NarayanK
Smash Cadet
- Joined
- May 21, 2015
- Messages
- 26
Hello, I just want to list and post out some things I've seen and tried.
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Grab Setups
"Jab (1) -> Grab"
"Jab (2) -> Grab" (useful if opponent used double jump)
"D-Tilt -> Grab"
"Run -> Pivot Jab (1) -> Dash Grab"
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String Setups
"Jab (1) -> D-Tilt -> F-Air -> *Counter or Jolt Jaymaker" (decent vs light characters at medium percentages) (*: this part may not be used at all during string, especially if opponent usually tries to escape out of string)
"Jab (1 or 2) -> Rising Uppercut"
"B-Air -> *Jolt Haymaker" (*: on missed tech only)
"Jab (1) -> U-Smash"
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Combo Setups
"D-Tilt -> F-Air -> ???"
"D-Tilt -> F-Tilt" (may whiff vs some characters)
"D-Tilt (very close to opponent) -> U-Tilt"
"D-Tilt -> Pivot U-Tilt"
"D-Tilt -> Jolt Haymaker"
"D-Tilt -> Dash Attack"
"D-Tilt -> Jab Animation"
"D-Tilt -> Sour-Spot U-Smash"
"D-Tilt -> Grab -> D-Throw -> Rising Uppercut (upon missed DI)"
"N-Air -> Jab"
"Dash Attack -> KO Punch"
"Dash Attack -> F-Tilt"
"Dash Attack -> Sour-Spot U-Smash"
"Dash Attack -> F-Air"
"Dash Attack -> Jolt Haymaker"
"Dash Attack (near edge & close to opponent) -> Rising Uppercut" (the edge positions Mac for an Up B at low percentages)
"Dash Attack (near edge & close to opponent) -> U-Air"
"Dask Attack -> Dash Attack"
"Dash Attack -> Running Grab (preferably roll-cancelled grab) -> Pummel -> D-Throw -> KO Punch"
"U-Air (near ground) -> U-Tilt -> Rising Uppercut"
"U-Air (near ground) -> F-Tilt"
"U-Tilt -> U-Air"
"U-Tilt (backside) -> B-Air"
"U-Tilt (backside) -> F-Air"
"U-Tilt -> U-Tilt -> *Rising Uppercut" (on low percentages) (can combo into Rising Uppercut when opponent misses DI)
"U-Air (near ground) -> Jolt Haymaker"
"U-Air (near ground) -> Rising Uppercut"
"F-Smash (Up version) -> U-Tilt -> Rising Uppercut"
"F-Smash (Up version) -> Rising Uppercut"
"F-Smash (Down version) -> Run -> D-Air (near ground) -> Any Smash Attack" (upon missed tech)
"N-Air -> Footstool -> ...(repeat)... -> Rising Uppercut" (works better the bigger the opponent)
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Bait-Outs
"Run -> Jump Cancel F-Smash" (baits out grabs and can be charged a fair amount)
"Fox-Trot/Run -> Empty Hop -> *Fox-Trot/Run OR U-Smash/F-Smash" (baits out long grabs)
"Empty Hop -> Landing KO Punch"
"Shield -> Dodge -> D-Tilt"
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Recovery
- Jolt Haymaker
- Rising Uppercut
- "Wall Jump -> Rising Uppercut"
- "KO Punch -> Rising Uppercut"
- "KO Punch -> Jolt Haymaker" (from high angles)
- "Wall Jump -> Jolt Haymaker"
- "Tech Wall Jump -> Rising Uppercut / Jolt Haymaker" (prevents stage spike; stay AWAY from the platform so you have enough frames to tech from B-Airs and F-Airs alike, but position yourself away from D-Airs)
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KO Punches
KO Punch - Regular KO Punch. Moves forward and has similar hitboxes to an upsmash. It moves forward and shouldn't be used for its insanely short superarmor, but for hard reads.
Airborne KO Punch - Airborne KO Punch. Moves forward even in the air. Could be used for a last resort recovery, as well as a punish to those who get baited by empty hops. Kills around 150% against heavyweights well away from the ground.
Turning KO Punch - Mac turns around and KO Punches. Could be used with the back part of Down Smash to play mindgames with opponents.
