Kirby's Signature Technique! A Guide to Using Inhale
Introduction
Welcome! The purpose of this thread is to provide a informative, and useful thread about Kirby's signature move Inhale, specifically for Project M. Many of you might come here wondering why there needs to be a single thread on one of Kirby's moves, which many think to be only useful for Kirbycides. Inhale is one of Kirby's most underrated moves and this guide will, I hope, help you in your journey with the one called Kirby. This guide will cover the basic information about inhale, when to inhale, how to inhale, whether to spit or copy, what to do when you've inhaled them, and much much more!
Table of Contents
I. What is inhale? - General Facts
II. When do I inhale?
III. Spit Copy or Release?
IV. Kirbycide... or nah?
V. Conclusion
VI. FAQ
II. When do I inhale?
III. Spit Copy or Release?
IV. Kirbycide... or nah?
V. Conclusion
VI. FAQ
What is Inhale? ~ General Facts
Inhale is Kirby's Neutral Special move, and is the signature move that makes Kirby different from every other character. When B is pressed, Kirby opens his mouth and begins to swallow, and will continue inhaling until the B button is released. Inhale counts as a grab meaning that it ignores shields and armor just like any other grab does, but what makes it different is that it can be used in the air making it one of the few aerial grabs. In every smash game, except for 64, Kirby is able to turn around, move around, and jump while the opponent is inside of Kirby. Inhale in PM also has a quicker startup time (Frame 10) making it that much more useful in actual matches. Inhale has two different "throw" options, starshot and copy, and one release option that occurs when either the time limit for how long the opponent can stay inside has run out, or the more common case, the opponent mashes out. Most people will start mashing right as they get inhaled, so be prepared to act quickly. It will be very unlikely you could walk from center stage all the way to the edge without them breaking out first.
When the opponent breaks out, they are in "stun" for a set amount of time meaning they cannot do anything, the only problem is you cant do anything either. The character's fall speed still takes into effect though. Characters like Wolf, Fox, or Falco will fall a greater distance when released offstage than someone like Peach, or Puff. The break out option also does 0% damage. However in 3.5, the opponent can break out at a higher angle by holding which makes this a lot less useful.
Starshot, done by pressing A when the opponent is inside Kirby's mouth, shoots the opponent out as a star, and turns them into a projectile. The power of starshot, only a factor in FFA or Doubles, is dependent on the opponents weight. The opponent, no matter the weight, can break out by mashing buttons and cover a smaller distance. Mashing, might accidentally make them whiff a move, so be on the lookout for an opening and follow up. This, combined with turning/walking/jumping, can be very useful in putting the opponent at a positional disadvantage. This move does 10% fresh.
Copy, done by pressing B or Down when the opponent is inside, mimics the opponents Neutral-B and only the Neutral-B (Mewtwo, Lucas, and Ganon are the only exceptions, Kirby take their down-b, side-b, and original neutral-b respectively) and releases your opponent above you. The copied move does replace inhale, so use wisely. Some moves are better than others, so do your research to figure out which ones, if any, work for you. Like starshot this move does have a hitbox, which is also only relevant in FFAs or Doubles, and is located above Kirby. This move does 3% fresh.
When do I Inhale?
The most important section of this thread, learning how to use inhale effectively is virtually useless if you can never actually catch them with it. One thing we should all know is that there are many uses for this move, but like anything else in fighting games in general, this move shouldn't be spammed; you'll find yourself being very predictable and think inhale is a useless move, which isnt the case, its your lack of knowledge on the time and place to use it. But dont worry, that wont be an issue because after this, you'll be a master at it! Like anything, it'll take practice, but trust me after a while you'll be able to see it just as easily as good Fox players know when to Shine, or when good Snake players know when to attach a C4.
Comboing Into Inhale:This is where you are probably going to get the most inhales off. It is also not always the best to just throw an inhale out there blindly. Some combos where you could normally finish with a B-air or whatever, you can substitute in an inhale. Experiment around, bigger floatier characters are easier to combo into. Just remember to know DI exists and react accordingly, and always try to follow up after your spit out or swallow. Here are some examples on how to combo into it.
