- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
Hello, i'm creating a guide for all little mac players, whether you're seasoned or just starting to learn him. I will start off with this, little mac is a hard character to "master", as he is different from other members of the cast. One of the reasons being, he has super armor on all of his smash attacks. When playing as Mac, you have the option of two playing styles. Well..not necessarily true, but for the sake of the argument..you can play the typical style that the rest of the cast has, i.e racking up as much damage as possible while trying to avoid any on your end, OR reacting to incoming attacks with your smash attacks, forcing your opponents to respect you. I'll inform you on how to implement both, while adding a little variety of your own. But, there'll be detail about this a bit later on in the guide, first i'll give you information oh his attacks.
Jab - A standard jab that can be chained into a 3-hit combo, or a rapid fire attack that launches your opponent a decent distance in the air. Can be used to confuse a fast falling opponent. Could be preceded by an up tilt or a down tilt. Very good for resetting and followed into a grab.
Dash-A - A personal favorite. Very quick, and can be whiffed into any of Little Macs moves. Can hit grounded opponents, safe of block if followed by a jab, or any tilt. Launches opponents fairly far if landed.
Forward-tilt - A quick 1-2 jab that you can dash right after. Very good at low % since it pushes nearly every other character about 1/4 of the stage away from you. Can be used as a KO move at around 110%. Can be followed up with a side B, if timed correctly. The move has quite a bit of range, so play around with the spacing, if the first hit misses, the second hit still has a chance to land.
Down-tilt - Probably the move for setups. Can be followed by a quick jab, forward-tilt, up-tilt, a short hopped neutral air, a grab(at lower %), a forward air, this is your go to move when you want to start racking up damage.
Up-tilt - Slightly less useful than the down-tilt, but still has many uses. One thing this move has over the down-tilt, is that it can hit behind you. A fairly decent anti air. And here's where a new window of opportunity opens up for you, feinting. If your opponent is the type to attack right after being launched, you can chain this into an Up-smash. Can also be followed by a forward air, or a back air.
Neutral-air - A tool that does not receive enough credit. Perfect for shield pressure due to its quick ending frames. Should not be mashed, create a short gap in between each blow as even if your opponent reacts to it, this move interrupts EVERYTHING(that isn't super armored). The range on this move is terrible however, as you need to be right on your opponent to use it, but what it lacks in range, it makes up for it as a nice "pseudo gimp". To fix this, on grounded opponents, short hop into it. Should really only be used for poking, resetting, or shield pressure.
Forward-air - A unique move, as it has slight...SLIGHT launching capability, but that's not what it should b used for. This move is perfect for changing your opponents landing position.It forces opponents to land in front of you, where you can decide what move you want to follow up with. Can be used to force opponents to change recovery patterns off stage, but...only if they're very near the ledge.
Down-air - A situational move that should only be used in the air. It forces your opponent to land directly below you, but only at higher % like around 80 or so. You may or may not use this move very much, I haven't found much use for it but maybe you will!
Back-air - Very similar to the forward air but can be followed by a Side B a bit easier than the forward air. Can be followed by another back air, if spaced correctly. And if your opponents like jumping towards you, a down air or an up air, will suffice.
Up-air - Another situational move that pops your opponents up and about 10° from little Macs head. Just another positioning tool, can be followed by a neutral air for a tricky falling set up.
Up-Smash - Has two variations. One will do 15% uncharged and wont cause a flame effect. The other will do 20% uncharged, and cause a flame effect. The latter version is very safe on shield, as it forces your opponent back quite a bit. Can be used while dashing. A perfect anti air, and of course, has super armor.
Forward-smash - Has three variations. Angled up, this move mimics his up smash, albeit not as powerful. A move perfect for using if you want to keep your opponent on the stage and in your territory. If you don't angle this move, it'll act as a regular smash attack, can be used as a KO move at fairly early %, and pushes your opponent pretty far horizontally, both on shield and if it lands. Angled down, this move has MUCH less knock back, but acts as a setup tool. Use this if you want to pressure your opponent into jumping, or teching as it keeps them fairly low to the ground even when fully charged and at higher %. It doesn't KO Dr. Mario until about 320%...fully charged, with rage.
