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DK Community Guide - Now with Cargo KO Combos!

Big O

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Index

First Post - Overview

1) Foreword
2) Summary
3) Attributes
4) Useful Resources
5) To Do List
6) Acknowledgments


Second Post - Useful Data HUB

1) SH Bair List
2) Damage + KO %'s
2a) Damage Chart
2b) Center Stage KO %'s
3) Anti-Luma Tech
3a) Luma Tumble %'s
3b) Luma Throw Safety %'s
3c) Grounded Luma States
4) Combos
4a) Combo Tree
4b) Forced Jab Reset List
4c) Side B Combos
4d) KO Combos
4e) Aerial Cargo Utoss (ACUT) Uair Combo KO%'s
4f) Grounded Cargo Utoss (GCUT) Uair Combo KO%'s
4g) Cargo Utoss (CUT) Positioning
5) Blastzone Data and Stage Length


Third Post - Metagame and Player Insights

1) Moveset Analysis
2) Advanced Techniques and Mechanics
3) Strategies and Tips

Overview

1) Foreword

This is the start of a group effort and a work in progress. The goal is to have a central hub for all the knowledge, data, and developments in the metagame for DK brought together in one place. Over time things more stuff will be added and the existing stuff cleaned up to look nicer. I will be adding things frequently and encourage everyone to weigh in and give their 2 cents. It will look nicer, be more complete, and more useful as the guide gets updated. With your help, this guide will get there sooner rather than later. To add stuff to this guide, feel free to post your contributions here in this thread or PM me.

This guide will be in 2 main parts. The first part will be the more objective and data oriented knowledge like frame data, KO%'s, combos, and other useful things to know. The second part will be the more metagame oriented knowledge like player insights, general strategies, AT's, MU breakdowns, general metagame strategies, etc.

2) Summary

DK is a straightforward character with notable strengths and clear weaknesses that is mostly considered to be a mid-tier character. His weight, reach, damage, speed, and KO power are all above average. Weaknesses like laggy attacks, poor landing options, and an awkwardly large body definitely keep DK in check, despite his advantages. Playing around these weaknesses and abusing your strengths is the key to winning as DK.

The general gameplan with DK is to overpower and outlast the enemy. Few characters can trade hits with DK and come out ahead, so taking a few extra hits is usually not that big a deal. DK's tilts and smashes are also very hard to challenge directly, so with good spacing few attacks are able to beat them cleanly. As a character without a projectile, DK is usually the one who has to approach. However, charging DK's Neutral B can be used to provoke your opponents, giving them a reason to approach you instead.

DK’s offstage game is pretty strong too. His recovery is exceptional horizontally, but poor vertically. Any sort of spike or footstool usually is enough to ensure DK can’t recover, but he can always recover with just his Up B if he isn’t spiked. DK’s horizontal recovery is usually overkill, so he can afford to stall and even drift backwards to avoid getting hit while recovering. Despite having a poor vertical recovery, DK can still go surprisingly deep to intercept and deny recovery attempts. His deadly spikes, lingering aerials, and solid Ledge Trump game are all valuable tools that make him a force to be reckoned with offstage.

3) Attributes

One of the most common misconceptions is that DK is slow. As shown below, DK is actually surprisingly fast. He isn’t very nimble or agile, but in terms of raw speed he is definitely not lacking. Against the majority of the cast, DK is both faster and heavier than them. Only 6 characters are faster than DK both in the air and on the ground (Mewtwo, ZSS, Greninja, Roy, Yoshi, and Mii Brawler), but they are much lighter and/or weaker than DK.

Attribute | Value | Ranking
Weight | 122 | 2nd
Walk Speed | 1.3 | 9th
Run Speed | 1.7031 | 22nd
Air Speed | 1.15 | Tie for 9th
Air Acceleration (Base + Additional) | 0.06 | Tie for 45th
Fall Speed/Fast Fall Speed | 1.63/2.608 | 22nd/23rd
Fast Fall Speed Boost | 60% | Normal
Gravity | 0.08505 | 35th

Action | Duration
Jump Squat | 6 frames
Soft Landing | 2 frames
Hard Landing | 5 frames
SH Air Time | 27-40 frames
FH Air Time | 42-58 frames
Initial Dash | 15-29 frames


The Smash Dictionary


5) To Do List

- Fill in rage KO%'s and finish other stage KO %'s
- Redo ACUT Uair KO %'s using Vs. Mode with and without rage
- Lab GCUT Uair 50-50 ranges in Vs. Mode with and without rage
- Start putting together metagame/strategy/MU sections
- Gather input from everyone and any info that has yet to be done or is missing from this thread

6) Acknowledgements
Thanks to @ Luigi player Luigi player for the SH Bair chart, @KuroganeHammer for the summarized Attribute data, @Dantarion for all his work on mastercore1/2/3, ruben for his work on the smash calculator, jam1garner for developing Smash Forge, Struz for his work on making the smash move viewer, @Fox Is Openly Deceptive for his work on discussing/solving many different game mechanics and the smash dictionary, Izaw for his work on The Art of DK, the DK discord community, and anyone who I forgot to mention but contributed to the information within this guide.
 
Last edited:

Big O

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Useful Data Hub

1) SH Bair Hit List
This list tells you who can hit with SH Bair while rising. No means you can only hit them while falling, which means you have to wait a while.

Character | standing | running | hits if you move into opponent
Mario:4mario: | specific spacing | no | no
Luigi:4luigi: | easy to hit | specific spacing | no
Peach:4peach: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Bowser:4bowser: | very easy to hit (crouch: only at specific frames) | yes | yes
Yoshi:4yoshi: | easy to hit | no | yes
Rosalina:rosalina: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Bowser Jr.:4bowserjr: | easy to hit | yes | yes
Wario:4wario2: | specific spacing | yes | no
DK:4dk: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Diddy:4diddy: | only during jumping idle animation | no | no
G&W:4gaw: | no | no | no
Little Mac:4littlemac: | specific spacing | no | no
Link:4link: | very easy to hit | yes | yes

Zelda:4zelda: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Sheik:4sheik: | very easy to hit | no | yes
Ganondorf:4ganondorf: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Toon Link:4tlink: | only during very specific parts of idle animation | no | no
Samus:4samus: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
ZSS:4zss: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Pit:4pit: | very easy to hit | very specific spacing (lowest part & he needs to "hop" during the run) | yes
Palutena:4palutena: | very easy to hit | somewhat specific (lower hitboxes of bair) | yes
Marth:4marth: | very easy to hit | no | yes
Ike:4myfriends: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Robin:4robinm: | easy to hit | yes | yes
Duck Hunt :4duckhunt: | no | no | no
Kirby:4kirby: | no | no | no
Dedede:4dedede: | very easy to hit | yes | yes

Meta Knight:4metaknight: | no | no | no
Fox:4fox: | specific spacing | no | sometimes (an idle animation avoids it)
Falco:4falco: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Pikachu:4pikachu: | no | no | no
Charizard:4charizard: | very easy to hit | a little specific (higher hitboxes of bair don't hit) | yes
Lucario:4lucario: | somewhat specific spacing | no | yes
Jigglypuff:4jigglypuff: | no | no | no
Greninja:4greninja: | only during specific part of idle animation | no | no
ROB:4rob: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Ness:4ness: | no | no | no
Cpt.Falcon:4falcon: | easy to hit | yes | yes
Villager:4villager: | very specific spacing | specific spacing (only lower parts of bair hitbox) | no
Olimar:4olimar: | no | no | no
WiiFitTrainer:4wiifit: | very easy to hit | yes | yes

Shulk:4shulk: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Dr.Mario:4drmario: | specific spacing | no | no
Dark Pit:4darkpit: | very easy to hit | very specific spacing (lowest part & he needs to "hop" during the run) | yes
Lucina:4lucina: | very easy to hit | no | yes
Pac Man:4pacman: | very specific spacing | very specific spacing (lowest part & he needs to "hop" during the run) | no
Megaman:4megaman: | easy to hit | no | no
Sonic:4sonic: | very easy to hit | no | yes
Mewtwo:4mewtwo: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Lucas:4lucas:| no | no | no
Roy:4feroy: | very easy to hit | no | yes
Ryu:4ryu: | very easy to hit | yes | yes
Cloud :4cloud:| very easy to hit | no | yes
Corrin :4corrin:| very easy to hit | no | yes
Bayonetta :4bayonetta:| very easy to hit | run only (initial dash whiffs) | yes
Miis:4mii: (normal size) | easy to hit | no | no


2) Damage + KO %’s

2a) Damage Chart
Fresh moves deal 1.05x more damage than the base values. Stale moves suffer from a damage penalty S and deal (1 - S)x damage. The exact formula for calculating S = (q1 + q2 +q3 + q4 + q5 + q6 + q7 + q8 + q9) with q1 (last move used) to q9 (9th last move used) representing the possible positions within the queue. q1 = .08, q2 = .07594, q3 = .06782, q4 = .06028, q5 = .05274, q6 = .04462, q7 = .03766, q8 = .02954, q9 = .022.

When determining the stale move penalty, you only add the variables that match with where the move is in the queue. If you spam nothing but Uair and hit with it 9 times in a row, the stale move queue will be full with just Uairs. In this scenario, S = .4706 because it is in all positions of the queue (q1 + q2 + ... q9) and the next consecutive Uair will do 0.5294x damage. If after that you hit with Utilt once, S = .3906 for Uair (q2 + q3+ ... q9) since Utilt was the last move used. If you Uair again S = .39466 (q1 + q3 + q4 + ... q9). If you Utilt after that, S = .07594 for Utilt since Utilt is only in the queue at position q2.