Utilt > Inhale
Falling Uair > Inhale
Late Nair > Inhale
SH Uair > Inhale
Dair > Inhale
Jab Reset > Inhale
Tech Chase > Inhale
Uthrow > Jump Inhale
Falling Uair > Inhale
Late Nair > Inhale
SH Uair > Inhale
Dair > Inhale
Jab Reset > Inhale
Tech Chase > Inhale
Uthrow > Jump Inhale
Remember, inhale counts as a long range infinite grab, so it can beat sheilds and armor... most importantly sheilds since its more common. And because inhale stays out for so long, it effectively beats spotdodges as well. Bait them into sheilding, and punish. People use defensive tactics (shield, spotdodge, roll) when they feel vulnerable. They feel vulnerable when they are being pressured, they are at high damage %, or on last stock. These situations occur often on platforms on wakeup, right after getting up from the edge, and when they make mistakes and miss approaches or get dashdanced or whatever. Find out what your opponent does in these situations, and take advantage of it. Its also good to know that you can pressure people with Kirby's multiple jumps. When you fastfall with Kirby above an opponent, it looks like you're coming in with an attack which will then force your opponent to have to make a decision, which you can then jump and repeat the process. But, unless you are predictable and never mix things up, they have to guess.
"Do I keep sheilding and punish their attack?"
"Should I jump Oos and attack with the risk of getting hit back?" (option usually not taken at kill %s)
"Should I roll, wavedash oos, or spotdodge?"
A lot of questions will go through their head. Keep in mind, most characters in this game do not have multiple jumps, and most characters do not have aerial command grabs. Other than Kirby, only Dedede has a combination of those two. So that means unless they have alot of Kirby, and maybe Dedede, experience this will be one of the first times this kind of pressure has happened to them, meaning they wont know how to deal with it properly. Most likely, they'll treat it like other floaty characters and just sheild punish their landing. Thats where inhale comes in. When they think you'll drop down with an aerial, drop down with inhale. It covers the jump, spotdodge, and sheild option if you come in at the right angle (above and in front/behind). If you fastfall, and then during the fastfall use inhale, you will fastfall your inhale and really catch them off guard with speed. "Should I jump Oos and attack with the risk of getting hit back?" (option usually not taken at kill %s)
"Should I roll, wavedash oos, or spotdodge?"
So the TL,DR version of all this would be, know when they will sheild, bait them to sheild, and use inhale when necessary. Kirby's jumps also help. But always mix it up so you wont be predictable.
Another major use would be straight mixups. Mixups mean using inhale in substitute for an aerial, a new/different approach option, substitute for a grab, new/different combo finisher, etc. What makes inhale so great is how versatile it is so experiment and find out what works for you and abuse it. Use it to cover options. Inhale has more range than it looks, its slightly shorter than the range of Kirby's vertical Final Cutter (up-b, not the projectile part). That range, combined with B-reverse shenanigans can be very tricky. Tricking your opponent up on whether they are properly spaced for inhale comes in more ways than one.
Example #1:
Kirby is tech chasing Metaknight
Metaknight knows that at low %s most players will always runs up with a grab to continue the tech chase
Kirby dthrows Metaknight, he techs left
Kirby reacts and runs left up toward Metaknight
Metaknight, anticipating the grab, spotdodges
Kirby inhales, catching him out of spotdodge, covering both the sheild and spotdodge option
Example #2:
Kirby is playing against a Sonic
Kirby notices that everytime he jumps towards Sonic, he uses Down-B
Kirby remembers from the inhale guide that Inhale beats Sonic's Down-B
Kirby jumps towards Sonic
Sonic Down-Bs
Kirby inhales
Example #3:
Kirby is playing against Captain Falcon
Kirby starts an inhale out of range
Falcon knows that most players would stop a move if they missed it
Falcon jumps towards Kirby
Kirby continues to inhale
Falcon gets inhaled
Example #4:
Kirby is playing Mario
Kirby grabs, Mario spotdodges
Mario grabs, Kirby spotdodges
Mario, expecting the grab, spotdodges
Kirby inhales, catching Mario
Example #5:
Once before in a match you ran past their shield and B-aired their roll attempt
Your opponent knows this, so the next time you slip by them somehow they will continue to shield
You run past your opponent
They hold shield
You B-reverse pivot inhale
Example #6:
Your opponent expects you to attack or grab them
You jump empty hop towards them to bait a reaction
They are cautious so they hold sheild
You inhale
Example #7:
Your opponent is recovering back on stage
You know where they will land on stage
Instead of going for a grab/smash/whatever, you inhale
Example #8:
You hit them with a weak Nair onstage
You jab them to hit confirm, or jab reset if they fall into tumble
You inhale
Example #9:
You notice your opponent always gets up from the ledge and shields
You condition them with grabs
You inhale to cover shield or spotdodge option, and possibly roll away.
