- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
Yo, what's good? You've probably seen me around the board somewhere, and if you have, you know that I'm a diehard Mario main as well as fan. Assuming you're over 6 years old and have not taken up residence in a cave and/or rock, you know who Mario is. That said, us Mario mains are the few and the proud, but the ones that are out there, are good. Like Ally. Lately Mario has been getting more of the attention he deserves (never thought I'd say that). If you are one of those people who have decided to spare our plumber a glance, then welcome. If not, then my job is to write this guide well enough so that by the end of it, hopefully your mind will change. This guide will give a rundown of how Mario plays, and specific tips on how to use each and every one of his moves. Without further ado, "Let's a-go!"
Note: For my 1.0.1. viewers, scroll to the very bottom of the guide for what I guess you could call "patch notes."
"How does Mario play?"
I can only assume that's what you're asking, and so I shall gladly answer. Part of the reason I picked Mario from the 12 characters in 64, from the 26 in Melee, from the 39 in Brawl, and from the 56 in Smash 4, is because of the sheer amount of freedom his playstyle allows you. If you want to play an aggro Mario, that's quite all right. If you want to play a defensive Mario, that's fine. (Quite a bit more annoying to fight but that's neither here nor there.) There are, however, quite a few things Mario is not. Mario is not a "I'm gonna get all up in your face and I want you to do something about it" like Sonic or Falcon. He can be a bait and punish type of character like Ike and Ganondorf, but you'd be better off going with the Doctor if that's you. Even though, like I said, Mario is not restricted to just one style of play, Mario is generally a character who likes to get in and rack up the % with quick combos, then back off before he can get overwhelmed. Then, hop back in, put on some more percent (maybe some chip damage here and there), then wait for you to make a mistake and go in for that kill. Now, there's nothing wrong with going off stage and trying to stop your opponent from coming back. In fact, Mario is one hell of an edgeguarder. Cape and F.L.U.D.D. only help this. I'll tell you how to use those later. Now with that out of the way let's go over some of Mario's
Pros and Cons
+ Mario is decently fast, a good jumper, (he is Jumpman after all) and has good air speed.
+ Being the balanced character that he is, Mario has no apparent or crippling weaknesses.
+ Mario is a middle-heavyweight, so attacks will not send him too terribly far.
+ Because of his jack-of-all-trades design and expansive playstyle, Mario is very good at adapting to different situations.
+ Mario is a very good juggler and comboer.
+ Mario is very well-equipped, packing a projectile, a reflector, a sex kick, a meteor smash, a gimping tool, among others.
+ A great deal of Mario's attacks are very fast.
- Mario has trouble landing the killing blow, and will sometimes find himself fishing for the kill.
- Mario's recovery is subpar at best, meaning he himself can be gimped (KOd early) rather easily.
- Mario suffers from rather short range on most of his attacks, most noticeably his grab.
- Mario struggles against characters who outrange him.
- Being a more combo-oriented character, Mario does not deal much damage per hit. Those Brawl days are over, I'm afraid.
Shoutout to HeroMystic for kindly providing me with that final con.
Now then, with that out of the way, let's move on to Mario's moveset. Starting with ground attacks.
Ground Attacks
I'll start off with telling you a little something about Mario's ground game, or how he plays on the ground. Truth be told, a Mario works best when quickly shifting between ground and air. Mario on the ground is just what you expect from Mario: Okay. Mario can dash right in and start attacking and dash right out when need be because his dash speed is, guess what? Average. Uncharacteristically though, Mario has the 6th worst traction in the game. I'm not sure why that is because bad traction is usually Luigi's shtick. Luigi has the iced butter shoes and Mario has the sandpaper shoes.
All in all, Mario has some pretty decent tilts. They all combo, and his jab is all right too. It only gets better from here, because we're moving on to his
Smash Attacks
Yes, the large text and flamboyant colors were necessary.
