Jacuzzi
Smash Cadet
A lot of people say that Little Mac's air game is trash, but this guide will teach you HOW and WHEN to use Little Mac's air game! I main Little Mac in For Glory 1v1, mostly to counter bad players who spam bad moves (Exampe: Ness' PK Fire, Link projectiles, even a Mac player that spams Smash/Dash Attacks). Mac isn't my only main, however. I also main Fox, Dr. Mario, Dankey Kang, Jiggs, and second a handful of others, so I'm not just "one of those Mac players". I will give combo percents, the percent that they connect at, and some useful tips. Keep in mind, that this guide WILL work for strictly competitive players, as I am a competitive player myself, and always throw people off with my Little Mac. As long as you don't overdo it and make yourself easy to read, this should work as good for you as it does I. So, before I begin this guide, I would like to say: ALL HAIL AIR MAC.
Little Mac's Aerials
Neutral Air- 2% damage, NO knockback whatsoever (can still trap opponents at 999% as if they've taken no damage), comes out VERY quick (can get out 3 in Full Hop, 4 in Double Jump if spammed).
Forward Air- 5%, low knockback, but decent at higher percents (knocks Mario almost to the edge of FD from the middle of the stage at 80%), can FF for a followup.
Down Air- 4%, 5% on Sweetspot, VERY low knockback, CAN SPIKE AT 190% IF SWEETSPOTTED. (Not very practical, cause if you're playing Mac, your opponent shouldn't be at a percent like that, but still notable. I just found this out as I was gathering percent data as I write this, actually.) Also has the ability to trip your opponent, leading into followups.
Back Air- 4% Sour Spot (the arm hitbox), 6% Sweet Spot (the glove hitbox), low knockback, but slightly better than Forward Air (knocked Mario a little farther than Fair on FD at 80% with a Sweet Spot)
Up Air- 5%, barley any knockback.
Troll Combos
DTilt>Fair- 13%, personally my favorite/go-to combo. Works at ~30%, perfect for catching an opponent off guard.
Dash Attack>Fair- 15%, a great approach to throw your opponent off. Works at ~20%.
Down Throw>Triple Nair- 15%, a bit difficult to pull off due to the end lag of DThrow, but free damage if you can hop into a Nair spam, with possible followups. Works at ~0%.
Down Throw>Fair- 14%. Works at 0%
Up Throw>Uair- 12%, can lead to another Uair or another Aerial if read properly. Works at ~0%
DTilt>Double Nair- 12%. Works at ~10%
DTilt>Uair- 12%. Works at ~52%
*Notable String*: Dtilt>Fair>FSmash, 32%, works at ~30%.
Tricks/Tips
Nair Lock- A gimp using Mac's Nair. Spam it from a short hop, about 3 Nairs, to a footstool>recovery out. If you can land it, Nair to the bottom of the stage (I'm sure you all have seen Mac's Nair Lock by now.)
Fair Gimp- Used against characters with "okay" recoveries and lower. Dash Attack/FThrow/whatever off the ledge, dash off the stage in a single jump to a forward air. At higher percents, Mac's Fair has decent knockback (for a Mac Aerial). they'll be so thrown off that they won't think of recovering, if they can recover at all. Notable characters to use this against are: Ganondorf, Mario, Dr. Mario, Bowser, Ike, Marth, Lucina, Little Mac, Falcon, Yoshi, and Shulk.
Bair Gimp- Same utility as Fair Gimp, but instead of dashing off the stage, just face with your back turned away from the ledge, single hop off and Bair them, then recover back.
Dair Shenanigan- Dair has a useful ability when short hopped into; it cancels out any move that has a charge, as long as Super Armor isn't activated. This include Falcon/Ganon's Side-B, Ike's Side-B, etc., as well as other attacks without super armor. Approach with a SH>Dair if you feel as your opponent is going to attack with something unexpected. Also useful for comboing into a tilt, due to it's tripping properties.
Triple Nair approach- This strategy works on bigger characters, most notably Bowser. Due to Nair's zero knockback, this works on all percents; Dash towards your opponent (again, bigger characters) and short hop into a Triple Nair. If done Correctly, you could string a FSmash/Ftilt/Etc. after the Nair without any interruptions.
Mid-Air KO Punch- Although this doesn't have the properties as the grounded KO Punch (KOs VERY rarely, with very low knockback), this is a great troll move to do with Mac. Simple put them in the air, do a good read, and unleash the KO Punch! It may have almost no utility, but it's a hilarious technique to say something along the lines of "Yeah, I just did that." Or in some form of disrespect, if you can string it into something.
And, common Mac knowledge, always Jump-Charge the Straight Lunge (Neutral B) and release before fully charged for an attack that will throw your opponent off, and possibly out of the blast zones (;
Well, that concludes this short guide to Air Mac! Remember, no character's move(s) are useless as long as you know how/when to use them. If done correctly, Little Mac's air game can be devastating, and hard to counteract. I've had numerous opponents switch characters to try and counteract my Air Mac, and 90% of them fail (these are decent players, too. Along with spammy characters, as mentioned at the start of this guide.) Keeping your Air Mac hard to read can be extremely useful with throwing your opponent into a facepalm, and can be the difference between winning and losing; also the difference between a fun match, or a boring match where your opponent just camps the ledge to throw you off.