Example #10:
You bair them and condition them to crouch cancel your next bair
You set up that situation again when the opponent is likely to crouch cancel, or possibly shield
You reverse inhale
These examples might not be the best option you could've taken, but always using the best option can be predictable and may not be the best option after a few uses. This is just meant to give you an idea on how to mix things up with inhale.
Kirby is tech chasing Metaknight
Metaknight knows that at low %s most players will always runs up with a grab to continue the tech chase
Kirby dthrows Metaknight, he techs left
Kirby reacts and runs left up toward Metaknight
Metaknight, anticipating the grab, spotdodges
Kirby inhales, catching him out of spotdodge, covering both the sheild and spotdodge option
Example #2:
Kirby is playing against a Sonic
Kirby notices that everytime he jumps towards Sonic, he uses Down-B
Kirby remembers from the inhale guide that Inhale beats Sonic's Down-B
Kirby jumps towards Sonic
Sonic Down-Bs
Kirby inhales
Example #3:
Kirby is playing against Captain Falcon
Kirby starts an inhale out of range
Falcon knows that most players would stop a move if they missed it
Falcon jumps towards Kirby
Kirby continues to inhale
Falcon gets inhaled
Example #4:
Kirby is playing Mario
Kirby grabs, Mario spotdodges
Mario grabs, Kirby spotdodges
Mario, expecting the grab, spotdodges
Kirby inhales, catching Mario
Example #5:
Once before in a match you ran past their shield and B-aired their roll attempt
Your opponent knows this, so the next time you slip by them somehow they will continue to shield
You run past your opponent
They hold shield
You B-reverse pivot inhale
Example #6:
Your opponent expects you to attack or grab them
You jump empty hop towards them to bait a reaction
They are cautious so they hold sheild
You inhale
Example #7:
Your opponent is recovering back on stage
You know where they will land on stage
Instead of going for a grab/smash/whatever, you inhale
Example #8:
You hit them with a weak Nair onstage
You jab them to hit confirm, or jab reset if they fall into tumble
You inhale
Example #9:
You notice your opponent always gets up from the ledge and shields
You condition them with grabs
You inhale to cover shield or spotdodge option, and possibly roll away.
Example #10:
You bair them and condition them to crouch cancel your next bair
You set up that situation again when the opponent is likely to crouch cancel, or possibly shield
You reverse inhale
These examples might not be the best option you could've taken, but always using the best option can be predictable and may not be the best option after a few uses. This is just meant to give you an idea on how to mix things up with inhale.
Inhale is such a great and unique move, being spontaneous with it can really mess up the opponent. So now that you know these things, go out there and use inhale in friendlies and see what works for you. Come back and share what you did and Ill try my best to put it as one of the examples.
Beating Moves: One of the best uses for inhale is to punish a characters move, whether it was either just bad spacing, or it just beat the opponents attack completely, regardless of spacing. Below is a list of moves that inhale can beat of every character.
