I have been playing Sm4sh the day the 3DS version was released, and I recently got aquatinted with the Wii U version. While my usual main is Shulk, I do play a lot of Lucina, for a multitude of reasons.
So when I hop on the Miiverse stage as Lucina, I do see a good chunk of the posts saying that she is bad, worse than Marth, etc. I would usually shrug this off (I saw the same thing for Zelda and Shulk) however I am constantly seeing around the web and in real life that Lucina is just a worse version of Marth. Is this entirely the case?I am aware that there is a thread comparing the two fighters, however I do want to put my own two sense on this situation, talking about the common complaint that Lucina gets and how she counteracts it,
Without further adieu, let us begin.
Lucina lacks the tip mechanic on her sword.
While Marth may have a more powerful tip, Lucina has a more balanced blade, lacking a sweet spot.
Marth's tip has what made him high tear constantly. I played him occasionally in Melee and frequently in brawl and I do agree it does become useful when trying to rack up percent on your opponent. However, Marth has a few flaws with his tipper.
It requires constant spacing of you and your opponent, otherwise you are landing weaker hits and them, leaving a shorter lag time for them to land a quick grab or tilt attack. This mostly comes up with arial attacks, however it does come up time to time on the land as well.
In the late game, Marth's tipper makes or breaks him. A simple left/right tilt can lead to an easy knockout, but if you slip, its all over for you.
How does Lucina prevail in this situation?
With Lucina having the power between Marth's base and Tip throughout the whole blade, she becomes much easier to use within the air, leading to some nice combos. Many times I have started a combo with the Forward Air, which then can lead to another, or a Up-Air, and eventually leave the opponent in a high enough percent to finish off with a smash attack or a Shield Breaker.
Speaking of smash attacks, Lucina is defiantly more viable than Marth in this area. Marth has one good smash for his tip, and that is the Up-smash. While his Side Smash can lead off to an early kill, the tip is harder to pull off, as most of the range is being used with the base. This is more apparent in his down-smash. Lucina has no worries about that.
Counter is a vital move in a lot of sword fighters. This is no different for Lucina and Marth. Lucina prevails once again, as this attack makes them preform an upward swing. Most counters take place extremely up close. Can you see where this is going? Once again, Lucina has the advantage. She doesn't have to worry about countering a extremely powerful move, like a Falcon Side smash or Ness' PK Flash. Once she counters and hits, they are out of town. Marth on the other hand surely has a good chance of KOing with a Sour Spot counter, however it proves difficult. When you are about to get slammed up close, you want as much power as possible on your counter. Lucina has the better counter in most situations.
Shield Breaker is the one area where Marth prevails. This attack is entirely Tip, and Lucina is nothing compared to Marth. When both are fully charged, Marth has an easier time getting a kill. They are both useful, as they both bring amazing power and can break shields.
So, is this a Marth trash thread?
Absolutely not. They are not the same character, they may be clones in moveset, however they both have entirely different play styles, for different kinds of players. I am merely showing where Marth does not do as well as Lucina.
Marth is more of a defensive player with his constant spacing. They don't necessarily aggro first, they wait for their opponent to advance and then space themselves accordingly. They don't want to take a lot of hits, however they do want to deal a lot of them, so they can get an early kill with their tip Front- or Up-Smash. However, if an opponent lands a good combo, they can have a harder time getting up due to their circumstantial blade. Overall, its a more technical way of playing.
Lucina is meant to be more aggressive than Marth. She can take hits, but still deal them back with good counters and arial combos. Her smashes do lack less knockback and damage potential, however in the later game when percents are high that doesn't really apply. Lucina can start combos simply with her A attack. Its just that if their opponent attacks them faster and slams them harder they are in trouble. She has a harder time knocking out in the early game, in which Marth prevails.
In conclusion, neither character is worse than the other. While they may share the same moveset, they both act in differing play styles, and usually players choose one or the other, based on how they usually go about attacking their opponents. It is up to you to decide which player is more beneficial to you.
Thank you for reading my thread, sorry if I did repeat anything I am new.
