Okay, here's my attempt at a summary! It needs info on Fox's customs to be fully comprehensive, though.
"Who is This?
Fox has been in Smash ever since the beginning, and few people are complaining. He's quick-footed, both on the ground and with his moves - practically designed to string together for loads of damage, despite their low damage by themselves. While his attacks do have some need of range, they're quick enough to generally cover themselves; Fox players should be looking for good openings to use their character to his fullest by racking up damage with fast attacks (like jab) and combo moves, (up tilt) managing to work around the enemy's shield, and landing one of his powerful smash attacks.
As with any character, there are downsides to Fox, one of them being his air-to-ground approach; With only average airspeed, fast fall speed, and fairly short ranged aerials, while it isn't terrible, most of Fox's options here are predictable (such as D-Air and B-Air). Fox can also struggle at approaching more defensive characters who can outrange and sometimes outdamage him. Seeing as he's a lightweight character, this can become a problem when he's forced to approach. Lasers and the reflector can help mitigate this, but, again; They're punishable if used too often, like his aerials.
In general, Fox is a character who, while he can rushdown the enemy, benefits more from being able to pick apart holes in their defense and rack up percent with his blindingly fast attacks, including some deadly, but punishable if they miss, smash attacks. The character may be ridiculed for being easy to use by some, but against those who know his options, he's anything but.
How does he relate to Charizard?
The two are opposites. Charizard's gameplan is to keep the enemy at a mid-range, where his attacks can keep the opponent out and force them backwards off the stage, where he truly shines off-stage and on at edgeguarding situations. Fox, meanwhile, would rather be at least near the stage where he has more mobility to move around. His options on-stage to edgeguard are limited, and he doesn't benefit from it as much as Charizard. The goal in this match-up for Charizard should be to space Fox out, push him backwards, and finish off stocks with powerful attacks like Up-Smash or F-Air off-stage.
Approaching - Charizard, as mind-boggling as it is, is almost just as fast as Sheik in a full dash, with a quick dash skid to where he can stop and use most moves (like jab) very quickly for his size. Add this to our lizard friend's range, and lasers alone won't be enough to keep him out.
Jab is great for canceling most of Fox's attacks, including jab, as it has a longer range than most of Fox's and comes up faster at a close range.
Charizard can retaliate out of shield. Jab on shield is particularly unsafe for Fox. D-Tilt and F-Tilt can also serve their purposes like this, although a bit slower. Grabbing isn't recommended, as his tilts can cover themselves.
Flamethrower is a nice option to force Fox's ground approach to a halt, as it can disrupt his momentum. If you want to actually advance, though, grabbing Fox is the fastest way early on in Neutral; While D-Throw can rack up damage with F-Air, F-Throw or B-Throw can force Fox off-stage, where you can usually get a decent amount of damage in with Flamethrower. Jab also launches Fox into the air, where at low percents it can be followed up with F-Air, N-Air, even Rock Smash and U-Air if you space yourself correctly.
If you happen to be forced off-stage, look out for Fox's Up-Air/Up-Smash if you go above, or B-Air if you decide to go level with the stage/below. Both are powerful moves that can kill Charizard at very low percents, however, Flare Blitz and Fly having superarmor often deters this. (Dragon Rush will be canceled by lasers, but it shouldn't effect your recovery too horribly.) Perhaps Rock Smash can stop U-Air, but if you fail, that's a stock anyways. Charizard doesn't have many landing options anyways, so using your Side-B (sorry Blast Burn) in an attempt to cross the stage might be your best bet.
Tips - Don't think Fox can't kill you just as early as you can kill him, if you're not careful. While he racks up damage quite nicely, his finishers like Up-Smash, B-Air, U-Air, and the other two smashes, are very deadly for a lightweight/rushdown character. Respect all of them and don't think you won't get hit, just like he'll be respecting your attacks. Just like your own, though, they're very punishable.
If you notice you're at kill percents and they start to play a bit differently, use your shield. Either way, try to stay on the ground at high percents, unless you want to get Up-Aired. Don't risk smash attacks unless you know they'll connect; Like D-Smash to punish a roll, for example, could directly lead into Fox's U-Smash on you if it fails.
As Fox's Blaster has a tiny bit of endlag, it is potentially possible to tag him with Flare Blitz if he's just letting loose, or if you see him pulling out the Blaster, although a dash attack is safer and less punishable.
Don't try to hit his shield with most attacks, at close range he's usually at the point where you can't spotdodge on reaction. Similarly, grabbing him regularly (not out of shield) is fairly risky for Charizard, as he can't retreat back into the safety of his shield if he fails.
Stage Choices - Try picking Dream Land, if you have it. The high ceiling might hurt your chances of killing with Up-Smash, but it hurts his of killing with U-Air and his own Up-Smash! If you manage to Up-Throw Fox beneath a platform, it'll also kill earlier, not completely removing one of Charizard's kill moves.
Town and City, being larger and easier for Charizard to get space on, is also better than Battlefield. Any Omega Stage is likely bad, especially ones with walls that Fox can use to wall jump; Boosting his recovery.
A minor note worth mentioning is that in the Wii U version, stages with grass (like Mushroom Kingdom U, Yoshi's Island, ect.) cause your characters to slide less into their attacks. As one of Fox's really major kill options is U-Smash, which has less range than Charizard's U-Smash, this could be slightly helpful.
Customs -
Fireball Cannon likely just isn't worth it. Fire Fang is up to your personal preference, but Flamethrower does allow for edgeguarding. Fire Fang's explosion and fire itself may still have the potential to edgeguard, and allow an easy kill option on Fox.
Fly High and Rising Cyclone won't be necessary, as Fox won't be closing in on you off-stage anyways, and Rising Cyclone doesn't do enough damage to make it worthwhile, even against Fox (who likely won't follow you off-stage that far).
Sinking Skull could potentially be useful to punish Smash attacks and kill Fox very early, but has less utility than Rock Smash. Rock Hurl could potentially go through Fox's jab, but this is untested; As Fox is a combo based character, it could be surprisingly useful!
And, weirdly enough, Dragon Rush gets canceled out by Fox's lasers, significantly weakening it. I wouldn't recommend using it over Flare Blitz in this case.
Original Discussion: smashboards.com/threads/charizard-matchup-discussion-fox.408787/
(Current) Contributors: @
Leety
- @
Steeler
- @
MintyBreeze
- @
Swamp Sensei
Match-up Ranking: 50-50"
