THE HEDGEHOG
Silver the Hedgehog is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series who made his debut in the widely panned “Sonic the Hedgehog” AKA, Sonic 2006. Silver himself is also widely criticized but who cares, I’m making a set for him anyway because I, unlike most others, think he’s pretty cool. Yeah, I really do.
In Sonic 2006, Silver is one of the three main playable characters (next to Shadow and Sonic himself). Silver comes from the same world as Sonic but is from the future; potentially up to 200 years in the future from where Sonic’s time is. In Silver’s future, the world has been destroyed due to Iblis; a creature who destroyed the world with its powerful fires. Because of the fact that most of the world is destroyed in this future, Silver is much slower than Sonic and Shadow due to not having places to run like his hedgehog ancestors. To make up for this, Silver possesses powerful psychic abilities including, but not limited to, telekinesis, levitation and the ability to create energy blasts. In Sonic Rivals/2, Silver was also able to confuse his foes with his ESP powers and was also considerably faster.
Since his creation in Sonic 2006, Silver has been a regularly returning character; appearing in Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Mario and Sonic and the Winter Olympic Games, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sonic and the Black Knight and even Super Smash Brothers Brawl.
Possessing a strong sense of justice, Silver attempts to do what he believes is right in order to save his future from the plans that Eggman (and on occasion Eggman NEGA) attempt. While often serious, Silver is also quite childish, especially in the Sonic Rivals series where he often lets his temper and cockiness get the best of him.
Recovery – 8
Range – 7
Ground Speed – 5
Attack Speed – 5
Priority – 5
Size – 5
Traction – 4
Power – 4
Weight – 4
Fall Speed – 3
As you can see, Silver is a mixed bag of good and bad stats. Size wise, he’s slightly larger than Sonic but he’s also considerably slower. Silver’s physical attacks are all mostly weak, but his telekinetic attacks are where his real KO potential comes into play…it’s also why his range is so good. Silver’s recovery is excellent if only because he has the power to levitate much like Peach’s hover. Silver is very floaty however and his traction is less than impressive…he’s also just as light as Sonic (if not a touch lighter) making him easy to KO even at lower percents.
Neutral B: ESP
Silver crosses his arms before his face and then swings them forward, glowing a bright blue as he does so and letting out a cry of “Psychic control!” At this, any opponent within a Bowser width of Silver (to any side) will glow a strange aqua color for the next five seconds. While glowing, the opponent’s controls are mirrored (left is right, up is down) much like how Palkia swaps controls on Spear Pillar. This attack does 0% and no knockback as well as taking about ¾’s of a second start up lag…fortunately it doesn’t have much in terms of end lag.
Side B: Telekinesis
Holding his fist before him as it shakes slightly, Silver glows that same aqua color again before thrusting his hand forward. If an opponent is before Silver (maximum range being one Battlefield platform), Silver will cry out, “It’s no use!” The opponent then glows the same aqua color that Silver glows and will be held in place for a slightly longer duration than that of a normal grab, levitating slightly off the ground. Silver can then aim the foe in any direction; above, below, to the sides, diagonally…whatever, with the control stick. With a tap of the B button, Silver will pull his hand back and then instantly thrust it forward, hurling the foe in the direction you aimed with medium knockback that can KO Mario from the center of FD at about 150%. This attack will deal no damage UNLESS the foe is thrown into a wall/the ground in which case they’ll take 10%.
This is one of Silver’s best KO moves as you can use it to throw the opponent in whichever direction suits the situation best. With little start up lag (although a bit of end lag if you miss), this is a great substitute for Silver’s throws…just be careful; the grab portion of this attack -CAN- be spotdodged…if you’re predictable about it, you’ll be eating a Smash attack for your slip up. To end on a positive note however, this move can also be used in mid-air so long as the opponent is in range and on level (much like how Triforce Slash has to be on the same level). This makes it great for gimping…hurl your foe to their death…throw them into the stage for a stage spike…you decide!
On top of being able to pick up and throw opponents, Silver can also grab any and every projectile within reach and is able to hurl them at foes making it excellent against foes with projectiles (such as Snake’s grenades, Ness’ PK Fire, etc.).
