How to play against G&W?

[Fluggerson]

I have so little experience against this character and I don't know what to do. Him and Yoshi are like my worst MUs rn, but I'm talking about G&W rn. His Down Throw combos are so frustrating I don't even think you can get out of any of them. I don't know where to DI on any of his combos. DThrow Uptilt Nair does so much damage. He's like Sheik with all those combos. He's light as paper, so I can't combo him, but he can combo me. Help me please! Also, if you need to know, I mostly play ZSS(can't rly use her cuz he's light and i can't combo him)/Sheik/Mario/Lucas. I can play others like Pit/Rosalina/Roy/Diddy/Robin.

 

[Folie]

if you're getting grabbed a lot my guess is you're probably not playing the neutral very safe and maybe being too aggressive. G&W is good at countering careless aggressiveness.

ZSS should be able to follow up out of throw the same way she would on any other character, using different aerials depending on DI and percentage, though I will give you that extended combos can be harder to pull off. It really depends on the G&W's DI.

G&W's combos are mostly true most of the time, DIing up and to the sides can prevent you being the victim of the more extended combos.

Sheik's pretty strong against G&W and neutral and shouldn't be getting grabbed much as long as you're keeping safe with SH fairs and such, and can punish G&W with needles or something else depending on the position if G&W throws out any aerial in neutral. out of the characters you listed Sheik would be your best bet against G&W, he can really only use good fundamentals to win the MU if the sheik knows what they're doing.

 

[Youbacon42]

I have so little experience against this character and I don't know what to do. Him and Yoshi are like my worst MUs rn, but I'm talking about G&W rn. His Down Throw combos are so frustrating I don't even think you can get out of any of them. I don't know where to DI on any of his combos. DThrow Uptilt Nair does so much damage. He's like Sheik with all those combos. He's light as paper, so I can't combo him, but he can combo me. Help me please! Also, if you need to know, I mostly play ZSS(can't rly use her cuz he's light and i can't combo him)/Sheik/Mario/Lucas. I can play others like Pit/Rosalina/Roy/Diddy/Robin.

If it makes you really that mad that all of G&W's throw combos look so spicy, out of your named character list you probably want to go with Diddy then. G&W has no true combos against Diddy exept for his usual combo stuff, which for example would be dthrow nair upB for 27 damage. And even that only works at mid%. Dthrow uptilt will not work on Diddy except you maybe DI into G&W. Diddy's Banana also makes G&W's life even harder, unless said G&W knows how to deal with the banana.

It's hard to suggest things though by theory alone. I'd like to fight you instead, if you are interested. Practical MU experience is always better than theorycraft.

 

[NouveauRétro]

1. Don't play Lucas against G&W. You will probably get gimped into oblivion.

Anyway, ZSS Is definitely G&Ws fav top tier to fight. Combos are guaranteed, so forget about escaping and focus on not getting down thrown. G&W's offensive play leaves a lot to be desired, but we prolly don't have to worry about that on this MU. Don't get baited at a distance and get in close enough to apply safe pressure. Spacing is key. Try walking in instead of running. Don't go for jump-in nairs like normal. Push him off the stage and abuse positional advantage. But don't go offstage. Finally, ZSS probably can beat G&W in air-to-air combat.

That's all I've got, this MU is in G&W's favor.

Wait, one last thing; don't recover low, you'll get bodied.

 

[SPoitter]

how to beat G&W
1: don't space with grounded moves or tilts, you should space with aerials, because a majority of the tilts in the game are just free dash attacks or grabs for G&W
2: don't try to escape his d throw strings, most of the time you'll just air dodge into the ground which is another grab for him, or worse, a smash attack, or you'll dodge into a uair.
3: know your opponent, G&W can be played in many different ways, he can juggle the opponent, forcing them to stay in the air with d tilt to nair, or just keeping them up in the air with uair then just getting free % with a nair
4: G&W has no good MUs against most characters that hit hard (Ganondorf, Donkey Kong), and even worse ones against fast characters (Sonic, Captain Falcon, etc)
5: you shouldn't shield when he's behind you, or run up and shield, these are easy ways to get 50% slapped onto you from one of his grabs.

 

[Fluggerson]

Anyone know what stages G&W is bad in? Also, I can play anyone rn. Idk how my connection is, though.

 

[SPoitter]

Anyone know what stages G&W is bad in? Also, I can play anyone rn. Idk how my connection is, though.

he's really bad on lylat against certain characters like luigi and pac man

 

[Denzill7]

If you're at high% and G&W down throws you, always jump away instead of air dodging. If you air dodge, he'll uair you and most likely KO you. And don't come down with an aerial often, since you'll get up smashed if you get too predictable.

 

[Folie]

he's really bad on lylat against certain characters like luigi and pac man

Lylat and Battlefield variations are the best stages for G&W except against characters who generally excel on those stages (Rosa, Bowser, etc) bc of his ability to pressure characters above him, and runoff bair being p strong.

G&W worst stages are Smashville (platform makes capitalizing on offstage situations harder) and T&C (same reason as Smashville with the added disadvantage of a low ceiling)

idk much about how good transformation stages are for him since my scene rarely plays on them anymore, but I believe Lylat would be bad, Defino good, and Castle Siege MU dependant.

FD and Duck Hunt are fairly neutral for him imo

 

[Folie]

4: G&W has no good MUs against most characters that hit hard (Ganondorf, Donkey Kong), and even worse ones against fast characters (Sonic, Captain Falcon, etc)

reread this thread and apparently I somehow missed this. First part is not true in the slightest lol G&W has excellent MUs against Ganon, DK, Dedede, Charizard. All four are stupidly easy to play against in neutral, Ganon, Charizard, DK are super easy to edgeguard and combo, Dedede more or less cant use gordos in neutral at all due to chef, etc etc. Bowser is the exception to this because of his surprising amount of safe options vs G&W.

Second part is true, the deeper explanation behind that is that G&W has issues dealing with characters with easy punish options to his laggy moveset and subpar neutral, which, happens to be true for a lot of fast characters.

 

[SeanS]

The best character that you play in terms of matchup favorability against G&W is Rosalina. Keep in mind that you can lose Luma quite easily in this matchup to dash attacks, but anyway, you will get an advantage. She has a good combination of spacing, range, and priority to wall G&W out.

Diddy is another option, though advances in play suggest that this is not the bad matchup it was once believed to be. You can become resistant to some throw combos, but you can also be vortexed and edgeguarded quite well after getting hit. You will have to play quite safely and kill at high percents without a very strong trap / read.

If you really hate this character and can't do anything despite this advice, pick Fox at the CSS. That is the most surefire way to beat him. Laser camping and OOS moves do wonders in this MU, you will have the ability to completely evade throw combos at low percents and totally DI out of them at higher ones, and you will become nearly impossible to edgeguard in theory. It's quite sad how a good character can be so completely **** on by another.

For stages, prevent anything with platforms unless you are Rosalina. Opt for Halberd, Delfino, and Smashville if not banned to prevent edgeguarding and get as many jank kills as possible.

 

[SeanS]

Also, what Courage said about "hard hitting characters" is laughable. These characters typically get hit more than they hit against G&W, properly played anyway, and only really get by on punishes.

 

[CaikLazer]

Use Mario, and if that doesnt work well.... git gud.

 

[SeanS]

Use Mario, and if that doesnt work well.... git gud.

nah, in terms of the high tier characters, he is one of the least effective against G&W.