* = Beats, but still takes damage
** = Beats, unless properly spaced
*** = Beats if poorly spaced, but still takes damage.
~ = Technically... I guess (aka item)
** = Beats, unless properly spaced
*** = Beats if poorly spaced, but still takes damage.
~ = Technically... I guess (aka item)
Up-B
Side-B*
Down-B***
Jab***
F-tilt*
N-air***
Dash Attack**
F-smash
Side-B*
Down-B***
Jab***
F-tilt*
N-air***
Dash Attack**
F-smash
Up-B**
Side-B
F-air***
Dash Attack**
F-smash*
Side-B
F-air***
Dash Attack**
F-smash*
Up-B
Dash Attack
Dash Attack
Dash Attack
Up-B
Down-B~
F-Tilt**
Dash Attack*
F-smash***
D-smash*
N-air*
U-air
Down-B~
F-Tilt**
Dash Attack*
F-smash***
D-smash*
N-air*
U-air
Up-B
Side-B*
Dash Attack
D-smash***
U-air***
Side-B*
Dash Attack
D-smash***
U-air***
Side-B**
Dash Attack
F-smash***
U-smash
N-air
F-air**
F-smash***
U-smash
N-air
F-air**
Neutral-B*
Down-B
Neutral-B*
Down-B**
Down-B**
Up-B~
Dash Attack
Dash Attack
Down-B~
Dash Attack*
U-smash*
Dash Attack*
U-smash*
Neutral-B~
Side-B
Down-B~
Side-B
Down-B~
Up-B
Side-B
Dash Attack
N-air
B-air***
Side-B
Dash Attack
N-air
B-air***
Side-B(Grounded**)(Aerial~)
Down-B~
Dash Attack**
Down-B~
Dash Attack**
Neutral-B
Side-B
Down-B
Side-B
Down-B
Side-B
Side-B
Down-B***
Down-B***
Up-B*
Dash Attack**
Dash Attack**
Side-B*
Up-B*
From The Ledge: As a mixup from the ledge, you can jump in and inhale if they are careless enough to get too close. If you see them shielding and waiting to punish a ledge hopped aerial, ledge hop inhale and see what happens. From this you can spit them off, attempt to kirbycide, or even copy.
Also, when the opponent is recovering and you grab the ledge and you still have invincibility, the opponent cant sweetspot the ledge. If they land on the stage right in front of you, your chance to inhale is when they recover from their landing frames... similar to how Falcon players will hold the ledge and Knee right when the opponent lands on stage. This can either lead to Kirbycides or spitting them under the stage. Starshot edgeguarding is more effective on certain stages, only useful on stages that you can spit under, but more effective on stages that are difficult to reocover from underneath due to its shape. Such as FD, Dreamland, and Lylat. Its also worth noting that starshotting an opponent at a slant will cause them to shoot downwards, making it even effective on FoD, BF, and SV. When you spit them under, and they cant or dont escape to the other side, hit them with U-air or Final Cutter and force them to tech the stage, mix it up with U-airs and FCs that are out of range so that they air dodge to their death anticipating the tech. Its not as effective as it was in Brawl since inhale gives them their second jump back, but still very useful.
Reads: Reading your opponent, obviously, means predicting where they go. Some argue that its best to pick the safer, more optimal options rather than risk the read, but sometimes reads are required. To be great at reading your opponent, you need to recognize situations throughout the match and watch what options your opponent takes during those situations. This can expose their habits and tendencies and make you seem psychic. There are about 5 key situations you need to pay attention to when reading your opponent. This can work with every character.
1. What they do from the ledge.
2. What they do when they tech (or dont tech).
3. How they recover (what are their best options, when do they use their jump/jumps, do they fastfall, will they attempt to sweetspot).
4. Their offensive strategies (how they approach, how they try to start combos, do they jump, dash dance habits, etc.).
5. Their defensive strategies (how they defend, when do they roll or spotdodge, when do they hold shield, do they mash Nair out of combos, what do they do when they whiff, do they jump, dash dance habits, etc.).
5.5. Jumps (mentioned above, when do they jump, what do they do out of jump).
2. What they do when they tech (or dont tech).
3. How they recover (what are their best options, when do they use their jump/jumps, do they fastfall, will they attempt to sweetspot).
