Welcome to the King Dedede beginners guide! This is a tutorial on how to use King Dedede for beginners, so that said beginners will find out if he truly suits their playstyle. I hope you find it informative and interesting.
Playstyle
King Dedede is overall a very defensive character. He is combo food due to his attributes, as stated below. He can use his Up Gordo Toss to make a damaging setup. He is weak for a Super Heavyweight, but keep in mind that a Super Heavyweight is extremely strong in general, meaning he still is strong compared to the rest of the cast. Be wary of grabs and try to make reads or shield break setups. He has spacing tools to help avoid being combo food and Jet Hammer has a mind game to it. Overall a patient and defensive character.
Attributes
King Dedede has many attributes that make him fit the status of Super Heavyweight.
*He is the third heaviest character in the game, lighter than Bowser and Donkey Kong.
*He is 51st in running speed, the absolute slowest air speed, the 2nd fastest falling speed behind Fox.
*He has the second fastest fast-fall speed behind Fox again.
*He has a low air acceleration rate.
*He has five jumps and a short-hop air time of 38 frames (2 frames under two-thirds of a second).
Overall a extremely slow character, and easy to juggle.
Basic Attacks
King Dedede's normal attacks are arguably his best strength. To start off, all of his tilts are powerful.
* His first jab comes out on frame 10, and his second comes out on frame 11. These are very slow jabs but make up for it with the ability to cancel them with the right timing into down tilt (4+4+10=18). As shown, this is a very easy 18%. It can be cancelled into down smash, but this is slightly harder, with a very slightly better payoff (4+4+13=21).
*His forward tilt is a multi-hitting, spacing tilt. It comes out on frame 12 and is great for combo heavy opponents (Like Mr.Up-tilt).
*His Up-Tilt is a combo-into-itself tilt, which it does and does good damage at low percents. It comes out on frame
9, but it's a little hard to hit the opponent with it.
*Down Tilt is like a Dash attack, (Attacking the opponents while moving) but weaker and easier to hit the opponent with. Aside from the jab cancel, it can be throw out as a surprise attack if you don't use it for 30 seconds or so, as your opponent will most likely have forgotten about it. The hit box comes out on frame 6, making it one of his faster attacks.
Overall, his tilt's serve a different purpose.
*His Dash Attack is extermely high risk, extremely high reward. It's best use it when reading a roll backwards, or reading a landing. This may kill the opponent. This comes out on frame 26, making it extremely risky, as stated before. It's one of the most punishable moves in the game.
*Another high risk, high reward move is his forward smash. This is THE read smash. If you hit this, the reward will be great damage (Probably killing) with very high knock back. However, it is also easily punishable. It comes out on FRAME 42. Basically a even higher risk, higher reward move than Dash attack. It can break shields with a very basic setup that I'll get into later.
*Up-Smash is Dedede's worst Smash attack, but still has it's merits. A opponent getting hit by a Gordo tossed upwards can lead into a strong setup. It comes out on frame 17, much better than the Forward Smash in frame data purposes.
*Down Smash is Dedede's best smash. It deals ridiculous knock back considering it's frame data. It can be jab cancelled, as said, but is used best as a "Get away from me" option. And that is Dedede's basic attacks.
Grab Game
King Dedede owes a lot to his grab game in Brawl for having a part in placing him 12th on the current tier list. This was due to his infamous chaingrabbing game, being able to chaingrab two-thirds of the cast. Chain-Grabbing has been completely removed in Smash 4 and replaces his Chain-Grabs with diverse Throw follow ups.
*Basic ones are:
*Low Percents=Up Throw to Up air, Down Throw to Neutral Air.
*Mid Percents:Down Throw to Up Air, Down Throw to Forward Air, Down Throw to Back Air.
*The amount of followups prevents stalling your moves too often for them to become pointless. Dedede's Normal Grab has the least range, but comes out quickest, Dash Grab is good for a forward roll read, and Pivot Grab has the biggest range, but comes out latest. Gordo setups make Dedede's grab game very powerful and can lead into another attack.
Aerial Attacks
*King Dedede is a mixed bag in the air. He's incredibly easy to juggle due to his Air speed, Hurtbox and fast Falling Speed. However, the knock back of his aerials make it easy to edgeguard with them.
*He can use Shorthop Nair to follow up into a jab canceled into a D-Tilt.
*Bair is an excellent killing move, and his greatest edgeguarding tool.
*Up-Air is an excellent killing move when the airdodge is read.
*Fair is the easiest to D-Throw combo with.
*Dair has a spike.
Frame Data for all: Nair comes out on frame 7, Fair comes out on frame 13, Bair comes out on frame 17, Up-Air comes out on frame 10 and Dair comes out on frame 22. Overall, he has great aerials and can be great in the air when not being juggled.
