Help learning Lucario

[Moli]

Hey so i'm a pretty new smasher about 3 weeks into playing and I originally was having marth as my main but i decided to switch it up. Now I do have a fair understanding of the game as far as the fundamentals (which i do still need to work on) but knowing my character i feel will also be important. I understand Shffling wavedashing and dash dancing, my question is basically tips on lucario. I have a full understanding of his move-set including his aura system, but what are some bread and butter combos to use with him, what are also ways to play him as far as aggressive, defensive, or oppurtunists goes. If you even have a video that would be awesome but anything would help! Also one major issue I am having with him is landing his air side b grab, it seems it is much harder to land than i thought or maybe there is a trick to it no?

 

[AkashSky]

For the force palm to grab an opponent while in the air, Lucario's palms must intersect the opposing characters body exactly. Its hard to get the timing at first.

Secondly, since lucario now starts with a free aura charge, you can afford to be more liberal in the use of cancels. Use a down B cancel to get a combo started or an extreme speed cancel while comboing to get one extra hit in. Before when I had to earn my aura, I would save it for defensive manouvers.

Also remember, it is shameful to die with aura, don't let that happen.

The next big thing has to be aura sphere cancel, its kinda like an aerial L-cancel. It cuts out significant lag time on most aerials like Nair. I don't notice the frame advantage on bair and Fair, but There is frame advantage by looking at the frame data. You aura sphere cancel by doing an attack, pressing B right after to go into neutral special, then pressing L or R to cancel neutral special returning to a neutral state where you can do whatever you want. Also here is something cool you can practice,

How to practice "Wall jump-Breverse aura sphere cancel"

What you do is Breverse/ wavebounce the aura sphere after you wall jump so you get right next to the wall so you can wall jump again. It takes considerable tech skill but with this you can do infinite recovery with a wall. Its as if wall cling never left!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgBxvTMG28I

 

[ssj5goten]

I also have some questions about lucario if that's ok.
1 What is the best way to deal with crouch canceling opponents?
2 Do I need to aura sphere cancel dash attack > f smash on high percentages or am i doing something else wrong? (I've seen videos of vanguard and he uses it all the time to kill)
3 What are save combos that don't involve u smash?
4 What is lucarios best punish?
5 What are the best options with a throw (I can't seem to get more then down throw fair or something)

 

[Risky]

I also have some questions about lucario if that's ok.
1 What is the best way to deal with crouch canceling opponents?
2 Do I need to aura sphere cancel dash attack > f smash on high percentages or am i doing something else wrong? (I've seen videos of vanguard and he uses it all the time to kill)
3 What are save combos that don't involve u smash?
4 What is lucarios best punish?
5 What are the best options with a throw (I can't seem to get more then down throw fair or something)

1. Grab, avoid jabbing. If you correctly space DA -> Dtilt then the tilt will blow it up. DA -> Usmash blows up CC as well depending on the matchup (how fast their CC option is). Dair is pretty good too.
2. Aura is only for powering up your B moves. If you're still holding forward while trying to C-stick the Fsmash it won't happen. This is very noticable with Ftilt -> Fsmash. Not sure what causes it. Reset your analog stick to neutral before you do the smash and it will work.
3. This is a pretty general question. Many combos are safe. Early stuff on almost any character is DA -> Ftilt -> FP, follow up with SH Fairs and the like.
4. Another general one. Charged Aura Sphere is your best option. Combo into it with Dtilt or Usmash if you're getting a free punish.
5. Dthrow and Uthrow are a DI mixup. If they are expecting Dthrow and DI away, Uthrow will put them directly above you. They have to DI behind for Uthrow which throws most people off since they never want to DI into Lucario. The world is your oyster at that point.

 

[Darkgun]

I also have some questions about lucario if that's ok.
1 What is the best way to deal with crouch canceling opponents?
2 Do I need to aura sphere cancel dash attack > f smash on high percentages or am i doing something else wrong? (I've seen videos of vanguard and he uses it all the time to kill)
3 What are save combos that don't involve u smash?
4 What is lucarios best punish?
5 What are the best options with a throw (I can't seem to get more then down throw fair or something)

• Unfortunately, Lucario has a real issue with CC when initiating grounded combos with moves such as DA and jab. The better option will often be to grab as an initiation. Alternatively, dtilt, if spaced correctly, shuts down CC pretty well.

• DA>fsmash is rather DI dependent upon the DA. At higher percentages if your heart is really set on using DA as a setup, DA(strong)>ASC>nair may be a better option, though even then, setting up for a kill may still be difficult.

