Aether Spike

[LightlyToasted]

So I'm sure this is something that is known about, but I play Ike casually since he is a blast, and I remember hitting a Pikachu near the edge with aether, and on the downswing it spiked him. I'm just wondering if anyone has info on the circumstances you need to hit the foe to spike someone down on Aether's follow through. I know its possible but cant seem to do it with consistency.

 

[X-ian]

Well, when the downswing in Aether starts up (when the blades goes from spinning to Ike grabbing it and slashing downward), it spikes the caught opponent so Ike can follow through with the final slash where he comes down. However, if you miss that final slash when he hits the ground, they still go through with the spiking trajectory, sending them straight downward. I always thought of using it viably, but it seems dependent (at least to me) on your opponents DI, meaning they have to miss your final slash to be fully spiked by the Aether.

 

[Jaxas]

You can use Aether and grab the ledge instead of landing, which means the last hit won't come out and it reliably spikes.

I don't know of any other reliable ways, though

 

[Arrei]

From what I've seen you essentially need to be at a range where Aether will cause Ragnell to spin horizontally adjacent to the ledge, because otherwise your opponent can edge towards the stage and just get bounced off the ground. Typically speaking it only really comes in handy when someone botches their edgeguarding and puts themselves smack in your sword's path when recovering low - I've killed some overzealous Captain Falcons and King Dededes with it.

Perhaps characters like Shulk and Little Mac might be easier to catch with it since their Up-Bs don't snap to the ledge, giving you more time to set up your attack, but I do know trying to take advantage of Shulk's Air Slash like this can be quite dangerous if he sees it coming, because he can aim it away from the stage, knock you away, and still grab the ledge if he's close enough.