Special Attacks
I am going to break these down into 4 parts for each move. This is due to the versatility of each.
Inhale:This move is very easy to use. The greatest use of it is the DededeCide. This is where you trap you the opponent in Dedede and proceed to commit suicide by jumping off the ledge. It cannot follow up into anything but it can catch opponents by surprise if used in the air. It deals 10% and is Dedede's simplest move in his arsenal.
Super Dedede Jump: This provides a great vertical distance and a decent horizontal distance. Pretty basic as a recovery move, but it has more options. The descent has a meteor smash on an aerial opponent and is a certain kill if the opponent is offstage and it hits. However, it can be airdodged and you will most likely kill yourself if it misses offstage. If it hits a grounded opponent, it will bury and then launch them. This has small potential to kill and is less risky due to the stars preventing a head on punish. The best thing to do is cancel the move if it doesn't Sweetspot the ledge. This has much less landing lag at the cost of doing damage. Don't cancel it too close to the ground, or it will cause around 2 seconds of end lag, the longest in the game.
Jet Hammer: This has been improved from Brawl and is a great punish and read move. The ability to move while using it is great, as long end lag moves can be walked away from then jump back in with more power (the most basic from of this is Ganondorf's Warlock Punch). It can be used as a mixup option as well.
Gordo Toss:There is a reason why I left this last. The Gordo Toss can be aimed 3 different ways. Centre, Up and Down. Center is a standard projectile and is to be used when the opponent is far away. Down is to be used to catch opponents off guard when they get close. Up is used as a setup, and this is where it truly shines. The "Basic setup " That I talked about is using up Gordo Toss plus forward smash against a opponent that you've noticed shields often. You can throw your opponent into a Gordo and deal extra damage if the opponent proceeds to fly your way after the Gordo. Finally, if the Gordo Toss is reflected, it can be caught a thrown back by pressing attack.
Mind Games
King Dedede has some extremely amusing yet effective Mindgames. His Down Tilt can avaggrate opponents after a kill, causing them to attack rashly. This can lead to a punish. Holding Inhale for a long amount of time can make a opponent see a opportunity to hit a fully charged Smash Attack, only to get sucked in. His Jet Hammer is especially effective against a character with a counter as they will leave themselves open with a counter, which is usually an easy 38%.
That's all. This was my first guide I have ever done, so tell me if I made any mistakes, please. Hope this helped any aspiring Dedede out there.
Playstyle
King Dedede is overall a very defensive character. He is combo food due to his attributes, as stated below. He can use his Up Gordo Toss to make a damaging setup. He is weak for a Super Heavyweight, but keep in mind that a Super Heavyweight is extremely strong in general, meaning he still is strong compared to the rest of the cast. Be wary of grabs and try to make reads or shield break setups. He has spacing tools to help avoid being combo food and Jet Hammer has a mind game to it. Overall a patient and defensive character.
Attributes
King Dedede has many attributes that make him fit the status of Super Heavyweight.
*He is the third heaviest character in the game, lighter than Bowser and Donkey Kong.
*He is 51st in running speed, the absolute slowest air speed, the 2nd fastest falling speed behind Fox.
*He has the second fastest fast-fall speed behind Fox again.
*He has a low air acceleration rate.
*He has five jumps and a short-hop air time of 38 frames (2 frames under two-thirds of a second).
Overall a extremely slow character, and easy to juggle.
Basic Attacks
King Dedede's normal attacks are arguably his best strength. To start off, all of his tilts are powerful.
* His first jab comes out on frame 10, and his second comes out on frame 11. These are very slow jabs but make up for it with the ability to cancel them with the right timing into down tilt (4+4+10=18). As shown, this is a very easy 18%. It can be cancelled into down smash, but this is slightly harder, with a very slightly better payoff (4+4+13=21).
*His forward tilt is a multi-hitting, spacing tilt. It comes out on frame 12 and is great for combo heavy opponents (Like Mr.Up-tilt).
*His Up-Tilt is a combo-into-itself tilt, which it does and does good damage at low percents. It comes out on frame
9, but it's a little hard to hit the opponent with it.
*Down Tilt is like a Dash attack, (Attacking the opponents while moving) but weaker and easier to hit the opponent with. Aside from the jab cancel, it can be throw out as a surprise attack if you don't use it for 30 seconds or so, as your opponent will most likely have forgotten about it. The hit box comes out on frame 6, making it one of his faster attacks.
Overall, his tilt's serve a different purpose.
*His Dash Attack is extermely high risk, extremely high reward. It's best use it when reading a roll backwards, or reading a landing. This may kill the opponent. This comes out on frame 26, making it extremely risky, as stated before. It's one of the most punishable moves in the game.