Move | Base Damage
Jab 1 | 4
Jab 2 | 6
Ftilt (Up / Side / Low) | 11 / 10 / 9
Utilt (Hand / Arm / Shoulder) | 9 / 10 / 11
Dtilt (Arm / Hand) | 7 / 6
Dash Attack (Early / Late) | 10 / 8
Fsmash (Hands / Arms) | 20 / 19
Charged Fsmash (Hands / Arms) | 28 / 26.6
Usmash | 18
Charged Usmash | 25.2
Dsmash (Early / Late / Shoulders) | 17 / 18 / 14
Charged Dsmash (Early / Late / Shoulders) | 23.8 / 25.2 / 19.6
Nair (Early / Late) | 11 / 8
Fair (Early / Late / Spike) | 16 / 13 / 15
Bair (Early / Late) | 13 / 8
Uair | 13
Dair (Leg / Hip) | 16 / 13
Giant Punch (Normal / Sweetspot) | 10 / 12 + 2 per Wind-Up (28 / 30 max)
Giant Punch (Fully Charged) | 28 / 18 (Normal / Sourspot)
Air Giant Punch (Normal / Sweetspot) | 6 / 8 + 2 per Wind-Up (24 / 26 max)
Air Giant Punch - Full Charge | 25 / 20 / 15 (Normal / Sourspot / Back Hit)
Lightning Punch (Early / Late) | 12 / 10 + 2 per Wind-Up (20 / 18 max)
Lightning Punch - Full Charge | 15
Air Lightning Punch (Early / Late) | 8 / 6 + 2 per Wind-Up (16/14 max)
Air Lightning Punch - Full Charge | 13.5
Storm Punch | 8 + 2 per Wind-Up
Storm Punch (Fully Charged) | 18
Air Storm Punch | 6 + 2 per Wind-Up (14 max)
Air Storm Punch (Fully Charged) | 14
Headbutt (Normal / Sourspot) | 10 / 8
Jumping Headbutt (Normal / Landing / Air to Air) | 10 / 8 / 5
Stubborn Headbutt (Normal / Sourspot) | 13 / 9
Spinning Kong | 7 + (1.3)*5 + 4 [18.5]
Air Spinning Kong | 10 + (5 / 4)*4 + 2*3 [32 to 36]
Kong Cyclone | 4 + 15 [19]
Air Kong Cyclone | 3 + 12 [15]
Hand Slap | 14
Air Hand Slap | 5 + 6 [11]
Focused Slap | 7 + 14 [21]
Air Focused Slap | 7 + 12 [19]
Hot Slap | 4 + 12 [16]
Air Hot Slap | 5 + 5 [10]
Cargo Ftoss | 10
Cargo Btoss | 12
Cargo Utoss | 10
Cargo Dtoss | 7
Cargo Grab Release | 6*
Bthrow | 11
Uthrow | 9
Dthrow | 7
Pummel | 2.1
Ledge Attack | 8
Getup Attack | 7 + 7 [14]
Trip Attack | 5 + 5 [10]

*Does not count as a move in the stale move queue. Ignores staleness and fresh move bonus.


2b) Center Stage KO %'s
All moves were done with the opponent using optimal DI from the central spawn at floor height in Vs Mode. The first number is the KO % on a default Mii Swordfighter. The ranges shown in ( ) are Jiggs to Bowser for horizontal KO moves and Jiggs to D3 for vertical KO moves.

Move | FD | SV | T&C | BF | LY | DL
9 Punch (Back Hit) | 041 (27 - 52) | 041 (27 - 52) | 039 (26 - 50) | 043 (28 - 54) | 041 (27 - 52) | 041 (27 - 52)
8 Punch (Back Hit) | 048 (33 - 59) |
9 Punch | 054 (40 - 66) | 049 (37 - 61) | 051 (39 - 64) | 055 (42 - 68) | 051 (39 - 64) | 055 (42 - 68)
7 Punch (Back Hit) | 055 (39 - 68) |
8 Punch | 062 (47 - 75) |
Charged Fsmash (Hands) | 062 (47 - 75) |
Charged Fsmash (Arms) | 063 (49 - 77) |
6 Punch (Back Hit) | 064 (47 - 77) |
Charged Usmash | 065 (47 - 79) |
7 Punch | 071 (55 - 85) |
5 Punch (Back Hit) | 073 (55 - 88) |
10 Punch | 079 (62 - 96) |
6 Punch | 081 (64 - 96) |
Charged Dsmash (Arms) | 082 (60 - 98) |
4 Punch (Back Hit) | 084 (64 - 100) |
Charged Dsmash (Fists) | 087 (66 - 101) |
Charged Dsmash (Shoulders) | 087 (66 - 103) |
5 Punch | 092 (74 - 109) |
Air 10 Punch | 095 (75 - 113) |
3 Punch (Back Hit) | 097 (74 - 114) |
Focused Slap (Hit 2) | 102 (78 - 121) |
Fsmash (Hands) | 103 (83 - 122) |
Fsmash (Arms) | 104 (84 - 123) |
Usmash | 105 (81 - 124) |
4 Punch | 106 (86 - 124) |
2 Punch (Back Hit) | 112 (87 - 131) |
Storm Punch | 114 (93 - 134) |
Utilt (Shoulder) | 117 (91 - 138) |
3 Punch | 122 (99 - 142) |
Dsmash (Arms) | 127 (98 - 149) |
Lightning Punch | 129 (106 - 151) |
1 Punch (Back Hit) | 130 (102 - 152) |
Dsmash (Shoulders) | 130 (101 - 153) |
Air 10 Punch (Back Hit) | 132 (103 - 156) |
Dsmash (Fists) | 135 (107 - 154) |
Uair | 135 (106 - 158) |
Utilt (Arm) | 137 (107 - 160) |
Fair (Sourspot) | 138 (114 - 161) |
2 Punch | 141 (116 - 164) |
Fair | 144 (118 - 168) |
Air Focused Slap (Final Hit) | 148 (122 - 172) |
Fair (Spike) | 149 (106 - 171) |
Air Storm Punch | 151 (125 - 176) |
0 Punch (Back Hit) | 153 (121 - 178) |
Air Lightning Punch | 153 (126 - 178) |
Bair | 153 (126 - 178) | 144 (119 - 168) | 149 (123 - 173) | 157 (130- 183) | 149 (123 - 173) | 156 (129 - 182)
Hot Slap (Hit 2) | 154 (127 - 177) |
Dair (Spike) | 158 (112 - 180) |
Utilt (Hand) | 160 (126 - 187) |
Kong Cyclone (Final Hit) | 161 (125 - 179) |
1 Punch | 165 (137 - 192) |
Dair (Sourspot) | 167 (138 - 195) |
Nair | 175 (145 - 203) |
Ftilt Up | 185 (154 - 215) |
Spinning Kong (Final Hit) | 188 (158 - 218) |
0 Punch | 197 (164 - 228) |
Air Kong Cyclone (Final Hit) | 199 (156 - 229) |
Ftilt | 203 (169 - 235) |
Air Spinning Kong (Hit 1) | 218 (181 - 252) |
Ftilt Down | 223 (186 - 258) |
Spinning Kong (Hit 1) | 225 (188 - 260) |


3) Anti-Luma Tech

Rosalna's trump card Luma is what makes the MU an uphill battle. Understanding how to get rid of Luma efficiently will dramatically improve how well you do against them.

3a) Luma Tumble %'s

Luma behaves like any other character and takes more knockback with higher damage. Rage will make you knock Luma away even earlier and stale moves will have the opposite effect. Below are the %'s that fresh moves in Vs. Mode hit hard enough to make Luma tumble, causing it flail helplessly until it lands or dies offstage. Any move that hits Luma will stale just like hitting Rosa would. Any move that hits both counts the same as hitting either one.

Moves | No Rage | Rage %'s
Spinning Kong (Ground), Fully Charged Punches, Jumping Headbutt, Dash Attack, Sweetspot Utilt, Smash Attacks | 0+ | Same
Hot Slap, Kong Cyclone, Focused Slap | 0+ 2nd Hit Only | Same
Fair Spike, Dair Spike | 0+ Offstage Only | Same
Hand Slap (Ground) | 0+ Only while Luma is grounded | Same
Utilt | 2+ | 0+ with 46% or more rage
Uair | 5+ | 0+ with 80% or more rage
Fair | 10+ | 0+ with 147% or more rage
Jab Combo | 13+ | 0+ with 116% or more rage
Spinning Kong (air) | 13+ | 0+ with 124% or more rage
Bair | 13+ | 3+ with max rage
Jab2 | 18+ | 0+ with 144% or more rage
Nair | 20+ | 8+ with max rage
FtiltU | 30+ | 19% with max rage
FtiltS | 36+ | 24% with max rage


3b) Luma Throw Safety

Luma is forced to be inactive while Rosa is being thrown and while Rosa is in hitstun after the throw. Below are the potential followups against Luma and the %'s they start working. DK's Fthrow does not deactivate Luma like his other throws, so Luma is always able to interrupt him during that throw. If Luma is desynched or not tethered to Rosa, Luma can interrupt any throw. All numbers assume the throw is fresh.

Move | Unsafe | Jab | Utilt | *Dash Atk | *Bair | Dsmash | Punch | Up B | Fsmash
Uthrow | Until 16% | 61+ | 61+ | N/A | N/A | 101+ | N/A | N/A | N/A
Bthrow | Never | *27+ | 51+ | 57+ | 79+ | N/A | 93+ | 101+ | 113+
Dthrow | Until 107% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A

Uthrow (Max Rage) | Never | 29+ | 29+ | N/A | N/A | 76+ | N/A | N/A | N/A
Bthrow (Max Rage) | Never | *8+ | 29+ | 34+ | 53+ | N/A | 66+ | 73+ | 88+
Dthrow (Max Rage) | Until 67% | 110+ | 110+ | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A
*Jab % uses fastest buffered turn around timing (1 frame).
*Dash Atk % uses fastest buffered input timing (1 frame). You may need to dash away first if Luma is too close.
*Bair won't connect if you dash grab or full hop. Dash grabs position Luma lower to the ground


3c) Grounded Luma States
Normally, Luma floats in the air and is annoyingly immune to DK's Down B. However, there are certain times where it will actually hit Luma.

1) When Luma lands while tumbling to the ground.
2) When Rosa is buried by Side B.
3) When Luma is idle after desynching from Rosa via Rosa's Neutral B (Attacking makes it airborne...).
4) When Luma is desynched from Rosa and trying to get back to her while she is offstage and below the ledge.


4) Combos

All % ranges marked with ~ were obtained by doing them on a default Mii Swordfighter in Training Mode. Fast fallers, heavyweights, and large characters are prone to combos for longer and end at later %'s. Floaties, lightweights, and small characters are less prone to combos and end at earlier %'s. All % ranges were done in Training Mode and assume no DI. Rage, DI, SDI, and stale moves will affect the true range of these combos.

