How to regain stage control?

[firedude953]

When I get knocked off the stage, I usually grab onto the ledge then roll off it (I might roll again depending on the situation). Sometimes I find that doesn't work though. What is a good way to regain stage control and be a position to punish?

 

[Sp0nge]

You almost always want to go for the ledge if you lose stage control. Using bowser bomb is optimal to snap back since it's a little hard to hit towards the beginning. I will usually go for the normal getup option because it's the hardest to punish. At that point the opponent will be relatively close to you, so I either pick a defensive option or throw out a down tilt. Down tilt will stop a grab, is pretty safe on shield, and can be hard to spot dodge. It's just a really good way to get your opponent off of you so you get back to the center of the stage from my experience. Jabs and Ftilt/Pivot Ftilt work too. I generally don't go for Fortress as soon as I climb back, but if they spot dodge or roll into you then you can use it.

If you don't go for the ledge you can always just land on stage with Klaw. Just don't make it too obvious that you're going for the Klaw because they can always beat it out with an aerial.

If customs are on, I'll use Dash Slash and mix up my recovery. You can go high and then use it again to escape or go past them and punish their approach, or you can go low and up b right after (just make sure they can't spike you).

Also, sort of a side note, fire is a really good way to make sure you don't lose stage control in the first place. If they plan on catching your landing from below you, or even if they try to jump up and use aerials, you can use fire mid air and that should stop them from approaching. I like to have it out for about a second when I finally reach the ground. This sort of depends on the stage though, if there's a platform under you then you'll just get up smashed.

 

[Zigsta]

There isn't a set best way to get back to the stage should you be on the ledge. What's important is that you mix it up. Standing getup is a lot more viable in this game, and since a lot of people are still hardwired to play like it's Brawl, you can get away with more standing getup options than you'd think. I've been using standing getup>Bowser Bomb a lot more often, and it's just silly how much I get away with it.

Remember that Bowser can actually recover from a lot lower than most people expect, especially with his buffed recovery in this game. Save your jump NO MATTER WHAT, and try your best to stay low, unless you're playing an opponent you know is spike-heavy or can gimp you easily, ie Luigi with his cyclone. But again, mixups are key for not getting punished.

I would encourage you to play around with your options when recovering back from the ledge. You can standing getup, roll, jump, ledgehop fair, ledgehop nair, ledgehop dair, ledgehop Klaw, ledgehop Firebreath, ledgehop Bomb...you get the picture. Try using different options more often and figure out what options you like best--and what options you're going to save for trump cards.

 

[Grizzlpaw]

I never even knew ledge hop klaw was a thing. I need to try that out.

 

[Jerodak]

One thing I've noticed from a lot of players is a tendency to try getting off the ledge right away. It's actually okay to wait there at least once in a while. You hold more cards than you might think in that situation. Each ledge option deals with a particular situation better than others, so figure out what that is for each option, also don't forget about ledge hopping, it comes with it's own subset of options. One of them is firebreath, perhaps an overlooked option, but it's useful when players are trying to stand at that "perfect" range where they like to wait and punish on reaction. Don't expect it to work forever, whenever you employ any tactic, you generally will want to think about how your opponent can defeat it, and what you can do about that. That way, when they start adapting, you've already planned for it and can formulate new tactics faster.