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Complete guide on how to beat and deal with Yoshi in ultimate

Nephedel

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
3
Location
Canada
Before we start!

(disclaimer, this guide has been written during the 1.2.1 patch and the game has been out for a month only, the meta has still yet to evolve and progress therefore don't expect this guide to be 100% exact for the rest of the game lifespan as the game will receive nerf and buff and meta changes, even though Yoshi feels very similar to his smash 4 counterpart, nothing game breaking has been removed or added to his set but a few things, all mentioned in the guide, all of what you'll read is based on years of research, if I am wrong somewhere, please contact me to discuss about it at Nephedel@gmail.com)

Last disclaimer: this is not a guide on how to play him BUT it's important to know how to counter the green dinosaur even if you're the one playing him. I do suggest to consider this guide for the knowledge, you also can learn how to play him by reading this guide but it is not the goal here
I do not talk about frame data or damage unless it's worth mentioning
If you're interested, here's the frame data
https://smashboards.com/threads/yoshi-in-ultimate-information-thread-wip.463097/

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Hello guys, after maining Yoshi in every smash game and seeing the little dinosaur's potential in ultimate, I thought that people might want to try him out, therefore, making his match-up even more important to learn.
I have accumulated thousands of hours of playtime with him in smash 4 and I'm doing the same thing in ultimate.

How is this guide organized?
I'll start by giving general advice a bit randomly about what he tends to do or what options he has for some situations that you should be awared of and then I'll go with the match-up as the last and longest section of this guide with each of the 74 characters available to this day, including ditto,, just general overview on what to expect, what to do, favorise, avoid and etc…

Noticeable good Yoshi player : Raptor, sky Williams, Nephenie (me), Squerk, broseidon, Esam, Password.

Considered as brain dead by some or even unga bunga by the Melee God Leffen, top tier by others or sleeper pick by a lot, Yoshi has a lot of tools that works well in his favor and is usually a good character to have as main or secondary. Also good to have if you usually play zoner or camper as yoshi tend to be a rush down character but has the tools necessary to have any playstyle
If you main Yoshi, consider having a secondary with long range or someone with who you're confident to use against swords

Optimal way to button mash

I'll quickly talk about it because it's useful, mashing with the buttons on the right is a bad idea, rotate the stick instead or the fastest way to mash is to set your cross button (taunts) to shield and press all of them quickly in a rotation.

How does people play Yoshi?

The engine favorise an aggressive playstyle as he got the speed, power and neutral to win while being offensive and also being able to play more defensively or bait and punish with powerful moves that can obliterate shield and rack up damage quickly has his damage output is absolutely insane for every move and combo he can do. Expect to see more aggressive Yoshis than defensive.



To understand the happy green reptile, it's important to know his strengths and weaknesses, same applies to everyone else in every competitive games.

Strength :

Very fast. Highest aerial speed in the game.
High damaging moves.
A lot of kill power.
Kill confirms.
Quick options such as jab or nair or down smash.
Easily one of the best edgueguarder in the game.
Can frame trap.
Great frame data
Very heavy
Has a lot of different tools to land.
Can mix up his recover with his speed,eggs and armor on double jump.
Decent range for a non-sword user.
Powerful smash attack with huge hitboxes.
Has a very good projectile that can be aimed to go almost anywhere and lead to combo and cover landing and airdodge and much more.
Great tech chase options
Can break shields very easily with 2 différents move and has a command grab.
3 frames nair to get out of combos and Yoshi is a floaty which means he can get out of a lot of combos
His shield can't be poked
Is very cute and doesn't pay his taxes

Weaknesses :

Because of his custom shield, his rolls are slower than average.
Laggy grab with decent range
Average throw, pretty situational
Dash grab and reverse grab are pretty bad.
Can't outrange any swords
Useless side b
Rely on his double jump to gain height so if he loses it he can die easily
Footstool offstage is really effective on him, just like for jigglypuff
The armor on his double jump break at higher percent and against strong move
Irs (don't denounce him please)


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General advice :

In general, Yoshi's worst nightmare are swords. I don't really like playing Cloud or Marth (and etc…) at all, their sword are just out ranging Yoshi and this is his main weakness, if you main/second/pocket anyone with a sword, go for it

Yoshi tend to land a lot with nair and fair with a few cross up here and there, you can shield and punish it, if it's a nair, do a quick out of shield option or grab but react to a cross up if it occurs, if it's a fair, dash forward and throw a quick grounded move , you can even do more if you parry. But it might be impossible due to how safe his moves are. It will depend on how close you get to him before he throw his aerial.

Lylat is a good stage for Yoshi. It's a bit harder to snap the ledge there but he doesn't care because by default he can't snap it and the tilting make it easier to use his egg when he's in the lowest. The platforms are well displayed for Yoshi to move around and juggle you.

When it's your turn to ban a stage, I suggest you to ban Lylat and whatever you don't like.

With bf platform, it's a bit harder to hit someone with the egg while jumping because the height given by the up b has been increased in this game and the platform will cover a lot of space where the egg could have possibly landed, even though it is possible to make the egg bounce off of the platform and fall on the opponent's head camping near the ledge, so with the bf platform yoshi will throw an egg without jumping more often but might camp to force people to approach

On Wario ware’s platform its a bit risky to throw an egg if he's on a platform because you can run under him and hit him. If Yoshi's above you he won't ever throw an egg at you but could be used to maintain his aerial momentum/height if needed to avoid a potential juggle and mix-up his landing, if you are on the opposite platform and drop down, he will probably stop throwing eggs since it has too much lag and he would be in a bad spot.

