Hello! I really need help against Marth.

[PKPower]

Thanks in advance to anyone posting any replies.

Hello, I main Falco and a good friend of mine mains a nasty Marth. I have a lot of trouble beating his Marth, he always seems like he is on me and I never get a chance to Shine or Laser. He has gotten good at predicting when I am going to illusion, so he is still always on me even when I try to escape his blade. All of Marth's attacks seem to have priority over Falco's, and whenever I try to shield my friend simply grabs me out of it.

Here is what I usually do to rack up damage/kill Marth:

Laser, Illusion and Shine to keep him at a distance, Chain Grab (works until about ~60% with Marth), Nair, Bair, Jab Combo and Utilt for damage. Dsmash, Fsmash, Usmash, Bair and Dair for killing.

According to Emblem Lord's "Marth matchup thread," a campy Falco will have an edge against Marth. Camping isn't my style.

Can someone help please! Much appreciated.

 

[VietGeek]

Camping isn't your style, huh? Well, it IS the best way to defeat Marth, so use it accordingly to win.

Also, if you can chaingrab Marth until ~60%, is there anyway for you to finish it off with a Usmash or Fsmash? That would seem to be the best way to kill Marth since he is rather light.

I heard dash attack -> Usmash can kill. Did you try that?

Oh, and finally, don't be predictable. Marth is all about pressuring foes to his advantage. Try to be diverse and not let him get you to the point where your options are so limited that you become very predictable.

Sorry that I'm not too keen on Falco; I haven't fought anyone that mains him. It's really lonely in Buford, Georgia (and I can't drive to Atlanta T_T).

EDIT: You should try to go to the Falco boards too. We over here are probably more suit to giving you advice on how to KILL Falco. xD

 

[1170]

I have a hard time against Falco when he's camping. When he's not, he's having a hard time against me. Camping in the best way to win this match-up, unfortunately.

 

[BacklashMarth]

I agree. Its unfortunate that sometimes people have to resort to tactics they don't like to win against certain characters (I hate edgehogging but i do it anyway now when i am being serious since they will do it too). Simply put, marth just has a better up close game than falco. The laser is what gives falco the edge. All i know is that marth's sword outspaces falco's attacks which is probably why you have trouble up close. Sorry i can't help you that much since i don't use falco.

 

[Torn]

Try to camp more.

I'm gonna go ahead and side with the general opinion in this thread advising you to stay back and use your laser effectively. Resist the temptation to get in close and personal with Marth: his sword outranges you most of the time and he's just generally a very aggressive character close up.

A quick tip for you though (I'm not sure how good your friend is, obviously, but this might work against him - don't use it too much like anything else to avoid becoming predictable.) Try sidestepping his fairs into a neutral-A combo - what I observe happens alot is your friend (Marth) will still have the mentality of "approach, approach, approach" and will find it difficult to reverse that thinking and DI backwards.

Sometimes what happens is Marth is so used to and so fixated on pressing that analog stick towards the opponent, they take time to think "Oh, I need to DI backwards."

This tactic could very well rack up 20-30% on your friend, but he might not be as vulnerable to it as I think or he'll learn to combat it.

Be campier and SH your lasers like a Melee Falco. Good luck.

I do realize, however, that certain people have certain styles of play and it's difficult as hell to sacrifice that playstyle to combat a specific person. However, you might stop and consider that mixing up being campy and aggressive will help you improve your game overall and is something worth considering.

Torn

 

[PKPower]

Thanks everyone for your replies and great advice.

I guess I will have to practice being campy, if I want to do well in this game I may as well master every aspect of my main and use camping against certain characters accordingly.

VietGeek: I asked the Marth boards because

A. You guys know Marth's weaknesses and strengths well.

B. Drawing from your experience with Marth you could tell me what really gets under your skin against a Falco player.


For you guy's information, Falco is very predictable, but addicting to play as. All of his attacks that rack up damage hit a lot of times and disorient, and all of his smashes hit very hard and come out very fast (similar to Marth I guess.). Countering when fighting Falco will be your friend, since you will easily get one off. I hate to give advice to the other side, but for this game to move forward we have to first know how to fight each and every character.

Thanks for your advice everyone! May as well lock this thread, I know that I have to be campy now.

 

[feardragon64]

Even if you don't like being campy, try approaching with lazers until you're close enough to attack(i.e. sh lazer spam). It annoys marth's like crazy(although not as much as a camping falco). The other thing to always keep in mind is air dodge. It's any marth's worst enemy.

Other than that, either make the decision to stay far away and camp him or be incredibly close(so he can't tip his attacks) and melee him. =]

Best of luck.

 

[Mike35]

Hmm, I'd say focus on your spacing. Marth will probably try to keep you within the tip of his sword where he outranges you in close combat, so do what you can to make sure he doesn't get that advantage. I don't play as or fight Falco much so I'm not sure what your options are. Maybe you could throw your reflector at him if he gets within his sword's range?

Keep pressuring with lasers. You have the clear advantage from a distance. Make him come to you, learn how he approaches and try to counter it. Marth has to approach you every single time having no projectiles of his own, so find a way to counter his approach. I hear Falco has a great chain grab, or you can knock him away and start spamming lasers again.

Some of this is just basic stuff, or things I know would annoy me as a Marth player. But again, I don't have much experience with Falco so you can take this with a grain of salt.

 

[zamz]

A few things: typically Falco's reflector can hit Marth before Marth can hit falco. Use this accordingly to give yourself room to camp, but don't over use it. Short hopping with F-Ariel will typically beat out Marth's priority at least well enought to cancel his attack and doing minimal damage.

But most of all, spam a couple lasors. Don't only spam lasors in a stationary spot. Marth will jump, beat your lag and ariel attack. Instead, shoot a couple to do some damage. Just enough to get Marth to charge you. Then get mobile. Falco dominates the air. Short hop, high jump, N-Air or F-air...be sure to knock him off the stage with B-air. (I try to stay away from D-air...I'm pretty sure Marth's U-tilt and smash beat Falco's D-air)

But most of all, change it up. Predictable is about the worst thing a Falco can be. Falco has a lot of variation and good potential. The best falcos not only know when to use certain attacks, but know alternative moves to confuse their opponent. Don't only use reflectors, use D-smash. Don't only use lasors, air dodge. Only use dash after marth has attacked and he's recovering from lag. Stay away from FireFalco altogeather =)

I've always found marth opponents to be some of the easier Falco matchups. Marth and Ike are capable of being camped. Your real worry is someone you can't camp, like wolf or MK =)

 

[Emblem Lord]

Do what you have to in order to win.

If Falco doesn't camp Marth he won't win.

Falco can't fight Marth toe to toe and win on even ground. It doesn't work.

Camp him.