Up Special: Psi Blocker
Holding both hands above his head, Silver creates a solid platform directly above him, blocking off attacks from above (or at least slowing them down as the foe then has to drop through the platform). The platform Silver creates is your basic fall through platform identical to the ones on Battlefield (except it’s made of aqua colored PSI energy). This provides up to two platforms that both you and your opponent can stand upon. If you try and summon a third platform, the first platform created will flicker; you then have two seconds to get to a more solid platform before it vanishes. This attack does no damage, knockback or anything of that sort…it has very little end lag but enough start up lag to make it impossible to spam (IE you’ll never have more than 3 platforms on stage at a time guaranteed).
Ah, so you caught on huh? Indeed this is a fall through platform so it DOES in fact apply to Silver’s other moves that will be covered a bit later...In fact, this can lead to some awesome mindgames…strand an opponent out a ways on one of these platforms then pull it to you and hope they slip up. Or of course…you could always rearrange them as shields on stages like…oh? Final Destination? Where it doesn’t have any fall throughs of its own? You'll get plenty more ideas after reading a few more of the ways you can interact with these platforms.
Down Special: Psychic Bend
With a press of this command, Silver will press his hands to the stage beneath him and shout “C’mon!” At this, the stage will begin to sink in the location you used this move, essentially creating a dip in the stage. What does this mean for Silver players? One very important thing: protection against campers. Fighting a laser happy Falco? Make the stage dip down in one part so you can safely stay under them! Need a little extra when it comes to recovery? Dip the side of the stage down so it’s easier to reach! Obviously this is gonna end up making the stages look pretty funky in the end...but hey! Isn’t that what Smash is supposed to be? Doing wacky stuff with wacky effects? Indeed it is.
This attack has a little start up lag but hardly any end lag (and doesn’t do any damage or knockback either). What it does do however is make the stage bend wherever you’re using this move. So if you use it in the center of Final Destination, the very middle of it will dip down one Kirby height every second you hold the command…eventually it’ll end up looking kinda like Green Hill Zone’s dip! The stage will stay like this until Silver is KO’d at which time it will begin to reshape itself at the same rate it changed.
Neutral Combo: Psychic Push
Silver thrusts his hand forward unleashing a blast of aqua colored energy. Upon making contact with a foe, this move pushes them back a bit, much like Mario’s FLUDD or Squirtle’s charged Water Gun in terms of range. This move comes out surprisingly fast but has some nasty end lag (surprisingly for a neutral A). It also doesn’t deal any damage or knockback (knockback and pushback are different, right?) It can however be a very reliable gimping method if properly used.
Dash Attack: Silver Strike
Silver laughs and says “Heh! Enjoy!” as he teleports out of sight. A moment later, Silver will appear (hopefully) behind the opponent and deliver a powerful kick before him, striking the opponent in the back dealing 8% and medium knockback. The distance Silver teleports is equal to that of Meta Knight’s Dimensional Cape so timing for this one can be a tad tricky. It does however leave Silver open to retaliation if he misses as he loses his momentum…on the other hand, it leaves him facing the other direction meaning he can follow up quite easily.
Side Tilt: Mental Burst
Leaning forward, Silver thrusts both arms forward and cries out “Get out of here!” One third of a second later, ALL fall through platforms on the stage will fly directly across the stage in whatever direction Silver is facing at the speed of Sonic’s run speed, flying until they hit a solid wall at the speed of, an opponent or the side blast zone. If they hit a wall or the blast zone, obviously you just ruined your platforms. If you hit an opponent however, the platform will shatter, striking the opponent up to eight times with small hits of 2%. Very little end lag but if you miss, you’ve ruined all of your platforms and your defense will take a major hit.
Up Tilt: Mental Manipulation
Silver levitates slightly off the ground, holding his arms at his side as he glows blue. At this time, the nearest fall through platform to Silver will also glow the same color (or more brightly if it’s a Silver created platform), pulsating slightly. As long as the A button is held, Silver will stay in his levitated state…but if the control stick is pressed in any direction, the glowing platform will be entirely controllable, being able to be fine tuned anywhere on the stage. The floating platform will move at the speed of Mario’s run and can be moved in any direction. This is perfect for placing the platforms in the EXACT location you wish them to be in (ideal for boxing yourself in) far quicker and more exact than with the Up Special. The main downside here is that Silver is entirely vulnerable to being attacked while he’s moving the platforms.
If there are two platforms equal distance from Silver, Silver will move the platform that he’s facing…so make sure you’re moving the platform you want to be moving. As a side note, this move can be used for some pretty interesting strategies in team matches…
Down Tilt: Silver Spin
Ever played Super Mario Bros. 3? You remember those spinning platforms that would launch Mario into the air when he jumped on one, usually to his death? Yeah. That’s the same basic concept here. With the down tilt command tapped, Silver will laugh and say “Later!”. Half a second later, ALL fall through platforms on the stage will begin to spin very rapidly for a full second and a half. Unfortunately, Silver is also left with about half a second end lag after using the attack…but it’s not long enough that you’ll be easily punished, especially if you use this move at the right time!
The spinning platforms do no damage but they will launch the opponent like the catapult on Pirate Ship. If this throws your opponent off the stage, you can easily follow up and attempt to gimp them. This is also especially useful if your opponent is trying to use one of your platforms for recovery; chances are if you spin the platforms as the opponent is about to land on one, they’ll go flying off to their doom.
Side Smash: Psycho Shock
Pulling his hands back, Silver takes a pose similar to the one below. Upon release of the Smash, Silver thrusts his hands forward, unleashing a burst of blue energy forward with the range of a Falcon Punch. If this connects, the opponent will receive 12-19% damage depending on the charge but no knockback. Instead, this attack stuns much like Zero Suit Samus’ Neutral B; the amount of stun depends on the charge as a C-sticked Side Smash will get you half a second stun whereas a fully charged Side Smash gets you a second and a half. Slight beginning lag and slight end lag, great set up though for a Neutral/Side Special.
Up Smash: Earth Ripper
Silver places a hand to the ground and his whole body begins to quake as he pumps his psychic energy into the floor beneath him. Once the Smash is released, a huge chunk of the stage will tear up before him, dealing 14-18% and medium-high knockback depending on the charge. The obvious disadvantage here is that…well, for an Up Smash, it doesn’t hit above him. This attack is fairly laggy on the start up but is has surprisingly little end lag.
The obvious benefit of this Smash is that it creates a thick wall of ground that’s as tall as Ganondorf (regardless of charge) directly before Silver. This can be used to soak up quite a few projectiles/attacks (25% worth to be exact) or…it can be used to give Silver a projectile of his own. Used in combination with Silver’s Side B, Silver will tear the chunk of ground loose and then be able to throw it at his will. If hit with this flying chunk of terra firma, you’ll be taking a solid 16% and medium/high knockback. Fortunately this projectiles can’t be spammed; you can only have one wall of ground at once…try and make another and the first one will crumble.
Down Smash: Mental Shockwave
Silver balls his fists up in front of his face as the move charges. Once the charge is released, Silver presses his hands to the ground releasing a seismic shockwave of psychic energy. The longer the charge is held, the higher the shockwaves go. At minimum charge, they’ll only be the height of a crouching Kirby whereas at maximum charge, they’ll be Ganondorf’s height. If the shockwaves hit an opponent in the air, they’ll deal low/medium knockback and 11-17%…but if they hit a foe on the ground, they’ll put the opponent into a tripped state for slightly longer than the normal tripped animation. Another great setup for Silver’s moves with more KO potential.
Neutral Aerial: PSI Swap
What madness is this? A nair that doesn’t involve spinning in a slight circle with your arms outstretched? Blasphemy. Anyway, with this move, Silver’s eyes glow aqua as he curls his body up slightly. A moment later, an aqua colored sphere forms around Silver with a radius similar to Jiggly’s Sing. Anyone in the radius during the attack vanishes momentarily, including Silver. A moment later, everyone reappears…but it a new position!
