LiteralGrill
Smokin' Hot~
Hey everyone! If you're seeing this there's a good chance you've read the DK experts article on the front page! There was just too much awesome stuff to fit into one article, so I got the full interviews here for you to browse and learn more about DK. Give them a look!
![]()
Hope you all enjoyed, and a nice thank you again to the epic folks who contributed!
What are your biggest achievements with Donkey Kong? Why should folks consider you a Donkey Kong Expert'?
Unfortunately like most other low tier mains, there are not any real impressive achievements on my resume. Since returning to Smash and switching my main to DK, I have been able to take sets off local heroes in the NJ/NY region and place decently at tourneys overall. Netplay should not be taken seriously, but I did fool around enough to get top 3.
People should still consider myself a Donkey Kong Expert. I learned from the original DK himself, Bum. After his retirement, the next best DK was MEXICAN. What PPMD and Cactuar did for the Marth forums is what me and MEXICAN did for the DK forums. I am not THE best DK, that title belongs to Phish-it or GreenRanger, but I do believe have more knowledge on this character than any other player.
What interested you in playing Donkey Kong?
I first became interested in this character back when Bum was consistently winning tournaments in New York. DK was my worst character and seeing videos of Bum getting death combos on top players such as Mew2King, Isai, and ChuDat inspired me to put in the time. Low tier tournaments were decently popular back in the day and I was eventually able to finally have a polished main for these events. When I quit Melee in 08 and eventually picked it back up last year, I noticed my tech-skill was simply awful and DK was the only character I could consistently do well with.
What are Donkey Kongs's biggest weaknesses?
Donkey Kong's biggest weaknesses are his shield, neutral game, and hurt-boxes.
DK's shield does not cover his entire body, which allows characters to potentially poke through it when he is on the defensive. Marth is a top tier that has this issue too but DK's shield is worse to the point where even power-shielding lasers is basically impossible. Turning around does help this issue a bit. Adding shield pivots to quickly put up a "back facing shield" is very important to his gameplay.
DK likes to turn around to set up B-airs and dash-dance to grab a whiffed move. Unfortunately his neutral game does not get much more complex than this. Of course there are a few tips and tricks that work on occasion, but other characters that love to get in grabs have multiple "legit" ways to approach and fend off approaches (ex. Fox, Marth, Sheik, ICs, Falcon). With a limited neutral game and the fact that it is clear your opponent is fishing for a grab, setting up an effective game plan to win can literally be formulated the first time you ever face a DK.
Donkey Kong's hurt-boxes are simply ridiculous. He has a number of moves that extend his hurt-box past his hit-box. His tie is even a hurt-box. DK can end up getting punished for being on the offensive and is just simply very easy to combo. I suggest anyone interested to look this thread.
What are Donkey Kong's biggest strengths?
His key strengths are his punish game, Up-B, and being one of only characters that can easily KO off the top.
Donkey Kong can erase a fast-fallers' stock and net 30%+ on "floaty" characters with just one grab. His cargo grab provides interesting ways to setup grab combos that no one else can do. There are ways to mess up your opponents DI by changing they way DK faces. He can also carry an opponent to a platform or to the edge for easy followups.
DK's Up-B is pretty similar to Samus'. They are both "get off me" moves normally used as an out of shield punish or immediately after a move to catch the opponent. Out of shield, DK's Up-B hits on frame 4 and is invincible frames 4-6. Unlike Samus' Up-B, DK's grounded Up-B is a strong KO move. This move is literally a life saver and I personally believe DK could not exist without this.
Many players do not seem to remember that only a few characters can effectively KO off the top. DK's cargo up-throw to U-air vs floaties can link at percents higher than Fox's. Fox is not able to up-throw into an U-air on characters such as Luigi and Samus while DK has no problem. He can also jump to a platform before throwing and/or jump while holding the enemy to do an airborne up-throw into an U-air/F-air. This makes it so that DK is able to place the opponent higher to the ceiling before sending them off for vertical KOs.
What are his worst and best matchups among the 'top tiers'?
DK's worst matchups are Falco, ICs, and Sheik.
Falco's lasers completely shut down DK. Lasers are easy to land because of the kong's enormous size. Since lasers turn your the opponent around, DK loses his main approaching tool (B-air). Falco's lasers and aerials can end up poking through DK's shield multiple times throughout a match. On top of not being able to move in neutral, DK is just too easy to combo. DK struggles heavily with IC's neutral game and just ends up getting poked by something that leads into a grab. Despite seeing players such as Westballz and Iori do well vs notable Sheik players, it is actually a very unfavorable match-up. Needles can gimp DK's recovery at 0%, as long as the Sheik player constantly does SH canceled needles over and over. If the Sheik player is lame enough, she can just camp needles and D-throw reaction tech chase DK for a full stock. I truly believe M2K is the only one who plays the match-up correctly.