• Safe combos? The heck 'r those? In all seriousness, a safe combo is any combo in which your opponent can do nothing but DI or tech. There are no solid straight line combos (though some may disagree) as Lucario's options actively change based upon the opponent and percentage. Being able to ASC consistently increases the number of options Lucario can utilize in a combo though.

• I would personally discourage this kind of thinking. As long as you can actively read and/or react to your opponent's DI and character options, Lucario's best punish is touching them, and then following up with what is necessary.

• Lucario's throws are based upon two counteractive DI options: Down-Away (safe for dthrow, high-ish trajectory for bthrow) and Down-Across (safe for uthrow, high-ish trajectory for fthrow). Decent followups and punishes can come from mixing up throws, such that your opponent may have to DI differently at inconsistent intervals, as a failed DI for either throw bounces the opponent nearly straight up. Additionally, thanks to how the fthrow and bthrow work, you can perform gimp angle-esc (If I recall, the angle is really close to zero degrees [horizontal]) throws to punish normally solid DI (fthrow if your opponent DIs for dthrow, bthrow if they DI for uthrow). In terms of follow-ups, fair or nair work well from dthrow (and link well into FP, ASC, or DT; percent dependent. aFP is one of my preferred follow-ups as well.), and bair, nair, (r)aFP, utilt, regrab, etc work well out of uthrow (percent and DI dependent). Oh, and throwing an opponent onto a platform to force a tech gives Lucario some pretty solid follow-ups from tech chase.

 

[HK_Spadez]

I also have some questions about lucario if that's ok.
1 What is the best way to deal with crouch canceling opponents?
2 Do I need to aura sphere cancel dash attack > f smash on high percentages or am i doing something else wrong? (I've seen videos of vanguard and he uses it all the time to kill)
3 What are save combos that don't involve u smash?
4 What is lucarios best punish?
5 What are the best options with a throw (I can't seem to get more then down throw fair or something)

1. With CC opponents. I typically try to cancel a pressure string ASAP into his Side B. if they are CC'ing, even if they take a dash attack or something the side B will still command grab since they wont be pushed away. Or initiate with a regular grab.

2. I think DA -> F smash works for a large % range. if ur opponent gets much higher than DA -> Fsmash %. I typically go for up throw -> Bair. or just try to bait a CC Dair -> Nair when opponent is high %.

3. This is sort of based off his 2.5 frame data but it seems like Anything -> Uptilt is much harder to shield grab than the other tilts. So If i'm looking for a "safe" option. If opponent is shielding I'll try to do anything -> uptilt -> Side b. But if they try to shield grab before the utilt. the utilt will catch them and u can follow up.

4. I think the punishing in this game is pretty universal across different characters. Shield grabbing, Bair OOS after shielding an attack. JC grab or DA for whiff'd attacks.

5. At low %. like... 0%. I typically Up throw -> up Tilt -> etc

at high % Up throw -> Bair works (depends on DI. Nair or Fair if they Di away)

If they are a floaty char then Down throw is good too at high % to follow up with Fair or Nair.

On Spacies, Up throw -> up tilt works for most %'s so I go with that on spacies.


I also like to use Dair -> Air Side B on opponents who shield a lot. If you know they are going to try for a shield grab or something. Dair their shield and cancel into a Side B and they'll get grabbed by the air Side B.

^ I use this here and there, not sure how the opponent can punish and if its really unsafe for other reasons or not.

 

[ssj5goten]

Thanks for all the replies this will really help me out.

 

[Moli]

These have been so helpful but something I just can't picture what some of these will look like so if anyone is super awesome and knows a video or can make one you would be pretty freaking awesome

 

[HK_Spadez]

haha im not good enough at lucario to make one or I would

 

[Moli]

I have another questions, I'm still not used to all the short terms used to explain moves, for example DA FP SH (r)aFP or ASC

 

[Darkgun]

Terms! There are a few of them here.

To clarify the specific acronyms used here:
DA - Dash Attack
FP - Force Palm
SH - Short Hop
aFP - aerial Force Palm. In the specific case, the (r) was referring to a possible reverse, situation dependent.
ASC - Aura Sphere Cancel.

 

[Moli]

Next question, Lucario seems like he has a pretty small wavedash, is wavedashing and L canceling still necessary because it seems asc is very good as it is

 

[Risky]

Being able to wavedash as any character is always important, as an out of shield option, usage on platforms, moving backwards while maintaining your facing, etc. L-canceling is another tech that needs to be learned even for Lucario. If you delay an aerial right before you land (on their shield, during a combo) an ASC would actually be slower than L-canceling it.

 

[Moli]

Now what about wave bouncing, I've heard of this tech but what does it look like, how does one pull it off and what is it's purpose?