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- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
How to play as Dankey Kang
by
ft.
Introduction
I love Donkey Kong, and I know a lot about him. Pretty much everything I know is from DKwill's amazing Donkey Kong, in Brawl and Smash 4. No, he did not physically write this guide, but I've talked to him a lot about it, and had many discussions about what I say in this guide. Basically, this is DKwilliam certified. A lot of this guide are about things he has taught me, but still a lot comes from my own ideas. ANYWAY, let's get started.
Terminology
Moveset
Playing as Dankey Kang
Conclusion
Knowing everything you character can do is very important in my opinion. This way, you are able to use your character to it's greatest capabilities. This guide is certainly not complete, and will be definitely be updated to be clearer, more concise, more professional, and just better in general. I hope that if you read this guide, you learned something from it. I really made this guide for myself so I can have a place to store all my DK knowledge. I really hope this helps somebody out there, because we need more DK mains.
I'd just like to say, I want all the constructive criticism you can give me! I am planning on adding terminology and counterpick stages when I can. MAYBE even custom move analysis, but I haven't played with those enough yet. If you have any suggestions on how I can make my guide better, look nicer, or anything, please, let me know!
Let me tell you one thing before this guide is over. Reading guides, watching videos, etc. It all helps. It makes you smarter. But putting everything you've learned to use is the hard part. That's why it is so important to play! Not just the same person. Not CPUs. PLAY LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE! Play online! Visit your local scene! That's how you improve the most. Good luck to everyone on their smash bros. journey, and thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
DKbill and DKwill
by
ft.
Introduction
I love Donkey Kong, and I know a lot about him. Pretty much everything I know is from DKwill's amazing Donkey Kong, in Brawl and Smash 4. No, he did not physically write this guide, but I've talked to him a lot about it, and had many discussions about what I say in this guide. Basically, this is DKwilliam certified. A lot of this guide are about things he has taught me, but still a lot comes from my own ideas. ANYWAY, let's get started.
Terminology
Dankey Kang: Donkey Kong
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... But in all seriousness, this guide is for intermediate players! I expect you all to know the terminology (di, fsmash, up air, OOS, jump, etc.) I might actually put terminology here when I have time.
... But in all seriousness, this guide is for intermediate players! I expect you all to know the terminology (di, fsmash, up air, OOS, jump, etc.) I might actually put terminology here when I have time.
Moveset
Tilts and jab:
Jab: Jab comes out fast, making it a great OOS shield option when they are just outside of your grab range. It becomes even better when they are just at tipper Jab range. If you do not know, the tip of Jab 1 actually pulls the opponent in! This allows DK to follow up out of a Jab 1 by jab cancelling it into another move. Some popular ones are Jab > Dtilt; Jab > Grab; Jab > Run Back Pivot Grab (If the jab pulls them in too much); Jab > Dsmash; and of course, Jab 1 > Jab 2 (lol).
If you Dtilt after Jab 1, you can Jab 1 again and repeat. In the DK business, we call this the vortex. This is extremely effective when they are at the ledge, because they will generally DI inwards, and will get stuck! Grabbing and pivot grabbing are always good options because they will usually be holding shield. Pivot grab when it looks like your jab 1 is bringing them too inwards so run back and pivot grab. This can happen against light characters. Dsmash can work at some percents, but not as well as it did in Brawl. Of course, you can do Jab 2, which isn't actually a bad option either.
Up tilt: One of my favourite moves on DK. Awesome out of shield move since it covers all around him, and comes out fast. Really legit kill move - the sweetspot is his armpit. Because rolls are OP in this game, you can even roll into the opponent and Utilt for a clean kill. Combos at low percents as well as you may know. Once you hit an Utilt at low percents, they will either jump away, fall with an aerial, or fall with an airdodge. If you expect them to jump away, jump and up air. If they fall with an aerial, shield and Utilt again. If you expect the air dodge, just wait for it to end, and Utilt (if you're holding shield waiting for an aerial, let go and Utilt to punish). To heard read it, charge a Dsmash.
