Neutral Stages
x. Standard Counterpick Stages

xi. Matchups




I. WHY PLAY KD3? - PROS AND CONS

PROS:
+ Huge damage and knockback
+ One of the best recoveries in the game
+ The best taunt in the game

CONS:
- Can be combo'd easily
- Can be rushed down by faster characters
- Custom moves don't do much to improve him


II. HOW TO WIN WITH KD3
To be completed later


III. MOVESET ANALYSIS:

IV. GROUND ATTACKS

Percentages listed are usually sourspot-sweetspot, unless it's multiple attacks or I don't know the data.

Jab: 4%
Not a bad attack by any means, I very rarely go into the full jab combo, preferring to jab twice, wait a few frames, then follow up with a D-Tilt.

Jab Combo: 16-19%
Generally you don't want to be using this, using the combo above will usually land more damage and is safer.

Dash: 16%
THIS IS THE BEST ATTACK EVER. INSANE KNOCKBACK. YOU FALL ON YOUR FACE AND PEOPLE DIE.

Seriously though, it's generally pretty bad but can be very strong in certain situations.
First of all, the hitbox is disjointed and can hit an opponent under the stage or on a ledge. If you get the timing right this will destroy anyone trying to recover/sitting on the ledge without invincibility.
Also, it is great for punishing landing lag, wait until they are vulnerable, then catch them out for an easy kill.

Ledge: 8%
Fairly weak attack, low range and slow to come out. Generally you want to be jumping out of the ledge and coming back in with a Nair, but this can work too if the opponent isn't expecting it.

F-Tilt: 9%
Pretty much as good as Gordos when it comes to spacing out the enemy. Comes out quick, has a disjointed hitbox (can hit behind you), and does reasonable damage. It's great for punishing roll spammers since it last so long.
You can reverse this move to catch out an opponent who might be chasing on foot, while sprinting hit the opposite direction, then A (within a few frames) and KD3 will throw this out behind him.

U-Tilt: 10-12%
This move has seen an enormous nerf since Brawl, as it's killing potential has been completely removed. However it's still an effective combo tool, you will usually be able to add this in after a down throw -> Nair at low percents.

U-Tilt has a few frames of invincibility around KD3's head, which may prove useful against certain attacks (needs testing).

D-Tilt: 10%
Not that good generally, can be used in the jab combo listed above. Can be used to catch an opponent off guard but otherwise shouldn't be used that much.

Percentages listed are No Charge - Fully Charged.

F-Smash: 24-33% (6% shockwave)
Has exceptionally strong knock back, if fully charged (only when edgeguarding) it can KO from extremely low percentages. However it comes out slow so has quite limited use. I generally only use it when I think I can force my opponent to walk into it, or when edgeguarding: toss a Gordo vertically and wait for the opponent to try and dodge it, ideally into your path.

Remember that the full damage listed is only achieved when the opponent is hit by the hammer head in the latter part of the swing. There are multiple sourspots in the hammer arm and the swing's windup.

The attack sends out a shockwave upon hitting the ground, which deals 6% and minor knockback to enemies, most people don't realise this and will stand just out of range thinking they will be able to get a free punish in.

U-Smash: 14-19%
Great move with a fantastic hitbox size, get used to the timing of it since it will outrange most other aerials. Kills relatively early, not as much as F-Smash though.

The move has a sourspot at the end of the swing (dealing 9% minimum and less knockback), so ideally you want to be hitting at the top of the attack.

D-Smash: 13-18%
Proabably KD3's most underrated move, is reasonably fast and hits hard, great for punishing a recovering opponent/roll spammers.


V. AERIAL ATTACKS

Percentages listed are usually sourspot-sweetspot, unless it's multiple attacks or I don't know the data.

Nair: 7-12%
This is a fantastic aerial move, combine it with fast falls to attack from above (might want to bait an attack with your 5 jumps first though). Has a nice hitbox and a quick startup.

Nair has an early hit and a late hit, with different properties. Early hit deals 12% has strong diagonal knockback which even has the potential to kill at higher percentages.

The late hit deals 7% and has vertical knockback that combos into UTilt, Uair and Nair depending on the opponent and their current percent.

Fair: 13%
Your fair is a decent attack, doesn't have much of a purpose other than offstage pressure. Long startup but has decent knockback in return.

Bair: 16%
Excellent kill move in the air, it comes out slowly but KOs early and works wonders when combined with a fast fall.

