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How to Edgeguard with G&W?

remilia

Smash Cadet
Joined
Feb 2, 2019
Messages
68
I've been trying to pick up Mr. Game and Watch recently but my biggest folly is that my opponents are recovering easily because I don't know what tools in his kit to use to edgeguard. I sometimes use his fair to do it, but many characters very easily get around the bomb. I'm not usually in the position to use his bair, is it something I should try more? His down air feels too risky and his up air is not really applicable, is it? Just wanted to know some thoughts on how you all edgeguard with him.
 

Tw0Dimensi0nal

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
10
The first thing to know is, we have one of the best recoveries in the game. We can literally be an inch away from the lower blast zone, use our second jump, up-B, and directional air-dodge upward and get the ledge. Most of the time you don't need to use the second jump or air dodge, even if it looks like you're too far away. Also, our up-B hitboxes have priority/invincibility over pretty much every move in the game. So don't be afraid to be aggressive off-stage. You will be able to make it back 99% of the time, even if you d-air off-stage.

If your opponent is coming from the side, try to determine two things– have they used their second jump already, and have they been recovering using a side-B or an up-B (i.e. a lot of Fox/Falco/Wolf players use side-B to recover). If they haven't used their second jump and they clearly need to use it to get back (i.e. Ganondorf, Belmonts, swords, etc), get over there quickly and hit them either just before they use the jump or a few frames after they use it, before they can use their up-B. If they've already used their second jump, their options are really limited, so take advantage of the weakness of their side-B or up-B. Almost all side-B's will lose in priority to our b-air, and they all lose to our d-air and up-b. Against a character with a horizontal recovery, f-air and up-B are our weakest options.

If your opponent is recovering from the bottom and away from the stage, they're in trouble. We can fast fall to b-air, which will kill at early percents, we can jump off stage to d-air, which will possibly knock them to the side blast zone or result in a stage spike, we can drop bombs with f-air and, though it isn't used often enough, use the frying pan offstage to send them into tumble at a downward angle, killing instantly. Basically, depending who your opponent is and how well you know their recovery options, we have something for everyone.

If your opponent is recovering from the bottom and likes to hug the bottom of the stage (KRool, ROB, Isabelle, Plant, etc) they are also in trouble. First of all, these recoveries are really predictable and they are usually vulnerable the entire time. We can stage spike them with b-air, up-B, n-air, and if you have a full bucket, this is actually a great time to use it since they can't dodge– they MUST get back onto the stage or die. Lots of decent players have a bad habit of exploiting their recoveries to distance themselves... against G&W that's asking for trouble.

There are a few characters that are more difficult to edge guard against (generally any character that has lots of jumps except DDD who is a big and easy to hit) but in general, if your opponent is hard to trap with a d-smash, killing them from off-stage is the way to go.

edit: forgot to cover what to do if they are coming back from the top side corners. There's two options: if they're at high enough percent, try to angle up-B so it kills off the side, OR simply use your double jump and bait them into airdodging. As soon as they air dodge, you've got a few options. Usually the most effective way to punish is to follow them to where they're landing and f-smash since it has better range than u-smash and higher knock back than d-smash.
 
Last edited:

remilia

Smash Cadet
Joined
Feb 2, 2019
Messages
68
Thank you so much for this comprehensive reply. You've given me a lot of new things to try out and tools to work with. I think I have been scared to go offstage but now that you mention just how great his recovery is, I will definitely try it more often and see if I get results.
 

Tw0Dimensi0nal

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
10
No problem! There is one more thing worth mentioning– a lot of people find it awkward to jump backwards off the stage to use b-air as an edge guarding tool. And then there are cases where you're already off the stage and want to capitalize on the situation but are facing the wrong way.

Thankfully, we have something no other character has: the ability to change the direction we're facing while mid-air without using a jump. If you hold down-B (bucket) you can simply point which way you want to face. This is obviously also super useful when dealing with projectiles.
 

candysell

Smash Cadet
Joined
Aug 13, 2018
Messages
42
To make the down air to up b work, keep note that you want to use down air at least at the level of platform. Any lower and you're pretty much dead since you won't recover. It takes practice, but it works well along with the back air that dimensional mentioned. Also, you can use your bacon as an edge guarding tool if you don't feel safe jumping off the edge.
 
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Swordust

Smash Rookie
Joined
Oct 16, 2014
Messages
10
No problem! There is one more thing worth mentioning– a lot of people find it awkward to jump backwards off the stage to use b-air as an edge guarding tool. And then there are cases where you're already off the stage and want to capitalize on the situation but are facing the wrong way.

Thankfully, we have something no other character has: the ability to change the direction we're facing while mid-air without using a jump. If you hold down-B (bucket) you can simply point which way you want to face. This is obviously also super useful when dealing with projectiles.
Honestly, if you're having trouble with RAR, I suggest you practice it now. I don't find it unnatural at all and neither do a lot of people. Turtle is a major key in sealing stocks off-stage. Not sure where you came up with that assumption.

Also, Mario and Doc can change direction in mid-air with Cape.
 

Tw0Dimensi0nal

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
10
Honestly, if you're having trouble with RAR, I suggest you practice it now. I don't find it unnatural at all and neither do a lot of people. Turtle is a major key in sealing stocks off-stage. Not sure where you came up with that assumption.

Also, Mario and Doc can change direction in mid-air with Cape.
Ah, thanks for pointing that out about Mario and Doc, forgot about that. I personally don't have any trouble with RAR, but if some people do I figured I'd pose the alternative, even if it's way less than ideal. Sometimes it just confuses the opponent, but it usually doesn't fly at high levels of play. I mostly use the bucket to change direction if my opponent decides to suddenly hug the stage (Rob, Plant) and I've already gone airborne.
 

Swordust

Smash Rookie
Joined
Oct 16, 2014
Messages
10
Ah, thanks for pointing that out about Mario and Doc, forgot about that. I personally don't have any trouble with RAR, but if some people do I figured I'd pose the alternative, even if it's way less than ideal. Sometimes it just confuses the opponent, but it usually doesn't fly at high levels of play. I mostly use the bucket to change direction if my opponent decides to suddenly hug the stage (Rob, Plant) and I've already gone airborne.
Ah, right. Missed the context, my bad.
 

DankChum

Smash Rookie
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
5
Thankfully, we have something no other character has: the ability to change the direction we're facing while mid-air without using a jump.
Also, Mario and Doc can change direction in mid-air with Cape.
Lucas/Ness can both change directions really easily. So can samus/dsam (this changes momentum however). I think all characters can B-reverse, some just have more helpful ones than others.
 
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