D-Tilt KO Punch - Works at early percentages. Mac down-tilts and KO Punches. Works as long as the character isn't a flyweight (ie. Rosalina) that could DI out of it.
D-Tilt Airborne KO Punch - Works at most percentages before 50%. Mac down-tilts before jumping and doing an airborne KO Punch. Does not have much of a use other than racking up damage.
U-Tilt KO Punch - Mac up-tilts and KO Punches. Works best VS fast-fallers.
U-Tilt B-Reverse KO Punch - Mac hits the opponent with the backside of the uptilt before doing a B-Reversed KO Punch. Mostly hits at the very tip of the punch. Works best VS fast-fallers.
F-Air KO Punch - Best used when the opponent used their double jump. Mac forward-airs the opponent while moving forward low in the air before KO Punching, landing the KO Punch as he approaches the ground extremely closely.
B-Reverse KO Punch - Mac turns around and KO Punches. Key difference between this and a regular Turning KO Punch is that you can run while doing B-Reverse KO Punch, making it a very fast punish move in some cases.
Running KO Punch - A Jump Cancel KO Punch. Fast punish but could kill Mac if he does this near the edge and fumbles.
Gazelle Punch - A ledge getup KO Punch. Fastest edge punish Mac has. Mac cancels his jump-from-ledge animation into KO Punch. Performs grounded KO Punch when done correctly.
Landing KO Punch - Letting go of the ledge and jumping, Mac quickly KO Punches and uses his forward momentum to get him on the ground immediately. When timed correctly, Mac does a grounded KO Punch instead of an airborne KO Punch. An alternative to Gazelle Punch. Landing KO Punch can also simply be used by Mac when he is falling towards the ground and times his KO Punch correctly to initiate a grounded version of the move. Good for mindgames.
Platform KO Punch - Mac jumps and KO Punches, using his forward momentum to get on a platform without any grabbable ledges and punch opponents in his way. A good punish of the opponent misses techs in stages like Battlefield or Halberd.
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Random Mac Tips
-Bait characters with long, chain-like grabs (ie. Samus, Link, Pac-Man) by running up to them and jumping and punish via fast fall to a fast move Mac has.
-Don't roll towards people who get grabby- mix up roll-aways and spot-dodges to make yourself unpredictable and safe from grabs.
-Mac's D-Air is useful vs characters' Up Bs such as Falco's or Fox's. It kills them at higher percentages.
-VS (Bad) Falcons who grab all day long, hold A tocharge your laser keep jabbing.
-VS Campers who stay at the edge, run up to them and bait out fully-charged projectiles. Once you're close, run up to them before either empty hopping, rolling away, or stopping abruptly and D-Smashing. Mix these approaches and create your own approach that discourages camping.
-Timing D-Smash perfectly can edge-guard nearly every characters' recovery (especially against himself). Never B-Air and stage-spike them unless they cannot do anything other than recovering.
-Bait out Counters under the right circumstances. Use simple attacks such as F-Tilt or D-Tilt to approach characters with counters until they make a clear mistake. F-Tilt eventually kills anyway.
-Do not Jolt Haymaker over Robin's Neutral B magic. It's too high up for Mac's invincibility frames during grounded Jolt Haymaker to ignore. Practice run-to-shield and know Elthunder's frame data to be fully effective in approaching Robin without getting damaged. You can counter Elthunder's fully charged form if you use Slip Counter on the ground, but not in the air.
-Control walking and running. Walking makes the enemy paranoid over your next move, running gives them less time to think and may cause them to perform a rash action you can punish. Keep pressuring Campers, though.
-Mac's U-Tilt is one of the most underused moves in his arsenal solely because most Mac's use the C-Stick to smash attack. I use C-Stick for Tilts due to combo-ability, but setting C-Stick to Smash makes it easier for Mac to punish with moves such as U-Smash or Forward-Up-Smash.
-Don't dash attack unless the foe is either about to land or they are beginning to jump.
-Mac is actually better in offline gameplay than online gameplay due to his frame data. Memorize the noises your opponent's buttons make to perform optimal edge-guarding and getup-punishing.
