Thanks for the advice! Also, flip jump? Sorry, I'm still relatively new...
Aka Down B: great escape, recovery, and KO option.
Here are some tips I wrote about the move a couple months ago. Note that “flip jump” is simply down B, whereas “flip kick” is down B plus the added kick (also, SH stands for short hop, where you tap the jump button quickly to perform a shorter jump than normal; FF stands for fast fall, where you press down while falling to fall faster than normal):
1. Flip jump can be angled by holding left or right after you press down B to shorten or lengthen the jump for spacing purposes.
2. Also note that if you just press down B, ZSS will flip jump in the direction she’s facing, but if you press down B slightly diagonally in the opposite direction, she will flip jump in the opposite direction (reverse flip jump).
3. You can also add an inward kick at the end of a flip jump by pressing A or B at the end of the jump, and you can angle this kick outward by pressing the opposite direction ZSS is facing on the analog stick when you initiate the kick.
4. Note that after flip jumping, ZSS will face the opposite direction she was facing when did the flip jump (same direction for reverse flip jump), unless you initiate the outward kick at the end of the jump, in which case she will be facing the same direction (opposite direction for reverse flip jump).
5. Note that flip jump is an option for avoiding enemy attacks and does have a few frames of invincibility as you are going up, which can be useful for escaping enemy edgeguards.
6. Note that if your opponent spot dodges or rolls the landing of your flip jump, you will bounce off and cannot act before you land, putting you in a punishable position. This also happens if you land on projectiles or near opponents performing certain attacks.
7. Note that whiffing a flip jump has less landing lag than whiffing a flip kick.
8. One advanced tech for faster movement with flip jump is edge/platform canceling. For edges, if you properly space a flip jump with or without kick, you will slide off the edge and can act sooner than with normal landing lag. For platforms you can only do this with flip kick, since the normal flip jump goes through platforms.
9. If you successfully land a flip jump on a grounded opponent, you will bury them. How long they stay buried depends on how high their damage is and how fast they can mash out of the buried state. At low and mid percents, follow up with u-smash or u-tilt; at high percents, follow up with boost kick, d-smash to boost kick, or d-smash to f-smash. If your opponent is a particularly fast masher, you can try anticipating the upward trajectory at which they mash out and hit them with an aerial.
10. If you land flip jump on an airborne opponent, it will launch them downwards.
11. Flip kick has greater KO power. It will send grounded opponents at high percents flying. Against airborne opponents it has the same effect, but if you sweet spot the kick so that the very tip hits the opponent, you will spike them downwards. Note that you can use this to spike opponents who have lost invincibility grabbing the ledge.
12. Experiment with attacks that can string into an effectively spaced flip kick spike for the early KO. Common setups are b-throw to flip kick, d-smash to dash cancel/SH flip kick and SH FF n-air to flip kick, but get creative: FF B-air to flip kick is a true combo at mid percents, and you can even string plasma whip into flip kick. At higher percents, you can still land the flip kick spike with proper spacing by SH into the flip kick.
13. Try using flip kick as an edgeguard mix-up: if an opponent is recovering low or hanging on the ledge, run off the stage and immediately flip kick (inward) towards the stage to hit them while they are getting back on stage.
14. Flip jumping is great for reading multiple projectile usage. For example, if your opponent plays Luigi and has a tendency to throw two or more fireballs when flustered, initiate the flip jump (and end with or without kick, depending on spacing and percent) right after they finish firing one fireball and will predictably fire another.
15. Another great use of flip jump is to bait out projectiles. For example, if your opponent plays Sheik and has a tendency to catch your landing with needles, feign a landing and flip jump towards them right before you hit the ground.
16. You can also use flip jump (with or without inward/outward kick, depending on spacing) to read and punish rolls.
17. Flip jump is a key recovery option for ZSS because it functions as a third jump. If launched far into a horizontal blast zone, consider flip jumping before double jumping, as you cannot act out of a flip jump until you have reached the opposite side at the same vertical point where you started it. However, if your opponent tries to edgeguard you, consider double jumping first and flip jumping later to use the invincibility frames of the flip jump to avoid their attack.
18. Note that you can flip jump while grabbing onto the ledge, which is good mix-up and can even setup for a KO by burying an opponent at high percent.
19. Finally, note that if you flip jump into a wall and hold up or the jump button as you hit the wall, ZSS will perform a second flip jump in the opposite direction. This is known as flip jump canceling and has significant vertical recovery applications on stages with diagonally-shaped walls like Battlefield and Final Destination. Even on stages with flat walls like Duck Hunt, flip jump canceling (plus up B afterwards, if necessary) can save you if you go in too deep for an edgeguard.
