Character-specific Strategies

[NessOnett]

It'd be nice if there was a single post that listed tactics to use against each character. Could be a good guide to help people learn how to deal with any troublesome matchups. That way there'd be less threads concerning tactics against a single character, and a single thread that covers tactics against all the characters and for debate and discussion in case any news ones show up.

I'd start one myself, but I doubt I have any standing to actually make anyone interested in posting it, so anyone who is more-involved with the community, consider starting one. You'd be doing a lot of folks a big favor.

I had been considering doing this for a while, but felt i was not the most qualified. But since i am on the boards often and can update regularly, i figured i might as well be the one to post this with input from other members of the Ness community.(hopefully if this becomes useful we can have it stickied eventually)

I'm gonna start out with things that i have found to work personally, they may have just been applicable in my limited experience, but that's what the edit button is for...feel free to criticize.(since i don't have much experience with many characters, several will be empty for now, feel free to post/PM things i should add...and please let them be useful character-specific things)

Bowser:

Captain Falcon:

Diddy Kong:

Donky Kong:

Falco:

Fox:

Mr. Game and Watch:
use PKT excessively, once he absorbs 3, he's open to it. If he approaches you with his bair, try to roll into him, but don't make a habit of it, he'll notice it and purposefully space it short to hit you. Don't try shielding it, it'll end poorly. If he starts doing his Up-B to dair, use your Up-smash and time it right, or attempt to time PK Flash right to catch him. Once you get up to about 80% start worrying about his f-smash, and the same for his up-smash at about 100%. The only way you'll win is to play defensively and properly punish. He has almost no weaknesses.

Ganondorf:

Ice Climbers:

Ike:

Jigglypuff:
Keep her airborne with PKT juggling, she falls too slow so really get out of it, and if she dodges loop around and hit her again.

King DeDeDe:
Pillars very easily from PK fire, use often. Roll immediately after DDD downthrow, Ness can escape chaingrab. Very spikeable off edge, can't hit well above him and will kill himself if he tries to counter with ^B too early.

Kirby:

Link:

Lucario:

Lucas:
Absorb everything thrown at you. Use your own PKT to gimp his if he tries to recover with it, yours is faster.

Luigi:

Mario:

Marth:

Metaknight:

Ness:
Use PKT to gimp PKT recoveries if you can get down timing and anticipation.

Peach:

Pikachu:

Captain Olimar:
PK-fire while he is pulling his initial pikmin at spawn, grab to f-throw off edge, and he is an easy f-air, n-air, b-air edgeguard.

Pit:

Squirle:

Ivysaur:

Charizard:

ROB:

Samus:

Sheik:
Simple 0% kills if she tries to attack while you hanging on ledge. Do basic attack to get up, will knock her off and stun for easy spike.

Snake:

Sonic:
Sheild-grab Sonic when he comes with predictable attacks constantly and quickly. Up-smash very useful in catching him during charge for double-hit since he has difficulty stopping, and can come up to defend if he tries to just and aerial. Spam f-airs, there is very little he can do to stop it and it will rack up damage fast.

Toon Link:
his dair has outrageous priority and will go straight through both your yoyo and your utilt. Don't bother trying to preempt it as it comes down, just get out of the way and punish the lag if you can. Along the same lines, TL's usmash and uair usually both beat Ness's dair, so don't try it on the way down unless you're absolutely sure you can land it for a spike. In fact, minimize your airtime altogether. If you're going to approach, always short hop. You can usually force your way towards TL with short hopped fairs. If he starts spamming arrows, bat them back at his face to get him thinking twice about doing that. Catch or powershield bombs. If you can get him to forsake his projectile game and get desperate, you can easily win the match.

Wario:

Wolf:
Wolf cries when confronted with Ness' PKFire. If they spam their f-smash(which most do at this point), they will get pillared up the *** with nothing they can do about it. Blaster shots can usually be magnetized if you are spacing yourself well. It doesn't go too far either, so don't be afraid to abuse PKT from a distance and force him to approach you. Get him off the side, and he is one of the easiest characters for Ness to edgeguard. Keep him up with f-airs and b-airs, and if he gets too close to the stage then a baseballbat to the face is always a viable option.
Yoshi:

Zelda:

Zero Suit Samus:


Sorry it is so limited atm, but hopefully with help we can make it a very useful guide in the future.

 

[NessOnett]

reply holding space for inevitable further editing when more strategies arise.

 

[Ademisk]

I disagree about G&W, use PKT excessively, once he absorbs 3, he's open to it. If he approaches you with his bair, try to roll into him, but don't make a habit of it, he'll notice it and purposefully space it short to hit you. Don't try shielding it, it'll end poorly. If he starts doing his Up-B to dair, use your Up-smash and time it right, or attempt to time PK Flash right to catch him. Once you get up to about 80% start worrying about his f-smash, and the same for his up-smash at about 100%. The only way you'll win is to play defensively and properly punish. He has almost no weaknesses.

 

[NessOnett]

thanx for the input Ademisk, that is just the sort of responses i am looking for. Detailed and specific, covering a number of different things about a character, hope to hear more of what you have to say. That would also explain why i do so poorly against G&Ws, i try to charge them and go on the offensive, which apparently is the exact opposite of what i should be doing.

 

[Ademisk]

Their bair has insane range and it ***** right through shields. Their fair has big range, good knockback, and is easy to land. They can do up-B to dair over and over and over and over and there is almost nothing you can do about it. And they can kill at lower %s than they could in Melee.

 

[hpkomic]

I'm glad to see this topic up. For the OP, I suggest playing with the formating a bit. Bold heading for each character, and use bullet-points for each tip or suggestion under each character. Much easier on people that way. Still, good job on taking the initiative.

I wish I had some character matchup advice to offer, but I am technically a "caaaaaaasual". I've been doing extremely well against Lucario though. I tend to use PSI Magnet as often as I possibly can when I am away from Lucario since he likes to spam Aura Spheres. That's probably nothing new to any of you though. Looking forward to seeing what gets posted here.