Bair has a disjointed hitbox which takes some work to get used to. The hitbox is a static sphere behind KD3; it doesn't follow the hammer swing, but the swing covers the hitbox area. This is useful to know because it actually has immediate coverage around head height despite being a swing starting from below him.

Out of all KD3's moves, this is the one I would recommend practising the most, as it can be tricky to hit if you are not used to it.

Uair: 9-12%
Again, this is a really nice kill move in the air, however doesn't KO as early as Bair does. Get them in the air and get ready to juggle.

It is useful to note that this can go through many characters moves to get them to the ground quickly, for example Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick, and Link's Dair.

Dair: 15%
I'm not a big fan of this move, it has a horrific startup and the hitbox seems too small. However, it can spike and secure kills at low percentages if you can hit it. (needs testing).

The move has a sourspot that deals 9%, so you need to be aiming to hit your opponent with the hammer head for the spike. Remember when aiming that the hammer comes out from behind KD3!

VI. GRABS
KD3 has a fairly average grab range, but great options when throwing the opponent. FThrow and BThrow are both reasonable options, but DThrow has great combo potential, so we want to be using that the most.

Pummel: 3%
FThrow: 10%
Bthrow: 13%
UThrow: 9%

DThrow: 6%
Down throw is the only one worth talking about in my opinion, so here we go. It has amazing combo potential, and depending on the opponent and percentage you can either follow it up with an aerial of your choice.

Preferential combos:
Low-Medium percentages: Turn and combo into Bair.
High percentages: Combo into Uair, then keep them in the air as long as possible.

Other combos:
Low percentages: Combo into Nair, fast fall and position for a U-tilt/U-Smash.
Medium percentages: Combo into Fair, potentially another Fair.


VII. SPECIAL ATTACKS

NSpecial: Inhale
Not a particularly useful move, very limited uses:
Thrown out with a B-reverse to catch an opponent off guard.
Eat most projectiles/items that are thrown at you.
Can be used to annoy Little Mac to death (if you are feeling cheesy).

Custom NSpecial:
I personally prefer both of the custom moves, but Taste Test appears to be the most useful of the two, since you wont be using Inhale to throw opponents of the edge. Dedede Storm can be more useful in the Rosalina match up as it has the potential to shred Luma, but otherwise it's not that effective.

FSpecial: Gordo Toss
Gordo Toss is one of the most important moves in your kit and, while being a double edged sword, has amazing potential. You will be primarily be using this to either give yourself time to approach your opponent (while they dodge it), or while trying to disrupt a recovery by having them bounce in place over the edge.

It deals 9-14% depending on how many times the Gordo bounces before collision:
No bounce: 14%.
1 bounce: 12.5%
2 bounces is 11%
3 bounces: 9%

This attack can hit multiple times if the opponent's hurtbox is still in contact after Gordo rebounds off them. This tends to happen a lot if the Gordo lands on top of them and they end up launching upwards into it.

As well this, the hammer swing part of the attack deals a further 10%.

An example of this (highly broken) move can be seen in this 0-death combo on Kirby.
https://gfycat.com/FortunateColorfulBarnswallow

As I said before, the move is a double edged sword. It will be reflected back to you by 99% of the game's attacks, so for reason I recommend using it in the air to give yourself a better chance to avoid any potential return damage.

Any attack dealing 2% or more reflect gordos, so it only trumps attacks that deal 1%; Fox's blaster, Shiek's needles, some jab combos and Luigi's Taunt (needs testing).

It is extremely important to note that the trajectory of the Gordo can be altered by inputting a direction while using it. Using the move as if it were a smash attack also appears to increase the distance traveled. Input angles for Gordos are:
No input/side: Max distance/Min height
Down: Medium distance/Medium height
Up: Min distance/Max height

Custom FSpecial:
Both of them are bad. Standard is by far the best (I'm a scrub and this opinion might be wrong).

USpecial: Super Dedede Jump
KD3 has an absolutely insane recovery coming into Smash 4 (on the same level as Villager and ROB) which has seen two major improvements since Brawl.
First of all you can now grab the ledge without having to cancel it. As well as this, KD3 will now 'slide' up the underside of stage (assuming there is a gradient).

These two benefits can be used together to even allow you to fly underneath the stage:
http://gfycat.com/OrnateEcstaticDobermanpinscher

You might notice that sometimes your recovery doesn't grab the ledge - this caused by one of two factors: Either
i. You grabbed the ledge within a very short period of the last time you grabbed it (around 1-2 seconds)
ii. You were facing away from the ledge before you tried to recover to it.

