Cherubas
Smash Apprentice
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2014
- Messages
- 113
- 3DS FC
- 0774-4746-9812
I believe Bowser Jr has a tool for every situation, the problem is that he's kind of a risk/reward character. If you make the wrong call you're looking at some punishment because a lot of his moves have ending lag. Because he lacks the speed, combos, or super armor of some of the other characters I don't think he'll ever be top ten on a tier list BUT I do think he's a viable competitive option. He's not easy, but he does have what it takes to win. He relies on a lot of mind games. I've had a great deal of success using him online simply by adapting to what my opponents do. It's like fighting a boss on Zelda, they typically fall into some kind of pattern and when they do it's up to you to pull the right trick out of your hat.
Contrary to some popular opinions, I think mechakoopas are great walking on their own. The enemy is either going to try to pick it up, jump it, roll past it, shield it, or in rare cases counter it and all of those can be punished with a kart, a grab, an aerial, or a cannonball depending on the situation. In my entire time playing Bj online and letting my mechakoopas run free I've been hit by a thrown mechakoopa exactly once. I don't think it's a big deal to leave them as stage hazards.
Ftilt is a pretty reliable move and I would prefer it to a dash attack in most situations, so unless I'm approaching with the kart I'll usually approach at walking speed, ready to ftilt if they charge at me, block if they use some projectile or something, or turn and ftilt behind me if they're roll-spammers.
Utilt beats a decent amount of aerials as long as you keep the enemy in front of and above you. I don't like the hitbox on it which has whiffed on opponents standing directly in front of me before, but if they're in that golden zone where it swipes at then it's a good move.
Dair doesn't seem as great to me as everyone else seems to think it is. It's not bad for some free damage on people trying to get back to the stage, and I do throw it out rarely (like once every 45 seconds rarely) in battle on the stage just to mix things up, but it's a really easy move to punish. I think people just go to it because they believe the combo potential outweighs the high chance that they'll be punished, same as the kart -> aerial combo. In both cases I disagree and use them sparingly.
The Usmash is so unforgiving with its hitbox that I only use it in three situations: 1. Out of a roll that puts me directly on top of someone. 2. When I'm certain I'm in the spot where someone is going to try to land. 3. Early to intercept a horizontal recovery that I know is going to very quickly go directly over where I'm at (such as against a lucario for example). In the case of 1 I'll usually Ftilt or Dtilt instead of Usmash. In the case of 2 there are a lot of Dairs that seem to beat Bj's Usmash so a shield grab, Utilt, Uair, Fsmash from a better position, or even an Up B waiting for them when they arrive are all better options. So that generally just leaves me using the Usmash in the case of 3. Characters that move past me really quick with their Up B like Lucario or Ike's Side B or someone, or characters who are dangerous to challenge horizontally with aerials during their Up B like Bowser or Donkey Kong (or probably Ike's dash again) I can hit freely with an intercepting Usmash, provided they're recovering in that specific route. Otherwise I don't use this move often.
Bj's grab is slow. Not Pac-Man slow (thank God) but still slow. It's not safe to throw out in the middle of you and your partner's 15-step roll dance unless you're doing it right immediately after they whiff a move or something. Even then an Ftilt will have more range and I think they come out faster. Bj gets some good mileage out of shield grabbing though. Shieldgrab -> back -> turn -> Fair -> Fair-> Up B back to stage, congratulations you just beat a Little Mac.
I don't think Bj is a good character for doing hectic rushdown combos and such. He can't come at someone relentlessly like Sheik or Sonic or something, but I do think that Bj has an answer for every situation if you know the matchup, know the movesets, and learn your opponent.
Contrary to some popular opinions, I think mechakoopas are great walking on their own. The enemy is either going to try to pick it up, jump it, roll past it, shield it, or in rare cases counter it and all of those can be punished with a kart, a grab, an aerial, or a cannonball depending on the situation. In my entire time playing Bj online and letting my mechakoopas run free I've been hit by a thrown mechakoopa exactly once. I don't think it's a big deal to leave them as stage hazards.
Ftilt is a pretty reliable move and I would prefer it to a dash attack in most situations, so unless I'm approaching with the kart I'll usually approach at walking speed, ready to ftilt if they charge at me, block if they use some projectile or something, or turn and ftilt behind me if they're roll-spammers.
Utilt beats a decent amount of aerials as long as you keep the enemy in front of and above you. I don't like the hitbox on it which has whiffed on opponents standing directly in front of me before, but if they're in that golden zone where it swipes at then it's a good move.
Dair doesn't seem as great to me as everyone else seems to think it is. It's not bad for some free damage on people trying to get back to the stage, and I do throw it out rarely (like once every 45 seconds rarely) in battle on the stage just to mix things up, but it's a really easy move to punish. I think people just go to it because they believe the combo potential outweighs the high chance that they'll be punished, same as the kart -> aerial combo. In both cases I disagree and use them sparingly.
The Usmash is so unforgiving with its hitbox that I only use it in three situations: 1. Out of a roll that puts me directly on top of someone. 2. When I'm certain I'm in the spot where someone is going to try to land. 3. Early to intercept a horizontal recovery that I know is going to very quickly go directly over where I'm at (such as against a lucario for example). In the case of 1 I'll usually Ftilt or Dtilt instead of Usmash. In the case of 2 there are a lot of Dairs that seem to beat Bj's Usmash so a shield grab, Utilt, Uair, Fsmash from a better position, or even an Up B waiting for them when they arrive are all better options. So that generally just leaves me using the Usmash in the case of 3. Characters that move past me really quick with their Up B like Lucario or Ike's Side B or someone, or characters who are dangerous to challenge horizontally with aerials during their Up B like Bowser or Donkey Kong (or probably Ike's dash again) I can hit freely with an intercepting Usmash, provided they're recovering in that specific route. Otherwise I don't use this move often.
Bj's grab is slow. Not Pac-Man slow (thank God) but still slow. It's not safe to throw out in the middle of you and your partner's 15-step roll dance unless you're doing it right immediately after they whiff a move or something. Even then an Ftilt will have more range and I think they come out faster. Bj gets some good mileage out of shield grabbing though. Shieldgrab -> back -> turn -> Fair -> Fair-> Up B back to stage, congratulations you just beat a Little Mac.
I don't think Bj is a good character for doing hectic rushdown combos and such. He can't come at someone relentlessly like Sheik or Sonic or something, but I do think that Bj has an answer for every situation if you know the matchup, know the movesets, and learn your opponent.