When yoshi is coming back on stage from below, it is really important to look at the players’ habit on how he recover. Simply because this character doesn't have anything that snap the ledge other than down b which is usable only from above. His up b and double jump both won't snap, therefore, he might just as well combine both to have the safest recovery possible, if he doesn't recover too low he can also just double jump and airdodge behind you as you're standing on the ledge, he could do that in case he knows you'd try to hit him as he tries to grab the ledge since you have many frames to do so, at the beginning of a match I suggest you to start shielding next to the ledge to protect yourself from an egg when he is recovering, this is where it can be tricky. If you're too close he can just ignore your shield with his neutral b.
It's all about knowing his habits, once you downloaded your opponent, it's time to apply your knowledge and press buttons.
Also he can throw more than one egg when he wants to get on the ledge.
When landing, Yoshi can use his insane speed to avoid direct conflict with his opponent or even drift his entire momentum with a b reverse, he can double jump away which is very safe because of his armor and height or even down b on the ledge and snap to it, juggling him can be hard or even impossible at high percent

If you shield too much, no matter where or what's happening, he will break it with his down b or down air or even ignore it with his neutral b (down b break about ~80-90% of the shield)

If you're standing on a platform and he's under you, he will probably jump and down air, it's also pretty safe (it's completely safe if you're at the edge of the platform) and it's going to eat quite a lot of your shield. If not he will bait you and up air or jump and neutral b sometime as rare mix up.

A taunting Yoshi will spam the shield release animation for its animation or he will put you in an egg with his neutral b and get in his shield so you are both eggs. These are optimals ways to taunt with Yoshi. But the ultimate way to disrespect is to chain neutral b, predicting where his opponent will be after the release of the egg and do an other neutral b and keep the chain on. Even thought it's very easy to escape. If it works it can be very funny.

Easy gimp

Easy way to gimp Yoshi when you're holding yourself at the ledge (or near it) and Yoshi is under you trying to get back on stage and recovering low, just drop down or jump down and footstool him, mash the jump button and Yoshi CAN'T recover after that. Easiest way to kill Yoshi, that's why we often drift back after using our double jump. It's easier if you're holding yourself at the ledge.

If he lost his double jump offstage ALWAYS GO FOR AN EDGUEGUARD! Even if your name is little mac. This spot is very bad for Yoshi therefore take this moment to get a free stock off of him. Also he will throw eggs 100% of the time. So adapt to it.


The ledge

If Yoshi's at the ledge, he can drift back and throw and egg, if it connects, he will get back on stage for free, if it doesn't connect (because you shielded or he missed it) he can go back to the ledge or airdodge behind you or land in front of you, I suggest you to shield and do a quick out of shield option or if you parry, you can try a smash attack or tilt.
If you're at the ledge, he can throw an egg upward in case you choose to do a jump get up and if the timing is right he could fair spike you but it's not a viable option since any other options would put him in a bad spot, he can 2 frame you with his down tilt and fair spike and also fsmash, if he get the down tilt he could go offstage and fast fall double jump nair, since the hitbox is huge and come out quickly as the jump will protect him from most hit and recovery with the armor (unless he's a high percent the armor stop working or if the opponent has a command grab on his recovery (Ganondorf, C.Falcon) he can also try a fair or just wait at the ledge to throw an egg


Jab
Frame 3, when you get jabbed on your shield. Wait for his jab 2 then react very quickly to punish because jab 2 end pretty quickly, if not, he can jab 1 into down b (as mix up if you're shielding for too long or just jab 1 and retreat. If jab 2 hits you, you'll be at a good angle to received an egg in the face of even a fair which you can react with an aerial or airdodge.

Neutral b

if you're next to each other irl and he caught you in this move, he will check how quick you mash or listen to it and react to it accordingly (even during a phone call), if that's the case, mix up your mashing and be inconsistent with it to be unpredictable. If it's not irl then mash out quick and go away once you’re out of it, if he keeps hitting you while you're in the egg, throw a long lasting aerial as you get out of it (also called a sex kick, such as Sheik's nair or Yoshi's nair or Snake's back air). If he uses it on you and you're falling offstage, don't panic! Mash out with the stick only (always the stick and nothing else) and don't touch the shield button to avoid airdodging to your death doom because of the buffer system. Rotate the stick quickly and you're fine.

Special moves


Side b
If he does it offstage by accident go hit him, you can also disrespect by footstooling him after he gets out of it but you need a good timing, on stage just dash attack or shield grab but he can also jump on you, on a platform, he can speed up and gain momentum without falling off of it and take you by surprise, but a good Yoshi never use his side b. If it's used intentionally, he's trolling you, if you're getting your shield hit by that move don't drop it just yet. Wait for the move to actually end.

Down b
Usually used to break shields, kill, get to the ledge quickly, tech chase, follow up with a fair spike on-stage and sometime, to land (even though it's punishable but can be good to interrupt a juggle or combo that aren't true
He can now land on a platform or under it with a different button press now, which wasn't a thing in smash 4 and it’s a big deal (he was forced to land on a platform when used on the ground)

He can jab 1,see if you're holding your shield and down b, but you can roll out of it. If you see Yoshi crawling in front of you, space yourself out.
If you try to juggle him, he might use it to punish you, if your combo is not guaranteed mostly but doing it too often would become predictable, he can also double jump quickly out of your combo and down b. Just try to not be under him while he goes down and don't be next to him while he lands because, when he will touch the ground, two little stars will pop up from each side to cover his landing. You can shield and punish or jump and throw an aerial.

If your shield got hit very recently, be aware that your shield is in danger because of his down b, as long as it's below 80-90~% of the full shield length, it will break it.
So space him out until your shield is fully replenished and avoid situations where you'd be both shielding in front of each other, you're risking your shield.

The egg throw (up b)
That's a really good projectile but has a huuuuuge amount of cooldown. When yoshi throw an egg he's vulnerable for 55 frames (faf). The egg itself only does 1 damage but the explosion deals 5. It can be aimed at many directions, even upward. Even behind if he up b reverse it, it's often used in neutral while jumping because while he suffers from the lag of the move, he can still drift back or in with his tremendous air speed, it can lead into combo as well, if you're on a platform and you get hit by his egg, watch out for an incoming up air or even down air if he's close enough or to catch your airdodge.
It's good to notice that this move can beat Ryu/Ken's focus attack.
There's also no true combo that can be followed if Yoshi is on the ground while throwing the egg.

