Ripple
ᗣᗣᗣᗣ ᗧ·····•·····
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2006
- Messages
- 9,632
------------update---------------
sorry guys but I don't know if I'll be able to update this anymore, I haven't updated this in a while and I can't for another 2 weeks(going on a trip for school where phones and internet are not allowed). I also feel that half of this is info is outdated and the meta games have changed. (ganondorf is a hard match up, yoshi counters dk, ness is easy due to chain grab). you guys need to create another match up thread that has more current info on the characters and entrust it to someone who will update it regularly. sorry guys, I thought I was up to it but I wasn't. if a mod reads this please remove the sticky and lock this.
Bowser
This is a decent match for DK, he has a slight upper hand. Bowser is like the Ultimate Chimera, slow and powerful, while DK is like a giant F-Zero Racer, fast and powerful. This match-up should not give you much trouble at all except for the occasional Klaw-hop or whatever it's called now. This is kind of like Ganondorf's over-b but you have a little bit less time to react to it since bowser falls faster than Ganondorf. Bowser has barely any reach for his aerials or his ground moves except for his F-tilt, up-tilt, and bair which are their kill moves so expect them to use them when you are at high%. If you do get hit by an up tilt and are at relatively low % they will most likely use another if you do not move very far so dodge ahead of time this is a very fast tilt. Use your tilts (and Down-b if your opponent doesn't Klaw hop everywhere all the time) to space yourself. If you happen to grab them at extremely low % then a great combo to use is down throw to F-tilt along with DK punch. This combo is highly effective against all the heavy characters. In this match-up you will most likely want to hit bowser up and kill with uair rather than bair because his recovery is just like yours, horizontal. For edge guarding just do a F-smash as this hits below the ledge also. Don't attack too recklessly to because they fortress out of shield more than we do side-b or up-b out of shield.
Difficulty: 5
Captain Falcon
Difficulty: 4
Diddy Kong
Difficulty: 6
Falco
Difficulty: 6
Fox
Fox is still the same but with some massive nerfs (mainly his approach) that help DK quite a bit. Fox's main damage racker is the redundant combo of Dair>up-tilt/shine/A-combo. However, there is now a chance of power shielding the attack after the dair. The best option for a power shield at this moment is a D-smash, any other attack is too slow or too weak or both. As I said earlier fox has had some major nerfs, another one being his wave-shine no longer exists which means you can actually approach fox with out worrying about massive combos that lead to up-smash. Another sevearly weakened attribute with fox would be he loses his mometum if he fires his blaster in the air. NO MORE advancing or retreating SHDL. Even on the ground at the begining of a match if you start chrging a punch and at the same time they start blasting, by the time you're done charging you will have taken not even 20% which in my opinion is worth it because the punch does much more. Fox isn't looking to good but he did receive a buff to his recovery again. The Fox phantasm goes farther and has less lag upon finishing making this move actually usable as an attack even though it only does 4%. Although his recovery is easier to predict, interupting it is harder. You'll have to egdeguard with a wall of pain of bairs. As for Fox's kill moves he has 2 but 3 against DK. The first 2 are the up-smash and D-smash, but his dair can gimp kill you even at 0%. It has multiple hitboxes that bring you down with him making it impossible to recover with DK. This little trick causes DK to be edgeguarded by him very well. If you see it coming then a possible hope would be to tap DI up and away as fast as you can and pray for survival. The only move that you should be using more often would be F-tilt. That out ranges everything that fox has except for F-smash.
Difficulty: 5
Game & Watch
Difficulty: debated on the boards 4-6 IDK for sure
Ganondorf
This is probably another one of the few matches that is completely in DK's favor in almost every way imaginable. Ganon is a character where every move is a one hit combo. A good way to counter ganon's aerials is with a spot dodge or grounded up-B invincible SA frames. However, ganon has the over-b that grabs through shields whether he is on the ground or not. Read his aerials, if he takes too long (to start his move), there is something wrong and they will most likely use a side-b. Another thing that Ganons can do very well would be tech chase. When you get grabbed by side-b do everything in your power not to get grabbed again and again. When they are recovering beware though because their side-b can become a Kirbicide like in melee, killing both of you at the same time. wait for them to be under the horizontal plane of the ledge. If they go below it, then jump out and punish with a bair and hit them away, or dair and spike them. If you want to be gusto, jump off and do side-b for bonus points. Side-b to DK punch is a highly affective combo in this match-up and all tilts are a must spam move. last note is that be careful coming back yourself because of Ganon's dair, don't always recover as late as possible.
