How to win against Bowser?

[Pabben]

I'm really having a hard time winning against my cousin who likes to play Bowser. He spams down B and side B a lot. Side B really is the killer for me since it always does good damage. I hate it too when I'm playing Sheik and he ko's me at 80%. What is generally the best way to defeat Bowser and what is the best match-up against him?

 

[Blue Ninjakoopa]

From my experience, Bowser hates excessive projectiles and is susceptible to several combos if not all of them, often taking the entirety of the damage output due to not being able to easily escape. So if you're Sheik, Burst Grenades and Needles should be used a lot. Also try to keep Bowser aerial (especially above you; diagonally he can still get you with Flying Slam if you're not careful); Sheik's f-air and u-air particularly are very effective on Bowser if I correctly recall. Sheik's also got combos of her own I believe, but I don't use her, so I wouldn't know and am thus not a reliable source of strategies to use with her. I have, however, faced Bowsers before with Mario and R.O.B..

Down B is very easily punished. Just telegraph the attack and before Bowser hits the ground, dodge or shield it and punish. As for Side B, if you want to avoid being grabbed, spam your projectiles and keep him away from you. If he's coming at you from the air, roll behind him or use your f-tilt (grab armor is no longer in the game so even if he does grab you, Sheik's f-tilt's hitbox should interrupt it and you can follow up with whatever). I'm not entirely sure if grab armor for Flying Slam is gone but for other command grabs like Wario's Chomp it is, so I assume so for Flying Slam (the Bowsers I've fought made little use of Flying Slam).

E m b arrassing edit: Actually, don't shield the Bowser Bomb. Lol.

 

[Kooky Koopa]

Not sure if I'll be boiled for this but I can give you some advice how to beat Bowser.

As Sheik, you are fast. Light but fast as all hell. You need to take advantage of this and make sure you don't slug it out. Use hit and runs, shield, block but most importantly run back and forth while tossing knives, kite him. If it's easier, tumble as Sheik has a tiny window where she can actually be hit.

Second, Bowser may be a lot faster and stronger here but just like in Brawl, each of his attacks suffer from lag, as in if he misses he is wide open to attack. This is especially noticeable with his attacks like down b, his smash and so forth. Your best bet is to bait your friend if he spams as much as you say. Down B can be spot dodged or simply tumbled out of the way which should give you a 1-2 second window to absolutely belt into him with either a smash or a quick juggle. Again it's important to wait for opportunities for your friends Bowser to make an attack and immediately follow up with an attack of your own. Assuming you made him miss that is.

Finally, just to re-iterate, make sure that you keep harassing him with knives from range. He sounds inexperienced and this ruins any inexperienced Bowser's players day.

Hope this helps.

 

[UltimaLuminaire]

Oh, man. Please @ P Pabben don't shield the Bowser Bomb. Christ. Don't shield it.

Throw needles --> run in --> grab --> down throw --> use tilts and aerials to combo

Practice how to lead into your up air, it's one of the best kill moves I've ever seen. Just watch out for the pop-up from Bowser's down air. It can force you to whiff and cause a lot of pain. If you need to recover, vector down towards the stage and recover low. Bowser can do nothing to edge guard that unless he's up a stock, ballsy as ****, and loves his down air spike. Also, Shiek's bouncing fish is safe on shield, so you can use that to pressure. It can help get Bowser off-stage and once that happens, it becomes easy to follow his movements and smack him around till he dies. If you're not aiming for off-stage control, make sure you have on-stage control with needles, grenades, grabs, and dash canceled up smash.

Counter-picks:
Honorable Mention: (so fast like sanic)

I've also had bad experiences with Ganon. His sparta kick on the ground is as powerful as Bowser's back air.

 

[Blue Ninjakoopa]

Oh, man. Please @ P Pabben don't shield the Bowser Bomb. Christ. Don't shield it.

Throw needles --> run in --> grab --> down throw --> use tilts and aerials to combo

Practice how to lead into your up air, it's one of the best kill moves I've ever seen. If you need to recover, vector down towards the stage and recover low. Bowser can do nothing to edge guard that. Also, Shiek's bouncing fish is safe on shield, so you can use that to pressure. It can help get Bowser off-stage and once that happens, it becomes easy to follow his movements and smack him around till he dies.

Yeah, my advice was terrible lol. Would you happen to know exactly how much shield damage the Bowser Bomb does? Also, does Flying Slam still have grab armor?

 

[UltimaLuminaire]

Yeah, my advice was terrible lol. Would you happen to know exactly how much shield damage the Bowser Bomb does? Also, does Flying Slam still have grab armor?

The sourspot on Bowser Bomb will knock off 50% of the shield and have substantial push back, but not enough to prevent Bowser from being punished. However, being directly underneath his butt will instantly break the shield. Spot dodge it, roll, or simply walk away.