For instance, if the opponent was to the right of Silver when they were hit with this move, they’ll appear to his left, essentially mirrored over him. While this just seems kinda weird, it can be very effective for mindgaming your opponent, gimping them, avoiding their attacks or just ruining their attacks period! Ike tries to side smash you? SH’d nair will have him swinging at nothing. This attack does no damage or knockback…but it is fairly lagless on both ends…great for messing with your enemy’s mind.
Forward Aerial: Silver Shield
Silver holds out a hand before him as he glows blue. Suddenly, a semi-transparent blue wall appears before him the height of Ganondorf. This wall is, oddly enough, solid and will not let opponents pass through it. If an opponent hits the wall while trying to recover, they’ll simply act as if they’re against a wall and, if you block their Up B with it, will cause any characters who enter a freefall after their Up B to fall to their death. The wall will last for a second and a half or until Silver touches the ground. If he touches the ground while using his fair, Silver will suffer from very nasty end lag…but…the end lag is still pretty bad in the air
This move is great for gimping opponents whose Up B recovery moves are very predictable. It’s also quite useful in combination with Silver’s float; thanks to the float, you can easily chase after off-stage opponents with less than stellar recoveries.
Backward Aerial: Psychic Scrambler
Spinning around, Silver attempts to strike the foe with his right hand which is glowing with PSI energy. If he connects, the opponent’s Special Moves will be randomly scrambled for the next three seconds. For instance, Up B may actually be Down B, deadly if you’re Yoshi and over the edge…or perhaps your Green Missile is now Fireball? This attack has the potential to be an amazing gimp tool depending on your opponent…just be careful with it; it’s got some end lag and the hitbox for it is deceptively small. As a nice little bonus, it also does 6% and flinching knockback.
Up Aerial: Psycho Pull
Silver’s up air is a weird one…it can be used for some fairly epic mindgames though. Silver holds his arms out to both sides, visibly trembling as he glows aqua again. A second later, any drop through platforms within a Smart Bomb radius around Silver will psychically be drawn to and directly above him him. So what exactly does this do and why would you want to use it over the up tilt? Well, it draws all platforms directly above Silver instantly; no fiddling around with exact locations one platform at a time. Short-hopped, this can easily provide some protection from above from some projectiles and dairs.
Down Aerial: Matter Shatter
For this attack, Silver raises his hands above his head and lets out a yell. He then thrusts his hands between his legs and unleashes a miniature psychic explosion that deals 8% and a weak spike. This move however has more interesting properties…using it above one of your created platforms (see up aerial) will shatter the platform sending shard of psychic energy rocketing downwards. These don’t do a whole lot of damage (about 3% per hit with the potential of five hits) but with the aid of the shattered platform, Silver’s dair becomes a deadly downward spike! It’s fairly situational but it can easily serve a purpose…oh, and if you ever wanted to play on Battlefield without the platforms; it works on all fall through platforms.
Grab: Silver’s grab is very similar in appearance and range to that of his Side B…the notable exception is that once he thrusts his hand forward, he then jerks it back, pulling the opponent closer. If Silver misses with this, he exclaims “What?!” and looks forward in disbelief making it rather laggy.
Pummel: Silver Spin
While holding his hand before him, Silver rotates his arm so that his palm is now facing up. This causes the opponent to spin very quickly clockwise and then very quickly counter-clockwise when he returns his hand to its normal position. A rather slow (yet comical) pummel, this deals a solid 7% per use…won’t get many uses with its poor speed though.
Forward Throw: Psychic Yo-Yo
No, this isn’t a Ness throw…Silver raises his hand to his head and then thrust it forward, hurling the opponent a Battlefield platform forward…simple, right? Not quite. Silver then jerks his hand back, pulling the opponent back towards him (like a yo-yo, get it?). Upon returning to their starting place, Silver then flicks his hand, carelessly tossing the foe forward with low knockback. This attack deals 9% to the grabbed foe and, surprisingly, 11% to any foes hit by the opponent during their yo-yo effect.