Difficulty: 3
Ice Climbers
This is probably the hardest match-up that DK has in this entire game. DK has a significant disadvantage and there is not much you can do to counter them. THe best thing you can possibly do is learn to space yourself like crazy. Your best weapon against the ICs is the down-b. this ***** the ICs when they are on the ground but sadly, this is your only effective move against them. It also has chance of splitting them up if they have different %. During this match I find myself using the D-tilt like its the best attack ever. At mid % it has a very high chance(like 70-80%) of causing the opponent to trip. This also includes nana. When nana trips is when you need to pull out your big guns. If you have fast reactions to the opponents trip then you can pull off a F-smash. I don't recommend using the d-smash as you must approach them for a split second and popo will pull off an attack. If you don't feel like you have the reactions for a smash you can still use the down-b to rack up about 10% and split them. If your playing super aggressive ICs then the only advice I have is to play hyper conservative as they also have a zero to death combo against DK. Watch out for the full hopped freezie blast also as that can do 25+ % if your DI is off just a little bit. not much else to say except I really like taking them to Onett as they can not chain grab you like crazy because of the car comes at different speeds and as they see the warning they will end a grab combo. You also have the D-tilt infinite here at 4 places!!! DON'T GET GRABBED OR IT'S AN AUTOMATIC STOCK LOSS
difficulty: It's over 9000!!!!!!!!!
Ike
Ike is going to be a pain in the *** to fight because he is stronger than you and almost just as fast. Ike has tons more reach, more disjointed hit-boxes than melee Marth and an un-Godly amount of SA frames. However, you have an upper hand in recovering and edgeguarding which in DK's case, completely counter Ike's recovery. The main thing you need to work on is dodging his attacks. You should be able to see each of his aerials coming with relative ease except for maybe the nair ( which is Ike's best approach) and should be dodged. I understand if you have trouble with this is as you and your opponents progressively get better this will not work as well. this is a beginner technique to accustomed you to the infinite air dodges. As for the offense, you should be using your tilts quite a lot. your aerial game is just as good if not better than Ike's. since Ike is the 8th heaviest character you can wall of pain him with bairs. When they are off the stage is when you really need to get into gear and do everything in your power in kill him.
Edge Guarding
This is the most important part of the match for you as a DK player. you have quite a few options for your guard when they are recovering. If you know they are going to use the side-b recovery there is 3 options that you can do to stop their recovery. The first option you can do is a good one with a possibly high cost. you can throw your self in the way of their over-b causing them to not even come close to the edge but at the same time you take the damage from possibly a fully charged special. Your second option for the interruption of their side-b is to stay relatively close to the ledge and time a F-smash. your last option for this is to go out and bair them farther out and up. this option, however, may cause the bair to become degraded for some time. As for the up-b, if you know for sure they are going to do it there is really only one option which is pretty risky. If they haven't started it yet then you could jump down, fastfall and use a bair to prevent any further recovery. I personally just let them use the up-b to get on due to the SA frames on the up-b. If they start using ledge game like continually using up-b then what I like to do which has helped tremendously is shield the going up animation and hit them with a bair or sometime even a fully charged DK punch when they are coming down. I guess that Ike does not have as nearly as much SA frames upon the falling animation as first thought. A well timed one of these could put an end to Ike's ledge games. Over all I believe this to be an even match-up
Difficulty: 5
Jigglypuff
Difficulty: 5? DK can kill jiggs at 50% but jiggs can combo and wop. not sure
King Dedede
This is the 4th match-up that DK has the upper hand in. stay ahead in % and forward tilt his minions that he throws at you except for Gordo(the spiked one). Make them approach you and punish accordingly. DDD has some good reach and priority with some of his moves especially his over tilt. use your down-b as a spacer and forward tilt as a spacer that knocks them horizontally, whichever is your preference to kill someone, bair or Uair. Uair is probably a better choice in this match-up because of DDD's horizontal recovery is quite good. Also with DDD's slow *** and his lag it is easier to use your smashes, go for more F-smashes and ....you know what; just use every smash more often. Bair to down smash or over smash is the best combo you have against DDD at low %. Another combo that is highly effective at very low percent is d-throw to F-tilt or even a DK punch if you want to mix it up. Just don't get grabbed yourself, if you do happen to get grabbed expect the D-throw. As it turns out, DDD can chain grab DK without even moving(Gay) which moves the favor of this match-up to DDD a tremendous amount. DON"T GET GRABBED OR IT'S AN AUTOMATIC STOCK LOSS
difficulty: 6-7
Kirby
Difficulty: 6-7
Link
Difficulty: 5
Lucario
Difficulty: ?