- Forward-Down-Smash can damage shields by a considerable amount, the fully charged version almost being able to instantly break all shields (Mewtwo's breaks for sure). D-Smashing foes who get close to you after a FD-Smash will hit them below their shields, and hitting the shield with another FD-Smash will break it.
- U-Air can occasionally be your combo-crazy friend. Use it sparingly.
- F-Tilt is NOT a safe move versus grabby fighters due to Mac's lack of shield stun and pushback. Find a different way to approach grab-reliant fighters such as Palutena, Doctor Mario, and Link.
-Don't make Slip Counter a habit while recovering. Don't ever try to counter chargeable special attacks that can kill you if you whiff Slip Counter.
-Slip Counter gives Mac a bunch of invincibility frames only on the ground. Be wary when you use this in the air.
-You can use Rising Uppercut to edge-guard opponents who recover from above rather than below. Bait out an air-dodge and time Rising Uppercut's first frame of attack against them.
-N-Air to Jab, Straight Lunge and Rising Uppercut can allow Mac to escape Jab Animations due to their instant availability. Catch opponents off-guard with this, and it may KO them at higher percentages + rage effect.
-Characters who have slow recovery can be gimped harshly by Mac's aerials when timed correctly (ie. Roy, Olimar, Bowser, DK). Don't be afraid to gimp characters with D-Air or F-Air, but never ever U-Air or B-Air to gimp, as it leaves Mac vulnerable for too long.
-In places such as Halberd, Mac's wall jump becomes his best friend once he and his opponent arrive on Meta Knight's ship.
-You can Counter Shulk's Recovery, Air Slash, by using Slip Counter. It's up to Shulk to time his Air Slash correctly so that he does not hit Little Mac.
-VS Rosalina, rack up damage on her Luma with F-Tilt before F-Smashing it off. Rosalina may be able to protect herself, but she can't shield her Luma. Mac is one of the fastest fighters who can deal with the Luma; take advantage of this and kill her combo setup potential.
-VS Ness, rack some damage as safely as possible until Ness hits 20%. At this point, if he spams PK Fire, punish him with Jolt Haymaker. If he tries to spam grabs, hold A and let him get hit by a Jab Animation. If he tries to do both, since it's impossible to mix up PK Fire and grabs without performing obvious actions (run to grab, run->stop->pk fire to pk fire), punish him accordingly.
-You can Counter Ness's Recovery, PK Thunder, by using a Slip Counter offstage. Position yourself slightly above his path to the stage ledge if he tries to recover diagonally. Position yourself right below (and away!!! from Ness) the stage ledge if Ness tries to recover vertically. The reason you go a bit away from the platform is to prevent yourself from hitting nothing and flying away from the stage. Best done when he has high damage percentages. You may actually get hit by Lucas's version, so get ready to Jolt Haymaker or Rising Uppercut in the case that you do get hit. You can generally recover from Slip Countering vertical recovery by using Mac's wall jump.
-D-Air kills DK in air.
-In Mac dittos, grabs become monstrous for both sides. Bait out attacks and grab Mac if you can, as nearly ALL listed string/combo setups work on himself.
-Learn how to Pivot. There are different forms of pivoting, so my suggestion is to find the one that most affects your playstyle in a positive way. Mac is affected by pivoting in a very positive way, as connecting pivots with moves such as his F-Tilt greatly increases his range.
-Like most characters, Mac can perform roll-cancelled grabs. Perform roll-cancelled grabs successfully and you may actually catch more people thanks to a noticeably extended grab range.
-If you're going to airdodge, don't go onto the platform; go for the platform's ledge. Mac can be affected by this negatively due to his lack of long-ranged aerials.
-VS characters who spam inhaling abilities (ie. Kirby, Dedede), position yourself right in front of where you can get dragged towards the character before charging up a painful-looking smash attack. The trick is to use your opponent's windbox to deliver your F-Smash (which already goes forward on its own) towards them without getting caught in it. If you get inhaled and they try to walk off and spit you out, mash your buttons (NOT B, L or R) before escaping with a Wall Jump or a Rising Uppercut.
-Dededes that spam Gordos can be countered by spamming back F-Tilts until they run out of shield. Don't be afraid to time them out; they'll worry a lot if they go to sudden death, as they can't wall jump like Mac.