Backward Throw: Gravity Leapfrog
Jumping into the air, Silver swings both arms downwards, sending the opponent spinning beneath Silver and around him in a full circle (clockwise) before Silver turns around in mid-air and flicks them away with knockback similar to his forward throw. This throw deals a solid 8% to opponents and, like Silver’s forward throw, deals 10% to any opponent who is struck by the foe Silver’s spinning around! These throws are exceptional for free-for-alls!
Up Throw: Psychic Soccer
Silver brings both of his hands close together as if he were holding a basketball between them. At the same time, the opponent is psychically compacted into a ball shape themselves…except for Kirby, he’s…ya know? Spherical enough. Silver then makes a tossing motion with his right hand which causes the foe to be tossed upward and toward Silver! Silver then kicks the opponent upward before jumping into them with his head, knocking them skyward with low/medium knockback. Upon reaching a Ganondorf height up, the opponent then returns to their normal shape. Except Kirby. This deals 8% to grabbed opponent and, like Silver’s other grabs, more damage for opponents hit by the opponent being thrown, 10% in this case.
Down Throw: PSI Catch
Silver hurls the foe upwards a great distance similar to Meta Knight’s Up Throw (where he lifts them off stage) before sending the foe plummeting towards the ground! Upon hitting the ground, the opponent takes no knockback but a great 13%. Any opponent’s hit by the falling opponent take 5%…but they also get pitfall’d due to having a foe slammed on their head! Ouch…
+- Super Silver -+
Silver’s grabbed the Smash Ball and he’s now glowing…uh oh…it’s that time…Super Silver! With a tap of the B button, Silver flies to the middle of the stage and throws his arms out to both sides, glowing with a golden aura as the seven Chaos Emeralds circle around him. With a cry of “This will end it!” Silver transforms into his Super form (as pictured above). Super Sonic clone, right? No way! The transformation into Super Silver grants Silver all of the following…
- Flight. Just like Super Sonic, Super Silver is able to fly. Unlike Super Sonic however, Super Silver moves much slower (about the speed of Diddy’s Final Smash) and does no damage on contact with Silver.
- Shield of Light. The Shield of Light is a super powerful shield created by the power of the Chaos Emeralds and Silver’s very own Psychokinesis. By pressing and holding the A button, a glowing circle the size of a Smart Bomb explosion will appear around Silver (although he’ll be unable to move so long as the A button is held). If an opponent (or projectile) is caught in the radius, Silver will be able to throw the opponent (or projectile) in any direction, exactly like his Side Special.
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Neutral B: Chaos Flip
Silver exclaims, “This’ll be a snap!” as he snaps his fingers. Upon command, the entire stage will flip upside down, the exact same way that Palkia flips Spear Pillar! Controls are reversed for everyone but Silver and other mayhem ensues. A surefire way to irritate your friends.
Side B: Psychic Gust
Silver holds his hands out to both sides of him and creates a gust of psychic energy, blowing opponents away much like FLUDD or Latias/Latios do. This does no damage but can gimp foes especially in the chaos of this Final Smash (no pun intended).
Up B: Gravity Flip
Silver laughs and throws both hands into the air. At this, the gravity then becomes incredibly floaty, much like when sliding down the hill in Summit. This makes everyone very floaty and, by association, even easier to gimp with Psychic Gust (especially when the stage is flipped).
Down B: Psychic Burst
Ah, the one way to actually cause DAMAGE with this Final Smash! By pressing Down B, Silver shouts, “I’m better!” as he sends a huge ball of pure energy towards the stage. This energy ball is about the size and speed of a fully charged Charge Shot and deals 15% and high knockback. Fortunately it’s spammable! Yay!
This transformation into Super Silver lasts about 15 seconds. Once it wears off, the stage flips back to normal, gravity resets (providing you changed them) and Silver enters a freefall (once the stage is flipped normally of course). Silver lands and lets out an exhausted “Not…now…” All great things must come to an end Silver…
Up Taunt: Relaxing During Battle
Silver floats into the air, appearing much like Dedede’s crouch as he floats and says “Looks like I’m on a roll!”
