Okay, I'm going to weigh in. My sparring partner is a fairly good Villager, and having really only played this match-up, he really knows what Yoshi does, and how to exploit, whereas I have learned a good amount of what I can do against Villager as Yoshi (and Shulk but that's a different thread)
Stage
Smashville is my stage of choice. I love it because of the single moving platform that adds the dimension of combo capabilities for us, as well as a secondary approach option and a consistent way to Egg Lay, as well as a closer F-smash to offstage. Also, the platform rarely gets in the way of combo opportunities, and more importantly, Egg Tosses.
Most Villagers will probably pick
Dreamland, as their recovery is insanely mobile, and I've seen Villagers recover from the bottom blast zone with room to spare. If you think you can win on Dreamland, start there so they cannot counterpick it.
Delfino Plaza is another CP I like, because the shifting stage tends to disrupt Villager combos, as well as stopping trees. Being near the walk-off is quite dangerous for Villager, so he's predictable in wanting to control Center, which is exploitable. Be incredibly aware of Stage Shifting, and use it to your advantage, and the entire stage can work against Villager.
I would try and stay away from
Halberd, and
Battlefield and especially MiiVerse if you can. Villagers great Aerial Game along with the platform's ability to stop Egg Tosses is crippling, and allows Villager to no longer respect the incredibly powerful Ground Pound. Tree also covers a lot more ground than you would expect, and can make reapproaching very difficult and Egg Toss nearly impossible.
Neutral
The Neutral game is by far the most important part, as this will specifically tell you the type of Villager you're playing, and therefore the way you need to approach them. A campy Villager will start with a Lloid Rocket, which they expect you to jump over. From there, expect a Fair, or a follow up dash attack. Fairs are more dangerous if you're going in, but Dash Attack Pot is one of the only ways a Villager can safely approach, which is one of the Villager's weakest points. From within that approach, in more campy spaces, we're in much more dangerous territory, so be careful. Shielding the Lloid is a good strat, though often times, I'll Egg Roll and try to hit him before the lloid is active. However, if the Villager rushes right in with a pot, this will stop you, and allow him to follow up.
Your best bets are
Long Range Egg Tosses, to try and get him to dodge and give you a few frames of approach, or to approach with
short hop Nairs. The Nair's hitbox takes down a lot of projectiles, and stops the Villager's approach game as well. From a hit, I'll often D-tilt to Dash Attack. Not always consistent, but pushing the Villager away is helpful, and then you see some panic button options that they'll default to.
Beware of Villager's Pocket. It's not only used to take in items, but gives him dodge frames, that are faster than a spot dodge. He can follow up incredibly quickly, and often times it just looks like you wiffed. Taking in an incoming egg can also be incredibly annoying, though it only comes out at a 45 and is not adjustable.
The key to the neutral in my opinion is your use of Eggs. This allows us to play a much more Melee-Marth style than a majority of our match-ups. And as Villagers tend to ignore spacing for distance, it gives us a slight advantage in the close game. Never underestimate your eggs-- and don't forget how long they can go! Also: eggs only get rid of a lloid once they've started moving!
Advantage
The advantage game is relatively simple in theory, but it's very hard to resist the temptation to spam attacks. F-smash is by far your best killing option, as recovery from the side is much more predictable than from below, and from above, Villager's turnips can be a massive pain to contest. Close after that is a well places Fair. Losing aerial placement is incredibly disorienting for all characters, but as Villager has no way of damaging while in recovery from below, it is a lot easier to follow up with a kill. Resist the urge to just fling an attack though, as it's much harder than it looks to hit ONLY the balloons and not the character. Up smash is Old Faithful after that, reliably killing Villagers resorting to platforms above, as well as ones who approach from the 45 degree.
