How does one go about defeating little mac?

[Alain]

I'm having a terrible time against a good Little Mac's because :

- I don't know if we have any safe approaches on him.
- I can't punish 90% of his moves (exceptions being K.O. punch and up+B)
- Rosalina's slow fall plus landing lag are easily capitalized on

The only saving grace I know of is grabbing him but God forbid if I miss i'll get punished to kingdom come.
It could just be that I'm terribly inexperienced in this match-up. Or it could be that you guys are counter picking for him.

Any ideas I'm in dire need of help!!!!! I checked our match-up thread but there's wasn't much on him.

 

[icraq]

mac is ez once you get it down
is a nightmare til then

just throw him off the ledge and jump out and dair or fair or bair him. his side b has **** range now. you can also use dash attack to pop him up and juggle with uairs and utilts, bait air dodges and counters if he starts using them. he cant do anything to you in the air. learn what moves you can punish with shield grab or dash grab, its tough to punish his dash attack.
neutral b can stop him from rushing you.

 

[RosalinaSGS]

I typically stay near the edges, forcing an advance by LM. Although he is quick, they can sometimes misuse a side B, or typically Rosalina is able to dodge and attack or Luma can attack. Once you get the first hit, a couple more usually follow, such as a DA and a uair. This also works in the middle of the stage, but there, LM can safely use side B, which can be annoying.

Also, LM players sometimes use there counters predictably, so when they recover, you should (only sometimes, when you know they will counter) delay your attack, or further charge a smash, to pass by the counter frames.

 

[icraq]

I typically stay near the edges, forcing an advance by LM. Although he is quick, they can sometimes misuse a side B, or typically Rosalina is able to dodge and attack or Luma can attack.

I used to do that as well but I realized you have absolutely no movement on the edge and Mac has sooo much freedom to come and go as he pleases. It works on Macs who just blindly throw out attacks and you can just shield grab them, but most Mac players already know this trick and are good at baiting shield grabs and punishing. Not to mention if you shield and Mac hits you, he will knock Luma off the stage through your shield.

I say stay mid, counter pick platforms if you can, play somewhat defensively until you can force him off the side, don't invite him over to the side and wait for him to come. If you can, keep him in the air, he'll be easier to knock off the side once you get his % up a bit.

 

[Alain]

But you can see Rosalina's dash attack coming from a mile away. He can easily punish that or just shrug it off with a forward smash.

 

[Micaelis]

The MU is easy once you know LMac's limitations.

Move slowly and space appropriately to prevent him from boxing you in and taking away movement options. Abuse Dash Attack and grabs on his options. You can easily dash grab any of his smash attacks even when well spaced.

Use your grabs to Uair him and proceed to punish with Utilt and Uairs at low percents. He gets caught in a horrible frame trap at high percents with his options either to FF into you or jump away, both which are easy to react to and continue punishing/juggling with more grabs or attacks.

If you're near the edge just throw him off and bait Side B or Down Bs and then Bair. He'll pretty much die then. Just remember they never recover low due to his recovery options so play accordingly.

Abuse his landings or camping retreats by setting up a well timed Luma shot. Use Star Bits to put pressure on him to jump and react accordingly to punish him in the air or his attempt to dash past Luma. He has a decently long dash animation so his only options out of it are dash grab or attack, both easily reacted to.

Overall the MU can be annoying but you really just need to space him appropriatey and punish his linear options accordingly. Good luck and hopefully this helped.