Lucas
Difficulty: debated again, 4-6, practice just in case
Luigi
Luigi is most of the time not much of a challenge. Luigi doesn't have as much priority as he did in melee and his moves do not kill as early as they did in melee either. Even with those nerfs he has received some buffs. The major one being his recovery. Again, in this match-up you want to bair, bair and bair him off the stage. You need to hit them far enough away so that they will use the side-b. Once they use it they are open to any kind of attack. Fair, Dair,and side-b all rocket him into the grave. even nair will kill luigi around 100% if not diminished. Even the ground battle is not much different than the aerial one. You will be wanting to space your bairs so you don't get shield grabbed. If you are on the receiving end of an aerial do not shield grab the first one. Luigi can still do 2 aerial moves before he hits the ground, and even after the second attack I don't reccomend grabbing because he can neutral tap before you get the grab off which then leads to an up-b. Instead of grabbing, use your up-b. It comes out faster than a grab and has SA frames which causes DK not to flinch. When you find yourself separated from him but both of you on the stage it's nothing to worry about. Luigi's main form of Approach is down-b which with practice shouldn't be hard to power shield.
Diffficulty: 4
Marth
Difficulty: 5
Mario
Difficulty: 6
Meta Knight
Difficulty: 4
Ness
Peach
Difficulty: 4
Pikachu
Difficulty: 6
Pikmin/Olimar
You may find this match-up to be difficult like I did at first but it really isn't that bad once you think about what olimar does. In most cases they will wait for you to approach and grab you with there incredible range with those pikmin. This may sound hard but I suggest that you focus on which pikmin they have in their line-up. I suggest this because my friend tries to pull only blue pikmin because of their range on grabs and they're the 3rd most powerful of them. If you can determine what pikmin is first in the line up, you can predict what they can do. other then that little mind training approaching short on purpose and using the down-b I have found to be highly effective along with down tilt and forward tilt. what ever you are doing it needs to be so that they become airborne, olimar's aerials are not too good and have limited range. DK's aerials> olimar's. However, Olimar can combo DK like crazy at low %. down throw to fair and repeat its a combo against DK. Additionally, Olimar can grab DK when he is hanging on the ledge so watch your invincibility. I really think that what I'm about to say is pretty basic knowledge against an olimar player but just to be safe; EDGEGUARD!!! do not be intimidated when they are recovering. Their up-b will hit you off the ledge but it's well worth it because they will fall to their death if this happens. This is still a more difficult match-up that DK faces.
Difficulty: 7
Pit
Difficulty: 7
Pokemon Trainer
----------Squirtle---------
Sadly this is a difficult match-up for beastly DK. Squirtle is a very fast and a decent hitter when it comes to his attacks. Even if you power shield his aerials he can back off before you can grab or DK punch. Don't shield grab to recklessly. If you do manage to power shield his attack and he is close enough for you to grab then the best option for you to do is side-b out of shield and then F-smash. Your best spacer, defensive, and offensive move is the bair. these are your best options for raking up damage but the side-b is hard to land. Since you will be using the bair quite a lot it won't kill until about 140%. YES this is how much you use it. An alternate kill method would be the smashes. The smashes will kill about 100% if they are close to the ledge or have bad DI. I've had the F-smash kill around 70% before. Since DK's F-smash is a monster, if you space it correctly then it won't matter what get up they do except for the jump as it will hit them in the normal, attack, and roll get up animations and possibly kill them very very early. not much else to say except that be careful as squirtle is tricky.
