Dealing with Air Dodging?

[Funkermonster]

Pretty self-explanatory title, but I just had to ask: The Infinite Air Dodges in this game kinda turn me off sometimes whenever I attempt to juggle/combo somebody (or when someone attempts to juggle me) they just airdodge and get away with it scot-free, and I usually don't know what I can do about it, or if I can even do anything at all. Thanks to the massive landing lag increased on air dodging though, I find it at least easy to punish them at low percents when they're too close to the ground for air dodging to be safe.

But my real gripe with air dodging is when I'm attempting to edgeguard somebody and try to intercept their recoveries offstage. Against people who do it, nearly everytime I jump off the edge to try and gimp someone with an aerial they just air dodge it and nothing happens, they still end up making it back to the stage anyway, and I don't know any way to deal with them. It feels even more aggravating when I'm playing as certain characters like , , or ; who already have difficulties getting onstage kills (for anyone who knows these characters well, correct me if I'm wrong) and have mediocre KO moves already, and it occasionally kills the fun for me, personally. Even when I'm facing characters with bad/lackluster recoveries like ,, or it still remains an issue for me and I don't know what to do. And when I'm the one trying to recover back, air dodging makes it seem kind of easy to make comebacks until either me or my oponent launch each other into the blast zone.

Is there any universal way to deal with air dodge spammers to keep them from coming back? If there is, lay it on me so i can try to practice it in the lab.

 

[Pyr]

Well, read the air dodge. Bait it out, then spike/Fsmash/everything them. If they do it in the air and it doesn't end before they hit the ground, it's a huge, free punish.

Really, air dodging isn't the best in this game. If you can predict a role and chase it, you can do the same with the air dodge.

 

[stripheR]

air dodging out of combos is something im grateful for. otherwise id have to switch to one of the top tier characters that can do that kinda stuff.

 

[Chuva]

Try to be creative with your edgeguards, either with different moves or with different approaches, like trying to stage-spike your opponent rather than just gimping them away from the stage. This game has a strong emphasis on reads, so plan ahead for baits. Knowing your opponent habits is also helpful (do they always air-dodge just by approaching them? do they mash it when getting combo'd?)

 

[LightLV]

Air dodging is one of the easiest ways to confirm kills in this game. If you can force someone to airdodge and then suffer the landing lag, you can hit them with pretty much any smash move.

Honestly, air dodges are the one unsafe defense mechanic in this game. If they're doing it off the edge it's regular, but if they're doing it over the stage they're trying to land on, it's nothing but a gamble.

Edgeguarding is another monster entirely, and I agree, it almost feels as if the the person recovering actually has the advantage at times. I've pretty much accepted at this point, some characters() are simply not worth attempting to edgeguard. If they make it under the ledge, you're just as likely to trade and die off wallbounce.

 

[Funkermonster]

Well, read the air dodge. Bait it out, then spike/Fsmash/everything them. If they do it in the air and it doesn't end before they hit the ground, it's a huge, free punish.

Really, air dodging isn't the best in this game. If you can predict a role and chase it, you can do the same with the air dodge.

I meant offstage air dodging, where landing lag won't really matter since neither of us are on the stage and I'm trying to kill/gimp them with aerials so Fsmashes aren't possible . I can read the air dodges just fine, I tried delaying my aerials right as soon as they air dodge and then attack when its over, but even when I bait it, it seems like they can just air dodge again immediately after doing the first one until they get back and sweespot the ledge instead of hitting the ground. That stuff you said is pretty easy for me to pull off onstage, but offtstage edgeguarding feels like an entirely different story.

Sometimes it just feels like when I get my opponents off the stage and they are trying to recover back, it feels like my recovering opponent has the advantage instead of me, since they can infinitely air dodge every single attack I attempt to hit them with and they can just return to the ledge easily, unlike in Melee where you can air dodge only once and you get put in a helpless state afterwards.

 

[David Viran]

If they air dodge while recovering then they most of the time have to recover low after you bait it then don't hit and get back to the stage first. You then can edge guard from there knowing they are coming from below. That air dodge might kill some characters too. If you bait an air dodge above you and they take it but you still can't punish it then you need to work on your timing.