2ManyCooks
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2015
- Messages
- 13
Hey Doc players, so a lot of you hopefully saw, and were aided by my Doc tutorial video. Before the video's release, I wrote a document with a bunch of the ideas that I showcased in the video. I figured since I didn't follow it directly in the video, I may as well post it in here.
Dr. Mario Concepts and Combos
Neutral Game:
Doc's neutral game obviously relies heavily on the skill of the player. The key to a dominating neutral game usually begins with a character that has good frame data, and good speed. Doc has one of those things. With his Mario frame data, Doc can safely use reverse aerial rush bairs and retreating nairs in the neutral to force shields out of opponents, which can lead to grabs.
Grab Follow Ups:
At low percents Doc has a strong, damage based follow up game from grab. Guaranteed from 0% is usually an up smash or an up air, up smash usually being the better option, as it can net regrabs on characters with faster fall speeds, as well as dealing decent damage.
At mid percents its important to follow the DI of your opponent, as there are follow ups that are more optimal for certain DIs rather than others. For instance, if an opponent DIs in, or up, a strong follow up can be a quick back air for solid damage and a longer potential string. If the opponent DIs away, up air usually is the favourable option. To get the most out of Doc's aerials, its important to know the autocancel windows for each one, and to practice them on a actual target, as the input timing varies slightly due to the animation lasting a bit longer once connecting the hit. On floatier characters, Doc can get some Sheik esque strings with auto cancel up air. This can grant Doc stage control and sometimes can even steal the jump of an opponent. Make sure to look for their double jump ring when you're comboing them.
At high percents, the down throw fair is a deadly follow up with outrageous knockback. Here is a list made by fellow Doc player TRC highlighting the percents in which this conversion is a true combo. HOWEVER, much more valuable than watching the percent, is watching the height at which the opponent pops up from the down throw. If you can memorize what this height looks like when you down throw them, you will be able to react to it, and know when to follow up with a fair, and when to choose a different follow up. This recognition of height will give you a huge tool in your follow up game from down throw. Chances are, your opponent won't know this exact distance, therefore sometimes they will be scared into airdodging. This creates a 50/50 of sorts from Doc's downthrow at these percents, so be wary of an airdodging opponent for an even juicier follow up.
As an interesting note, at around 10 to 15% on fastfallers, a missed tech scenario can be created from forward throw. Keeping in mind that both pill, and nair can jab reset the opponent if they miss the tech, this can lead to huge damage, or a regrab. I would recommend sticking to nair if you attempt this, as it is much less of a risk if the opponent DIs unfavourably or lands the tech. If you manage to lock the opponent with nair, immediately f tilt them to extend the lock, then punish the neutral get up with either a fair or a regrab.
Special Moves:
Pill...The utilization of pill is very matchup dependent. It is NOT worth your while to spam a lot of pills in matchups with fast, punish heavy characters like ZSS and Sheik. Pills are safer to use to help cover your landing, and to provide a bit of pressure for long range opponents. One of my favourite tricks with pill is sending them off stage to catch the double jumps of low recovering opponents. Pill is also cool because its a physical attack, rendering it unabsorbable from characters like Ness, Lucas and Game and Watch. B reversing pill mid air can also trick your opponent when they are trying to cover your landing. Try to be sparing with your use of this though, as it can get predictable and you can be punished for it.
Doc's infamous up b. A very powerful tool for this character. It can be used out of shield for powerful reversals, for combo finishers, for combo breakers, and for a kill option. This move comes out on a staggering frame 3, and with its huge base knockback, it might be one of the best out of shield options in the whole game. I see a lot of Doc players spamming this move a lot, when truly it is most effective in sealing out a stock, and being used out of shield to punish. By the way, when I say out of shield, I mean truly out of shield. If you play with tap jump off like I do, there are a few methods that work. I've seen some people map their R trigger, or which ever trigger they don't use, to jump, then to up b out of shield they press R, then up b. The method I use is a quick switch in controller grip. I move my index finger onto y, then my thumb onto b. I also use this method for up smash out of shield, flicking the c stick up with my thumb. Some interesting notes about up b, is that it can be reversed in shield to cover opponents attempting to cross you up, or roll through you. Another notable technique is the linking into up b via cancelling jab 2 into it. Simply input jab 1 and 2, then quickly mash up b to buffer the input to come out as frame tight as possible. This is particularly strong when Doc has rage, and when utilized on floaty characters with no quick aerials such as Rosa and Jigglypuff. This is a great surprise option. Shoutouts to SoCal Smasher A2ZOMG for the development of this tech.
Doc's cape is another strong tool. While its obvious purpose is to reflect projectiles, I find it to be more useful as a gimping tool. Caping is especially strong in Smash 4 because of the little bit of distance it sends the opponent when they're hit in the air. Noticing when characters are unsafely using up special moves that put them in special fall, like Luigi, Marth, or Ryu, can yield Doc some super early gimps due to cape. (Ikey clip from Otafest) Any time an opponent recovers high, be sure to have the presence of mind to cape them away from the ledge. Also, if ever you land a shieldbreak, or a Puff player whiffs a rest, be sure to start caping them to add extra damage for an even larger punish. B reversing and wave bouncing cape can also yield some tricky movement options on platforms, and for mix ups in some cases.
Doctor Tornado is one of my favourite moves in Doc's arsenal. It has a lot of uses and applications. Something to note about tornado is that its purpose as a move is not for damage, but for stage control. If edgeguarding and having strong control of the stage is not something you're strong at as a player, I would work to try to improve that before throwing out tornado a lot. The inner hits of it seem to beat almost any move, making it a good landing option after a ledge trump, or to evade a dangerous situation. If this move connects when you are grounded, its important to know that you can select which direction the opponent gets launched out from. By holding right once an opponent is in the tornado, they will usually launch out to the left. By holding left your opponent should launch out to the right. Having this knowledge is imperative for asserting stage control when you connect with this move. Tornado has very high horizontal base knockback, making it a strong edgeguarding option against many characters. Using it in corporation with the Smashville taxi platform, Doc can get some extremely early kills with pratfall tornado, but make sure to save your double jump to get back to the stage. Similar to Luigi's cyclone, Doc tornado can actually achieve the same gimping effect on recovering opponents, however the timing is very strict and can be unreliable, so it's probably better to stay on stage.
Other info and tricks
-Doc's dair is a great edgeguarding tool against opponents trying to sweet spot the ledge from a low recovery.
-Doc's F smash is the strongest close to his palm, and angled upwards
-Downthrow at low-mid percents can create missed tech scenarios under platforms.
-Nair can create tech chase scenarios at mid-high percents.
-An up b below the ledge for stage spiking is a tricky option because the large hit lag on the move sometimes causes the opponents tech window to close early
Dr. Mario Concepts and Combos
Neutral Game:
Doc's neutral game obviously relies heavily on the skill of the player. The key to a dominating neutral game usually begins with a character that has good frame data, and good speed. Doc has one of those things. With his Mario frame data, Doc can safely use reverse aerial rush bairs and retreating nairs in the neutral to force shields out of opponents, which can lead to grabs.
Grab Follow Ups:
At low percents Doc has a strong, damage based follow up game from grab. Guaranteed from 0% is usually an up smash or an up air, up smash usually being the better option, as it can net regrabs on characters with faster fall speeds, as well as dealing decent damage.
At mid percents its important to follow the DI of your opponent, as there are follow ups that are more optimal for certain DIs rather than others. For instance, if an opponent DIs in, or up, a strong follow up can be a quick back air for solid damage and a longer potential string. If the opponent DIs away, up air usually is the favourable option. To get the most out of Doc's aerials, its important to know the autocancel windows for each one, and to practice them on a actual target, as the input timing varies slightly due to the animation lasting a bit longer once connecting the hit. On floatier characters, Doc can get some Sheik esque strings with auto cancel up air. This can grant Doc stage control and sometimes can even steal the jump of an opponent. Make sure to look for their double jump ring when you're comboing them.
At high percents, the down throw fair is a deadly follow up with outrageous knockback. Here is a list made by fellow Doc player TRC highlighting the percents in which this conversion is a true combo. HOWEVER, much more valuable than watching the percent, is watching the height at which the opponent pops up from the down throw. If you can memorize what this height looks like when you down throw them, you will be able to react to it, and know when to follow up with a fair, and when to choose a different follow up. This recognition of height will give you a huge tool in your follow up game from down throw. Chances are, your opponent won't know this exact distance, therefore sometimes they will be scared into airdodging. This creates a 50/50 of sorts from Doc's downthrow at these percents, so be wary of an airdodging opponent for an even juicier follow up.
As an interesting note, at around 10 to 15% on fastfallers, a missed tech scenario can be created from forward throw. Keeping in mind that both pill, and nair can jab reset the opponent if they miss the tech, this can lead to huge damage, or a regrab. I would recommend sticking to nair if you attempt this, as it is much less of a risk if the opponent DIs unfavourably or lands the tech. If you manage to lock the opponent with nair, immediately f tilt them to extend the lock, then punish the neutral get up with either a fair or a regrab.
Special Moves:
Pill...The utilization of pill is very matchup dependent. It is NOT worth your while to spam a lot of pills in matchups with fast, punish heavy characters like ZSS and Sheik. Pills are safer to use to help cover your landing, and to provide a bit of pressure for long range opponents. One of my favourite tricks with pill is sending them off stage to catch the double jumps of low recovering opponents. Pill is also cool because its a physical attack, rendering it unabsorbable from characters like Ness, Lucas and Game and Watch. B reversing pill mid air can also trick your opponent when they are trying to cover your landing. Try to be sparing with your use of this though, as it can get predictable and you can be punished for it.
Doc's infamous up b. A very powerful tool for this character. It can be used out of shield for powerful reversals, for combo finishers, for combo breakers, and for a kill option. This move comes out on a staggering frame 3, and with its huge base knockback, it might be one of the best out of shield options in the whole game. I see a lot of Doc players spamming this move a lot, when truly it is most effective in sealing out a stock, and being used out of shield to punish. By the way, when I say out of shield, I mean truly out of shield. If you play with tap jump off like I do, there are a few methods that work. I've seen some people map their R trigger, or which ever trigger they don't use, to jump, then to up b out of shield they press R, then up b. The method I use is a quick switch in controller grip. I move my index finger onto y, then my thumb onto b. I also use this method for up smash out of shield, flicking the c stick up with my thumb. Some interesting notes about up b, is that it can be reversed in shield to cover opponents attempting to cross you up, or roll through you. Another notable technique is the linking into up b via cancelling jab 2 into it. Simply input jab 1 and 2, then quickly mash up b to buffer the input to come out as frame tight as possible. This is particularly strong when Doc has rage, and when utilized on floaty characters with no quick aerials such as Rosa and Jigglypuff. This is a great surprise option. Shoutouts to SoCal Smasher A2ZOMG for the development of this tech.
Doc's cape is another strong tool. While its obvious purpose is to reflect projectiles, I find it to be more useful as a gimping tool. Caping is especially strong in Smash 4 because of the little bit of distance it sends the opponent when they're hit in the air. Noticing when characters are unsafely using up special moves that put them in special fall, like Luigi, Marth, or Ryu, can yield Doc some super early gimps due to cape. (Ikey clip from Otafest) Any time an opponent recovers high, be sure to have the presence of mind to cape them away from the ledge. Also, if ever you land a shieldbreak, or a Puff player whiffs a rest, be sure to start caping them to add extra damage for an even larger punish. B reversing and wave bouncing cape can also yield some tricky movement options on platforms, and for mix ups in some cases.
Doctor Tornado is one of my favourite moves in Doc's arsenal. It has a lot of uses and applications. Something to note about tornado is that its purpose as a move is not for damage, but for stage control. If edgeguarding and having strong control of the stage is not something you're strong at as a player, I would work to try to improve that before throwing out tornado a lot. The inner hits of it seem to beat almost any move, making it a good landing option after a ledge trump, or to evade a dangerous situation. If this move connects when you are grounded, its important to know that you can select which direction the opponent gets launched out from. By holding right once an opponent is in the tornado, they will usually launch out to the left. By holding left your opponent should launch out to the right. Having this knowledge is imperative for asserting stage control when you connect with this move. Tornado has very high horizontal base knockback, making it a strong edgeguarding option against many characters. Using it in corporation with the Smashville taxi platform, Doc can get some extremely early kills with pratfall tornado, but make sure to save your double jump to get back to the stage. Similar to Luigi's cyclone, Doc tornado can actually achieve the same gimping effect on recovering opponents, however the timing is very strict and can be unreliable, so it's probably better to stay on stage.
Other info and tricks
-Doc's dair is a great edgeguarding tool against opponents trying to sweet spot the ledge from a low recovery.
-Doc's F smash is the strongest close to his palm, and angled upwards
-Downthrow at low-mid percents can create missed tech scenarios under platforms.
-Nair can create tech chase scenarios at mid-high percents.
-An up b below the ledge for stage spiking is a tricky option because the large hit lag on the move sometimes causes the opponents tech window to close early