As I'm sure we're all already well aware, Marth's most apparent weakness has always been his complete and appalling dearth of adequate kill-moves. I mean for God's sake, all of his smashes are terrible, laggy, and difficult to use; it's a rare moment when a Marth can pull out a tipped d-smash and kill an opponent below 300%. Consequentially, most competitive Marths must as a prerequisite learn to rely on Marth's powerful and incredibly versatile gimping game to ever score a stock against the likes of Captain Falcon and Donkey Kong.
/endsarcasm
Seriously though, even with Marth's incredibly quick and punishing smashes, it's definitely advisable to learn to stop the recovery of opponents in order to to give you an advantage over the course of the match. Gimping is an efficacious and formidable tool that all casual and competitive Marths should learn to employ effectively to improve their game.
Realizing this, I thought I'd compile a list of those characters that Marth can gimp easily and those he has trouble with in order to create a compendium of relatively useless information.
But this might help new players who are just learning not to cede stage control by jumping off and gimping recovery.
The scale:
1/10: extremely difficult to stop from recovering: they either have a recovery move that grants them super armor or one that is so effective at recovering that engaging off stage becomes a nightmare for Marth.
5/10: relatively easy to stop from recovering: their recovery move is nothing special, but may carry invincibility frames or have a difficult hitbox to approach, but it should be fine for most Marths.
10/10: extremely easy to stop from recovering: these are the characters that Marths three-stock. A down or up finished Dancing Blade or a SHDF to put this character out over the edge means that character WILL die if you engage them correctly.
DISCLAIMER:These ratings are all based on data collected on Final Destination: obviously this stuff becomes less important on tournament legal stages, but it's still really applicable. Whatever, it's fun to write and will help those who fight exclusively on Final Destination (casual players) the most.
COROLLARY: this guide will NOT take into account the "lip" that Final Destination has. It's possible to be trapped under the edge of the stage and have your vertical recovery stopped, but because it only applies on Final Destination, I've taken it out of account to make this guide more relevant for ALL stages, not just FD.
In alphabetical order (this is assuming skilled players, not level 9 CPUs, which are about the easiest thing to gimp since Tiny Tim):
Bowser - 8/10: Bowser, ever since the carefree days of Super Smash Brothers: Melee, has always been incredibly straightforward to gimp. His tremendously laggy aerials mean that he isn't going to sacrifice recovery ability to try to repel you and his massive size means a tipped or not nair will always score two hits. In addition, his awful double jump and altogether too horizontal recovery means down and at an angle spells death for Bowser.
Captain Falcon - 7/10: Captain Falcon's recovery Up+B WILL outpriority whatever move you pull out to stop him unless you compensate for range. His nair can effectively repel you if he's not that far down and he can sometimes take you down with him by pulling out a reverse stagespiked Sacred Combo. His rating is such though because if he's down enough to have to sweetspot an Up+B, edgehog means instant death for the Captain.
Diddy Kong: 7/10: If Diddy Kong is horizontally off the stage, his Side+B recovery hitting you can mean a hilarious death if you've already expended your second jump: watch out for this. However, if Diddy Kong needs to recovery vertically or at an angle, his Up+B's painful startup lag means a well-placed fair or bair (or even a not well-placed one, it just has to hit him) knocks one of his jetpacks off and usually lets him fall to his death. In addition, his Up+B is sometimes tricky to steer and an edgehog might mean 8-10% for you but a stock for the poor chimpanzee.
Donkey Kong: 9/10: Spike him when he's recovering horizontally. He double jumps pretty high, but fair or nair him to put him down (vertically) and watch his recovery miss the ledge because he's ten feet under it.
Falco: 6/10: Why the relatively high rating, you ask, considering the startup lag of his Up+B? It's just that Falco has a tendency to stagespike you if you're edgehogging him outside of your invincibility frames. Take note of this and adjust accordingly by ledgehopping and granting yourself those sweet frames. If he's out or down at an angle, however, you can avoid this entirely by going ahead and backdropping off the ledge to a bair while he's charging his jetpack for instant death. If he has the option, however (slightly horizontally out) most Falcos will go for the Illusion-recover instead of Firebird, which is hard to fight (D-Tilt comes to mind. Who else has fond memories of watching their first Melee Marth Combo Videos and being amazed by the speed at which they could react with a D-Tilt to gimp Falco?)
