Deg
Smash Cadet
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2013
- Messages
- 38
Powershields are vastly underused in todays meta. It isn't that people don't powershield, it's that they tend not to use the benefits of the powershield. This is a short guide on the uses and mechanics around powershields and hopefully, an eye-opener for people using our green friend.
First, an explanation of the concept:
When you full press L or R your shield goes through 3 stages.
The first 2 frames are the projectile powershield. It will reflect all projectiles that hit it, it will act like a normal powershield if hit with an attack but it covers less of your character.
Frames 3 and 4 are the normal powershield and after that it's normal shield.
This is how the powershields look:
Powershields work differently than normal shields in that you can cancel shieldstun into a GROUNDED ATTACK.
This means jabs, all tilts and smashes and also specials such as down-b and up-b(oh baby).
Sadly, you can't cancel shieldstun to grabs or jumps.
When you powershield an attack you slide further than you would with your normal shield, this means that if fox were to nair your powershield he would have trouble shining you as you slide out of his range. This mechanic also messes a lot with overshoots as the attacker will no longer always land behind you.
How can Luigi use this all of these things:
Luigi as a character works great with powershields as his low traction and moves really benefits from them. Powershield into utilt or dsmash are great combostarters, powershield into Usmash or up-b are GREAT killmoves. It is also great for edgeguards when paired with Ftilt.
Pessimistic Luigi-player:
"Well this sounds great but powershielding is HARD man, how will i ever achieve consistancy with this?"
To answer that I'll give you some examples:
Example 1:
Fox is down on the ground and you are standing in pole-position to punish his options. You see him start to move and get ready to react to his option. He chooses to getup-attack. You shield at the right time, powershield and attack him out of it.
The next time you get into the same situation Fox chooses to roll away from you. you shield at the correct time to powershield his getup-attack. When you realize he rolled you wavedash oos and since you are Luigi you still make it in time to grab him.
Example 2:
Fox, Falco or Pikachu run towards you and try to attack you while being safe, they need to nair/dair at a specific time in order to be safe on shield or overshoot. You learn the timing your opponent usually attacks and shield. If you powershield and instantly do a Downsmash you will punish landing in front of and behind you. Because you slide so far from being hit on powershield you can also sometimes Upb approaches like this when powershielded.
Powershielding is easier than most people think. It's all about getting a feel for the timing of peoples attacks. At higher levels of play people learn how to mixup their attack-timings but this doesnt stop you from powershielding well telegraphed attack such as stomp, knee, Jiggs Bair, Marths Fsmash or Ganons anything. It also doesnt stop you from using it while covering options on the ground or ledge.
I've had great success with powershields myself and it has really helped me with tech-chasing and honestly all parts of my gameplay. I made this guide because I'd like to see powershielding develope in the meta and i want Luigi to be the character that does it.
First, an explanation of the concept:
When you full press L or R your shield goes through 3 stages.
The first 2 frames are the projectile powershield. It will reflect all projectiles that hit it, it will act like a normal powershield if hit with an attack but it covers less of your character.
Frames 3 and 4 are the normal powershield and after that it's normal shield.
This is how the powershields look:
Powershields work differently than normal shields in that you can cancel shieldstun into a GROUNDED ATTACK.
This means jabs, all tilts and smashes and also specials such as down-b and up-b(oh baby).
Sadly, you can't cancel shieldstun to grabs or jumps.
When you powershield an attack you slide further than you would with your normal shield, this means that if fox were to nair your powershield he would have trouble shining you as you slide out of his range. This mechanic also messes a lot with overshoots as the attacker will no longer always land behind you.
How can Luigi use this all of these things:
Luigi as a character works great with powershields as his low traction and moves really benefits from them. Powershield into utilt or dsmash are great combostarters, powershield into Usmash or up-b are GREAT killmoves. It is also great for edgeguards when paired with Ftilt.
Pessimistic Luigi-player:
"Well this sounds great but powershielding is HARD man, how will i ever achieve consistancy with this?"
To answer that I'll give you some examples:
Example 1:
Fox is down on the ground and you are standing in pole-position to punish his options. You see him start to move and get ready to react to his option. He chooses to getup-attack. You shield at the right time, powershield and attack him out of it.
The next time you get into the same situation Fox chooses to roll away from you. you shield at the correct time to powershield his getup-attack. When you realize he rolled you wavedash oos and since you are Luigi you still make it in time to grab him.
Example 2:
Fox, Falco or Pikachu run towards you and try to attack you while being safe, they need to nair/dair at a specific time in order to be safe on shield or overshoot. You learn the timing your opponent usually attacks and shield. If you powershield and instantly do a Downsmash you will punish landing in front of and behind you. Because you slide so far from being hit on powershield you can also sometimes Upb approaches like this when powershielded.
Powershielding is easier than most people think. It's all about getting a feel for the timing of peoples attacks. At higher levels of play people learn how to mixup their attack-timings but this doesnt stop you from powershielding well telegraphed attack such as stomp, knee, Jiggs Bair, Marths Fsmash or Ganons anything. It also doesnt stop you from using it while covering options on the ground or ledge.
I've had great success with powershields myself and it has really helped me with tech-chasing and honestly all parts of my gameplay. I made this guide because I'd like to see powershielding develope in the meta and i want Luigi to be the character that does it.