DK's best top tier match-ups are Marth, Puff, and Falcon. Marth and Falcon definitely have an easy time comboing and KOing, but the same can be said on DK's end. DK's B-air and tilts are pretty good for combating their approaches, his grab punishes are ridiculous, and he edgeguards them for free (even at low percents). Because Marth and Falcon do not have projectiles, DK has "time to turn around" for B-airs. Puff is up-throw into U-air fodder (similar to the Fox vs Puff match-up), down-throw to Giant Punch is an actual combo which kills early, and her aerial approach loses to DK's B-air. Since Puff is slow, DK can literally run away and charge his punch. Like Puff vs Samus, Puff actually needs to respect the charged B move since she doesn't actually have an answer for it when hovering at a certain distance.
Is Donkey Kong viable on a national level?
I believe solo DK will never be viable on a national level. Bum was the first and last. However, I do believe DK is a solid secondary for certain match-ups such as Puff and Samus. The character being very easy to pick up could perhaps lead to us seeing that one day. Overall, Donkey Kong is simply too limited / poorly designed. His movement and lack of approach options nerfs him from being a strong offensive threat. His hurt-boxes, size, and terrible shield makes matters worse. He has a top tier level punish game but this is almost irrelevant when he has a hard time getting in and not getting beat on.
Advice for anyone interested in Donkey Kong?
First off, the standard 20XX is bad for DK practice. CPUs breakout at inhuman speeds because of some of the coding. The most recent 20XX 4.01 Beta build I would heavily recommend.
I think anyone looking for a low tier to quickly pick up should consider DK first (the Links are a close second). As a low tier enthusiast, I find that most are either just not entertaining enough or require too much time to invest for the average player. Donkey Kong is fun to play, easy to pick up, and can turn out to be rewarding for certain match-ups. I suggest taking a look at the DK forums as there is more than enough info there to help anyone main this character.
Unfortunately like most other low tier mains, there are not any real impressive achievements on my resume. Since returning to Smash and switching my main to DK, I have been able to take sets off local heroes in the NJ/NY region and place decently at tourneys overall. Netplay should not be taken seriously, but I did fool around enough to get top 3.
People should still consider myself a Donkey Kong Expert. I learned from the original DK himself, Bum. After his retirement, the next best DK was MEXICAN. What PPMD and Cactuar did for the Marth forums is what me and MEXICAN did for the DK forums. I am not THE best DK, that title belongs to Phish-it or GreenRanger, but I do believe have more knowledge on this character than any other player.
What interested you in playing Donkey Kong?
I first became interested in this character back when Bum was consistently winning tournaments in New York. DK was my worst character and seeing videos of Bum getting death combos on top players such as Mew2King, Isai, and ChuDat inspired me to put in the time. Low tier tournaments were decently popular back in the day and I was eventually able to finally have a polished main for these events. When I quit Melee in 08 and eventually picked it back up last year, I noticed my tech-skill was simply awful and DK was the only character I could consistently do well with.
What are Donkey Kongs's biggest weaknesses?
Donkey Kong's biggest weaknesses are his shield, neutral game, and hurt-boxes.
DK's shield does not cover his entire body, which allows characters to potentially poke through it when he is on the defensive. Marth is a top tier that has this issue too but DK's shield is worse to the point where even power-shielding lasers is basically impossible. Turning around does help this issue a bit. Adding shield pivots to quickly put up a "back facing shield" is very important to his gameplay.
DK likes to turn around to set up B-airs and dash-dance to grab a whiffed move. Unfortunately his neutral game does not get much more complex than this. Of course there are a few tips and tricks that work on occasion, but other characters that love to get in grabs have multiple "legit" ways to approach and fend off approaches (ex. Fox, Marth, Sheik, ICs, Falcon). With a limited neutral game and the fact that it is clear your opponent is fishing for a grab, setting up an effective game plan to win can literally be formulated the first time you ever face a DK.
Donkey Kong's hurt-boxes are simply ridiculous. He has a number of moves that extend his hurt-box past his hit-box. His tie is even a hurt-box. DK can end up getting punished for being on the offensive and is just simply very easy to combo. I suggest anyone interested to look this thread.
What are Donkey Kong's biggest strengths?
His key strengths are his punish game, Up-B, and being one of only characters that can easily KO off the top.
Donkey Kong can erase a fast-fallers' stock and net 30%+ on "floaty" characters with just one grab. His cargo grab provides interesting ways to setup grab combos that no one else can do. There are ways to mess up your opponents DI by changing they way DK faces. He can also carry an opponent to a platform or to the edge for easy followups.
