Bowser ledge options

[KingKong_ad]

I had a lot of trouble when I start playing bowser on WiiU due to his ledge options that are completely different from brawl. In brawl, I was used to jump air dodge to UpB or to jump SideB to cover many options. Though, in WiiU, SideB doesnt have the same range and airdodging in ground is TERRIBLY bad.


Bowser ledge options

Drop down + jump onto the stage (can be LAGLESS)
Drop down + jump fair lagless (hard to do)
Drop down + jump SideB
Drop down + jump SideB canceled into anything (can be LAGLESS) (I'm not sure if you still have the sideB hitbox but it looks like it)
Drop down + jump aerial UpB before landing for massive damage (not safe)
Drop down + jump NeutralB (not safe)
Drop down + jump Nair (not safe)
Drop down + jump Uair (only if opponent is using a laggy move and you want to punish fast)
Get up Shield (it has a low window to get punish)

Don't forget you have jump, roll and get up and get up attack...

I recommand to use the 4 first ones since they can give you the mix up you need while covering a lot of opponent options while beeing less risky than the others.


Not to do
Jump and DownB to the ledge again (you do not regain your invincibility)
Drop down to jump airdodge (you don't cover any options because you have way too much landing lag)

 

[MrEh]

Doing basic options is my usual gameplan on the ledge.

With customs I do ledge drop and ledge hop more though. Heh.

 

[Karsticles]

Tapping R to roll onto the stage, followed by up B, is probably my most used. I usually go for that or jumping up into Fire Breath.

 

[Jerodak]

Lagless Fair can actually be a solid option even when it whiffs, you can often bait the opponent into punishing the Fair's landing lag that isn't there and get an easy shield grab out of it. Just be careful of grabbers, learning to land the fair into a spot dodge or roll for defensive mix-ups might be a good idea, and it's something I'm currently working on.

Another advantage is that it encourages shielding near the ledge, which makes the ledge hop side b a little more viable and can keep them guessing. Another great use for the fair is in the D3 match-up when he does the Gordo + Dsmash ledge trap, because you can simply hit the Gordo at him while he's charging and recover that way. Sometimes I also like to use it as a substitute for ledge attack in situations where ledge attack would be a viable choice simply because I get better advantage and can pressure the opponent more freely afterwards. The invincibility on the ledge attack is nice in some situations though, but it can also be pretty risky to use, though it is nice that I get to keep my jump if the ledge attack misses at least. I find that an easy way to lagless fair is to tap back and jump at about the same time while sliding the stick forward and pressing A.

Also, for a bit of shenanigans, you can sometimes just stand up into down b.