Next are his aerial attacks. I'll start off by once again telling you how Mario's air game plays. I'll let you in on a secret: Jumpman is good in the air! Shocking, right? I know. Jokes aside, you need to have a good grasp on Mario's aerial game if you want to have a good Mario. I'd say Mario's air game makes up about 60% of his total game. Mario's air speed is actually pretty good, the best out of his brother and alternate counterpart. "His aerial mobility is what I would consider mid tier". - another quote from HeroMystic. He's something, isn't he? Because of this good air speed and his lightning fast aerials, Mario is a terror of an edgeguarder. When you're a good Mario player, his air game should come just as naturally to you as his ground game. Fun fact: Mario actually has the 6th fastest air speed in the game! Who knew?
Aerial Attacks
And there you have it, Mario's aerial attacks. These moves are great and each has their own use. Yes, even forward air. These are some of Mario's best, and only when you master the ancient art of kicking the **** out of anything that moves will you truly master Mario. That said, onto Mario's
Special Moves
To start, Mario's special moves are rather situational, but their all useful. This includes customs as well. Yeah, that's right, you get the full, fresh, 100% MarioMeteor treatment. Enjoy.
Neutral
Side
Up
Down
And with that, you have all of Mario's special moves. Like I said, all situational, but when you know how to use them, they are deadly. These are what make Mario so versatile. Especially custom Mario. Custom Mario is DISGUSTING. My set of choice is 2323. It may not be yours, but the first step to making something of your own, is finding something of someone else's. Or maybe it is and you want to steal it from me. I'm fine with that..
So what's next? Mario's grabs and throws, of course. Oops, I mean Mario's
Grabs and Throws
There, that's better.
So let's start off with Mario's grabs. There's his standing grab, which comes out on frame 6 and has pitiful range, his dash grab which is frame 8 and is a ****ton better than it was in Brawl, and his pivot grab, which has OK range and is frame 9. Nothing too special. Onto his throws.
That's it. Mario's grab game pretty much revolves soley on down throw. Because this, an opponent at 0% has to take extra caution not to get caught in one of Mario's deadly strings. In one combo, an opponent might find themselves with an extra 30% tacked on. Would you believe me if I told you Luigi combos even better? But we'll get to that soon enough.
Nothing much left other than
Defensive Options
This isn't even worth separating into spoilers.
Mario has a good, swift roll, but like all other rolls, don't spam it, a good swift sidestep, and a nonnoteworthy air dodge. I'm sorry if you were expecting something complex and in-depth, but I've got nothing to say about it.
And with that, my friends, our time together has come to an end. I hope this guide did something for you. If you walk out of here knowing something that you didn't before, then I've done my job correctly. If you like this guide, keep an eye out for my name, because I'll be making a Jigglypuff and Luigi guide in the very near future. I'm almost certainly going to update this guide with some new stuff in the future, especially if the demand for it is high enough. Well then, I hope I've shed some light on Big Red for you, till next time, this is ya boy MarioMeteor, telling you, to stay hot.
Special Thanks to:
@HeroMystic for giving me some great hints, advice, and for just being a very knowledgeable Mario main. Your wisdom does not go unnoticed.
AND @MarioMeteor because I just love that guy. He's just so damn funny and charming. He reminds me a lot of myse- wait a minute...
Version 1.0.1
Hey all, if you're reading this, than I assume you've read version 1.0.0 of this guide. If not, than you can go ahead and skip this.
In general, I've trimmed the fat of this guide, erasing the unnecessary parts and replacing some with more helpful information that I've learned since the writing and publishing of It's Mario Time! I've also corrected some incorrect information, such as me saying that Mario's traction was average in the Ground Game section. I've omitted some things entirely, such as the Advanced Techniques section that was once there, because they seemed unnecessary. I've also reworded some things to make meanings clearer. Most noticeably, I've added the opening frames of each of Mario's ground and air attacks. Overall, the guide has been polished, refined, and updated. It now more closely reflects my knowledge of Big Red. If you have questions, feel free to PM me. Till next update (or guide, for those of you interested in The Green Thunder, Luigi and Rough, Tough, Jigglypuff, my upcoming Luigi and Jigglypuff guides, respectively), this ya boy MarioMeteor, telling you to stay hot, stay green, and stay jiggly.