4. Their offensive strategies (how they approach, how they try to start combos, do they jump, dash dance habits, etc.).
5. Their defensive strategies (how they defend, when do they roll or spotdodge, when do they hold shield, do they mash Nair out of combos, what do they do when they whiff, do they jump, dash dance habits, etc.).
5.5. Jumps (mentioned above, when do they jump, what do they do out of jump).
Numbers 4 and 5 are the most difficult, and of course some people know how to mask their habits or mix-up better than others making them harder to read. Also, knowing what the pros look for when they are fighting you can help you be more unpredictable. Anyone proficient in getting reads in any fighting game probably will read the above and say "lol there are so many more situations you need to consider," and to that I say yes, there are. These are just starting key points to help people who want to get reads. In order to read everything, you would need to recognize every situation.
Spit, Copy, or Release?
This section, and the next, is basically to explain what you do when you get the inhale. I got news that is sort of disappointing, Kirby cant get much out of inhale. Either you copy their abilities, or you spit them out to get positional advantage and maybe a potential follow up... thats it. Its difficult to get a full combo on them afterwards because its dependent on how smart your opponent is. You just have to find the time and place for it. Certain stages are better for Starshot than others. For example a stage like Skyworld, Yoshis Island, or Warioware, because of its small length, makes it easier to get the opponent offstage than say FD, or Dreamland. Same goes for copy, its best used under a platform. It puts them in a strange position where you are more safe then they are, giving you an advantage. Thats really the main use for this move, get the advantage. Whether it be offstage, away from center stage, or above a platform.
Starshot, like I said before, shoots the opponent out a fixed distance in front of you. Kirby can walk and jump around to help get the opponent where you want to go. The opponent can break out of the starshot by pressing buttons, and since breaking out has little to no stun afterwards they will most likely be using the last move they used to break out. It is actually safer for the opponent to let the star carry them a good distance away before they break out, and if you see that happen... DO NOT go in thinking you can get free hits off of that. Nothing is guaranteed from starshot! You have to know the character you are fighting, and calculate the distance they are from you to get a follow up. For example, if you are fighting a DK and he breaks out with a F-air at a close distance, ATTACK! But if you see a Sheik break out at a far distance with a B-air, DONT DO ANYTHING, just take the positional advantage and reset neutral or prepare for an edgeguard. Some potential followups could be another inhale, any of your aerials, cutter dash, hammer, anything! Experiment with it. Just remember, nothing is guaranteed from starshot. Use inhale to your advantage and at least get a positional advantage, but be quick they can break out of the inhale before you walk too far!
Copy shoots the opponent directly above you and gives you a duplicate of the opponents Neutral-B in exchange for inhale. Copy in PM is a lot more useful strictly for the fact that the 3 main problems that used to exist in other games are no longer a factor.
1. Kirby cannot randomly lose the power on hit
2. Kirby can get rid of the power anytime he wants by edgecanceling the taunt
3. The whole cast is viable
There's an art to using this, because like noobs, a lot of Kirby's when they want to copy press B or down right after they inhale. Thats good sometimes, but other times depending on the character and/or stage it can be lethal. When the opponent pops out of Kirby, they have very little stun meaning some characters with a quick or ranged move may be able to hit you. There is a way of avoiding this though. Jumping slightly forward/backward and hitting copy toward the peak of your jump will cause the opponent to pop up diagonally infront or behind Kirby, which can avoid a lot of punishment, such as Peach's float D-air or the spacie's Shine. Its also good to know that not all copy abilities are designed equally, some are way better than others.
Also know that like noobs, a lot of people seem to forget they are still playing Kirby and think their whole moveset has become that move... if you really think about it it hasnt, like at all lol. When you copy you dont have to use it right away, or even at all. Since as of now no one knows how to deal with copy, when you copy them they will automatically assume you will use the move, punish them for their thinking. Below is a link to the Copy Abilities Guide & Discussion where you can get an idea of what copy abilities are good in that matchup AND the best ways to use them all.
