Meta Rosalina Match-Up Analysis R2 - Bowser Jr. (Koopalings)

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Rosalina Match-Up Analysis R2 - Bowser Jr. (Koopalings)

Welcome to the Rosalina vs. Bowser Jr. (Koopalings) match-up analysis thread. This thread will be used to analyze Rosalina's match-up against Bowser Jr. and the seven Koopalings; Larry Koopa, Roy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Lemmy Koopa, and Ludwig von Koopa. For all the rules on the round 2 match-up discussions, please refer to the directory thread.

Last Updated: 6/21/2015

Special Moves Allowed| |
Default only | | +1 - +1.5
Default + Custom | | +2.5

Spoiler: Score Inputs

Default only
divade: +1
Duck SMASH!: +1 - +2
Ridel: +1 - +2
vegeta18: +1

Default + Custom
Ridel: +3
vegeta18: +2

 

[Ridel]

From personal experience I'd say without customs it's either +1 or +2 in Rosa's favor. Rosa has such an easy time negating and even turning his Mechs against him which throws one of his best options out of the window. Rosa also has an easy time punishing whiffed Kart Dashes with her fast OOS U-Smash, though Jr does get lots of follow-ups off the dash if he lands it. Jr also doesn't have any safe way to kill Luma, So Luma will stick around for awhile if you don't send him into danger often. So with Mechs out of the question and Kart Dashes being relatively unsafe Rosa should have an easy time in neutral because Jr's main trait of stage control is completely negated. That being said, this match-up becomes even more favorable with customs on (+3 no doubt). With customs in consideration Rosa's Shooting Starbits side special can now completely stop any Kart Dashes long before they even reach you. Luma Warp can can force Jr to recover high so you can use Rosa's disjointed D-Air to gimp his Up-B. Even if the sourspot of D-Air connects it will still kill since the hit is light enough where the Clown Car won't respawn. The biggest thing that Rosa needs to be warry of is Jr's disjoints, kill options, and edge-guarding; mostly the edge-guarding though as the two former are easily avoidable if you use Rosa's defensive options to the fullest.

Customs: +3
Without Customs: +1 or +2 (honestly this comes down to player)

 

[vegeta18]

+2 with customs on and im probably gonna say +1 with customs off.

In general bowser jr has a really hard time getting in on rosalina, mecha koops is pretty much taken away from him with gravity pull, and with customs on, guardian luma is a good option because it defends rosa and still steals the koopa. Rosalina`s jab combo and nair shut down koopa car, and up air and up smash really shut down anything bowser jr can do from the air. Shooting star bits helps a lot in this matchup adding more pressure and zoning to her gameplay which can really frustrate bowser jr. However if bowser jr does manage to get rosalina off of the stage, he has good edge guarding tools with his up special, quick aerials, and on stage setups which can create mind games.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings are being analyzed again for this week. If you have anything to contribute for the match-up, especially in regards to the newest software update, this is the place to do it.

 

[divade]

Eh, well alright! I'd just sorta like to keep it moving I guess... Anyway:
Bowz June vs Rosalina
Vs Rosalina you gatta really amp up the pressure, try not to give her time to breathe. Mecha-koopas constantly, yeah she can throw them away easily, but that keeps her busy. Clown Kart in! Make sure to super short hop before doing so to be even faster (I think this is in the AT thread?) Now she's ganna be like "wait wait wait!" cause she wants to deal with this mechakoopa first.

Now, of course combo when you can, Bowz Jr has some great combos. But! When she pops out from good DI, being too light, or whatever else: Go for Luma. It'll likely be in the air. It can't do anything while it's falling, Rosalina will only get control again once it hits the ground. Jr can quickly and rather easily juggle it off stage with up-air and forward-air.

Now Rosalina is on her own. A good one will run away until Luma is back. If not, there's no Luma or star bits to fear, you're tools are much safer here, short hop nairs will be good, short hop fairs are disjointed enough to be safe. If they are smart and just tries to wait, Mechakoopas and Clown Kart are still great pressure and she'll havta run really well,dealing with your pretty strong stage control. They may want to go for a back-throw, so mind your disjointed hitboxes and don't get grabbed.

You can't gimp her (usually) but her recovery has no hitbox, so you can shove her off stage enough to prepare for a 50-50 situation. They'll either aim for the ledge or predict an edgeguard and try to go right over you onto the stage. Here, you just need to follow them with your eyes closely and react quick.

Other things - your up-b, dropping the clown car, can be pretty predictable and easy to shield, but Luma doesn't have a shield, so this can be a great tool to seperate them and kill Luma.
Landing can be tricky, Rosa's up air is pretty great, but Jr. is heavy enough to live longer and can usually air dodge and fast fall to a safe landing while Rosa kinda floats, she can't land as quick as Jr I believe.
Jr's Neutral B is pretty useless in this MU however, but if you see a unique opportunity - go for it.

I think this matchup is actually 55:45 for Jr. Or maybe just 50:50 even...
I've had my own trouble with Rosa, but after going all out with pressure and speeding up clown car, Rosa has a kinda tough time keeping up.

Anyone agree, disagree?

