I CAN'T spike!

[pyrotek7x7]

I've had this problem since Melee...I can't spike.

I don't know what it is. All of my friends do it fine, but I can't. And being a Marth player, that's a problem.

I either completely miss or hit them upwards. Even when it's totally on the bottom section of the blade, they go upwards. Roughly one out of ten (and I'm NOT exaggerating here) will actually end up spiking, and most of those are above the ground.

Even in training mode, where the computer does nothing except jump back to the ledge, I CAN'T DO IT.


What should I do!? Why can't I do it?

 

[Semmick]

Timing your second jump correctly usually helps for this problem. You can also use Dair when the enemy is diagonal-down-behind you and it should land

 

[magikguy]

turned around also helps i guess .

 

[pyrotek7x7]

Ah...so should I RAR off the edge to the dair? I never thought of that.

EDIT: This doesn't seem to help. They still fly up.

 

[Semmick]

Practice timing, some great Marth players still don't have the brawl spike down. A good combo of sorts is to Dancing Blade(down) and followup with the Dair

 

[pyrotek7x7]

I don't have any of Marth down, apparently. I can't even beat computers anymore. >_< This sucks. He's so hard to know how to get good with.

 

[Semmick]

Just keep practicing. What I do when I need to practice something is playing against a low level Bowser just to combo. Then slowly start working your way up

 

[pyrotek7x7]

My main problem is the moves I spam; the wrong ones. I need a guide that tells me "spam these all of the time" but I really can't find any Marth guides like that.

Videos don't really help much either.

 

[Semmick]

Try getting Dancing Blade spamming into your playstyle, hitting all of the Downwards attacks with it causes a good 20 damage. Then just properly space and Fsmash.

 

[BacklashMarth]

Dont worry too much if you cant spike. Not all marths try spiking that often anyway (or even succeed when they do for that matter). To be honest, you dont need to be perfect with spiking to be good with marth overall.

 

[SeanxFayt]

Dancing Blade down -> sh fair -> use the 2nd jump to complete the ownage =p (spike) if you get the spacing right and can chase em off stage before they di to the ledge the spike will almost always hit :D. and if that doesn't work for you there's always stage spiking lol

 

[Hype]

The thing about the RAR that helps is there is a spikeing hitbox behind you. It's much easier to space them horizontally than it is vertically.

 

[SeanxFayt]

footstool then slap the cstick down lol works wonders and good against the annoying players

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

I actually spiked at least 4 people at a tourney yesterday, lol. All ledgehopped.

 

[crazn137]

I actually spiked at least 4 people at a tourney yesterday, lol. All ledgehopped.

That was amazing when that Falcon teched one of your spikes. All of us watching went crazy =P

 

[illinialex24]

Turn away from the opponent.

 

[Conclusively]

Footstool -> Dair? Iuno. Backwards is easiest for me.

 

[3xSwords]

Practice timing, some great Marth players still don't have the brawl spike down. A good combo of sorts is to Dancing Blade(down) and followup with the Dair

No. All great Marth players have the spike down. Don't even try to BS that one. And DB > dair is not what can even be considered a "good" combo

Just keep practicing. What I do when I need to practice something is playing against a low level Bowser just to combo. Then slowly start working your way up

Whatever works for you. However, this person should mainly trying to get the spacing of the dair down. That means he must use dair over and over again until he can tipper it every time. This requires commitment and there is no shortcut for mastering spacing.

Try getting Dancing Blade spamming into your playstyle, hitting all of the Downwards attacks with it causes a good 20 damage. Then just properly space and Fsmash.

Yes get DB spam into your game, however, don't use downward slash. Many times the opponent can DI up and out and then punish.

 

[illinialex24]

Yeah 3x is right. You shouldn't botch a spike really at all unless its a very weird situation (well, even then... you should like fair or bair instead), so its a great thing to master.

I used to play this opponent a lot (its a short clip) and I used to botch the spike... however, I am getting better at it (I'm not a good Marth but I'll admit it) and so take a look at how I punished one small mistake by a Falco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSxC_ZBJxZU

Its a game-changer his spike.

 

[Semmick]

No. All great Marth players have the spike down. Don't even try to BS that one. And DB > dair is not what can even be considered a "good" combo



Whatever works for you. However, this person should mainly trying to get the spacing of the dair down. That means he must use dair over and over again until he can tipper it every time. This requires commitment and there is no shortcut for mastering spacing.



Yes get DB spam into your game, however, don't use downward slash. Many times the opponent can DI up and out and then punish.

Sorry about that first one hehe... trying to make him not feel as bad uno?

Oh I'd love to know play CPU's but most of my friends are either doing schoolwork or something else random. By that I meant go into training mode, against a bowser(big, easy to try to get a spike on) and just keep trying.

It is the most damaging but can get DI'ed out of...

 

[illinialex24]

Sorry about that first one hehe... trying to make him not feel as bad uno?

