Advice for Rushdown Characters & Complimentary Secondary Mains?

[SoulSpirit]

Hi, I am a bit new here so forgive me if this isn't the most well thought out post or something; I don't know how strict this stuff is here but I did do a bit of searching around for topics of this nature and I couldn't find much, so I am making my own. If i'm breaking a rule or something please let me know but I don't think I am! Anyway, on topic:

My favorite character in Sm4sh is Palutena, I am slowly getting accustomed to using her well (though I don't think I'd win a tourney anytime soon, I am almost getting consistently high percent of wins on For Glory, which is enough for me). I enjoy most of the moves she has, some like Up-tilt and default Counter not being my favorites but it's what she has to work with.

I seem to have particular trouble with faster characters who rely on getting into your space and giving you no time to breath to battle. Fox and Sonic are the best examples I can think of but I'm sure there's a few others. This may be a typical problem and possibly not exclusive to Palutena but it's something I have trouble with. So I'm curious to either subject:

-Advice with Palutena to deal with rushdown-type characters/gameplay?
-A Good complimentary character to Palutena, one to deal with her weaknesses (Which may or may not be rushdown, I might just not be using her right. I'm somewhat new to the more competitive side of smash bros but I'm here to improve, so)

Currently for other characters I'll use almost any of them but characters I enjoy coming back to are Jigglypuff, Little Mac, Bowser, and Pit. There are others I'll use (most of the roster) but those are just the ones I feel like mentioning.

I guess that's it, looking forward to any responses and I hope I didn't break any rules or anything.

 

[Yoshi Kirishima]

to be brief

d/pit, DDD (covers luigi and pikachu decently) are a couple good choices (that is unless you want to just pick a "top tier" secondary...), or even lucina/marth

When playing vs rushdown/mixup/fast characters, momentum is key. Rush down is about gaining the first leg up, so that they have information so they are one step ahead, and try to keep that momentum going and counter your potential options. You have to grab that momentum back by breaking theirs. Palutena has some aggressive options and this momentum is also what allows her to utilize her rushdown aspects.

It can be really hard to deal with it because you have to block them out real good with Palutena or else she's really weak when they're in your face.

If you can't read them, then against mix-up types (sonic, a bit falcon and less so fox), at the very least rotate your options and distribute them evenly, so that you can try to create as close to a 50/50 situation as possible (throw reading/predicting out of the window if he is beating you at it).

Rushdown is like this
They pick a move, try it, then if it doesn't work, they try something else
If it does work they are a leg up and ideally pick something that is good but also counters/deals with options you may pick (and he predicts what options you may pick based on what happened previously)

So start memorizing what they do. You get hit. How did they hit and how did they approach? Now know how to deal with this next time. If they ran at you and grabbed cus you were shielding then next time do a dash attack or do a jab or even grab them first during their dash. If they did a jump approach then back up a little and try to punish them before they land back on the ground. Etc.

 

[lostleader]

General advice for rushdown (mainly For Glory):
People don't realize how amazing Pretty Lady Palutena's Jab is, and it will usually stop or interrupt attacks from any characters, but especially those that rushdown on you. Can't tell you how often I have matched Spin Attacks just by mashing the A button. Jab is pmuch the go to against stopping a lot of Fox's options for you. And it will beat out a lot of Falcon's attack on Start up.

Also Forward Air is the key to keeping those rushs away from you/stage. It comes out fast, has amazing priority and will often surprise any opponent.

Auto Reticule is good for spacing against more defensive Sonic players. Otherwise Auto Reticule should only be used as a follow up against your attacks in the air. It can be fairly effective. On ground however it is almost useless on rushdown.

Forward Smash beats out Spindash and Falcon Kick if timed properly.

If a Fox tries to Jab link you, your only real option is to block if you are below 70%

Dtilt works well when in roll panic. (Dsmash is far to risking due to lag)

While I personally haven't done it, you can warp cancel by the ledge ala Brawl Zelda and do a quick neutral Air or forward air.

Not sure how effect it can work, but Reflect's start up will interrupt some grabs or attacks when they rush at you.

Uair beats out anything rushcharacters can do to you, just make sure to time it right

Warp is a solid option to get out of juggles in the air, and general rushdowns can't reach the ground quick enough to take advantage of lag.

 

[Wintropy]

Play Pit as well, then you can be a real hero of Skyworld~

Nah, seriously, a good complement to Palutena would be a faster and more efficient character. You could go the extreme and pick up someone like Captain Falcon or Sheik, or you could experiment with something a little more different and try a strong close-range fighter like Marth or Mario.

I play Pit because, well, I think Pit's a cool character, though he does cover Palutena's tougher matchups to an extent; he's at least faster and has great combo strings. He's also quicker and doesn't have the same lag, though he isn't very good at killing. I'd say you would want to go for a character that plays a bit differently than ol' Ladypal: default Pally is a defensive zoner character, so I would recommend a fighter that's faster and more aggressive. If they can handle rushdown fighters (the bane of Palutena's existence), even better!

 

[Fuj1n]

Forward Smash beats out Spindash