Dolphin Slash Tips

[FE_Hector]

I looked at Stratocaster's hitboxes for Marth, but there was one thing lacking in my opinion: how you use the Dolphin Slash advantageously? I've seen some pro battles where the Dolphin Slash has knocked opponents super far, but haven't been able to figure out how to do it myself yet. Any tips?

 

[AirFair]

Dolphin slash is used in a couple of different ways, but the one you may see the most is the reverse dolphin slash.

The gist of it is that the lower part of the move has a super strong hitbox, and the higher one is less so, and only proves a weak hit.
Reversing it puts the stronger one out first, and turns around to put the rest of it in the other direction

A well spaced regular dolphin slash onstage can actually be really threatening to spacies around 80-90%, and I think PP did this to Leffen at Apex.

To sum it up, you want to hit with the lowest part of the move

 

[FE_Hector]

Thanks a ton!

 

[20YY SS | Saiblade]

Hit with the bottom part, right where the flash is to sweetspot and hit hard.

 

[Wafflesaurus]

It's not necessary to reverse it to get the strong hitbox but you should still learn how to do it so you can use it offstage or near the ledge and not fall to your death. Try it out against a CPU so you can get a feel for where the strong hitbox is (or look at the frame data thread).
It's a good move to use when your opponent does sloppy shield pressure and has high % since it comes out faster than a shield grab. It's also useful when opponents miss techs or when sheik/marth land on stage and you are not properly positioned to hit a tipper f smash.

 

[FE_Hector]

Great! My brother recently switched from Samus to Sheik and it's been a bit scary between his reads and air game. That's great to know... Maybe I can win now

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

Knockback is not always that strong at lower percents to prevent being punished against nonetheless.

 

[FE_Hector]

Still a great thing to know. I've been practicing my reverse Dolphin Slash and proper placement of it. It'll take a bit more work, but you've all helped a ton!