Gunmen definitely are among the dog's key barriers for guarding against a couple approach moves as well (The Side B moves of
,
,
, and
[make sure you can block or get away from your Gunmen before Flare Blitz actually reaches him], for example). They, along with Cans and Clays, can help cover both the dog's & other teammates' approaches (though not so much Cans when you've got teammates) as well (without friendly fire, Gunmen and Clays are reliable. With friendly fire, [Mega] Gunmen would be preferable), which is definitely one of the key components of an aggressive rushdown style. Said arsenal can also help penetrate some of the most fortified of camps, especially those that can be set up in team battles withOUT friendly fire. Speaking of team battles, the dog's arsenal is fantastic at keeping teammates that are at 100+% around longer, especially when projectiles and approach moves that can either lead to or directly cause KOs are being thrown around. In that department, Gunmen are among the fastest of the 3 that the dog can send out, with Can probably being the slowest of the 3.
The moves that Gunmen canNOT protect us from... are rather scary, especially when we're at 100+%.
's Mechakoopas & Cannonballs,
's Spin Dashes,
's Thoron (we can duck, DTilt, and crawl under it! If we're close enough to
if Thoron's casted, we get a free DSmash for it!),
's Metal Blade & Leaf Shield, and
's Galaxian Ship/Bell/Key/Hydrant are among such moves. Confronting such moves in a team environment, especially without the right partners, is... unnerving, to say the least. Among said examples, it's
,
, and maybe
if he gets to Galaxian Ship &/or launches the Hydrant that would actually be threatening to us.