DK's Up-B is pretty similar to Samus'. They are both "get off me" moves normally used as an out of shield punish or immediately after a move to catch the opponent. Out of shield, DK's Up-B hits on frame 4 and is invincible frames 4-6. Unlike Samus' Up-B, DK's grounded Up-B is a strong KO move. This move is literally a life saver and I personally believe DK could not exist without this.
Many players do not seem to remember that only a few characters can effectively KO off the top. DK's cargo up-throw to U-air vs floaties can link at percents higher than Fox's. Fox is not able to up-throw into an U-air on characters such as Luigi and Samus while DK has no problem. He can also jump to a platform before throwing and/or jump while holding the enemy to do an airborne up-throw into an U-air/F-air. This makes it so that DK is able to place the opponent higher to the ceiling before sending them off for vertical KOs.
What are his worst and best matchups among the 'top tiers'?
DK's worst matchups are Falco, ICs, and Sheik.
Falco's lasers completely shut down DK. Lasers are easy to land because of the kong's enormous size. Since lasers turn your the opponent around, DK loses his main approaching tool (B-air). Falco's lasers and aerials can end up poking through DK's shield multiple times throughout a match. On top of not being able to move in neutral, DK is just too easy to combo. DK struggles heavily with IC's neutral game and just ends up getting poked by something that leads into a grab. Despite seeing players such as Westballz and Iori do well vs notable Sheik players, it is actually a very unfavorable match-up. Needles can gimp DK's recovery at 0%, as long as the Sheik player constantly does SH canceled needles over and over. If the Sheik player is lame enough, she can just camp needles and D-throw reaction tech chase DK for a full stock. I truly believe M2K is the only one who plays the match-up correctly.
DK's best top tier match-ups are Marth, Puff, and Falcon. Marth and Falcon definitely have an easy time comboing and KOing, but the same can be said on DK's end. DK's B-air and tilts are pretty good for combating their approaches, his grab punishes are ridiculous, and he edgeguards them for free (even at low percents). Because Marth and Falcon do not have projectiles, DK has "time to turn around" for B-airs. Puff is up-throw into U-air fodder (similar to the Fox vs Puff match-up), down-throw to Giant Punch is an actual combo which kills early, and her aerial approach loses to DK's B-air. Since Puff is slow, DK can literally run away and charge his punch. Like Puff vs Samus, Puff actually needs to respect the charged B move since she doesn't actually have an answer for it when hovering at a certain distance.
Is Donkey Kong viable on a national level?
I believe solo DK will never be viable on a national level. Bum was the first and last. However, I do believe DK is a solid secondary for certain match-ups such as Puff and Samus. The character being very easy to pick up could perhaps lead to us seeing that one day. Overall, Donkey Kong is simply too limited / poorly designed. His movement and lack of approach options nerfs him from being a strong offensive threat. His hurt-boxes, size, and terrible shield makes matters worse. He has a top tier level punish game but this is almost irrelevant when he has a hard time getting in and not getting beat on.
Advice for anyone interested in Donkey Kong?
First off, the standard 20XX is bad for DK practice. CPUs breakout at inhuman speeds because of some of the coding. The most recent 20XX 4.01 Beta build I would heavily recommend.
I think anyone looking for a low tier to quickly pick up should consider DK first (the Links are a close second). As a low tier enthusiast, I find that most are either just not entertaining enough or require too much time to invest for the average player. Donkey Kong is fun to play, easy to pick up, and can turn out to be rewarding for certain match-ups. I suggest taking a look at the DK forums as there is more than enough info there to help anyone main this character.
What are your biggest achievements with Donkey Kong? Why should folks consider you a Donkey Kong Expert'?
I can't really point to tournament results that would be meaningful to anyone outside of the Texas smash scene. Unfortunately I'm a broke college student so I don't really get to travel that much; the largest tournament I've competed in was Forte 2, where I placed 49th.
I am inarguably the most successful low tier main in my state, and I am the only one who never fails to make bracket at Texas regionals. I've taken games from MT and Tirno, two of Texas' best players, in bracket, and was formerly ranked 6th in Austin, debatably the strongest Melee scene in the state.
I have the most optimized punish game out of any currently active Donkey Kong player. Green Ranger, while an objectively and substantially better player than I am in terms of both results and overall skill and experience, has yet to fully maximize his punishes in the non-fastfaller match-ups, although he is very close. Phish-It, despite being the best active DK player in my opinion, lacks Green Ranger's precision combo game against fastfallers, but makes up for it with the best neutral, edgeguarding, and mental fortitude out of the three of us. Most likely as a result of my extensive solo study and theorycraft, I feel as though I have surpassed these two in terms of punish optimization.
