Fox

[MysticArcher]

So I am sort of new to fox and I have been trying to use him as more of an offensive player, to get combos and rack up the damage. So I was wondering if I could get some tips on combos and on defending/defending then going for the attack. Thanks!

 

[MurphyLe]

Where to start..fox is a very fast, with a lot of variety. Every attack is not wasted and can usually be used to chain into another move, so he racks up percents very fast. His edge guarding isn't too great but he still has an awesome back air, and a Nair for camping.

His approaches come in a large variety of dash grabs, dash attacks, nairs, pivot f-tilts/grabs, dash shielding, dairs, rar bair, and sometimes even fox illusion.

For beginners his approaches tend to follow simple aggression with these moves I stated above (which all chain up with more combos). Doing these moves is a good place to start off.

Combo wise his BnB consists of
- Dash attacks to U-tilts (10-50%). This can get someone to 50% with just this one combo.
- Down throw to Fair to Uair
- Down throw to Fair Spike to (anything really) *Note that the spike can be teched
- Jab, Jab, pause, Grab
- Nair to Up Smash (100%+ KO combo)
- F-Tilt to Up Smash (70%+)

*There are many more combos but these are to start you off

Once you learn how to combo and you start facing high level players things like spacing, cross-ups and reads become very significant and is where most people will begin to struggle with fox.

His defensive options come from spacing and shielding. Running up and shielding can bait out quite a few moves, and spacing become significant once your opponents begins to learn of what you are doing.

Every now and then you can throw in a roll, since this game gives you some leniency but don't plan on relying on it since rolls are still easily punishable.

Overall there is A LOT of content on this forum so all you need to do is just practice with him, I can't really tell you everything but once you develop your own playstyle you'll begin to develop things much further than what I've put on here.

EDIT: Forgot to mention his KO options. Experiment with his Smashes (his Usmash in particular), his Bair, and his Uair.

 

[Bullys]

Been playing Fox a ton, tried picking up combos off watching people but real handy to see some of them written down.

 

[DavemanCozy]

Just running in and out at a safe distance with Fox creates a lot of pressure. Fox's movement is his way of baiting.

 

[Bullys]

Just running in and out at a safe distance with Fox creates a lot of pressure. Fox's movement is his way of baiting.

How does that look for you. Would you be throwing lazers at range or any moves when you get close or literally approach and move out?

Also what are you looking for off these baits (generally)? (Eg to get them to commit and punish or chase etc).

I am fairly certain I don't do this so just want to understand what I need to look for.

 

[luke_atyeo]

^

if you are faster then your opponent, you can do lots of fake approaches where you approach them and then pull back at the last second, you keep weaving in and out like this. If they go to hit an approach they'll whiff and thats your opening to come in and start kicking the **** out of them, otherwise every now and then you throw an actual real approach into your fake outs which can usually catch them off guard. - thats the simple black and white version, its a bit more complicated then that but thats the general idea.
Its a little bit like the movement options in melee, particularly like c.falcons dash dance ****.

mixing in lasers into all of us was good in brawl, but they have so much end lag in this game its hard to do effectively.

 

[Bullys]

That's the gentle push I need to start figuring it out. New to smash and fightere but got better part of 2 decades of competitive gaming.

Though that age does mean I am likely never going to be faster than anyone.

 

[luke_atyeo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LISSQnPoio0#t=111

visual example, see how he moves in to bait the move and forces a whiff?
Fox's speed allows him to do this all over the place very well, in fighting games this kinda stuff is generally referred to as 'footsies' (if you search footsies on google I'm sure you'll find something useful)
Most players and characters use this horizontally (as seen in the video) but fox is one of the best vertical spacers in this game, and is able to do this stuff vertically aswell.
A basic example of that would be making it look like you are going to land in front of your opponent, so they go to shield grab your landing (common thing to do as its usually a very good option) but right before you land you double jump making them miss their grab and you can punish with a move (shine stalling works well for this too)

 

[Bullys]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LISSQnPoio0#t=111

visual example, see how he moves in to bait the move and forces a whiff?
Fox's speed allows him to do this all over the place very well, in fighting games this kinda stuff is generally referred to as 'footsies' (if you search footsies on google I'm sure you'll find something useful)
Most players and characters use this horizontally (as seen in the video) but fox is one of the best vertical spacers in this game, and is able to do this stuff vertically aswell.
A basic example of that would be making it look like you are going to land in front of your opponent, so they go to shield grab your landing (common thing to do as its usually a very good option) but right before you land you double jump making them miss their grab and you can punish with a move (shine stalling works well for this too)

Thats how I imagined it when you described it but really handy to see it specifically in action.

 

[DavemanCozy]

You accomplish this movement via foxtrots, switching between short-hop Nairs and empty short hop -> grab, using your pivot game (Fox is very fast and his perfect pivot distance is long).

Lasers got nerfed, you should only shoot a couple of them if you're too far to do anything to start building damage. Keep in mind though that certain characters have tools to deal with them though, you should be wary of shooting lasers against those who can use them to their advantage like Ness or characters like Falcon, Sonic and Fox dittos who are very fast and can punish the guns lag.

Basically, lasers got nerfed but are good when too far away or if you knocked your opponent offstage and want to build more damage. However, Fox's movement in Smash4's engine gives him much more bait and offensive potential.