There could be a whole thread talking about the "theory" of what makes Copy so good, yet underdeveloped. To keep it short and sweet, people become simple minded when it comes to Copy and automatically go into "casual" mode when it is mentioned; or they instantly think about how useful it would be in the ditto, dont get me wrong the ditto is a very important part of it but its only half of it. Kirby is different than everyone else, therefore Copy can be used differently than everyone else even Puff or Pit or whoever you think is similar. Some cases where the differences are more easily seen are with Kirby with Falco or Fox's lasers. Falco can only SH Single Laser while Kirby can SH Double Laser and SH Quad Laser with Fox. Because most Kirby players know that difference, they automatically assume that those are the best. Not necessarily! In theory Kirby can actually use everyone's copy equally or better than the original, the only reason that wouldn't be the case would be if the Copy isnt made exactly like the original, which as of right now is the case.
-Kirby has multiple jumps
-Kirby's jump squat (airborne on frame 4)
-Kirby's fall speed
-Kirby's SH and FH timing
-Kirby's combo ability
-Kirby's air mobility
-Kirby's speed
-Kirby's ground game
-Kirby's air game
-Kirby's neutral game
-Kirby's range
-Kirby's kill options
-Kirby's weaknesses
-Kirby's crouch
-Which of Kirby's moves forces the opponent to tech. Do you have more/less than them?
-Kirby's jump squat (airborne on frame 4)
-Kirby's fall speed
-Kirby's SH and FH timing
-Kirby's combo ability
-Kirby's air mobility
-Kirby's speed
-Kirby's ground game
-Kirby's air game
-Kirby's neutral game
-Kirby's range
-Kirby's kill options
-Kirby's weaknesses
-Kirby's crouch
-Which of Kirby's moves forces the opponent to tech. Do you have more/less than them?
One thing you should know, most people with no Kirby experience wont know how to deal with copy so a lot of the time they would just either ignore it or treat it like a ditto. This gives them 1 extra thing to think about, so surprisingly you can almost be a lot more spontaneous and get away with it. Also a great mindgame with copy is to copy and then never use it, much better in the less viable abilities (see link below), yes you'll get rid of inhale, but just learn to play without it. Copy sends them a good deal into the air, kinda like a throw which can help set up combos and juggles on characters you have an advantage on when they're in the air. (DK, Marth, Everyone else.)
http://smashboards.com/threads/how-to-be-a-copy-ninja-help-update-for-3-5.352356/
The third, and less discussed option is Releasing them. This, unfortunately
, can only be done after either the timer for how long Kirby can keep them in his mouth has run out, or they mash out... both of which is not in your control. When this happens, the character that was in Kirby's mouth shoots in the direction Kirby was facing. While both characters are immobile. This is common knowledge, but most people dont know how this can be used in your advantage. The more common way that people use this is commonly misunderstood as Kirbyciding... which its not, not exactly. This sometimes happens during Kibyciding and the threat of a successful Kirbycide makes it more likely to happen, but Ill go over that later. Its just an inhale release, similar to any character's grab release; the only difference is that this move can be used in the air. The second, and often overlooked, use of the release would be a grounded release. Its much more situational than the aerial release because a lot of factor's like the characters range and attack speed come into play. When they pop out of you mouth, some characters are in the perfect range for a Jab, F-tilt, D-tilt, or F-smash. I wouldn't recommend only doing those options if you ground release them though, there should always be baits, reads, and mixups to determine which moves you do. Knowing that your D-tilt will hit and that it will avoid a lot of grabs, some tilts, and even jabs at that distance because of Kirby's crouch will really be to your advantage. Some characters with slow jabs, or tilts can also be beaten. It will really catch the opponent off guard the first time you get them with this move.
Kirbycide... or nah?
Kirbycides are Kirby's specialty and are considered one of those "cheap" moves that most people think is all it takes to play Kirby at top level. Kirbyciding can basically be explained as, getting the inhale and walking off stage in preparation to SD and trade stocks with your opponent. Many people think that this is the only use for Inhale, which if you've read the thread, is very wrong. Like most tricks, there is an art to using it. Kirbycides are best used when you are ahead a stock or you have higher % than your opponent, and really good when both of those factors come into play. NEVER, in a serious match, attempt to Kirbycide when you have lower % than your opponent on the same stock just because you got the inhale and the ledge was right there! Beware, with the new horizontal release change for 3.5 it will not work against characters with a decent vertical recovery (including the double jump).
