Smash 4 Samus Guide - Samus's Arsenal

Super Smash Bros. 4 for Wii U & 3DS - Samus Guide & Tutorial!

Defeating Mother Brain.
Time Line:
Moveset - 0:17
Charge Shot - 1:14
SHAD & Zair - 1:49
Down B (Bombs) - 2:26
Edge Guarding - 3:20
Shield Breaking - 4:23
Out of Shield - 4:53
Combos - 5:29
Jab Locks - 6:42
Recovery - 7:23

Songs:
Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior - Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Opening - Menu (Metroid Prime) - Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Title (Metroid) - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U [OST].
Metroid Remix
Waifu Dream - Ephixa Remix

Out of Shield options:

Samus has a really good air dodge, the end lag lasts for only 6 frames. This means that when you’re in shield, jumping and air dodging(or short hop air dodging), and then following up with a neutral air, up air, or back air is not a bad option.

You can also up-B out of shield, the Up-B can pull your opponent up with you, and can kill at high percent. However, with Di the opponent could just get shot out of the actual screw attack portion of it.

On stages like Battlefield/Mii Verse/ Dream Land you can Up-B to the top portion of the platform, escaping most punishes.

Do not roll, Samus’s roll is very punishable and slow, and is very situational.

You can also jump and down b to maneuver quickly through the air.

You can also jump back and Zair.

Frame Data:
Kurogane Hammer has provided an excellent Frame data and compendium for Samus. Please check it out.

Combos:

On low percents, Samus can combo up tilt into down tilt.

Without teching, you can up tilt or down air into charge shot, and many other moves(Up smash, up tilt, up air, up B)

At slightly higher percents you can do this but with a short hop(30-45%)

And at even higher percents you might have to wait for an air dodge, although at this point you might as well go for an Up-B(46%+)

You can also combo into up smash.

Dash attack can be used as a starter as well.

Up air can also lead into a charge shot, and is also a good combo breaking tool. It can also lead into multiple up airs, and then finally an Up-B.

Zair and Up-air have the least landing lag, with zair having only 8 frames and up-air having 12 frames.

Zair can be used as a great combo extender or combo starter.

Samus can jab lock with her heat seeking missile, her jab, her forward tilt, and a light charge shot.

You can setup into a jab lock by having the opponent slide off a platform with down b, jab, forward tilt, soft missile, or small charge shot.

Up tilt will meteor a grounded opponent, but unlike Captain Falcon’s up tilt, it will not meteor an aerial opponent, but instead will hit them away.

Down B can be used like a combo partner, and will combo with you. It can also put them into a tumble animation off a platform or the ledge of a stage. This means you can jab lock, or you can spike your opponent.

Samus can combo off of her down throw into forward air, and sometimes up air or RAR back air. If you miss a grab with Samus, you will be punished. Use her grab as a jab lock follow up, an anti-air grab tool, or behind a bomb.

Samus cannot combo Jab 1 into Jab 2. It is usually best to jab 1 and then down tilt or forward tilt, because those come out the fastest.

Breaking Shields:

A bomb and a charge shot can break a full shield.

When an opponents shield breaks, the most optimal punish is to walk them to the edge of the stage, use a down b, and a down air to spike.

Charge Shot:

Samus can charge her neutral B and stop by tapping the shield button.

You can B reverse her neutral B by using the control stick before you press neutral b, unlike traditional B reverses. This is the same case for Donkey Kong.

You can also reverse the charge shot from a wall jump.

If you are charging your CS on a platform there is a pretty long window where you can queue a shield drop then hit shield to do a drop without the shield ever coming up.

An almost fully charged shot kills at just slightly higher percents than a full charged shot. If you hold on to a nearly full charge long enough, your opponent might forget. Just remember to double tap B if you are on the ground or you will get locked into the last bit of the charging animation and be vulnerable.

CS beats every projectile in the game except for Sun Salutation fully charged, Aura Sphere fully charged with Lucario above 56%, Mewtwo's Shadow Ball, and PK Fire. It does get eaten by any projectile with a hit box like link's bombs, ROB's gyro, Duck Hunts' projectiles, Pac-man fruit, etc.

Zair can also go through some projectiles as well.

It is not recommended that you use charge shot from neutral. Only use it in a combo, in a tech chase situation, or a punish (including edge guards, more on that later). After charging your shot, players will be more cautious around you once you have your charge shot up so don't waste it when the opponent can easily jump or shield it. The visual queue that shows that you have a full charged shot Is the constant flashing from Samus.

A good mind game is to almost fully charge your shot so your arm isn't flashing but you have a full charge shot to use.

Ledge Trump and Down B:

Samus can cleverly maneuver while edge guarding to ensure she gets the kill while on the ledge.

She can place her bomb on 2 parts of the opponents get up

Sometimes, you can get the opponent on a regular getup or getup attack into a spike.

Other times, you can break their shield with a bomb and a full charge shot.

When doing a down B maneuver backwards to the ledge, you can tether to the edge and trump your opponent.

If they do get trumped, you can get them with a back air, a reversed charged shot, or if you read their air dodge, a down air.

If they buffer get up attack, or get up roll, they may hit your bomb. If they do not hit your bomb, they’ll still be hit by your charge shot.

If they buffer jump, you could catch them with up air or neutral air, and combo off of that.

If a character is recovering low and has poor vertical recovery, you can drop a bomb off the ledge and land a pretty nice gimp.

Overall, Samus has some of the most sickest edge guarding tactics, master these and you can master her.

Recovery:

You can cancel an air dodge with zair but you'll suffer the air dodge landing lag if you do this and land, making it a pretty punishable option. Use air dodge to zair when tethering to the ledge.

You can cancel a tether by pressing down if you see your opponent is ready to punish the pull of it.

When recovering onto the stage you can do a forward air or up air if your opponent is waiting for you on the ledge.

Alternatively, you can ledge drop wall jump and either back air or cleverly get back and stage and start something.

If your opponent is spacing themselves, you can zair your opponent from the ledge.

Samus’s Foot stool:
Samus can foot stool an opponent off of up air. This can only lead to a tech chase situation, since nothing would let Samus fall fast enough to actually jab lock.