Hey everyone this is just a PSA that attack cancelling with Marth/Lucina is an extremely useful mixup that I hope to see more players integrating into their playstyle. If you don't know already, there is an instructional article on attack cancelling on the main page of Smashboards. To summarize, it's when you cancel a tilt-stick input with a jump, resulting in an aerial. The timing is very tight but totally doable if you set jump to one of the triggers.
The reason I want to share is because Marth/Lucina have the special property of being turned around when they perform their Back Aerial (Bair). So, let's say the opponent is in front of you: by inputting a tilt in the opposite direction that you are facing followed by a jump + left stick towards your opponent, you will be able to do an immediate Bair out of standing. The Bair will turn you around towards your opponent again allowing you to follow up any way you like, even with another attack cancelled Bair! This is faster than a Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR) Bair. It also has the added benefit of being hard to read because you can do it from standing. It can really catch opponents off guard that might be expecting a Fair or Nair instead. Through a little practice, I can consistently pull this tech off every time and it always feels best with Marth/Lucina because they get spun around during the Bair leading to easy and varied follow ups.
Another use is to perform dash attack with the tilt-stick and cancel it with a jump. Nair will come out unless you input a direction with the left stick. This will cancel your forward momentum making Nair and Fair even safer on shield. Marth/Lucina have a disjointed hitbox making this tech perfect for them to space effectively. This has been a very useful mixup in the neutral game for me, allowing me to safely retreat.
So far, Marth/Lucina are the only characters that I found really benefited from this tech. I don't use it for any of my other characters. It's easier that it seems, you just have to learn the rhythm and you're set. If you haven't learned attack cancelling yet, I highly recommend learning asap! You'll have that many more options up your sleeve for when the situation calls for it. Best of luck!
The reason I want to share is because Marth/Lucina have the special property of being turned around when they perform their Back Aerial (Bair). So, let's say the opponent is in front of you: by inputting a tilt in the opposite direction that you are facing followed by a jump + left stick towards your opponent, you will be able to do an immediate Bair out of standing. The Bair will turn you around towards your opponent again allowing you to follow up any way you like, even with another attack cancelled Bair! This is faster than a Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR) Bair. It also has the added benefit of being hard to read because you can do it from standing. It can really catch opponents off guard that might be expecting a Fair or Nair instead. Through a little practice, I can consistently pull this tech off every time and it always feels best with Marth/Lucina because they get spun around during the Bair leading to easy and varied follow ups.
Another use is to perform dash attack with the tilt-stick and cancel it with a jump. Nair will come out unless you input a direction with the left stick. This will cancel your forward momentum making Nair and Fair even safer on shield. Marth/Lucina have a disjointed hitbox making this tech perfect for them to space effectively. This has been a very useful mixup in the neutral game for me, allowing me to safely retreat.
So far, Marth/Lucina are the only characters that I found really benefited from this tech. I don't use it for any of my other characters. It's easier that it seems, you just have to learn the rhythm and you're set. If you haven't learned attack cancelling yet, I highly recommend learning asap! You'll have that many more options up your sleeve for when the situation calls for it. Best of luck!
