Neutral Air as a kill move

[Koori]

I've been playing as Robin lately and I've noticed Neutral Air is a fantastic move against an opponent who's trying to get back to the platform. At lower damage, it is an infinitely better option than Forward Air Smash when you can't guarantee a KO.

This is because Forward Air Smash launches opponents diagonally upwards, so considering they can also fall diagonally, you're not really pulling them away from the platform.

However, Neutral Air launches your opponent horizontally, and the trajectory eventually angles downward a little. Also it's a fast move with a large hitbox, and you don't need to depend on having your Levin Sword available. While it doesn't really KO at the screen edge, it REALLY helps with not letting the opponent reach the platform back. Additionally, Neutral Air has pretty much the same effect on both sides, so you can use it after jumping from the platform (forward) or from the ledge (backward).

At least, it's worked out great for me and I'd recommend everyone to try it, especially when your opponent isn't low enough to spike with Elwind.

Video: youtube.com/watch?v=sr82hW4tGnI

Forward Air Smash can still be a good option at higher percentage as long as you can guarantee KO'ing your opponent at the edge of the screen.

 

[Conn1496]

Robin's N-air is just all in all underrated. It's good for spacing, IMO, and can definately get the job done if you're edge-guarding. I'll definately give this a try though. Not given this possibility enough thought.

 

[Koori]

Now that you mention spacing, Short hop -> Neutral Air -> fastfall is another of my favorite ones to pull off.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

A neat gimper/poker with little endlag. It's good spacing tool. I seem to love throwing SHFF UAirs more though. Leffin' Swords.

 

[Janno]

retreating nair is so good vs all non sword fighters

and yea, for gimping as well. rip link

 

[Pazzo.]

Robin's N-Air is a great multifunctional tool.

Needless to say, it's Almost never fresh when I play.

 

[Koori]

Managed to get 2 consecutive kills with Neutral Air on a Replay against a CPU

youtube.com/watch?v=sr82hW4tGnI

Added video to first post

 

[Zareidriel]

Yeah I'm a huge fan of the nair lately. Its speed makes it great against characters that have fast aerials. It's hard to tell when the faster speed of the nair or the better priority with the Sfair is the better option. It's good to consider which of these is better able to counter the nair and fair of the enemy.

 

[False Sense]

Well, if you want a good example of the potency of N-Air...

 

[Centicerise]

Well, if you want a good example of the potency of N-Air...

Tragically, Robin has very good tools for beating her own recovery.

 

[MarthFanatique]

After watching some videos of Nairo's Robin a month ago, I had started to incorporate nair into my playstyle more just to experiment and see if it's worthwhile...IT IS.

Pros
+Very good spacing move when approaching. Nair's range is very deceiving. The hitboxes offer a wide coverage in front of Robin, and it comes fairly quickly. If you SHnairFF, it can catch opponents offguard sometimes (especially since it's a wonky, less used attack for now). Very good off stage gimp option. USE THIS ON LITTLE MAC!
+End lag when landing is much less than his other aerials, so it's a safer option.
+Knockback (like stated previously in this thread) is mainly horizontal, so this should be a bread and butter attack when going offstage to prevent your opponent from recovering. I wouldn't call it a semi-spike, but it similarly functions as an attack that doesn't pop your opponent up vertically which would give the opponent more of an opportunity to recover, thus.
+The attack does 7% in front if I recall, so it's decent, easy damage, as well.
+The attack comes out fairly quickly (especially compared to fair/LSfair), so it can be used as a get-off-me move.
+It doesn't use up a LS use, so you can use it all day long without having to fear about losing your Levin Sword.
+I'm sure most of us know this, but it's still worth mentioning that you can combo Arcthunder>nair and Arcfire>nair. Sometimes spacing/timing doesn't allow that LSfair/LSuair, so nair is an easier option to land occasionally.

 

[TDF_Lewis]

I find it can also be quite useful in propelling your opponent against the side of the stage, and if the edge is uneven then it acts as a quick meteor smash, especially as it is bidirectional.

 

[b0kken]

Nair offstage is such a good option for killing imo

Just watch how Nairo uses it and you would probably understand why it's effective as a kill move

 

[Super Smash Fanatic]

I use nair all the time, it gets the job done and lets me save my levin sword for Uairs. I often stage spike with it and get the kill because most forget how much knockback it has

 

[QuantumKiller]

There are so many characters that have trouble with Robin's Nair, most notably Captain Falcon. His up is so easy to edge guard you can just double Nair him off stage. Also you can use Nair to cover entire platform space on stages like battlefield.

 

[MarthFanatique]

There are so many characters that have trouble with Robin's Nair, most notably Captain Falcon. His up is so easy to edge guard you can just double Nair him off stage. Also you can use Nair to cover entire platform space on stages like battlefield.

I agree; in that matchup where Falcon can often completely overwhelm you with speed, pressure, and annoying combos, Robin's nair is a saving grace to the matchup.

 

[Sonny Franceschi]

i find n-air a better option to gimp of stage over f-air (with levin sword), is more safe

 

[FieryRebirth]

Imo, the easiest neutral air kill is against recovering Little Macs, especially if they are used to your slower Levin Sword airs and won't see the quicker move coming.