Koopa Questions: a Bowser Q&A Thread

[Z'zgashi]

On another random note, I got a Mudkip in my Nuzlocke im doing atm (its a Swampert now though) and I named it Limit cuz the first thing I thought of when I went to name it was your avi xD

 

[Deleted member 189823]

DTilt always works if you're not on a slope. Are you holding the control stick all the way down? You're supposed to hold it low enough to DTilt without crouching, that's in the original post of the grab release thread.

Woah, woah, woah.

D-Tilt...without crouching? What else have I missed on. @_@

 

[Flayl]

Well if you missed that, chances are you missed a lot.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

I'd like to know more about it, please. Do I just lower the stick to the lowest possible?

 

[Uncle]

The lowest possible without crouching, yes. It's as simple as that.

Like with everything related to GRs, you have practice it until it feels natural to you. Knowing is easy, applying is harder.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

Well, I was reading Flayl's (awesome) GR thread, and it says that to buffer the D-Tilt, you need to hold the control stick down low, but not enough as to enter the crouch animation:

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=297972

Well, if this does end up working in practice for me tomorrow, I'd like to know at what percentages these characters die to the D-Tilt:

-Peach
-Snake
-Falco

I've had Ganondorf die at 105% at PS1, but that was most likely the result of poor DI of his part.

 

[ChoZoAireX]

DTilt out of GR wont hit Peach and Snake
Falco is the only one of those 3 chars gettin hit by DTilt and will die about to 120% if your dtilt is fresh

 

[Cassius.]

Falco will die at lower/higher percents depending on how far you are from the blast zone. Obviously if you're closer he's going to die from a DTilt waaay lower than 120%. It's DTilt dude haha

if you're farther away then I guess 120 is a good estimate.

Swei I don't think you were reading the whole thread. Flayl has a chart full of grab release options that explains what works on who and when.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

Well who reads whole threads.
I'm doing that now and read the chart.

Oh man, this is going to be SO BEAST.

 

[Cassius.]

people who want to know all of the information read the first post of the thread

 

[Flayl]

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[Deleted member 189823]

I read the chart, I'm aware.
Snake, beware. :smug:

 

[B!squick]

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[Z'zgashi]

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[tru0067]

I play with Bowser as a fun character, but I've noticed he is pretty good

Are there any skills I need to become pro

 

[Cassius.]

don't worry about any "skills" or techniques just yet. just make sure you have an understanding of the game and his moves and what he can and can't do first, before you overload yourself with other stuff.

once you have fundamentals down, then you can get into the advanced things. I say this because learning about this game and the fundamentals in this game will carry throughout any character you'd feel like picking up, so it's best to get that over with now. trust me, it pays off!

there are a number of "advanced" things that you can learn about bowser, but in terms of technical difficulty only a few are pretty hard (and they're the more absurd things like pivot grabbing after a release)

basically you should aim to know how to grab release properly and space his moves well. since bowser has no sword or no projectile, he over-extends his body a lot to get hits. additionally, he is large (i'm sure you've noticed) so one wrong/mis-placed move can be the difference between your opponent whiffing an attack and them actually hitting you.

Here's an example of what I mean. Bowser has three grabs, two of which are the same move. You have your generic grab that every character has, and you have Flying Slam (Side B) aka Koopa Klaw, which can be performed on the ground and in the air. Having a command grab is nice, but having an aerial grab is HUGE in this game. It is so good and it is one of the things that makes Bowser truly unique, especially because Klaw is, in my opinion, his best move. As long as you keep in mind that you have an aerial command grab, it will open up a number of options for you in situations.

If memory serves me correctly we have the best (aerial?) command grab in the game, if we include bites, swallows and flame chokes.

 

[MrEh]

Klaw is definitely the best air grab in the game. By far.

 

[Z'zgashi]

I wouldnt say by far, cuz imo Yoshis isnt too far behind, but Bowsers is definitely the best.

 

[Cassius.]

Yeah I wasnt sure because Yoshi can actually b reverse his and switch his momentum in a second, but he has lag from the egg lay if he does it while hitting the ground, whereas Bowser doesnt (or if he does, its nonexistent)

 

[Z'zgashi]

^ Exactly.

