Hey, everyone. I'm DrSouss, and I'm a Brawl veteran with a decent amount of time put into Sm4sh 3DS. I wanted to get involved here because I believe this current period is when the metagame needs the most support, and I feel the need to contribute. I've been playing against Florida's best players for years and have found a significant increase in my success in tournament against them since picking up Greninja in this new game. I've also had experience writing character guides (see my Brawl Lucario guide here:
http://smashboards.com/threads/lucario-clinic-options-strategies-and-ats.336601/), so I'm likely going to draft one for Greninja whenever I get the chance, so I'll be sure to let you all know. I wanted to share what I know, and since I'm sure that a lot of people reading this are players who may be completely new to Smash Brothers in general I want to make sure I don't confuse anyone, so please don't hesitate to PM or post here for clarification or explanation on anything.
For now, I thought a good thing to do would be to just explain which Greninja techniques I've found to be the most effective at high-level and show you why. In order to do that I've been working on a video, but that won't be ready for some time. Meanwhile, I've posted a video of a Nintendodojo ladder set on my YouTube channel that you guys can watch. Hopefully, some of it can demonstrate a couple of things that I'm about to explain. Stay tuned on my YouTube channel for more videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_KFnPyfJAg
First, a disclaimer: I haven't experimented with or even seen any of Greninja's custom moves because I am of the opinion that they should not be allowed in the competitive scene, so I will not discuss any of those here. I'm sure I'll eventually learn about/unlock them and become more exposed, but for now, everything I'm discussing is purely default.
SHADOW-SNEAK: While on the ground, in the air, or even while in tumble, press Side-B and Greninja's shadow will begin to move in the direction of your input. When you release, Greninja appears where the shadow is and attacks. You can control the direction of the attack by holding either left or right upon release of the B button. If you do not hold a direction, the attack will come out in the direction facing your enemy. This move is amazing, but only if used properly. Yes, it can cancel landing lag from Down-Air and Air-Dodge, but so can this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmDkNkNPWYY. <-- I suggest you all practice that, it will be hard to incorporate aerial-cancelling into your game, but totally worth it. Anyway, the most effective uses of Shadow Sneak (SS) that I have found are as follows.
1. Landing
If you don't know. SS works in the air even though no shadow is visible. When launched above and away from the stage, I generally use an aerial to stop Greninja from tumbling, and then immediately begin charging SS. This is because it allows me to stay very far from the stage (where my opponent is waiting to edge-guard me) while also charging an attack to strike my opponent unknowingly if they're too close to the ledge. If you release at the right height, you can use the distance that you've charged on your shadow while falling to recover past the ledge and onto the stage behind your opponent. Release any lower than the level of the stage's surface, and you'll reappear against the ledge or the bottom of the stage. (Don't panic if this happens, you should have saved your jump and you can still use it and then UpB to recover after "reappear lag" is done)
This technique is godlike because you can mix up where you reappear, recover, and potentially attack at the same time. It is very safe as long as you don't do it every time. For example: you get launched, stop tumble, charge SS, and plan to fall to the edge of the stage and reappear behind your opponent onstage with an attack. HOWEVER, they begin charging a smash or planting a hazard, something that changes your mind about reappearing on stage with them. ALL you have to do is NOT release B at the level of the stage, and instead, wait another instant longer and release it at the level of the stage's edge. You will not grab the ledge when you reappear, but you'll block the distance you charged and allow yourself to recover safely to the edge afterwards, avoiding your opponent's attack.
2. Aerial mixup
Presume that you grab your opponent and up-throw them to follow up with an aerial. They get hit left or right with your back-air or jump away to the left or right. You can land, jump and charge SS, and release it by timing the distance that your shadow has traveled midair WITHOUT you or your opponent ever having seen it. Yes, timing it this accurately takes practice, but we're still not even a month out of the release date. I've had great success knocking an opponent offstage and then jumping to chase them and getting a KO off the side with SS because THEY DONT KNOW IM CHARGING MY SHADOW
3. Run-up/Counter
The only other safe uses of SS are as a risky approach or a counter. Yes, Greninja's Down-B (substitute) is a legitimate counter, but SS can be as well. Think of how many times you've used SS to cancel your Down-air lag. You land with lag and they try to punish you, but you use instant-release SS and avoid their attack and hit them back. That's a counter. Use SS if you know your opponent is going for an F-tilt or F-smash next to you. Try to go behind them. Run straight at them, predict that your speed will prompt them to attack or shield, and then use SS when you're point-blank. They'll drop shield if they brought it up because they don't know what you're doing, or they'll jab and miss before you reappear and punish.
4. WHEN NOT TO SS
DO NOT USE SS IN NEUTRAL POSITION (unless MAYBE, you're on a shadowless stage). Yes, you may be able to land SS in neutral position sometimes (you're standing across the stage from your opponent and waiting for someone to make a move), but a smart opponent will realize you're charging it and punish you after shielding your attack. Again, I'm talking about high-level play, not For Glory.
So that's shadow sneak and actually all I have time for right now, but I will be back to help later. Until then, PM me, FB me ("Doc Souss"), reply here, whatever. Watch my video and everyone else's too. Keep learning and keep practicing. I honestly believe Greninja has the tools to be top 5 in this game, he just needs our talent and hard work to get him there competitively.
TL;DR
Shadow Sneak is really good, stay on my channel for advice and videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_KFnPyfJAg
Kunai KazeKun
, specifically UAir. UAir does 6 kicks, the first 5 doing 1.25% each, and the last one doing 3.25% meaning the attack does 9.5% total. Try doing two UAirs, one complete and the other with 2 kicks of 1.25 results in 12%, and two full UAirs do 19%.)
So don't use Counter.