Note: For my 1.0.1. viewers, scroll to the very bottom of the guide for what I guess you could call "patch notes."
"How does Mario play?"
I can only assume that's what you're asking, and so I shall gladly answer. Part of the reason I picked Mario from the 12 characters in 64, from the 26 in Melee, from the 39 in Brawl, and from the 56 in Smash 4, is because of the sheer amount of freedom his playstyle allows you. If you want to play an aggro Mario, that's quite all right. If you want to play a defensive Mario, that's fine. (Quite a bit more annoying to fight but that's neither here nor there.) There are, however, quite a few things Mario is not. Mario is not a "I'm gonna get all up in your face and I want you to do something about it" like Sonic or Falcon. He can be a bait and punish type of character like Ike and Ganondorf, but you'd be better off going with the Doctor if that's you. Even though, like I said, Mario is not restricted to just one style of play, Mario is generally a character who likes to get in and rack up the % with quick combos, then back off before he can get overwhelmed. Then, hop back in, put on some more percent (maybe some chip damage here and there), then wait for you to make a mistake and go in for that kill. Now, there's nothing wrong with going off stage and trying to stop your opponent from coming back. In fact, Mario is one hell of an edgeguarder. Cape and F.L.U.D.D. only help this. I'll tell you how to use those later. Now with that out of the way let's go over some of Mario's
Pros and Cons
+ Mario is decently fast, a good jumper, (he is Jumpman after all) and has good air speed.
+ Being the balanced character that he is, Mario has no apparent or crippling weaknesses.
+ Mario is a middle-heavyweight, so attacks will not send him too terribly far.
+ Because of his jack-of-all-trades design and expansive playstyle, Mario is very good at adapting to different situations.
+ Mario is a very good juggler and comboer.
+ Mario is very well-equipped, packing a projectile, a reflector, a sex kick, a meteor smash, a gimping tool, among others.
+ A great deal of Mario's attacks are very fast.
- Mario has trouble landing the killing blow, and will sometimes find himself fishing for the kill.
- Mario's recovery is subpar at best, meaning he himself can be gimped (KOd early) rather easily.
- Mario suffers from rather short range on most of his attacks, most noticeably his grab.
- Mario struggles against characters who outrange him.
- Being a more combo-oriented character, Mario does not deal much damage per hit. Those Brawl days are over, I'm afraid.
Shoutout to HeroMystic for kindly providing me with that final con.
Now then, with that out of the way, let's move on to Mario's moveset. Starting with ground attacks.
Ground Attacks
I'll start off with telling you a little something about Mario's ground game, or how he plays on the ground. Truth be told, a Mario works best when quickly shifting between ground and air. Mario on the ground is just what you expect from Mario: Okay. Mario can dash right in and start attacking and dash right out when need be because his dash speed is, guess what? Average. Uncharacteristically though, Mario has the 6th worst traction in the game. I'm not sure why that is because bad traction is usually Luigi's shtick. Luigi has the iced butter shoes and Mario has the sandpaper shoes.
Mario punches twice, then kicks. Classic combo straight out of Mario 64. First two jabs do 2% and the kick does 4%, for a grand total of 8%. I mean, it's 8 free percent. What's there to say about it? It's good if you want to throw out a Why the **** Not (WTFN) hitbox. Doesn't KO until 380%. Just so you know, a move KOs when it can knock Robin (the definitive middleweight) into the blast zone in the middle of Omega (flat) Battlefield. I've also made a habit of throwing out jabs whenever my opponent comes at me for a punish. It works well. The first jab comes out on frame 3, so it's very fast.
