This was originally posted in the 'worst character' thread... I wrote this earlier to defend bowser from those people calling him 'slow' or 'unusable' or whatever else they could think of, accusing him of being the sole 'worst character in the game'...
I find this to be insulting and disgusting to the King of Koopas. So I wrote this in his defense. Enjoy.
we are not about to be insulting bowser and calling him the worst character while I'M AROUND.
it simply WILL NOT HAPPEN.
First off let me say that bowser is NOT slow, he is laggy, there is a HUGE difference. most all of bowsers moves (that you will be using) are fast, one move in particular is lighting fast, but i'll get into the details later.
Bowser is an overwhelming powerhouse, there is no defense he cannot beat, he should be an overwhelming offensive assault, he also comes complete with combo breakers both in the air and on the ground to keep him safe. he has high priority, invincibility frames on many attacks (mostly 'shell' attacks) hes quick, albiet laggy. He also is very heavy, making him able to survive for surprising amounts of time. Lets get into the specifics shall we?
Tilts
Bowser's tilts are some of the best in the game, anyone who has faced a bowser has a fear of the knuckle. but its not just that tilt thats good, sure the ftilt is one of hte best edgeguarding tools there is, but the utilt is known to get 70% OVER THE TOP kills. it stops nearly any kind of attack from above. Dtilt can nail sweetspotters and has huge range, not to mention huge damage and knockback. Bowser's tilts also come out fast, his utilt comes out as fast as his jab, which is just as fast as everyone elses jab. his ftilt is surprising because of its overwhelming range power and speed, a wavelanded ftilt has ludicrous range and is very hard to fight against. dtilt is a great edgeguarding tactic, hitting sweetspotters even. though it is a strange move to land perhaps. but thats easily overcome. bowsers tilts = fast and dangerous, much as he himself is.
good tilts -ftilt, utilt, dtilt
bad tilts- N/A
Arials
bowser's bread and butter, as everyone knows, is his fair. HUGE range, HUGE knockback, great damage, VERY fast, low lag. (yes i said low) some people may suggest that you can simply shieldgrab any attempt at a fair bowser does. This is simply untrue, if spaced correctly (most) chars cannot reach far enough with their grab fast enough to get a hold of him. bowser's fair is great in that its basically doing a VERY fast SMASH ATTACK in the air. Bowser can do two FULL JUMPS off the stage, fair somebody, and still return. no character can survive that even with proper DI at such a distance where it would require two full jumps. I have ONLY discussed the fair so far. Bowser's bair is even more deadly than the fair because of its semi-spiking properties. again, it has HUGE range. while not fast compared to his fair, it is still plenty quick. some people complain about the lag, an l cancelled bair doesn't have very much lag, perhaps compared to a few moves it could be called 'laggy' but other characters deal with this kind of lag all the time and they get off fine, as does bowser. after an arial i fyou think your in danger you have VERY VERY fast options as well. Bowsers nair is faster than his fair, hits all around him, has great knockback, can be used against spotdodgers because it lasts so long, and has very little lag. a useful 'get off me' move in the air, as well as a nice tech chasing tactic. do not underestimate this move. bowsers uair, windUP lag is existant, though its still easy enough to aim. play any good bowser, you WILL get hit with this move, and you most likely WILL die from it. VERY powerful, it can also hit you while your standing on the ground if you sh it strait at them. the dair, unfortunately does not have the same kind of properties or uses of his other arials. It does about 30% damage, youd think that would be pretty useful, and with its little bit of breathing room konckback at the end you m ight think it would make a decent setup... DECENT perhaps, but why not get them off the edge then edgeguard them?
