A problem? ROB vs Space Animals

[masterbraz]

I am having a difficult time with the space animals, particularly wolf.
It seems like they have priority on aerials and their reflector plus lazer spamming makes it hard to use my laser and gyro.

When i try to approach wolf with rolling he either uses his reflector to push me away or he side smashes me right after i rolled to doge a lazer.

If i approach from the air; wolf has decent aerial to push me back. The only move i can ever use that sometimes works is my fair.

Does anyone have advice for ROB matchups against spacies and wolf in particular. Even a counterpick would be nice.

This should be for all discussion of ROB vs Spacies and not just the problems i listed.

 

[S623]

Really? They're one of the easier challenges for me. The hardest guy for me is Game & Watch.

But if you're approaching Wolf in the air, instead of using an f-air, trying using a laser or a side-b. Either of those would catch him off-guard and would probably have priority.

 

[Trogdornbx]

I agree with S623. R.O.B.'s side-B isn't his best move, but it often gets priority. It can also reflect projectiles, and against Wolf and Falco, that may give you a split second advantage to capitalize on.

 

[masterbraz]

thanks, i never would have thought to use side-b as it usually is an awful move. S623, your right G&W is really hard to fight. His uair is so annoying.

 

[Uraithen]

A quick hint, if you're on the ground and decide to use your laser, angle it down. This way if it gets reflected it's considerably less likely to actually hit you. This is especially likely against Falco, who throws his reflector. It has occured that the laser has bounced off the ground, avoiding the reflector and hitting him anyway.
Of the space animals, wolf is the toughest for me, the ones I face normally tend to try and establish ground control with their side smash. Against this, a shield or stationary dodge followed by down smash will usually catch him.
The key to the space animal matchups (for me at least) is to slow the game down as much as possible, and play it at your own pace. Maintain your distance, since you can approach them more safely than they can approach you( forward b, fair, gyro cancelled dodge).
If I think of anything else, I'll edit it in.

 

[game_tip]

side B isn't too bad if you spam it close and make sure the enemy is knocked back from you
other than that I'll have to say I have a lot of trouble w/ wolf as well lol

 

[masterbraz]

the startup lag of the sideb is easily punished wiith a sheild grab. And i lose priority with my d-smash to wolf's dsmash, which is a really good move. I'm still losing but am doing better by playing more defensively and using my ftilt, my jab, and fair. I try keepin him in the air aswell. I've givin up on maintaining a lot of distance as projectiles become too predictable and always reflected.

 

[Doc Chronic]

i really don't have much of a problem with wolf. I have a much bigger problem with Ike, he always seems to have an upper hand on me.

 

[Psychokinetic]

Wolf's attacks are very fast, but most of his aerial moves have a huge lag afterwards, if you can get Wolf to miss with an aerial then you have a good chance to hit him. Besides that, remember that his blaster is pretty short range, and he can't shield and blast at the same time. Wolf also has horrible recovery compared to you so don't be afraid to edge guard. For a counter you can try Ike or Marth, neither has projectiles to reflect and both have a large reach advantage (except maybe Wolf's side smash) on the Space Animals. Marth is also pretty good in the air.

 

[masterbraz]

yeah i completely lose on ground now because of wolf's great side and downsmash. Whenever i try approaching him with his fair he use his reflector. He constantly uses his reflector when approaching me, disabling my projectiles. I've gained some ground by trying new techniques and using more aerials, but i haven't won a 2/3 yet. I hate to do this, but i'm starting to play marth and ike just so i have a wolf counter.

 

[yoshi_friend]

Really? They're one of the easier challenges for me. The hardest guy for me is Game & Watch.

But if you're approaching Wolf in the air, instead of using an f-air, trying using a laser or a side-b. Either of those would catch him off-guard and would probably have priority.

i agree. G&W's bair and dair are so annoying.

But against the space animals, just remember their recovery isnt that good, so if you can get one bair or nair in when they are at high damage, you can usually get an easy edgeguard with your fair. You shouldnt even need to spike them.