Down-Smash - A perfect move for those who love to roll. Not much to say about this move. A perfect KO move for characters who lack vertical recovery.
B - Has two variations. One is a punch that can be charged for about 3 seconds. Can KO an opponent at about 40%, if fully charged. Should be used more as a feinting tool, forcing your opponents to either shield(which is your cue to cancel the move) or jump(another cue!). Can be done in the air, a nice deception move.
The other is Macs infamous one-hit KO move. Comes out instantly and KOs opponents after about 30%, although it has a strange hitbox. -WARNING- The KO punch does not have the same effect in the air. I'll go into detail about what this move should be used for later on.
Side-B - Little Macs answer to most projectiles. This move allows you to keep your momentum when trying to reach a character with an array of projectiles. i.e Samus. Can be stopped early if the B button is pressed again. This move travels roughly about half of the stage. Please, use this move carefully, as it will force you into a helpless state if used to close to the edge. A semi useful recovery option as well. Feeling brave? This move kills off stage at about 110%, give or take. You wont make it back but, that style though.
Down- B - A simple counter. Can be used as a recovery tool, as it pushes you a bit forward if it connects. Can be used to reset pressure if your opponent is trying to smother you.
Up-B - A somewhat lackluster move in my opinion. Poor vertical range, but the trajectory can be altered very slightly either to the right or left. Diagonals do not exist with this move. Has much better vertical range when used on the ground, can be used to surprise your opponent. Use this move sparingly.
Forward Throw - A nice throw that doesn't cause your opponent to go too far. Not much to say, can be used to force techs or jumps at higher %. And you can chase your opponent right after.
Back Throw - This throw has a bit more of a vertical launch than the forward throw. Use this throw if you want to force your opponents to jump, or follow with a dashed Up-smash.
Down Throw - Pops your opponent straight up. Can be followed by every aerial besides his down-air. Use this throw to keep your opponent guessing.
Up Throw - Similar to the down throw, only your opponent doesn't fall as fast. Mainly used at higher %, and to break an opponents momentum. Not much can be used after this throw besides his Up-B.
Little Mac
Okay, i've explained to you all of Little Macs moves as far as I know. I will not be going into combos with little mac as i've explained what moves can be followed by, and all combos are purely situational, and it's up to you to come up with some that suit your playing style. But I will tell you how I believe that little Mac should be played. With 4 different moving animations, a fast running speed, and incredible dodge roll and spot dodge, a reliable counter, super armor, low lag on all of his moves, Little Mac could be the perfect character...were it not for his absolutely terrible and predictable recovery. From here on, i'll be explaining how to keep Little Mac on the stage.
Brief Analysis/Rant(Recovery talk)
Remember the aforementioned playing styles in the opening paragraph? Little Mac is a special character. He's a boxer, not a sword wielder, nor does he have any projectiles. The only characters that are somewhat similar are C. Falcon, Wario, Ganondorf, Kirby(although he has the mimic ability), Jigglypuff, and Sonic. But what do these character have over our little boxer? Great recovery(- maybe Wario). To start this off, i'll be going into how to use Little Macs recovery more effectively. What many people seem to forget is that little mac has a WALL JUMP. Yes, this improves his recovery significantly. Even if you're in the microscope, about 90% of the time if you're close enough to wall jump, you can make it back to the ledge(with Up-B) and even Side-B if used at the top of the wall jumps arc. But, back to the fighting styles.