Granted, that assertion comes with some necessary disclaimers. I have never played Phish-It or Green Ranger before, and recent footage of them is (unfortunately) scarce, which makes it difficult for me to gauge their progress aside from what is available. They also compete in regions with a much higher median skill level than mine, which should be considered when attempting to assess their capabilities. Optimized punishes are also only one component of what makes a good player; DK's punish game is simple and effective, and the avenues by which it can be optimized are readily apparent (see also: up air more, and with better timing and positioning). Making do with DK's lackluster tools in neutral and being able to effectively condition and outplay your opponent despite severely limited options in most non-punish interactions are far more complex goals, and Green Ranger and Phish-It have a considerable edge on me in these areas, not to mention vastly more experience and far better tournament placings.
What interested you in playing Donkey Kong?
Like most other low tier mains, DK was the character I started out with when I played the game casually as a kid with my friends. I really liked grabbing and throwing and punching stuff and my favorite move was Hand Slap. When I first entered the competitive scene in high school, I was told that I couldn't play DK because he was ripe garbage (he still is), and I believed that. I played Marth for a while, didn't really have that much fun, and nearly dropped the game completely as I got busier.
When I started attending college, my university had a really active Project M scene. DK was actually good in PM so I picked up the game on the side, mostly concerned with placing well in my local scene. Being able to play DK and actually achieve competitive success inspired me to devote more time to Smash. During my time as a PM player I developed solid fundamentals and tournament experience without having my improvement hindered by the limitations of my character.
Around 3.5's release I began to enjoy PM less, and despite the fact that I had become a top 5 player in Austin and most likely top 20 in Texas (although you never know with DFW in the mix, those guys love their PM), I found Melee far more interesting and enjoyable, especially now that I could use DK somewhat effectively because of my PM background. My college town Melee scene had grown a bit more too, so the opportunities to play were readily present.
Even so, I didn't think I'd try to actually compete at a high level with DK. Then, I watched Phish-It vs The Moon at Zenith 2012, and I changed my mind. Not only was this a pretty considerable upset, but I'll debate anyone who thinks this isn't the most intense set of Donkey Kong ever played in the history of Melee, second only to Phish-It beating Zanguzen at Zenith 2014, perhaps. The combo at 11:04 is probably the reason why I'm still playing Melee today. I don't even care that he didn't get the kill. It's the best.
What are Donkey Kong's biggest weaknesses?
His defensive game is poor, mediocre at best. His size, weight, and fallspeed make him among the most comboable characters in all of Melee. His shield size is actually pretty large, but he's so fat and big that he gets shield poked all the time anyway. His crouch cancel options aren't particularly good aside from CC grab, dsmash can work but is situational and rarely worth it. You have to considerably outclass your opponent in terms of spacing, movement and awareness to win neutral on a regular basis.
His hitbox/hurtbox placement and ratio is downright terrible, nearly as bad as Mewtwo. If you want to immediately feel bad for any DK main, take a look at his frame data thread. Despite having a fair amount of fast moves with a great damage output and decent frame data, a lack of disjoints really kills him, and makes the disadvantage of his size even more of detriment to his ability to threaten space and control stage. His fsmash hitbox doesn't even extend past his fingertips. Who programmed this garbage fire of a character, and where were they when Jigglypuff's hitboxes were being coded?
He completely lacks forward facing approach options of any kind, forcing you to rely on spaced bairs and dash dance grab to create openings in neutral much of the time. This makes his general game plan quite linear and fairly easy to adapt to. His ground game is overall poor, with dtilt being the only grounded move sees regular use out of very specific situations.
His recovery is slow, linear, and because of the lack of vertical distance gained, it forces him to use his double jump almost immediately in most situations. Going low will get you edgehogged most of the time, so the safest option is usually recovering high and hoping they screw up, which is a TERRIBLE game plan. DK's good survivability as a result of his weight and fallspeed aren't very helpful when edgeguarding him is incredibly simple.
What are Donkey Kong's biggest strengths?
His punish game on fastfallers is inarguably among the strongest of the entire cast, not only in terms of its effectiveness, but also because of the ease of its execution. It is a common claim that "such and such low tier can like totally screw up Fox on FD bro, like, I swear, I saw it happen one time." However, even if you're seasoned in the match-up and your DI and SDI are on point, DK can still poop in your cereal severely, which is something most characters in his tier cannot claim. Aside from cargo uthrow chain grabs and uair juggles, DK also has access to a number of DI mix-ups on fastfallers which include late reverse bairs, analog drift nairs, up tilt and in some specific situations, even late hit dash attack and down-B.