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Grab Setups
"Jab (1) -> Grab"
"Jab (2) -> Grab" (useful if opponent used double jump)
"D-Tilt -> Grab"
"Run -> Pivot Jab (1) -> Dash Grab"
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String Setups
"Jab (1) -> D-Tilt -> F-Air -> *Counter or Jolt Jaymaker" (decent vs light characters at medium percentages) (*: this part may not be used at all during string, especially if opponent usually tries to escape out of string)
"Jab (1 or 2) -> Rising Uppercut"
"B-Air -> *Jolt Haymaker" (*: on missed tech only)
"Jab (1) -> U-Smash"
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Combo Setups
"D-Tilt -> F-Air -> ???"
"D-Tilt -> F-Tilt" (may whiff vs some characters)
"D-Tilt (very close to opponent) -> U-Tilt"
"D-Tilt -> Pivot U-Tilt"
"D-Tilt -> Jolt Haymaker"
"D-Tilt -> Dash Attack"
"D-Tilt -> Jab Animation"
"D-Tilt -> Sour-Spot U-Smash"
"D-Tilt -> Grab -> D-Throw -> Rising Uppercut (upon missed DI)"
"N-Air -> Jab"
"Dash Attack -> KO Punch"
"Dash Attack -> F-Tilt"
"Dash Attack -> Sour-Spot U-Smash"
"Dash Attack -> F-Air"
"Dash Attack -> Jolt Haymaker"
"Dash Attack (near edge & close to opponent) -> Rising Uppercut" (the edge positions Mac for an Up B at low percentages)
"Dash Attack (near edge & close to opponent) -> U-Air"
"Dask Attack -> Dash Attack"
"Dash Attack -> Running Grab (preferably roll-cancelled grab) -> Pummel -> D-Throw -> KO Punch"
"U-Air (near ground) -> U-Tilt -> Rising Uppercut"
"U-Air (near ground) -> F-Tilt"
"U-Tilt -> U-Air"
"U-Tilt (backside) -> B-Air"
"U-Tilt (backside) -> F-Air"
"U-Tilt -> U-Tilt -> *Rising Uppercut" (on low percentages) (can combo into Rising Uppercut when opponent misses DI)
"U-Air (near ground) -> Jolt Haymaker"
"U-Air (near ground) -> Rising Uppercut"
"F-Smash (Up version) -> U-Tilt -> Rising Uppercut"
"F-Smash (Up version) -> Rising Uppercut"
"F-Smash (Down version) -> Run -> D-Air (near ground) -> Any Smash Attack" (upon missed tech)
"N-Air -> Footstool -> ...(repeat)... -> Rising Uppercut" (works better the bigger the opponent)
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Bait-Outs
"Run -> Jump Cancel F-Smash" (baits out grabs and can be charged a fair amount)
"Fox-Trot/Run -> Empty Hop -> *Fox-Trot/Run OR U-Smash/F-Smash" (baits out long grabs)
"Empty Hop -> Landing KO Punch"
"Shield -> Dodge -> D-Tilt"
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Recovery
- Jolt Haymaker
- Rising Uppercut
- "Wall Jump -> Rising Uppercut"
- "KO Punch -> Rising Uppercut"
- "KO Punch -> Jolt Haymaker" (from high angles)
- "Wall Jump -> Jolt Haymaker"
- "Tech Wall Jump -> Rising Uppercut / Jolt Haymaker" (prevents stage spike; stay AWAY from the platform so you have enough frames to tech from B-Airs and F-Airs alike, but position yourself away from D-Airs)
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KO Punches
KO Punch - Regular KO Punch. Moves forward and has similar hitboxes to an upsmash. It moves forward and shouldn't be used for its insanely short superarmor, but for hard reads.
Airborne KO Punch - Airborne KO Punch. Moves forward even in the air. Could be used for a last resort recovery, as well as a punish to those who get baited by empty hops. Kills around 150% against heavyweights well away from the ground.
Turning KO Punch - Mac turns around and KO Punches. Could be used with the back part of Down Smash to play mindgames with opponents.
