How to Phantom?

[channel_KYX]

So, I decided to give Zelda an honest try. I consider maining her, but need more experience.

I noticed that Phantom is completely foreign to me. There were matches in which I forgot it even exists. The last time I played Zelda at least semi-seriously was back in Melee, so that's were that might come from.

Now...You got any tips on the phantom?
How do I train myself using it?
I know it can be reflected. Anything else I need to look out for?
Some quick pointers: Is it useful in neutral? Punish? I hear it's okay for edgeguarding.

Thanks you guys.

 

[StoicPhantom]

So, I decided to give Zelda an honest try. I consider maining her, but need more experience.

I noticed that Phantom is completely foreign to me. There were matches in which I forgot it even exists. The last time I played Zelda at least semi-seriously was back in Melee, so that's were that might come from.

Now...You got any tips on the phantom?
How do I train myself using it?
I know it can be reflected. Anything else I need to look out for?
Some quick pointers: Is it useful in neutral? Punish? I hear it's okay for edgeguarding.

Thanks you guys.

Try looking through the Zelda video thread for some references to possible applications. It's very broad, but also pretty MU situational. Overhead slash can be used to catch jumps and stuff aerial approaches, while the first three charges can act as a pseudo sword in neutral. The final charge lets Zelda freely move and can lead to grabs or Up-air juggles, depending on how they react. Overall you want to use Phantom to force your opponent to approach or in a bad position and then follow up from there. It's great for edgeguarding at or above the ledge, but lots of people try to recover low, to counter that. Try using the full charge to setup ledgetraps, when that happens.

Overall, it's going to take a lot of experience and practice to fully utilize it, so experiment with it in different situations.

 

[SoniCraft]

Yeah just start using it and see what happens. If you're opponent is inexperienced, it might get you some free damage. But if they are experienced, you'll have to act a step or two ahead of them. That doesn't mean it's not good. Just see how your opponent reacts to it and go from there.

For example, say you're against an Isabelle or Villager and they know they can pocket it. Do you just never use Phantom? Of course not! You can mix up the timing so that it catches them off guard. So first you charge it and release at full charge a couple times, and they'll get used to that timing. Then they may try to pocket it, and that's when you let the phantom delay its attack. If you really think you've read them, you might be able to teleport right in their face during their pocket endlag.

So things like that will ensure that phantom is always a potent threat, even against good players. But you can't get stuck in a rhythm with it. You have to learn how to mix it up too.