*Growl*
Okay, the ONLY reason I doing this again is because someone told me to do so. They didn't like what you had to say and thought I should say something. But I'm serious -
REALLY ****ING SERIOUS - one more crack about me not knowing the competitive scene...
just one more... and we are SO done.
Ivysaur makes the most sense to begin with. He DOESN'T have the all-purpose answers to everything Game & Watch can throw at him, and as you should have been able to tell, I never implied that he did. He doesn't even have a MAJORITY of the answers. None of them do. What he DOES have are the MOST solutions for the early going out of the three pokemon, and the best standing for advancing the match as early damage builds up.
Let's take this turtle discussion, for instance. Whereas - you're right - Ivysaur can only hope to poke Game & Watch out of the turtle, Squirtle and Charizard can't even do THAT. Charizard's forward air comes close, but is simply not going to be a reasonable answer in a serious match-up. And meanwhile, he's just going to absorb more and more damage while he's doing it. Ivysaur can at least hold ground and push forward a tiny bit with his back air, which will get him in forward tilt and neutral air territory.
The Razor Leaf retreating is only used to get Game & Watch to move forward. It's very touch-and-go from there. Game and Watch moves forward and Ivysair uses his pokes as best as he can to keep himself relatively safe against him.
The idea here is - once again - NOT that Ivysaur is going to kick all kinds of *** and get away without a scratch. That's just not realistic. But at this point in the match, he's the only one with anything that even remotely RESEMBLES an action against Game & Watch. Ivysaur is in a HORRIBLE position. But Charizard and Squirtle are in it even worse.
Think about it. We've established that our hypothetical Game & Watch is smart enough to put Ivysaur out of his game and pressure him out of his spacing. So, what's the alternative? Start Charizard? What's Charizard going to do? Forward air? Shield grab? Rock Smash? ALL or Charizard's tools are unrealistic in this match, and meanwhile, he's just a gigantic punching bag. Sure, you can stock tank him, but if you do that from the start, he's going to be fatigued by the time Game & Watch is in danger. And factoring in the bucket brake, this is really not the time for even Charizard to be fighting against his exhaustion.
And Squirtle? Like I said, the worst of BOTH worlds. He's beat out by Game & Watch AND he leads into a character that's weak to one of his most powerful KO moves. I will say that Squirtle has some hope with his aerial movement and hydroplaning, but those should be saved for later on, and meanwhile, fatigue is just around the corner.
Which again brings us to Ivysaur. On a stage with platforms, whoever is lowest is going to hold up the best. Sadly, this is usually Game & Watch, with all THREE pokemon. But assuming we're fighting on level ground, Ivysaur really has to play extremely patiently and pick at him a little bit at a time. This means back air, neutral air, OCCASIONAL Razor Leafs, and his forward tilt. NONE of these things - and I can't stress this enough - are supposed to answer everything or even MOST of the things Game & Watch can throw at you. What they DO is move him slowly but surely out of his comfort zone and get him to do different things.
So, regarding switching. First of all, if Game & Watch has to use the bucket break, he's NOT going to make it back in time to punish a switch reasonably, except in one case. I know because I play a G&W that has that down to a science. It takes him too long to put the bucket away, then fast-fall back to the stage. The exception is if you pop him straight up and don't immediately move. He can bucket break into a fast-falled down air. Because Ivysaur has two KO moves that go straight up, this CAN be a nuisance I admit, but hardly a lethal one, as his down air only KOs at EXTREME percents, even at the best part of the move. And again, neither of the other two can do any better switching.
So, that leaves back air, dash attack, and forward smash as the only foolproof ways of buying switching time. And this is where I said that it depends on a lot of things. If Ivy can scare Game & Watch even BRIEFLY off of his back air, he's got a shot at grabbing him. This is where the poking comes in. TOTALLY not lethal on its own, but it'll get him to do other things. Which means that if he's GOOD, he'll probably startusing neutral air a lot more often. Still extremely dangerous, but you've got a shot at it him with it. And of course, if he's less good, he'll probably either push further with the [edit: I meant back] air, which can be answered on the extreme inside by neutral air (THOUGH THIS DOES
NOT BEAT IT, AND I'M NOT IMPLYING IT DOES... BECAUSE STRICTLY SPEAKING ALMOST
NOTHING BEATS HIS BACK AIR), which could also set him up for a throw or dash attack. If he's even worse, he'll spam down air, which is DEFINITELY what you
want him to do. If you get Game & Watch on a platform above you, you've got more options for buying switch time, including Vine Whip. Like I said, though, platform stages are NOT PT-friendly on this one, so it's not something to consider when choosing CPs.
Now, then. Like I said, I will listen to your response, but only if you take a step back, climb down off of your high horse, and treat me as an equal with a very valid point to make. Like I said, ONE SINGLE CRACK about who's doing what competitively, and we are FINISHED.