Mario kicks forward. That's it. Short and sweet. It can be angled up and down, but it does 7% no matter what. Unless staled, of course. Staling is when a move becomes weaker due to repeated use. This is another great WTFN move. I prefer to use it to cover my landings. Subpar range holds this move back, though. This move can be pivoted out of a dash. Don't be fooled, it's rather simple. Just hold the opposite direction you're dashing in and tilt the stick while pressing attack. KOs at 255% and comes out on frame 5.
Possibly Mario's most buffed (improved) move from Brawl, this and down throw are going to be your main combo starters. It's a simple low sweep kick. 5% no matter what, unless staled. Like forward tilt, it's a very fast move, coming out on frame 5. Remember Mario's range issue I was telling you about? Chalk up one more reason why this move is so good. It has great range for an attack of Mario, and pops them up like an ant just bit them. An ant that really wants its victim to be comboed. KOs at 290%.
A spinning uppercut from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. There's your history lesson for this guide. Savor it. Combo mode is activated whenever you use this move. If you take NOTHING else from this guide, at least know that down throw to up tilt is your pizza and cheese. Even more important than bread and butter. Don't use this on low percent on heavyweights, or you will eat something. And it won't be pizza. Deals 5.5% and KOs at 191% Yes, his main combo tool KOs the earliest. Like his other two tilts, it comes out on frame 5.
Well **** me, I forgot his dash attack. Mario slides forward like in Mario 64, but much less bouncy. And strong. In 64, enemies went SOARING when you used the dive kick. Now...meh. 8% at the start and 6% late. KOs at 310% clean and 348% late. Unlike his tilts, dash attack comes out on frame 6, one later than them. This one isn't very useful, best thing about is it hits people on ledges and catches sidesteps. Otherwise, the Mario 64 version was better.
Smash Attacks
Yes, the large text and flamboyant colors were necessary.
Mario thrusts his hand out and a burst of fire comes out. This move has two hitboxes: The arm, which does 14% uncharged, 15%-18% partially charged, 19% fully charged, 20% charged and angled up, and KOs at 120% uncharged and 77% fully charged (damn), and the flame, which does 17% uncharged, 19%-21% partially charged, 23% fully charged, 24% fully charged and angled up and KOs at 97% uncharged and 60% fully charged (damn!) Lot to take in, huh? Well it's actually pretty easy to space this move and get the sweetspot, but unfortunately, this is probably his least useful smash attack because it's rather slow, coming out on frame 15, which is abysmal compared to his other smash attacks. Unless you get a good read or prediction, in which case, smash away! This can also be pivoted out of a dash by turning the opposite direction of where you're dashing and smashing the stick.
Remember that breakdance kick from Mario 64 that no one used for some reason? This is that, but sped up and more useful. Like forward smash, this has two hitboxes, but this time it's the front sweep (the fastest) and the back sweep (the strongest). It's worth noting that this is Mario's fastest smash attack and probably one of his most useful attacks in general. The front sweep does 10% (this one got the nerfing of it's lifetime) and 14% fully charged. In exchange for it's horribly nerfed damage, it KOs at 151% uncharged (which was nerfed from Brawl) and 109% fully charged. The back sweep does 12% uncharged (why Sakurai?) and 16% fully charged. In exchange its pitifully nerfed damage, it KOs at 125% uncharged (which was buffed from Brawl) and 85% fully charged. This move is the reason why you should never have problems with rollers. If they roll in front of you, they get hit, if they roll behind you, they get hit! Isn't it wonderful? This move is very fast on startup (frame 5) and doesn't have much endlag, making it safe to use repeatedly.