Also he will hit you often with an egg and expect you to jump after so he might sometime throw an egg upward after hitting you once first on the ground, we don't always do that but it can work. In smash 4, it was easier to approach with an egg since it didn't give you enough height while combined with a short hop, but now it does, so approaching with an egg is a bit harder but still doable. If he tries to hit you with it and you're trying to land, don't airdodge or you'll get an up air as punishment, if you can, try to go all the way back to the ledge quickly or hit yoshi if you can
Parrying the egg throw put yoshi in a very bad spot. Try to go for that since reacting to it is not that hard.


Tilt attack

Down tilt is a long range quick move that is mostly used in two scenarios, the main one is to set up a tech chase situation, the second one is to setup an edgueguard situation. If you're thrown offstage by that move you're in a good spot to get Fair(ed) or even fast fall double jump Nair or the easiest and safest move would be an egg throw. If you think that you'll get edgueguarded, throw an aerial before he hit you because he could spike you, if you're getting tech chased, you're better not missing that tech, if you did then down b is guaranteed or more safe would be dash attack or even read an option into any move

Forward tilt can be a combo starter at low percent, it also can be angled but it doesn't change much, it will lead to a free up air at low to mid percent. Not much else to say about it.

Up tilt lead to a kill confirm with up air at a good range of percent, the only downside is that the move comes out from behind and also has a very small hitbox in front of Yoshi, in front it is not going to hit low profile character and it has to be used while backing their opponent for the optimale up air confirm and also to actually hit something. Otherwise it is a great anti air.

Smash attack

Up smash is a very powerful kill move that comes out pretty fast with a huge hitbox that even cover behind him slightly due to his feet going so far. The optimal way to di this move is down and away. Not just down. It's very similar to fox's up smash but with less power and the same animation

Forward smash can be angled and 2 frame people, it kills early and has a disjointed hitbox. Combined with the speed and power this move can very well be the end of your stock if you're not careful. Often used to punish a bad landing by running away and using it with max spacing

Down smash is his quickest smash attack, can be used to punish quickly or cover a roll or ledge option




Aerial moves (I'll be quick with this one)

Down air break shields, does a lot of damage and has 13 hits, every hit is a spike but the last one that send you upward, perfect for a juggle, we often use it when you're on a platform of when we want to cover your approach

Back air can kill now. Landing with back air 1 is a kill confirm into up smash or up air at higher percent, if you see yoshi not facing you in neutral, he might try to go for it.

Up air, it can ladder combo, combo into itself at a lot of percent, kill pretty early and at the top it will just demolish you, often used after frame trapping you in the air with an egg throw. Landing an up air is very rewarding. It juggles a lot too. It's very annoying to deal with but just jump away or use your quickest aerial after di(ing) up or away to mess up his timing

Nair, arguably the best nair in the game, also its frame 3 just like his jab. (or one of the best, it's literally broken) I'm not gonna explain why it's broken. It's used in many occasions, watch out for it but you can punish a nair landing with an out of shield option or just hit him before he lands it will lead into combo if the sourspot has landed, it will also be used to get out of many combos, it can gimp after throwing an egg to bait an airdodge, you'd rather get hit by the egg than getting baited, yoshi will throw out a lot of Nair when they feel pressured

Fair, big disjointed hitbox, can spike easy, similar to Mario's fair but bigger and arguably better, can kill even without spike and if you get fair spiked on the ground, it's a guaranteed up air since you can't tech it anymore. Can be autocancelled with a short hop and often used while retreating because it makes the move more safe.



Be aware of this during a match :

When you're at low percent :
Down let yoshi land an up air on the ground or you'll get comboed hard
Be aware of his up throw tech chase set up on the top platform of bf
Yoshi will be looking to do a combo and end with a juggle when the situation is in his favor.
If yoshi land a fair at very low percent you actually can punish him since you won't get pushed a lot
If you get fair(ed) offstage with no spike you might get hit again with a nair or even footstool into a nair. Don't waste your jump and recover low
Down throw is not a combo throw but can lead into one if you don't react.

When you're at mid percent ~40-70 :
This is where the back throw and forward throw tech chase works on bf, make sure to tech and tech away if you can. If he lands a nair he can chain with a lot of moves. So shield his approach more
Down tilt start putting you in a tumble animation


When you're at higher percent 70-100
At 70, an fsmash near the ledge could potentially kill, you're one or two combo away from death.
Avoid at all cost getting juggled, don't challenge his up air if he's at low percent because he can use an up air and literally ignore your attack with his armor on his double jump and you'll loose the trade no matter how long your sword is. This is a good percent to get hit by an egg and bait your airdodge. Just move away from the egg.
Fair spike on the ground into down b is a thing.

At kill percent :
Every single aerial can kill, landing back air can true combo into up smash or an other back air.
Fair with no spike can kill as well pretty reliably, with the spike on the ground it can lead into an up air confirm. If you're on a platform on top of yoshi try to not mess around too much or an up air will end the stock, if you shield he will just down air. So move away from there. At this point you want to wall him out and avoid getting chased. Don't hold your shield in front of him or you'll loose the fight if he has a better reaction time than you and in this kind of scenario you're more likely to loose. Up tilt into up air is a reliable kill confirm but will stop working at higher percent. Works better with the backward hitbox


Match-up

I'll be general with the match-up, I'll go in depth enough to understand the strategy. The easiest mu being DDD (about 7-3) and the hardest being every swords. More Marthcina and Cloud

Mario
Don't try to combo Yoshi too much, up throw into up air is true but going further than that you might just get Nair(ed) or even double jump and down b, go for an an easy up throw down air and fair and then down throw up air once or twice. He can also jump away easily and use the armor on it to get away for free. Use cape whenever you can and you can also use fludd to mess with his double jump as he tries to recover, try to approach with fire ball and back air and space yourself out as much as you can and go for grabs. Your back air is good to space him out and kill. Favorise also edgueguard over raw kill power with your specials and aerials at mid percent and at higher percent try to trade his approach with an up smash, at low percent feel free to use fludd, parry his egg as he cover himself to go to the ledge and cape him.