 

[looduhcriss]

hey if u roll and u can predict the reflector - go for the spot dodge > Dsmash. Also mindgame them with Reverse Bair once in a while it usually works, and use Nair more since they may not know if it will hit them or not cuz of the Circular Attack. And try to plug in a WoP if u can. Or try to lure him off the stage with back or forward throw to Meteor/WoP/Edge Guard

And have u tried playing on Lylat Cruise?
...I find that ROB shines there pretty well, it seems easier to Dair ppl wen theyre recovering. So maybe pick a diff stage unless u always do.

 

[Syde7]

I've had quite the tough time with F/D smash spammers. Also, the n-air to d/f-smash tears me up. Then again, I've been playing online w/ horrible lag, so the timing hasn't been what I'm used to. Funny, in person I play pretty decent Wolfs (wolves?) and dun have much of a problem. Meh, que sera, sera.

 

[Boolossus]

Well, Wolf is just a really annoying character. You can't rush into him, no matter how much he spams lasers. Move around alot, spam your own laser, block/dodge/run/reflect his lasers, and then make your move.

 

[Ch0zen0ne]

Utilt is your friend.. so is DashAtk-->Combo...

and on a similar note.. Wolf and Fox are very easy to edgeguard when fuxing w/ your gyro and lazer...

 

[Sudai]

Gyro absorbs Wolf's lasers. Toss it out and laser spam him back. It makes Wolf approach you. If they approach on the ground, they have to roll around the Gyro. Punish. If they jump over the Gyro, UTilt. If you're good enough, space the UTilt to hit with the side of it so you barely stun them and then DSmash/Grab/Whatever.

 

[Zink]

Wolf's attacks are very fast, but most of his aerial moves have a huge lag afterwards, if you can get Wolf to miss with an aerial then you have a good chance to hit him. Besides that, remember that his blaster is pretty short range, and he can't shield and blast at the same time. Wolf also has horrible recovery compared to you so don't be afraid to edge guard. For a counter you can try Ike or Marth, neither has projectiles to reflect and both have a large reach advantage (except maybe Wolf's side smash) on the Space Animals. Marth is also pretty good in the air.

what are you talking about? wolf fair, nair, bair, uair are all lagless after a sh.

 

[masterbraz]

is glide toss useless against approaching a shine spamming wolf? When i try, i feel like i'd be better of just approaching with a fair

 

[Sharky]

hehehe I actually had the most interesting approach against one a couple weeks ago. I glide tossed towards him, he reflected it, and I CAUGHT the gyro. He was so thrown off guard by that that I was able to throw it at him again, this time hitting him. =D

also if you glide toss towards him while throwing the gyro in a different direction (up, for example,) you get the speedy approach without the punishment of the gyro being reflected back at you, just a thought =)

 

[Ishoku]

hehehe I actually had the most interesting approach against one a couple weeks ago. I glide tossed towards him, he reflected it, and I CAUGHT the gyro. He was so thrown off guard by that that I was able to throw it at him again, this time hitting him. =D

also if you glide toss towards him while throwing the gyro in a different direction (up, for example,) you get the speedy approach without the punishment of the gyro being reflected back at you, just a thought =)

you can glide toss while throwing upwards? are you sure? i cant seem to do it.

 

[Ishoku]

OH there i did it nvm

 

[ArticulacyFTW]

If he reflector spams just move back and wait for him to attack. Reflector does nothing to you if you don't throw anything at him. If he then goes for lasers, just laser him back. He won't be able to pull out the reflector in time, and super robo beam destroys Wolf's blaster. Or you can glide toss to anything--dash attack, f smash, whatever.

Even if you are worried about reflectors, you can jump and angle your laser down to hit them, and it will basically never be reflected back at you. Just mix it up with jumping and gyros or jumping to nothing then lasering when you land and whatnot.

Also, as others have said, throw out gyros, without even necessarily hitting with them, let them spin on stage. Force him to approach you, then get in shield grabs/spot dodge to d-smashes. Once he's off stage, edge guarding should be a breeze, with either f-airs or d-airs.

I think you might need to space a little better. Try using your d-smash from a little farther away, as it should have much better range than Wolf's--you shouldn't be getting out prioritized by it.

Being patient is key. Another thing--if they throw out a reflector, try to put out an uncharged gyro that lands short. They'll bring down the reflector, and you usually can follow immediately with a laser. Mind games for the win.

If you absolutely have to approach, dash attacks and f-airs are usually best. But I don't see why you would.