D-Tilt KO Punch - Works at early percentages. Mac down-tilts and KO Punches. Works as long as the character isn't a flyweight (ie. Rosalina) that could DI out of it.
D-Tilt Airborne KO Punch - Works at most percentages before 50%. Mac down-tilts before jumping and doing an airborne KO Punch. Does not have much of a use other than racking up damage.
U-Tilt KO Punch - Mac up-tilts and KO Punches. Works best VS fast-fallers.
U-Tilt B-Reverse KO Punch - Mac hits the opponent with the backside of the uptilt before doing a B-Reversed KO Punch. Mostly hits at the very tip of the punch. Works best VS fast-fallers.
F-Air KO Punch - Best used when the opponent used their double jump. Mac forward-airs the opponent while moving forward low in the air before KO Punching, landing the KO Punch as he approaches the ground extremely closely.
B-Reverse KO Punch - Mac turns around and KO Punches. Key difference between this and a regular Turning KO Punch is that you can run while doing B-Reverse KO Punch, making it a very fast punish move in some cases.
Running KO Punch - A Jump Cancel KO Punch. Fast punish but could kill Mac if he does this near the edge and fumbles.
Gazelle Punch - A ledge getup KO Punch. Fastest edge punish Mac has. Mac cancels his jump-from-ledge animation into KO Punch. Performs grounded KO Punch when done correctly.
Landing KO Punch - Letting go of the ledge and jumping, Mac quickly KO Punches and uses his forward momentum to get him on the ground immediately. When timed correctly, Mac does a grounded KO Punch instead of an airborne KO Punch. An alternative to Gazelle Punch. Landing KO Punch can also simply be used by Mac when he is falling towards the ground and times his KO Punch correctly to initiate a grounded version of the move. Good for mindgames.
Platform KO Punch - Mac jumps and KO Punches, using his forward momentum to get on a platform without any grabbable ledges and punch opponents in his way. A good punish of the opponent misses techs in stages like Battlefield or Halberd.
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Random Mac Tips
-Bait characters with long, chain-like grabs (ie. Samus, Link, Pac-Man) by running up to them and jumping and punish via fast fall to a fast move Mac has.
-Don't roll towards people who get grabby- mix up roll-aways and spot-dodges to make yourself unpredictable and safe from grabs.
-Mac's D-Air is useful vs characters' Up Bs such as Falco's or Fox's. It kills them at higher percentages.
-VS (Bad) Falcons who grab all day long, hold A to
-VS Campers who stay at the edge, run up to them and bait out fully-charged projectiles. Once you're close, run up to them before either empty hopping, rolling away, or stopping abruptly and D-Smashing. Mix these approaches and create your own approach that discourages camping.
-Timing D-Smash perfectly can edge-guard nearly every characters' recovery (especially against himself). Never B-Air and stage-spike them unless they cannot do anything other than recovering.
-Bait out Counters under the right circumstances. Use simple attacks such as F-Tilt or D-Tilt to approach characters with counters until they make a clear mistake. F-Tilt eventually kills anyway.
-Do not Jolt Haymaker over Robin's Neutral B magic. It's too high up for Mac's invincibility frames during grounded Jolt Haymaker to ignore. Practice run-to-shield and know Elthunder's frame data to be fully effective in approaching Robin without getting damaged. You can counter Elthunder's fully charged form if you use Slip Counter on the ground, but not in the air.
-Control walking and running. Walking makes the enemy paranoid over your next move, running gives them less time to think and may cause them to perform a rash action you can punish. Keep pressuring Campers, though.
-Mac's U-Tilt is one of the most underused moves in his arsenal solely because most Mac's use the C-Stick to smash attack. I use C-Stick for Tilts due to combo-ability, but setting C-Stick to Smash makes it easier for Mac to punish with moves such as U-Smash or Forward-Up-Smash.
-Don't dash attack unless the foe is either about to land or they are beginning to jump.
-Mac is actually better in offline gameplay than online gameplay due to his frame data. Memorize the noises your opponent's buttons make to perform optimal edge-guarding and getup-punishing.