Mario suddenly rears back and headbutts the **** out of anything or anyone unlucky enough to be in his general vicinity. Remember when he did THAT in his games? Guess how many hitboxes this move has? One. No, I'm serious, it only has one hitbox, unlike Doc and Luigi. 14% uncharged and 19% fully charged. KOs at 116% uncharged and 77% fully charged. This is your main smash attack for killing, because not only does it have some of the speed (comes out on frame 9, as does Luigi's and Doc's) of down smash with some of the strength of forward smash, but Mario's head is invincible. It is not a hurtbox at all. So if you meet one of those down air-spamming Links online, give 'em a nice headbutt for me. Now, I've recently learned something interesting about this move. It is possible to pivot this move while dashing. I believe that this goes for all up smashes, but this is particularly useful for Mario because of the fact that Mario's head is invincible, meaning that you've pretty much got an invincible hitbox to abuse. This is done by turning around and immediately jump-cancelling the move. The best method of doing this is to map jump to a comfortable button, which in my case is ZL on the CC Pro, and, in one swift motion, turning around while jumping and up smashing simultaneously. If done right, Mario will turn around on the spot and up smash, if done wrong, the up smash won't cancel and you'll probably end up doing an up air. This technique definitely requires lots of practice to use reliably, but I think the payoff is worth it.
Aerial Attacks
Mario sticks his foot out. This move is weaker the longer it stays out. This is known by a variety of terms, but the most common ones are "sex kick" and "pole kick". I call 'em brick walls, but that's just me. It deals 8% at the start and 5% any later. This move is most effective fast falled and short hopped. Which means that if you just tap the jump button and hold downwards either at the apex of your jump or when you're already falling while pressing the A button, Mario will perform a small jump, do the neutral air, and fall quickly to the ground all at the same time. (Fast-falling correctly is indicated by a blue spark next to Mario's head). So if you hear you me tell you that a "SHFFed Nair" will (finish that sentence however you want), I didn't fall asleep on my keyboard, it means "Short hopped fast-falled neutral air". KOs at 213% clean and 369%-370% late. This move is too weak to be of any edgeguarding use, but I like to use to catch rolls, as an alternative to a dash attack, as a WTFN move, and as a alternative to a ledge attack. OK, **** what I said about this not being a good edgeguarder, it stage spikes! I was fighting this Fox on FG and I was a stock up and he was at 100%, so I figured YOLO, and went down while he was charging Fire Fox and Naired him. I don't know how, I don't know why, but it did. I see this move in a new light now. Do you know this move hits on Frame 3? Pretty fast right? This is a great combo breaker. A technique I just recently picked is late Nair to charged down smash. If your opponent is at the right percent, which is about mid, late neutral air should knock your opponent to the ground a short enough distance where you'll have time to land and quickly charge a down smash. I did it on a Samus at around 100% and it KOd. Do with that what you will.
Mario winds back and lets loose a giant downwards punch, meteor smashing anybody hit by the start of the punch and weakly knocking away anybody who gets hit later in the animation. 12% if the sourspot hits and 14% for the sweetspot. The sweetspot starts meteor smashing at around 30% and sourspot doesn't KO till around 190%. This is Mario slowest (coming out on frame 16) and most situational move. Unless you land the meteor hitbox, this move is pretty useless. That meteor is strong as hell, though.
This is the Mario Tornado from 64 and Melee, only in aerial form. This form does 10% though, as opposed to 9%. The first 5 spins do 1% each, and the final hit does 5%, KOing at 185%. Take that with a grain of salt though, because you'll most likely be using this on an aerial opponent, so this will KO much sooner. It's fast (frame 5), allowing it to be used as a combo breaker sometimes. This move is interesting, if you land on the ground while spinning before delivering the final hit, Mario will automatically perform the hit upon hitting the ground, but this version does 2% and set knockback, meaning it will never KO, not even at 999%. Obviously you want the former result, but because of the latter, this move is somewhat safe on whiff. Not to mention it comes out instantly. Great comboer and damage racker. Use this whenever you feel is right.