Forward tilt: Really solid move for spacing. Works really well when you pivot it cuz of dat sexy range. Angling this up does wonders on those characters who approach from that annoying diagonally upward area like Marth.
Down tilt: Amazing move. Comes out fast, making it another awesome OOS option when you get hit by a move but they are far away. The biggest thing about Dtilt is that it can cause tripping, which allows DK to follow up with many things. Here are a list of moves you can use after a down tilt if it trips:
- Down B (the classic - use even if they dont trip)
- Fsmash (if you're a badass)
- Up B
- Run up > grab
- Punch
So these are some things you can do out of a dtilt if they trip. You can do tons and tons of things if you read their get up option from the trip, but I'll get to how to punish missed techs later (if I remember lmaooo). A really juicy one is run past them > pivot fsmash, if you hard read a normal getup. Another thing is to use this as an edge-guard. If they are recovering horizontally towards the stage, you can usually hit them with a Dtilt, then follow up with a guarenteed Dair... HYPE
If you Dtilt after Jab 1, you can Jab 1 again and repeat. In the DK business, we call this the vortex. This is extremely effective when they are at the ledge, because they will generally DI inwards, and will get stuck! Grabbing and pivot grabbing are always good options because they will usually be holding shield. Pivot grab when it looks like your jab 1 is bringing them too inwards so run back and pivot grab. This can happen against light characters. Dsmash can work at some percents, but not as well as it did in Brawl. Of course, you can do Jab 2, which isn't actually a bad option either.
Up tilt: One of my favourite moves on DK. Awesome out of shield move since it covers all around him, and comes out fast. Really legit kill move - the sweetspot is his armpit. Because rolls are OP in this game, you can even roll into the opponent and Utilt for a clean kill. Combos at low percents as well as you may know. Once you hit an Utilt at low percents, they will either jump away, fall with an aerial, or fall with an airdodge. If you expect them to jump away, jump and up air. If they fall with an aerial, shield and Utilt again. If you expect the air dodge, just wait for it to end, and Utilt (if you're holding shield waiting for an aerial, let go and Utilt to punish). To heard read it, charge a Dsmash.
Forward tilt: Really solid move for spacing. Works really well when you pivot it cuz of dat sexy range. Angling this up does wonders on those characters who approach from that annoying diagonally upward area like Marth.
Down tilt: Amazing move. Comes out fast, making it another awesome OOS option when you get hit by a move but they are far away. The biggest thing about Dtilt is that it can cause tripping, which allows DK to follow up with many things. Here are a list of moves you can use after a down tilt if it trips:
- Down B (the classic - use even if they dont trip)
- Fsmash (if you're a badass)
- Up B
- Run up > grab
- Punch
So these are some things you can do out of a dtilt if they trip. You can do tons and tons of things if you read their get up option from the trip, but I'll get to how to punish missed techs later (if I remember lmaooo). A really juicy one is run past them > pivot fsmash, if you hard read a normal getup. Another thing is to use this as an edge-guard. If they are recovering horizontally towards the stage, you can usually hit them with a Dtilt, then follow up with a guarenteed Dair... HYPE
Aerials:
Neutral Air: The range in front of this move is actually legit. Obviously not as good as Bair, but really good pressure when they are on a platform, since it covers all around him and all the options on the platform. If they are above you on a platform, you can short hop Nair > Up B for that epic shield pressure and then land on the platform. They will most likely shield poke them. You can dropzone Nair for gimps like the ever so famous Will vs. M2K clip here. You can also use it to land, but always sparingly.
Up Air: Awesome kill move in smash 4. Generally used after a cargo up throw, or just regular up throw. Basically, whenever you send someone in the air, you want to hit them with this move (well duh). The biggest thing is to try to bait an airdodge by doing a full hop and waiting then double jump up air. This is actually how I get most of my kills... DK has an awesome rising double jump so it works really well too. This move from the ledge is good if they are at high percent and are close to the ledge because it could grant a kill.