- Forward-Down-Smash can damage shields by a considerable amount, the fully charged version almost being able to instantly break all shields (Mewtwo's breaks for sure). D-Smashing foes who get close to you after a FD-Smash will hit them below their shields, and hitting the shield with another FD-Smash will break it.
- U-Air can occasionally be your combo-crazy friend. Use it sparingly.
- F-Tilt is NOT a safe move versus grabby fighters due to Mac's lack of shield stun and pushback. Find a different way to approach grab-reliant fighters such as Palutena, Doctor Mario, and Link.
-Don't make Slip Counter a habit while recovering. Don't ever try to counter chargeable special attacks that can kill you if you whiff Slip Counter.
-Slip Counter gives Mac a bunch of invincibility frames only on the ground. Be wary when you use this in the air.
-You can use Rising Uppercut to edge-guard opponents who recover from above rather than below. Bait out an air-dodge and time Rising Uppercut's first frame of attack against them.
-N-Air to Jab, Straight Lunge and Rising Uppercut can allow Mac to escape Jab Animations due to their instant availability. Catch opponents off-guard with this, and it may KO them at higher percentages + rage effect.
-Characters who have slow recovery can be gimped harshly by Mac's aerials when timed correctly (ie. Roy, Olimar, Bowser, DK). Don't be afraid to gimp characters with D-Air or F-Air, but never ever U-Air or B-Air to gimp, as it leaves Mac vulnerable for too long.
-In places such as Halberd, Mac's wall jump becomes his best friend once he and his opponent arrive on Meta Knight's ship.
-You can Counter Shulk's Recovery, Air Slash, by using Slip Counter. It's up to Shulk to time his Air Slash correctly so that he does not hit Little Mac.
-VS Rosalina, rack up damage on her Luma with F-Tilt before F-Smashing it off. Rosalina may be able to protect herself, but she can't shield her Luma. Mac is one of the fastest fighters who can deal with the Luma; take advantage of this and kill her combo setup potential.
-VS Ness, rack some damage as safely as possible until Ness hits 20%. At this point, if he spams PK Fire, punish him with Jolt Haymaker. If he tries to spam grabs, hold A and let him get hit by a Jab Animation. If he tries to do both, since it's impossible to mix up PK Fire and grabs without performing obvious actions (run to grab, run->stop->pk fire to pk fire), punish him accordingly.
-You can Counter Ness's Recovery, PK Thunder, by using a Slip Counter offstage. Position yourself slightly above his path to the stage ledge if he tries to recover diagonally. Position yourself right below (and away!!! from Ness) the stage ledge if Ness tries to recover vertically. The reason you go a bit away from the platform is to prevent yourself from hitting nothing and flying away from the stage. Best done when he has high damage percentages. You may actually get hit by Lucas's version, so get ready to Jolt Haymaker or Rising Uppercut in the case that you do get hit. You can generally recover from Slip Countering vertical recovery by using Mac's wall jump.
-D-Air kills DK in air.
-In Mac dittos, grabs become monstrous for both sides. Bait out attacks and grab Mac if you can, as nearly ALL listed string/combo setups work on himself.
-Learn how to Pivot. There are different forms of pivoting, so my suggestion is to find the one that most affects your playstyle in a positive way. Mac is affected by pivoting in a very positive way, as connecting pivots with moves such as his F-Tilt greatly increases his range.
-Like most characters, Mac can perform roll-cancelled grabs. Perform roll-cancelled grabs successfully and you may actually catch more people thanks to a noticeably extended grab range.
-If you're going to airdodge, don't go onto the platform; go for the platform's ledge. Mac can be affected by this negatively due to his lack of long-ranged aerials.
-VS characters who spam inhaling abilities (ie. Kirby, Dedede), position yourself right in front of where you can get dragged towards the character before charging up a painful-looking smash attack. The trick is to use your opponent's windbox to deliver your F-Smash (which already goes forward on its own) towards them without getting caught in it. If you get inhaled and they try to walk off and spit you out, mash your buttons (NOT B, L or R) before escaping with a Wall Jump or a Rising Uppercut.
-Dededes that spam Gordos can be countered by spamming back F-Tilts until they run out of shield. Don't be afraid to time them out; they'll worry a lot if they go to sudden death, as they can't wall jump like Mac.