Good arials- fair, nair, bair, uair
bad arials- dair
Smashes
bowser's smash attacks are something he is famous for. they represent what most people think of bowser, VERY strong, but quite 'slow'. to be honest, the speed of said smash attacks shouldn't be an issue, as you will simply NOT be throwing these moves about randomly waiting to be punished for them. You're fsmash will be primarily used as an edgeguard, and can be used for tech chasing. his dsmash is great for techchasing, spot dodgers, and edgeguarding, his usmash will decimate an arial assualt by our prioritizing it. all of said smashes have invincibilty frames, ridiculous priority, ludicrous damage and knockback. fsmash is a disjointed hitbox with great range as well as potential 'dodging' properties as he rears back before he does the move. the dsmash has incredible priority, will 'suck you in' so that all of the hits connect, and will throw you hard and far. the usmash's priority simply cannot be beatten from above. it will not be hit through if timed right by ANY arial. link's dair = NO PROBLEM for a bowser thats expecting it.
Special Moves
bowser's special moves are also very useful moves, his firebreath (though most only think of it as an edgeguarding tactic) can be used to stop those irritating spotdodgers, can deal great damage and is a nice setup for a ftilt to the face, NOT TO MENTION the flame canceling, available in only the first versions of the game. Flame canceling gives boozer ZERO start up time on his firebreath, making for a very surprising attack! the klaw is one of hte most useful moves in the game PERIOD. NO other character has the ability to grab an opponent from teh air. say goodbye to shieldgrabbers, this move will completely own them. you can chain the fthrow out of a klaw on ff'ers (VERY flashy move to say the least
) and if they di to far, you can simply fair them, a great setup indeed. also, bowser's klaw bthrow has AMAZING knockback, it will kill early. also, every bite out of the klaw does a significant amount of damage. The bowser bomb. strong. VERRRRRRRYYYY laggy. useful to get on the edge and perhaps for turnip recoveries (thanks cape ) but thats about it. but an edge cancelled bomb is useful because you have all that damage and ZERO lag. very useful indeed, but its really nothting to be all that proud of. the other move i'll get to later
Good specials- klaw, flame
bad special - bomb
Grabs
no bowser would be complete without a nice fine set of grabs and throws. his throws do great damage, add in your little headbutts and they will be hurting. bowser's dthrow is his most useful throw by a fair amount. the dthrow sets up for a fair on those who may be 'floatier' than others, and for the normal/heavyweight chars, it opens him up for tech chasing, they tech away, you grab again, they tech towards, you get a free smash attack. bowsers grab range (on his DG of course) is VRY VERY high, though the lag is quite high, you shouldn't be randomly throwing grabs out just as smash attacks, you should grab when you know you will land them. bowser's f and b throw are useful to get the opponent off the edge and open up the opponent to some nice edgeguarding. the uthrow can be CHAINED on the fast fallers, a VERY useful advantage indeed.
good throws - fthrow, bthrow, uthrow, dthrow
bad throws - N/A
Edgeguards
bowser's edgegame pwns. period. ftilt, dtilt, fsmash, dsmash, fair, bair, uair (if they are high of course) flame breath, <100% edge attack setup... he is pretty much built to edgeguard. example. your bowser, your fighting a falco, you get an fthrow off the edge to him at 30%. he is dead. (against a good bowser of coruse) NO exceptions PERIOD. the same is true for a LOT of characters. all of his edgeguards have AMAZING knockback and will kill if landed, and its not hard to land. bowser doesn't have to just sit on the edge and guard either, as i said earlier, he can do TWO FULL JUMPS out and nail the enemy with an arial, and still make it back to the edge. smash attacks that far off the edge kill, and you might as well call his arials very fast smash attacks. his tilts are unreal and amazing (obviosuly) his <100% off the edge attack is one of hte best setups for an fsmash i've ever seen. if they try to sweetspot, they die, if they go over, they get hit by your <100% attack , then you nail them, and they die.
Defense Destroyers
one of the best things about bowser is that he can stop ANY defense. against spotdodgers you can non ff a nair on them, or you can use flame breath to make htem regret spotdodging, limiting their defensive options. against a shieldgrabber you can simply drop a klaw on them, or nair and land behind them, tehn you can ftilt or do whatever you want. the klaw will make them SERIOUSLY regret shield grabbing when you land it. again, limiting their defensive options. if they chose to have an offensive barrage as their defense, you can outrange or out prioritize almost ANY other chars offensive arials.