Side Taunt: Aura Mockery
Silver floats off the ground slightly. He then clenches his fists and glows with his aqua aura asking, “Can’t you do better?” before laughing and setting down on the ground again.
Down Taunt: Glove Fixer
Silver holds a gloved hand before his face and tightens his glove with his other hand. He then says, “I’m better!” before swinging his hands to his side and taking his idle stance again.
Victory Pose 1: Psychic Victory
Silver stands in place, one hand on his side and the other held up near his head. In the background, the opponents are all floating, surrounded by aqua aura. Silver then says, “That was easy enough!” before clenching his fist, causing the opponents to all fall, landing in their tripped state.
Victory Pose 2: Protector
Silver is floating in the middle of the screen much like his Brawl Trophy, he then declares, “I will protect the future!”
Victory Pose 3: Humble Victory
Silver crosses his arms and looks around, he then says “Not bad all in all,” as he begins to clap with his opponents.
Lose Pose: Exhaustion
Silver claps weakly…but he’s on one knee with his head drooped forward. Looks like that fight took a bit out of him…perhaps he used his psychic abilities too much?
Victory Theme: Sonic Team Jingle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRe3h1iQ1Os
So you’ve picked up Sonic’s far less popular silver hued counterpart huh? Up for a little stage control and aerial gimping? Who isn’t?! Let’s go over Silver’s ground game first which, oddly enough, borrows quite a bit from the aerial game. First things first; take note of what stage you’re playing on and what platforms you can manipulate. If there aren’t any (Final Destination) you’re going to want to create your own. Now that you’ve made your own platforms, you’re going to have to figure out what to do with them. Do you want to manipulate them as a shield to hover over Silver and protect him from arched projectiles and aerial attacks? Do you want to extend them closer to the edges for easier KO’ing and/or easier recovery? Analyze your opponent’s character; if they’ve chosen someone with an excellent off stage game, you may want to focus on your recovery rather than shielding.
Aside from your platforms however, Silver can form the stage to his advantage in other ways; the most notable being the Up Smash and the Down B.. Silver’s Up Smash will create a wall that can be used to absorb projectiles…unfortunately its stamina will dwindle quickly when hit with rapid fire projectiles like lasers and such or can simply be destroyed via a quick Smash attack. The Down B however is much more useful for ducking under laser spam and is therefore much more useful against the Spacies. Both of these are key however to protecting Silver from projectile users as he lacks a reliable projectile of his own…
As far as KO’ing goes, Silver’s prime means of KO’ing while grounded are his up smash and, more importantly, his Side B. Silver’s Up Smash delivers good knockback but is awkward to hit with because of its unusually placed hitbox and relatively long lag time. Silver’s Side B however is much more useful for KO’ing if only because of it’s wonderful usefulness. Because of how it can be used to suit whatever situation you’re in, it’s incredibly versatile when it comes to throwing the foe. The main downside to this move is the lengthy lag if you miss with it; if you do miss, you’ll be punished for it. Stunning the foe via side smash however can easily remove this risk.
And now we reach Silver’s air game…a wonderful air game indeed. Silver’s forward aerial is great for gimping most everyone, especially those with weak up B's; Silver can leap off, fair them, float back onto the stage and wait for them to fall to their doom. Silver’s neutral aerial can easily reverse the tide of a battle as moves like Yoshi and Bowser’s Down B become potential death traps with one switch. Backward air is not to be underestimated either; combined with the control switching effects of the Neutral B, this move becomes even MORE confusing. Never forget that while it may just be a simple swap of what each B Move does, it could easily lead to a death as it renders the opponent unable to use their Up B recovery (and it becomes a scary gamble for characters whose special moves make them fall instantly).
So we’ve covered Silver’s ground game and his aerial game…how about his teamwork? Silver is -THE- team character simply put as he brings a lot to the table with almost anyone if only because of his platform manipulation. When paired with characters who have bad/easily gimpable recoveries (Link, Ness, Lucas), Silver can help rescue his partners easily thanks to his up tilt platform manipulation. Silver can also help characters with slower speeds/attack speeds get in to launch an attack and then retreat…floating Warlock Punch anyone? Heck, if on a team with Cradily and the opponent knocks Cradily airborne, Silver can manipulate a platform beneath him and move him around as a mobile turret! Granted this leaves Silver relatively unprotected but…if the teammate does a good enough job of harassing the foes, Silver should be protected just fine.