Unlike some low tiers, who can only claim to have particularly strong punish games in the spacie and Falcon match-ups, DK's punishes on semi-fastfallers and semi-floaties are also strong, albeit not necessarily with the same one-touch 0-death potency with which he operates in the fastfaller match-ups. Given an opening, DK can effectively combo characters like Marth, Sheik, Pikachu, and Yoshi, who usually don't have to fear low tier punishes that much. DK even has guaranteed throw follow-ups on the floatiest of characters, like Peach and Jiggs.
While DK's punish potency is somewhat hindered by platforms, his fast air and ground speed as well as his amazing jump height and fast falling speed afford him great movement and coverage and allow him to use platforms effectively to extend his punishes. The ability to move with an opponent after grabbing them allows him to set up pseudo-pillar combos and platform tech chases that improve his punish game and provide access to invaluable combo mix-ups.
Between autocancel bair, ledge drop invincible up-B, dtilt, and his general movement capabilities, DK's edgeguarding game is very strong, and his coverage at the ledge is remarkably impressive if you're comfortable at the ledge and aware of your opponent's options.
DK benefits considerably from polished technical execution and solid defensive play. Proficiency with z-powershielding, shield dropping, and shield SDI will minimize the opportunities your opponent will have to pressure your shield, which can provide a potential workaround for DK's abysmal defensive game.
What are his worst and best matchups among the 'top tiers'?
The Falco match-up is so bad that it basically invalidates DK at any significant level of play. Aside from being the character who combos DK hardest (maybe Falcon, not sure), playing neutral against Falco and getting combo openings is nearly impossible if they're patient and know how to laser well. Lasers not only limit your ability to use DK's otherwise pretty good dash dance, but they also make you face Falco every time you get hit, which means you can't space your bairs effectively. If you can't space bair or dash dance, then your neutral game consists of jumping around on platforms waiting for the Falco to screw up while questioning every decision that led you to this point. The only redeeming factor in this match-up is the punish game, but you need to be ending a stock off of nearly every opening to expect to beat a high level Falco player. How Phish-It managed to beat Zanguzen is an anomaly that will likely remain unexplained forever.
The Sheik match-up is challenging, but neutral isn't nearly as hopeless as it is with Falco. She combos DK very hard and has an easy time edgeguarding him and locking down his movement. While her chaingrab surprisingly isn't much of a factor in this match-up, which is strange for a low tier, tech chasing DK is simple enough, and his lack of vertical recovery means dying to fair and needle gimps at low percent quite often.
The Ice Climbers match-up most likely isn't as bad as Sheik or Falco, but it's sooooooo not fun. Ice Climbers are pretty floaty and can dair out of most juggles, which means you won't get to do any dank gfy combos on them, and you also can't start grab combos when both climbers are around because the other one will just hit you if you try anything. DK doesn't have any good separators aside from MAYBE down-B, which is such a terrible option in general that it's not even worth it. DK is easy to grab because of his size and weight so you'll be getting wobbled a lot. Your strategy consists mostly of spacing bairs on their shield, slow sequential edgeguards, and camping the top platform to charge Giant Punch. ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!?!?
DK's best match-ups in the top tier are Marth, Fox, Falcon, and Jigglypuff, in that order. Fox and Falcon get combo'd and edgeguarded by DK pretty harshly, and with solid bair spacing and dash dancing, neutral isn't completely hopeless against them. DK's bair is good enough to compete with Jigglypuff's in many situations, and by making use of his superior ground speed and meaty damage output, playing a slow and sequential neutral trading bairs and getting the occasional uair will quickly build up Jiggs' percent. Jiggs dies to uair, bair, and grounded up-B surprisingly early, and although it's a slow and unfun grind of a match-up, DK does pretty okay if you have the patience to stick to your gameplan. None of these match-ups are particularly good, however, and patience and knowledge of the match-up will almost always allow the top tier player to prevail, as is the case with most nonviable characters.
Marth is the one top tier who has reason to worry about DK. DK's dash dance and aerial mobility allow him to at least keep up with all but the best Marths in neutral. DK's uair juggles and guaranteed KO set-ups from grab like jump cargo uthrow double jump fair or Giant Punch are inescapable regardless of DI. DK's weight makes crouch canceling very effective against Marth, and his weight will allow DK to live to ridiculously high percents as long as he can avoid edgeguarding situations. The match-up isn't in DK's favor, but I'd call it 40-60 under the most charitable assumption of DK's potential. 45-55 if you're Phish-It. :3
Is Donkey Kong viable on a national level?
Not at all. You can't get far in a national bracket without running into a Falco or a Sheik who actually knows what they're doing. DK's punish game is stupid good and highly underestimated, but that's just one component of what makes a character good and what makes match-ups winnable. His defensive game is too lacking and his hard counter match-ups are too common for him to ever see prominence at the top level of play.