*Another high risk, high reward move is his forward smash. This is THE read smash. If you hit this, the reward will be great damage (Probably killing) with very high knock back. However, it is also easily punishable. It comes out on FRAME 42. Basically a even higher risk, higher reward move than Dash attack. It can break shields with a very basic setup that I'll get into later.
*Up-Smash is Dedede's worst Smash attack, but still has it's merits. A opponent getting hit by a Gordo tossed upwards can lead into a strong setup. It comes out on frame 17, much better than the Forward Smash in frame data purposes.
*Down Smash is Dedede's best smash. It deals ridiculous knock back considering it's frame data. It can be jab cancelled, as said, but is used best as a "Get away from me" option. And that is Dedede's basic attacks.
Grab Game
King Dedede owes a lot to his grab game in Brawl for having a part in placing him 12th on the current tier list. This was due to his infamous chaingrabbing game, being able to chaingrab two-thirds of the cast. Chain-Grabbing has been completely removed in Smash 4 and replaces his Chain-Grabs with diverse Throw follow ups.
*Basic ones are:
*Low Percents=Up Throw to Up air, Down Throw to Neutral Air.
*Mid Percents:Down Throw to Up Air, Down Throw to Forward Air, Down Throw to Back Air.
*The amount of followups prevents stalling your moves too often for them to become pointless. Dedede's Normal Grab has the least range, but comes out quickest, Dash Grab is good for a forward roll read, and Pivot Grab has the biggest range, but comes out latest. Gordo setups make Dedede's grab game very powerful and can lead into another attack.
Aerial Attacks
*King Dedede is a mixed bag in the air. He's incredibly easy to juggle due to his Air speed, Hurtbox and fast Falling Speed. However, the knock back of his aerials make it easy to edgeguard with them.
*He can use Shorthop Nair to follow up into a jab canceled into a D-Tilt.
*Bair is an excellent killing move, and his greatest edgeguarding tool.
*Up-Air is an excellent killing move when the airdodge is read.
*Fair is the easiest to D-Throw combo with.
*Dair has a spike.
Frame Data for all: Nair comes out on frame 7, Fair comes out on frame 13, Bair comes out on frame 17, Up-Air comes out on frame 10 and Dair comes out on frame 22. Overall, he has great aerials and can be great in the air when not being juggled.
Special Attacks
I am going to break these down into 4 parts for each move. This is due to the versatility of each.
Inhale:This move is very easy to use. The greatest use of it is the DededeCide. This is where you trap you the opponent in Dedede and proceed to commit suicide by jumping off the ledge. It cannot follow up into anything but it can catch opponents by surprise if used in the air. It deals 10% and is Dedede's simplest move in his arsenal.
Super Dedede Jump: This provides a great vertical distance and a decent horizontal distance. Pretty basic as a recovery move, but it has more options. The descent has a meteor smash on an aerial opponent and is a certain kill if the opponent is offstage and it hits. However, it can be airdodged and you will most likely kill yourself if it misses offstage. If it hits a grounded opponent, it will bury and then launch them. This has small potential to kill and is less risky due to the stars preventing a head on punish. The best thing to do is cancel the move if it doesn't Sweetspot the ledge. This has much less landing lag at the cost of doing damage. Don't cancel it too close to the ground, or it will cause around 2 seconds of end lag, the longest in the game.
Jet Hammer: This has been improved from Brawl and is a great punish and read move. The ability to move while using it is great, as long end lag moves can be walked away from then jump back in with more power (the most basic from of this is Ganondorf's Warlock Punch). It can be used as a mixup option as well.
Gordo Toss:There is a reason why I left this last. The Gordo Toss can be aimed 3 different ways. Centre, Up and Down. Center is a standard projectile and is to be used when the opponent is far away. Down is to be used to catch opponents off guard when they get close. Up is used as a setup, and this is where it truly shines. The "Basic setup " That I talked about is using up Gordo Toss plus forward smash against a opponent that you've noticed shields often. You can throw your opponent into a Gordo and deal extra damage if the opponent proceeds to fly your way after the Gordo. Finally, if the Gordo Toss is reflected, it can be caught a thrown back by pressing attack.
Mind Games
King Dedede has some extremely amusing yet effective Mindgames. His Down Tilt can avaggrate opponents after a kill, causing them to attack rashly. This can lead to a punish. Holding Inhale for a long amount of time can make a opponent see a opportunity to hit a fully charged Smash Attack, only to get sucked in. His Jet Hammer is especially effective against a character with a counter as they will leave themselves open with a counter, which is usually an easy 38%.
That's all. This was my first guide I have ever done, so tell me if I made any mistakes, please. Hope this helped any aspiring Dedede out there.
