Dealing with Shield Grabbers.

[MrFrigid]

I main Greninja/Mario/Link, and I have a lot of problems dealing with shield grabbers/shield spammers, mainly ness/dk/charizard/ other good grab range characters.

How do you deal with sheild grabbers?
My guess is you approach them with grabs/pivot grabs?

 

[_Magus_]

Do you mean somebody who waits in their shield whenever you approach, or somebody who shield grabs occasionally? There's a big difference. Every competitive player I know of shield grabs. It's an easy and effective way to punish laggy moves that are being thrown out willy nilly. However, someone who waits in their shield is different. They're easy to predict. Typically, you can just get right up close to them and grab as soon as they shield. Or, throw out a fast move like a jab, spot dodge to avoid the predictable grab, and then grab them.

Edit: I only know this cuz i'm one of those idiots who waits in their shield, and has been punished for it. Trying to break that bad habit

 

[MrFrigid]

People who shield as you're approaching/dashing and grab the moment they block your attack. This is more of a problem with link seeing as his aerials are blocked easy / his jab is blocked easily and gets punished.

 

[_Magus_]

If you're approaching with dash attack at all, especially with Link, that's a bigger issue than being shield grabbed. That's a huge thing you could improve on.

 

[MrFrigid]

I've stopped using it to approach, I usually use it after a zair because it often combos. I usualy approach with nair, or bomb+bair.

 

[_Magus_]

nair approaching is so much safer, it combos into jab if it connects :D

But can you be shield grabbed if you nair > jab? seems too fast to be grabbed to me. Huh.

 

[SaltyKracka]

nair approaching is so much safer, it combos into jab if it connects :D

But can you be shield grabbed if you nair > jab? seems too fast to be grabbed to me. Huh.

I play Ganon and I've grabbed Links straight out of nair. So I imagine it can be done by others too.

 

[MrFrigid]

nair approaching is so much safer, it combos into jab if it connects :D

But can you be shield grabbed if you nair > jab? seems too fast to be grabbed to me. Huh.

yes, this has been a HUGE problem for me the past 30-40 rounds. I'm on for glory with the same kid for hours.

Edit: His link keeps ****** mine.... I don't shield enough, huge disadvantage for me.

 

[_Magus_]

I play Ganon and I've grabbed Links straight out of nair. So I imagine it can be done by others too.

Holy crap. Salty. Will you sign my 3DS? XD jk

Good to know as I main Ganon also.

 

[SaltyKracka]

Holy crap. Salty. Will you sign my 3DS? XD jk

Good to know as I main Ganon also.

It's all in a day's work, citizen. Also, nair's hitbox ends once it hits shield.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Marth / Lucina.

Watch when they shield, if you fall for the shield grab, fall for again to see if they are acting in a pattern, on the third attempt, use shield breaker. Mindgames.

Really you should observe when they shield and what they do when they drop the shield. If they shield whenever you full jump expecting an aerial to counter, do something like a short hop, then fast fall into a grab. Even if you miss the punish, watch what they do after they leave the shield. Since you have an idea of his habits learn to space your attacks so they hit the shield just outside the opponents grab range and then punish the attempt to shield grab, or if they retreat into another habit punish them for it with something like a dash attack (assuming the act in question is rolling).

Adapt to the other player and punish as hard as you can to make him scared to shield or to make him try something different. Make the opponent play your game.

 

[MrFrigid]

Marth / Lucina.

Watch when they shield, if you fall for the shield grab, fall for again to see if they are acting in a pattern, on the third attempt, use shield breaker. Mindgames.

Really you should observe when they shield and what they do when they drop the shield. If they shield whenever you full jump expecting an aerial to counter, do something like a short hop, then fast fall into a grab. Even if you miss the punish, watch what they do after they leave the shield. Since you have an idea of his habits learn to space your attacks so they hit the shield just outside the opponents grab range and then punish the attempt to shield grab, or if they retreat into another habit punish them for it with something like a dash attack (assuming the act in question is rolling).