Advice for anyone interested in Donkey Kong?
Unless Donkey Kong is the only character that you enjoy, you probably shouldn't put much time into him. Donkey Kong is fun to watch and screw around with, but the patience and time commitment required to succeed with him will likely diminish that initial feeling of fun considerably. The dank gfycat Green Ranger combos probably make up less than 1% of what you'll be doing as Donkey Kong. The reality of it is a lot of dash dancing, spacing bairs, and being super defensive so you don't get your lunch eaten by anyone who knows how to combo well.
Once the novelty of seeing a low tier played well wears off, people are going to get bored of watching scrubby Fox players run into your bairs and DI into all of your follow-ups all day. I catch a lot of shade in my local scene for playing lame, because that's pretty much the way you have to use DK to beat skilled players; you will get camped a lot, people will get really salty when they lose to you, and your victories will likely get written off on the basis of match-up inexperience.
If you want to play a nonviable character because you're a unique smash snowflake and the rules don't apply to you, then at least pick one that is still fun to play at a high level, like Mario or Ganondorf or whatever. Donkey Kong is not a good choice for this type of attention-craving, "counter culture for the sake of counter culture" Melee hipster who thinks they're going to change the meta and prove all the haters wrong. Play a low tier because it's fun for you and you're willing to put in the work and deal with the frustration of losing a lot and being constantly underestimated. Don't play a low tier if you want recognition, results, or money.
If, knowing all that, you still think that Donkey Kong is right for you, then I'm sorry that your life has to be this way. Study Phish-It footage if you want to improve in the neutral, study Green Ranger footage if you want to work on your combo game, and study Chandy footage if you really like uair and spaced bair.
In all seriousness, the Melee DK board on smashboards is where all of us poor souls hang out and talk shop. Specific questions and advice should be directed there.
I can't really point to tournament results that would be meaningful to anyone outside of the Texas smash scene. Unfortunately I'm a broke college student so I don't really get to travel that much; the largest tournament I've competed in was Forte 2, where I placed 49th.
I am inarguably the most successful low tier main in my state, and I am the only one who never fails to make bracket at Texas regionals. I've taken games from MT and Tirno, two of Texas' best players, in bracket, and was formerly ranked 6th in Austin, debatably the strongest Melee scene in the state.
I have the most optimized punish game out of any currently active Donkey Kong player. Green Ranger, while an objectively and substantially better player than I am in terms of both results and overall skill and experience, has yet to fully maximize his punishes in the non-fastfaller match-ups, although he is very close. Phish-It, despite being the best active DK player in my opinion, lacks Green Ranger's precision combo game against fastfallers, but makes up for it with the best neutral, edgeguarding, and mental fortitude out of the three of us. Most likely as a result of my extensive solo study and theorycraft, I feel as though I have surpassed these two in terms of punish optimization.
Granted, that assertion comes with some necessary disclaimers. I have never played Phish-It or Green Ranger before, and recent footage of them is (unfortunately) scarce, which makes it difficult for me to gauge their progress aside from what is available. They also compete in regions with a much higher median skill level than mine, which should be considered when attempting to assess their capabilities. Optimized punishes are also only one component of what makes a good player; DK's punish game is simple and effective, and the avenues by which it can be optimized are readily apparent (see also: up air more, and with better timing and positioning). Making do with DK's lackluster tools in neutral and being able to effectively condition and outplay your opponent despite severely limited options in most non-punish interactions are far more complex goals, and Green Ranger and Phish-It have a considerable edge on me in these areas, not to mention vastly more experience and far better tournament placings.
What interested you in playing Donkey Kong?
Like most other low tier mains, DK was the character I started out with when I played the game casually as a kid with my friends. I really liked grabbing and throwing and punching stuff and my favorite move was Hand Slap. When I first entered the competitive scene in high school, I was told that I couldn't play DK because he was ripe garbage (he still is), and I believed that. I played Marth for a while, didn't really have that much fun, and nearly dropped the game completely as I got busier.
When I started attending college, my university had a really active Project M scene. DK was actually good in PM so I picked up the game on the side, mostly concerned with placing well in my local scene. Being able to play DK and actually achieve competitive success inspired me to devote more time to Smash. During my time as a PM player I developed solid fundamentals and tournament experience without having my improvement hindered by the limitations of my character.
Around 3.5's release I began to enjoy PM less, and despite the fact that I had become a top 5 player in Austin and most likely top 20 in Texas (although you never know with DFW in the mix, those guys love their PM), I found Melee far more interesting and enjoyable, especially now that I could use DK somewhat effectively because of my PM background. My college town Melee scene had grown a bit more too, so the opportunities to play were readily present.