Feedback with this guide is appreciated, and feel free to leave your Air Mac tips and tricks in the comments! I'll try to keep this thread updated with new information.
PS: If this thread is in the wrong section, please move it to the right location. This is my first post on the site, so it may be in the wrong section.
One more time; ALL HAIL AIR MAC.
~~~Jacuzzi, competitive Sm4sh player, and Mac Main.
Little Mac's Aerials
Neutral Air- 2% damage, NO knockback whatsoever (can still trap opponents at 999% as if they've taken no damage), comes out VERY quick (can get out 3 in Full Hop, 4 in Double Jump if spammed).
Forward Air- 5%, low knockback, but decent at higher percents (knocks Mario almost to the edge of FD from the middle of the stage at 80%), can FF for a followup.
Down Air- 4%, 5% on Sweetspot, VERY low knockback, CAN SPIKE AT 190% IF SWEETSPOTTED. (Not very practical, cause if you're playing Mac, your opponent shouldn't be at a percent like that, but still notable. I just found this out as I was gathering percent data as I write this, actually.) Also has the ability to trip your opponent, leading into followups.
Back Air- 4% Sour Spot (the arm hitbox), 6% Sweet Spot (the glove hitbox), low knockback, but slightly better than Forward Air (knocked Mario a little farther than Fair on FD at 80% with a Sweet Spot)
Up Air- 5%, barley any knockback.
Troll Combos
DTilt>Fair- 13%, personally my favorite/go-to combo. Works at ~30%, perfect for catching an opponent off guard.
Dash Attack>Fair- 15%, a great approach to throw your opponent off. Works at ~20%.
Down Throw>Triple Nair- 15%, a bit difficult to pull off due to the end lag of DThrow, but free damage if you can hop into a Nair spam, with possible followups. Works at ~0%.
Down Throw>Fair- 14%. Works at 0%
Up Throw>Uair- 12%, can lead to another Uair or another Aerial if read properly. Works at ~0%
DTilt>Double Nair- 12%. Works at ~10%
DTilt>Uair- 12%. Works at ~52%
*Notable String*: Dtilt>Fair>FSmash, 32%, works at ~30%.
Tricks/Tips
Nair Lock- A gimp using Mac's Nair. Spam it from a short hop, about 3 Nairs, to a footstool>recovery out. If you can land it, Nair to the bottom of the stage (I'm sure you all have seen Mac's Nair Lock by now.)
Fair Gimp- Used against characters with "okay" recoveries and lower. Dash Attack/FThrow/whatever off the ledge, dash off the stage in a single jump to a forward air. At higher percents, Mac's Fair has decent knockback (for a Mac Aerial). they'll be so thrown off that they won't think of recovering, if they can recover at all. Notable characters to use this against are: Ganondorf, Mario, Dr. Mario, Bowser, Ike, Marth, Lucina, Little Mac, Falcon, Yoshi, and Shulk.
Bair Gimp- Same utility as Fair Gimp, but instead of dashing off the stage, just face with your back turned away from the ledge, single hop off and Bair them, then recover back.
Dair Shenanigan- Dair has a useful ability when short hopped into; it cancels out any move that has a charge, as long as Super Armor isn't activated. This include Falcon/Ganon's Side-B, Ike's Side-B, etc., as well as other attacks without super armor. Approach with a SH>Dair if you feel as your opponent is going to attack with something unexpected. Also useful for comboing into a tilt, due to it's tripping properties.
Triple Nair approach- This strategy works on bigger characters, most notably Bowser. Due to Nair's zero knockback, this works on all percents; Dash towards your opponent (again, bigger characters) and short hop into a Triple Nair. If done Correctly, you could string a FSmash/Ftilt/Etc. after the Nair without any interruptions.
Mid-Air KO Punch- Although this doesn't have the properties as the grounded KO Punch (KOs VERY rarely, with very low knockback), this is a great troll move to do with Mac. Simple put them in the air, do a good read, and unleash the KO Punch! It may have almost no utility, but it's a hilarious technique to say something along the lines of "Yeah, I just did that." Or in some form of disrespect, if you can string it into something.
And, common Mac knowledge, always Jump-Charge the Straight Lunge (Neutral B) and release before fully charged for an attack that will throw your opponent off, and possibly out of the blast zones (;
Well, that concludes this short guide to Air Mac! Remember, no character's move(s) are useless as long as you know how/when to use them. If done correctly, Little Mac's air game can be devastating, and hard to counteract. I've had numerous opponents switch characters to try and counteract my Air Mac, and 90% of them fail (these are decent players, too. Along with spammy characters, as mentioned at the start of this guide.) Keeping your Air Mac hard to read can be extremely useful with throwing your opponent into a facepalm, and can be the difference between winning and losing; also the difference between a fun match, or a boring match where your opponent just camps the ledge to throw you off.
Feedback with this guide is appreciated, and feel free to leave your Air Mac tips and tricks in the comments! I'll try to keep this thread updated with new information.
PS: If this thread is in the wrong section, please move it to the right location. This is my first post on the site, so it may be in the wrong section.
One more time; ALL HAIL AIR MAC.
~~~Jacuzzi, competitive Sm4sh player, and Mac Main.
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