The Fortress
did it occur to anyone that i wrote that whole thing up there without even typing the word 'fortress'? bowser's up b is THE BEST up b in the game, as well as the 2nd best move in the game. it is the 2nd fastest move in the game next to a shine at only 4 frames. it has HUGE damage (30% in the air), gets low % kills, breaks combos, is highly mobile, has an INITIAL RANGE that is larger than the hitbox for link's upb IIRC. it also has invincibliity frames and high priority. htis move will 'ting' with a lot of other moves, and at 4 frames, you can get off anotehr one faster than they can get their move off again. this move, simply put, is amazing. nobody can deny shieldfortressing has got to be one of the best tactics there is. Now if we include the edge cancelled fortressing it gets EVEN BETTER. When you think of all of the positives of the fortress then add the words ZERO LAG to the end of it, its a whole new level of awesome. you can edge cancel a fortress on any stage, great for comboing, escape, edgehogs you name it, it does it pretty much. once you've edge canceled your open to do any number of things, ledgehopped arials, klaw, firebreath, you can do your <100% ledge attack to give yourself some space... its just unreal.
NOW, dont get my wrong, i'm not saying bowser is amazing. hes big, hes heavy. one of the most easily combo'd characters in the game (thank GOD he has moves that break combos) bowser is FAR better than most people think, as he IS a slow character at an average level. Once you play a fast bowser you will understand how he is greater than most people htink, he is also countered by many high tiers or at a disadvantage at least (though he does VERY well vs fox's as he has a move to compete with his shine) Bowser is also (fairly) easy to edgeguard once you know how to do it. So I’m not saying he should be top tier, or upper tier, or high tier, or anything like that. I like him being low, makes you feel better when you win doesn’t it?
Anyways... thats my 'bowser is not 't3h suck' essay. IMO mewtwo is the worst in the game, he has all of bowser's drawbacks, but is light, so he dies at low % unlike bowser. Pichu is better than mewtwo because he at least has speed.(I would write another big thing on that but… well I care more about Bowser than ‘why mewtwo is worse than pichu’ lol
Thanks for reading... if you read all of that of course
Bowser FTW.
Edit: added a SMALL sentance about flame cancel
BOOZER = TOP TIER!
I find this to be insulting and disgusting to the King of Koopas. So I wrote this in his defense. Enjoy.
we are not about to be insulting bowser and calling him the worst character while I'M AROUND.
it simply WILL NOT HAPPEN.
First off let me say that bowser is NOT slow, he is laggy, there is a HUGE difference. most all of bowsers moves (that you will be using) are fast, one move in particular is lighting fast, but i'll get into the details later.
Bowser is an overwhelming powerhouse, there is no defense he cannot beat, he should be an overwhelming offensive assault, he also comes complete with combo breakers both in the air and on the ground to keep him safe. he has high priority, invincibility frames on many attacks (mostly 'shell' attacks) hes quick, albiet laggy. He also is very heavy, making him able to survive for surprising amounts of time. Lets get into the specifics shall we?
Tilts
Bowser's tilts are some of the best in the game, anyone who has faced a bowser has a fear of the knuckle. but its not just that tilt thats good, sure the ftilt is one of hte best edgeguarding tools there is, but the utilt is known to get 70% OVER THE TOP kills. it stops nearly any kind of attack from above. Dtilt can nail sweetspotters and has huge range, not to mention huge damage and knockback. Bowser's tilts also come out fast, his utilt comes out as fast as his jab, which is just as fast as everyone elses jab. his ftilt is surprising because of its overwhelming range power and speed, a wavelanded ftilt has ludicrous range and is very hard to fight against. dtilt is a great edgeguarding tactic, hitting sweetspotters even. though it is a strange move to land perhaps. but thats easily overcome. bowsers tilts = fast and dangerous, much as he himself is.
good tilts -ftilt, utilt, dtilt
bad tilts- N/A
Arials
bowser's bread and butter, as everyone knows, is his fair. HUGE range, HUGE knockback, great damage, VERY fast, low lag. (yes i said low) some people may suggest that you can simply shieldgrab any attempt at a fair bowser does. This is simply untrue, if spaced correctly (most) chars cannot reach far enough with their grab fast enough to get a hold of him. bowser's fair is great in that its basically doing a VERY fast SMASH ATTACK in the air. Bowser can do two FULL JUMPS off the stage, fair somebody, and still return. no character can survive that even with proper DI at such a distance where it would require two full jumps. I have ONLY discussed the fair so far. Bowser's bair is even more deadly than the fair because of its semi-spiking properties. again, it has HUGE range. while not fast compared to his fair, it is still plenty quick. some people complain about the lag, an l cancelled bair doesn't have very much lag, perhaps compared to a few moves it could be called 'laggy' but other characters deal with this kind of lag all the time and they get off fine, as does bowser. after an arial i fyou think your in danger you have VERY VERY fast options as well. Bowsers nair is faster than his fair, hits all around him, has great knockback, can be used against spotdodgers because it lasts so long, and has very little lag. a useful 'get off me' move in the air, as well as a nice tech chasing tactic. do not underestimate this move. bowsers uair, windUP lag is existant, though its still easy enough to aim. play any good bowser, you WILL get hit with this move, and you most likely WILL die from it. VERY powerful, it can also hit you while your standing on the ground if you sh it strait at them. the dair, unfortunately does not have the same kind of properties or uses of his other arials. It does about 30% damage, youd think that would be pretty useful, and with its little bit of breathing room konckback at the end you m ight think it would make a decent setup... DECENT perhaps, but why not get them off the edge then edgeguard them?
Good arials- fair, nair, bair, uair
bad arials- dair
Smashes
bowser's smash attacks are something he is famous for. they represent what most people think of bowser, VERY strong, but quite 'slow'. to be honest, the speed of said smash attacks shouldn't be an issue, as you will simply NOT be throwing these moves about randomly waiting to be punished for them. You're fsmash will be primarily used as an edgeguard, and can be used for tech chasing. his dsmash is great for techchasing, spot dodgers, and edgeguarding, his usmash will decimate an arial assualt by our prioritizing it. all of said smashes have invincibilty frames, ridiculous priority, ludicrous damage and knockback. fsmash is a disjointed hitbox with great range as well as potential 'dodging' properties as he rears back before he does the move. the dsmash has incredible priority, will 'suck you in' so that all of the hits connect, and will throw you hard and far. the usmash's priority simply cannot be beatten from above. it will not be hit through if timed right by ANY arial. link's dair = NO PROBLEM for a bowser thats expecting it.
Special Moves
bowser's special moves are also very useful moves, his firebreath (though most only think of it as an edgeguarding tactic) can be used to stop those irritating spotdodgers, can deal great damage and is a nice setup for a ftilt to the face, NOT TO MENTION the flame canceling, available in only the first versions of the game. Flame canceling gives boozer ZERO start up time on his firebreath, making for a very surprising attack! the klaw is one of hte most useful moves in the game PERIOD. NO other character has the ability to grab an opponent from teh air. say goodbye to shieldgrabbers, this move will completely own them. you can chain the fthrow out of a klaw on ff'ers (VERY flashy move to say the least
) and if they di to far, you can simply fair them, a great setup indeed. also, bowser's klaw bthrow has AMAZING knockback, it will kill early. also, every bite out of the klaw does a significant amount of damage. The bowser bomb. strong. VERRRRRRRYYYY laggy. useful to get on the edge and perhaps for turnip recoveries (thanks cape ) but thats about it. but an edge cancelled bomb is useful because you have all that damage and ZERO lag. very useful indeed, but its really nothting to be all that proud of. the other move i'll get to later Good specials- klaw, flame
bad special - bomb
Grabs
no bowser would be complete without a nice fine set of grabs and throws. his throws do great damage, add in your little headbutts and they will be hurting. bowser's dthrow is his most useful throw by a fair amount. the dthrow sets up for a fair on those who may be 'floatier' than others, and for the normal/heavyweight chars, it opens him up for tech chasing, they tech away, you grab again, they tech towards, you get a free smash attack. bowsers grab range (on his DG of course) is VRY VERY high, though the lag is quite high, you shouldn't be randomly throwing grabs out just as smash attacks, you should grab when you know you will land them. bowser's f and b throw are useful to get the opponent off the edge and open up the opponent to some nice edgeguarding. the uthrow can be CHAINED on the fast fallers, a VERY useful advantage indeed.
