Advice on how to deal with Roy

[Luis Alonso]

I'd like some advice on how to deal with the Roy MU. It's for an upcoming money match, and I want to be as best prepared as I can.

How can I keep Roy off my behind and stop him from comboing me to kingdom come? And how should I retaliate against any hasty and foolish approaches?

 

[G13_Flux]

Smart usage of your OOS options will be key as well as your pressure relieving options ( naryus and jab). Zelda has a great OOS game at a range (kicks and grab) which will be very handy since Roy will be trying to space aerials and side bs all day on you. He will also try to space dtilts but offensive OOS options aren't going to help you there. If he gets dtilt happy, make use out of aerial naryus, and if he's grab happy, use jab to give you some breathing room.

 

[Luis Alonso]

Yeah I figured a good OoS game would crush a Roy.

But how do I approach him should I go on the offense? Him and Marth vastly outrange Zelda by a considerable margin, and I don't want to go in for a Lightning Kick and run the risk of being utilted and have a combo started.

How do I deal with that range? And that ftilt for that matter? Ugh...ftilt...

 

[Rizner]

Be comfortable playing really campy.

 

[BlackMamba]

since he's likely to spam downtilt, it's not a bad idea to keep your back toward him and punish whiffed d-tilts with SH bairs (this is actually one of the few effective methods for punishing that move in the game). It's possible but much harder to do with forward air too. He isn't fast enough for you to fear using telecancels to approach. Send Din's ahead of you and telecancel just behind it to approach and limit his options. You can knock him down out of his crouch (and sometimes pop him up for combos) with downward angled forward tilts. Take him to stages with as few platforms as possible since they'll allow him to trap you with upairs and interrupt your combos on him. Zelda combos Roy extremely well; start up with dash attacks, up tilts, up smashes and up throws and you should stack on damage quite quickly. This matchup isn't nearly as bad as the Marth matchup IMO since there is much less of a threat when you're dancing on the edge of Roy's range and because he is much easier to combo than Marth. Also don't forget you can telesnap to the ledge during the hangtime of his up b to edgehog him.

 

[Luis Alonso]

So I should pick PS2 or Smashville (Smashville pref.) as starters and Final Destination as a counter? And avoid the ever hating crap of Yoshi's Story?

Also, thanks for the advice. This will definitely aid me when I'm practicing against the AI and the eventual money match.

 

[Kaeldiar]

So I should pick PS2 or Smashville (Smashville pref.) as starters and Final Destination as a counter? And avoid the ever hating crap of Yoshi's Story?

Also, thanks for the advice. This will definitely aid me when I'm practicing against the AI and the eventual money match.

Sounds good to me. For SV and PS2, I say just go with your comfort pick. He'll ban DL, of course. Stay away from stages with short platforms and small sides (Yoshi's Story, FoD, WW). Yoshi's Brawl is actually good for him as well, because the ghosts REALLY help his recovery. GHZ is...probably better for Roy, though it's generally Zelda's best stage, in my opinion.

 

[Downdraft]

Sounds good to me. For SV and PS2, I say just go with your comfort pick. He'll ban DL, of course. Stay away from stages with short platforms and small sides (Yoshi's Story, FoD, WW). Yoshi's Brawl is actually good for him as well, because the ghosts REALLY help his recovery. GHZ is...probably better for Roy, though it's generally Zelda's best stage, in my opinion.

Off-topic: Why do you consider GHZ her best stage? On another note, what do you think of Norfair? One of my opponents claimed that Norfair is very good for Zelda, but that may be because I was having more success there. Oddly enough, I don't recall any specific 3.5 matches where a Zelda played in Norfair.

 

[BlackMamba]

Off-topic: Why do you consider GHZ her best stage? On another note, what do you think of Norfair? One of my opponents claimed that Norfair is very good for Zelda, but that may be because I was having more success there. Oddly enough, I don't recall any specific 3.5 matches where a Zelda played in Norfair.

I like norfair for her because the platforms are usually high enough not to interrupt her combos but are still present and cover a good portion of the stage so she can escape to them for a breather if she's getting pressured by projectiles.

 

[BlackMamba]

So I should pick PS2 or Smashville (Smashville pref.) as starters and Final Destination as a counter? And avoid the ever hating crap of Yoshi's Story?

Also, thanks for the advice. This will definitely aid me when I'm practicing against the AI and the eventual money match.

I'd say so. The irritating thing above facing Marth and Roy is that many of your best stages (Green Hill, Yoshi's Story, FOD) are also theirs, except in their favor. Though I suggest that every Zelda main become comfortable with FOD; it's nearly always my counterpick regardless of who I'm playing against because of how good it is for Zelda; I rarely lose to even Marths and Roys on that stage. You might also CP Roy to DP, in general large stages are much better for you than for him.

 

[TimeSmash]

I would do as others said and stay away from WarioWare and Yoshi's.

You might have to play a little campy, but Din's is a great tool here. Use the recall to interrupt and mess with him. Edgeguarding him by spamming UpB, but don't be afraid to mix it up. If you can get Dreamland, go for that. Platforms are your friend!

 

[Kaeldiar]

Off-topic: Why do you consider GHZ her best stage? On another note, what do you think of Norfair? One of my opponents claimed that Norfair is very good for Zelda, but that may be because I was having more success there. Oddly enough, I don't recall any specific 3.5 matches where a Zelda played in Norfair.

GHZ:

Spoiler

Facts:
3rd highest ceiling (behind Skyworld and Dreamland)
3rd shortest sides (behind Yoshi's Melee and WW)
Platform that only interrupts things sparingly
Awesome music <3

Pros:
Short sides, so kicks and b-throw kill early, which are her main killers.
High ceiling, so she doesn't die off the top as early
The platform doesn't help recovery mix-ups, so that's better edgeguarding for her.
The platform is too high for "low-commitment" platform tech-chasing from characters like Marth, Zard, and Falcon
The platform is usually out of the way for easy spacie chaingrabbing

Cons:
Short sides, so she dies off the sides even earlier.
High ceiling, so she can't kill off the top very early, which you want to do against other floaties (especially Puff and Samus, who also kill off the sides)
YOU STILL CAN'T TELEPORT THROUGH MOVING PLATFORMS, which means getting off that platform can be annoying sometimes

In most MUs, I think this is a good stage for her. It is definitely NOT in her favor in MUs where you want to kill off the top. I took a Puff here and didn't do so well

I liked old Norfair, because the top platform gave her an escape route. It made tech chasing difficult, and Zelda was never the best at that, so it hurt other characters more than it hurt her. I don't like the new Norfair, it feels like a crappy Smashville with blastzones that are just a bit too big for her to kill and a wall so that wall-jumpers/clingers get to have fun

 

[TimeSmash]

Also, for super disrespect trick Roy somehow (Din's) and land a sweetspot Dair on him

 

[Luis Alonso]

Also, for super disrespect trick Roy somehow (Din's) and land a sweetspot Dair on him

I toss them out the edge with a fthrow and fastfall sourspot dair for massive disrespect. Just to recover like a boss with a well-timed telecancelled autosnap farore's wind to edge and then a large din's fire on the other side of the screen. Works almost everytime.