4a) Combo Tree

Combo Starter | Combos Into | Combo % Range | Notes
Shield Break/Forced Jab Reset/Z-Dropped Item | Anything | All %'s | The dream
Side B | Anything except grabs | Depends on mashing | Air Side B buries them slightly longer
AC Nair | Almost anything | 0 to ~ 130% |
Dtilt Trip | Anything that hits frame 22 or earlier | 0 to 52-84% | +22 on DH/Mii Fighters, +24 on Marth/Lucina/Roy/Robin/CF/Mac, +30 on Pac/Bowser Jr, and +23 on everyone else
Cargo Utoss | Any aerial, Utilt, Usmash, Footstool | 0 to 68-131% | Utilt/Usmash on fast fallers and fatties at low %
Nair (No Landing) | Up B, Uair, Bair, Nair | ~ 38-125% |
Bair (No Landing) | Up B, Uair, Bair, Nair | ~ 22-115% |
Uair (No Landing) | Up B, Uair, Bair, Nair | ~ 21-85% |
Unteched Dair | Any aerial, Utilt, Usmash | ~ 14-70% | Past ~ 70% they can air dodge out
Unteched Fair | Any aerial, Utilt, Usmash | ~ 20-60% | Past ~ 60% they can air dodge out
Nair (Landing) | Jab, Dtilt, Ftilt, Dash Attack, Dash Grab, Bair | ~ 15-60% |
Bair (Landing) | Jab, Dtilt, Ftilt, Dash Attack, Dash Grab, Bair | ~ 15-55% |
Uair (Landing) | Utilt, Uair, Usmash | ~ 20-75% |
Dash Attack (Late) | Jab, Dtilt, Ftilt, Dash Attack, Dsmash, Bair, Uair | 0 to ~ 80% |
Reverse (Late) Utilt | Utilt, Uair, Bair | ~ 30-80% |
Tipper Jab | Jab, Utilt, Dtilt, Grab | ~ 100-300% | Combos into a lot of stuff at unrealistically high %'s
Dtilt (no trip) | Jab, Dtilt, Ftilt, Dash Atk | ~ 40-75% |
Dash Attack (Strong) | Utilt, Grab, Ftilt | 0 to ~ 20% |
Random Non-Dtilt Trips | | | 37-45 frames of hitstun from trip (38 on most characters)
Cargo Btoss | Uair | Low %'s |
Jab 2 | Utilt, Uair, Bair | | Unrealistic setup only with Side B and fatties


4b) Forced Jab Reset Starters

All the %'s below assume the move is fresh in Vs. Mode with no rage.

Move | Forced Jab Reset %'s Jiggs - Bowser (Default Mii)
Side B | All %'s. Only useful as the last hit of a jab lock. Too laggy to start jab lock combos.
Aerial Up B (2% Hits) | 0 to 122-168 (146)
Close Jab | 0 to 78-108 (94)
Aerial Up B (4% Hits) | 0 to 72-101 (87)
Aerial Up B (5% Hits) | 0 to 60-84 (73)
Dtilt (Far) | 0 to 58-83 (71)
Dtilt (Close) | 0 to 50-72 (62)
Hand Slap (Spike Hit) | 0 to 40-57 (49)
Aerial 0 Punch | 0 to 32-47 (40)
Weak Nair/Bair | 0 to 28-42 (35)
Ftilt (D is best) | 0 to 24-36 (30)
Dair Spike| 0 to 7-16 (12)
Strong Nair | 0 to 7-15 (11)
Fair Spike| 0 to 6-14 (10)
Strong Bair | 0 to 4-10 (7)


4c) Side B Combos

Side B + Reverse Utilt + Utilt Combo ~ 68-86%

Side B + Reverse Utilt + Uair Combo ~ 85-135% (KO’s at 99+)

Side B + Dair/Fair Spike + Utilt/Usmash/Uair Combo ~ 70-150%

Side B + AC Nair + Punch/Dsmash/Utilt/Bair KO ~ 85+

Side B + Uair + Uair ~ 80-130% (KO's at 93+)

Side B + 9 Punch KO ~ 81+%

Side B + Punch KO ~ 115+%

Side B + Fsmash KO ~ 149+%

Side B + Dsmash KO ~ 170+%


4d) KO Combos
AC Late Nair > Dair/Grab/Punch/Fsmash/Uair/Bair

ACUT (Aerial Cargo Utoss) > Punch/Uair

GCUT (Grounded Cargo Utoss) > Uair

Side B > KO move/combo

Tipper Jab > Utilt/Grab

Bair > Bair > Bair (near the ledge)

GCUT Uair > Uair (off top plat)

ACUT Fair spike (SV plat offstage or bad DI at ledge)

Late Nair/Bair > Bair (offstage)

Dair/Fair > Uair/Grab/Usmash (missed tech)


4e) ACUT Uair Combo KO%’s

All numbers below were obtained in Training Mode on an omega stage and registered as a combo on the combo meter. Please keep in mind that stale moves, rage, DI, and stage blastzone heights are all factors that will affect the %'s you can combo and how early you can KO. Also keep in kind that the % you see is always rounded down (90.9% shows up as 90%). This unseen fraction of extra damage can be the difference between a KO and a flubbed combo.

Delaying the throw until the apex of your jump will allow you to KO slightly earlier. Towards the higher end of the KO range, the combo becomes very difficult to execute and may be prone to air dodging out of it.

Character | Minimum KO% (Delay/No Delay) | Maximum KO% (Reliable/Hard)
Mario | 73 / 75 | 86 / 90
Luigi | 70 / 71 | 77 / 77
Peach | 66 / 67 | 74 / 77
Bowser | 83 / 86 | 96 / 98
Yoshi | 72 / 73 | 82 / 84
Rosalina | 61 / 63 | 79 / 79
Bowser Jr. | 78 / 80 | 109 / 112
Wario | 77 / 79 | 97 / 100
DK | 86 / 89 | 120 / 123
Diddy | 73 / 76 | 102 / 104
G&W| 57 / 60 | 68 / 71
Little Mac | 71 / 74 | 102 / 105
Link | 76 / 80 | 104 / 108
Zelda | 66 / 68 | 82 / 85
Sheik | 63 / 67 | 88 / 92
Ganon | 80 / 84 | 111 / 114
Toon Link | 68 / 70 | 75 / 78
Samus | 75 / 79 | 96 / 100
ZSS | 67 / 71 | 96 / 100
Pit | 71 / 75 | 95 / 99
Palutena | 66 / 69 | 84 / 87
Marth | 71 / 74 | 98 / 103
Ike | 80 / 83 | 114 / 117
Robin | 71 / 75 | 97 / 101
DHD | 73 / 76 | 98 / 101
Kirby | 60 / 63 | 77 / 79
D3 | 91 / 93 | 128 / 131
MK | 64 / 67 | 87 / 90
Fox | 65 / 68 | 95 / 97
Falco | 67 / 71 | 91 / 94
Pikachu | 63 / 65 | 78 / 81
Charizard | 75 / 79 | 91 / 94
Lucario | 75 / 79 | 106 / 108
Jigglypuff | 54 / 56 | 66 / 68
Greninja | 67 / 70 | 89 / 92
ROB | 77 / 80 | 102 / 107
Ness | 69 / 71 | 78 / 92
CF | 81 / 85 | 122 / 125
Villager | 70 / 72 | 80 / 85
Olimar | 63 / 65 | 76 / 80
WFT | 68 / 71 | 83 / 89
Shulk (Normal/Speed) | 75 / 79 | 103 / 107
Shulk (Buster) | 72 / 76 | 101 / 105
Shulk (Jump) | 75 / 79 | 112 / 116
Shulk (Shield) | 129 / 134 | 183 / 186
Shulk (Smash) | 64 / 67 | 81 / 86
Dr. Mario | 73 / 75 | 86 / 90
Dark Pit | 71 / 75 | 95 / 99
Lucina | 71 / 74 | 98 / 103
Pacman | 67 / 70 | 81 / 88
Megaman | 79 / 82 | 109 / 113
Sonic | 70 / 73 | 88 / 92
Mewtwo | 62 / 65 | 83 / 87
Lucas | 69 / 70 | 80 / 83
Roy | 76 / 79 | 108 / 112
Ryu | 75 / 80 | 103 / 108
Cloud | 77 / 81 | 113 / 117
Cloud (Limit) | 79 / 83 | 120 / 125
Corrin | 75 / 78 | 103 / 108
Bayonetta | 70 / 75 | 107 / 111
Mii Brawler (Default) | 75 / 78 | 97 / 101
Mii SF (Default) | 74 / 76 | 94 / 96
Mii Gunner (Default) | 72 / 74 | 86 / 89


4f) GCUT Uair Combo KO%'s
All numbers below were obtained in Training Mode on an omega stage. For all numbers marked with "Yes", it means that it registered as a combo on the combo meter and the opponent was unable to be air dodge out of it at the listed KO%. "Strict" means the window of opportunity is small and tricky to execute, while "Lenient" means the opposite. For numbers marked with "No", GCUT -> Uair does not combo at %'s it can KO.

Please keep in mind that stale moves, rage, DI, and stage blastzone heights are all factors that will affect the %'s you can combo and how early you can KO. Also keep in kind that the % you see is always rounded down (90.9% shows up as 90%). This unseen fraction of extra damage can be the difference between a KO and a flubbed combo.

Character | Minimum KO % | KO Combo

Mario | 87 | Yes - Strict
Luigi | 83 | No
Peach | 78 | No
Bowser | 98 | No
Yoshi | 86 | No
Rosalina | 74 | No
Bowser Jr. | 93 | Yes - Lenient
Wario | 93 | Yes
DK | 103 | Yes - Lenient
Diddy | 88 | Yes
G&W | 70 | No
Little Mac | 86 | Yes - Lenient
Link | 92 | Yes
Zelda | 79 | Yes - Strict
Sheik | 79 | Yes
Ganon | 97 | Yes - Lenient
Toon Link | 80 | No
Samus | 90 | Yes - Strict
ZSS | 81 | Yes - Lenient
Pit | 87 | Yes
Palutena | 80 | Yes - Strict
Marth | 86 | Yes
Ike | 97 | Yes
Robin | 87 | Yes
DHD | 88 | Yes
Kirby | 73 | Yes - Strict
D3 | 109 | Yes - Lenient
MK | 77 | Yes
Fox | 79 | Yes - Lenient
Falco | 82 | Yes
Pikachu | 77 | No
Charizard | 90 | Yes - Strict
Lucario | 91 | Yes
Jigglypuff | 66 | No
Greninja | 82 | Yes
ROB | 94 | Yes
Ness | 82 | No
CF | 97 | Yes - Lenient
Villager | 85 | No
Olimar | 76 | No
WFT | 82 | Yes
Shulk (Normal/Speed) | 91 | Yes
Shulk (Buster) | 88 | Yes
Shulk (Jump) | 92 | Yes - Lenient
Shulk (Smash) | 79 | Yes - Strict
Shulk (Shield) | 149 | Yes - Lenient
Dr. Mario | 87 | Yes - Strict
Dark Pit | 87 | Yes
Lucina | 86 | Yes
Pacman | 83 | No
Megaman | 95 | Yes
Sonic | 85 | Yes - Strict
Mewtwo | 75 | Yes
Lucas | 82 | No
Roy | 91 | Yes - Lenient
Ryu | 91 | Yes
Cloud | 93 | Yes - Lenient
Cloud (Limit) | 96 | Yes - Lenient
Corrin | 91 | Yes - Lenient
Bayonetta | 85 | Yes - Lenient
Mii Brawler (Defualt) | 91 | Yes
Mii Swordfighter (Default) | 89 | Yes - Strict
Mii Gunner (Default) | 86 | Yes - Strict


4g) CUT Positioning
CUT normally throws them very slightly behind you, but some characters naturally end up in front of you instead. Listed below are the characters that will end up in front of you without DI. Anyone not listed ends up behind you.