Dk
You have more range than Yoshi, use that at your advantage as much as you can. If Yoshi is about to throw a move you can up b him, against egg throw or landing fair/nair, you have your punch or retreating back air, you're an easy target for his eggs and up air ladder combo, it's also easy to catch dk's airdodge with Yoshi's down air, when landing, it might be troublesome so aim for the ledge if you can, you can beat his egg camp with parries and a dash attack, try to hit yoshi when he grabs the ledge but he might try to throw an egg to cover his recovery which can be beaten with your punch or even down air or down tilt, if you're on a platform don't shield for too long and run off the platform and throw a nair or back air or you'll get a dair yourself. Play safe and space yourself out. You can try to throw yoshi against the stage with a cargo throw but that's not viable against a good player, unless they miss the tech or online, where it's harder to tech because of the lag. It's easier to kill on the side than at the top

Link/ Young Link/ Toon Link
With regular Link, try to keep a bomb with you and edgueguard with it. Don't hesitate to throw a lot of projectile with every link, Yoshi will usually become more patient and shield more or use the platform more which you can cover with a boomerang. If he tries to approach, expect him to bait a projectile, if you're airborne, throw a down air once or twice to bait him after wise, he will expect an other one and hit you from the side or welcome your landing with an up smash or egg, don't land the same way everytime, if Yoshi try to cross up your shield, you can use your three hit up smash (but toon link) to catch their landing. If he jabs you shield do a nair out of shield. If your boomerang is coming back and he's in front of you expect Yoshi to roll away or jump, if you have am hookshot, you can space yourself with it, his eggs can still hit your head but if not, your hylian shield will protect you. Try to edgueguard him as well, drop down and nair or something, just not at very low percent, his armor will just put you in a bad spot. Since you'll throw projectiles, he will shield more therefore be aware of his out of shield nair.

Samus/Dark Samus
Keep your charge shot full as much as you can to kill with it, Yoshi jumps a lot, also when Yoshi recovers on stage, if you think that he will get back on stage and throw an egg, shoot it, if you see him being on the ledge and going down to jump and throw an egg, same story shoot him, mess him up with your missile as well, use your Zair and grab Yoshi when he's shielding or throw a missile and neutral b to break it. You know your tricks, they work on him and try to camp Yoshi a little bit if needed, also you're very tall, which means the egg is easier to connect on you, on a platform, drop down and nair and back air, recover low and use your down b to stall if he's trying to edgueguard you.

Yoshi ditto
That's quite fun, or not if you're really competitive and hate loosing dittos. They both try to break each other's shield and spam nair all over the place and the eggs, when one is egg camping, the other one just rush in and vice versa, use your nair or jump to break out of the combo and avoid getting grabbed at very low percent under the top platform of battlefield or you'll get up throw and you're very likely to miss the tech, free down air or up air, edgueguard by throwing yourself offstage and throw a nair. Just don't be passive about gimping Yoshi. You're Yoshi yourself you have the tools for it
Favorise up smash to cover bad landing and eggs otherwise, kill at the top with an up air but yoshi can easily escape you and go to the ledge, which you can follow and edgueguard.

Kirby
Do your low percent combo they work, avoid using down b unless the opponent is really greedy for up air also you can swallow the eggs and reduce the frequency of eggs used and force him to approach which you can space out with back air or retreating fair and etc… go for a down air spike when yoshi is recovering, he often drift back and throw an egg so you know what to do, you have enough jump to try to footstool Yoshi offstage as well

Fox
be aware of his Nair. It can mess up some of your approach and combo, he might jump a lot to throw some aerial, space yourself out and counter attack mix up side b and up b or yoshi will just jump and nair you if you keep using side b, use your reflector on stage and spike with it too it's really good. Move a lot as well. I shouldn't mention it but Fox is better when he moves a lot. Bait Yoshi and his Landing.

Pikachu
Approach with thunder jolt, use thunder when Yoshi is landing and go for an edgeguard. You have everything for that, when he double jump to get back on stage from below, he will probably drift back and throw an egg to cover himself, jump and spike him or you can jump and and back air or whatever to hit him, but his armor will protect his recovery, not at a higher percent thought. Be mobile but don't quick attack too much, you'll get punished for it, Yoshi is quick, really quick, even if you quick attack at the opposite side of the stage he can just get run at you and hit you easy with a good read, jump out of his combos. Don't try to trade unless you're sure of yourself because up air hurts.

Luigi
You can true combo Yoshi to a certain point until he gets away for free with his double jump try to not over extend, approach with fireball and after using your side b, he might try to gimp you, try to use cyclone your down smash to punish rolls or go for a down throw cyclone if don't think that he will use his down b. Your back air is good to space him out and kill, if you get up tilt(ed), try to di up and nair to break his combo at high percent. If you're getting camped by his eggs, you'll need to use to run to him and get to mid-range, if he throw an egg, run and parry and up b or whatever. Free punish. If he doesn't throw an egg then just react. If he land with a fair or nair and doesn't space it well, do your sweetspot up b if he really didn't space it well.

Ness
camping is not the best solution, although when he's offstage, jump and pk fire in diagonal and catch him during his jump or egg throw animation, you also should threaten him with a back throw at kill percent to make sure he doesn't shield as much, therefore he will start moving move and jumping more, bait it with a backair or up b, try to mess with yoshi with your up b offstage too when he's landing but if hes above you stop or he will just down b you, hit a platform with your pk thunder to stop it, your nair out of shield is also very good, use it when he doesn't space well his approach. If you get a pk fire on stage, don't go for a grab because getting out of it is super easy if you're at max range, at very close range you'll get punished if you miss it and also use your bat to deflect his eggs and also mix up your landing with your down b and if possible recover with your double jump and directional airdodge.

