approaching with Zamus

[lazerwolf]

Hey all i've been playing as zamus more and more lately. i really like her moveset and playability but i've had some trouble with approaching and not being predictable. i know most of it is probably due to my lack of dedication in practicing dash canceling but i was just looking for some tips and advice for spicing up her game.

on a related note, how do you personally play zamus aggressive or turtler? i find my style of play with her is more of a bait and combo character. opinions?

 

[fkacyan]

My favorite trick is to RAR into a down B in the opposite direction and kick. People fall for that a lot.

 

[Maikeru17]

I personally mix it up in the middle of a match.
I can play very aggressively, approaching like Rambo with falling nairs, over-b and dashattack to jabs (not very effective, trust me. xD).
It's also easy to play defensively - shield grabbing? Uh. Definitely. Zamus' throws are amazing. Down-throw to uair and so on is nice. It can easily lead to an easy kill - uair and bair work nicely depending on how and where they DI.
Then there's the baiter, which I space myself with over b and b.
It's all about thinking which is best for which situation, and which intricacies are best for the current moment.

-Nox `

 

[Kamano]

Maikeru pretty much got it. You need to switch it up pretty often. It's fine to lean more toward a defensive game in general, but make sure you mix in some strong rushes of your own to keep them on their toes.

I'd also like to mention, if you're on a larger flat level against a falco/wolf, you'd be surprised how often they will come to you if they start blaster spamming and you back off just out of range of it and stand there. They -really- don't like when their blaster shots aren't working. :D

Also always remember to complicate your opponents approaches to you as much as possible. I personally spam her neutral B a TON, both charged and uncharged. That way the threat of the stun is always present in the opponent's mind, and it typically leads them to try and jump over the blasts and directly on top of you. At that point you can short hop uair into them (this one is a little risky) or, what I prefer to do; downB and kick them via that, which with the invincibility frames makes it safer, and it generally unexpected.

 

[Eten]

Zamus feels unorthodox as a character in general, her approach/defensive game is a bit unorthodox too. She's got non-standard mobility in terms of brawl, like an extremely fast forward roll but rather slow backwards roll, and crazy range/priority in one direction sometimes, and then super short almost nothing range/priority at other times. High short hop but fast jump, etc.

 

[lazerwolf]

her missed throw lag is what kills me

 

[0RLY]

dash attack > *any tilt* > uair/fair

 

[lazerwolf]

dash attack > *any tilt* > uair/fair

see i do that a lot... too much actually and i get grabbed on the dash attack which is what prompted me to make this thread in the first place

 

[Eten]

You can actually get away with a dash attack into an uptilt right on someone's shield much of the time. I'm not sure on the hitboxes on her uptilt but it seems to cover her entire character and has at least two attacks to it. This makes it likely to poke someone through their shield, and there is, of course, no delay between the dash attack and the uptilt.

But I know what you mean. Her dash attack approach is very good, but you need more to not be predictable. Short hop jump spacing for her over-B, try camping out someone elses approach with neutral B, or faking out of an attack by moving up so much distance, then forward rolling past an attack, because her forward roll is extremely high quality. Samus can also do double aerial short hops, but her short hop is still fast because she attacks quickly and jumps/falls quickly. Short hop into uair and then into another uair, bair, or fair work. Umm... you can also dash into an over-B, or a grab. Then lastly you still have the RAR down-B, which when used sparingly tends to surprise people.

I don't think Zamus has any one dominant method of approach. Each in it's own way can be countered or whatever. However, Zamus is fast, and almost all of this stuff works at different ranges and some of those ranges being considerable, like anything that uses an over-B, so by using a variety she can really mindgame her way in past just about anything.

 

[datman6699]

if you time the dash right, i believe you can jab combo/tilt before they can grab. even if not, it's still a good approach.

also, you can space her forward airs just like capt. falcon in melee. the 2nd hit is what has all the knockback.

um, if you also time the up air right, it will hit in front of you, and has virtually no lag.

you could space her forward B also, because no one wants to touch that thing. and you can spam it to hell and it will still kill easily.

shoot gun, run with the beam. they either shield or get hit or get hit.

approaching is where smash gets tough and where the mindgames come in. work on them.

 

[Eten]

Did I mention a shield dash or dash cancel? It's an effective way to use her dashing speed just like any other character. It's usually an easy answer to people having approach difficulties due to more usual things. I like a shield dash to a downtilt or even a spaced fsmash, and sometimes if it's close enough a ftilt. I need to find more ways to follow up on an ftilt though, it's usually just much easier to pop them into the air with a dtilt or away and up with an fsmash so you can get under them where Zamus is best.

 

[Irish Cream]

Did I mention a shield dash or dash cancel? It's an effective way to use her dashing speed just like any other character. It's usually an easy answer to people having approach difficulties due to more usual things. I like a shield dash to a downtilt or even a spaced fsmash, and sometimes if it's close enough a ftilt. I need to find more ways to follow up on an ftilt though, it's usually just much easier to pop them into the air with a dtilt or away and up with an fsmash so you can get under them where Zamus is best.

Okay, I know what shield dashing is and that it's great for approaching with a throw or side B from further away or getting in for tilts, but could you elaborate on dash canceling? The TC mentioned needing to practice it but I'm not sure what you guys mean, could you give some examples with ZSS? Thanks a ton.

 

[Eten]

As far as I know a dash cancel is a shield dash. I've just seen the same thing referred to w/ two different names.

 

[fkacyan]

Why Dtilt?

When I shielddash it's usually into a grab or utilt.

 

[bacun]

i like to dash straight into a grab, dthrow and try to combo them in the air, but i haven't tested this on many (good) players so i'm not sure how effective it would be. Mix it up with stun shops and dashgrabs to keep the enemies on their toes so they can't predict whether to shield->grab, sidestep, or counterattack. I feel like Zamus is the kind of character that has a great approach, but predictability will ruin that advantage entirely.

 

[.kR0]

She has great approach options.

-DIing >B is great against projectile campers or almost any character in fact.
-She has a nair which comes out fast and has a good knockback angle (and many players won't expect it)
-Dashattack->uptilt
-dashcancel upsmash

And you can bait somewhat decently with her nB

 

[Gum]

a petty effective way to approach is to mix up with neutral B and and down smash as distractions and do instant dash attacks (run + c-stick down) its cool to mix up with regular dash attacks because it helps you avoid block grabs and starts her combos amazingly.

 

[Snakeee]

I love D Smash