Playing Offensively
Little Mac is unmatched on the ground. I say this with confidence, Little Mac is the answer to Rosalina. But that's for another time. When facing opponents you should be aiming to feint leaving yourself open to attack. The reason being your smash attacks. They can plow through nearly every move in the game, while keeping the momentum you're controlling. Little Mac has wonderful shield pressure with his short hop neutral-air into jab resets. This little setup forces your opponent to either grab you out of shield, or roll. Try mixing it up with a grab. Spot dodging is also an option for them, but trying to spot dodge all three jabs will result in a punish from you. Save your smashes for rolls, particularly the Down-smash, as it goes both in front of, and behind you fairly quickly. Simply put, when playing Little Mac, you can't play Smash Bros. like Smash Bros...those moments when you wouldn't think it's safe for you to use a move in fear of being hit first are thrown out of the window for the most part. React with your smashes, and once your opponent has been trained to respect you, throw in a few grabs.
Playing Defensively
Unfortunately, with all of Macs pros, he has that Achilles hill to his arsenal: that recovery. You don't want to leave yourself too open to attacks because one bad move could be your end, which is why you need to play tactical. Again, Little Mac is a boxer, so BLOCK. As simple as that may sound, a lot of Little Mac players fall to an early knockout, because they're too reliant on his speed and raw power. Little Mac has an excellent dodge roll, and a nice spot dodge. Use your defense as your offense!
One-Hit KO
The reason why Little Mac is so dangerous. Not because of what you can do with it, but what it causes your opponent to do. Once that bell dings, you'll notice your opponent playing MUCH more defensively. Especially if it was activated while attacking your opponent. The ultimate psyche breaker, this move can change the entire pace of the game. Don't just throw it out, keep it for as long as you can to read your opponents movements, opting for the much safer smash attack instead for the KO. The match is entirely in your hands at this point, counters become easier to pull off. Your opponent will try to grab you more, so act accordingly. Most people will opt for safer attacks, allowing you to exploit this with Macs super armor. Movement is key here, which i'll be explaining shortly.
P.S I'll be posting a video of this very situation later on.
Movement and Spacing
The key to little Mac is movement. Yeah, you could run around the entire stage throwing out dash attacks or Forward-tilts, and 7/10 times that'll work. But to really shine through with little mac, you have to create a presence. If you've ever watched HunterxHunter, i'm referring to Ten, Ren and Hatsu(look it up). Approaching your opponent slowly will keep them guessing on what you're about to do next. A nice trick is to use his second moving animation, the one where he's not quite running, but not the slowest one, towards the opponent. And then quickly run and dodge roll behind them. It's little things like that, that can make your approach that much more dangerous. Or, approach with an F-tilt, whichever you prefer. You can literally create a wall behind yourself by moving slowly. Without that wall, you're a glass cannon.
Aerial game
Believe it or not, Little Mac has an okay air game. Primarily used to force your opponents to come closer to you, you can force an approach when using his aerials off the stage. None of his aerials are kill moves however, and the hitbox for each of the are pretty tight. You have to create the situation where you would use these situational moves. An example, Forward-tilt someone off of the stage, dash, jump into Forward-air. It forces them to recover at Little Macs height level, or lower, while adding a little extra damage. If you're feeling brave, you can use Macs Down-air meteor you opponents. Only at high % though. The objective of your aerials is to force your opponent into your territory, the ground. I consider Macs aerial game similar to Roy's in melee, whom I have a guide for here, more a less a perfect balance of his sweet and sour spots.(sauce) ._.
Closing statement
While I could go into MUs, I don't feel that I should. I've explained all of his attacks to the best of my ability and his worst matchups are pretty obvious. Projectile users. But, i'll end it with this. Little Mac is possibly the best character Sakurai has included into the series. He brings in a whole new aspect to the game, the patience of a zelda main, with the ferocity of a melee fox, without the projectiles. A character that can take an attack at 999%, and still live (Supah armor)Again, Little Mac has no recovery, but with all of the information i've given you, he doesn't need an A-grade recovery. He has all of the tools to keep him firmly planted on the ground, and if used correctly, a Mac can be used well into 200% and even higher. While this is merely wishful thinking, as no player is perfect, it's plausible. I believe Mac is a great addition to anyones character roster. Endless potential. Mind the bad grammar..I wrote all of this in one go, i'll be editing it shortly. Maybe add some match ups if need be, and polish it up a bit. Let me know what you think.