Difficulty: 7
----------Ivysaur----------
Difficulty: debatable again, IDK, but I think 4 or 5
----------Charizard----------
Difficulty: 4
R.O.B
Difficulty: 6
Samus
Difficulty: 5
Sheik
Difficulty: 5-6
Snake
Snake is another one of those campy characters that really annoy DK. Fortunatly for us Snake players can not really spam moves to keep DK from approaching except for maybe the grenade toss but with enough practice you should be able to catch them and return them. In this match you need to pull off more grabs than usual because if you attack and they power shield then BOOM! 20% with AAA or F-tilt. Grabbing is effective because of two different reasons in this match-up. The first one being that Snake's aerials have a tremendous amount of lag upon landing if you get them to use aerials. It isn't very hard to punish a snake that has missed you using an aerial but if you do get hit expect at least 15%. The second reason is that snake is heavy and falls at a decent speed making him able to be juggled easily. CARGO U-TOSS TO UAIR IS STILL WORKS! if they don't dodge it it does some nice damage. I'm guessing that snake player's would rather dodge dodge through the uair rather than trade hits if your low-mid% because it would send them back into the air which is DK territory and you not to far away. As for spacing in this match it's probably best for the down-b or bair. since they will not be jumping too much it makes the down-b good and since you can short hop bair and jump away before they can do anything it also makes the bair very good for spacing. Against the mines(down smash) and the C4(down-b) the best way to avoid being hit by them is just focusing on where it is planted or dropped and keep that place in your head. repeat it out loud if you have to. (your down-b will trigger a mine to go off and C4 will explode after a minute or so also)When they are recovering, if you can, grab them and throw them off as they will not be able to recover again. If they recover from beyond your grab then a well place dair or fair can stop the cypher early(around 40% but you must hit only the cypher). DK needs space when he is above 100% because a non diminished AAA or F-tilt kills DK super early.
Difficulty: 6
Sonic
Difficulty: 4-5
Toon Link
Difficulty: 5
Wario
Difficulty: 7
Wolf
Difficulty: 8
Yoshi
Difficulty: 4
Zelda
Zelda is a challenge but nothing DK can't handle with focus and practice. Zelda will start spamming right away from the start of the match-up Din's Fire. This isn't hard to get by but watch where you land because if you are close they will attack. The best method of approach against her is attack canceling that giant hit-boxed ball of firey badness but if you can't eem to time it like me then dodging while facing backwords also works. Once you are close you realize Zelda dosen't have too much of an offensive tactic to make DK back off. You need to be a little more grab-happy in this also because typical spammers stay at the edge of the level and attack but zelda can not spam once she is off the ledge. You need to constantly throw or hit zelda off the map to stop the spamming. throw her off and bair her to death. However, they can still bair you and cause some damage. I prefer the Uair as zelda can not fall fast and her dair is hard to sweet spot but it may take longer to kill. Edgeguarding shouldn't be a hassle either. At higher levels of play you should be able to predict where they will appear and smash them. Don't forget that they cause damage when they re-appear from their up-b.
Difficulty: 5
Zero suit Samus
Difficulty: 6-7
Stage heights and Character vertical survival ratings.
I will continue to edit this over time with everyone's input and advice
sorry guys but I don't know if I'll be able to update this anymore, I haven't updated this in a while and I can't for another 2 weeks(going on a trip for school where phones and internet are not allowed). I also feel that half of this is info is outdated and the meta games have changed. (ganondorf is a hard match up, yoshi counters dk, ness is easy due to chain grab). you guys need to create another match up thread that has more current info on the characters and entrust it to someone who will update it regularly. sorry guys, I thought I was up to it but I wasn't. if a mod reads this please remove the sticky and lock this.
Bowser
This is a decent match for DK, he has a slight upper hand. Bowser is like the Ultimate Chimera, slow and powerful, while DK is like a giant F-Zero Racer, fast and powerful. This match-up should not give you much trouble at all except for the occasional Klaw-hop or whatever it's called now. This is kind of like Ganondorf's over-b but you have a little bit less time to react to it since bowser falls faster than Ganondorf. Bowser has barely any reach for his aerials or his ground moves except for his F-tilt, up-tilt, and bair which are their kill moves so expect them to use them when you are at high%. If you do get hit by an up tilt and are at relatively low % they will most likely use another if you do not move very far so dodge ahead of time this is a very fast tilt. Use your tilts (and Down-b if your opponent doesn't Klaw hop everywhere all the time) to space yourself. If you happen to grab them at extremely low % then a great combo to use is down throw to F-tilt along with DK punch. This combo is highly effective against all the heavy characters. In this match-up you will most likely want to hit bowser up and kill with uair rather than bair because his recovery is just like yours, horizontal. For edge guarding just do a F-smash as this hits below the ledge also. Don't attack too recklessly to because they fortress out of shield more than we do side-b or up-b out of shield.