A straight-up backwards dropkick. This does 10.5% or higher, because it will sometimes do 10% and 11%. Either way, this is an insane amount of damage for such a quick move. This was Mario's best move in Brawl, and not much has changed here. Aside from its insane edgeguarding capabilities, the best thing about this move is that it has no ending lag upon hitting the ground, so you can immediately follow up with a forward tilt, grab, or really, anything. Don't worry about staling this move either, because unlke Doc and Luigi, this doesn't KO until 165%. Because it's a two-footed dropkick, this move has pretty good range, especially for a move of Mario. This will be your main edgeguarding and poking tool. Just don't get shieldgrabbed. Comes out on frame 6.
Mario does a flip kick for 7%, KOing at 175% but once again, take this lightly, cause you'll be using this in the air. This is your main combo tool along with down tilt, down throw, and up tilt. This is another one of those moves that has barely any landing lag, so go ham with it. There's really not much to say about this one. It's so common if you seen one, you've seen em all A great way to start and break combos is to fastfall an up air into the ground. The hitbox will come out and Mario will suffer little landing lag. Comes out on frame 4.
Special Moves
To start, Mario's special moves are rather situational, but their all useful. This includes customs as well. Yeah, that's right, you get the full, fresh, 100% MarioMeteor treatment. Enjoy.
Neutral
A bouncing ball of fire. Because physics. Unlike in Brawl, this does 4% farther away and 5% closer, because we can't have Mario doing damage, no, none of that ****. God, that sentence had 4 commas in it. Ahem, anyway, this is Mario's only projectile and his main approach tool. If you're far away there shouldn't be a moment when your opponent doesn't have fire raining down on them. I say raining because you should always short hop these. These have been nerfed from Brawl, what with the distance/damage thing, the frame 16 startup, and the heavier gravity. Pretty straightforward projectile, use it. If you get knocked off, use these to cover yourself. Lifesavers, they are.
A spark that flies straight forward like a Ray Gun shot. It does 1%-3% depending on your distance in comparison to them. This is my preferred Fireball of choice because of the speed and how fast it racks up damage. If your opponent misses a ukemi (pressing the shield button before you hit the ground after being knocked down), throw a F. Fireball and they'll get hit. Don't let the size fool you, this is disruptive as ****. Spam this move. Spam it. If they accuse you of spamming, reply "It's not spamming, it's zoning".
IT'S NOT USELESS. Sorry. Anyway, Mario throws a giant cloud of pure heat. Slowly. Very slowly. In exchange, you get 13% and a free grab. Hits 9 times, if you were interested. It's also a good edgeguarder. Not as good as the other two Fireballs, but still good.
Side
Mario whips his Cape from Super Mario World forward and turns the opponent around while dealing 7%. This doesn't make people flinch, so if you somehow break your opponents shield, Cape em a few times, then strike. This move is built for edgeguarding. Reverses them while keeping their momentum, so their essentially helpless. Also reflects projectiles.
This time it's electrical. I don't even know. Deals 11% and KOs at 137%. Keep in mind that these KO percents are tested on the ground in the middle of Omega Battlefield, and since this moves primary use is as an edgeguarder, the KO percent I gave you is most likely horribly inaccurate. You will strike fear into people's hearts with this move as an edgeguard. This will give Mario a large shift in whatever direction he's facing if used in the air, so it's a great recovery move. Make them fear this move. Instead of reflecting, this Cape just assimilates projectiles. Instill the fear of Shocking Cape into them.
This one actually makes sense, the Cape blows wind from it. This is Cape+. You have no reason not to reason use this move. The only weakness to this move is that it deals 5%. The wind increases with damage, so the more percent you have, the farther you get blown back. So as if turning them around on the spot wasn't enough, you literally blow them away. It even still reflects. This also aids in recovery by giving you a diagonal boost in whatever direction you use it in. Like I said, no reason not to use this. Obviously my Cape of choice.
