Help going against aggressive players/fast characters?

[Balbys23]

I've been maining Mario ever since I got into 1v1 For Glory. But I always had a problem against fast characters. When I mean aggressive, I mean players that constantly charge and go for grabs or dash attacks, C. Falcon and Fox are good examples. I try to use fire balls for distraction but that just seems to tempt them even more and there mistakes feel impossible to punish due to speed. Any advice on how to counter these types players?

 

[Pixel_]

Definitely projectiles aren't a good idea if the opponent can just run in and punish you before you even finish your animation, but if the opponent constantly runs in on you, chances are they have a habit of using either dash grab or attack. Grab is beaten by either spotdodge (doesn't work if they pivot grab) or attack, dash attack is pretty punishable on shield; just react accordingly and their approach is shut down.
Better players will start to mix up their approaches after this, so if you aren't able to predict what they'll do, you can try to wall them out with short hop back airs, which will slow them down and might make the match more manageable for you. SH Dair might help too but I just throw those out randomly in general (not sure if this is good advice though lol, but you might want to consider it every now and then).

 

[Crystanium]

There's nothing wrong with using fireballs if you can remain in a neutral position. In other words, jumping away while throwing fireballs. If I were you, I would try using grabs as well. It's not like Mario doesn't have grabs, and it's not like he cannot make combos out of those grabs.