Silver is also a beast in Free-For-Alls. Because of his weird stage warping, Silver makes the “everyone for themselves” battles even more hectic. Another plus for Silver in four player matches is the simple fact that his throws actually do more damage to opponents hit by the throwee! That’s right, people hit by the person being thrown take more damage than the guy getting thrown himself does; Silver uses them as a human projectile! Not only this, but it’s far, far easier to land Silver’s Neutral Special when everyone else is distracted, leading all the opponents to end up with the major penalty of warped controls! With what he lacks in one-on-one matches, Silver makes up for massively in multi-man Brawls!
One last bit for you to digest…what stops you from just say…positioning a platform under the stage and then waiting out the match? Well, for one…you’d be a cheap asshat. Secondly, you’d easily be banned for stalling. Thirdly, there’s really no stages you could successfully pull this off that aren’t banned. If you tried it on FD, even by positioning the platform under the stage prior to jumping down there , your opponent would just have to jump down there and poke you with one attack and you’d be stage spiked through the platform.
Playing Against – Dreams of an Absolution
So you’re in a match against Silver…what do you do? Depends on your character of course! Just keep in mind; campers beware…Silver’s got your number! If you’re playing a particularly campy character (Spacies, Pit, etc.) you’re gonna have a hell of a time getting around Silver’s “fortress.” With all those blasted platforms to protect him, you can’t even arch your projectiles in to poke him (sorry Pit). Silver quite literally can wall himself in via a combination of the platforms he creates and the wall he can tear up using his Up Smash. This essentially forces Silver’s opponent to make the first move (otherwise he can just tear them to ribbons with his psychically thrown debris). If there’s one thing to be happy about with this match up, it’s that Silver’s not gonna get his platforms in place instantly; if you can keep the pressure on him and not give him a chance to position things to his liking, you can stop him before he gets started. Well, at least his defensive game…you still have his deadly offense to deal with now that you have him cornered.
Fighting Silver is a very hard medium to reach. On one hand you want to be aggressive enough to stop him before he can wall himself in…but on the other, if you’re too aggressive you’ll find yourself stunned and hurled away or with your controls all swapped up. Needless to say, this makes a good Silver player deadly. Oddly enough though, hit and run attacks seem to work the best against Silver, as do powerful attacks in general. Silver is LIGHT. This is your key advantage (unless you’re too weak to take advantage of it…) against Silver. A power character (such as Ike) who can catch Silver with a side smash will end up killing him at very low percents. Speedier characters (like Sonic funny enough…) also give Silver trouble; they’re fast enough to stop your defenses but they’re also cautious enough to avoid Silver’s ground game. In the air, any character who can keep Silver busy can avoid a majority of his attacks and it’s surprisingly hard to catch a speedy character with Silver’s nair.
Silver’s good but as long as you apply the appropriate amount of pressure to him you can topple him fairly easily. At lower levels of play, Silver players will probably focus more on trying to throw you as much as possible whereas at higher levels, Silver becomes a much, much more defensive character. Just remember his weaknesses; he’s not exactly the fastest, he’s very light (while still being a larger target than most lightweights), he has terrible traction and only a handful of reliable KO methods. Even the slowest of characters can take out Silver providing they hit hard enough and avoid his gimping game.
Vs. Sonic: 60/40 – Silver’s Favor
The match of the century; hedgehog vs. hedgehog! In Sonic 2006, this matchup was painfully one-sided, in Smash…well, it’s a little more even. To begin, Sonic has the clear speed advantage, this was made clear even in Sonic 2006. Silver however has range which is a deadly, deadly tool with him. Silver’s platforms and walls can easily slow down the blue blur, especially since the walls will stop Sonic in his tracks. Off stage however, Sonic has the advantage. His aerials are a lot better for attacking, his recovery is too good to gimp properly and Silver’s moves don’t do a very good job of scrambling Sonic up. Silver however CAN snatch Sonic mid-run with his Side B and can make Sonic much more unwieldly with his controls scrambled up via Neutral B. While playing as Sonic, you’ll want to keep the pressure on Silver and force him off stage where you’ll have the advantage. While playing as Silver, you’ll want to do whatever it takes to slow down Sonic as much as possible, peppering him with your projectiles whenever possible. If there’s one more crucial advantage that Silver has, it’s that he has far more reliable KO moves than Sonic does.