Pre-Tumble
Jiggs
Kirby
Lucas
MK
Ness
Pacman
Sonic
Toon Link
Villager

Post-Tumble
ROB only


5) Blastzone Data and Stage Length
All numbers below are using the exact units used by the game. The results below shows you things like FD is the longest stage and that spikes are least likely to KO on Dreamland.

Stage | Center to Horizontal | Ledge to Horizontal (Left/Right) | Floor to Ceiling | Floor to Bottom | Stage Length
FD | 240 | 153.1 | 180 | -115 | 173.8
SV | 220 |150.9/149.8 | 179.9 | -115 | 139.3
BF | 250 | 170.0 | 191.9 | -138 | 155.9
Lylat | 230 | 150 | 180 | -125 | 160
T&C | 230 | 148.2/146.8 | 172 | -118 | 165
DL | 247.5 | 170.2 | 180 | -170 | 154.5
 
Last edited:

Big O

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Metagame Strategies and Player Insights

1) Moveset Analysis

Normals

Jab 1 - Quick disruptive poke
  • Hitting with the tip can lead to grabs/Utilts
  • Inner hit can Jab Lock
  • Jab weak projectiles to destroy them quickly instead of blocking

Jab 2 - Quick followup attack
  • Puts the opponent in an awkward position at low %'s
  • Can interrupt shield grabs that are frame 7 or slower

Grab - Unblockable attack
  • Very rewarding followups at almost any %
  • Fastest attack OoS

Dash Attack - Gap-closing approach/punish tool
  • Good for beating dodges and covering ledge options
  • Can catch items and attack at the same time
  • Good for punishing mid-range attacks OoS

Dash Grab - Unblockable approach/punish tool
  • A dash grab is oftentimes the best punish OoS
  • Using this to forces the opponent to dodge or counterattack

Pivot Grab - Unblockable spacing tool
  • Very good reach
  • You can vary how much you slide based on your inputs
There are 2 different ways to slide during Pivot Grabs.

1) You slide if you turn around before grabbing out of an initial dash
2) You grab and turn around at the same time while running

There are 2 different ways to cancel the slide during Pivot Grabs.

1) Input the turn around after the grab
2) Input the grab and the turnaround at the same time during your initial dash

Ftilt - Disjointed zoning poke
  • Angle Ftilt up for increased damage/knockback
  • Great anti-air against SH approaches
  • Ftilt shifts DK's hurtbox down and back, allowing you to dodge spaced aerials
  • Can trip and hit ledge snaps when angled down (15% trip chance)

Utilt - Quick disjointed anti-air
  • Controls a lot of space, especially behind you
  • Good for punishing ambiguous crossups OoS
  • The sweetspot on DK's shoulder KO's about as early as Dsmash

Dtilt - Safe disjointed poke
  • Great combo starter when it trips (40% chance)
  • Stops tripping at 52-85% depending on weight (39-65% w/ max rage)
  • Can hit ledge snaps with good timing
  • Forces a tech chase on most characters at around 100%

Fsmash - Very powerful punish
  • Good range and disjointed head/arms
  • Charged Fsmash is DK's second strongest KO move
  • Safe on block when spaced

Usmash - Powerful disjointed anti-air
  • Great against attacks that are directly above you
  • DK's highest reaching ground move
DKs new UpSmash (bigger hitboxes), the perfect anti-air?

If perfectly timed and the opponent comes from above it can now outright BEAT (not even trade with) almost every down aerial in the game!

Tested on:
Shulk, Ike, Dedede, Link, Toon Link, Lucario, Marth, Roy, Villager (1-3 turnips), Greninja, G&W, Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr., Ganondorf, Charizard, Zero Suit Samus, Robin (thundersword), Mii Swordfighter (normal size), Bowser (also beats Bowser bomb, but is not recommended unless you have perfect timing)

So these are the exceptions:
- Megaman:4megaman:: he can obviously be too far away since his dair is a projectile (if you hit it you clash, but usmash continues its animation)
- ROB:4rob:: his dair is suuuper disjointed, can't believe just how big the hitbox below him actually is. And he also stops moving down, making this even more difficult.
- Rosalina:rosalina:: not completely sure on this one. It is weird. It seems like DKs usmash is able to beat it, but sometimes the hitbox can hit DK while he's trying to usmash (before the hitbox comes out), but that's timing fail, and if you try doing it too early she might not be in range to get hit by it. The latest (most disjointed) part of Rosalinas dair might be able to beat us, but like I said, I'm not sure.
Either way, it's still worth trying to go for it, because even if she hits with the latest part, it'll only do like 2 %, and you can even get a followup on her, since it has no real knockback and only a little hitstun (even at 999% it only knocks you like a DK height upwards and a little less then half the stage ground horizontally away). [realistically speaking though, she'll most likely airdodge and try to move around anyway]

Dsmash - Quick and powerful punish
  • Great for covering rolls, ledge options, and punishing ambiguous landings
  • Will beat most attacks cleanly that clank with it
  • Can hit ledge snaps with very good timing

Nair - Disruptive coverage tool
  • Long-lasting hitbox that hits all around you
  • Can AC immediately after the active frames end
  • Great combo starting potential
  • Buffered SHFF Nair will AC
  • Harder to shield grab than Bair up close

Fair - Powerful counterpoke
  • Fair slightly shifts DK's hurtbox back, allowing you to dodge spaced attacks
  • Hitting with the spike offstage pretty much always KO's
  • You can run off the stage with Fair and still recover

Bair - Excellent spacing tool
  • Good reach, power, and speed
  • Long-lasting hitbox and low endlag
  • Best air-to-air Bair in the game
  • DK's most flexible spacing tool
  • Useful both defensively and offensively
  • Can cross-up vs shields

Uair - Excellent juggle tool
  • Disjointed head allows it to beat most attacks from above
  • Buffered SHFF Uair will AC
  • Uair actually reaches farther in front of you than Nair and Fair

Dair - DK's fastest spike
  • Usually ends a stock offstage
  • You can run off the stage with Dair and still recover
  • Don't be afraid to contest juggle attempts with Dair

Ledge Attack - Last resort ledge option
  • Only useful for punishing mistakes like whiffed attacks and landing lag
  • The hitbox is deceptively small, especially vertically
  • The invincibility wears off before it hits
  • Can stage spike people recovering on some stages like BF, SV, and T&C

Getup Attack - Solid counterattack option
  • Deals a lot of shield damage and can hit twice
  • Hits behind you first while on your back
  • Hits in front of you first while on your stomach
  • Has invincibility frames until it stops hitting
  • Surprisingly solid attack that you can bait people with

Trip Attack - Poor counterattack option
  • Deals a lot of shield damage and can (rarely) hit twice
  • Has a small amount of invincibility and worse hitboxes than regular getup attacks


Throw Options

Pummel - Damage racking option
  • Pummeling quickly only counts as 1 move for refreshing your stale moves
  • Pummel a little slower to refresh your KO moves
  • If you hit Luma, you can continue pummeling safely without being interrupted

Fthrow (Cargo Hold) - Allows you to carry your opponent with you
  • Has knockback based Heavy Armor while carrying them.
  • Gives you access to 4 different Cargo throws
  • All Cargo throws do not grant grab immunity, allowing you/your teammates to grab them without having to wait

Bthrow - Corner friendly throw
  • Useful for getting KO's when you're cornered at the ledge
  • Fast enough to throw off their DI if done quickly
  • Very powerful on SV plat and stages with walk-offs

Uthrow - Quick panic throw
  • Useful when you need to throw someone ASAP (like in team battle or vs Rosa)
  • Can't KO or combo into anything, but it leaves them above you
  • Generally not worth using

Dthrow - Risky tech chase starter
  • Can be used to force a tech chase at around 25-50%
  • Very slow/laggy and generally not worth using

Grab Release - You messed up
  • Pummeling fast always forces a ground release
  • Grabs on short characters or near the ledge can force an air release

Cargo Ftoss - Cornering throw
  • Can KO early when very close to the blastzone (SV platform or walkoff stages)
  • Drift closer to the blastzone by jumping before the throw
  • Naturally forces high offstage recoveries
  • Can stage spike

Cargo Btoss - High % vertical KO option
  • Most damaging throw
  • Jump first to KO earlier
  • Throw off their DI by faking an offstage Ftoss attempt
  • Can combo into Uair at low %'s
  • Can stage spike

Cargo Utoss - Amazing combo throw
  • Jump first to combo into aerials more easily (ACUT)
  • Bait air dodges for regrabs on plats
  • Sets up ambiguous Uair traps and 50-50's from the ground at high %'s
  • Can combo for longer than usual if stale
  • Jump onto a plat for GCUT follow-ups closer to the ceiling

Cargo Dtoss - Great setup throw
  • Sets up stage spikes, offstage gimps, and tech chases
  • Can KO at high %'s close to the blastzone
  • Good for setting up easy combos with your team
  • Chain grab non-floaty characters at low %'s on moving platforms

Cargo Release - Uncomfortable mixup opportunity
  • Deals 6% damage and always forces a ground release
  • Fast button mashers are prone to buffering exploitable stuff
  • Leaves them close to you, but with grab immunity for a little while


Specials

Neutral B (The Punch)​

Giant Punch - DK's trump card punish and counterpoke
  • Safe on block when fully charged and deals tons of shield damage
  • Has 10 SA frames when fully charged (only 4 in the air)
  • DK's longest reaching aerial attack
  • Has more knockback when almost fully charged
  • Non-fully charged punches have a sweetspot behind DK
  • The 9 charge punch is DK's strongest attack

Lightning Punch - KO poke
  • Safe on block and scales well with rage
  • DK can cancel the punch charges a few frames faster due to quicker wind-ups
  • DK's longest reaching aerial attack

Storm Punch - Long range stage control tool
  • Very effective against poor and exploitable recoveries
  • The wind is strongest close to DK's fist and scales with their % and your rage
  • DK's longest reaching aerial attack
  • Free KO against anyone that uses free fall inducing specials on stage

Side B (Shield Breaking, Ledge Canceling, Burial Move)​

Headbutt - Combo starting punish tool
  • DK's second longest reaching ground attack
  • Less range in the air, but buries them slightly longer
  • The slower you fall, the more noticeable the stalling effect in the air becomes
  • Can extend jab locks even after 3 hits and leaves you at +23 frame advantage
  • While it can start a jab lock at any %, doing so leaves you at a slight frame disadvantage (useless)

Jumping Headbutt - Surprise landing option
  • Use this as a landing mixup every now and then
  • Buries less than the others 2 variants (Bowser immune until ~80%)
  • Hits hard against airborne foes (knocks Luma away), unlike the other variants

Stubborn Headbutt - Armored counterattack
  • Has tons of SA frames to facilitate trades or help you land
  • DK's second longest reaching ground attack
  • Less range in the air, but buries them slightly longer

Up B (Multi-hit Recovery)​

Spinning Kong - Situational approach or defensive tool
  • Useful for approaching through projectiles with the grounded SA frames
  • Can be used as a ledge trapping tool with the large lingering multi-hits
  • Can be used as a counter against predictable approaches
  • Aerial version is DK's fastest attack, has invincibility on startup, and deals up to 37.8% damage (fresh)
  • You can stall or drift backwards while recovering to avoid most edgeguard attempts
  • Hold down while offstage to avoid grabbing the ledge for extra damage or gimps against vulnerable recoveries

Chopper Kong - Noob Trap Recovery
  • You should never run this move

Kong Cyclone - Protector of the Kongo Skies!
  • Has invincibility, SA, and crazy hitstun inducing windboxes in the air
  • Landing transitions into the grounded version seamlessly

Down B (Rapid-fire Double Slap)
Hand Slap - Offensive pressure tool
  • Counters all grounded defensive options (dodges and shield)
  • DK's longest reaching and most disjointed ground attack
  • Will trigger counters from the air and destroy Diddy's Peanuts
  • Useful spike with a very wide arc in the air

Focused Slap - Extreme punish tool
  • Very high knockback and damage, but pitiful range
  • Trading with the first ground hit paralyzes them for a long time (free followup)
  • The first hit unburies them, allowing very early/easy KO's after a Side B

Hot Slap - Defensive zoning/punish tool
  • Great at beating aerial approaches
  • Very intimidating as a ledge trap
  • Good reach and KO potential
  • Useful as a forward facing aerial in a pinch


Horizontal Reach Rankings
Moves ordered from shortest to longest range and separated into relative tiers.

Ground Moves​

Usmash

Utilt < Grab ~ Reverse Dsmash < Focused Slap (First Hit < Second Hit)

Reverse Utilt < Jumping Headbutt < Dsmash

Jab 1 ~ Jab 2 < Dtilt ~ Hot Slap (First Hit) < Pivot Grab ~ Hot Slap (Second Hit)

Spinning Kong/Kong Cyclone (No Movement) < Dash Grab (Immediate) < Punch

Dash Atk (Frame 9) < Ftilt < Fsmash < Headbutt/Stubborn Headbutt

Hand Slap < Dash Attack (Frame 24)

Storm Punch (Wind)

Air Moves
Reverse Dair < Dair

Spinning Kong (Strong Hit) < Reverse Spinning Kong (Strong Hit) < Reverse Nair

Nair < Headbutt/Stubborn Headbutt (Sweetspot) < Reverse Giant Punch

Fair < Uair < Spinning Kong (Multi-hit) < Jumping Headbutt < Down B First Hit (Focused Slap < Hand Slap < Hot Slap)

Down B Second Hit (Focused Slap < Hand Slap < Hot Slap) < Bair < Headbutt/Stubborn Headbutt (Sourspot)

Punch

Storm Punch (Wind)


2-Frame Tier List
This is a ranking on how reliably an attack can hit the 2 frame vulnerability window when a character grabs the ledge assuming perfect spacing/timing. All attacks are from the stage or done right before landing on the stage. Everything is listed in descending order based on how low the hitbox can reach.

All Characters = Aerial Hand Slap (Frame 30) > Dair

Almost Everyone (not Ganon) = Aerial Hand Slap (Frame 29) > Dsmash (Frame 13, Front Hitbox) > Dtilt > Dsmash (Frame 13, Back Hitbox)

Most Characters = FtiltD (Frames 9-10) > Aerial Side B ~ Fair (Frame 22) ~ Dsmash (Frame 14) ~ Dsmash (Frame 12, Front Hitbox)

Some Characters (DK) = Dsmash (Frame 12, Back Hitbox) > Up B Multihit (Lowest hitbox)

BF, SV, and T&C only? (Mario, CF) = Ledge Atk

Few Characters (Rosa, ROB) = Jab 2 > Utilt (Frame 11) > Fsmash > Grab

Lol Poor D3 = Punch (Frame 20) > Dash Atk (Frames 9-12) > Up B First/Last Hit > Up B Multihit (Leg Hitbox)


2) Advanced Techniques and Mechanics


DK Specific AT's
Reverse Charge Cancel (RCC)
  • DK can use his charging animation for the punch to change the direction he is facing, even in the air
  • Tap back then press B, or press B while slightly holding back
  • Canceling the charge can be done by pressing shield
  • Press shield asap after starting the charge to avoid buffering an air dodge
  • DK takes 29 frames to finish a RCC
B-Landing (Charge Canceled Landing)
  • DK can skip landing lag frames and roll as soon as he touches the ground while charging the punch
  • Start charging in the air and tap left/right shortly before hitting the ground
  • Rolls done this way are much quicker and harder to punish than tech rolls
Side B Jab Lock Extension
  • DK's Side B will always jab lock and can extend jab locks beyond 3 hits
  • Just hit them with Side B during the flopping animation of the jab lock
  • Using Side B to extend a jab lock leaves you at +23 frame advantage
  • Starting a jab lock with Side B is negative on hit
Ledge Cancel Side B
  • DK's Side B can cancel into a ledge grab at any point in the move
  • Just perform a Side B while moving towards the ledge
  • This allows you to grab the ledge quicker than usual after an aerial or air dodge
  • You can hold down to delay or prevent ledge grabs
  • Ledge grabs are disabled for 54 frames after getting hit or letting go from the ledge and 30 frames after double jumping
  • Ledge grabs are also disabled for 54 frames after the end of any ledge option
Edge Canceled Down B
  • DK can cancel the landing lag of this move by sliding off the ground
  • Just land on an edge with enough momentum to slide off
  • DK can only slide off while facing the edge and holding forward
  • You can use this in conjunction with a B-Reversal as a landing mixup
Slap Cancel (SC)
  • On stages with slopes or vertical platforms, you can cancel Down B with a double jump after the hitbox comes out
  • You need to buffer a Down B from a move in the air that ends the exact frame before you land with some momentum towards the slope or vertical platfrom
  • A grounded Down B will come out and register as being both in the air and on the ground
  • Done correctly, you will be able to double jump after the hit and combo into any aerial
  • This requires frame perfect timing and can only be done on Lylat or T&C (vertical moving platforms only)
Invicicopter/iKong
  • If you land on the stage during the intangibility frames of aerial Up B, you will remain intangible until the Up B ends
  • This is easiest to do on Lylat, but is possible (extremely difficult) on every stage
Cross-up Bair
  • Bair has the potential to pull them into you and become a cross-up on shields
  • DK's Bair hitbox is specifically coded to force opponent's to get launched towards his feet
  • If you hit a shield with a point-blank Bair while facing them, they get pulled behind you instead of pushed away from you
  • This can trick them into whiffing a shield grab


General Mechanics and AT's
Buffering
  • Buffering allows you to store inputs for your next action once your character completes their current action
  • To do this, you just input your next action up to 10 frames before the end of your current action
  • If you input multiple actions, only the action with the most priority will happen (only 1 can be buffered)
  • Chain together actions in quick succession more consistently by learning how to buffer them
  • Buffering also helps you shield grab or counterattack as quickly as possible
Directional Influence (DI)
  • You are able to influence the angle you get launched at when you get hit
  • Just tilt the control stick before you start flying away
  • You can alter the angle by up to ~10 degrees by tilting the stick perpendicular to the normal launch angle
  • Tilting the stick parallel to the normal launch angle has no effect
  • The attack must deal 80+ KB to be able to DI it
Launch Speed Influence (LSI)
  • You are also able to influence the KB slightly depending on the move
  • Tilt the stick upwards to increase KB and downwards to decrease KB
  • Despite the KB being changed, the hitstun will remain unchanged
  • LSI is only possible on attacks that deal 80+ KB
  • You can't LSI an attack that has launch angles (after DI) between 65 to 115 or 245 to 295
  • This means LSI does not work on vertical hits
Smash Directional Influence (SDI)
  • You can also shift your character's position while getting hit with an attack
  • Just tap a direction while in hitlag to shift towards that direction
  • It is possible to escape multihits before the last hit with good SDI
  • For rapid jabs and attacks like flamethrower, just holding a direction will automatically SDI in that direction for each hit
  • For most attacks, just holding a direction does not automatically SDI for you
  • You need to tap several times or alternate between directions to achieve multiple SDI inputs
Stale Moves Queue
  • Hitting characters and certain objects with an attack will cause it to get weaker and "stale" to discourage spamming the same move
  • The game remembers the last 9 attacks that you successfully hit a character (or object) with and lists them in a queue
  • If a move is in that queue, it suffers a damage reduction penalty based on it's position within the queue and how many times it appears in the queue
  • An attack won't stale if it whiffs or gets blocked
  • Any move that is not in that queue receives a 5% damage boost instead of a damage reduction penalty
  • The exact damage reduction penalty a given move suffers is shown in the damage chart
Rage
  • You deal bonus KB on all moves depending on how much damage you have
  • The bonus KB from rage kicks in past 35% and scales linearly until it caps out at 150+%
  • At max rage (150+%) you deal 15% more KB
  • The formula to calculate the rage KB modifier R = 1 + .15 * (Dmg - 35) / (115)
  • Combos can become impossible to do depending on rage and others can are possible only with rage
Auto Canceling (AC)
  • Landing with an aerial at certain times can end up having less landing lag than usual
  • If DK lands during an aerial's AC window, he only suffers 5 frames of landing lag
  • Most aerials have an AC window before the attack hits and sometime after it stops hitting
  • DK's Fair will never AC and an aerial buffered after his Fair will not AC before it starts hitting
A-Landing
  • While tumbling, you can sometimes use an aerial that has early AC frames to land with minimal lag instead of teching
  • This doesn't work if you are still in hitstun when you touch the ground
  • If you are too lose to the ground after hitstun ends, you will get landing lag instead of AC'ing even if you time it correctly
  • Mix this up with teching, B-Landing, and throwing out hitboxes to keep your opponent on their toes
B-Reversal
  • Some specials can be reversed during the move shortly after pressing B
  • Hold back within 3 frames after pressing B to reverse your direction and horizontal momentum
  • The instant reversal of momentum can be very clutch for spacing, landing, and even recovering
  • All of DK's special moves can be B-Reversed except the punch charge animation
Turnaround Specials
  • Some specials are able to be done backwards instantly without requiring you to turn around first
  • Just hold back while doing the input for the special move
  • Alternatively, you can quickly tap back then input the special move (easier way for Neutral B)
  • All of DK's specials can do this, including DK's punch charge animation
  • Buffering a special will automatically start it facing whatever direction you are holding
Crouch Canceling (CC)
  • While crouching, you take 15% reduced knockback and half the normal hitlag
  • While much weaker than it is in Melee, it can unexpectedly mess up their combos and leave them open for a counterattack
Foxtrotting
  • You can repeatedly dash instead of transitioning into a run
  • Just keep tapping forward instead of holding forward
  • You can Fsmash out of a foxtrot by inputting an Fsmash at the beginning of a new dash
Dash Dancing (DD)
  • You can rapidly run back and forth in place by tapping left and right very quickly
  • This is possible because the first 5 frames of a dash can be canceled into a pivot which then turns into a dash going the other way
  • You can use this to bait a reaction and then punish accordingly
Perfect Pivot (PP)
  • You can cancel the beginning of a dash into a lagless pivot
  • Tap back and immediately let go within 5 frames of dashing forwards
  • If you tap back too late, the pivot will not be lagless
  • If you don't let go immediately after tapping back, you will start a dash backwards
Extended Dash Dancing (EDD)
  • This combines dash dancing and foxtrotting to basically switch directions while foxtrotting
  • Dash away then instantly dash right back in or vice versa
  • Dash in then perfect pivot into whatever you want
Slow Run
  • You can adjust the speed of your run by varying how far you hold the stick
  • By holding it slightly forward instead of all the way, you can run in place at the edge
  • Doing a slow run also makes you stop more quickly from your run
  • Not too useful, but very stylish
Fast Fall (FF) and Fast Fall Braking
  • You can change your fall speed in the air and fall faster than normal
  • Just tap down while falling to fast fall
  • Using a jump, aerial, or special while fast falling will slow you back down to your normal falling speed
  • Air dodges after a fast fall will not slow you down to normal speeds
  • You can't fast fall during tumble except right after hiitstun ends
  • You can't fast fall during specials or air dodges
Footstool Jump
  • You can jump off of another character's head, even if you have no double jump
  • This unique jump will put the opponent in a laggy footstool animation on the ground and will spike them in the air
  • Footstool spikes are untechable unless they take too long to hit the ground
  • Some characters like Yoshi and DK will almost always die if footstooled mid jump
  • Against characters with no hitboxes on their recovery move, you can safely go extra deep and footstool them to make it back
  • You can footstool jump higher by holding jump
Phantom Footstool Jump
  • If a character is in the middle of an attack or special move, footstools won't affect them
  • You will still jump off them, but there won't be any special animation or spike
  • Unlike regular footstools, there is only one jump height possible from phantom footstools
Platform Drop
  • You can fall through thin platforms by holding down
  • It takes 3 frames to platform drop, so it is a slightly faster way to use an aerial move than jumping
  • You can also prevent landing on thin platforms by holding down
  • You can't fall through platforms during aerials, specials, or air dodges
Shield Drop
  • You can platform drop while shielding
  • You need to be precise with how fast and how far you tilt downwards to shield drop
  • Too fast and you spot dodge
  • Too slow and nothing happens
  • Shield dropping allows you to punish moves that would otherwise be safe
Shield Angling
  • While shielding you can shift it in any direction to provide better coverage in that direction
  • Just tilt the stick in any direction
  • If you tilt the stick too fast you will roll, spot dodge, or tap jump
  • Since DK's shield is too small, you will need to angle your shield to prevent shield pokes
Shield SDI
  • You can SDI during hitlag while shielding too
  • Just tap in the direction you wish to SDI during shieldhitlag
  • It can be the difference between landing the shield grab or whiffing
Running Shield Grab
  • You can do a standing grab from a run instead of a dash grab by shielding first
  • Just shield for at least 3 frames before starting the grab
  • If you shield for less than 3 frames a dash grab will come out
  • Done correctly, you protect yourself with shield and the total lag is slightly less than a dash grab
Jab Lock
  • Landing weak hits on an opponent bouncing on the ground forces them to get up slowly
  • Just hit the opponent while they are bouncing off the ground with a move that jab locks
  • Jab locking attacks deal less than 60 total knockback
  • Jab locking attacks must have a downward angle or the Sakurai angle (361)
  • You can repeat the jab lock up to three times before it stops working
Grounded Spike Cancel
  • The hitstun from grounded spikes can be canceled
  • Just SDI up during the hitlag and then tech the spike
  • You will end up airborne slightly above the floor with no lag
  • Getting hit on purpose and doing this technique can lead to more devastating punishes
Frame Synch
  • With excellent timing, you can land during the hitlag of certain aerials instead of after
  • This means that you effectively reduce your landing lag by the number of hitlag frames the move has
  • This works with all of DK's aerials, but does not work on shielding opponents
  • DK's Fair has the biggest gains from this technique due to having the most hitlag
Item Catch Moves
  • Some moves are able to catch items during their startup
  • Dash Attack, all aerials, and air dodge will catch items during their first 5 frames
  • Jab, Ftilt, and Dtilt will never come out if you can pickup or catch an item instead
  • This means those moves are effectively sealed away if you are next to an item
Z-Catching
  • You can catch or pick up an item instantly with no lag in the air
  • Just press the grab button near an item while airborne
  • While running, it is faster to jump and Z-catch it than to pick it up
Z-Drop Items
  • You can drop an item with no lag while airborne by pressing grab
  • Use this to pressure shields, combo, and edgeguard
  • This lets you use aerials while holding an item
  • Just Z-Drop it then re-catch it immediately afterwards with any aerial
  • DK raises the hand he holds items with during the middle part of his jump animation
  • This makes it impossible to immediately re-catch a Z-dropped item during that part of his jump
  • You can also Z-drop items on an opponent from below during that animation
  • DK's backward jump and double jump animations don't have that quirk
Air Dodge Canceled Throw
  • The first 5 frames of an air dodge can be canceled into an item throw
  • You can use this to instantly throw an item you just caught with air dodge
Edge Canceled Air Dodge
  • You can cancel the landing lag of an air dodge by sliding off the ground
  • Just land on an edge from an air dodge with enough momentum to slide off
  • You can only slide off while facing the edge and holding forward
Edge Canceled Splat/Tech
  • If a character slips off the ground during a floor bounce or tech, they instantly cancel the lag
  • While falling, just move towards an edge with enough momentum to slip off
Edge Canceled Smashes
  • Charged smash attacks near an edge will slide you off the ground and cancel the lag of the attack
  • This only works with DK's Usmash and Dsmash
Edge Canceled Jump
  • You can perform a grounded full hop without the normal 6 frame jumpsquat lag
  • You need A+B Smash or Tap Jump enabled for this to work consistently
  • Just press A+B or tilt the stick upwards within 4 frames of running off an edge
  • Use this for smoother edgeguards, faster platform movement, and combos
  • This is the fastest way to become airborne if next to an edge
Edge Boosted Pivot
  • When pivoting out of a run near an edge, you get extra momentum
  • Just run near an edge, pivot away from the edge, and let go of the stick before you start another run
  • Hitting with Dtilt using this boosted momentum will keep them much closer to you
Edge Slip and Slipstun
  • Using certain weak attacks near an edge forces them to slip off with 24 frames of lag (slipstun)
  • In order for them to slip off with lag, the attack must either do less than 60 KB and launch at the Sakurai angle or just launch at a semi-spiking angle
  • Landing during slipstun creates an untechable floor bounce which can lead into jab locks
  • If they slip off from an attack that doesn't met the above requirements, the hitstun is canceled instead
Tripping and Tripstun
  • Certain moves will randomly cause an opponent to trip, enabling better followups
  • In order for a move to trip an opponent on a flat surface, it must deal 60 KB or less and launch at the Sakurai angle, deal less than 80 KB for spikes, or just launch at a semi-spiking angle
  • Uneven surfaces can change what attacks can or can't trip (uphill helps, downhill hurts)
  • Each move has a roughly 7% chance on average to trip under certain unknown KB thresholds
  • Each move also has a bonus trip % chance associated with it (most moves have a 0% bonus chance)
  • DK's only moves with a bonus trip chance are Dtilt (40%), FtiltD (15%), and Aerial Hand Slap (20%)
  • Tripping induces 37 to 45 frames of tripstun (character dependent)
  • Tripstun changes into slipstun when slipping off an edge, but unlike regular slipstun it can be canceled early by grabbing the ledge
Untechable Wallbounce
  • If you are really close to the stage when getting hit by a stage spike it becomes untechable
  • This does not apply to throws of any kind
  • Hitting Cloud during his Up B will also cause an untechable stage spike
  • Certain surfaces are semi-techable and disable tech inputs after colliding with them (techs input before still work)
Untechable Reel Animation
  • Certain attacks will have a random 30% chance to cause an untechable hitstun animation
  • The attack must have enough knockback to induce tumble
  • The opponent must also have 100% or more after the attack
  • The attack must not launch the opponent at a high angle (70 to 110 degrees)
  • Spikes on grounded opponents will always be techable
  • Spikes on aerial opponents will have a 30% chance of being untechable
Ledge Trump
  • You can force an opponent off the ledge by grabbing it after they grab it
  • Doing so causes them to fly off the ledge with 28 frames of lag
  • The frame advantage you get depends on how quickly you grab the ledge after them
  • Grabbing it 1 frame after them and letting go with perfect timing leaves you at +25
  • Grabbing it after they finish the ledge grab animation and letting go with perfect timing leaves you at +3
  • Anyone who is ledge trumped will also have no intangibility upon grabbing the ledge
  • This means characters with bad recoveries must choose between landing onstage with lag or grabbing the ledge with no protection
  • The only way to avoid getting trumped is to buffer a ledge jump, ledge roll, or ledge attack
  • Because you can't buffer a ledge climb or ledge drop, there will always be a brief window where it is impossible to avoid getting trumped while trying to do either of those
  • The threat of a ledge trump can force your opponent to buffer a ledge option to counter it
  • This means that you have only 3 options to cover and that their timing will be predictable
  • If you mistime the trump, you are the one who will get trumped
2-Frame Punish
  • While grabbing the ledge from far away, there is a 2 frame window of vulnerability on the ledge grab
  • Just cover the ledge with a hitbox when they are grabbing the ledge
  • This means with good timing you can hit almost any recovery for free, even from the stage
  • Some characters are easier to 2-frame punish than others
  • When a character is hit during the 2 frame vulnerability window, they will get their double jump back


3) Strategies and Tips


 
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Luigi player

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DKs new UpSmash (bigger hitboxes), the perfect anti-air?

