Any tips on fighting squirtle?

[Artmastercorey]

I find this matchup difficult as a YL player because his shell eats up most of my projectiles like a moving shield. And hes quit lagless and quick. Are there any apparent weakness's or openings with squirtle that are punishable ?

 

[ZephyrZ]

Withdraw is safe on block but if you jump over it it leaves him open for a punish. If you manage to land on him during the move, which is difficult to pull off, he's left in an even more vulnerable state where its easy to punish with a smash attack. Hitting him with the right projectile can also halt Withdraw's momentum, so throw your boomerang close to the ground to block him so he's open for a punish afterwards. I actually have a very hard time exploiting Withdraw against Young Link players because of their good air mobility and rapid fire projectile traps.

Squirtles attacks lack lag but they also lack range. When he starts to get close try to wall him out with your sword. Watch out for his dash attack and fair when he's in their burst range as those are his favorite approach options. When he's in your face stringing together moves don't bother using attacks to shake him off as he outclasses your boxing game big time. Instead use evasive options like jump, air dodge and roll to try and get out and find your spacing.

 

[Artmastercorey]

Withdraw is safe on block but if you jump over it it leaves him open for a punish. If you manage to land on him during the move, which is difficult to pull off, he's left in an even more vulnerable state where its easy to punish with a smash attack. Hitting him with the right projectile can also halt Withdraw's momentum, so throw your boomerang close to the ground to block him so he's open for a punish afterwards. I actually have a very hard time exploiting Withdraw against Young Link players because of their good air mobility and rapid fire projectile traps.

Squirtles attacks lack lag but they also lack range. When he starts to get close try to wall him out with your sword. Watch out for his dash attack and fair when he's in their burst range as those are his favorite approach options. When he's in your face stringing together moves don't bother using attacks to shake him off as he outclasses your boxing game big time. Instead use evasive options like jump, air dodge and roll to try and get out and find your spacing.

Thank you for that thought provoking reply. Withdrawl is hard to fight but I find his grab game dangerous as well. It seems to be fast and great range. Once he throws me into the air I find it very hard to win against him, as landing it so hard against this guy because of his speed and withdraw eating up most of my projectiles . I was checking out this video for what can stand up against withdrawl. I had no idea how tough it was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM8yrXODueE

I'll have to test what projectiles work, but I think just boomerang works, and maybe a planted bomb. But boomerang is YL's slowest projectile and often gets punished before startup animation can end even when half way across the stage from squirtle. It would seem like all YL can do is focus on jabs and run to create spacing, because like you said its very hard to get squirtle away from you to space.

 

[Arrei]

On the topic of Withdraw, is that a move Trainer mains actually use frequently? I played against an individual who pulled it out quite frequently as a landing mixup, which continuously got me at first but as I started to adapt it made me consider the payoff from successfully predicting then footstooling the move for a free heavy punish.

On that note, does it actually need a footstool or is stomping on him like a Koopa all that needs to be done?

 

[ZephyrZ]

On the topic of Withdraw, is that a move Trainer mains actually use frequently? I played against an individual who pulled it out quite frequently as a landing mixup, which continuously got me at first but as I started to adapt it made me consider the payoff from successfully predicting then footstooling the move for a free heavy punish.

On that note, does it actually need a footstool or is stomping on him like a Koopa all that needs to be done?

A lot of people don't know how to punish that move properly so a lot of Trainers are over relying on it online and are getting away with it. I personally try to be hard to predict with it, but it's a very nifty approach option that gives Squirtle a burst of speed and can trade with most attacks without taking damage. I'm sure it'll be far less abusable once more people learn the match up, so using it too much is a bad habit that a lot of Squirtle players are going to have to break.

I believe you don't need to actually footstool him. Just landing on him Koopa-style works.