Adapt to the other player and punish as hard as you can to make him scared to shield or to make him try something different. Make the opponent play your game.

great adcice, notso much with link but thank you

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Dash attack is a bad approach option in any smash game, good punish and set-up but not for hitting a shield most of the time.

Fair spaced with the intent to be safe can approach him as long as you since well. If they are relying on their shield and you are Link.

Pressure with projectiles and zair and safely spaced aerials. Shields get murdered when hit in this game use it well.

 

[popsofctown]

You don't really need to move into grab range as Link against, like, DK. Just throw projectiles at him until he comes to you. If he is a perfect shielding god, you might need to add a little bit of zair to convince him, maybe. Online, probably not.

 

[MrFrigid]

You don't really need to move into grab range as Link against, like, DK. Just throw projectiles at him until he comes to you. If he is a perfect shielding god, you might need to add a little bit of zair to convince him, maybe. Online, probably not.

What about with Mario especially against Link.

 

[popsofctown]

Every matchup is different! Mario has a great projectile/reflect game and your game plan may need to be different there. The exact answer is beyond my Link expertise, but I would guess his grab range is small enough that you might have some safe-on-block aerials against him.

EDIT: oh, you were asking the other direction. Sometimes I can shorthop dair and land behind character like Link with Mario, although sometimes it's hard to get close enough to do that.

 

[Ryuji]

That is still an ongoing problem for me too. I never really know what to do against people whose strategy revolves around waiting until an opponent approaches, shield before they attack, then grab them. Literally one of the most annoying fighting styles next to people who spam projectiles relentlessly or people who run away the entire match and don't fight unless attacked. All you can do is grab to counter, but this is highly dependent on your character because some have better grab range than others, thus they can easily just roll away if you're using a character with shorter range. There really needs to be some consistent way to do something to combat this, and frankly I'm quite disappointed that Sakurai didn't implement a system to discourage people who shield frequently.

 

[Orngeblu]

Shield grabbers/shield spammers? Grab counters shield, so counter with your own grab. If they shield consistently, then they have a shield habit.

In other words, you're right. I only save pivot grabs for punishing players who roll into me.

Edit: @ M MrFrigid Or another thing you could do is fake an approach, if it's not necessarily about shield grabbing, but instead, what Ryuji said, players who wait for you to approach.

Like for instance, I like to run up, and then jump back as I am nearing them, then dash again. It can confuse them somewhat. Or against a player who tends to roll (preferably into me), I run up, shield, then dash back and grab them as they're rolling.

 

[MrFrigid]

That is still an ongoing problem for me too. I never really know what to do against people whose strategy revolves around waiting until an opponent approaches, shield before they attack, then grab them. Literally one of the most annoying fighting styles next to people who spam projectiles relentlessly or people who run away the entire match and don't fight unless attacked. All you can do is grab to counter, but this is highly dependent on your character because some have better grab range than others, thus they can easily just roll away if you're using a character with shorter range. There really needs to be some consistent way to do something to combat this, and frankly I'm quite disappointed that Sakurai didn't implement a system to discourage people who shield frequently.

Word They need to like, nerf shield regeneration and make the sheilds degenerate faster. I was so happy when the controversy of the nerf happened, but they didn't do anything.

 

[Jigglymaster]

If you land behind them with an aerial attack on their shield, their back will be turned from you and won't be able to grab. Mix them up a bit. Also consider using shield breakers such as Bowser's Down B, DK's Forward B, Marth/Lucina's Neutral B, ect. If they are predictable, just figure out how to beat the situation and replicate it in a real match.

 

[Winter W. Winter]

I know your pain. I was playing as Link and the reason I stopped was I hate tethered grabs, that's just me. I would always make sure you have a bomb in hand. The new mechanic where you can Z-Air + Bomb throw or Bomb + Arrow is great once you can master it. The better you can get at it the more options you'll have for approaching characters. Spacing is key for Zair's also which can be troublesome on the 3DS. Hopefully this will help you out.