If perfectly timed and the opponent comes from above it can now outright BEAT (not even trade with) almost every down aerial in the game!

Tested on:
Shulk, Ike, Dedede, Link, Toon Link, Lucario, Marth, Roy, Villager (1-3 turnips), Greninja, G&W, Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr., Ganondorf, Charizard, Zero Suit Samus, Robin (thundersword), Mii Swordfighter (normal size), Bowser (also beats Bowser bomb, but is not recommended unless you have perfect timing)

So these are the exceptions:
- Megaman:4megaman:: he can obviously be too far away since his dair is a projectile (if you hit it you clash, but usmash continues its animation)
- ROB:4rob:: his dair is suuuper disjointed, can't believe just how big the hitbox below him actually is. And he also stops moving down, making this even more difficult.
- Rosalina:rosalina:: not completely sure on this one. It is weird. It seems like DKs usmash is able to beat it, but sometimes the hitbox can hit DK while he's trying to usmash (before the hitbox comes out), but that's timing fail, and if you try doing it too early she might not be in range to get hit by it. The latest (most disjointed) part of Rosalinas dair might be able to beat us, but like I said, I'm not sure.
Either way, it's still worth trying to go for it, because even if she hits with the latest part, it'll only do like 2 %, and you can even get a followup on her, since it has no real knockback and only a little hitstun (even at 999% it only knocks you like a DK height upwards and a little less then half the stage ground horizontally away). [realistically speaking though, she'll most likely airdodge and try to move around anyway]


(I hope discussing these things should be done in this thread as well, I wasn't sure from reading the OP
 
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Big O

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DKs new UpSmash (bigger hitboxes), the perfect anti-air?

If perfectly timed and the opponent comes from above it can now outright BEAT (not even trade with) almost every down aerial in the game!

Tested on:
Shulk, Ike, Dedede, Link, Toon Link, Lucario, Marth, Roy, Villager (1-3 turnips), Greninja, G&W, Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr., Ganondorf, Charizard, Zero Suit Samus, Robin (thundersword), Mii Swordfighter (normal size), Bowser (also beats Bowser bomb, but is not recommended unless you have perfect timing)

So these are the exceptions:
- Megaman:4megaman:: he can obviously be too far away since his dair is a projectile (if you hit it you clash, but usmash continues its animation)
- ROB:4rob:: his dair is suuuper disjointed, can't believe just how big the hitbox below him actually is. And he also stops moving down, making this even more difficult.
- Rosalina:rosalina:: not completely sure on this one. It is weird. It seems like DKs usmash is able to beat it, but sometimes the hitbox can hit DK while he's trying to usmash (before the hitbox comes out), but that's timing fail, and if you try doing it too early she might not be in range to get hit by it. The latest (most disjointed) part of Rosalinas dair might be able to beat us, but like I said, I'm not sure.
Either way, it's still worth trying to go for it, because even if she hits with the latest part, it'll only do like 2 %, and you can even get a followup on her, since it has no real knockback and only a little hitstun (even at 999% it only knocks you like a DK height upwards and a little less then half the stage ground horizontally away). [realistically speaking though, she'll most likely airdodge and try to move around anyway]


(I hope discussing these things should be done in this thread as well, I wasn't sure from reading the OP
Ya feel free to discuss anything related to the guide in this thread, whether you make a contribution or just make a suggestion on how to organize the guide.

I've been playing around with Usmash and it really does seem useful now as a punishing anti-air, especially against the floatier characters. Running Usmash also doesn't whiff as much and I've gotten it to hit short characters like Ness.

Let me know how you want me to add your insights, if you have anything in mind. I'll be sure to update the guide with your stuff in a bit. I'll be working on a Cargo Utoss Uair chart in the meantime.
 

Brickbox

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So lets try to finish up the move set analysis so we can really get the deep part of DK. I think most of us really know DKs moves well so I think it shouldn't take long.

Here is some of my thoughts on some of his moves. I highly recommend knowing frame data, it makes these tips more useful.

Jab 1
Decent frame data being 5 frames but not something you want to be mashing, Jab 1 spaced correctly can be very safe and any punishes can be most likely be disrupted by jab 2. Jab 1 at the tip of the hit box pulls players in on hit, this sets up for dilt, grab, pivot grab, and some cases up tilt (on floaty characters) or even down smash. Tons of possibilities with the tipper hit box of this move, go into training mode and test its properties to get a feel for it.

Jab 2
Nothing special with this move, only time you will be wanting to use this is if you happen to hit the non tipper hit box of jab 1. Only thing notable about jab 2 is that at low percents it leaves your opponent having to land near you, this allows for either trying to punish a landing with down b or a long ranged attack or punishing a jump with nair. Nothing special, just gives decent positioning at low percents

Grab
Dk has a decent grab, talking about it doesn't really do it justice, you need to get a feel for it just like any other character. Dk's pivot grab is amazing so look out for tips for tips on that later.

F tilt
Has a lot of potential to create safe pressure and space but that seems to be clouded by his F tilt from brawl. I personally like to use f tilt to stop approaches by walking forward, then if the player approaches dash back and pivot F tilt. I hope some more people add more info on this move lol

Up Tilt
Awesome move, fast startup and lots of active frames that cover a large amount of space, on hit it can set up for another up tilt/up smash or up air at low percents. It also has a sweet spot that can kill at surprising percents with rage(Big 0 will replace this with how the sweet spot works :3) Up tilt is the perfect move to throw out after a frame trap or shield cross up because it has the fastest startup of our grounded move with a big range. Also one of DKs best moves to punish with, if someone is above shield grab range or uses a move like Yoshi's dash attack that puts Yoshi in an ambiguous position, Up tilt if your go to move.
 

Luigi player

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So lets try to finish up the move set analysis so we can really get the deep part of DK. I think most of us really know DKs moves well so I think it shouldn't take long.

Here is some of my thoughts on some of his moves. I highly recommend knowing frame data, it makes these tips more useful.

Jab 1
Decent frame data being 5 frames but not something you want to be mashing, Jab 1 spaced correctly can be very safe and any punishes can be most likely be disrupted by jab 2. Jab 1 at the tip of the hit box pulls players in on hit, this sets up for dilt, grab, pivot grab, and some cases up tilt (on floaty characters) or even down smash. Tons of possibilities with the tipper hit box of this move, go into training mode and test its properties to get a feel for it.

Jab 2
Nothing special with this move, only time you will be wanting to use this is if you happen to hit the non tipper hit box of jab 1. Only thing notable about jab 2 is that at low percents it leaves your opponent having to land near you, this allows for either trying to punish a landing with down b or a long ranged attack or punishing a jump with nair. Nothing special, just gives decent positioning at low percents

Grab
Dk has a decent grab, talking about it doesn't really do it justice, you need to get a feel for it just like any other character. Dk's pivot grab is amazing so look out for tips for tips on that later.

F tilt
Has a lot of potential to create safe pressure and space but that seems to be clouded by his F tilt from brawl. I personally like to use f tilt to stop approaches by walking forward, then if the player approaches dash back and pivot F tilt. I hope some more people add more info on this move lol

Up Tilt
Awesome move, fast startup and lots of active frames that cover a large amount of space, on hit it can set up for another up tilt/up smash or up air at low percents. It also has a sweet spot that can kill at surprising percents with rage(Big 0 will replace this with how the sweet spot works :3) Up tilt is the perfect move to throw out after a frame trap or shield cross up because it has the fastest startup of our grounded move with a big range. Also one of DKs best moves to punish with, if someone is above shield grab range or uses a move like Yoshi's dash attack that puts Yoshi in an ambiguous position, Up tilt if your go to move.
To add a few thoughts of mine to some:

Jab2: sometimes useful to just have a true combo (jab1 -> something isn't true (at least not most of the time), so sometimes if you want to have safe damage and hit your opponent away jab2 is a nice option), just be sure they're in range to get hit by it and not powershield it (starts at middle % or something, or if they're hit by jab1 while they're in the air). It also hits a little bit upwards, protecting DK a little bit (though much less than in Brawl).

Ftilt: mostly good when you try to get a safe poke in and have a feeling it will hit them (if you need the range and / or vertical hitbox from it, otherwise dtilt or jab would be better). Often after combos, or when they're landing, etc. It isn't really that safe, but can be a nice poking tool as long as you hit (or even onshield, as long as you don't get predictable with it or spam it).

Utilt: has good range and disjointednes (behind + above). So it's a good anti-air and great to catch landings with while "beating" their aerial if they try one. The hit at DKs ~shoulder is the sweetspot. I often try to turn around and let opponents run into my reverse utilt to catch them, since it's so nicely disjointed (though if they expect this I get punished).


@ Big O Big O
Not sure how to add my post.. I guess you could do it like this:

- Usmash:
  • Great antiair from the ground.
With its huge range and disjoint it beats almost all down aerials if perfectly timed and they come from above.
The exceptions are: Megaman, ROB and Rosalina.
Megaman: usmash clanks with Megamans dair. He'll probably be too far away to be hit by usmash.
ROB: his dair actually beats DKs usmash if perfectly spaced (you don't get to trade).
Rosalina: you could still try it on her, since only her most disjointed dair would beat DK and it is superweak so you could still followup after you got hit.
Use it mostly when your opponent is at higher % to get KOs. Even if you mistime it for whatever reason (if they can still fastfall or stuff like that it can be more difficult) it will often at least trade with their move so make sure it's worth the effort. At lower % a different punish is probably more safe (like utilt or pivot grab or something).
Don't forget to expect doublejumps and airdodges (and be ready to punish them) or even projectiles, so don't just blindly go for usmash just because it beats the offensive options.
 