 

[JCaesar]

Another thing you could do is act like you're gonna glide toss, but then just jump over him and drop the gyro. Even if he reflects it it won't do anything, and you get a free smash when you land.

 

[ArticulacyFTW]

Another thing you could do is act like you're gonna glide toss

Question: How does one act like one is going to glide toss? Beyond holding an item, of course.

 

[JCaesar]

Question: How does one act like one is going to glide toss? Beyond holding an item, of course.

Roll towards them? Or if you do glide toss a lot, picking up the gyro is usually enough to make them think you're gonna glide toss.

 

[ICEDTEA1325]

space animals aren't hard to beat... its just knowledge and common sense of the game that can help you...

 

[Massiveguns]

space animals will always beat you and its **** good they do because your character is soo anoying and (imo he is one of the reasons so many people want to go back to melee) FALCO loves this matchup im a competitive falco and i know how it goes down

 

[DemonFirebrand]

space animals will always beat you and its **** good they do

Good to know you're being intellectual about it.

I'll give my two cents on ROB vs Space Animals.

Truthfully speaking ROB has the upper hand on Falco's rather bland ground moves and a definate advantage in the air. Falco's greatest advantage is that his laser doesn't have to charge up and that he can spike ROB out of his upB. In the long run, the 20 or so % falco's laser will tack on doesn't hurt ROB's fat body so much and ROB can whip him in close combat also, you can gimp his recovery with your projectiles and air moves.

Fox is even easier than a falco matchup because his laser doesn't interrupt and while faster, he isn't as strong. Don't let the bugger get underneath you because he will hit you off the top. Hell, as ROB never let anyone get underneath you unless you're off the stage to spike them. Fox is harder to gimp than Falco, but it can be done.

Wolf is probably the most dangerous Space Animal for ROB because he's strong and has high prioty air moves which takes a little from ROBs big air game. Gimp his recovery with your laser, gryo, or Fair. Use throws to get him above you. Don't let him spike your recovery.

You'll notice I didn't address the reflector. There's a reason for that: obviously you shouldn't fire lasers or gyros AT the space animals when they're at medium or long range, because any skilled player will reflect or dodge. Instead use the gyro as a spacing tool and angle your laser so that it bounces off the stage and hits them when they think they are safe. Or save it and use max power laser to screw with their recovery.

 

[Massiveguns]

i agree on some level, but with falcos chain grab and camping superiority i doubt a high skilled ROb vs Falco could win.... u must acknowledge that you will have to approach falco and robs approach is not very good so you will probably grabbed or D aired and as u said gimping rob is very common and can be done at lower percents then u might think. also almost every one of falco's air moves is faster then ROB's and unless your opponent falco jumps into 1 of them falco should control the air ..... just my opinion, but ive seen proof enough that im pretty sure im right

 

[ArticulacyFTW]

space animals will always beat you and its **** good they do because your character is soo anoying and (imo he is one of the reasons so many people want to go back to melee) FALCO loves this matchup im a competitive falco and i know how it goes down

i agree on some level, but with falcos chain grab and camping superiority i doubt a high skilled ROb vs Falco could win.... u must acknowledge that you will have to approach falco and robs approach is not very good so you will probably grabbed or D aired and as u said gimping rob is very common and can be done at lower percents then u might think. also almost every one of falco's air moves is faster then ROB's and unless your opponent falco jumps into 1 of them falco should control the air ..... just my opinion, but ive seen proof enough that im pretty sure im right

Umm, no. Read this thread by Overswarm, one of the best Brawl players in the world right now, and a R.O.B. main (winner of the wifi wars tournament). He mentions spacies as his favorite matchups because it's so easy to gimp kill them once they're off the stage, and that it's relatively easy to get them off the stage. He also gives excellent advice otherwise, I suggest all R.O.B. players read the thread.

 

[JCaesar]

Sorry massiveguns, ROB easily controls the skies in this matchup. Just fair and uair alone outprioritize and outrange everything in the spacies' aerial arsenal. Couple that with ROB's vastly superior off-the-stage game and total INABILITY to be gimped (thanks to his amazing up-B), and the spacies have to be very careful in this matchup. They have to take advantage of their speed advantage and try to juggle ROB to have a chance. ROB's weak spot is below him.