Ganondorf: 9/10: Once again, edgehog means instant death. His double jump is laughable and his recovery sucks, as we all know. His Up+B may hit you if you're right above him and dangling, however. His inability to repel you and his mediocre recovery means Ganondorf is laughably easy to stop from recovering.
Ice Climbers: 6/10: Yeah, their Up+B stagespikes a dangling Marth at or around 50-100%; be careful of that. Other than that, if you kill the secondary Ice Climber, their rating skyrockets to 10/10 for obvious reasons. Otherwise, their Up+B has good knockback, an unpredictable hitbox, and launches them 500 feet into the air; don't underestimate this move.
Ike: 10/10: Okay, if he's charging a QD above and at an angle, you can sometimes jump right in front of him to interrupt it and watch him fall to his death; use this tactic at your own risk, obviously. If Ike is vertically right below the ledge, DO NOT try to jump off and engage due to what is known as Aether Super Armor. He's more or less invincible when he's recovering and WILL grab the ledge; his Up+B has good vertical range. In addition, if you jump off and get caught in the spiraling sword, he may not grab the ledge, but you're going down with him; you could sometimes use this to your advantage. If he's down and at an angle, just sit back and watch him desperately press Up+B to no effect. To put him at the magical spot, jump out with a fair or nair to watch his Aether drag him down to a premature death.
Jigglypuff: 3/10: The first character that it might be smarter to edgeguard rather than jump off and engage. WoP means stay away from her when she's off the stage. You'd think that without an Up+B recovery, Jigglypuff would be easy to gimp, but Side+Bs in between jumps means your only recourse is to try a spike, but her quick aerials will probably dissuade you. Good thing she's light though; so you can usually hit her with a bair to kill her OR alternatively pull out a Shieldbreaker once in a while to sometimes score a free stock taking advantage of the Jigglypuff's shield-breaking phenomenon.
King Dedede: 5/10: King Dedede is nothing if not a very complicated character to try to gimp: if he's pretty far off the stage, a spike, double fair, or nair means he'll run out of jumps and Up+B to his death, but if he's pretty close, a skilled Dedede will counter your gimping with an Up+B, which grants him (like Ike) Super Armor. At this point, concede defeat and prepare for a long, exhausting battle on the stage. Also, DO NOT TRY TO EDGEHOG KING DEDEDE IF YOU VALUE YOUR CURRENT STOCK AND DON'T HAVE INVINCIBILITY FRAMES. DON'T DO IT. HIS UP+B WILL SPIKE YOU AND HE WILL LAUGH AT YOU. Feel free to edgehog if you're at 240% and he's at 10% or if it's his last stock or if you're good at invincibility frames though. He's also pretty easy to spike during his air jumps.
Kirby: 5/10: Kirby's an interesting character to fight aerially because his fair is extremely powerful and sometimes outranges yours. Just like Jigglypuff, fair in between jumps makes him hard to approach, but a well-timed spike means he dies. Because his Up+B hits twice, it's really hard to edgehog Kirby, which is why he gets a 5/10. Your invincibility frames *won't* save you, so be careful. It's pretty common that both of you will die if you try to edgehog him: he might not grab the ledge, but he'll drag you down with him.
Link: 7/10: He's easy to edgehog, but if he's not far off the stage, his tether recovery is hard to gimp unless you time it well. He jumps high and has a damaging Up+B that may stagespike a dangling Marth; use invincibility frames to avoid this and make him miss the edge for a quick stock.
Lucario: 8/10: Uhhh, basically just engage this Pokemon offstage aggressively, using fairs and nairs to try to put him down and at an angle. Then grab the ledge and chill; watch his Up+B, hit you and harmlessly bounce off, eliciting a scream of frustration from the Lucario player. Yeah. His Up+B really has no way to displace you if you're dangling, regardless of invincibility frames. J4pu mentions, however, as a quick word of caution that on stages such as Final Destination that have a edge-lip, a skilled Lucario can and will Up+B to a wall-sit and possibly chain that into some aerials that are powerful and deadly. That's something to watch out for as I mentioned on Final Destination and similar stages, but it's worth mentioning.
Lucas: 8/10: Good thing Lucas' fair is nothing compared to Ness'; just go ahead and try to knock him out as far as you can and then backdrop off to a bair when he's trying to PK-Thunder-recover. It's an easy kill, he can't stop the bair barrage that destroys his recovery. Don't get hit by Lucas if he successfully hits himself with PK-Thunder, however. It does like 30% and can kill at like 80%, so watch out. He might tether at low percents (pathetic range), so watch for that.
