I want to bring up the topic of ledge play, or ledge pressure briefly.
A page or two back, there was the odd topic of Cloud's ledge play, and it still being untapped. That said, I still feel most characters's ledge games are still untapped, and players are just going for the obvious (edgeguards, ledge trumps etc).
I'll take Marth, as an example, as I know him thoroughly well. Marth's ledge play is actually quite good, and I'd go as far as to say he has one of the better ledge pressuring games in the game; he has an option to cover almost every ledge getup option there is, as well as a couple of tools to pressure people hanging on the ledge.
Firstly, Marth's Dtilt and Fsmash can hit below the ledge. While Fsmash is used less often, it's still there and can be a suprising/rewarding/annoying (if you are the one on the receiving end) option for 2 frames, or even punishing character hanging there for too long. Dtilt can 2 frame opponents a bit easier than Fsmash due to it being easier to time. Marth can stand on the ledge and force the opponent to get up at risk getting hit by these two moves. That alone is better than most characters.
Then you have his ledge getup covering options. This first option is one of the most overlooked, and one of my favourite ledge options he has, and it's simple; it's Ftilt. Essentially, Marth can stand out of ledge getup and getup attack distance for almost all characters, and as the character gets up, he can tipper Ftilt them on reaction. Ftilt's 1.1.4 increased range makes this possible. If Marth is stood at this range, and the opponent rolls, Usmash can catch this option on reaction, as well as other options like Utilt, other tilts, and mainly Dancing Blade, as it's more than quick enough.
Should the opponent jump from the ledge, Marth has all the tools a character would need to pressure a character coming down to earth; his Utilt outranges almost everything, bar Cloud's Dair (in fact I'm not entirely sure Cloud's Dair outranges Marth's Utilt, but Marth's Utilt arcing makes it harder to time. Marth's Usmash does indeed outrange Cloud's Dair, however). His Uair is a great juggling tool also, so combined, jumping from the ledge is not a smart idea either. If Marth wants to take a gamble, he can dash forward and Usmash right as he thinks the opponent will jump from the ledge, and it can tipper, quite easily.
Then there are misc things. A thing I love to do is stand a roll's distance from the ledge, and prepare for a roll getup (A good way to force a roll getup is to run right to the ledge and roll back instantly. Not only will this put Marth in the perfect distance for this little option, dashing towards the ledge often times makes opponents get up quicker and more hastily than normal, and more often times, they roll to get behind you, thinking they will gain a bit of stage control). If the opponent rolls, Marth can Dtilt them, which will sourspot, which at varying percents can lead into different options. At around 30%-40%, it can lead into a stutter step Fsmash, which tippers, and KO's. Should it be any lower, you can get a free grab, tipper Fair, or Dancing Blade. Until around 60%, you can get a Dancing Blade off of this, and because of how close you are to the ledge, if the last side hit tippers, it can KO based on rage/blastzones (the edge of the stage can make tippering this move easier, as it can stop Marth taking steps forward.
You see Mr E trying to utilise Marth's ledge play a lot in his Grand Finals set against Pink Fresh at Glitch 2.
The thing with Marth, is he has an equally as good/threatening off stage game, so it's often a gamble of "shall I go for an edgeguard, or pressure from the ledge?". Against characters like Cloud, or Captain Falcon, going off stage is usually the best choice. But against characters like Bayonetta, with good recoveries, it's often better to stand on the ledge and pressure. Mr E was playing off stage a fair bit at Glitch 2, but in the GF set, he opted to stand on stage more at the ledge, which was the wiser option.
So, in short, are character's ledge games fully optimised yet? There's talk of Cloud's ledge play being fantastic. What other characters have strong ledge options like these?