good throws - fthrow, bthrow, uthrow, dthrow
bad throws - N/A
Edgeguards
bowser's edgegame pwns. period. ftilt, dtilt, fsmash, dsmash, fair, bair, uair (if they are high of course) flame breath, <100% edge attack setup... he is pretty much built to edgeguard. example. your bowser, your fighting a falco, you get an fthrow off the edge to him at 30%. he is dead. (against a good bowser of coruse) NO exceptions PERIOD. the same is true for a LOT of characters. all of his edgeguards have AMAZING knockback and will kill if landed, and its not hard to land. bowser doesn't have to just sit on the edge and guard either, as i said earlier, he can do TWO FULL JUMPS out and nail the enemy with an arial, and still make it back to the edge. smash attacks that far off the edge kill, and you might as well call his arials very fast smash attacks. his tilts are unreal and amazing (obviosuly) his <100% off the edge attack is one of hte best setups for an fsmash i've ever seen. if they try to sweetspot, they die, if they go over, they get hit by your <100% attack , then you nail them, and they die.
Defense Destroyers
one of the best things about bowser is that he can stop ANY defense. against spotdodgers you can non ff a nair on them, or you can use flame breath to make htem regret spotdodging, limiting their defensive options. against a shieldgrabber you can simply drop a klaw on them, or nair and land behind them, tehn you can ftilt or do whatever you want. the klaw will make them SERIOUSLY regret shield grabbing when you land it. again, limiting their defensive options. if they chose to have an offensive barrage as their defense, you can outrange or out prioritize almost ANY other chars offensive arials.
The Fortress
did it occur to anyone that i wrote that whole thing up there without even typing the word 'fortress'? bowser's up b is THE BEST up b in the game, as well as the 2nd best move in the game. it is the 2nd fastest move in the game next to a shine at only 4 frames. it has HUGE damage (30% in the air), gets low % kills, breaks combos, is highly mobile, has an INITIAL RANGE that is larger than the hitbox for link's upb IIRC. it also has invincibliity frames and high priority. htis move will 'ting' with a lot of other moves, and at 4 frames, you can get off anotehr one faster than they can get their move off again. this move, simply put, is amazing. nobody can deny shieldfortressing has got to be one of the best tactics there is. Now if we include the edge cancelled fortressing it gets EVEN BETTER. When you think of all of the positives of the fortress then add the words ZERO LAG to the end of it, its a whole new level of awesome. you can edge cancel a fortress on any stage, great for comboing, escape, edgehogs you name it, it does it pretty much. once you've edge canceled your open to do any number of things, ledgehopped arials, klaw, firebreath, you can do your <100% ledge attack to give yourself some space... its just unreal.
NOW, dont get my wrong, i'm not saying bowser is amazing. hes big, hes heavy. one of the most easily combo'd characters in the game (thank GOD he has moves that break combos) bowser is FAR better than most people think, as he IS a slow character at an average level. Once you play a fast bowser you will understand how he is greater than most people htink, he is also countered by many high tiers or at a disadvantage at least (though he does VERY well vs fox's as he has a move to compete with his shine) Bowser is also (fairly) easy to edgeguard once you know how to do it. So I’m not saying he should be top tier, or upper tier, or high tier, or anything like that. I like him being low, makes you feel better when you win doesn’t it?
Anyways... thats my 'bowser is not 't3h suck' essay. IMO mewtwo is the worst in the game, he has all of bowser's drawbacks, but is light, so he dies at low % unlike bowser. Pichu is better than mewtwo because he at least has speed.(I would write another big thing on that but… well I care more about Bowser than ‘why mewtwo is worse than pichu’ lol
Thanks for reading... if you read all of that of course
Bowser FTW.
Edit: added a SMALL sentance about flame cancel
BOOZER = TOP TIER!
lol