Luigi: 7/10: Luigi dies (like many characters) if he's down and at an angle. Up and at an angle means Green Cannon and directly downwards, he might sweetspot you with his Jump Punch. Careful of that; that's 25% and a kill at like 40%. Otherwise, he's easy to edgehog IF he's far away. If he's close, make sure to use invincibility frames to avoid the sweetspot of his Up+B. Also, if he's up and at an angle, you can sometimes jump in the way of his Side+B recovery to interrupt it. Use at your own risk, obviously, but it's worth mentioning.
Mario: 5/10: He's much the same off the stage as Luigi, but his higher rating is due to his very, very defensively minded Side+B Cape. This means he can recover from up and at an angle, down and at an angle, and directly downwards. His Side+B might flip you around, so try to outrange it. Other than that, he's even easier to edgehog than his brother, so just watch out for the flash of yellow that means he's caping.
Marth: 5/10: His quick and powerful fair (I don't need to tell you guys about it, right?) can repel yours, so be ready to clank alot. Up and at an angle, Marth might try to Shieldbreaker recovery, but it's pretty easy to predict (you'll both see it coming and know where he'll land.) Airdodge and fair, jump and uair, or predict and U-Smash to combat this. His Up+B could stagespike you, but if he misuses it, it's an easy edgehog. He repels you well, but if you get the edge on him, he's not getting to the edge.
Meta Knight: 5/10: Why such a low rating? Isn't Metaknight INCREDIBLY difficult to gimp? The simple reason that when's he's flapping his wings and fairing to get back on the stage, your backdropped bair will knock him off screen more often than not. Other than that, he has three recovery options, so he's a bit unpredictable. His Down+B means you get back onto the stage and C-Stick a downsmash. His Side+B means you get back on the stage and tip an f-smash. His Up+B means you make use of invincibility frames to avoid a stagespike. Overall, he's probably easier to kill on the stage (he's really light) then to gimp, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't jump off and engage to rack up some percents.
Mr. Game & Watch: 4/10: His laggy but insanely powerful aerials might spell out death for you and his Up+B will more often than not get back on stage even from down and at an angle. Even if he doesn't, he's incredibly difficult to edgehog because of his parachute thing doing damage. He'll usually recover, which is pretty bad news for Marth. Try to kill him by other means; he's not that hard to spike.
Ness: 7/10: He gets one more point than his friend, Lucas, because of his extremely long-ranged, quick, and powerful fair that will outrange you and might stop you from recovering. Other than that, see Lucas (except Ness can't tether.) Yeah, his recovery takes forever to start up, so backdrop a bair to kill him. Again, watch out for the actual damage from his recovery; it's huge.
Olimar: 10/10: Dude. What were they thinking when they made Olimar's recovery? Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this. The only thing is that his Up+B "recovery" (if you can even call it that) might stagespike you if he's got max Pikmin, but it's not hard to cancel. Just edgehog him; unless he PERFECTLY places his Up+B recovery, he's not grabbing that edge.
Peach: 3/10: Her tendency to float and her powerful aerials make her hard to approach off stage. Her insanely horizontal Up+B sometimes might be inadequate for severely down and at an angle, but she's hard to edgehog. Her umbrella will keep knocking you off the ledge and she'll usually recover. Her umbrella makes her hard to spike too, but when she's floating around in midair, she's semi-vulnerable to a spike sometimes (obviously, the better the Peach, the harder it is to spike her.)
Pikachu: 8/10: Yeah, his bair might kill you, but usually, his Up+B puts him above the ledge so he can fall and grab it. Yes, this means edgehog. Not much to say about Pikachu actually except be sure to gimp him to avoid his incredible edgeguarding game (D-smash and Down+B.)
Pit: 5/10: Yes, I know. His recovery is good. Very good. The reason his rating is thus, however, is because eventually he runs out of jumps and recoveries if you're persistent in fairing or bairing him off the ledge. You can't really edgehog him unless he was really far down, so watch out for that. Also, when he's flapping around, a carefully timed spike will mean the end of old Pit. So, in conclusion, Pit's hard to gimp, but really not as hard as everyone says.
Pokemon Trainer - Charizard: 7/10: He glides, but he's a huge target that is vulnerable to fairs and nairs. His recovery sucks and is pretty easy to edgehog given invincibility frames. In the right hands, he's a recovery-beast, but even his gliding can be countered by spaced fairs and nairs.
Pokemon Trainer - Ivysaur: 10/10: Knock him down and at an angle, grab the ledge, and watch his Up+B whiff.
Pokemon Trainer - Squirtle: 5/10: The hardest of the three (obviously) to gimp. His Up+B is pretty easy to edgehog with invincibility frames, so usually go for that. His quick fair and bair though make him hard to approach. Like most characters, down and at an angle might mean an edgehog or a failed recovery for Squirtle.
R.O.B: 5/10: About the same difficulty as gimping Pit. His jumps and his Up+B can run out pretty quickly if you jump off and spam fair. Careful though, he might footstool and spike you if you leave yourself open.
Samus: 7/10: She tethers often at low percents and has an Up+B that's murder if you're dangling. The obvious answer is to grab some invincibility frames and make her Up+B whiff, thus ensuring she'll fall to her death. Her uair and her nair are good at repelling you though, especially if you approach slightly from above.
Samus - Zero Suit Samus: 8/10: Actually, I'm not too sure about Zero Suit Samus, but it seems to me as though her two recovery options make her a little less predictable to gimp. I'm not really sure how her Up+B works regarding a dangling character, but both of her recoveries kind of have pitiful range.
Snake: 3/10: Bomb jump and an insane recovery means Snake is a character that will most often recover. Try to counter this by aggressively aerialing his floating body to see if you can knock him low enough so that neither technique can save him.
Sonic: 2/10: Sonic always recovers. Always. His Neutral+B can sometimes be taken advantage of by jumping off and airdodging so that he whiffs, but then his Up+B will save him regardless. Those two moves combined (Neutral and Up+B) and the weird quality that he has of refusing to be edgehogged by jumping or something (you know that quality) mean Sonic is hard to gimp. The only salvation you have is bairing his charge-up time on his Neutral+B, but it's hard as hell to time. The Sonic can choose whether to cancel (speed it up) or not cancel (slow it down) so you always, always, always, always get hit. That's the ultimate mindgame, and be prepared for advanced Sonic players to use it.
Toon Link: 6/10: Regardless of the fact that Toon Link is an excellent gimper himself, he's pretty easy to stop from recovering. His tether recovery has pretty short range and his Up+B is just as easy to edgehog as Link's. Just be careful of his quick and powerful aerials and his ability to avoid being spiked (and his ability to spike you) and you should be fine (and up a stock.)
Wario: 3/10: Wario's recovery is, in a word, amazing. His bike + Up+B means he's going to recover even at an angle and extremely down. His Up+B is hard to invincibility frame and is hard to DI out of; it hurts alot. The only reason he gets a 3 and not a 2 is that if he JUST lost a bike or the bike is still on the stage, he loses 80% of his recovery. A skilled Wario player will never let this happen, but just be aware of this.
Wolf: 7/10: Wolf's Up+B is easy to edgehog. When you're dangling, he'll either Up+B above you and miss the ledge OR Up+B right to you, kick you, and then die. Be sure to recover, and try to spam fair or nair to get him down and at an angle, and you'll find that gimping Wolf is infinitely easier than knocking him off-screen.
Yoshi: 3/10: Yoshi is HARD to gimp. His flutter jump's Super Armor means he doesn't get fazed by your strikes and his amazing ability to airdodge-recover means you need some serious hops to gimp him. His Up+B is also a mild recovery move that is hard to approach (it's a projectile after all.) It's weird that all these characters without a serious Up+B recovery are the hardest to gimp (excepting Olimar and Ivysaur of course.)
Zelda: 4/10: She jumps high and her Up+B recovery is impossible to predict. If she goes for the ledge and you're dangling, that's a stagespike if you're above 100%. Be careful of this and try to attack her on the startup lag for her Up+B; that's the time that she's the most vulnerable. If you succeed in doing this (and you most often will,) she'll either be unfazed or tumble to her death, depending on how hurt she is. It's kind of difficult to edgehog her, like I mentioned, unless she teleports above the ledge and tries to grab it. At that point, grab the ledge and get ready for her next stock.
Zelda - Sheik: 7/10: Sheik's inability to float like Zelda and her shorter and more predictable Up+B (it goes in a straight line) means she's pretty easy to gimp. Be careful of her strong aerials and the lack of startup lag on her Up+B though. Again, just like for Zelda, it's hard to edgehog her because she might knock you off. All in all, just go for her aggressively and try to put her down and at an angle.
