G&W Strengths and Weaknesses?

[Denjinpachi]

So, I don't actually play G&W in really any form. And I also do not play against him. Everytime I hear people talk about the character since Mr.L'z did really well with him, I hear a lot of discussion that he is one of the top 5 characters in the game, so if someone could fill me in with a definitive answer as to what makes him so strong? And if you could also fill in with what he's lacking, that would be helpful too. Thanks!

 

[Shokio]

Pros:

1) Window to punish aerials are tight.
2) Down tilt combos at low percents and then kills at around 108%, amazing CC game.
3) Bacon snuffs dash in and jump in options.
4) Frame 3 combo breaker/combo tool/OoS option/recovery. Yes, all of that.
5) 4 throws that share the same animation, so it's impossible to tell which one he's doing. DI is kinda futile.
6) Can reliably Throw -> Up-B -> Nair/Fair 99% of the roster at any relevant percent.
7) Has an excessive amount of active frames on a lot of moves that allow leniency for missed timing.
8) Has disjoints out the ass (WITH lots of active frames), hard to deal with unless you're Roy or Marth.
9) Bucket Break allows him to get FSmashed at 180% and still live.
10) The 9 hammer, which wouldn't be so much of an issue if he couldn't reliably combo into Side-B at any percent.
11) Hits like a truck on so many moves and for no actual apparent reason (Nair, Fair, UpSmash, DSmash, FSmash, Dtilt)
12) Meteor hitbox on Dair combos into whatever in the world you want it to, at any relevant percent. Easy to hit with.
13) Doesn't really get gimped much, meteors aren't really effective against him. Have to kill him outright.
14) With the combination of his disjoints, bacon, and frame data, he can be very tough to finally get your hands on him.

Cons:

1) He's very light and dies early.
2) Crappy rolls.

 

[Denjinpachi]

Pros:

1) Window to punish aerials are tight.
2) Down tilt combos at low percents and then kills at around 108%, amazing CC game.
3) Bacon snuffs dash in and jump in options.
4) Frame 3 combo breaker/combo tool/OoS option/recovery. Yes, all of that.
5) 4 throws that share the same animation, so it's impossible to tell which one he's doing. DI is kinda futile.
6) Can reliably Throw -> Up-B -> Nair/Fair 99% of the roster at any relevant percent.
7) Has an excessive amount of active frames on a lot of moves that allow leniency for missed timing.
8) Has disjoints out the *** (WITH lots of active frames), hard to deal with unless you're Roy or Marth.
9) Bucket Break allows him to get FSmashed at 180% and still live.
10) The 9 hammer, which wouldn't be so much of an issue if he couldn't reliably combo into Side-B at any percent.
11) Hits like a truck on so many moves and for no actual apparent reason (Nair, Fair, UpSmash, DSmash, FSmash, Dtilt)
12) Meteor hitbox on Dair combos into whatever in the world you want it to, at any relevant percent. Easy to hit with.
13) Doesn't really get gimped much, meteors aren't really effective against him. Have to kill him outright.
14) With the combination of his disjoints, bacon, and frame data, he can be very tough to finally get your hands on him.

Cons:

1) He's very light and dies early.
2) Crappy rolls.

That kinda sums up what I guessed about him. But, I didn't know he had so many guaranteed, or nearly guaranteed follow ups.

 

[jtm94]

Pros:

1) Window to punish aerials are tight.
2) Down tilt combos at low percents and then kills at around 108%, amazing CC game.
3) Bacon snuffs dash in and jump in options.
4) Frame 3 combo breaker/combo tool/OoS option/recovery. Yes, all of that.
5) 4 throws that share the same animation, so it's impossible to tell which one he's doing. DI is kinda futile.
6) Can reliably Throw -> Up-B -> Nair/Fair 99% of the roster at any relevant percent.
7) Has an excessive amount of active frames on a lot of moves that allow leniency for missed timing.
8) Has disjoints out the *** (WITH lots of active frames), hard to deal with unless you're Roy or Marth.
9) Bucket Break allows him to get FSmashed at 180% and still live.
10) The 9 hammer, which wouldn't be so much of an issue if he couldn't reliably combo into Side-B at any percent.
11) Hits like a truck on so many moves and for no actual apparent reason (Nair, Fair, UpSmash, DSmash, FSmash, Dtilt)
12) Meteor hitbox on Dair combos into whatever in the world you want it to, at any relevant percent. Easy to hit with.
13) Doesn't really get gimped much, meteors aren't really effective against him. Have to kill him outright.
14) With the combination of his disjoints, bacon, and frame data, he can be very tough to finally get your hands on him.