Keywords: Pressure, reset
SN: Taunt. Stop being so doughy. They're there for a reason. Best part is, his manager talks during one of them. It gets me HYPE!
Jab - A standard jab that can be chained into a 3-hit combo, or a rapid fire attack that launches your opponent a decent distance in the air. Can be used to confuse a fast falling opponent. Could be preceded by an up tilt or a down tilt. Very good for resetting and followed into a grab.
Dash-A - A personal favorite. Very quick, and can be whiffed into any of Little Macs moves. Can hit grounded opponents, safe of block if followed by a jab, or any tilt. Launches opponents fairly far if landed.
Forward-tilt - A quick 1-2 jab that you can dash right after. Very good at low % since it pushes nearly every other character about 1/4 of the stage away from you. Can be used as a KO move at around 110%. Can be followed up with a side B, if timed correctly. The move has quite a bit of range, so play around with the spacing, if the first hit misses, the second hit still has a chance to land.
Down-tilt - Probably the move for setups. Can be followed by a quick jab, forward-tilt, up-tilt, a short hopped neutral air, a grab(at lower %), a forward air, this is your go to move when you want to start racking up damage.
Up-tilt - Slightly less useful than the down-tilt, but still has many uses. One thing this move has over the down-tilt, is that it can hit behind you. A fairly decent anti air. And here's where a new window of opportunity opens up for you, feinting. If your opponent is the type to attack right after being launched, you can chain this into an Up-smash. Can also be followed by a forward air, or a back air.
Neutral-air - A tool that does not receive enough credit. Perfect for shield pressure due to its quick ending frames. Should not be mashed, create a short gap in between each blow as even if your opponent reacts to it, this move interrupts EVERYTHING(that isn't super armored). The range on this move is terrible however, as you need to be right on your opponent to use it, but what it lacks in range, it makes up for it as a nice "pseudo gimp". To fix this, on grounded opponents, short hop into it. Should really only be used for poking, resetting, or shield pressure.
Forward-air - A unique move, as it has slight...SLIGHT launching capability, but that's not what it should b used for. This move is perfect for changing your opponents landing position.It forces opponents to land in front of you, where you can decide what move you want to follow up with. Can be used to force opponents to change recovery patterns off stage, but...only if they're very near the ledge.
Down-air - A situational move that should only be used in the air. It forces your opponent to land directly below you, but only at higher % like around 80 or so. You may or may not use this move very much, I haven't found much use for it but maybe you will!
Back-air - Very similar to the forward air but can be followed by a Side B a bit easier than the forward air. Can be followed by another back air, if spaced correctly. And if your opponents like jumping towards you, a down air or an up air, will suffice.
Up-air - Another situational move that pops your opponents up and about 10° from little Macs head. Just another positioning tool, can be followed by a neutral air for a tricky falling set up.
Up-Smash - Has two variations. One will do 15% uncharged and wont cause a flame effect. The other will do 20% uncharged, and cause a flame effect. The latter version is very safe on shield, as it forces your opponent back quite a bit. Can be used while dashing. A perfect anti air, and of course, has super armor.
Forward-smash - Has three variations. Angled up, this move mimics his up smash, albeit not as powerful. A move perfect for using if you want to keep your opponent on the stage and in your territory. If you don't angle this move, it'll act as a regular smash attack, can be used as a KO move at fairly early %, and pushes your opponent pretty far horizontally, both on shield and if it lands. Angled down, this move has MUCH less knock back, but acts as a setup tool. Use this if you want to pressure your opponent into jumping, or teching as it keeps them fairly low to the ground even when fully charged and at higher %. It doesn't KO Dr. Mario until about 320%...fully charged, with rage.
Down-Smash - A perfect move for those who love to roll. Not much to say about this move. A perfect KO move for characters who lack vertical recovery.