Forward Air: Spike that comes out faster than you think. Wouldn't use too often. When you are offstage and they are coming at you, you an throw one of these babies out and it will often catch em off guard. You can also use it from the ledge if you really want too... Can be used as a landing option as well.
Back Air: Ah... the moment you've all been waiting for. This is one of DKs best moves. He can short double double Bair if you're fast too. RAR this move to approach and space it so ur feet hit their shield and they can't really punish. This is a good kill move, and you should use it to gimp off stage! Especially against diddy! If diddy is far away, they WILL use their side b. This is where you gotta bair that ****. Most people won't expect a DK playing so far off stage. You can combo Bairs into Bairs into Bairs into Upb (hit them for the first part of it, then start going back to the stage) or my personal favorite, side b. You can also short hop Bair to Up B which is a really great OOS option since it puts a lot of pressure and hard to punish, especially if u land the up b on a really far platform. Also, ledge trump > bair is the **** so try to ledge trump ur opponent when you can.
Down Air: Pretty fast spike. Can be used as a landing option but wouldn't recommend doing it often. If you do hit it though, they will bounce off the ground if they don't tech, and then you can follow up with utilt or any aerial depending how high they fly. Can be used from the ledge as well, but now ur pushing it mate
Up Air: Awesome kill move in smash 4. Generally used after a cargo up throw, or just regular up throw. Basically, whenever you send someone in the air, you want to hit them with this move (well duh). The biggest thing is to try to bait an airdodge by doing a full hop and waiting then double jump up air. This is actually how I get most of my kills... DK has an awesome rising double jump so it works really well too. This move from the ledge is good if they are at high percent and are close to the ledge because it could grant a kill.
Forward Air: Spike that comes out faster than you think. Wouldn't use too often. When you are offstage and they are coming at you, you an throw one of these babies out and it will often catch em off guard. You can also use it from the ledge if you really want too... Can be used as a landing option as well.
Back Air: Ah... the moment you've all been waiting for. This is one of DKs best moves. He can short double double Bair if you're fast too. RAR this move to approach and space it so ur feet hit their shield and they can't really punish. This is a good kill move, and you should use it to gimp off stage! Especially against diddy! If diddy is far away, they WILL use their side b. This is where you gotta bair that ****. Most people won't expect a DK playing so far off stage. You can combo Bairs into Bairs into Bairs into Upb (hit them for the first part of it, then start going back to the stage) or my personal favorite, side b. You can also short hop Bair to Up B which is a really great OOS option since it puts a lot of pressure and hard to punish, especially if u land the up b on a really far platform. Also, ledge trump > bair is the **** so try to ledge trump ur opponent when you can.
Down Air: Pretty fast spike. Can be used as a landing option but wouldn't recommend doing it often. If you do hit it though, they will bounce off the ground if they don't tech, and then you can follow up with utilt or any aerial depending how high they fly. Can be used from the ledge as well, but now ur pushing it mate
Smashes and dash attack:
Dash Attack: Solid approach. You can kinda do this move out of a down throw but really not guarenteed at all. Don't use too often cuz it gets predictable. Not much to say.
Up Smash: Super strong move, but also super ass move. Very small hitbox, and you will rarely hit this. If you land a side b, you can charge this on top of them and pray to the gods that u time it right so u hit them when they come out. If someone is shielding on a platform, this can be good to make them slide off to follow with a jab lock. tl;dr strong move, hard to hit.
Forward Smash: You need solid reads to be able to use this move. It makes your hurtbox bigger when you use it so that kinda sucks, but it's definately a useable move. When you think they're gonna run at you, you can step back and pivot fsmash. Kills pretty early which is good, and it's kinda safe on shield cuz it makes em slide away for days, but does have a lot of ending lag. Use sparingly.