Cons:

1) He's very light and dies early.
2) Crappy rolls.

I think you forgot #15
15) Causes Shokio to go on a rampage about how the character has no downsides.

 

[Shokio]

I think you forgot #15
15) Causes Shokio to go on a rampage about how the character has no downsides.

I mean that one is so obvious it goes without saying, so I didn't list it.

 

[Denjinpachi]

He seems like he would have a hard time catching people without having to risk over extending.

 

[Jazzy Jamboree]

here's my thoughts.
Strengths:
Incredible kill potential on almost everyone (nair fair usmash dsmash fsmash dair dtilt)
Large, lingering disjoint that leaves him fairly safe on most moves
One of the best dtilt combo starters in the game
Bafflingly strong CC game
Reliable combos into death
Free dtilt ledgeguards against certain chars and people who don't sweetspot
cc/tech in place bucket brake, and BB in general allows him to survival longer than he should on the sides
Has one of the best vertical recoveries in the game which is difficult to ledgeguard due to zero landing lag on stage and constant hitbox
Up-b has the largest ledge grab box in the game
Bacon shuts out a lot of approaches from some people
Crouch can avoid many grabs and attacks
Bucketing projectiles can force approaches and give gnw another kill option
One of only a handful that retains gatling combos
Requires little/no tech
High skill floor (easy to pick up)
Ambiguous animations make techchasing and punishing some of his moves more difficult without extensive frame knowledge
9

Weaknesses:
Pretty meh dashdance and only an average WD give gnw pretty bad mobility and force him to threaten space with hitboxes
Has a few kinda laggy moves (fair, usmash, dash attack) that require a commitment in neutral which can be punished
Fairly bad OoS options
Terrible rolls
Bad options to get off ledge
Dies extremely early off the top
Enormous up b makes sweetspotting more difficult on tiny stages like warioware and melee yoshi's
Floatiness leaves him fairly susceptible to juggles if the opponent has a good vertical hitbox to contest dair
Can get camped out pretty hard by non-bucket projectiles
Generally suffers to faster or larger disjoint
Causes excessive salt

 

[jtm94]

I think GnW has great movement with WD. His WD has to be at least slightly better than average if not more.
His UpB oos is great being frame 4 with 1 frame of jumpsquat and also moves him away.
Ledge options actually aren't too bad either with the use of invincible tournament winner, but he doesn't have anything too crazy.

Denjinpachi
Against floaty heavy characters who will get out of hitstun before he can get a true follow up he will often have to overextend to get some follow ups. You have to be careful chasing Luigi/Bowser/Samus into the air because you don't want to eat nairs.

GnW has tons of strong points, most have been listed above. He's not omnipotent though.

He lacks a real DD game, but you can do cool things with perfect pivot > dtilt. Bucket braking is pretty stupid, but only saves him if he was hit on the ground and the move is able to be DId into the ground to cancel his hit stun as he flies off the ledge. His poor dd is accented by bacon so his neutral isn't that bad since he can just toss them willy nilly at the opponent and force approaches against most characters.

 

[Shokio]

Weaknesses:
Pretty meh dashdance and only an average WD give gnw pretty bad mobility and force him to threaten space with hitboxes
Has a few kinda laggy moves (fair, usmash, dash attack) that require a commitment in neutral which can be punished
Fairly bad OoS options
Terrible rolls
Bad options to get off ledge
Dies extremely early off the top
Causes excessive salt

What the actual f***?

 

[Jazzy Jamboree]

What the actual f***?

Up-b oos is smaller than shine and potentially puts him in a bad spot. Fair is sort of slow and bair doesn't really get people off you at most %s. Uair and nair are just lol. Compared to shine of out shield, marth's aerials or grabs, mk's nair, etc., his OoS options just aren't amazing.

 

[felipe_9595]

Most of the people on this topic are really overstimating Up B OOoS. Yes, It's frame data is stupid, but it leaves you at an horrendous position. You cant abuse it, any decent player will just bait your Up B and then punish you while you are airborne for 6 seconds, because his only aerial mixup is B reversed bacon, which can be telegraphed easily.

 

[Jazzy Jamboree]

Just for everyone to reference I took a quick screenshot of the first hitbox on up-b oos. http://i.imgur.com/HwiF7Tz.jpg

 

[jtm94]

Just for everyone to reference I took a quick screenshot of the first hitbox on up-b oos. http://i.imgur.com/HwiF7Tz.jpg

I agree with your statements, but it's still good oos. He also doesn't move until frame 8. It only beats sloppy shield pressure and it's also worth noting that GnW is easy to shield poke.