Captain falcon
like the well known players does to everyone, when your opponent (yoshi in this case) use your up b because he's probably shielding if you're under him,use that as mix up only, I do recommend you to edgueguard, go for the back air and down air but avoid getting reversed edgueguarded. Don't go for falcon punch and some time mix up with your down b after recovering, dont try to bait a good yoshi with up air fair, a good yoshi will just nair or jump, if you get a down air spike on stage be quick because his jump is no joke, in neutral favorise back air and run up platform and back air too and soemtime go for a short hop empty (no aerial) fast fall and grab to bait a shield, he will also be less likely to egg camp you because of you're running speed. Try to parry and run to him if he does, I do recommend down tilt to hit Yoshi when trying to catch the ledge. Doesn't have to be an edgueguard everytime.

Jigglypuff
The two fastest characters in the air, it's going to be really quick, avoiding shielding because you'll instant die by getting shield poked and down b. No joke you don't want to loose your shield, on a platform, yoshi will probably jump and down air your shield. Instead of jumping try to jump yourself and down air or just go away, if your shield is not full, camp offstage or just outplay him, you should edgueguard him as well. If you're really high up and getting comboed or laddered, just jump away, don't trade you're too light to afford it. Outpace yoshi with your stupidly disjointed back air.

Peach/Daisy
Edgueguard, yoshi will get back on stage by throwing an egg at you before jumping. Float away or whatever but then he's vulnerable to a float nair offstage or whatever you like to do to edgueguard really, not saying it's easy, but you know how to do it, use your turnips to approach as well and to extend your combos, take precautions mostly of Yoshi's air speed since it outmatch yours by far and if you're getting egg camped you'll need to parry it or camp yourself, don't be greedy and try to kill with an up b, even thought you can drift away yoshi can come to catch you up no matter where you are on the screen. Do your low percent combo and end it with a grab down throw back air just like Samsora does (best peach player) if you got a Mr. Saturn, bait his shield and if you got a bomb, just kamikaze yourself with it, you won't take any damage or knock back unlike the other smash games

Bowser
Out space him with up tilt, fair and also run away and reverse grab or use his command grab, if you do then yoshi will probably camp more and jump more which you can punish, if you get a read try to jump on his face and throw your flame for the damage, if he's throwing aerials, up b out of shield, when he's recovering, down tilt or down smash or even the flame works very very well. Don't juggle him it's useless but you can try to bait a landing down b which is a bad option indeed.

Icies
Try to desync and do your crazy combo, if you lost the other other girl she will become a cpu and Yoshi might bully her until she gives up offstage, good moment to hit him. I don't know this match-up that well myself but I know you have to bait his approches with your specials, also use your ice breath when yoshi is recovering, it's very likely to hit unless he drift back and throw an egg or airdodge. Yoshi can space you out, be passive and aggregate at low percent

Sheik
Surprisingly. This mu is not too bad for Yoshi, you'll have to edgueguard a lot to get most of the job done, camp him out with your needles and don't over extend your combo, you're fragile and his Nair will break the combo, his jump would be even better, always go offstage, if not then try to sweetspot your up smash after he jumps or land.

Zelda
using down b is very good to hit yoshi before he grabs the ledge, it's also very lazy but it works, bait an airdodge or double jump or egg throw with your side b offstage too sometime, in neutral you're loosing agaisnt Yoshi, but you do have your reflector to counter the eggs and sweetspot bait and fair to punish an approach can also work but you'll have to mix up a lot in this match up, if he's landing on a platform you can try to cover the landing with an up air and the next time it happens fake the up air and go for something else after he jumps away or nair or airdodge. Try to be at mid range agaisnt Yoshi. Also don't land with your reflector.

Doctor Mario
go for your kill confirm, but your lack of mobility is a bit handicapping, try to alternate with normal Mario if you can, if you don't want to than sure, but spam your projectile and reflect his, wall him out with back air and break his combo with your nair or up b. You can camp at the ledge and force him to approach and back throw him. Don't try to edgueguard unless it's your projectile, maybe cyclone or nair

Pichu
You love edgueguarding don't you. Do it, it's your time to spark and shine. Go for a back air offstage. If he jumps, go for a thunder, approach with your thunder jolt while being airborne only, it does more damage for some reason, punish a neutral get up with a down tilt into down air spike and juggle him with up air, if you think he won't be able to nair or jump away then finish your combo with back air or fair. It's really hard to hit Pichu he's so small, you can completely avoid his up tilt unless it's a backward one. You can crouch too. Try to catch him as he tries to catch the ledge with your fsmash. If he's getting used to you trying to edgueguard him, he might try to drift away everytime and throw and egg once or twice. If you want to go for an up the throw thunder, expect him to di away, of course it's a mix up but Pichu don't have a back throw that kills so di(ing) away just seems to be a no brainer

Falco
Deflect his eggs, throw some lasers often to annoy him and go up and down more often to try to mix up his position which you can punish with a fair or nair, at higher percent you can edgueguard yoshi by lasering him offstage after he used his double jump or just throw out your shine or even run off and side b toward the stage to catch his jump toward the stage

Marth/Lucina
Big sword, it's in your favor! Wall him out and space yourself by throwing aerials, corner him and he won't be able to throw his eggs nor trading hits, very bad spot for yoshi against swords. He might shield so prepare your shield breaker at that point, go for edgueguards as well with fair and up b or when yoshi is recovering from below, he will drift back and throw an egg that you can counter, you even can juggle yoshi until he jumps away, follow him as he fall and don't let him land. If he goes to edgueguard you just up sooner (if don't die from it) to catch him off guard. You can't poke his shield so down tilt won't do much but space out, cover his landing with an up tilt

Ganondorf
Mix up a lot, don't stay immobile and parry his eggs, when he throw one, you can use your down b to approach, you can catch his shield on a platform with your up b command grab and never make him want to shield on a platform again.

