Definitive Overview of Luma Grab Mechanics

[MartineLizardo]

I've checked a couple of threads, but I haven't been able to find a real comprehensive overview of Luma's options while Rosalina is being grabbed. I thought the change in 1.0.4 was that Luma could no longer attack at all when Rosalina was grabbed, but I recently played a Rosalina who was able to hit me when I grabbed them. I did some experimenting in training mode and I was able to consistently hit the CPU with forward tilt when grabbed. I was also able to hit my opponent with neutral air after being thrown, but that was less consistent.

However, when I tested it in For Glory, I was only able to forward tilt while Rosalina was grabbed once. Does it have something to do with Luma and Rosalina being attached or not? Was the change in the patch that Luma can no longer interrupt a throw, but can still interrupt a grab? Does anyone know exactly how this mechanic works now?

 

[Parcheesy]

Luma cannot act when Rosalina is in hitstun, so as long as the person grabs you, pummels you, then throws you using a relatively quick animation, and no extra time in between, it should be tough to hit them out. Of course, you can break grabs the traditional way by queueing up an attack as you expect to be grabbed, which is nearly guaranteed to work with Luma by your side. Auto-canceling a luma nair tends to work as temporary grab immunity as well. If the Luma is separate, it can act even if you're in hitstun, allowing you to break grabs and combos as long as it's close enough.

Oh, and welcome to Smashboards. Sorry if the post is a chaotic mess of answers in no particular order; it's late and I'm incredibly tired, but I wanted to answer your question before heading off.

 

[MartineLizardo]

Hi Parcheesy,

Thank you for the welcome and the helpful answer. It was perfectly understandable. I do have a couple of follow-up questions if you don't mind though.

What would you say are the optimal responses to being grabbed? Should I do forward tilt if I am grabbed, just in case Luma is close but not actually attached? Should I do neutral air after being thrown if Luma is close enough, or is it more context-dependent? Finally, could you please elaborate on what you mean by auto-canceling a Luma neutral air and you would use that?

Thanks so much!

 

[Parcheesy]

When I'm making a post at 3 AM, it's really a tossup between readable English, and completely unreadable gibberish. Glad I won the coin toss.

- What I like to do is mash out, while holding the proper direction for a Luma attack, so if I ever escape the throw, the Luma hits them immediately, giving me time to breathe. If they ever mistime anything, the Luma will hit them anyway, so it's a win win.

- Yeah, forward tilt works as a decent punish when you expect your opponent to grab you, works better than jumping or spot dodging in my opinion.

- Neutral air seems to be the safest bet, as it hits both sides ( eventually ), but feel free to mix it up if you think something else will work ( getting surprise down air kills after being thrown is always nice, sometimes even combos into a back air if they follow where you were thrown ).

- It's a term for using a neutral air the moment before you hit the ground, resulting in the luma doing its aerial, while Rosalina is free to do whatever she pleases on the ground. It's an incredibly useful technique that I'd recommend every Rosalina learn to do from day 1. The bonus of neutral air over the rest of her aerials, is that it stays around for quite a bit, allowing you to ignore the possibility of being grabbed for a few moments.

If you have any more questions, feel free to shoot me a PM. I should get back to you within the day. ^^

 

[MartineLizardo]

Very cool. Thanks, Parcheesy!

I've been able to perform an auto-canceled neutral air, but I have not yet succeeded using any follows-up like a grab.

 

[Garde Noir]

actually, this is partially discussed in this thread -- http://smashboards.com/threads/rosalina-in-hit-stun-and-luma.385215/#post-18318386
Parcheesy really hit everything as it needed to however.