Difficulty: 5
Captain Falcon
Difficulty: 4
Diddy Kong
Difficulty: 6
Falco
Difficulty: 6
Fox
Fox is still the same but with some massive nerfs (mainly his approach) that help DK quite a bit. Fox's main damage racker is the redundant combo of Dair>up-tilt/shine/A-combo. However, there is now a chance of power shielding the attack after the dair. The best option for a power shield at this moment is a D-smash, any other attack is too slow or too weak or both. As I said earlier fox has had some major nerfs, another one being his wave-shine no longer exists which means you can actually approach fox with out worrying about massive combos that lead to up-smash. Another sevearly weakened attribute with fox would be he loses his mometum if he fires his blaster in the air. NO MORE advancing or retreating SHDL. Even on the ground at the begining of a match if you start chrging a punch and at the same time they start blasting, by the time you're done charging you will have taken not even 20% which in my opinion is worth it because the punch does much more. Fox isn't looking to good but he did receive a buff to his recovery again. The Fox phantasm goes farther and has less lag upon finishing making this move actually usable as an attack even though it only does 4%. Although his recovery is easier to predict, interupting it is harder. You'll have to egdeguard with a wall of pain of bairs. As for Fox's kill moves he has 2 but 3 against DK. The first 2 are the up-smash and D-smash, but his dair can gimp kill you even at 0%. It has multiple hitboxes that bring you down with him making it impossible to recover with DK. This little trick causes DK to be edgeguarded by him very well. If you see it coming then a possible hope would be to tap DI up and away as fast as you can and pray for survival. The only move that you should be using more often would be F-tilt. That out ranges everything that fox has except for F-smash.
Difficulty: 5
Game & Watch
Difficulty: debated on the boards 4-6 IDK for sure
Ganondorf
This is probably another one of the few matches that is completely in DK's favor in almost every way imaginable. Ganon is a character where every move is a one hit combo. A good way to counter ganon's aerials is with a spot dodge or grounded up-B invincible SA frames. However, ganon has the over-b that grabs through shields whether he is on the ground or not. Read his aerials, if he takes too long (to start his move), there is something wrong and they will most likely use a side-b. Another thing that Ganons can do very well would be tech chase. When you get grabbed by side-b do everything in your power not to get grabbed again and again. When they are recovering beware though because their side-b can become a Kirbicide like in melee, killing both of you at the same time. wait for them to be under the horizontal plane of the ledge. If they go below it, then jump out and punish with a bair and hit them away, or dair and spike them. If you want to be gusto, jump off and do side-b for bonus points. Side-b to DK punch is a highly affective combo in this match-up and all tilts are a must spam move. last note is that be careful coming back yourself because of Ganon's dair, don't always recover as late as possible.
Difficulty: 3
Ice Climbers
This is probably the hardest match-up that DK has in this entire game. DK has a significant disadvantage and there is not much you can do to counter them. THe best thing you can possibly do is learn to space yourself like crazy. Your best weapon against the ICs is the down-b. this ***** the ICs when they are on the ground but sadly, this is your only effective move against them. It also has chance of splitting them up if they have different %. During this match I find myself using the D-tilt like its the best attack ever. At mid % it has a very high chance(like 70-80%) of causing the opponent to trip. This also includes nana. When nana trips is when you need to pull out your big guns. If you have fast reactions to the opponents trip then you can pull off a F-smash. I don't recommend using the d-smash as you must approach them for a split second and popo will pull off an attack. If you don't feel like you have the reactions for a smash you can still use the down-b to rack up about 10% and split them. If your playing super aggressive ICs then the only advice I have is to play hyper conservative as they also have a zero to death combo against DK. Watch out for the full hopped freezie blast also as that can do 25+ % if your DI is off just a little bit. not much else to say except I really like taking them to Onett as they can not chain grab you like crazy because of the car comes at different speeds and as they see the warning they will end a grab combo. You also have the D-tilt infinite here at 4 places!!! DON'T GET GRABBED OR IT'S AN AUTOMATIC STOCK LOSS
difficulty: It's over 9000!!!!!!!!!