Mewtwo
Camp him, space him out with your tail and catch his landing and airdodge with your nair. You can out range Yoshi, when you have to land, go to the ledge, mewtwo is not good to land in this game compared to smash 4. Go for edgueguards as well and deflect his eggs, spam yours too.

Roy/Chrom
I know they play very differently but overall its the same for both. Just that Roy takes more risk than Chrom and needs to do more read and tech chase than Chrom who can just be Chrom and cheese the game.
They both have swords, if you read this far you know Yoshi sucks agaisnt them. Well there you go. They have one, outrange him and use your tilt in neutral more. As Chrom don't try to suicide up b it's hard to catch Yoshi he could just jump away unless it's a true combo. I don't need to say much there, play the neutral and you have an advantage over Yoshi just don't over extend your combo and don't throw out smash attack

Mr. G&W
You'll love your bucket, juggle yoshi with up air and use fair to land some bombs, drop down off stage and dair him just try to read him. Drifting away after seeing you dropping yourself offstage, don't rely on a 9 to kill and juggle yoshi and maybe bait his down b after juggling him too much.

Meta knight
Yoshi is a very heavy character. Killing at the top will be hard so try to pick Wario ware stage and kill with tornado or back air. Use dash attack in neutral and approach yoshi with it as he throw an egg, grab his shield and edgueguard him, don't try to ladder too much or you'll get a down b, If you're getting comboed tried to di away or up b. Run at him so he won't want to throw his eggs. Throw some fsmash to bait his eggs.

Pit/Edgy Pit
pit is better to edgueguard yoshi while edgy pit will kill earlier with his side b. But overall pit is favorable use your arrow and once every ten years, drop down and try spike him,he will get used to your arrows and won't expect anything else. If he approaches with an aerial, you can walk away and dash grab or side b. Deflect his eggs too but not too much or he will expect it to happen again and he will throw an egg above your head so it misses and dash toward you. Play safe but don't let Yoshi get his comfort zone

Zss
use your laser and kill with your whip, use your down b to pass above an egg and kick, zair him, space your nair and stay at mid range all the time. Throw some back air to kill if you think he will jump and approach. Do a b reverse to land sometime too.

Wario
I'm pretty sure your fart will be your main source of kill there. If you manage it and get a free kill confirm go for it, when yoshi is getting used to your approaches he will punish them, you're pretty fast in the air too, approach with an aerial and drift back just like Yoshi does. Eat his eggs and use your bike to extend the hitbox of your fart if necessary (if you didn't know it's a thing), jump away of his combo dont try to trade and think about using your fart to recover if you're too low, better than dying. You have to do some mix up with Wario to win and don't be overwhelmed by Yoshi's speed. You're fast too for a fat man

Snake
I think Snake win this mu, make the stage a Michael Bay movie and make sure to limit his movements with your grenades. His speeds is one of his biggest strength so by limiting it you're winning. Don't try to trade too many hit with Yoshi while landing, I know snake players often pull out a grenade while landing so if they get hit their opponent explode with them, you only have 2 weights unit more than Yoshi. At low percent don't try to edgueguard him with the Nikita it will go through his armor and he can easily jump and drift away with his speed, his rolls are slow, go for down throw tech chase and when he's landing start doing your bomb/c4/grenades setup. Also if you recover high you'll get an egg, dodge it and you get an up air and die

Ike
Don't use your neutral b. He can drift back and throw an egg any time, mix up your recovery but he can catch your side b with an egg and nair. Welcome his approach with a nair into imagination and parry his eggs, I usually don't recommend using counter but if you have an hard read go for it since yoshi can become predictable by throwing the same moves which is why we will mix up more, when he recovers and throw an egg you can counter it but don't go for it if you know how to edgueguard Yoshi. Don't land, instead go offstage and side b or up b to go down on the ledge, space it right tho or you're dead. Use ftilt and back air and up tilt to kill too mostly if you missed the nair into up air kill confirm percent range since they have great hitboxes and they outrange him

Pkmn. Trainer
As a pokemon trainer I guess you're really indecisive when it comes to find a main, anyways as charizard if you have an hard read you can go through his egg with side b for an early kill and hard punish, ivysaur is the best agaisnt Yoshi out of the three pokemon, he can use his good range and projectile and also his op down air to spike Yoshi like no one else can. Squirtle is more for the fair train and early combo and charizard to survive but he can get sours pot nair into up smash easy. Take precautions

Diddy Kong
use your banana a lot and zdrop it and regrab it with an aerial, if yoshi is annoying, just run away and camp, use your gun or even side b command grab him, Diddy can be very annoying to deal with which is the case for everyone. While tech chasing throw your banana or side b to cover more options. Dash dance a lot to fish for a grab and banana toss and a smash attack, you can try to edgueguard but Diddys recovery is not as good as it was in smash 4. If you play well the neutral you have an advantage there as a Diddy Kong player, winning the neutral is all you need, find his habits and seek for any thrown aerials and fair

Lucas
similar to Ness, just try to hit him offstage with your multi hit aerials. You have a good up b and neutral b too that you can try. Yoshi can outpace you with his down tilt but you have a decent Zair, go for the grabs near the ledge since yoshi is more likely to shield and in center stage avoid throwing specials because he's fast enough to jump over it and hit you. Retreating pk fire can be good if you're feeling pressured

Sonic
That’s an annoying match-up for everyone. Timing Yoshi out is not a good idea he can catch up sonic eventually, use your fsmash to edgueguard him even if that shouldn't be a thing and mix up your timing with your specials, don't spin on yoshi as he is doing a down air, the more you camp the more eggs he will throw and if the egg miss, it's an easy hit for you if you're not too far. At higher percent. Go for an up b edgueguard but do it a bit further than the ledge since Yoshi will drift back almost every time to not get hit by that stupid move.