The klaw does not have grab armor. There's nothing special about it until Bowser is on the way down with his opponent, at which point it gains a hit box with enough priority that I sometimes mistake it for super armor.

 

[Kooky Koopa]

Oh, man. Please @ P Pabben
Counter-picks:
Honorable Mention: (so fast like sanic)

I've also had bad experiences with Ganon. His sparta kick on the ground is as powerful as Bowser's back air.

I get Rosalina, but Captain Falcon? Not to go too OT. Zero Suit and DDD are strong too but, I I've found Bowser can compete. Rest though thumbs up!

Not to be too OT so, another great piece of advice is to edge guard Bowser something furious. Bowser doesn't have a bad recovery, but you can make getting back onto the platform an absolute struggle. Assuming he is far enough, keep chucking needles at him and place yourself far enough so that even if he tumbles back, you're still on top of him.

 

[Espi]

I think Bowser vs Falcon is a tuuuuurible matchup for falcon. Easy to kill and Falcon has bad approaches vs Bowser.

 

[B!squick]

wut? Falcon is great against Bowser. Ez knees, ez life.

 

[Brendan Stepladder]

@ P Pabben

Two simple ways to counter Bowser:

When he's in the air, you can do one of two things:

1. Briefly roll under where he is in an attempt to bait the Bowser Bomb. That move has so much lag that it's a free smash attack if it whiffs.

2. GET BEHIND HIM WHEN HE'S AIRBORNE. Bowser has zero good landing options if the opponent gets behind him, unless he's going for the ledge.

Aside from that, just play it safe and keep your distance. Use projectiles, but not so many projectiles that Bowser has time to run up and break your face.

ALSO: Never shield the Bowser Bomb! It can break a full shield if it hits right!

 

[UltimaLuminaire]

@ P Pabben

Two simple ways to counter Bowser:

When he's in the air, you can do one of two things:

1. Briefly roll under where he is in an attempt to bait the Bowser Bomb. That move has so much lag that it's a free smash attack if it whiffs.

2. GET BEHIND HIM WHEN HE'S AIRBORNE. Bowser has zero good landing options if the opponent gets behind him, unless he's going for the ledge.

Aside from that, just play it safe and keep your distance. Use projectiles, but not so many projectiles that Bowser has time to run up and break your face.

ALSO: Never shield the Bowser Bomb! It can break a full shield if it hits right!

Please, please, please don't land behind Bowser and call it a day. Bowser is extremely strong against cross-ups thanks to fortress out of shield. -_-

 

[B!squick]

Yes, "bait" aerial DownB and get behind him because he can't hit you when landing except with anything and maybe not DAir, depends on if there's a platform. And I'll UpB all day if you get in close. Bowser don't like hugs.

Personally, I think Bowser is at his weakest if you can get him to UpB prematurely, or take advantage of him not doing it all when you get close. Fortress usage makes or breaks many a Bowser match since Melee days. Also, I think UTilt is a little laggier this time around, so if you have a good aerial you can try baiting out that or USmash with an empty jump into a double jump. Just keep in mind Bowser's hurtbox actually shrinks during USmash and his arms and legs are intangible during many of his moves.

 

[Raiden mk-II]

As Bowser, I have a lot of problems against projectile spammers. They usually take away all of my approach options or when I get close, they rolldodge away. I've had some success against Duck Hunt Dog and Zero Suit Samus, but a Spam-us Aran and a Mega Man who spams projectiles give me headaches. Rosalina remains my toughest matchup.

The best way to deal with Bowser is keep him at a distance. Other than his Fire Breath, he does not have much to take on opponents from afar. Grounded Fortress is one other good move Bowser has to close in on ranged attackers. Bowser's strength is when he is up close and personal. A Bowser player who can time fully-charged Forward Smashes to connect is a force to be reckoned with. I've killed people at as low as 55% with his mighty dropkick. Also, never approach Bowser from above, as his Up Smash gives him autoguard on his shell. Timed right, it out-prioritizes many moves such as Link's Down Air, FALCON KICK, Bowser Bomb, and even activated counters will not touch him. Fear the shell. Stay away from the shell when you are above Bowser.

When you are in close company with Bowser, make him miss. A lot of his strong attacks suffer from cooldown lag and are easily punishable. Make him whiff and punish away.

As mentioned several times elsewhere, never shield a Bowser Bomb. If it his right, it completely breaks shields. Done at the edge of a stage, you will fall helplessly to your death.

 

[Mr. Bones]

If you try to hang out behind me while I'm in the air I'm just going to go for the ledge or reverse fire-breath you.

But yeah, Bowser shouldn't be winning with Side-B/Down-B against Sheik. Lol Side-B's range is short and Down-b is laggy. Everyone pretty much covered what to do about this.