Yeah, I would settle on even, Rosa is a threat in the meta for sure, but against a very mobile, combo-heavy...and just heavy character like Jr... Rosa has a lot to deal with and can have trouble keeping up. I don't think I'm underestimating her, I have some experience with this matchup, but Jr is so good with mecha koopa + clown car approaches against more defensive characters and in my experience Rosa is great with dealing against rushdown and zoning, but both is a little too much for her. That's why I thought we'd have a slight advantage, but honestly good Rosa players can try to run from those situations and figure something else out. Can't run forever though!

Thanks for keeping the discussion going!

Before I explain anything, it's important to note that in the competitive scene, and assuming customs on, you should always be using 1112 for this matchup, emphasis on the x1x2. Down 2 (impatient mechakoopa) is critical in this MU because while the the other 2 down B variants can be stolen and thrown by gravitational pull, it is impossible for her to throw back impatient mech - it instead explodes at her feet if she pulls it in.

As with many MUs against Rosa, the trick is to kill Luma before you do anything else. Surprisingly, unlike some characters, we Junior players actually have a good set of tools for getting rid of the pudgy little star, thanks to our clown kart dash.

Depending on how shield-happy your opponent is, you can very easily drive in and attack the shield with drift - because Luma isn't protected by shield, this can often take it out in one go. If you have an opening to do a koopa kart combo, I've found that side b -> jump -> bair on Luma works at any percent and does well to get some space between Rosa and Luma. In some cases you can also do clown kart to up b and drop the explosion between them.

So what happens if you're unable to kart your way in because you're being pestered by Rosa holding jab or spacing you out with single starbit shot (the preferred side custom for this MU)? This is often where the impatient mech comes in, as it can launch as far or further than Rosa's custom side B. You can even punish the jab-holding with a charged koopa cannon in some cases. Most of the time, however, I tend to approach with a clown kart in the air and approach Rosa (not Luma) with a dair, then focus Luma while she's hit.

The last resort for killing Luma, typically only good if you've knocked Rosa offstage, is side smash. This can consistently launch it offstage from close to center stage at most levels of charge, and if it doesn't it may outright kill it because of damage dealt.

Once you get rid of Luma, the MU is like any other, and Rosa alone has very few ways to get an advantage. Just land your ground techs when fair gimped, mix up your recovery options to avoid getting meteored (going low and just doing abandon ship vs going high, etc), and nail those kart combos while you have the chance

With the right execution, I feel that this MU is slightly in Junior's favor with a ratio of 55:45. I hope this helps anyone having difficulty with the matchup, and of course add on/critique what does or doesn't belong!

I definitely think we can get rid of Luma better than most with so many explosions and Koopa kart usually needing to be shielded.

I collected our opinion on this matchup generally an even matchup I think.
EDIT: tried to clean my messy post.

 

[Sonsa]

Oh psh, sorry, I was pretty off on that. Fighting Ace's Rosa with my Bowser Jr feels kinda hopeless. Maybe I'm just bad, but Rosa doesn't have a hard time catching up haha, though it probably isn't as bad as people think. Be careful with recovering though... getting spiked (?) by Rosa's dinky down-air will stop side-b and she's fast enough to do another one to then ruin your up-b...

I dunno, I need to practice the MU more... Landing vs upair is also tough like with Villager, but fair and bair being disjoints instead of projectiles is nice. Hm...

 

[divade]

Oh psh, sorry, I was pretty off on that. Fighting Ace's Rosa with my Bowser Jr feels kinda hopeless. Maybe I'm just bad, but Rosa doesn't have a hard time catching up haha, though it probably isn't as bad as people think. Be careful with recovering though... getting spiked (?) by Rosa's dinky down-air will stop side-b and she's fast enough to do another one to then ruin your up-b...

I dunno, I need to practice the MU more... Landing vs upair is also tough like with Villager, but fair and bair being disjoints instead of projectiles is nice. Hm...

Oh I forgot it would notify the speakers.
Hey there and thanks for continued input.

 

[Duck SMASH!]

This MU still isn't in our favour. I'd give Rosalina +1 or 2 easily.
We haven't received significant buffs to anything, and neither has Rosalina from what I remember.
Our Up B is still easily gimped, we are still outranged, Rosalina's down B renders ours almost useless unless we have time to grab the MK, pick it up, and Z drop it for traps.
We can combo Rosalina at mid %s but her aerials are so good at covering all of the angles Jr would take. Your Uair can beat our Dair, and your Dair can easily outrange our Uair.
Stage control still means everything. The closer to the edge Rosalina is forced, the more likely Luma will die from stray hits and the less effective Rosalina is as a character. However, we don't have great stage control tools. Kart Dash is still one of our most important moves, and although it runs through Luma and Rosa's shield with relative safety, you can easily challenge it with Side B, Usmash, Ftilt, aerials, or even jab.

Rosalina wins hands down.

 

[divade]

I think it's bowJr (slight if not moderate) disadvatage, but I do want to agree we have can rid of luma than better than the average fighter. BowJr out spaces in side aerials right?

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

I think it's bowJr (at least slight) disadvatage, but I do want to agree we have a better time getting rid of luma then average. BowJr out spaces in side aerials right?

I'm a bit lost. Do you mean that Bowser Jr. is at a small disadvantage?

 

[divade]

I'm a bit lost. Do you mean that Bowser Jr. is at a small disadvantage?

Yes and I edited to be cleaner.