Oh I'd love to know play CPU's but most of my friends are either doing schoolwork or something else random. By that I meant go into training mode, against a bowser(big, easy to try to get a spike on) and just keep trying.

It is the most damaging but can get DI'ed out of...

CPU's are not good testing, believe me, I've tried it and they lie.

 

[3xSwords]

Sorry about that first one hehe... trying to make him not feel as bad uno?

Oh I'd love to know play CPU's but most of my friends are either doing schoolwork or something else random. By that I meant go into training mode, against a bowser(big, easy to try to get a spike on) and just keep trying.

It is the most damaging but can get DI'ed out of...

Yeah I can see why you did that but still we don't accept white lies here. It's just the cold hard truth.

Also just saying right now, dude you realize brawl has no combos correct?

 

[Semmick]

Yeah I can see why you did that but still we don't accept white lies here. It's just the cold hard truth.

Also just saying right now, dude you realize brawl has no combos correct?

Yes, because the lack of hitstun on weak attacks.

 

[pyrotek7x7]

Wow, thanks everyone. o_0

So, dancing blade....I got into the habit of using all of the upward attacks. And I did hear that down (especially the fourth) is easy to DI out of. Which ones should I use, and when should I use them?

P.S. I was expecting it was really just a spacing issue, but I didn't know it would be easier to spike backwards with horizontal DI. I'll have to practice that.

 

[VietGeek]

Just use neutral and upward strokes. The only down stroke you should use is the third one unless their shield is low (then feel free to go for the fourth too).

The 3rd down is great as it's angled to shieldstab a shield not angled down that has already deteriorated a bit. Also if you hit with the handle of the Falchion, it'll apply a weak spike on them so you can get out of there and prevent getting shieldgrabbed (if you follow up from the spike, you'll miss since Marth lunges too much on all the 4th moves).

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

I actually spiked at least 4 people at a tourney yesterday, lol. All ledgehopped.

That was amazing when that Falcon teched one of your spikes. All of us watching went crazy =P

Yeah, I got so pissed there. I think I would've one that if he wouldn't have teched that.

 

[BBoyindo]

What i usually do is jump, and when at a good position, double jump and immedeatly dair. also rar it and hit with the very end.

 

[AssaultX]

footstool then slap the cstick down lol works wonders and good against the annoying players

However situational a midair footstool can be... >_>

 

[mostwins]

However situational a midair footstool can be... >_>

exactly why it should never be relied upon to get the job done

 

[Pierce7d]

My personal advice?

If you can't, don't. You're better off using more reliable edgeguarding tactics. Spiking is just a way of embarrasing your opponent's at lower levels of play. At higher levels, it's clutch, but not necessary. Since you never actually need this move, and Marth can gimp somewhat decent, just leave it alone.

 

[ZHMT]

My personal advice?

If you can't, don't. You're better off using more reliable edgeguarding tactics. Spiking is just a way of embarrasing your opponent's at lower levels of play. At higher levels, it's clutch, but not necessary. Since you never actually need this move, and Marth can gimp somewhat decent, just leave it alone.

Thats pretty much the best advice you can get on this topic. Agreed fully.

 

[IDK]

you couldnt spike in melee? help this man!

 

[Daedatheus]

Watch videos of players spiking with Marth. The best place to find this would be in COMBO VIDEOS.

Observe WHEN they jump and WHERE they are when they hit their opponent. Then do your best, practicing against a level 1 - 3 CPU with many stocks, to imitate that spiking technique and spacing. You will get it eventually.

Also keep in mind that the back of the Dair hitbox is a bigger zone for spiking. So spiking them while facing the other direction is much easier and more effective.

 

[∫unk]

Spiking only works on bad people or when I get lucky. So I suggest relying on these factors if you want to improve your spiking.

 

[K 2]

Isn't there some footstool into spike combo?

 

[VietGeek]

Isn't there some footstool into spike combo?

There is, but it's not practical, nor is it reliable/safe.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

Isn't there some footstool into spike combo?

There is, but it's not practical, nor is it reliable/safe.

It's also character dependent as well.

 

[romarthx2]

Spiking is my favorite thing to do. I find spiking backwards easy for me because the timing is not so tight, but thats just me. A combo i like to do when i go for a spike kill is usually Grab + forward throw + SH fair + DJ Dair, just to get in deph. Hope it helps.

 

[streetracr77]

Go into training and select a large character as your cpu (donkey kong, d3, bowser). Select FD as your stage and spend an hour practicing your spike. In order to spike, you need to tip with your dair. It's easier to spike when you're facing backwards. The sword extends more when you're facing backwards than it does when you're forwards. Practice spiking them when they're on the ground at first. Once you get comfortable with that, try spiking them off the stage.

 

[Darxmarth23]

you dont need to spike 100% of the time.

marth can pwn in thousands of other ways.