And that's my first guide ever. Let me know what you think (I'm expecting a flood of "This is useless on Delfino Plaza" but whatevs.) It was fun to write and I think it'll help alot of people. Leave feedback and discuss or whatnot if you want.
Torn
/endsarcasm
Seriously though, even with Marth's incredibly quick and punishing smashes, it's definitely advisable to learn to stop the recovery of opponents in order to to give you an advantage over the course of the match. Gimping is an efficacious and formidable tool that all casual and competitive Marths should learn to employ effectively to improve their game.
Realizing this, I thought I'd compile a list of those characters that Marth can gimp easily and those he has trouble with in order to create a compendium of relatively useless information.
But this might help new players who are just learning not to cede stage control by jumping off and gimping recovery.
The scale:
1/10: extremely difficult to stop from recovering: they either have a recovery move that grants them super armor or one that is so effective at recovering that engaging off stage becomes a nightmare for Marth.
5/10: relatively easy to stop from recovering: their recovery move is nothing special, but may carry invincibility frames or have a difficult hitbox to approach, but it should be fine for most Marths.
10/10: extremely easy to stop from recovering: these are the characters that Marths three-stock. A down or up finished Dancing Blade or a SHDF to put this character out over the edge means that character WILL die if you engage them correctly.
DISCLAIMER:These ratings are all based on data collected on Final Destination: obviously this stuff becomes less important on tournament legal stages, but it's still really applicable. Whatever, it's fun to write and will help those who fight exclusively on Final Destination (casual players) the most.
COROLLARY: this guide will NOT take into account the "lip" that Final Destination has. It's possible to be trapped under the edge of the stage and have your vertical recovery stopped, but because it only applies on Final Destination, I've taken it out of account to make this guide more relevant for ALL stages, not just FD.
In alphabetical order (this is assuming skilled players, not level 9 CPUs, which are about the easiest thing to gimp since Tiny Tim):
Bowser - 8/10: Bowser, ever since the carefree days of Super Smash Brothers: Melee, has always been incredibly straightforward to gimp. His tremendously laggy aerials mean that he isn't going to sacrifice recovery ability to try to repel you and his massive size means a tipped or not nair will always score two hits. In addition, his awful double jump and altogether too horizontal recovery means down and at an angle spells death for Bowser.
Captain Falcon - 7/10: Captain Falcon's recovery Up+B WILL outpriority whatever move you pull out to stop him unless you compensate for range. His nair can effectively repel you if he's not that far down and he can sometimes take you down with him by pulling out a reverse stagespiked Sacred Combo. His rating is such though because if he's down enough to have to sweetspot an Up+B, edgehog means instant death for the Captain.
Diddy Kong: 7/10: If Diddy Kong is horizontally off the stage, his Side+B recovery hitting you can mean a hilarious death if you've already expended your second jump: watch out for this. However, if Diddy Kong needs to recovery vertically or at an angle, his Up+B's painful startup lag means a well-placed fair or bair (or even a not well-placed one, it just has to hit him) knocks one of his jetpacks off and usually lets him fall to his death. In addition, his Up+B is sometimes tricky to steer and an edgehog might mean 8-10% for you but a stock for the poor chimpanzee.
Donkey Kong: 9/10: Spike him when he's recovering horizontally. He double jumps pretty high, but fair or nair him to put him down (vertically) and watch his recovery miss the ledge because he's ten feet under it.
Falco: 6/10: Why the relatively high rating, you ask, considering the startup lag of his Up+B? It's just that Falco has a tendency to stagespike you if you're edgehogging him outside of your invincibility frames. Take note of this and adjust accordingly by ledgehopping and granting yourself those sweet frames. If he's out or down at an angle, however, you can avoid this entirely by going ahead and backdropping off the ledge to a bair while he's charging his jetpack for instant death. If he has the option, however (slightly horizontally out) most Falcos will go for the Illusion-recover instead of Firebird, which is hard to fight (D-Tilt comes to mind. Who else has fond memories of watching their first Melee Marth Combo Videos and being amazed by the speed at which they could react with a D-Tilt to gimp Falco?)
Ganondorf: 9/10: Once again, edgehog means instant death. His double jump is laughable and his recovery sucks, as we all know. His Up+B may hit you if you're right above him and dangling, however. His inability to repel you and his mediocre recovery means Ganondorf is laughably easy to stop from recovering.
