Kudrah
Smash Cadet
EDIT: This guide needs some updating. The time that passed after I wrote this, I learned much more of the character than I did back then. I want to ease the learning curve of this technique by adding visual aid (once I get screen capture equipment) and re-writing some content that I'd consider to be wrong. This guide is still pretty solid, but not it might have some claims that I would not agree with nowadays. Enjoy, nonetheless.
Hello, Kudrah here.
I haven't been involved in the competitive scene for very long (first tourney was last May), but I always had the edge of forcing my opponent into a situation they're not very familiar with. Yoshi does this very well because of unique he is. Never have I played a character so different in all my years of Smash, even to the N64 days. Honestly, if you played Yoshi to the highest caliber (in other words, aMSa style, as I like to call it), he's argably almost as technical as a spacie. For instance, a DJC turnaround nair (jump, turnaround jump, A, fastfall, L-cancel), and techniques like this are what gives Yoshi that edge of trickery that he needs to stand his ground against better characters.
Okay, I've rambled long enough, so here it is: egg stalling. The more "official" term would be Egg-Ledge Canceling, but I just call it the egg stall. For those who don't know, if Yoshi uses his up-B near a ledge, even if his back's turned, the move will be canceled to a ledge grab, and the egg will still be thrown in the direction you were initially aiming.
The egg stall is a technique where you let go of the ledge, double jump, then cancel to an up-B, re-grabbing the ledge.
The input is 1) C-stick down/away to let go off the ledge, double jump, WAIT, then up-B. Additionally, you can move the control stick to change the trajectory of the egg throw and control how far it can go by how long you hold B.
The "WAIT" part of the input is the most important part of this tech, because it means certain death if you mess it up. If you immediately cancel Yoshi's double jump, he won't even go up, which means that you can SD if you use that up-B too early. That is why you need to wait just a little. The same could be said if you wait too long, though. If you up-B above the ledge, you're very susceptible to a punish due to the ending lag of the throw, and you won't even have a double jump, so that's a stock right there.
You wanna know how long it took me to get the timing right with no margin of error? Months. I legitimately spent hours a day just to get the timing right.
Why spend all this time on a ledge tech that will most likely kill you? Simple: I main Yoshi. I take immense passion into pushing this character to the very limit, and in the tournaments that I've been in so far, everyone loves seeing me play. I don't even need to actually win, they just like seeing all the Yoshi tech. I'm not here to make a testament over how good I am at this game, but I'm a little disappointed in how many few Yoshi players actually put the time into learning his tech. You can't just F-air and side-B and expect to win. If you main any character in this game, that alone is a commitment to use every single tool that character has to sway the match in your favor. Players that limit themselves will always be at a disadvantage on the competitive scene.
What makes the egg stall a necessity in Yoshi's ledge game is that once you nail the proper execution, you can throw eggs at a fast rate without the lag that comes after it, but the real kicker is this: It's difficult to approach. I have actually kept it up for 2 minutes once 'cuz my opponent couldn't even get near me. Plus, the control you have over your trajectory is staggering. In small stages like Yoshi's Story, BF, or Green Hill Zone, there's is literally no spot the egg can't reach. Even the splash has hitboxes. The best use I have for this technique is that once an egg hits, the opponent could be in enough hitstun where I can side-B onto the stage, hit them, then start a combo or kill them with an U-air or N-air. It's perfect for a set-up.
But what if they actually get through? A simple wavedash out of shield is all they need to go below your eggs. Well, you still have options. The first one is to simply stop. Even with perfect timing, the invincibility from re-grabbing the ledge doesn't protect through the whole thing (Mewtwo's WOOP-ing, on the other hand...). To be a little precise, the invincibility runs out right before you throw the egg, so you are vulnerable to a gimp. That's why you should stop if they get close.
What should you do after you stop? Simple. Considering the situation that your opponent is putting you in when he's so awfully close to you. The choice you make is up to you, but one that I do recommend is landing back on the stage with neutral B. Not many see it coming, and your opponent was inclined to get close to you to get that gimp, making it a great punish. What you do after is very open-ended. B-air the egg, throw eggs to anticipate them breaking out, etc.
Oh, and concerning projectiles? Just stop. Some of them (Mario's fireballs/pills) can gimp you. It's really stupid how easily they can kill you.
Now that I've covered the fundamentals of the egg stall, here's some tips to improve your overall Yoshi ledge game.
1) Egg stalling works best on stages with curved edges. It makes it harder for your opponent to get below the arcs of trajectory. The best stage for this has to be Yoshi's Island, followed by Yoshi's Story and Lylat Cruise
2) The worst stages for egg stalling are ones with jagged/pointy edges. There's a larger margin of error where your eggs only hit the ledge and don't go above it like they're supposed to. Examples are Smashville and Battlefield.
3) Yoshi doesn't need to wavedash to an edge to edgehog. He has 2 options that are much better. The first is up-B. Since Yoshi can grab the ledge even with his back turned while using it, you can actually dash to the edge, up-B right before you fall off and grab the ledge as you throw the egg wherever you intended. The second is Yoshi's double jump. Similar to the first option, you dash off the stage, but instead of using up-B, you fast fall, then quickly double jump towards the edge, and you'll grab it. This one's a bit harder to do correctly because whether or not you do grab the ledge depends on the position to use the double jump. From my experience, I can roughly say that it works if you're around 45-70 degrees from the edge.
4) Since Yoshi can throw his eggs behind him, the egg stall works as a great edgeguarding tool. Anticipate the path of your opponent's recovery, and the eggs can either gimp them or set up for aerials. One option that I do recommend is rising N-air (hold the jump button while pressing A). If the opponent is in hitstun from the egg, it's pretty safe.
5) You can reset your invincibility by using down-B instead of up-B in case you need it for a specific time. Edgeguarding with an invincible N-air is just too good.
6) D-tilt is a joke on spacies. D-smash is better when they're at a percentage where it has more knockback than D-tilt.
Thank you all for reading this and good luck!
Hello, Kudrah here.
I haven't been involved in the competitive scene for very long (first tourney was last May), but I always had the edge of forcing my opponent into a situation they're not very familiar with. Yoshi does this very well because of unique he is. Never have I played a character so different in all my years of Smash, even to the N64 days. Honestly, if you played Yoshi to the highest caliber (in other words, aMSa style, as I like to call it), he's argably almost as technical as a spacie. For instance, a DJC turnaround nair (jump, turnaround jump, A, fastfall, L-cancel), and techniques like this are what gives Yoshi that edge of trickery that he needs to stand his ground against better characters.
Okay, I've rambled long enough, so here it is: egg stalling. The more "official" term would be Egg-Ledge Canceling, but I just call it the egg stall. For those who don't know, if Yoshi uses his up-B near a ledge, even if his back's turned, the move will be canceled to a ledge grab, and the egg will still be thrown in the direction you were initially aiming.
The egg stall is a technique where you let go of the ledge, double jump, then cancel to an up-B, re-grabbing the ledge.
The input is 1) C-stick down/away to let go off the ledge, double jump, WAIT, then up-B. Additionally, you can move the control stick to change the trajectory of the egg throw and control how far it can go by how long you hold B.
The "WAIT" part of the input is the most important part of this tech, because it means certain death if you mess it up. If you immediately cancel Yoshi's double jump, he won't even go up, which means that you can SD if you use that up-B too early. That is why you need to wait just a little. The same could be said if you wait too long, though. If you up-B above the ledge, you're very susceptible to a punish due to the ending lag of the throw, and you won't even have a double jump, so that's a stock right there.
You wanna know how long it took me to get the timing right with no margin of error? Months. I legitimately spent hours a day just to get the timing right.
Why spend all this time on a ledge tech that will most likely kill you? Simple: I main Yoshi. I take immense passion into pushing this character to the very limit, and in the tournaments that I've been in so far, everyone loves seeing me play. I don't even need to actually win, they just like seeing all the Yoshi tech. I'm not here to make a testament over how good I am at this game, but I'm a little disappointed in how many few Yoshi players actually put the time into learning his tech. You can't just F-air and side-B and expect to win. If you main any character in this game, that alone is a commitment to use every single tool that character has to sway the match in your favor. Players that limit themselves will always be at a disadvantage on the competitive scene.
What makes the egg stall a necessity in Yoshi's ledge game is that once you nail the proper execution, you can throw eggs at a fast rate without the lag that comes after it, but the real kicker is this: It's difficult to approach. I have actually kept it up for 2 minutes once 'cuz my opponent couldn't even get near me. Plus, the control you have over your trajectory is staggering. In small stages like Yoshi's Story, BF, or Green Hill Zone, there's is literally no spot the egg can't reach. Even the splash has hitboxes. The best use I have for this technique is that once an egg hits, the opponent could be in enough hitstun where I can side-B onto the stage, hit them, then start a combo or kill them with an U-air or N-air. It's perfect for a set-up.
But what if they actually get through? A simple wavedash out of shield is all they need to go below your eggs. Well, you still have options. The first one is to simply stop. Even with perfect timing, the invincibility from re-grabbing the ledge doesn't protect through the whole thing (Mewtwo's WOOP-ing, on the other hand...). To be a little precise, the invincibility runs out right before you throw the egg, so you are vulnerable to a gimp. That's why you should stop if they get close.
What should you do after you stop? Simple. Considering the situation that your opponent is putting you in when he's so awfully close to you. The choice you make is up to you, but one that I do recommend is landing back on the stage with neutral B. Not many see it coming, and your opponent was inclined to get close to you to get that gimp, making it a great punish. What you do after is very open-ended. B-air the egg, throw eggs to anticipate them breaking out, etc.
Oh, and concerning projectiles? Just stop. Some of them (Mario's fireballs/pills) can gimp you. It's really stupid how easily they can kill you.
Now that I've covered the fundamentals of the egg stall, here's some tips to improve your overall Yoshi ledge game.
1) Egg stalling works best on stages with curved edges. It makes it harder for your opponent to get below the arcs of trajectory. The best stage for this has to be Yoshi's Island, followed by Yoshi's Story and Lylat Cruise
2) The worst stages for egg stalling are ones with jagged/pointy edges. There's a larger margin of error where your eggs only hit the ledge and don't go above it like they're supposed to. Examples are Smashville and Battlefield.
3) Yoshi doesn't need to wavedash to an edge to edgehog. He has 2 options that are much better. The first is up-B. Since Yoshi can grab the ledge even with his back turned while using it, you can actually dash to the edge, up-B right before you fall off and grab the ledge as you throw the egg wherever you intended. The second is Yoshi's double jump. Similar to the first option, you dash off the stage, but instead of using up-B, you fast fall, then quickly double jump towards the edge, and you'll grab it. This one's a bit harder to do correctly because whether or not you do grab the ledge depends on the position to use the double jump. From my experience, I can roughly say that it works if you're around 45-70 degrees from the edge.
4) Since Yoshi can throw his eggs behind him, the egg stall works as a great edgeguarding tool. Anticipate the path of your opponent's recovery, and the eggs can either gimp them or set up for aerials. One option that I do recommend is rising N-air (hold the jump button while pressing A). If the opponent is in hitstun from the egg, it's pretty safe.
5) You can reset your invincibility by using down-B instead of up-B in case you need it for a specific time. Edgeguarding with an invincible N-air is just too good.
6) D-tilt is a joke on spacies. D-smash is better when they're at a percentage where it has more knockback than D-tilt.
Thank you all for reading this and good luck!
Last edited:
