The Art of the (Dark) Fist [Finished!]

Dark Fists is the second customization of Ganondorf's Up special, Dark Dive. It doesn't grab, and instead has two hits that combo into one another. The first hit (6%) is a somewhat short-ranged (by Ganondorf standards) attack with set knockback, and the second hit (11%) is an attack with an enormous hitbox (as shown above) that is about as strong as Ganon's sourspotted U-smash. It has Super Armor from frames 5-14, first hits on frames 15-16, and hits again on frames 42-44.

Several things are notable about this move. First of all, it's one of the few Up-B's to "drag" opponents with the user. On top of that, unlike a lot of the other Up-B's that do this, it kills vertically. This means that Dark Fists can kill insanely early if you land it off the ground. It can kill Rosalina from <30% from the top platform of battlefield.

Secondly, the Super Armor. Frame 5 super armor means that, to beat it, a move needs to hit Frame 4 or earlier.

Thirdly, the slightly slower startup actually benefits Ganon because it allows him more time to move forward before the first hit comes out provided he is in the air. He can't move forward on the ground.

Unfortunately, like all multi-hit attacks, Dark-Fists can whiff.

• Wario, Captain Falcon, Megaman, Bowser, and King Dedede are the only characters that aren't hit by the second hit of Dark Fists from a normal standing position. Captain Falcon and Wario will be hit if they DI in however. Bowser, Dedede, and Megaman can still be hit properly if you connect with the higher hitbox of the first hit.
  
• Generally, lighter, floatier characters will whiff if they're hit by the higher part of the first hit.
• Generally, heavier, faster-falling characters will whiff if they're hit by the lower part of the first hit.

All %'s were tested on Mario on the lowest part of the given stage. DI was taken into consideration. Both 0% and 150% rage are considered

Battlefield
0% Rage: 80%
150% Rage: 43%

Lylat (kill %'s vary due to tilting)
0% Rage: 73%
150% Rage: 36%

Final Destination
0% Rage: 73%
150% Rage: 36%
Note: Smashville, Duck Hunt, and Delfino (traveling) all have the same ceiling as FD. Delfino's ceiling varies. If you want more detailed info on Delfino's ceiling, look here

Town and City
0% Rage: 70%
150% Rage: 32%

Halberd (Ready for some low % kills?)
0% Rage: 61%
150% Rage: 27%


Castle Siege (needs to be tested)
based on the ceiling data (link above), Castle Siege 1 is similar to FD, 2 is similar to Battlefield, and 3 is similar to FD.

If you hold down when using Ganondorf's Up-B, he won't grab the ledge. This allows Ganondorf to use the uppercut portion of the attack before he grabs the ledge (this also works with normal Dark Dive, but it's more effective with Dark Fists). This is an amazing tool against characters that either try to edgeguard onstage (Little Mac), or characters that try to set ledge traps (King Dedede), as trying to do either of those things now carries the risk of getting hit by the incredibly strong second hit. Be careful. It's possible to SD from using this too much if you end up too far away from the stage after the uppercut.

Ganondorf has a ridiculously high ledge jump, one of of the highest in the game. Dark Fists gives him a perfect opportunity to capitalize on this if they DI in after a Ledgefist at low %'s. Ganondorf can jump right up and U-air them right in the face. It's not a true combo, but they have very little time to prepare, and very little can beat Ganon's U-air anyway. This is especially deadly on Battlefield, where it dumps them right on the top platform for further comboing if they miss the tech.

During a successful Ledgefist, if you stop holding down during the hitlag (which is very easy since the hitlag is incredibly long), Ganondorf will snap to the ledge before the hitlag actually ends. It's not as much of a boon as you might think since Ganondorf still goes through the hitlag (which leaves him hanging in part of his ledge snap animation like a big evil wind sock), but it's still faster than going through the entire uppercut. It makes the Ledgefist Combo/Hurricane of Despair much easier. It's actually fast enough to true combo fast-fallers!

Note: For some odd reason, if Ganon's head is above the ledge (rough estimate), he won't snap to it until the uppercut finishes. Make sure you're low enough

Frame 5 Super Armor is fun for the whole family. As mentioned above, to strictly "beat" Dark Fists, a move needs to hit it before the 5th frame. Also, mentioned above, Ganondorf can move forward in the air during the Super Armor before the attack actually comes out. Put together this means that almost any attack that hits the armor of Dark Fists will get hit by Dark Fists. You can imagine the kind of scary stuff this allows Ganondorf to do. It's okay against grounded attacks, but the threat of just getting grabbed out of it limits it's usage against them. Against aerials however, it's amazing. Having a move that beats out anything frame 5 or slower is excellent in a game where the fastest aerials are 3 frames. This makes Dark Fists excellent for blocking aerial approaches, spacing, and more. Even stuff with ridiculous range like Rosalina's B-air can't avoid getting countered by this, even when spaced. Even stuff that's normally incredibly safe on block isn't safe, like Bouncing Fish.

Getup attacks can also be countered by Dark Fists. It's a great option out of Flame Choke.

The Frame 5 Super Armor does more than counter approaches. It can even be used as a combo/chain breaker! Any combo/chain that leaves 5 frames or more of leeway can be countered by Dark Fists, even U-air juggles if they jump. What really makes this effective is just how dangerous it can make pursuing Ganondorf after a hit. If you try to combo Ganondorf and he counters with Dark Fists, you can die below 50% depending on how close you were to the upper blast line. As expected, this works just as well against edgeguarding attempts as it does against combos.

Dark Fists obviously puts you in helpless, making it very hard to use it safely. However, if Ganondorf does the uppercut just above a platform, he'll only have to deal with the landing lag, making it much safer and opening up follow-up opportunities. The best example of this is Battlefields center platform, which you can perform this on from the bottom level. But if you learn the spacing, you can perform this on almost any platform!

There are 18 characters (at the bottom, credit to Magus, refer to his guide for more info) who will get popped up onto the two side platforms if they're Flame Choked underneath them. If they miss the tech (The tech timing is crazy specific, literally 1-3 frames at most), you can jump up and Dark Fists on any getup they do. Since they started on the platform to begin with, Dark Fists will carry them way up in the air and kill them extremely early, as low as 60%. When you add in the damage from Flame Choke, this gives Ganon a kill setup that kills from <50%. The 18 characters are: