BearsAreScary
Smash Journeyman
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2007
- Messages
- 360
EDIT: Ike is now confirmed for top tier!! Also I've played Brawl some more so I've updated some stuff. Final smash and throws added, as well as rating tweaks and more detailed descriptions on numerous attacks.
Check this junk out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKNKH7EpuLE
Moonwalk = MASS BACK AIR SPAM
Go Ike players, go and destroy everyone!
So a bunch of people have played Brawl now and it's flippin' sweet. I've been playing Brawl since it came out, and been playing Ike pretty much exclusively since he's awesome.
So, you wanna play Ike? I don't blame you. He's incredible!
Pros:
He kills people at percentages lower than 200%. This may sound crazy, but most characters in Brawl can't kill effectively until about 150% or so. Ike usually kills before 100%!
He's super heavy. He doesn't die nearly as fast as most characters, and there are only a couple characters (Samus, Snake, etc.) as heavy as him.
Super armor!!
GRAND VIPER! This combo is rapetastic x 100. It decimates. More to come in the strategy section.
Cons:
Bad recovery. If you get knocked off the stage you're welcome to try really hard to get back. But don't keep your hopes up too high. Also, most recoveries in Brawl auto-sweetspot the ledge, Ike has two recovery options: forward+B and up+B, both of which do not auto-sweetspot the ledge. So um....good luck getting back!
Oh man this guy is slow. Gimpyfish talked a lot in his Brawl preview about how slow Ike is, and he is pretty slow for the most part. Oh, well.
The moveset! Ike's moves, like himself, are awesome. I will be giving short descriptions of each move + ratings out of 10.
Let's start with his ground moves.
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Jab (neutral A) - This is pretty much Ike's only move that doesn't kill. I'm serious. I'm not a big personal fan of jabbing, as it's kinda slow and not too high damage or knockback. 3rd hit gets Super Armor, however, and it happens to be one of Ike's faster moves, so don't completely discount it. You can also jab cancel, by merely hitting shield after the first or second attack. This is useful for mindgaming to other attacks.
6/10
Dash Attack - This attack is decent, but not amazing or of any particular use. It's alright, but why approach with this when there are better options. The knockback and damage aren't great, but the speed is alright, so it's not completely useless.
5/10
Forward Tilt - Ike sits around for like half an hour and pretends like he's not gonna attack when SUDDENLY he unleashes a moderate range horizontal attack. For some reason this move is about as slow as his F-smash, and it has decent damage, moderate knockback, and better trajectory than F-smash (it sends more out than up, like most other moves do).
4/10
Forward Smash - Probably Ike's slowest attack, but good nonetheless! Ike charges up for a while before slamming the ground in front of him Due to lack of wavedashing/dashdancing, people often find themselves approaching you by simply jumping at you and throwing out an aerial. A well placed F-smash will easily reverse the direction of their face to turn the match in your favor.
7/10
Down Tilt - Ike slashes the ground in front of him, Marth-style, except about 2x as slow. It does decent damage, about 15%, but recovers relatively quickly. The knockback is minimal, it's more a damage builder.
5/10
Down Smash - One of Ike's fastest attacks. Ike slashes both sides of him on the ground, similar to Marth, does so as fast as Marth does, and does it with twice the knockback and damage! It is quite deceptively quick, great for when people run to approach.
8/10
Up Tilt - Oh man this attack is so good. Ike puts his sword above his head, and does a bunny hop up to catch people (and can even juggle some characters a couple times). Has really low start-up and ending lags. This move is the Bread ‘n Butter of the GRAND VIPER (more to come). This move straight up rocks. Use it. Love it.
10/10
Up Smash - This move is also great, particularly so with platforms. Picture Link's old U-tilt, except with twice the range, damage, and knockback, with about twice the start-up time. Nevertheless, it owns. Hard. It's quite great for tech chasing, notably on platforms.
9/10
Now on to the aerials! Exciting!
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Neutral Air - Ike does a slash downward, similarly looking to Marth's down-air. The knockback isn't great, but the priority and hitbox are quite good. The damage is also decent. Can be used for mindgaming opponent approaoches and covering your butt when you approach for 360 spacing.
7/10
Forward Air - BAM BAM BAM BAM ****. After like a second+ of startup, he unleashes a slash so deadly that women and children are recommended to stay at home for this attack. Awesome damage, great knockback, excellent priority.
9/10
Back Air - Holy crap this is Ike's best attack. It is amazing. Ike slashes behind him, very far behind him. There is nearly 0 startup lag. The knockback and damage are both great. This move destroys families. I cannot write anymore about this, use it ALL THE TIME.
11/10!
Down Air - A great downward attack. Ike takes his sword and thrusts it about 18 feet downward. The startup time is pretty slow, but the priority is where you need this move most, and it delivers. Beats out pretty much everything from below, and the knockback and damage are decent.
8/10
Up Air - What a neat move! Ike (again) has quite a deal of start-up delay, but then uses his sword like a helicopter propellor over his head. Great for killing at under 100%. What a good move! Great priority too, so it's great for almost any time when people are well over your head and want to send them to their doom (this happens a lot).
7/10
Ike can throw things too!
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Mid-throw attack - A regular old jab to the face. Always a good show, but the effectiveness is up to you. The amount you can hit them based on their percentage seems about equally proportional to that in Melee thus far, but still being tested.
5/10
Forward Throw - I didn't use this too much, but it seems to have a decent amount of potential. It seems to throw them not too far in front, so there is perhaps potential for chaingrabbing or comboing. To be tested further.
Back Throw - I know little to nothing about this move as of yet. I used it maybe once or twice and the trajectory didn't seem to be too special, but who knows. To be tested further.
Down Throw - I had hoped this move would have great potential. Ike throws his target to the ground, and slashes them in the brain with his sword, sending them upwards. I tried all day to get combos off of it, but the only place I was successful were heavy characters at almost no percentage. Not so great, but not terrible if you want to keep your opponent in the air.
5/10
Up Throw - Ike grabs the opponent by the neck, throws down his sword, and punches the unlucky victim in the face, sending him skyrocketing. I don't know yet if it sends higher than down throw, but it's not terrible altogether. Not amazing, however.
5/10
B attacks woooooo
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Neutral B – Super armor! This move is ****, but the timing must be precise for it to work out. Ike throws his sword up and when you let go of B he thrusts it into the ground for big damage/knockback. The hitbox is a bit smaller than you feel it should be, but if you can tech chase it or surprise your opponent with it, the win in priority is guaranteed. The super armor allows this move to be an effective edgeguard, but as edgeguarding isn't so big a deal in Brawl, it's not super amazing.
7/10
Forward B - I don't know where to start with how good this move is! In addition to using this for recovery, it's a great mindgame, and even a decent combo starter (I'll get into that later). Ike pauses for a second, then rips through (space animal style) decent distance. It takes getting used to when you recover, but overall it's a great move. Additionally, the longer you charge it, the farther it goes. Mostly this is used for recovery, but it can be used for mingrames and the like.
9/10
Up B - Ike throws his sword up in the air, hitting anyone who's in the vicinity and holding them in hitstun. Ike soon afterwards teleports up to his sword and slashes down, Kirby-style. It does not go an incredible distance, but it's a decent attack.
8/10
Down B - Roy counter. It's pretty sweet. More usage than in Melee since much more limited approach options for most characters. Some people like it more than others, you decide how much you use it.
8/10
FINAL SMASH
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So everybody has a final smash, and Ike is no different....
After acquiring the smash ball (and pressing B), Ike throws out his sword in front of him (not too far in front), but also throws it a bit up. After contact (which can be made with more than one person if you're into that), Ike takes them up to near the top of the screen and slashes them about a bajillion times, after which he sends them down to the ground and smashes their faces in, hurling his target(s) upwards, usually to their doom. Not a guaranteed kill until about 50% (before being slashed up) for most characters, but not such a bad final smash.
IKE STRATEGY!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ike's totally awesome. Allow me to teach a few things about how to own everybody with him.
