Having some trouble getting the KO with Fox.

[Element_Demon]

Hey, guys I'm currently facing a road block right now with Fox. I've been having some trouble getting the KO. I know his upsmash gets predictable at times. However I feel I'm getting way to patient when my opponents are at high %'s ready for the kill. I tend to short hop a lot and grab characters on shield. When I fought Keitaro on wifi he even mentioned I should have won with fox against his mii brawler. I didn't however because I didn't feel confident going for the kill. Any suggestions ? I've been getting offline more at weeklies in MA. Been taking top 8 at every tourney with Fox atm.

 

[Deleted member]

I don't play Fox too much, but here are some suggestions for landing a kill.

• Sourspot Nair kill confirms into Jump Cancelled Up Smash at higher percents, and at lower percents the sweetspot combos into Usmash.
• Dair -> Up Smash
• Double Jab -> Up Smash/Down Smash (If they won't die but are extremely close to KO%, you can throw in a second Double Jab after the first)
• Depending on how the opponent reacts to a tech chase/ledge get up situation, you can Up Smash their reaction
• If you can perfect pivot and ledge trump consistently, you can ledge trump an opponent on their recovery, immediately get up (get into a position so they'll think you can't punish a regrab to bait it) and perfect pivot into a DSmash. This only works if they grab the ledge after your ledge trump/get baited and requires really good tech skill so its a novelty option. You can just DSmash without the perfect pivot, but the ability to perfect pivot allows for longer range ledge punishes.
• If you want to cheese, you can SHFF a Fair right off the ledge and immediately footstool the opponent for early KOs.
• UTilt -> Uair/Bair

These are all the setups I use to get kills as Fox. Obviously you'll have to mix these up and play smart to land the setup. Having setups for KO moves allow you to be safer when getting kills and have more options to land them.

 

[Foster J.]

It's all about reads and frame traps.... Wish we we could throw them to death D:

 

[Legato]

Fox having a kill throw would just about break the character lol.

My advice is similar to what has already been said. Know the percents that utilt-->uair, nair--->usmash true combo. Utilt has two good hit boxes for true combo into uair. Directly in front of fox true combos close to 115% for most mid-light chars. utilt from behind fox at the tip of the hit box will kill earlier given that you double jump very quickly and read the DI properly. Can't remember the general percents for nair-->usmash. Jab-cancel usmash only works on a handful of the cast, learn which ones those are. View the mysmashcorner video for that one.

I have heard jab cancel dsmash is good on Mario and Luigi, but I have not applied these to those MU's yet, nor have I tested it myself.

Dtilt--->uair can also true combo provided you hit with the tip of the dtilt hitbox. I have found, in general, that this true combos later than any other true combo kill set-up by Fox. It is in my mind, the last defense you have before hitting that high percent limbo where there are no hit confirms. At this stage, a well placed bair is you best bet, which does have good success actually.

Good luck, getting these kills smoothly requires tight timings and high precision. Once we can, I think we will see Fox rise even more, as he already has been gaining increased recognition for being a solid choice for a main.

 

[EndlessRain]

There is a near-identical thread already up: http://smashboards.com/threads/getting-kos.393489/

 

[YGK]

I would take a look at the thread EndlessRain linked to, we've put together a pretty good compendium of setups, combo's, and traps there. It's also probably for the best if we keep general discussions like this centralized to one thread so the information is easier for others to find.

Based on your description of your own habits, I would advise you specifically to try being more aggressive at times. In general fox doesn't do too well when you try and force a kill move through, but it sounds like you tend to play very cautiously, so your opponents may not be ready for you if you suddenly go for a risky move. I'm not saying you should just toss our raw F smashes and get punished, but sometimes the safe option just keeps your opponent alive longer, and the rage mechanic can really work against you. Consider just how much you will actually get punished for a greedy move, if you're still at low % and they are in rage mode, Up Smash out of shield will either kill them, or you will take a moderate amount of damage. Up Air is also pretty hard for some characters to punish heavily, if they dodge it or hit you away Fox's fall speed will get you out of their range very quickly (this depends a lot on the situation, percentages, and match up. Use common sense to avoid getting spiked, or killed off the top during a stage transition).

Of course, this is all just theoretical. You seem to be doing pretty well, better than I do for sure.

 

[Element_Demon]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I'll check out the article EndlessRain posted moving forward.

 

[dahuterschuter]

Get your library card.

 

[M@v]

Locking because we already have a thread about this same topic: http://smashboards.com/threads/getting-kos.393489/
Move all discussion there please