Down Smash: Ass killing power compared to brawl. As I've said, you can utilt > charged dsmash, but that kind of applies to everything. If you read somebody air dodging into you (WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO AS ANYONE SINCE AIR DODGE LANDING LAG IS HUGE), then you can charge this. You can charge this at the ledge to read a getup option, but DO NOT do this against people with counters, because that's how you die at 20% when they counter into you. Will learned that the hard way (and me too on wifi). This actually deals good damage now (17% uncharged), which makes it a solid move to use after you land a side b just to rack up damage.
Up Smash: Super strong move, but also super ass move. Very small hitbox, and you will rarely hit this. If you land a side b, you can charge this on top of them and pray to the gods that u time it right so u hit them when they come out. If someone is shielding on a platform, this can be good to make them slide off to follow with a jab lock. tl;dr strong move, hard to hit.
Forward Smash: You need solid reads to be able to use this move. It makes your hurtbox bigger when you use it so that kinda sucks, but it's definately a useable move. When you think they're gonna run at you, you can step back and pivot fsmash. Kills pretty early which is good, and it's kinda safe on shield cuz it makes em slide away for days, but does have a lot of ending lag. Use sparingly.
Down Smash: Ass killing power compared to brawl. As I've said, you can utilt > charged dsmash, but that kind of applies to everything. If you read somebody air dodging into you (WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO AS ANYONE SINCE AIR DODGE LANDING LAG IS HUGE), then you can charge this. You can charge this at the ledge to read a getup option, but DO NOT do this against people with counters, because that's how you die at 20% when they counter into you. Will learned that the hard way (and me too on wifi). This actually deals good damage now (17% uncharged), which makes it a solid move to use after you land a side b just to rack up damage.
Specials:
Up Special: Donkey Kong's Up B OOS is an amazing OOS option because of it's super armor. You can use it as an approach but can be heavily punished when shielded, so use smartly! You can easily reverse this on the ground and OOS just by tapping the opposite direction right after you use it. Holding shield at the edge basically covers every option if you Up B OOS and then reverse it if they end up behind you. His arms are so long, it can even hit people if they ledge jump. At early percents, the last hit of grounded up b will send them close to you on the ground, and if they don't tech, you can do a jab lock with dtilt 3 times, then charge a smash! You can also do grounded Up B > Down b or Up B > DA. You can even jump OOS and Up B, which I like to call the Billiam Shield Special, because in Brawl, if an MK hits ur shield from behind, you can;t punish with a Bair OOS since he's too small, so I would jump OOS and Up B and land on a platform, and the back hit would hit him, and could even kill! You can even get back on stage with this by doing a ledge drop > jump onto stage > up b and land on a platform to have less lag.
Down Special: This is the move you wanna use every time the opponent is in a tech chase position. It covers almost every option. Use this basically everytime you land a dtilt too. This can break shields so well now, and is super useful when the opponent is at the ledge, since normal ledge getup is OP af now, they will usually do it and hold shield. This is where you want to down b and break their shield and they will fall to their death. If it's jigglypuff, she'll fly to her death which will make you laugh. You can reverse this easily like up b, so you can do some niced mixups, like run away then down b reverse. Fun fact, if the entire hitbox of down b was in front of DK, it would have the longest forward hitbox in the game. Almost forgot, you can use this in the air... but it's rarely better than a Dair/Fair, but does have it's uses. You can catch some really obvious recoveries by timing it to hit them with the second slap of it.
Forward Special: Side B got very nerfed from Brawl. Although greater shield damage, characters in smash 4 suffer less knockback while buried. This means if you want to kill your opponent, it is better to guess when they will fly out of the ground, and follow up with a double jump aerial. If you think the Uair will kill, you should definitely go for it. Otherwise, try Fair/Dair, because if they miss their tech on the ground, they will fly back up and you can follow up. You can also use an aerial Giant Punch to catch them when they fly out, which is incredibly hype, and kills very early - especially with rage. Remember, the lower % they are at, the faster they can mash out. If they are at a very low percent, and you just want to rack up damage, go for one of DK's most damaging moves i.e. Giant Punch, Forward Smash, or Down Smash. It is important to remember that you CAN kill them when they are buried, but not until much higher percent. This move can spike but it's very bad used like that. This move is canceled at the ledge, but only useful with the custom Falling Headbutt move. And because I want to let you guys in on EVERYTHING - if you bury your opponent under a platform, like on battlefield, and they won't mash out for a while, you can go on the platform and charge Up Smash, and with a little bit of luck, you will catch them when they pop up.