Dededestroyed
Really hard for DDD, can't keep up with Yoshi for ****. Too slow. But if you really want to try then master the parry don't throw gordos in neutral and shield when yoshi is landing, he will eventually counter your shield but it's kinda hard to manage this mu. It's not impossible like Ganondorf vs icies in brawl. But it's pretty favorable for the dinosaur in many ways. You know how you hate fighting megaman as DDD well yoshi don't need the projectile and he's just as annoying to deal with. Swallow his eggs sometime. Not all of them because he could eventually bait it and punish you for doing so. If he go offstage and try to hit you. Time your fair right. Don't airdodge or he could retaliate after very easily with a nair just like sheik’s bouncing fish with fair offstage

Olimar
Wall him out with your pikmin, although your side b is not a threat for yoshi since he can get rid of them quickly, you're very hard to hit with the egg and just hit him as long as he throw aerials, jump away of his combo and also recover low, you're gimpable but it's harder from below, stay near the ledge but if you have stage control you'll hardly keep it so focus on the fundamentals and walling him out.

Lucario
I have the opinion that Lucario is top tier, he does well against a lot of characters including our favorite tax evader. Back air has a great hitbox so use it and also when yoshi is getting too close he might use his shield and then out of shield nair, you can force palm it and condition him to use his shield even less, using aura sphere as an annoying projectile will make the yoshi player go airborne more therefore fair and back air will connect more often, while recovering yoshi doesn't have enough time to use his fair to gimp you, it could work but throwing an active hitbox is more rewarding therefore expect a nair or egg as main form of edgueguard from Yoshi, you up b to a wall to cling to it and jump to the ledge, try to trap Yoshi's landing with a backward jump b reverse to fake a retreat and comeback by charging an aurasphere and catch him in it. It will work if he throw a fair or nair and you can punish, he will play more safe because of your aura, expect yoshi to space you out with down tilt and retreat fair and egg

R.O.B
this mu is in favor of the one who get the momentum first, it's easy for Rob to get hit but it's easy for yoshi to get in rob’s trap, you'll need to mix up and also use your nair while landing. Don't be greedy and go for the ledge if you can and also you can try to hit him offstage with a gyro if he tends to throw an egg before recovering back on stage, sometime we do it to cover our approach on the stage. Try to kill yoshi with your side b as he throw an aerial toward you

Wolf
Use your laser to annoy Yoshi and maybe you can try to take him offguard as he throw an aerial and you use your side b on him. You want to use your smash when you think that he will land near you and please don't side b on stage. Reflect his eggs and take the habits to see whenever he throws one to take your shine out and then he will surely shield so you can pressure it after the way you want, go for a fair and up air train and if you can't kill, back throw will definitely help but Yoshi's. If you missed your kill confirm then go for a different mix up and different approach. Try to avoid getting juggled by his up air if he's under you by running off the platform and back air since it kills and its pretty big, yoshi can punish your fsmash, dont throw them in neutral you're not mk

Villager/Isabelle
wall him out with projectile and pocket his egg, always go for an edgueguard or even male the tree fall or the ledge as he tries to get back, he will drift back and throw an egg everytime. The egg is more to hold his momentum than hitting you so you can go offstage and hit him. Conditioning yoshi and edgueguarding is your best tool in this mu
As Isabelle, you can catch his double jump and throw him offstage again and go for a gimp, placing a Lloyd in front of the ledge is pretty meh since he can shield it and down b. But you can grab his shield if you expect it but he can also drop the ledge and throw an egg and attack you and the trap. Try to juggle yoshi at low percent and force him to recover offstage, you can expect an egg throw also try to edgueguard.

Mega Man
Overwhelm yoshi with projectile but when he's getting close don't get the habit to shield. It's readable and you'll just regret it. Edgueguard with your down air but expect yoshi to drift away as you try and throw an egg. Parry his eggs and go for an up tilt at mid range. At longer range. Parry it and throw your heavy blade and follow with an aerial. Juggle yoshi with your up air since it beats his down b and also force him to mix up his landing which he can easily do. If he goes for a down b on the ledge to get back quickly, do an up air quickly right above the ledge just before you get hit by the down b. He will have to recover from very far. At close range expect a few down tilt, jab, up tilt if he's backward.

Wft
mess with the timing of the ball and favorise horizontal kill. Keep deep breathing active but be aware that he can throw an egg as you do so even if you kicked him away, he's tremendously fast. Maybe you can do it offstage if needed, you can crawl his egg and also his up tilt if he's facing you. Favorise bf to use the platforms has cover from the eggs when he jumps, bait his shield by taking your ball but not necessarily throwing it at close to mid range. Try to cross up his shield with your weird hitboxes

Luma AND Rosalina
So as Luma you want to use your stand Rosalina as an embodiment of a wall to take the hits for you as you sneakily hit back with your powerful up tilt, make sure to annoy him with starbits as your stand stay at the back doing nothing to bait a jump that you can punish with up tilt or whatever, your stand rosalina can also use her down b to control the eggs, if yoshi is hitting you, consider using your stand to protect you because you're vulnerable alone.

Little Mac
Trade his approach with smash attack, you might get camped on platform and there's nothing you can do about it, if he throw an egg at mid range you can parry it and punish, space yourself by walking back and forth, if you keep dash dancing he will more likely to use the platform until you stop. Try to wait at mid range and wait for an egg, your goal is to parry that. If he seems to try to space you out a lot with his down tilt then trade with an fsmash. Also YES I really honestly advice you to edgueguard, how? Footstool. Jump and spam the jump button. Skills

Greninja
if you try to juggle yoshi try to bait a down b by constantly being under him. As he throw an egg you can try to side b a little bit before if you expected the projectile, use yours offstage and onstage, mix up the timing of it and if you charge it use the platform to cover a jump egg throw and stay at mid range to bait any kind of approach, at close range avoid getting up tilt since you probably will go for it too. Both up tilt are kinda similar too in some way. Throw some aerials to bait his eggs

Palutena
Use your side b near the ledge to force yoshi to drift back and throw an egg to keep his momentum, don't throw an other side b, go for a direct hit after or bait an offensive landing with your shield, juggle him and go under yoshi, if he down b just use your up air. Throw a lot of those aerials. Your tilt can be good to use near the ledge too and deflect his eggs

Pac-Man
Put trampoline on stage in neutral to bait jumps or egg spam where you can charge your neutral b or punish his approach, also since yoshi likes to drift back when recovering use your down b near the ledge to push him off maybe, it's not consistent but it's an idea. If yoshi try to find a way to approach he might jump a lot and use the platform too he will be more likely to throw an egg which you can drop the platform and throw a key to kill.