Even so, I didn't think I'd try to actually compete at a high level with DK. Then, I watched Phish-It vs The Moon at Zenith 2012, and I changed my mind. Not only was this a pretty considerable upset, but I'll debate anyone who thinks this isn't the most intense set of Donkey Kong ever played in the history of Melee, second only to Phish-It beating Zanguzen at Zenith 2014, perhaps. The combo at 11:04 is probably the reason why I'm still playing Melee today. I don't even care that he didn't get the kill. It's the best.
What are Donkey Kong's biggest weaknesses?
His defensive game is poor, mediocre at best. His size, weight, and fallspeed make him among the most comboable characters in all of Melee. His shield size is actually pretty large, but he's so fat and big that he gets shield poked all the time anyway. His crouch cancel options aren't particularly good aside from CC grab, dsmash can work but is situational and rarely worth it. You have to considerably outclass your opponent in terms of spacing, movement and awareness to win neutral on a regular basis.
His hitbox/hurtbox placement and ratio is downright terrible, nearly as bad as Mewtwo. If you want to immediately feel bad for any DK main, take a look at his frame data thread. Despite having a fair amount of fast moves with a great damage output and decent frame data, a lack of disjoints really kills him, and makes the disadvantage of his size even more of detriment to his ability to threaten space and control stage. His fsmash hitbox doesn't even extend past his fingertips. Who programmed this garbage fire of a character, and where were they when Jigglypuff's hitboxes were being coded?
He completely lacks forward facing approach options of any kind, forcing you to rely on spaced bairs and dash dance grab to create openings in neutral much of the time. This makes his general game plan quite linear and fairly easy to adapt to. His ground game is overall poor, with dtilt being the only grounded move sees regular use out of very specific situations.
His recovery is slow, linear, and because of the lack of vertical distance gained, it forces him to use his double jump almost immediately in most situations. Going low will get you edgehogged most of the time, so the safest option is usually recovering high and hoping they screw up, which is a TERRIBLE game plan. DK's good survivability as a result of his weight and fallspeed aren't very helpful when edgeguarding him is incredibly simple.
What are Donkey Kong's biggest strengths?
His punish game on fastfallers is inarguably among the strongest of the entire cast, not only in terms of its effectiveness, but also because of the ease of its execution. It is a common claim that "such and such low tier can like totally screw up Fox on FD bro, like, I swear, I saw it happen one time." However, even if you're seasoned in the match-up and your DI and SDI are on point, DK can still poop in your cereal severely, which is something most characters in his tier cannot claim. Aside from cargo uthrow chain grabs and uair juggles, DK also has access to a number of DI mix-ups on fastfallers which include late reverse bairs, analog drift nairs, up tilt and in some specific situations, even late hit dash attack and down-B.
Unlike some low tiers, who can only claim to have particularly strong punish games in the spacie and Falcon match-ups, DK's punishes on semi-fastfallers and semi-floaties are also strong, albeit not necessarily with the same one-touch 0-death potency with which he operates in the fastfaller match-ups. Given an opening, DK can effectively combo characters like Marth, Sheik, Pikachu, and Yoshi, who usually don't have to fear low tier punishes that much. DK even has guaranteed throw follow-ups on the floatiest of characters, like Peach and Jiggs.
While DK's punish potency is somewhat hindered by platforms, his fast air and ground speed as well as his amazing jump height and fast falling speed afford him great movement and coverage and allow him to use platforms effectively to extend his punishes. The ability to move with an opponent after grabbing them allows him to set up pseudo-pillar combos and platform tech chases that improve his punish game and provide access to invaluable combo mix-ups.
Between autocancel bair, ledge drop invincible up-B, dtilt, and his general movement capabilities, DK's edgeguarding game is very strong, and his coverage at the ledge is remarkably impressive if you're comfortable at the ledge and aware of your opponent's options.
DK benefits considerably from polished technical execution and solid defensive play. Proficiency with z-powershielding, shield dropping, and shield SDI will minimize the opportunities your opponent will have to pressure your shield, which can provide a potential workaround for DK's abysmal defensive game.
What are his worst and best matchups among the 'top tiers'?
The Falco match-up is so bad that it basically invalidates DK at any significant level of play. Aside from being the character who combos DK hardest (maybe Falcon, not sure), playing neutral against Falco and getting combo openings is nearly impossible if they're patient and know how to laser well. Lasers not only limit your ability to use DK's otherwise pretty good dash dance, but they also make you face Falco every time you get hit, which means you can't space your bairs effectively. If you can't space bair or dash dance, then your neutral game consists of jumping around on platforms waiting for the Falco to screw up while questioning every decision that led you to this point. The only redeeming factor in this match-up is the punish game, but you need to be ending a stock off of nearly every opening to expect to beat a high level Falco player. How Phish-It managed to beat Zanguzen is an anomaly that will likely remain unexplained forever.