DANKEY PAWNCH: This **** takes so long to charge. Not only is it 11 charges now, but he winds his arm so slowly. Of course, still an amazing move. You can use it from the ledge and it works sooo well, espcieally with the super amour. The best way to punch, is ledge punch. The 10 wind is stornger, but 11 gets the super armor and is still pretty good, so I recommend just charging to 11, unless ur trying to make an epic comeback. Here are the kill percents for the 10 wind punch. The 10 wind actually has a great hitbox behind him, and above him! You can even Cargo Up Throw then read the airdodge and 10 wind for a super early kill! You can check out DKwill testing this here. Doing a RAR then a reverse punch is also beast, cuz they will usually drop shield because they are noob. If you use punch in the air, you go into a helpless state because his arm gets so tired he has to die (idk). When you are hit off stage, you always want to do a reverse charge (tap the direction THEN press B) so that your back is towards the stage. This way, you can always come back using Bairs, AND you get to charge your punch! If you have a fully charged punch, then just side b the change directions. Also this.
Down Special: This is the move you wanna use every time the opponent is in a tech chase position. It covers almost every option. Use this basically everytime you land a dtilt too. This can break shields so well now, and is super useful when the opponent is at the ledge, since normal ledge getup is OP af now, they will usually do it and hold shield. This is where you want to down b and break their shield and they will fall to their death. If it's jigglypuff, she'll fly to her death which will make you laugh. You can reverse this easily like up b, so you can do some niced mixups, like run away then down b reverse. Fun fact, if the entire hitbox of down b was in front of DK, it would have the longest forward hitbox in the game. Almost forgot, you can use this in the air... but it's rarely better than a Dair/Fair, but does have it's uses. You can catch some really obvious recoveries by timing it to hit them with the second slap of it.
Forward Special: Side B got very nerfed from Brawl. Although greater shield damage, characters in smash 4 suffer less knockback while buried. This means if you want to kill your opponent, it is better to guess when they will fly out of the ground, and follow up with a double jump aerial. If you think the Uair will kill, you should definitely go for it. Otherwise, try Fair/Dair, because if they miss their tech on the ground, they will fly back up and you can follow up. You can also use an aerial Giant Punch to catch them when they fly out, which is incredibly hype, and kills very early - especially with rage. Remember, the lower % they are at, the faster they can mash out. If they are at a very low percent, and you just want to rack up damage, go for one of DK's most damaging moves i.e. Giant Punch, Forward Smash, or Down Smash. It is important to remember that you CAN kill them when they are buried, but not until much higher percent. This move can spike but it's very bad used like that. This move is canceled at the ledge, but only useful with the custom Falling Headbutt move. And because I want to let you guys in on EVERYTHING - if you bury your opponent under a platform, like on battlefield, and they won't mash out for a while, you can go on the platform and charge Up Smash, and with a little bit of luck, you will catch them when they pop up.
DANKEY PAWNCH: This **** takes so long to charge. Not only is it 11 charges now, but he winds his arm so slowly. Of course, still an amazing move. You can use it from the ledge and it works sooo well, espcieally with the super amour. The best way to punch, is ledge punch. The 10 wind is stornger, but 11 gets the super armor and is still pretty good, so I recommend just charging to 11, unless ur trying to make an epic comeback. Here are the kill percents for the 10 wind punch. The 10 wind actually has a great hitbox behind him, and above him! You can even Cargo Up Throw then read the airdodge and 10 wind for a super early kill! You can check out DKwill testing this here. Doing a RAR then a reverse punch is also beast, cuz they will usually drop shield because they are noob. If you use punch in the air, you go into a helpless state because his arm gets so tired he has to die (idk). When you are hit off stage, you always want to do a reverse charge (tap the direction THEN press B) so that your back is towards the stage. This way, you can always come back using Bairs, AND you get to charge your punch! If you have a fully charged punch, then just side b the change directions. Also this.