B - Has two variations. One is a punch that can be charged for about 3 seconds. Can KO an opponent at about 40%, if fully charged. Should be used more as a feinting tool, forcing your opponents to either shield(which is your cue to cancel the move) or jump(another cue!). Can be done in the air, a nice deception move.
The other is Macs infamous one-hit KO move. Comes out instantly and KOs opponents after about 30%, although it has a strange hitbox. -WARNING- The KO punch does not have the same effect in the air. I'll go into detail about what this move should be used for later on.
Side-B - Little Macs answer to most projectiles. This move allows you to keep your momentum when trying to reach a character with an array of projectiles. i.e Samus. Can be stopped early if the B button is pressed again. This move travels roughly about half of the stage. Please, use this move carefully, as it will force you into a helpless state if used to close to the edge. A semi useful recovery option as well. Feeling brave? This move kills off stage at about 110%, give or take. You wont make it back but, that style though.
Down- B - A simple counter. Can be used as a recovery tool, as it pushes you a bit forward if it connects. Can be used to reset pressure if your opponent is trying to smother you.
Up-B - A somewhat lackluster move in my opinion. Poor vertical range, but the trajectory can be altered very slightly either to the right or left. Diagonals do not exist with this move. Has much better vertical range when used on the ground, can be used to surprise your opponent. Use this move sparingly.
Forward Throw - A nice throw that doesn't cause your opponent to go too far. Not much to say, can be used to force techs or jumps at higher %. And you can chase your opponent right after.
Back Throw - This throw has a bit more of a vertical launch than the forward throw. Use this throw if you want to force your opponents to jump, or follow with a dashed Up-smash.
Down Throw - Pops your opponent straight up. Can be followed by every aerial besides his down-air. Use this throw to keep your opponent guessing.
Up Throw - Similar to the down throw, only your opponent doesn't fall as fast. Mainly used at higher %, and to break an opponents momentum. Not much can be used after this throw besides his Up-B.
Little Mac
Okay, i've explained to you all of Little Macs moves as far as I know. I will not be going into combos with little mac as i've explained what moves can be followed by, and all combos are purely situational, and it's up to you to come up with some that suit your playing style. But I will tell you how I believe that little Mac should be played. With 4 different moving animations, a fast running speed, and incredible dodge roll and spot dodge, a reliable counter, super armor, low lag on all of his moves, Little Mac could be the perfect character...were it not for his absolutely terrible and predictable recovery. From here on, i'll be explaining how to keep Little Mac on the stage.
Brief Analysis/Rant(Recovery talk)
Remember the aforementioned playing styles in the opening paragraph? Little Mac is a special character. He's a boxer, not a sword wielder, nor does he have any projectiles. The only characters that are somewhat similar are C. Falcon, Wario, Ganondorf, Kirby(although he has the mimic ability), Jigglypuff, and Sonic. But what do these character have over our little boxer? Great recovery(- maybe Wario). To start this off, i'll be going into how to use Little Macs recovery more effectively. What many people seem to forget is that little mac has a WALL JUMP. Yes, this improves his recovery significantly. Even if you're in the microscope, about 90% of the time if you're close enough to wall jump, you can make it back to the ledge(with Up-B) and even Side-B if used at the top of the wall jumps arc. But, back to the fighting styles.
Playing Offensively
Little Mac is unmatched on the ground. I say this with confidence, Little Mac is the answer to Rosalina. But that's for another time. When facing opponents you should be aiming to feint leaving yourself open to attack. The reason being your smash attacks. They can plow through nearly every move in the game, while keeping the momentum you're controlling. Little Mac has wonderful shield pressure with his short hop neutral-air into jab resets. This little setup forces your opponent to either grab you out of shield, or roll. Try mixing it up with a grab. Spot dodging is also an option for them, but trying to spot dodge all three jabs will result in a punish from you. Save your smashes for rolls, particularly the Down-smash, as it goes both in front of, and behind you fairly quickly. Simply put, when playing Little Mac, you can't play Smash Bros. like Smash Bros...those moments when you wouldn't think it's safe for you to use a move in fear of being hit first are thrown out of the window for the most part. React with your smashes, and once your opponent has been trained to respect you, throw in a few grabs.
