Advice fighting a skilled squirtle

[Katara]

As Lucario I seem to have a lot of trouble against my buddies squirtle. Any tips or tricks specific to this matchup? Or any tips just fighting squirtle in general?

 

[SwiftOfDaSouth]

**** him right in the *****

 

[StriderZero]

If I were you, I wouldn't give your buddy much space and limit his options. Squirtles constantly move, and you want to try to block him from moving around much. Also, I wouldn't shield much against a squirtle since they can deal shield pressure, you also want to move and space his attacks. That's pretty much all I got for Squirtle.

 

[Mean Green]

As Lucario I seem to have a lot of trouble against my buddies squirtle. Any tips or tricks specific to this matchup? Or any tips just fighting squirtle in general?

Well if you say he's a skilled squirtle he's probably moves all over the place. Well you just sit tight and keep your eyes locked on him so you won't fall for anything. Jump on every opportunity he gives you to grab, or use some aerial that suits the situation. I wouldn't commit to ground combos unless he's very clearly leaving himself open in range. And even then I'd probably want to get squirtle off the ground. Lucario's hitboxes have some surprisingly decent range esp over squirtle.

Unless the character has a teleport they're not really unpredictable. If you're patient and observant enough, you'll catch on to every single thing he does. Especially if you test out squirtle for yourself to get a first hand idea of what he's capable of. The most important thing in (brawl and PM) I'd say is total awareness.

 

[SwiftOfDaSouth]

Well if you say he's a skilled squirtle he's probably moves all over the place. Well you just sit tight and keep your eyes locked on him so you won't fall for anything. Jump on every opportunity he gives you to grab, or use some aerial that suits the situation. I wouldn't commit to ground combos unless he's very clearly leaving himself open in range. And even then I'd probably want to get squirtle off the ground. Lucario's hitboxes have some surprisingly decent range esp over squirtle.

Unless the character has a teleport they're not really unpredictable. If you're patient and observant enough, you'll catch on to every single thing he does. Especially if you test out squirtle for yourself to get a first hand idea of what he's capable of. The most important thing in (brawl and PM) I'd say is total awareness.

This is what I would have said, had I not been really tired and done with the day. So basically, yeah. If he likes to spam Side B, punish him with a SH Dair. DD around to draw him in and be weary of that stupid bubble -> Upsmash crap. Utelize the magic series to get fast damage and then keep him off the stage. Edgeguarding that Surf/Waterfall whatever revovery can be a little trick at first, but you'll get the hang of it.

 

[Darkgun]

Whew. I used to play this matchup a bunch until recently. Let's see what I can come up with here.

If Squirtle uses Withdraw in neutral, you've practically won the exchange. The move is easy enough to grab or pivot grab(the easier of the two, mind you), SH dair, or if it happens to connect with your shield you are safe to either retaliate with an aerial (on perfect shield with super tight timing this is nearly a perfect followup), or block the usual bair/withdraw shield pressure.

Do not crouch cancel. Like... at all. In most cases, you can more easily DI his attacks to force techs and get away safer. Lucario, to my knowledge, cannot punish Squirtle's dtilt on shield, though dsmash can be shield grabbed.

Speaking of dsmash, hold to one side up until the last hit, then DI the last hit [only] across Squirtle. Successfully doing this will force you across and out at a low angle for a tech. Failing this will send you straight up and give Squirtle a free followup. Dsmash cannot be spot dodged, punishes a roll across, in instances in which it is used for tech chasing punishes tech neutral and in many cases tech towards.

Thanks to a techs known as shell shifting(DDing using dash turnaround) and hydroplaning(sliding out of dash turnaround), Squirtle can cross the stage while charging/using smashes. A popular kill move is SS>usmash. Watch for the dash turnaround away, if your opponent is preferential towards this trick. It is also nice to note that Squirtle can also... O.K, let's see... it's dash turnaround jump cancel usmash (we nicknamed it SLACUS, since it reminds us of a DACUS, but is kind of lazier, and rolls off the tongue better than something like [h?]SSJCUS), so that's a surprise to watch out for. Oh, and there's a hitbox on the dash turnaround that pulls you in front of Squirtle for a followup. It isn't too hard to tech, though if you get clipped with it while recovering it will almost always stage spike unless you are too high when recovering.

Squirtle's fthrow and dthrow are DI mixups of one another. Down+away will save you from fthrow (forces a tech opportunity), and up+towards will give you the highest angle for dthrow (a kill move). Note, however that if you DI either one wrong at a higher percents, Squirtle will probably take the stock, and most of the time the two throws come out too fast to DI on reaction. Speaking of DI mixups, fair and uair are also DI mixups of one another, and due to their positioning and speed you will almost always have to guess which one they're using.

There is armor present on...

• dsmash
• fsmash (most)
• nair
• withdraw (least)
• dash turnaround (least)

Footstool aerial Withdraw. Laugh.

 

[SwiftOfDaSouth]

O.K, let's see... it's dash turnaround jump cancel usmash (we nicknamed it SLACUS, since it reminds us of a DACUS, but is kind of lazier, and rolls off the tongue better than something like [h?]SSJCUS), so that's a surprise to watch out for.

OML SLACUS #new meta

I love it