Throws and taunts:
Up Throw: This can combo into an double jump up air on fast fallers like fox and falcon. Highly recommended to use this vs.those characters at 0% since it is easy to mash out of fthrow at 0%. That's pretty much it. Up Forward throw is pretty much better than this in every way besides that, besides the 2% less damage, cri :'(
Down Throw: This is actually the go-to throw if your Up Cargo Throw > Up Air will not connect, if your Back Throw won't put them in a bad position, or if you grab at 0% and actually mash when grabbed. At 0%, you cannot do Up Cargo Throw > Up Air, since they can mash out VERY easily! This is why I Down Throw > Down B instead, which surprisingly works. Of course, it's not guaranteed, but the opponent will usually stand/shield/spot-dodge after being thrown which the Down B covers really well.
Back Throw: Awesome throw. Deals the most damage and can kill. Like I said, getup from the ledge is OP in this game, so if they do it and hold shield, you can just roll behind them > grab > bthrow and get an early kill a.k.a. do the rollie pollie ollie.
Forward Throw: This shall now be known as "Cargo Throw". Cargo Throw has 3 variants. Forward Toss, Backward Toss, Upward Toss, Downward Toss. I shall talk about all 3.
FToss: This toss sucks.
BToss: In the new patch, this actually deals the most damage! This is great because you will no longer stale your kill throw (Bthrow) AND deal more damage at the same time! This toss can even kill at the top for some reason lol... You can use this toss to stage spiking, but down toss is much better.
UToss: This is your go-to toss at low percents. You can jump cargo throw > utoss > double jump > up air at certain percents depending on how much rage you have, and the opponent's percent. At high percents, you can do a grounded Utoss, and quickly jump > double jump uair right after. This can work well because DK has a very fast double jump. Because I'm badass, I try to use this as a stage spike, going under the stage and tossing them up, It is quite difficult to recover form this, but definitely possible. (It is very swaggy).
DToss: After the latest patch, this toss is GAWDLIKE for stage spiking. To do this, you walk off stage, but right before you go off, you turn around so you fall off facing the stage, then immediately Dtoss. It's sooooo goood. If they tech it and you up b to recover, your up b might stage spike them after!
Taunt: Down taunt is by far SS tier
Down Throw: This is actually the go-to throw if your Up Cargo Throw > Up Air will not connect, if your Back Throw won't put them in a bad position, or if you grab at 0% and actually mash when grabbed. At 0%, you cannot do Up Cargo Throw > Up Air, since they can mash out VERY easily! This is why I Down Throw > Down B instead, which surprisingly works. Of course, it's not guaranteed, but the opponent will usually stand/shield/spot-dodge after being thrown which the Down B covers really well.
Back Throw: Awesome throw. Deals the most damage and can kill. Like I said, getup from the ledge is OP in this game, so if they do it and hold shield, you can just roll behind them > grab > bthrow and get an early kill a.k.a. do the rollie pollie ollie.
Forward Throw: This shall now be known as "Cargo Throw". Cargo Throw has 3 variants. Forward Toss, Backward Toss, Upward Toss, Downward Toss. I shall talk about all 3.
FToss: This toss sucks.
BToss: In the new patch, this actually deals the most damage! This is great because you will no longer stale your kill throw (Bthrow) AND deal more damage at the same time! This toss can even kill at the top for some reason lol... You can use this toss to stage spiking, but down toss is much better.
UToss: This is your go-to toss at low percents. You can jump cargo throw > utoss > double jump > up air at certain percents depending on how much rage you have, and the opponent's percent. At high percents, you can do a grounded Utoss, and quickly jump > double jump uair right after. This can work well because DK has a very fast double jump. Because I'm badass, I try to use this as a stage spike, going under the stage and tossing them up, It is quite difficult to recover form this, but definitely possible. (It is very swaggy).