Robin
When both are shielding and are very close try to get away asap or use nosferatu, protecting yourself with side b is a viable option and near the ledge punish a roll with down smash, try to not be predictable because your speed is lame. Wall him out but me active. If he's landing with a nair do a shield cancel up smash or grab

Shulk
Wall him out and overwhelm Yoshi with your long range, there's not much to say about this mu, space him out and use your arts accordingly. Edgueguard with fair when he recovers but be aware of his eggs

Koopalings (Bowser Jr.)
Mix up with your down b as it roam on the stage and get yoshi offguard with your up b as edgueguard, throw some jabs and ftilt as get out of me option, if you side b expect yoshi to just nair as defensive option and it could even lead into a tech chase or combo so avoid using it in neutral.

Duck hunt duo
Wall him out with projectiles, think about using your down b too, if you throw your can offstage to get him he will either drift away and hold his momentum with an egg or just go for the ledge quickly but you can still try, back air and forward air have pretty good hitboxes and juggle yoshi with up air just like he would do too. Your projectile will make him want to throw more eggs as well. Cover his approach with a fair.

Ryu/Ken
yoshi will approach less than usual to avoid misspacing his aerial and get a shoryuken or a combo, wall him out with your projectile until he decide to approach and be a footsie, walk back and forth don't be standing doing nothing, the ring is one fist short after all, his eggs goes through your focus attack because it has two different hits, the egg and explosion. Down air and back air will go through as well but you can take his Nair with a focus attack which is good.

Cloud
You've got a huge sword, that's a huge advantage, win the neutral as every cloud should do and charge your limit when he throws eggs at you, jump and charge, cancel it and throw an aerial to cover his approach. Your back air is your best friend to kill and space, you have the range and the neutral to win over Yoshi, edgueguard with Nair or back air and dash dance too to bait a dash attack.

Corrin
You have the range to beat his approach and you don't have to trade with Yoshi, juggle with up air and if you see him retaliate with down b, use your counter, if both are shielding and are very close to each other try to space yourself out or you can go for a neutral b punish if you expect a roll but that requires a good read, anyways this match-up is not too hard for Corrin as they can deal with Yoshi neutral and approach

Bayonetta
Edgueguard with down smash and use your gun in neutral à few time. On Yoshi's Island stage you can use the slope to gun camp if you want to stall and time him out, but don't be lame again please we've had enough of smash 4 bayo. You'll win the neutral by spacing well and not over extending combos that are not true because yoshi will easily break out of it. Being heavy, floaty, double jump armor and frame 3 nair is in his favor, you could even die by his double jump cancel down b so don't over extend. Dash attack if he tries to find a way to approach after camping him out.

Inkling
Don't side b too often it's really easy for yoshi to punish it, you'll even get killed for it sometime. Your down b is a very good tool to condition Yoshi and always get ink on him, get Yoshi offstage and if possible spike him, you won't kill on the side at low percent unless there's a combo or something that I'm not aware of. Yoshi can edgueguard you (yes yes) but most won't try since it's risky and could just get hit by the ink thing of your up b, if it happens we are very likely to jump on stage quickly and throw an egg. Don't miss your up throw up air kill confirm or you'll struggle in neutral. Conditioning and baiting is your objective.

Ridley
when yoshi goes to edgueguard you, hope that he miss his fair timing or you're dead, go to edgueguard him whenever you see the occasion and in neutral you should also space yourself away at close to mid range with title and serial and welcome his approach with your Nair. Also your fireball is very good to gimp Yoshi at higher percent when the armor doesn't work anymore. Even at low percent you can go for it. Just make sure to parry the eggs because you're a big target and also you're very light compared to him, don’t trade hits. Side b is a good way to kill alongside with back air, side b offstage against a wall or slope can be good as well.

Simon/Richter
I think it's an even match-up BUT both can deal with each other pretty well. The Belmonts are vulnerable when throwing projectiles and Yoshi is fast enough to punish it if predicted, but it's hard for everyone to deal with it without a reflector. You'll get either rushed down completely or egg camped because you're very likely to get baited for throwing specials, if Yoshi is above you go for your classic fair and bair and throw a cross to cover his next approach, if he jumped throw an axe and juggle him

King K. Rool
Use your armor to welcome his approaches, when he throw out a fair, just nair or whatever you want. You have big hitboxes and a nice belly. You should trade sometime and throw your crown to condition your opponent, dont use your neutral b at the ledge it's not gonna work and if you down throw him you'll get punished by a quick mash and down b.

Incineroar
you'll get egg camped (but not too much because of revenge, just a lot of occasional egg), get at mid range and parry an egg to punish (after having revenge on deck). If you're too far but you still parry, you'll force him to shield, retreat or nair out of shield most of the time, if he's getting on a platform try to juggle and bait a down b, if not keep juggling and also ALWAYS revenge the eggs, once you have it start applying pressure on Yoshi, if he used his double jump, side b him offstage and purposely miss it so he get knocked off and has to recover only using eggs. Back throw and side b are great kill options.

Mii
Swordfighter has a broken kill confirm. Use it! Mii Gunner should be spacing and zoning and mii Brawler should go all in and grab. I don't have much knowledge of those mu
 
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Saxonius

Smash Rookie
Joined
Feb 18, 2017
Messages
12
Incredibly good read for and against Yoshi players, high quality content man, keep it up!
 
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