Greetings!

[Lord of Bays]

Hello everyone. I'm a poor little nublet Wolf from Oklahoma just starting to play some truly skilled Smashers. I like to think I'm at that point where I'm "very good" in a casual sense but still hopelessly outclassed by tournament-level play.

So here I am, trying to improve my game. The primary reason I started this topic was because I wanted to know the viability of a more defensive Wolf. In my local scene there's a guy who plays a freaking MK Walker (TVTropes it if you're unfamiliar) of a Falco, and there's almost nothing I can do to break him. He's been gracious enough to refrain from chain-grabbing me every match until I'm good enough to play on equal footing. That being said, he still gets me off the edge way too easily and it's almost impossible to get back on without incurring another 15-20%, at least.

So I want to screw up his approach game. Aggressive play isn't doing it, he jabs or blocks almost all of my attacks, which then results in me going over the edge.

Is a defensive Wolf possible? Would it involve Blaster pressure, careful use of Shine, spacing so that he lands right on a F-Smash?

 

[Ishiey]

Welcome to the Wolf boards, Lord of Bays

A defensive Wolf is definitely very viable, maybe even moreso than an aggressive one. You need to know when to switch between the two, in my opinion. Wolf's best tool is back-air, or at least in this matchup I'd say. Bair is very safe when spaced well on shield, Falco doesn't have many answers to it if you're spacing it properly. You should DEFINITELY be using this move a lot.

Blaster should only be used at a distance or when your opponent is in the air where they can't shield. Falco has a reflector and a laser of his own though, so I wouldn't suggest using this on-stage much (because it seems like that's where your problems lie). Shine is good, but something you need to be careful with because if your opponent shields it they get a free punish, which also gives them back their momentum. Fsmash is good but extremely punishable, you can use it to catch people's landings effectively but don't use the move outside of situations where it's a guaranteed hit.

Basically, yes defensive Wolf is possible, and most of the gameplay would (imo) revolve around properly spacing bairs because it's the safest move in Wolf's arsenal

 

[castorpollux]

TEAM IshLey!