Use Eggs to combo Villagers, as the stun frames is usually enough to get a much bigger hit, and bait out an air dodge or spot dodge. I often will approach with an egg to go for Nair into Dash
Disadvantage
Villager has incredibly fast and powerful aerials. Fair is really strong and very quick, but Bair looks the same, is faster and hits only a hair softer. Both come out faster than Nair, and are projectiles. As they have very few recovery frames, it's easy for Villager to pull this into combos. Dair has been known by me to hit me out of Uairs, even when it looks like I've deployed the attack first. Villager's Down tilt is also very fast and good combo fuel to go into Fair combos, and the Bowling Ball is shockingly larger than it appears. Jab is quick and hard to stop, and Villager has a few key moves that do far too much knockback for their own good. While not as much combo-like as Mario or Fox, it's not surprising to get locked into a chain of hits dealing 30+ percent with a Villager who knows their follow-ups. The key to the match is patience and waiting for them to make a mistake.
Recovery
Recovery is broken down into two parts, ours, and theirs, from side, above and below.
The best case scenario is that we are recovering FROM
above, ie falling. B reversal, Egg Toss and an insane second jump give us mobility in the air that Villager can't contest without a fair amount of prediction. With the constant threat of an aerial Ground Pound, Villagers will constantly be dodging from right beneath you as well (though be careful, as their up-smash out-prioritizes Ground-Pound, though if you bait it out, it's recovery frames are great for punishing.)
Recovering from the
side is much less secure, though its not terrible. As horrid as it sounds, try and use Second jump early, as Villager's myriad of projectiles can cost you it sooner than you'd like. After your second jump is gone, don't be afraid to get hit by a projectile to launch you up slightly. It's helped me recover several times. Switching off between Fair and Lloid is a common strategy, and knowing which one to get hit by and when is a key strategy.
Recovering from
below means you've turned into a pin, and you'll see some bowling balls. Trees are also common, but it's more common to see the ball, as the time it takes to fire another one is much swifter. Unless you can hit the villager with an egg, or airdodge correctly, it's gonna be hard to hit ledge. If I see villager charging a bowling ball, I quickly try and get above him. It's not easy, and not always possible, but is the best strategy.
When Villager is recovering from
above, bait out the Dair with an air dodge and do a late U-air. In its recovery frames, Villager has a huge target on his big stupid head. Try and go to the side and hit with Bair. It turns it into side recovery, which is much more reliable.
Villager recovering from
below is incredibly predictable, he'll use Up-B. Try and hit only 1 balloon if you can with a well placed Egg. His mobility, both upwards and sideways, is decreased in half with only 1 balloon, and his time in the air is also decreased. You'll put a lot of pressure on him, and it's a lot easier to land a good hit. If you hit both, then you win. But if you hit him, he's able to do it again, which is incredibly annoying as he'll have gained a lot of height, and have his entire long recovery back.
Villager only has two good options for recovering from the
side. He can use his up B, though is less likely in favor of the rocket. However, after one or two, he'll feign using the rocket, drop below and safely recover behind the rocket. Use an egg to break the rocket and follow up as though you're below.
All in all though, I'd only give it a
55:45 in our favor. We have a lot more options to kill, but it's the Villagers game, and he waits for you to get impatient. We're playing a stally character that can switch in and out of aggro instantly. Villager has a lot more options than people give him credit for, and many of them are much faster than we anticipate. However, our superior kill power and arced projectiles give us a slight advantage.
VIDEOS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK3GC9gkorQ -- S@X
Aposl does a great job in the neutral of knowing where to place eggs, but it's Cree's punishes that clutches stocks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YYYptHrq0M (start at 8:22) -- S@X
Much better Egg follow-ups by TC1, but this showcases a lot more of Cree's Fair power. Excellent out of shield options. Great showcase of Yoshi Kill options and of Villager's recovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUyzUevxyJg -- S@X
Interesting Neutral options, that pay off, once against we're watching Cree, who very clearly knows the match-up. Good showing of Villager's combos, and the trouble in recovering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaIXjqE6goo -- Smash United
Dojo is infinitely more offensive, while Wall plays more defensively. Wall has excellently placed shields and aerials,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXOUoqHyCbU -- Smash United
MJG plays very zoning, while noft goes super-aggro, and gets punished for it. MJG waits for noft, and noft has to play around him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE1ynkIPBEk (Starts at 12:27)
AceStartheThird shows great ways for yoshi to punish villager,