Down Throw -> Levin Nair: A Special Trigger buffer interaction you should know about.

[YaraNooki]

Hey all. This post is focused around Robin’s Down-Throw->Levin Nair combo, but the info should be relevant any time you try to buffer an A+Special Levin Aerial out of another move.

TLDR: When trying to Down-Throw -> Levin Nair, you must jump before using the smash macro. Pressing all three buttons at the same time or hitting the A button before jumping will activate the short hop aerial macro instead, which will outprioritize the special input and result in a Bronze Sword Nair. Using Ultimate’s hold buffer and/or slightly delaying your smash macro timing can help guarantee that the jump input comes out first.

As many of you know, Robin’s Down-Throw -> Nair is a true combo after 8% that technically connects until ~65%, although it is generally overlooked at higher %s in favor of Down-Throw -> Up-Air’s 1% greater damage, larger hitbox, and lower susceptibility to DI. Nevertheless, it is an essential grab combo at early %’s and when trying to force an opponent offstage and a bread-and-butter that should be in every Robin’s toolbox.

Naturally the Levin Sword version of the combo is the preferred version, so I use a Special Trigger (A+Special smash attack macro) to guarantee that I can use Levin aerials on demand while still having a tilt stick. In my games, however, I noticed that I would frequently misinput the Levin Nair after my Down-Throws and get Bronze Sword Nair instead despite inputting it consistently in nearly every other circumstance. At first I figured it was online lag or that I simply needed to git guud, but after years of research a bit of labbing I found that my misinputs were caused by the Ultimate’s short hop aerial macro and smash macro conflicting with one another. Consider this scenario:

Robin goes for a Levin Nair after a Down-Throw. To guarantee the combo, you must hit jump followed by A+Special in quick succession. Given how Ultimate’s short hop aerial macro works - jump + aerial = short hop aerial - It would make sense that simply adding a special input would lead to a short hop smash aerial. This is not the case. Inputting all three buttons (jump, A, special) at the same time or accidentally hitting A before jump results in the short hop aerial macro overriding the smash macro, discarding the special input and resulting in a Bronze Sword Nair. If jump is inputted before A+Special, the A input will trigger both the short hop aerial macro and the smash macro, resulting in a short hop Levin Nair. This means that the smash macro cannot be buffered until after the jump input. To get this around this, you may want to consider using Ultimate’s hold buffer, or holding jump after the Down-Throw to guarantee jumping on the first actionable frame, which will let you focus solely on hitting the smash macro the moment Robin enters jump squat. However, if you are playing with online latency, waiting for a visible cue may give your airdodge-spamming opponent enough time to juke out of the way. In that case, you may want to consider slightly delaying your smash macro and memorizing Down-Throw’s endlag so you can jump + Levin Nair by feel. Down-Throw has a decent amount of hitstun at even early %s, so a slightly delayed Levin Nair will usually connect regardless.

It’s worth mentioning that the macro conflicts only happen when buffering a jump + special trigger input during another move or while airborne. If grounded and not in endlag, inputting the smash macro before or at the same time as jump will result in a short hop Levin Aerial. I have a couple theories on this, but I don’t understand the buffer system well enough to make a definitive statement.

Good luck, scale-tippers.