Mario jumps upward with his fist raised, hitting any unlucky soul above him 6 times. Deals 12%. 5%, 1%,1%,1%,1%,3%, in that order. I can't give you an exact KO percent because of this moves weird knockback scaling, meaning the different hits deal different knockback to the point where all the hits don't connect at later percents. But that's just fine, because you won't be using this move to KO anyway. This move is best used as a combo finisher. It's an...ok recovery move. It sends Mario an acceptable distance diagonally. However, when combined with a wall jump (yes, Mario can wall jump. That goes without saying) and a double jump and maybe a Cape, Mario can make it back from the abyss. This doesn't mean drop down whenever you get the chance, though. If you're lucky, you'll never have to recover from that low. As a funny little easter egg, Mario punches Star Coins from the NEW Super Mario Bros. series out of the opponent, though it makes a different ring. This can also be used as a combo breaker because it has invincibility on startup and comes out on frame 3. Of the 3 Marios' Up Special Moves, this is the weakest, though it recovers the highest.
Mario does what he does best and jumps like a black man with his ass on fire. I'm going to resist my urge to crack more jokes and tell you a little something about this move. ......Well....he jumps. High. Very high. It's rather simple really. I can tell you why this is my preferred Up Special of choice. The added recovery distance adds layers to Mario's offstage and edgeguarding game. Mario can recover from distances without a double jump that he couldn't with one with the default. And (thank you Lord Jigglypuff Jesus), you can ANGLE it! You can hold left or right to make Mario jump more in that direction, at the cost of vertical distance, and vice-versa. Though sometimes I do wish this move had a windbox on it or something, the lack of a hitbox does become rather noticeable. Other than that, it's a pretty self-explanatory move. Does 0% and KOs at ??. Because you needed to know that. It has slightly slower startup that SJP, coming out on frame 5.
Possibly my favorite move in the game. Get this, Mario crouches down, causes an explosion, jumps up, and causes another explosion. What the actual hell? How do you go from punching coins out of someone to blowing them the **** up? Talk about 0 to 100. Deals 21% and KOs at 93%, which is still weaker than Doc's Ol' One-Two and Luigi's Fire Jump Punch. What's the weakness to this move you may ask? Well, there's a reason why this move is called "Explosive Punch" and not "Explosive Jump Punch". This move gives you practically no lift, and the last thing Mario needs is a third recovery nerf. Which is precisely why I don't use this move. But hey, if you live the YOLO life, go ahead and use it. KO early, or get KOed early. It's risk vs. reward.
If you don't know who F.L.U.D.D. is, you disgust me and need to leave my presence immediately. I'm kidding, don't leave. I wasn't kidding about the first part though, you still disgust me, just don't leave. So F.L.U.D.D. sprays a blast of water that does 0% and KOs at ??%. It simply pushes the opponent back. It sounds bad on paper, but it's amazing in the real deal. Characters with straightforward or just plain bad recoveries like Falcon, Ganondorf, Little Mac, the Links, the Hero-Kings, Robin, Ike, Mario himself, his MD-having counterpart, even Sonic isn't safe from F.L.U.D.D.'s wrath. This is every edgeguarders best friend and every Little Mac's worst enemy. You can aim it up and down for most precision. Unfortunately, it doesn't send projectiles to the Void anymore. But if there's a recovery, F.L.U.D.D. can **** with it. Another application of this move is that it's a useful tool for getting Mario out of bad situations. If you're feeling pressured, tell em to **** off and push them away with F.L.U.D.D.
Mario, or rather F.L.U.D.D., sprays a blast of scalding hot water. Guess what? This one actually does damage. 9%, to be precise. It also KOs. At 599%. I'm not making this up. But rather than push opponents away, this one stops them in their tracks, and for that, some people may not like it. Understandable. But if it's you, go for it.
Exactly what the name states, it's a more powerful F.L.U.D.D. But it does take more time to charge, so there's that. Be warned though, when you use this move at full blast, you go FLYING back. But because of this, combined with Gust Cape, it can actually AID Mario's recovery, rejoice! This should definitely be your F.L.U.D.D. of choice. It's pretty much F.L.U.D.D. amped up. More power, more drawbacks. Steroids, if you will.