Ice Climbers: 6/10: Yeah, their Up+B stagespikes a dangling Marth at or around 50-100%; be careful of that. Other than that, if you kill the secondary Ice Climber, their rating skyrockets to 10/10 for obvious reasons. Otherwise, their Up+B has good knockback, an unpredictable hitbox, and launches them 500 feet into the air; don't underestimate this move.
Ike: 10/10: Okay, if he's charging a QD above and at an angle, you can sometimes jump right in front of him to interrupt it and watch him fall to his death; use this tactic at your own risk, obviously. If Ike is vertically right below the ledge, DO NOT try to jump off and engage due to what is known as Aether Super Armor. He's more or less invincible when he's recovering and WILL grab the ledge; his Up+B has good vertical range. In addition, if you jump off and get caught in the spiraling sword, he may not grab the ledge, but you're going down with him; you could sometimes use this to your advantage. If he's down and at an angle, just sit back and watch him desperately press Up+B to no effect. To put him at the magical spot, jump out with a fair or nair to watch his Aether drag him down to a premature death.
Jigglypuff: 3/10: The first character that it might be smarter to edgeguard rather than jump off and engage. WoP means stay away from her when she's off the stage. You'd think that without an Up+B recovery, Jigglypuff would be easy to gimp, but Side+Bs in between jumps means your only recourse is to try a spike, but her quick aerials will probably dissuade you. Good thing she's light though; so you can usually hit her with a bair to kill her OR alternatively pull out a Shieldbreaker once in a while to sometimes score a free stock taking advantage of the Jigglypuff's shield-breaking phenomenon.
King Dedede: 5/10: King Dedede is nothing if not a very complicated character to try to gimp: if he's pretty far off the stage, a spike, double fair, or nair means he'll run out of jumps and Up+B to his death, but if he's pretty close, a skilled Dedede will counter your gimping with an Up+B, which grants him (like Ike) Super Armor. At this point, concede defeat and prepare for a long, exhausting battle on the stage. Also, DO NOT TRY TO EDGEHOG KING DEDEDE IF YOU VALUE YOUR CURRENT STOCK AND DON'T HAVE INVINCIBILITY FRAMES. DON'T DO IT. HIS UP+B WILL SPIKE YOU AND HE WILL LAUGH AT YOU. Feel free to edgehog if you're at 240% and he's at 10% or if it's his last stock or if you're good at invincibility frames though. He's also pretty easy to spike during his air jumps.
Kirby: 5/10: Kirby's an interesting character to fight aerially because his fair is extremely powerful and sometimes outranges yours. Just like Jigglypuff, fair in between jumps makes him hard to approach, but a well-timed spike means he dies. Because his Up+B hits twice, it's really hard to edgehog Kirby, which is why he gets a 5/10. Your invincibility frames *won't* save you, so be careful. It's pretty common that both of you will die if you try to edgehog him: he might not grab the ledge, but he'll drag you down with him.
Link: 7/10: He's easy to edgehog, but if he's not far off the stage, his tether recovery is hard to gimp unless you time it well. He jumps high and has a damaging Up+B that may stagespike a dangling Marth; use invincibility frames to avoid this and make him miss the edge for a quick stock.
Lucario: 8/10: Uhhh, basically just engage this Pokemon offstage aggressively, using fairs and nairs to try to put him down and at an angle. Then grab the ledge and chill; watch his Up+B, hit you and harmlessly bounce off, eliciting a scream of frustration from the Lucario player. Yeah. His Up+B really has no way to displace you if you're dangling, regardless of invincibility frames. J4pu mentions, however, as a quick word of caution that on stages such as Final Destination that have a edge-lip, a skilled Lucario can and will Up+B to a wall-sit and possibly chain that into some aerials that are powerful and deadly. That's something to watch out for as I mentioned on Final Destination and similar stages, but it's worth mentioning.
Lucas: 8/10: Good thing Lucas' fair is nothing compared to Ness'; just go ahead and try to knock him out as far as you can and then backdrop off to a bair when he's trying to PK-Thunder-recover. It's an easy kill, he can't stop the bair barrage that destroys his recovery. Don't get hit by Lucas if he successfully hits himself with PK-Thunder, however. It does like 30% and can kill at like 80%, so watch out. He might tether at low percents (pathetic range), so watch for that.
Luigi: 7/10: Luigi dies (like many characters) if he's down and at an angle. Up and at an angle means Green Cannon and directly downwards, he might sweetspot you with his Jump Punch. Careful of that; that's 25% and a kill at like 40%. Otherwise, he's easy to edgehog IF he's far away. If he's close, make sure to use invincibility frames to avoid the sweetspot of his Up+B. Also, if he's up and at an angle, you can sometimes jump in the way of his Side+B recovery to interrupt it. Use at your own risk, obviously, but it's worth mentioning.
Mario: 5/10: He's much the same off the stage as Luigi, but his higher rating is due to his very, very defensively minded Side+B Cape. This means he can recover from up and at an angle, down and at an angle, and directly downwards. His Side+B might flip you around, so try to outrange it. Other than that, he's even easier to edgehog than his brother, so just watch out for the flash of yellow that means he's caping.
Marth: 5/10: His quick and powerful fair (I don't need to tell you guys about it, right?) can repel yours, so be ready to clank alot. Up and at an angle, Marth might try to Shieldbreaker recovery, but it's pretty easy to predict (you'll both see it coming and know where he'll land.) Airdodge and fair, jump and uair, or predict and U-Smash to combat this. His Up+B could stagespike you, but if he misuses it, it's an easy edgehog. He repels you well, but if you get the edge on him, he's not getting to the edge.
Meta Knight: 5/10: Why such a low rating? Isn't Metaknight INCREDIBLY difficult to gimp? The simple reason that when's he's flapping his wings and fairing to get back on the stage, your backdropped bair will knock him off screen more often than not. Other than that, he has three recovery options, so he's a bit unpredictable. His Down+B means you get back onto the stage and C-Stick a downsmash. His Side+B means you get back on the stage and tip an f-smash. His Up+B means you make use of invincibility frames to avoid a stagespike. Overall, he's probably easier to kill on the stage (he's really light) then to gimp, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't jump off and engage to rack up some percents.
Mr. Game & Watch: 4/10: His laggy but insanely powerful aerials might spell out death for you and his Up+B will more often than not get back on stage even from down and at an angle. Even if he doesn't, he's incredibly difficult to edgehog because of his parachute thing doing damage. He'll usually recover, which is pretty bad news for Marth. Try to kill him by other means; he's not that hard to spike.
Ness: 7/10: He gets one more point than his friend, Lucas, because of his extremely long-ranged, quick, and powerful fair that will outrange you and might stop you from recovering. Other than that, see Lucas (except Ness can't tether.) Yeah, his recovery takes forever to start up, so backdrop a bair to kill him. Again, watch out for the actual damage from his recovery; it's huge.
Olimar: 10/10: Dude. What were they thinking when they made Olimar's recovery? Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this. The only thing is that his Up+B "recovery" (if you can even call it that) might stagespike you if he's got max Pikmin, but it's not hard to cancel. Just edgehog him; unless he PERFECTLY places his Up+B recovery, he's not grabbing that edge.
Peach: 3/10: Her tendency to float and her powerful aerials make her hard to approach off stage. Her insanely horizontal Up+B sometimes might be inadequate for severely down and at an angle, but she's hard to edgehog. Her umbrella will keep knocking you off the ledge and she'll usually recover. Her umbrella makes her hard to spike too, but when she's floating around in midair, she's semi-vulnerable to a spike sometimes (obviously, the better the Peach, the harder it is to spike her.)
Pikachu: 8/10: Yeah, his bair might kill you, but usually, his Up+B puts him above the ledge so he can fall and grab it. Yes, this means edgehog. Not much to say about Pikachu actually except be sure to gimp him to avoid his incredible edgeguarding game (D-smash and Down+B.)
Pit: 5/10: Yes, I know. His recovery is good. Very good. The reason his rating is thus, however, is because eventually he runs out of jumps and recoveries if you're persistent in fairing or bairing him off the ledge. You can't really edgehog him unless he was really far down, so watch out for that. Also, when he's flapping around, a carefully timed spike will mean the end of old Pit. So, in conclusion, Pit's hard to gimp, but really not as hard as everyone says.
Pokemon Trainer - Charizard: 7/10: He glides, but he's a huge target that is vulnerable to fairs and nairs. His recovery sucks and is pretty easy to edgehog given invincibility frames. In the right hands, he's a recovery-beast, but even his gliding can be countered by spaced fairs and nairs.
Pokemon Trainer - Ivysaur: 10/10: Knock him down and at an angle, grab the ledge, and watch his Up+B whiff.