The final aspect to this ability is the landing. Upon landing, two small stars will fly out of either side, dealing 5 damage and ministunning anyone hit. This makes recovering onto the stage more useful since it will be harder for an opponent to punish effectively.

Custom USpecial:
The prefer custom move here will either be the standard move or Rising DeDeDe, I personally prefer Rising since you will never want to use this move to land on your opponent, and you can use it to follow up a combo, but it's up to you.

DSpecial: Jet Hammer
Jet Hammer does huge damage when fully charged (up to 38%), but is practically impossible to hit. You will probably never want to use this move.

Custom DSpecial:
Both of the custom moves here are going to be better than the standard move. You are making a choice between giving the move some functionality (albeit not much) and giving yourself super armour to increase your chance of recovery.
Personally I prefer the super armour since I don't find the dash to be helpful enough to make it worth using, and the armour might allow you to survive long enough to get another hit in.


VIII. STAGES

I don't know what will be legal in the end so I'm only including a few stages for now.

Battlefield: Positive
Battlefield is currently quite a strong map for KD3 since you have the height to hit opponents through the platforms. As well as this, KD3 has an affinity for stages without walls - he can poke at an unsuspecting enemy using Uair through the stage, and can use the sloped surface to recover from awkward positions.

Final Destination: Positive
Same benefits as with Battlefield, but the lack of platforms make it easier to poke from above with Gordo Toss. Your preference will depend on your playstyle; I like to pressure with Gordos so FD is my most preferred pick.

Yoshi's Island: Negative
Walled stage, not a big issue but a lack of walls is usually a better choice. The main reason we don't want to be playing here is because the floor isn't even, so Gordos will bounce in strange directions, making it hard to aim them accurately.

Wii U: Lylat Cruise: Negative
**** Lylat. Stage is flat underneath, so recovering with Super Dedede Jump is dangerous, since hitting the underside of the stage is instant death. Gordos have the same issue as with Yoshi's Island, so we have a hard time aiming them.

Wii U: Castle Siege: Neutral
Unlike with Brawl, KD3 has no particular reason to want to go here, but there's nothing really bad about it either. Your strong recovery makes the stage transitions less dangerous, and your decent grab game potentially gives you an advantage in phase 2 (needs testing).

Wii U: Miiverse: Neutral
It's Battlefield, but with less room to recover under the stage. Not a bad pick, but we prefer the long sloped edges underneath Battlefield.


IX. MATCHUPS

Most of the matchups discussed here are going be negative, since most of the common popular/OP picks are very strong against KD3.
If you are looking for a matchup that isn't here then pm me and I'll see if I can come up with some advice.

As a general rule for matchups:
Fast/Aggressive: Negative
Balanced: Positive
Slow/Campy: Neutral

Diddy Kong: Negative
Really hard matchup for KD3, since his Uair trumps your falling Nair (also he's OP). Practice catching his peanuts and throwing them back, and remember to use his bananas against him.

Your FTilt will be your primary damage source here since it's range can keep him at bay on the ground, if you can predict him approaching with his FSpecial then try and block with a Gordo, otherwise roll and FTilt.

If you recognise he is using his dash attack too much, try and block all the hits of it, then turn and grab him once he passes you, followed up with a DThrow combo.

Shiek: Negative
Probably your worst matchup, she moves fast and combos hard, though her kill potential isn't great, especially when faced with one of the heaviest characters in the game.

Focus on using FTilt (You're going to be reading that a lot) to keep her away from you since it's usually safe and has decent damage. Remember to grab out of shield to punish her if she approaches mindlessly, and spam Gordos more than you usually would since it's safer than running in.

You have two really useful advantages here. First is that her needles are blocked by your Gordo, so you can use a low aimed Gordo Toss to potentially give yourself a path to her.
Second, her Vanish does not immediately snap on to the stage (someone made a video about this but I can't find it), so you have a frame or two to punish this. If you get the timing right, you can dash attack into the ledge, and the persisting hitbox will often outright kill her.

Mario: Negative
This is the only negative matchup against a balanced character I could think of.

First of all, you can't afford to get grabbed at low percentages. Mario's DThrow to UTilt combo is strong on it's own, and KD3 has an even harder time escaping due to his weight and size. If you are caught, try to DI to the side and mash airdodge until you get out.

On top of this, you need to limit your use of Gordo Toss since his Fireballs will reflect them (Nintendo pls), so save that for edgeguarding only.

Other than that play the match normally, if you never get grabbed then it's probably just a neutral matchup, just watch out for his spike when you are recovering, use your Super Dedede Jump to safely slide up the underside of the stage.