Ike
Ike is going to be a pain in the *** to fight because he is stronger than you and almost just as fast. Ike has tons more reach, more disjointed hit-boxes than melee Marth and an un-Godly amount of SA frames. However, you have an upper hand in recovering and edgeguarding which in DK's case, completely counter Ike's recovery. The main thing you need to work on is dodging his attacks. You should be able to see each of his aerials coming with relative ease except for maybe the nair ( which is Ike's best approach) and should be dodged. I understand if you have trouble with this is as you and your opponents progressively get better this will not work as well. this is a beginner technique to accustomed you to the infinite air dodges. As for the offense, you should be using your tilts quite a lot. your aerial game is just as good if not better than Ike's. since Ike is the 8th heaviest character you can wall of pain him with bairs. When they are off the stage is when you really need to get into gear and do everything in your power in kill him.
Edge Guarding
This is the most important part of the match for you as a DK player. you have quite a few options for your guard when they are recovering. If you know they are going to use the side-b recovery there is 3 options that you can do to stop their recovery. The first option you can do is a good one with a possibly high cost. you can throw your self in the way of their over-b causing them to not even come close to the edge but at the same time you take the damage from possibly a fully charged special. Your second option for the interruption of their side-b is to stay relatively close to the ledge and time a F-smash. your last option for this is to go out and bair them farther out and up. this option, however, may cause the bair to become degraded for some time. As for the up-b, if you know for sure they are going to do it there is really only one option which is pretty risky. If they haven't started it yet then you could jump down, fastfall and use a bair to prevent any further recovery. I personally just let them use the up-b to get on due to the SA frames on the up-b. If they start using ledge game like continually using up-b then what I like to do which has helped tremendously is shield the going up animation and hit them with a bair or sometime even a fully charged DK punch when they are coming down. I guess that Ike does not have as nearly as much SA frames upon the falling animation as first thought. A well timed one of these could put an end to Ike's ledge games. Over all I believe this to be an even match-up
Difficulty: 5
Jigglypuff
Difficulty: 5? DK can kill jiggs at 50% but jiggs can combo and wop. not sure
King Dedede
difficulty: 6-7
Kirby
Difficulty: 6-7
Link
Difficulty: 5
Lucario
Difficulty: ?
Lucas
Difficulty: debated again, 4-6, practice just in case
Luigi
Luigi is most of the time not much of a challenge. Luigi doesn't have as much priority as he did in melee and his moves do not kill as early as they did in melee either. Even with those nerfs he has received some buffs. The major one being his recovery. Again, in this match-up you want to bair, bair and bair him off the stage. You need to hit them far enough away so that they will use the side-b. Once they use it they are open to any kind of attack. Fair, Dair,and side-b all rocket him into the grave. even nair will kill luigi around 100% if not diminished. Even the ground battle is not much different than the aerial one. You will be wanting to space your bairs so you don't get shield grabbed. If you are on the receiving end of an aerial do not shield grab the first one. Luigi can still do 2 aerial moves before he hits the ground, and even after the second attack I don't reccomend grabbing because he can neutral tap before you get the grab off which then leads to an up-b. Instead of grabbing, use your up-b. It comes out faster than a grab and has SA frames which causes DK not to flinch. When you find yourself separated from him but both of you on the stage it's nothing to worry about. Luigi's main form of Approach is down-b which with practice shouldn't be hard to power shield.
Diffficulty: 4
Marth
Difficulty: 5
Mario
Difficulty: 6
Meta Knight
Difficulty: 4
Ness
Difficulty: 5itsthebigfoot said:
Peach
Difficulty: 4
Pikachu
Difficulty: 6
Pikmin/Olimar
You may find this match-up to be difficult like I did at first but it really isn't that bad once you think about what olimar does. In most cases they will wait for you to approach and grab you with there incredible range with those pikmin. This may sound hard but I suggest that you focus on which pikmin they have in their line-up. I suggest this because my friend tries to pull only blue pikmin because of their range on grabs and they're the 3rd most powerful of them. If you can determine what pikmin is first in the line up, you can predict what they can do. other then that little mind training approaching short on purpose and using the down-b I have found to be highly effective along with down tilt and forward tilt. what ever you are doing it needs to be so that they become airborne, olimar's aerials are not too good and have limited range. DK's aerials> olimar's. However, Olimar can combo DK like crazy at low %. down throw to fair and repeat its a combo against DK. Additionally, Olimar can grab DK when he is hanging on the ledge so watch your invincibility. I really think that what I'm about to say is pretty basic knowledge against an olimar player but just to be safe; EDGEGUARD!!! do not be intimidated when they are recovering. Their up-b will hit you off the ledge but it's well worth it because they will fall to their death if this happens. This is still a more difficult match-up that DK faces.
Difficulty: 7
Pit
Difficulty: 7
Pokemon Trainer
----------Squirtle---------
Sadly this is a difficult match-up for beastly DK. Squirtle is a very fast and a decent hitter when it comes to his attacks. Even if you power shield his aerials he can back off before you can grab or DK punch. Don't shield grab to recklessly. If you do manage to power shield his attack and he is close enough for you to grab then the best option for you to do is side-b out of shield and then F-smash. Your best spacer, defensive, and offensive move is the bair. these are your best options for raking up damage but the side-b is hard to land. Since you will be using the bair quite a lot it won't kill until about 140%. YES this is how much you use it. An alternate kill method would be the smashes. The smashes will kill about 100% if they are close to the ledge or have bad DI. I've had the F-smash kill around 70% before. Since DK's F-smash is a monster, if you space it correctly then it won't matter what get up they do except for the jump as it will hit them in the normal, attack, and roll get up animations and possibly kill them very very early. not much else to say except that be careful as squirtle is tricky.
Difficulty: 7
----------Ivysaur----------
Difficulty: debatable again, IDK, but I think 4 or 5
----------Charizard----------
Difficulty: 4
R.O.B
Difficulty: 6
Samus
Difficulty: 5
Sheik
Difficulty: 5-6
Snake
Snake is another one of those campy characters that really annoy DK. Fortunatly for us Snake players can not really spam moves to keep DK from approaching except for maybe the grenade toss but with enough practice you should be able to catch them and return them. In this match you need to pull off more grabs than usual because if you attack and they power shield then BOOM! 20% with AAA or F-tilt. Grabbing is effective because of two different reasons in this match-up. The first one being that Snake's aerials have a tremendous amount of lag upon landing if you get them to use aerials. It isn't very hard to punish a snake that has missed you using an aerial but if you do get hit expect at least 15%. The second reason is that snake is heavy and falls at a decent speed making him able to be juggled easily. CARGO U-TOSS TO UAIR IS STILL WORKS! if they don't dodge it it does some nice damage. I'm guessing that snake player's would rather dodge dodge through the uair rather than trade hits if your low-mid% because it would send them back into the air which is DK territory and you not to far away. As for spacing in this match it's probably best for the down-b or bair. since they will not be jumping too much it makes the down-b good and since you can short hop bair and jump away before they can do anything it also makes the bair very good for spacing. Against the mines(down smash) and the C4(down-b) the best way to avoid being hit by them is just focusing on where it is planted or dropped and keep that place in your head. repeat it out loud if you have to. (your down-b will trigger a mine to go off and C4 will explode after a minute or so also)When they are recovering, if you can, grab them and throw them off as they will not be able to recover again. If they recover from beyond your grab then a well place dair or fair can stop the cypher early(around 40% but you must hit only the cypher). DK needs space when he is above 100% because a non diminished AAA or F-tilt kills DK super early.
Difficulty: 6
Sonic
Difficulty: 4-5
Toon Link
Difficulty: 5
Wario
Difficulty: 7
Wolf
Difficulty: 8
Yoshi
Difficulty: 4
Zelda
Zelda is a challenge but nothing DK can't handle with focus and practice. Zelda will start spamming right away from the start of the match-up Din's Fire. This isn't hard to get by but watch where you land because if you are close they will attack. The best method of approach against her is attack canceling that giant hit-boxed ball of firey badness but if you can't eem to time it like me then dodging while facing backwords also works. Once you are close you realize Zelda dosen't have too much of an offensive tactic to make DK back off. You need to be a little more grab-happy in this also because typical spammers stay at the edge of the level and attack but zelda can not spam once she is off the ledge. You need to constantly throw or hit zelda off the map to stop the spamming. throw her off and bair her to death. However, they can still bair you and cause some damage. I prefer the Uair as zelda can not fall fast and her dair is hard to sweet spot but it may take longer to kill. Edgeguarding shouldn't be a hassle either. At higher levels of play you should be able to predict where they will appear and smash them. Don't forget that they cause damage when they re-appear from their up-b.
Difficulty: 5
Zero suit Samus
Difficulty: 6-7
Stage heights and Character vertical survival ratings.
kyle wattula said:
I will continue to edit this over time with everyone's input and advice