Playing Defensively
Unfortunately, with all of Macs pros, he has that Achilles hill to his arsenal: that recovery. You don't want to leave yourself too open to attacks because one bad move could be your end, which is why you need to play tactical. Again, Little Mac is a boxer, so BLOCK. As simple as that may sound, a lot of Little Mac players fall to an early knockout, because they're too reliant on his speed and raw power. Little Mac has an excellent dodge roll, and a nice spot dodge. Use your defense as your offense!
One-Hit KO
The reason why Little Mac is so dangerous. Not because of what you can do with it, but what it causes your opponent to do. Once that bell dings, you'll notice your opponent playing MUCH more defensively. Especially if it was activated while attacking your opponent. The ultimate psyche breaker, this move can change the entire pace of the game. Don't just throw it out, keep it for as long as you can to read your opponents movements, opting for the much safer smash attack instead for the KO. The match is entirely in your hands at this point, counters become easier to pull off. Your opponent will try to grab you more, so act accordingly. Most people will opt for safer attacks, allowing you to exploit this with Macs super armor. Movement is key here, which i'll be explaining shortly.
P.S I'll be posting a video of this very situation later on.
Movement and Spacing
The key to little Mac is movement. Yeah, you could run around the entire stage throwing out dash attacks or Forward-tilts, and 7/10 times that'll work. But to really shine through with little mac, you have to create a presence. If you've ever watched HunterxHunter, i'm referring to Ten, Ren and Hatsu(look it up). Approaching your opponent slowly will keep them guessing on what you're about to do next. A nice trick is to use his second moving animation, the one where he's not quite running, but not the slowest one, towards the opponent. And then quickly run and dodge roll behind them. It's little things like that, that can make your approach that much more dangerous. Or, approach with an F-tilt, whichever you prefer. You can literally create a wall behind yourself by moving slowly. Without that wall, you're a glass cannon.
Aerial game
Believe it or not, Little Mac has an okay air game. Primarily used to force your opponents to come closer to you, you can force an approach when using his aerials off the stage. None of his aerials are kill moves however, and the hitbox for each of the are pretty tight. You have to create the situation where you would use these situational moves. An example, Forward-tilt someone off of the stage, dash, jump into Forward-air. It forces them to recover at Little Macs height level, or lower, while adding a little extra damage. If you're feeling brave, you can use Macs Down-air meteor you opponents. Only at high % though. The objective of your aerials is to force your opponent into your territory, the ground. I consider Macs aerial game similar to Roy's in melee, whom I have a guide for here, more a less a perfect balance of his sweet and sour spots.(sauce) ._.
Closing statement
While I could go into MUs, I don't feel that I should. I've explained all of his attacks to the best of my ability and his worst matchups are pretty obvious. Projectile users. But, i'll end it with this. Little Mac is possibly the best character Sakurai has included into the series. He brings in a whole new aspect to the game, the patience of a zelda main, with the ferocity of a melee fox, without the projectiles. A character that can take an attack at 999%, and still live (Supah armor)Again, Little Mac has no recovery, but with all of the information i've given you, he doesn't need an A-grade recovery. He has all of the tools to keep him firmly planted on the ground, and if used correctly, a Mac can be used well into 200% and even higher. While this is merely wishful thinking, as no player is perfect, it's plausible. I believe Mac is a great addition to anyones character roster. Endless potential. Mind the bad grammar..I wrote all of this in one go, i'll be editing it shortly. Maybe add some match ups if need be, and polish it up a bit. Let me know what you think.
Keywords: Pressure, reset
SN: Taunt. Stop being so doughy. They're there for a reason. Best part is, his manager talks during one of them. It gets me HYPE!