Yoshis is fantastic, but nothing beats the safety and versatility of Klaw.

 

[Vex Kasrani]

Or the damage and kill power.

 

[B!squick]

Don't you guys mean The Flying Slam?

 

[tru0067]

What are Bowser's best damage racking moves

Also what is his best KO move

 

[Goast]

jabbs upbs and fair usually work wonders. Most if my KO's come from reverse uptilts and reads for dtilts

 

[Z'zgashi]

Most of your damage should be coming from jabs, klaws, grabs, etc, and really, everything of Bowsers kills so really Id say dont force kills cuz they WILL happen just by playing normally lol.

 

[Vex Kasrani]

Bowser is a strong guy.

 

[tru0067]

What about fire breath, It seems to do lots of damage

 

[Uncle]

Fire breath can do tons of damage, but the opponent can either escape the flames with minimal damage or punish Bowser with something like a Marth UpB if he/she knows how to SDI it properly. The breath is usually best used as a short burst harassment tool, and it's interesting how much you can learn about your opponent just by catching them once with it. Watch how they react to getting burned, and plan your future fire breath usage in the match off of that. If they are horrible at dealing with flames, THAT'S when you hold the B button down on them.

 

[tru0067]

How should you edge guard with Bowser?

 

[Cassius.]

i've recently been screwing around with Bowser Bombing to the ledge as a tactic against people who try to recover vertically. it also works as a pretty good fakeout when you're not too close to the edge. i forgot who would never shut up about bowser bomb in the bowser boards a few months ago, but i've been doing it a lot more, and it's been scaring the **** out of people/making me laugh, so to whoever you are, thank you!

i usually use bair, either if it's off of a RAR, a ledgejump or a double jump or whatever. going really far offstage and klawing is VERY ballsy, but do it if you want.

FAir is pretty trusty and you can't go wrong with it, but i just feel like more of a man when i kill with my shell.

so yeah, bair, and bowser bomb.

protip: if your opponent ledgehops/stays on the ledge too long, a properly spaced dtilt/fsmash will knock them off. dtilt is also good for recovery attempts that won't auto-snap onto the ledge..that's pretty ballsy/very good also.

 

[Phiddlesticks]

SPEAKING OF BAIR, i have a story that i found kinda funny

so i went to my first tournament in like 6 months last saturday (which i kinda forgot to mention in the boards here) and i ended up being on the stream for doubles for like 5 sets in a row in which i used bowser every game other than the first game in the first set.

http://www.twitch.tv/vitalityevents/b/339092339 - heres the link, at around 57mins in is when i start

but anyways, at more than one point during all these sets, a certain player whose name i wont mention (it may or may not have been infinitev115) mentioned how bowsers bair is the worst bair in the game, maybe even the worst move in the game, etc, etc. i found this pretty funny personally because i probably got something like 50%+ of my kills in those doubles sets with bair

and then if you keep watching the stream i have the good fortune to play that same certain player in singles, where i promptly put him in his place

(spoilers: as it turns out, his place was the following round of winners bracket)

 

[Z'zgashi]

lol, I agree Bowsers bair isnt one of the best bairs, but one of the worst? Wut?

 

[Cassius.]

Why would you ever take any players words about Bowser seriously if they dont or have not used him in a serious manner..its just a big *** waste

 

[tru0067]

Bair is good for offstage chasing where the lag cannot be punished as easily

 

[Vex Kasrani]

Bowser's bair is ****ing amazing.

 

[Cassius.]

bowser's bair is pretty good for what it's supposed to do. i have a hard time saying that it's not one of the best bairs because it's not meant to be used in the same fashion as wolf's or kirby's. if you were to use bowser's bair to zone or control space i'd question your career as a brawl player lol

it's a really sick/good move. like i said before i get like 80% of my kills off of it because of uair frame traps/suprise bairs offstage. you have to get creative because bowser isn't just a LOL YOU'RE DEAD NOW type of character (yo mk/snake whatupppp). he can be in the right conditions though :>

if bowser jr ended up in the next game i would go nuts, similar to how i did when they announced ghost rider for umvc3...only i hope he's not complete trash.

yo imagine a squirtle-ish bowser. that's a ****ing dream right there.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

What are examples of a frame trap U-Air? I very rarely use it because I don't expect anyone will eat it since U-Airs are predictable when someone's is below you.