Conclusion
This is basically the TL;DR.
Inhale is Kirby's neutral special and counts as a grab box, meaning it can go through sheilds and armor. Contrary to popular belief, this move is not only useful for Kirbyciding, there is much more depth than meats the eye. Getting the inhale in unpredictable situations takes skill and is rather difficult to accomplish. The easiest way to get it is by comboing into inhale. Kirby can also use inhale as a mindgame or mixup to pressure someone to make a choice when they're sheilding; or to trick them up completely.
When Kirby inhales someone he basically has 3 options, Starshot, Copy, and Release. Starshot helps in giving you a positional advantage, and can lead to follow ups depending on where the opponent ends up. Copy takes their neutral-b and uses it as his own with the sacrifice of inhale but dont worry, he can get it back just by using the d-taunt which can be edgecancelled. Some abilites are better than others, study up on it. Then there is release, where Kirby sends them into a falling animation if they're off the stage although in 3.5 and on they can break out slightly upwards, distance depends on fall speed. Kirby can also ground release which puts the opponent in a tough situation and is forced to make a choice quickly. Kirbyciding should only be used either when you are a stock ahead, or you are behind on the same stock. Its not as easy to get as you would think. Inhale is a really underrated move and should be a good part of Kirby's playstyle.
FAQ
Do Snake players find it useless to plant C4s on people because it disappears when they die? No, right? If it really helps you in that matchup or against a certain playstyle you should be trying to get it as often as possible. Good Snake players will attach a C4 almost every stock, and Kirby players should mimic that. I compare Inhale & Copy to C4 because they are, to my knowledge, the only two moves that disappear on stock loss AND require direct interaction of two players to make it work. I feel they are both equally as challenging to land... in fact Kirby's might be easier. Snake is a lot more comboable and gimpable than Kirby, true Kirby can die off the top faster but it depends on if they have any reliable vertical kill moves in the matchup... meaning Snake players will even plant it when they know they have a high chance of dying. Fox can potentially Kill Snake at 0% with shine-spikes, Snakes still plant C4s; Kirby players die to Fox's Up-Smash around 70%, "no i dont wanna take his power ima die soon anyway". See how crazy that sounds. Watch how Snake players attach C4s, its not far different than how Kirby will get inhales. So forget that you lose the power when you die, you can and should get it back when you have the chance. Just be glad you dont lose the power randomly on hit like in other games.
Most likely, its because you are playing on a slightly altered version of auto-pilot, aka tunnel vision. You can tell just by watching them that they fall into habits and patterns without knowing it, using moves in predictable ways because they were told that the move is good. They are playing a one-player game, all they want to do is set up their plan without considering the plan of the opponent. "But it does work sometimes"-- I hear you say. To keep it blunt, its because you got lucky. Either your opponent is also playing a one-player game so they just get caught by your moves, or against better players, the move was seen as so illogical and unsafe it was never considered an option. The First Attack series states why this happens, basically an intermediate strategy will work well against beginner, other intermediate, and advanced players, only losing to expert players. If you are learning when to use it during friendlies, it is perfectly fine to mess up.
If this guide doesn't seem to work for you it's because you are doing that very thing, playing a one-player game. Consider everything, dont just throw moves out because you hope they'll run into it, think. What is my opponent trying to do? How is he/she approaching? Does he/she block everytime I do this? Is it safe to use this move? Are they in hitstun long enough for me to get them with this move? Are they weaker from the front than they are the back? etc.
If this guide doesn't seem to work for you it's because you are doing that very thing, playing a one-player game. Consider everything, dont just throw moves out because you hope they'll run into it, think. What is my opponent trying to do? How is he/she approaching? Does he/she block everytime I do this? Is it safe to use this move? Are they in hitstun long enough for me to get them with this move? Are they weaker from the front than they are the back? etc.
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