The Sheik match-up is challenging, but neutral isn't nearly as hopeless as it is with Falco. She combos DK very hard and has an easy time edgeguarding him and locking down his movement. While her chaingrab surprisingly isn't much of a factor in this match-up, which is strange for a low tier, tech chasing DK is simple enough, and his lack of vertical recovery means dying to fair and needle gimps at low percent quite often.
The Ice Climbers match-up most likely isn't as bad as Sheik or Falco, but it's sooooooo not fun. Ice Climbers are pretty floaty and can dair out of most juggles, which means you won't get to do any dank gfy combos on them, and you also can't start grab combos when both climbers are around because the other one will just hit you if you try anything. DK doesn't have any good separators aside from MAYBE down-B, which is such a terrible option in general that it's not even worth it. DK is easy to grab because of his size and weight so you'll be getting wobbled a lot. Your strategy consists mostly of spacing bairs on their shield, slow sequential edgeguards, and camping the top platform to charge Giant Punch. ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!?!?
DK's best match-ups in the top tier are Marth, Fox, Falcon, and Jigglypuff, in that order. Fox and Falcon get combo'd and edgeguarded by DK pretty harshly, and with solid bair spacing and dash dancing, neutral isn't completely hopeless against them. DK's bair is good enough to compete with Jigglypuff's in many situations, and by making use of his superior ground speed and meaty damage output, playing a slow and sequential neutral trading bairs and getting the occasional uair will quickly build up Jiggs' percent. Jiggs dies to uair, bair, and grounded up-B surprisingly early, and although it's a slow and unfun grind of a match-up, DK does pretty okay if you have the patience to stick to your gameplan. None of these match-ups are particularly good, however, and patience and knowledge of the match-up will almost always allow the top tier player to prevail, as is the case with most nonviable characters.
Marth is the one top tier who has reason to worry about DK. DK's dash dance and aerial mobility allow him to at least keep up with all but the best Marths in neutral. DK's uair juggles and guaranteed KO set-ups from grab like jump cargo uthrow double jump fair or Giant Punch are inescapable regardless of DI. DK's weight makes crouch canceling very effective against Marth, and his weight will allow DK to live to ridiculously high percents as long as he can avoid edgeguarding situations. The match-up isn't in DK's favor, but I'd call it 40-60 under the most charitable assumption of DK's potential. 45-55 if you're Phish-It. :3
Is Donkey Kong viable on a national level?
Not at all. You can't get far in a national bracket without running into a Falco or a Sheik who actually knows what they're doing. DK's punish game is stupid good and highly underestimated, but that's just one component of what makes a character good and what makes match-ups winnable. His defensive game is too lacking and his hard counter match-ups are too common for him to ever see prominence at the top level of play.
Advice for anyone interested in Donkey Kong?
Unless Donkey Kong is the only character that you enjoy, you probably shouldn't put much time into him. Donkey Kong is fun to watch and screw around with, but the patience and time commitment required to succeed with him will likely diminish that initial feeling of fun considerably. The dank gfycat Green Ranger combos probably make up less than 1% of what you'll be doing as Donkey Kong. The reality of it is a lot of dash dancing, spacing bairs, and being super defensive so you don't get your lunch eaten by anyone who knows how to combo well.
Once the novelty of seeing a low tier played well wears off, people are going to get bored of watching scrubby Fox players run into your bairs and DI into all of your follow-ups all day. I catch a lot of shade in my local scene for playing lame, because that's pretty much the way you have to use DK to beat skilled players; you will get camped a lot, people will get really salty when they lose to you, and your victories will likely get written off on the basis of match-up inexperience.
If you want to play a nonviable character because you're a unique smash snowflake and the rules don't apply to you, then at least pick one that is still fun to play at a high level, like Mario or Ganondorf or whatever. Donkey Kong is not a good choice for this type of attention-craving, "counter culture for the sake of counter culture" Melee hipster who thinks they're going to change the meta and prove all the haters wrong. Play a low tier because it's fun for you and you're willing to put in the work and deal with the frustration of losing a lot and being constantly underestimated. Don't play a low tier if you want recognition, results, or money.
If, knowing all that, you still think that Donkey Kong is right for you, then I'm sorry that your life has to be this way. Study Phish-It footage if you want to improve in the neutral, study Green Ranger footage if you want to work on your combo game, and study Chandy footage if you really like uair and spaced bair.
In all seriousness, the Melee DK board on smashboards is where all of us poor souls hang out and talk shop. Specific questions and advice should be directed there.
Hope you all enjoyed, and a nice thank you again to the epic folks who contributed!