How exactly do you challenge Little Mac's Super Armor?

[Drew67]

I fought against this one guy that kept spamming forward smash and lots of armor heavy moves. I'm still trying to find a suitable character to use, but at the time I was playing Doc. I couldn't really space out Little Mac with projectiles, nor could I grab him, given that he was moving very fast, and being very scary. I couldn't really get a foot in the door playing at his level of aggression, due to the aforementioned Super Armor. Every blow would end up being a trade, with me receiving Knockback. Earlier, after trying Mac out for myself, I learned that he can be killed very easily if you get knocked in the air. I knew before hand that his air game was SHIEEEEET, so I attempted to abuse this by trying to be above Mac (which is normally a bad idea against basically any other character that isn't Mac). It kiiiinda worked, for a little bit, but I managed to get removed from the stage anyway. Is there any sort of general advice I could use to deal with Little Mac better?

 

[KatKit]

An airborne Mac is wack, but an off-stage Mac barely comes back.... Otherwise, he attack.

So yeah, try to prevent him from being in the center of the stage. Keep him near a ledge, and do everything you can to hit him off stage.

I don't think it's wise to try to trade blows with him. Play defensively. Attack after he does. Zone with Doc's projectile. Bait his counter (especially when he's airborne) and grab.

Though it's possible you just ran into a really good Little Mac main. I'm not too familiar with the matchup in Ultimate because I've only ran into him like 3 times. And I use Robin, Peach, and Palutena, who can probably zone him out and shut him down a little easier than Doc can.

 

[Drew67]

I guess it isn't a matter of challenging the super armor, more than it is about waiting for a better opportunity to strike, or finding better breathing room. Thanks for your input.

 

[tronixton]

As another tip for fighting mac, his armor only breaks if a single hit does 10 or more damage. This could be first hit of jab or a good backair, but it is very hard to challenge. Mac suffers from whiff punishing playstyles, as most macs, myself included will go offensive despite openings. And in my experience, macs grab game isnt as good as a few other characters, but that will depend onnyour playstyle.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I'll echo what others have been saying and give you advice:

1. Play defensively, let Mac make the first move and than shield whenever he does his Smash attacks or Specials than attack afterwards.

2. Stay off the ground as much as possible and try to attack him from above when you're close to him.

3. Try to keep in the corner of the stage and try to throw him off because he will have a very hard time getting back. Once you get Mac off the stage, it's very easy to spike/K.O him.

 

[DavemanCozy]

As another tip for fighting mac, his armor only breaks if a single hit does 10 or more damage.

To clarify, this is only true for the heavy armor on Neutral Special; an attack that deals 10% or more damage will interrupt it and put Little Mac in hitstun. Grabbing him will also interrupt the move.

This is not true for his smash attacks nor KO punch, which have super armor. Only grabs can interrupt these attacks.

The game itself calls armor Knockback Launch Resistance, just in case anyone's wondering if there's an in-game term.

 

[Mark The Page]

Little Mac is far more threatening online, because the lag eats up most of the time you'd otherwise have to punish your opponent after dodging or blocking their attacks.

Online Smash is not Smash. It's a totally different game.

 

[Z1GMA]

Simply out-damage him if yr a hard hitting character. I do this a lot with Ganon.
Especially when I'm in the lead.

 

[Gamer Cube]

As another tip for fighting mac, his armor only breaks if a single hit does 10 or more damage. This could be first hit of jab or a good backair, but it is very hard to challenge. Mac suffers from whiff punishing playstyles, as most macs, myself included will go offensive despite openings. And in my experience, macs grab game isnt as good as a few other characters, but that will depend onnyour playstyle.

As a Little Mac main, I would say King dedede has fast 10%+ attacks and I would also like to mention that basically every move Ganondorf does is 10% or more.

 

[SecretAsianMan]

Um, only straight lunge has that 10% cap. All of his smashes can't be interrupted without grabbing.

To beat mac is more than just yeeting him off-stage. You gotta do some stage control. DON'T let mac get the center-stage, force him towards the ledge or even better platforms, and make sure you save your shield because His Fsmash tilted down can crack it like an egg.

 

[Xquirtle]

Um, only straight lunge has that 10% cap. All of his smashes can't be interrupted without grabbing.

To beat mac is more than just yeeting him off-stage. You gotta do some stage control. DON'T let mac get the center-stage, force him towards the ledge or even better platforms, and make sure you save your shield because His Fsmash tilted down can crack it like an egg.

I'd add that mac only has like 4 moves that do anything and no aerials except up b. He has severely limited options in basically all situations which is easily abused, leading into offstage where he dies at 0.

 

[Jellomo]

If you're using doc, just use f-air or back air, becuz it does more thn 10%

 

[Phatty]

Just hit him with an aerial out of shield. Doc's back air is especially good OOS. Nair and Uspecial are good but only if he's too close after his attack hits your shield. I mean, I play Lucina mostly (who is blessed with amazing OOS options) but my experience is that Mac just throw out moves and after they get hit a few times with her OOS options they learn to respect them. Also, don't challenge Usmash at all; you'll get wrecked.

 

[PixelHearts2015]

As another tip for fighting mac, his armor only breaks if a single hit does 10 or more damage. This could be first hit of jab or a good backair, but it is very hard to challenge. Mac suffers from whiff punishing playstyles, as most macs, myself included will go offensive despite openings. And in my experience, macs grab game isnt as good as a few other characters, but that will depend onnyour playstyle.

His Smash attack Super Armor can only be broken by grabs or attacks that aren’t affected by shields. Even at 999, Little Mac’s Smash Attack can Super Armor through moves like Warlock Punch, fully charged Roy neutral special, and the Home-Run Bat.
(Also, forgot to mention before, but multi-hit attacks won’t work either. As long as those Super Armor frames are there, Little Mac won’t be hot out of a smash attack, unless armor piercing moves are used.)

 

[Oz o:]

I don't know how comfterble you are with the idea, but Zelda's one of the few that punishes him very heavily for hitting her shield. Characters like Little Max and Wofl can't just spam smash attacks on her shield, since it means a Kick to their face. Always works for me, but then you actually have to know how to play the character in neutral and not depend on that. She can also gimp him fairly easily.

A character with a good OoS (out of shield) should be able to punish stuff like FSmash on shield. Like, say, Pikachu's Bair. There's also stuff like Ness' Nair and maybe Mario or Game & Watch UP B OoS. Dr.Mario also has similiar OoS options, so something like Up B should work just as well, or Bair if he's behind you.