First and foremost, presenting:
The GRAND VIPER! It worked in Guilty Gear, and now it's here in Smash Bros to **** just the same! Use Forward B to approach and then follow it up with an Up tilt. The approach is extremely quick, and the Up tilt follows up almost immediately, leaving the opponent dumbfounded as to how owned he has just been. It's so good you won't even know what to do afterwards! But here are some ideas of what you can:
1. Follow up with U-Air, F-air or B-air. They're all solid chases and if they're at 70+% on hit from any of these could very well kill.
2. If they ever whiff attacks or stand around, feel free to unleash another GRAND VIPER on them. Who could see such a **** combo hitting them twice in 5 seconds? Not many people.
EDIT - EXPLANATION OF THE GRAND VIPER:
Allow me to elaborate further on the GRAND VIPER approach/combo and how it works. The forward-B is designed to whiff, a mere mindgame as Ike's speed is deceptive. The Up-tilt (or grab if you prefer it, although imo uptilt is more effective) is a follow-up to the missed forward-B, catching your opponent off guard. Ideally you should switch between the two follow-up attacks to ensure 100% victory. Up-tilt is effective, even if they shield it, because you can follow-up with a pressure/lockdown game by chasing with a forward air or whatever you prefer to keep them guessing. If the forward-B hits, you don't have to worry about follow up, they're already in the air.
Secondary strategies/approaches:
1. Back air. ALL DAY. It's really really good. It kills people. It DOMINATES. I don't know what else to write. This move rocks. It's seriously a strategy by itself.
2. A large part of Ike’s game is based on timing/spacing. It takes a while to get them both down pat, but trust that in time you’ll get it, and you’ll feel the power of Ike.
3. Turtling is surprisingly effective with Ike. It is personally not my cup of tea, but mindgames -> pivot smashes and baiting can be big parts of his game if that’s how you want to play him.
4. Ike is the (top tier) Ganondorf of Brawl. His game is based highly on spacing and mindgames/tech chasing. Most of his aerials knock your opponent far enough back that they cannot shield grab you, and have tremendous power/fear factor.
In Conclusion:
Gimpyfish was right. Ike is slow. But that does not mean he is bad. In fact, it is quite the opposite! Ike is absolutely amazing! If you wanted to try him but were afraid he would suck (I know I was), fret no more! Ike is here to save the day!
Check this junk out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKNKH7EpuLE
Moonwalk = MASS BACK AIR SPAM
Go Ike players, go and destroy everyone!
So a bunch of people have played Brawl now and it's flippin' sweet. I've been playing Brawl since it came out, and been playing Ike pretty much exclusively since he's awesome.
So, you wanna play Ike? I don't blame you. He's incredible!
Pros:
He kills people at percentages lower than 200%. This may sound crazy, but most characters in Brawl can't kill effectively until about 150% or so. Ike usually kills before 100%!
He's super heavy. He doesn't die nearly as fast as most characters, and there are only a couple characters (Samus, Snake, etc.) as heavy as him.
Super armor!!
GRAND VIPER! This combo is rapetastic x 100. It decimates. More to come in the strategy section.
Cons:
Bad recovery. If you get knocked off the stage you're welcome to try really hard to get back. But don't keep your hopes up too high. Also, most recoveries in Brawl auto-sweetspot the ledge, Ike has two recovery options: forward+B and up+B, both of which do not auto-sweetspot the ledge. So um....good luck getting back!
Oh man this guy is slow. Gimpyfish talked a lot in his Brawl preview about how slow Ike is, and he is pretty slow for the most part. Oh, well.
The moveset! Ike's moves, like himself, are awesome. I will be giving short descriptions of each move + ratings out of 10.
Let's start with his ground moves.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jab (neutral A) - This is pretty much Ike's only move that doesn't kill. I'm serious. I'm not a big personal fan of jabbing, as it's kinda slow and not too high damage or knockback. 3rd hit gets Super Armor, however, and it happens to be one of Ike's faster moves, so don't completely discount it. You can also jab cancel, by merely hitting shield after the first or second attack. This is useful for mindgaming to other attacks.
6/10
Dash Attack - This attack is decent, but not amazing or of any particular use. It's alright, but why approach with this when there are better options. The knockback and damage aren't great, but the speed is alright, so it's not completely useless.
5/10
Forward Tilt - Ike sits around for like half an hour and pretends like he's not gonna attack when SUDDENLY he unleashes a moderate range horizontal attack. For some reason this move is about as slow as his F-smash, and it has decent damage, moderate knockback, and better trajectory than F-smash (it sends more out than up, like most other moves do).
4/10
Forward Smash - Probably Ike's slowest attack, but good nonetheless! Ike charges up for a while before slamming the ground in front of him Due to lack of wavedashing/dashdancing, people often find themselves approaching you by simply jumping at you and throwing out an aerial. A well placed F-smash will easily reverse the direction of their face to turn the match in your favor.
7/10
Down Tilt - Ike slashes the ground in front of him, Marth-style, except about 2x as slow. It does decent damage, about 15%, but recovers relatively quickly. The knockback is minimal, it's more a damage builder.
5/10
Down Smash - One of Ike's fastest attacks. Ike slashes both sides of him on the ground, similar to Marth, does so as fast as Marth does, and does it with twice the knockback and damage! It is quite deceptively quick, great for when people run to approach.
8/10
Up Tilt - Oh man this attack is so good. Ike puts his sword above his head, and does a bunny hop up to catch people (and can even juggle some characters a couple times). Has really low start-up and ending lags. This move is the Bread ‘n Butter of the GRAND VIPER (more to come). This move straight up rocks. Use it. Love it.
10/10
Up Smash - This move is also great, particularly so with platforms. Picture Link's old U-tilt, except with twice the range, damage, and knockback, with about twice the start-up time. Nevertheless, it owns. Hard. It's quite great for tech chasing, notably on platforms.
9/10
Now on to the aerials! Exciting!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neutral Air - Ike does a slash downward, similarly looking to Marth's down-air. The knockback isn't great, but the priority and hitbox are quite good. The damage is also decent. Can be used for mindgaming opponent approaoches and covering your butt when you approach for 360 spacing.
7/10
Forward Air - BAM BAM BAM BAM ****. After like a second+ of startup, he unleashes a slash so deadly that women and children are recommended to stay at home for this attack. Awesome damage, great knockback, excellent priority.
9/10
Back Air - Holy crap this is Ike's best attack. It is amazing. Ike slashes behind him, very far behind him. There is nearly 0 startup lag. The knockback and damage are both great. This move destroys families. I cannot write anymore about this, use it ALL THE TIME.
11/10!
Down Air - A great downward attack. Ike takes his sword and thrusts it about 18 feet downward. The startup time is pretty slow, but the priority is where you need this move most, and it delivers. Beats out pretty much everything from below, and the knockback and damage are decent.
8/10
Up Air - What a neat move! Ike (again) has quite a deal of start-up delay, but then uses his sword like a helicopter propellor over his head. Great for killing at under 100%. What a good move! Great priority too, so it's great for almost any time when people are well over your head and want to send them to their doom (this happens a lot).
7/10
Ike can throw things too!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mid-throw attack - A regular old jab to the face. Always a good show, but the effectiveness is up to you. The amount you can hit them based on their percentage seems about equally proportional to that in Melee thus far, but still being tested.
5/10
Forward Throw - I didn't use this too much, but it seems to have a decent amount of potential. It seems to throw them not too far in front, so there is perhaps potential for chaingrabbing or comboing. To be tested further.
Back Throw - I know little to nothing about this move as of yet. I used it maybe once or twice and the trajectory didn't seem to be too special, but who knows. To be tested further.
Down Throw - I had hoped this move would have great potential. Ike throws his target to the ground, and slashes them in the brain with his sword, sending them upwards. I tried all day to get combos off of it, but the only place I was successful were heavy characters at almost no percentage. Not so great, but not terrible if you want to keep your opponent in the air.
5/10
Up Throw - Ike grabs the opponent by the neck, throws down his sword, and punches the unlucky victim in the face, sending him skyrocketing. I don't know yet if it sends higher than down throw, but it's not terrible altogether. Not amazing, however.
5/10
B attacks woooooo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neutral B – Super armor! This move is ****, but the timing must be precise for it to work out. Ike throws his sword up and when you let go of B he thrusts it into the ground for big damage/knockback. The hitbox is a bit smaller than you feel it should be, but if you can tech chase it or surprise your opponent with it, the win in priority is guaranteed. The super armor allows this move to be an effective edgeguard, but as edgeguarding isn't so big a deal in Brawl, it's not super amazing.
7/10
Forward B - I don't know where to start with how good this move is! In addition to using this for recovery, it's a great mindgame, and even a decent combo starter (I'll get into that later). Ike pauses for a second, then rips through (space animal style) decent distance. It takes getting used to when you recover, but overall it's a great move. Additionally, the longer you charge it, the farther it goes. Mostly this is used for recovery, but it can be used for mingrames and the like.
9/10
Up B - Ike throws his sword up in the air, hitting anyone who's in the vicinity and holding them in hitstun. Ike soon afterwards teleports up to his sword and slashes down, Kirby-style. It does not go an incredible distance, but it's a decent attack.
8/10
Down B - Roy counter. It's pretty sweet. More usage than in Melee since much more limited approach options for most characters. Some people like it more than others, you decide how much you use it.
8/10
FINAL SMASH
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So everybody has a final smash, and Ike is no different....
After acquiring the smash ball (and pressing B), Ike throws out his sword in front of him (not too far in front), but also throws it a bit up. After contact (which can be made with more than one person if you're into that), Ike takes them up to near the top of the screen and slashes them about a bajillion times, after which he sends them down to the ground and smashes their faces in, hurling his target(s) upwards, usually to their doom. Not a guaranteed kill until about 50% (before being slashed up) for most characters, but not such a bad final smash.
IKE STRATEGY!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ike's totally awesome. Allow me to teach a few things about how to own everybody with him.
First and foremost, presenting:
The GRAND VIPER! It worked in Guilty Gear, and now it's here in Smash Bros to **** just the same! Use Forward B to approach and then follow it up with an Up tilt. The approach is extremely quick, and the Up tilt follows up almost immediately, leaving the opponent dumbfounded as to how owned he has just been. It's so good you won't even know what to do afterwards! But here are some ideas of what you can:
1. Follow up with U-Air, F-air or B-air. They're all solid chases and if they're at 70+% on hit from any of these could very well kill.
2. If they ever whiff attacks or stand around, feel free to unleash another GRAND VIPER on them. Who could see such a **** combo hitting them twice in 5 seconds? Not many people.
EDIT - EXPLANATION OF THE GRAND VIPER:
Allow me to elaborate further on the GRAND VIPER approach/combo and how it works. The forward-B is designed to whiff, a mere mindgame as Ike's speed is deceptive. The Up-tilt (or grab if you prefer it, although imo uptilt is more effective) is a follow-up to the missed forward-B, catching your opponent off guard. Ideally you should switch between the two follow-up attacks to ensure 100% victory. Up-tilt is effective, even if they shield it, because you can follow-up with a pressure/lockdown game by chasing with a forward air or whatever you prefer to keep them guessing. If the forward-B hits, you don't have to worry about follow up, they're already in the air.
Secondary strategies/approaches:
1. Back air. ALL DAY. It's really really good. It kills people. It DOMINATES. I don't know what else to write. This move rocks. It's seriously a strategy by itself.
2. A large part of Ike’s game is based on timing/spacing. It takes a while to get them both down pat, but trust that in time you’ll get it, and you’ll feel the power of Ike.
3. Turtling is surprisingly effective with Ike. It is personally not my cup of tea, but mindgames -> pivot smashes and baiting can be big parts of his game if that’s how you want to play him.
4. Ike is the (top tier) Ganondorf of Brawl. His game is based highly on spacing and mindgames/tech chasing. Most of his aerials knock your opponent far enough back that they cannot shield grab you, and have tremendous power/fear factor.
In Conclusion:
Gimpyfish was right. Ike is slow. But that does not mean he is bad. In fact, it is quite the opposite! Ike is absolutely amazing! If you wanted to try him but were afraid he would suck (I know I was), fret no more! Ike is here to save the day!