Vs. Ness: 75/25 – Silver’s Favor
So, a battle between the two psychics; Ness is more offensive whereas Silver is more defensive…this surprisingly however gives Ness quite the difficult time against a good Silver player. First of all, if they’re on the same level, Silver can simply grab and toss Ness’ PK Fiyah back at him or, even if he’s too slow, throw it back at the next PK Fiyah to intercept it. Even if Ness jumps to start an aerial assault, Silver can angle the fiyah to intercept him in mid-air. That being said…Silver doesn’t even have to worry about PK Fire in the first place; the ground wall created with his Up Smash is more than enough to stop it, just like how Silver’s created platforms can stop PK Thunder and PK Flash. Silver manages to completely shut down Ness’ projectile game which leaves him mostly limited to his air game…which is when a good Silver player will want to gimp him! Providing Ness is trying to recover, swapping places with Ness with your nair will let you take the PK Thunder and have Ness fall to his doom. Of course…you could always just swap his Specials with your bair and hope he gets something hazardous to his recovery like PK Magnet or PK Flash. And don’t forget the usefulness of your Neutral B; a Ness with his controls swapped around will have a hell of a time trying to work PK Thunder.
Vs. Mewtwo: 20/80 - Mewtwo’s Favor
Oh my…what an advantage we had over Ness is now ruined with the semi-broken God of Pokemon (Yes, Mewtwo makes even Arceus bow down). Mewtwo is a hellish match up for Silver if only because of all the disadvantages he has. The wall created by his Up Smash is now not just a projectile for him, but also for Mewtwo! Making a wall will only result in Mewtwo’s superior grab range hurling it back in your face…fortunately he can’t do the same for your platforms due to Silver being the only platform manipulator. The main problem here is that Mewtwo does most everything you can do…but vastly better. His grab range outranges you by a considerable margin and any projectiles you can throw at him he’ll throw right back making it a game of catch. Of course…Mewtwo also has a much easier time simply grabbing and throwing Silver. Mewtwo’s Up Special also makes it very difficult (and somewhat awkward) to gimp him. Because Silver will more often than not be close when Mewtwo teleports, he’ll often be teleported with him…and if Silver switches their positions around with his nair, things can get fairly interesting (and quite confusing…) in a hurry. This is a very uphill battle for Silver players…it’s not impossible…but you’ll find yourself being the one tossed around for a change. If Mewtwo gets you off stage to the point where you’re out of jumps and hover…you’re pretty much doomed.
Vs. Silver: Ditto
Oooo, a ditto matchup! How interesting! So how does this work? Silver vs. Silver is a really, really intense game of dodgeball. Both Silvers can create ground walls of their own, both of which can be thrown at one another and both characters can create their own platforms via up tilt. Not only this, but both Silvers can control each others platforms! Wall yourself up and the opponent will simply side tilt your platforms away. Try recovering with the platforms and your opponent will either hurl them away or spin you off the stage via down tilt. Believe me, platforms will be flying EVERYWHERE. Appropriately, Silver’s own bair can destroy him; two of this four specials will end up with him ruining his chances of recovery and with Neutral Special ESP stacked upon that…well…good luck. Just remember, if Silver has one advantage over…well…Silver, it’s that he can gimp himself quiet easily.
There ya go Sundance.
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The idea to make Silver just came to me after playing a whole lot of Sonic 2006. The end result is actually one of my favorite sets I've ever created and, in all honest, I believe this to be my best work since Shanoa way back in MYM4. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed make it! ;D
Multiple OHKO options set me off. Hopefully the rest of the set balances this.