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Ninj4pikachu

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Be sure to include DK's grab game.

Back throw: kill throw at high %, and great for setting up edge guards which DK excels at.

Up throw: at 0% you are almost guaranteed a follow up Utilt or Uair. Other than that I don't find that much use in this move.

Cargo up: perfect for "ding dong" combo. Jump~>cargo up~>Uair more can be strung after depending on % and DI. Since this combo works on most of the cast at most % this can be a KO combo.

Cargo back: has a high upward angle, good for killing off the top after a jump on halberd or the top of battlefield.

Cargo down: low angle throw, perfect for stage spiking against the side of a stage. Also a kill throw if you jump off the edge towards the blast line.

Wish I had %s to go with these, but I hope this helps.
 

RiotLettuce

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Be sure to include DK's grab game.

Back throw: kill throw at high %, and great for setting up edge guards which DK excels at.

Up throw: at 0% you are almost guaranteed a follow up Utilt or Uair. Other than that I don't find that much use in this move.

Cargo up: perfect for "ding dong" combo. Jump~>cargo up~>Uair more can be strung after depending on % and DI. Since this combo works on most of the cast at most % this can be a KO combo.

Cargo back: has a high upward angle, good for killing off the top after a jump on halberd or the top of battlefield.

Cargo down: low angle throw, perfect for stage spiking against the side of a stage. Also a kill throw if you jump off the edge towards the blast line.

Wish I had %s to go with these, but I hope this helps.
The ding dong kills are the ACT uair kill %'s, bthrow kills around 110-130% or somethin like that, with rage it kills earlier obv, cargobthrow kills when youre both over 100% I find, go for cargodthrow off the side, it kills around there and at that % theyre not gonna break out
 

Brickbox

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Hey can you put a drop down box of how to vary your slide with pivot grab? or maybe we should add that later on?

I will be adding some more content soon.
 

ZTD | TECHnology

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Has anyone started working on a comprehensive list on how long these new Ding Dong combos work on Sheik by chance?
 
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Big O

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Has anyone started working on a comprehensive list on how long these new Ding Dong combos work on Sheik by chance?
In the second post, section 4e ACUT Uair Combo KO%'s, you will find what you are looking for. ACUT stands for Aerial Cargo Up Throw.
 

Donkeykong98123

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For the Tipper Jab>Utilt you have to quickly turn around before you Utilt so you get the sweetspot, otherwise it kills a lot later.
 

Neonicus

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@ Big O Big O - Are you going to talk about the little stuff for DK, like ledge attack, getup attack, etc?

You don't have to of course.
 
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Big O

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@ Big O Big O - Are you going to talk about the little stuff for DK, like ledge attack, getup attack, etc?

You don't have to of course.
Lol I honestly forgot aboout them. I added them and finally wrote something for every move.
 
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DkDaggers

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Has anyone added ACT>DK punch percentages yet? I think it would be well worth doing (I don't mind helping)
 

Dre89

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Is there ever a reason to throw out the Fair instead of the UAir in the ACUT?
Well I'm pretty sure it does more damage. But the time to use it is when they're in the 50-60% range or so, where uair won't kill yet but you don't want to stale it.
 

Big O

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Is there ever a reason to throw out the Fair instead of the UAir in the ACUT?
Another reason to do it is comboing into the Fair spike. If you ever grab someone on the SV platform while past the edge, that's a free KO right there. Also good on dynamic stages like Delfino, Wuhu Island, and the Skyward Sword level for similar reasons.
 

BurnZi

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If you have room for setups and AT's, I have a few that I like to use:

Perfect Pivot + Tipper Jab 1 is something I use a lot against characters who really like to get in close and fast. I.E. Sonic, Fox and CF. I rarely get punished for it. This can follow up into the Jab 1 to - Reverse up-tilt kill setup, a grab or a spot dodge/roll red to Dsmash

On stages with platforms (easiest on Battlefield and Dreamland) DK can B-Reverse Hand Slap and Edge cancel off the platform. to do this, while you're in the air above a platform (aim for the middle of the platform) b reverse an aerial Hand Slap and hold the direction to cancel off the edge of the platform. This is a very nice mix up and lets DK get to the Ground faster and safer. You can throw out a Bair off the platform or for flashiness you can b-reverse a Giant Punch for the sweet kill.
- DKWill explaining this on his Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbnbnPv5x6E

To help for edgeguarding, you can jump off the stage, turn around Giant Punch charge and cancel it into a bair. To turn around the charge push the left stick the opposite direction DK is facing and quickly let it return to Neutral then press b and you should turn around. To cancel the charge without Airdodging, lightly press the shield button (on GC controller, don't let the shoulder button click down). you can go out farther and for much longer than jumping off the stage backwards. Watching M2K or DKWill play you will see this one a lot.
 

Big O

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If you have room for setups and AT's, I have a few that I like to use:

Perfect Pivot + Tipper Jab 1 is something I use a lot against characters who really like to get in close and fast. I.E. Sonic, Fox and CF. I rarely get punished for it. This can follow up into the Jab 1 to - Reverse up-tilt kill setup, a grab or a spot dodge/roll red to Dsmash

On stages with platforms (easiest on Battlefield and Dreamland) DK can B-Reverse Hand Slap and Edge cancel off the platform. to do this, while you're in the air above a platform (aim for the middle of the platform) b reverse an aerial Hand Slap and hold the direction to cancel off the edge of the platform. This is a very nice mix up and lets DK get to the Ground faster and safer. You can throw out a Bair off the platform or for flashiness you can b-reverse a Giant Punch for the sweet kill.
- DKWill explaining this on his Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbnbnPv5x6E

To help for edgeguarding, you can jump off the stage, turn around Giant Punch charge and cancel it into a bair. To turn around the charge push the left stick the opposite direction DK is facing and quickly let it return to Neutral then press b and you should turn around. To cancel the charge without Airdodging, lightly press the shield button (on GC controller, don't let the shoulder button click down). you can go out farther and for much longer than jumping off the stage backwards. Watching M2K or DKWill play you will see this one a lot.
Yeah feel free to share any AT's or other useful information here. I have to point out the bolded + underlined sentence isn't true though. Whether or not you air dodge is based on how late in the charge animation you press shield. You also don't go farther using the turn around charge cancel than doing a normal turn around before jumping off stage.
 

Neonicus

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Big O Big O when you get the chance, could you add Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta to the cargo kill percents please. Oh, and I have not noticed anything new for DK this last patch, and was wondering if you know anything. I doubt they did anything considering they have buffed DK mostly every single patch already.
 
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Big O

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Big O Big O when you get the chance, could you add Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta to the cargo kill percents please. Oh, and I have not noticed anything new for DK this last patch, and was wondering if you know anything. I doubt they did anything considering they have buffed DK mostly every single patch already.
I added Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta for both ACT and GCT Uair KO charts. I haven't updated the characters that had their weights changed (Sonic, Shiek, ZSS, Rosa, and Ganon) though. I'll probably get around to updating them later on, along with trying to come up with air dodge cutoff %'s for ACT Uair combos.
 

Kung Fu

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What does "ACT Uair min/max ko percentages" mean? What does "ACT" stand for? Referring to DK's Ding Dong.
 
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Big O

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What does "ACT Uair min/max ko percentages" mean? What does "ACT" stand for? Referring to DK's Ding Dong.
ACUT = Aerial Cargo Utoss. Minimum and maximum KO%'s tell you how early it can KO and how late it can still combo. For example, 70 min 90 max means you can KO from 70% to 90%.
 

Kung Fu

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ACUT = Aerial Cargo Utoss. Minimum and maximum KO%'s tell you how early it can KO and how late it can still combo. For example, 70 min 90 max means you can KO from 70% to 90%.
Thanks for your reply. Do I have to hit the Uair at those percentages for it to KO or do I need to initiate the Cargo Uthrow at those percentages?

Thanks in advance!
 

Big O

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Thanks for your reply. Do I have to hit the Uair at those percentages for it to KO or do I need to initiate the Cargo Uthrow at those percentages?

Thanks in advance!
You initiate the jumping Cargo Uthrow at those %'s. The higher their %, the harder it is to do the combo too, so be aware of that.
 

Kung Fu

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You initiate the jumping Cargo Uthrow at those %'s. The higher their %, the harder it is to do the combo too, so be aware of that.
Thank you so much!

If they DI to the left or right do I follow their DI before performing the Uair or will DK's Uair cover the DI?
 

Big O

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Thank you so much!

If they DI to the left or right do I follow their DI before performing the Uair or will DK's Uair cover the DI?

That is character and % specific. At low %'s and on big characters DI matters less or does not matter at all. On small/floaty characters and at higher %'s DI matters. If DI matters, you just have to follow their DI when you double jump.

I need your help Big-O. Bump!
Lol. Sorry for forgetting about your question.
 

Kung Fu

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That is character and % specific. At low %'s and on big characters DI matters less or does not matter at all. On small/floaty characters and at higher %'s DI matters. If DI matters, you just have to follow their DI when you double jump.



Lol. Sorry for forgetting about your question.
Thank you so much. Just one more question. What do you feel is the best way to initiate the cargo up throw in terms of controller prefrence? Would sliding your thump down from the Y(jump button, GB controller) to the A button be more efficient or using the C-stick be more efficient?

No worries. I'm just grateful for you to even answer my questions. Thanks once again mate.
 

Big O

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Thank you so much. Just one more question. What do you feel is the best way to initiate the cargo up throw in terms of controller prefrence? Would sliding your thump down from the Y(jump button, GB controller) to the A button be more efficient or using the C-stick be more efficient?

No worries. I'm just grateful for you to even answer my questions. Thanks once again mate.
Easiest way is with tap jump on. Hold Up then press A after a very slight delay.

Some people like using L as jump and using the C-stick to throw. That way you can move forawrd/back and do it without losing momentum. It just depends what you want. Using C-stick with Y/X jump is a little awkward. Either slide from Y to A, use C-stick with L/Tap Jump, or just Tap Jump + A.
 

Kung Fu

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Easiest way is with tap jump on. Hold Up then press A after a very slight delay.

Some people like using L as jump and using the C-stick to throw. That way you can move forawrd/back and do it without losing momentum. It just depends what you want. Using C-stick with Y/X jump is a little awkward. Either slide from Y to A, use C-stick with L/Tap Jump, or just Tap Jump + A.
Alright. Thank you.

Currently I just slide from Y to A + up with the left joystick (initiates cargo up throw) and then jump again and perform the Uair.
 
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