So what's next? Mario's grabs and throws, of course. Oops, I mean Mario's
Grabs and Throws
There, that's better.
So let's start off with Mario's grabs. There's his standing grab, which comes out on frame 6 and has pitiful range, his dash grab which is frame 8 and is a ****ton better than it was in Brawl, and his pivot grab, which has OK range and is frame 9. Nothing too special. Onto his throws.
Mario gives the opponent a quick spin then chucks them for 8%. KOs at roughly 279%. At very low percents, it combos into dash attack. Other than that, not much to say about this one. Very straightforward.
Mario heaves the opponent up and slams them into the dirt. Deals 5% and KOs at 307%. This one has some pretty intense knockback scaling, so it'll do next to nothing at low percents, but bounce them into the air at high ones. Probably your main combo starter, the amount of follow-ups you can get off of this is disgusting. Up tilt, up smash, down tilt, down smash, hell, it'd be easier to name the things you COULDN'T follow up with. This is where Mario's freedom factor comes in. You can really be creative with the combos here. Down throw --> up tilt --> jab --> jab 2 --> down tilt --> re-grab --> <fill in the gap> is a personal favorite of mine. At higher percents, it combos into up air and Tornado. Down throw to Super Jump Punch is also guaranteed at high percents.
Straight from Mario 64, Mario grabs the opponent by the feet (or in the case of Jigglypuff, using his psychokinesis) and spins them 3 times before letting them loose. KOs at 189%, but since you shouldn't use this unless you're near the edge, it's most likely going to KO much earlier. One of Mario's main KOing options.
Mario launches the opponent upwards, dealing 7% and KOing the opponent at around 212%. Contrary to what I once believed, this is one of Mario's best throws. If you're fighting a heavyweight opponent, up throw should be your throw of choice because it sets them up perfectly for an aerial string.
Mario rears back and headbutts the opponent slowly. Does 3%. Nothing noteworthy. You can slip in a few of these at high percents.
Nothing much left other than
Defensive Options
This isn't even worth separating into spoilers.
Mario has a good, swift roll, but like all other rolls, don't spam it, a good swift sidestep, and a nonnoteworthy air dodge. I'm sorry if you were expecting something complex and in-depth, but I've got nothing to say about it.
And with that, my friends, our time together has come to an end. I hope this guide did something for you. If you walk out of here knowing something that you didn't before, then I've done my job correctly. If you like this guide, keep an eye out for my name, because I'll be making a Jigglypuff and Luigi guide in the very near future. I'm almost certainly going to update this guide with some new stuff in the future, especially if the demand for it is high enough. Well then, I hope I've shed some light on Big Red for you, till next time, this is ya boy MarioMeteor, telling you, to stay hot.
Special Thanks to:
@HeroMystic for giving me some great hints, advice, and for just being a very knowledgeable Mario main. Your wisdom does not go unnoticed.
AND @MarioMeteor because I just love that guy. He's just so damn funny and charming. He reminds me a lot of myse- wait a minute...
Version 1.0.1
Hey all, if you're reading this, than I assume you've read version 1.0.0 of this guide. If not, than you can go ahead and skip this.
In general, I've trimmed the fat of this guide, erasing the unnecessary parts and replacing some with more helpful information that I've learned since the writing and publishing of It's Mario Time! I've also corrected some incorrect information, such as me saying that Mario's traction was average in the Ground Game section. I've omitted some things entirely, such as the Advanced Techniques section that was once there, because they seemed unnecessary. I've also reworded some things to make meanings clearer. Most noticeably, I've added the opening frames of each of Mario's ground and air attacks. Overall, the guide has been polished, refined, and updated. It now more closely reflects my knowledge of Big Red. If you have questions, feel free to PM me. Till next update (or guide, for those of you interested in The Green Thunder, Luigi and Rough, Tough, Jigglypuff, my upcoming Luigi and Jigglypuff guides, respectively), this ya boy MarioMeteor, telling you to stay hot, stay green, and stay jiggly.