DToss: After the latest patch, this toss is GAWDLIKE for stage spiking. To do this, you walk off stage, but right before you go off, you turn around so you fall off facing the stage, then immediately Dtoss. It's sooooo goood. If they tech it and you up b to recover, your up b might stage spike them after!
Taunt: Down taunt is by far SS tier
Playing as Dankey Kang
The neutral, approaching, and general advice
The main things you wanna do as Donkey Kong is to space with Bair, charge that punch, and get those reads. I do a lot of run up > shield grab because getting a grab is big for DK. Ya, you can do the Up Cargo > Up Air, but once they are in the air, the juggling begins. Reading air dodges is so huge in this game, so you gotta be on point for that. You can get a lot of Up Airs in if you play it right.
Another thing I do a lot is run up > up B to approach. It usually shield pokes, and if they use a move, the super armor will just go through it. If you keep going forward and they shield it all, you will end up behind them, making it harder for them to punish. Down B is also a very sold approach if their character excels on the ground.
Something you should be punishing every time is missed techs. I generally run at them and Down B since it covers a huge range. If you run at them, they will usually roll away because they get scared. If you do this, their only option is to get up attack. If you think they will getup attack, just don't run up to them so close before you down b, but then if they roll away, you will be too far to hit them. If you hard read the getup attack, you can run up to them and hold shield, the shield grab their getup attack.
Spacing with pivot Ftilts (angled up mostly), pivot grabs, and Dtilts are super important as well. Dtilt is a great move since it quickly racks up tons of damage with Down B.
Once an opponent is offstage, you can either choose to apply pressure with Bairs, or to stay on stage and wait to punish. Both are good options, since you do not want to give up stage control often, but you can get a nice reward for doing so. Remember to try to ledge trump to get a free Bair, which can usually kill!
Another thing I do a lot is run up > up B to approach. It usually shield pokes, and if they use a move, the super armor will just go through it. If you keep going forward and they shield it all, you will end up behind them, making it harder for them to punish. Down B is also a very sold approach if their character excels on the ground.
Something you should be punishing every time is missed techs. I generally run at them and Down B since it covers a huge range. If you run at them, they will usually roll away because they get scared. If you do this, their only option is to get up attack. If you think they will getup attack, just don't run up to them so close before you down b, but then if they roll away, you will be too far to hit them. If you hard read the getup attack, you can run up to them and hold shield, the shield grab their getup attack.
Spacing with pivot Ftilts (angled up mostly), pivot grabs, and Dtilts are super important as well. Dtilt is a great move since it quickly racks up tons of damage with Down B.
Once an opponent is offstage, you can either choose to apply pressure with Bairs, or to stay on stage and wait to punish. Both are good options, since you do not want to give up stage control often, but you can get a nice reward for doing so. Remember to try to ledge trump to get a free Bair, which can usually kill!
Conclusion
Knowing everything you character can do is very important in my opinion. This way, you are able to use your character to it's greatest capabilities. This guide is certainly not complete, and will be definitely be updated to be clearer, more concise, more professional, and just better in general. I hope that if you read this guide, you learned something from it. I really made this guide for myself so I can have a place to store all my DK knowledge. I really hope this helps somebody out there, because we need more DK mains.
I'd just like to say, I want all the constructive criticism you can give me! I am planning on adding terminology and counterpick stages when I can. MAYBE even custom move analysis, but I haven't played with those enough yet. If you have any suggestions on how I can make my guide better, look nicer, or anything, please, let me know!
Let me tell you one thing before this guide is over. Reading guides, watching videos, etc. It all helps. It makes you smarter. But putting everything you've learned to use is the hard part. That's why it is so important to play! Not just the same person. Not CPUs. PLAY LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE! Play online! Visit your local scene! That's how you improve the most. Good luck to everyone on their smash bros. journey, and thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
DKbill and DKwill