What do you mean MK, he doesn't have amazing KO power, just fast KO moves that will KO at, liek, 150% (which kind of sucks imo). Snake is Snake, enough said.

 

[Cassius.]

What are examples of a frame trap U-Air? I very rarely use it because I don't expect anyone will eat it since U-Airs are predictable when someone's is below you.

That's the whole concept of the whole technique...you're supposed to U-Air. It's painfully obvious but you should do it so the only option your opponent has to avoid the move is airdodging. If they airdodge, they'll either be in front of you, behind you, or directly inside you, which you can either do a FAir, BAir or an NAir to punish them for the airdodge (respectively, although sometimes if they're inside you you can do a BAir and it will still hit). The concept is that if the opponent is sent or is recovering vertically they would need to watch for the UAir because it kills so early. They would want to airdodge or attack you, but most players are bad/most characters don't have fast enough moves that hit directly below, so they airdodge. And they become fish food.

What do you mean MK, he doesn't have amazing KO power, just fast KO moves that will KO at, liek, 150% (which kind of sucks imo). Snake is Snake, enough said.

...have you played as or played against Meta Knight? I'm not talking about KO power. The sheer ability to ensure that your opponent doesn't get back onto the stage is absurd enough. He doesn't have to wait until 150% to kill, he can get a throw and then proceed to handle you offstage. It definitely should be a LOL YOU'RE DEAD situation if I'm offstage against MK and I'm Bowser. Competent MKs are the best ones.

And Snake is Snake. That's my point. He's the simplest example of what I was trying to get across with my point. All of his moves are basically kill moves lol

 

[Goast]

That's the whole concept of the whole technique...you're supposed to U-Air. It's painfully obvious but you should do it so the only option your opponent has to avoid the move is airdodging. If they airdodge, they'll either be in front of you, behind you, or directly inside you, which you can either do a FAir, BAir or an NAir to punish them for the airdodge (respectively, although sometimes if they're inside you you can do a BAir and it will still hit). The concept is that if the opponent is sent or is recovering vertically they would need to watch for the UAir because it kills so early. They would want to airdodge or attack you, but most players are bad/most characters don't have fast enough moves that hit directly below, so they airdodge. And they become fish food.

Super Helpful! I Feel like so many of bowsers moves do well at forcing your opponent into poor positions. Like he was strictly made for punishing with followups

 

[Deleted member 189823]

That's the whole concept of the whole technique...you're supposed to U-Air. It's painfully obvious but you should do it so the only option your opponent has to avoid the move is airdodging. If they airdodge, they'll either be in front of you, behind you, or directly inside you, which you can either do a FAir, BAir or an NAir to punish them for the airdodge (respectively, although sometimes if they're inside you you can do a BAir and it will still hit). The concept is that if the opponent is sent or is recovering vertically they would need to watch for the UAir because it kills so early. They would want to airdodge or attack you, but most players are bad/most characters don't have fast enough moves that hit directly below, so they airdodge. And they become fish food.

That's pretty helpful information. I'll be baiting more U-Airs in the future, thank you.

...have you played as or played against Meta Knight? I'm not talking about KO power. The sheer ability to ensure that your opponent doesn't get back onto the stage is absurd enough. He doesn't have to wait until 150% to kill, he can get a throw and then proceed to handle you offstage. It definitely should be a LOL YOU'RE DEAD situation if I'm offstage against MK and I'm Bowser. Competent MKs are the best ones.

And Snake is Snake. That's my point. He's the simplest example of what I was trying to get across with my point. All of his moves are basically kill moves lol

Of course I played MKs, mang. It's not my fault the MK's I played don't exploit Bowser's weakneses like that.