Pokemon Trainer - Squirtle: 5/10: The hardest of the three (obviously) to gimp. His Up+B is pretty easy to edgehog with invincibility frames, so usually go for that. His quick fair and bair though make him hard to approach. Like most characters, down and at an angle might mean an edgehog or a failed recovery for Squirtle.
R.O.B: 5/10: About the same difficulty as gimping Pit. His jumps and his Up+B can run out pretty quickly if you jump off and spam fair. Careful though, he might footstool and spike you if you leave yourself open.
Samus: 7/10: She tethers often at low percents and has an Up+B that's murder if you're dangling. The obvious answer is to grab some invincibility frames and make her Up+B whiff, thus ensuring she'll fall to her death. Her uair and her nair are good at repelling you though, especially if you approach slightly from above.
Samus - Zero Suit Samus: 8/10: Actually, I'm not too sure about Zero Suit Samus, but it seems to me as though her two recovery options make her a little less predictable to gimp. I'm not really sure how her Up+B works regarding a dangling character, but both of her recoveries kind of have pitiful range.
Snake: 3/10: Bomb jump and an insane recovery means Snake is a character that will most often recover. Try to counter this by aggressively aerialing his floating body to see if you can knock him low enough so that neither technique can save him.
Sonic: 2/10: Sonic always recovers. Always. His Neutral+B can sometimes be taken advantage of by jumping off and airdodging so that he whiffs, but then his Up+B will save him regardless. Those two moves combined (Neutral and Up+B) and the weird quality that he has of refusing to be edgehogged by jumping or something (you know that quality) mean Sonic is hard to gimp. The only salvation you have is bairing his charge-up time on his Neutral+B, but it's hard as hell to time. The Sonic can choose whether to cancel (speed it up) or not cancel (slow it down) so you always, always, always, always get hit. That's the ultimate mindgame, and be prepared for advanced Sonic players to use it.
Toon Link: 6/10: Regardless of the fact that Toon Link is an excellent gimper himself, he's pretty easy to stop from recovering. His tether recovery has pretty short range and his Up+B is just as easy to edgehog as Link's. Just be careful of his quick and powerful aerials and his ability to avoid being spiked (and his ability to spike you) and you should be fine (and up a stock.)
Wario: 3/10: Wario's recovery is, in a word, amazing. His bike + Up+B means he's going to recover even at an angle and extremely down. His Up+B is hard to invincibility frame and is hard to DI out of; it hurts alot. The only reason he gets a 3 and not a 2 is that if he JUST lost a bike or the bike is still on the stage, he loses 80% of his recovery. A skilled Wario player will never let this happen, but just be aware of this.
Wolf: 7/10: Wolf's Up+B is easy to edgehog. When you're dangling, he'll either Up+B above you and miss the ledge OR Up+B right to you, kick you, and then die. Be sure to recover, and try to spam fair or nair to get him down and at an angle, and you'll find that gimping Wolf is infinitely easier than knocking him off-screen.
Yoshi: 3/10: Yoshi is HARD to gimp. His flutter jump's Super Armor means he doesn't get fazed by your strikes and his amazing ability to airdodge-recover means you need some serious hops to gimp him. His Up+B is also a mild recovery move that is hard to approach (it's a projectile after all.) It's weird that all these characters without a serious Up+B recovery are the hardest to gimp (excepting Olimar and Ivysaur of course.)
Zelda: 4/10: She jumps high and her Up+B recovery is impossible to predict. If she goes for the ledge and you're dangling, that's a stagespike if you're above 100%. Be careful of this and try to attack her on the startup lag for her Up+B; that's the time that she's the most vulnerable. If you succeed in doing this (and you most often will,) she'll either be unfazed or tumble to her death, depending on how hurt she is. It's kind of difficult to edgehog her, like I mentioned, unless she teleports above the ledge and tries to grab it. At that point, grab the ledge and get ready for her next stock.
Zelda - Sheik: 7/10: Sheik's inability to float like Zelda and her shorter and more predictable Up+B (it goes in a straight line) means she's pretty easy to gimp. Be careful of her strong aerials and the lack of startup lag on her Up+B though. Again, just like for Zelda, it's hard to edgehog her because she might knock you off. All in all, just go for her aggressively and try to put her down and at an angle.
And that's my first guide ever. Let me know what you think (I'm expecting a flood of "This is useless on Delfino Plaza" but whatevs.) It was fun to write and I think it'll help alot of people. Leave feedback and discuss or whatnot if you want.
Torn
