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I struggle vs DK. Help?

Kiligar

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
269
Donkey Kong is my hardest matchup. I main DP, although I should probably use Pit against him, will do so in the future most likely. Anyway, I love his dash attack because it’s a free grab for me. He’s pretty easy to combo. And that’s where the good stuff ends. I’m pressured into shield by his Bair to the extent where my last match against him I got shield broken twice. He taunted the second time, letting me live and perform the taunt to get bodied combo as I was on my last and he was at 2 stocks. Regardless, I don’t want to be forced into that situation. His Bair causes huge trouble for me, and if I get grabbed I get combo’d over 40%. I struggle to edgegaurd his Up Special. Help, in particular with edgegaurding and v Bair?
 
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Vincey_Boi

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
81
Location
Modesto CA
Space him out as much as you can to the point where its difficult for him to even get a grab abuse of ur arrows. Get hella grabs such as Down throw down air nair for some good percent on the ape because u need to grind as much percent as u can for some up airs on him because he is not dying anytime soon to anything else as long as he is at 134% or more. I used to main Pit n Dark pit in the early days of Sm4sh and now a thing or to about fighting the ape.
 

Vincey_Boi

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
81
Location
Modesto CA
With your edgeguards work on them some more because Dk's recovery is not as good when u put ur mind onto it. It only goes horizontally and only a little bit above. Go extremely far for those kills as you can so u cant get gimped into oblivion with his recovery so stick out a back air to kill em and edgeguard since it has some really good range. Overall, i see many Pit and Dark Pit struggle over DK its not until u really know ur character is when u know how to counter a lot of characters and their massive weaknesses.
 

Vincey_Boi

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
81
Location
Modesto CA
Also when you see a dk make an awful mistake which they do all the time use it and punish it as hard as u possibly could. DK players love to abuse dash attack which are perfect times to punish him.
 

Aquamentii

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 2, 2015
Messages
178
Like Vince said, the only burst option you need to watch out for is dash attack. Otherwise, you can (wisely) use arrows to pressure the DK into approaching. Dark Pit has a very good walk speed, you can utilitze this to walk backwards out of range of his attacks and whiff-punish him with nair, fair, bair, etc.
He should be coming to you.
:)
As far as punishing the upB, don't be afraid to hang around offstage while he mixes up his recovery timing. Make use of your multiple jumps. Stay out of his range ... DK's verticle burst is about limited to double jump -> up air. You can react to his upB with a fast fall down air, and as long as you trust in your character's range, you can spike him without getting touched.
:)
Alternatively, you can try guarding the ledge with a sideB of your own. DK will be looking to upB as soon as you and he are horizontally level, so he can abuse his intangibility and long-range upB and beat your option, but electroshock arm will rip right through the upB and an score some early kills.
:)
You have to recognize when DK is coming in for bair spam. If he runs in, turns around, jumps and full hop -> back air, then he's probably going to do another one as he comes down (this is a popular walling strategy with DK). When you see the first bair, get ready to sideB the next one. Alternatively, like I said earlier, if you have some space to work with, walk out of his range and swat him backwards with forward tilt.
:)
Heavies in this game tend to get overconfident with their neutral options, which work best when the opponent picks lots of defensive options. To take the edge in the matchup, you have to call out these unsafe options with proper punishes: a conventional shield -> grab approach may not work because of the power and speed of the attack, but practically no move is safe on whiff, and a sword character like Dark Pit has great options to out-space and punish these moves. That should be your game plan whenever you see DK turn around and throw out bairs like mad.
 

Kiligar

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
269
Thanks for the responses, I’ll definitely try out these strategies! I like fighting characters I struggle with because it overall makes me improve. My brother is also into DK, though he mains Pit. The main video I’ve been using to learn from has been this. Dragonfly is amazing at DP.
Once again, thank you for your advice, and I hope we all are able to improve. Both you guys and I use characters that are underused and yet are more powerful than people think they are.
 

Jellomo

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
2
His dash attack is difficult for me to counter as it comes out quickly and hard to counter at times
 

Ethan Weegee

Smash Cadet
Joined
Mar 7, 2019
Messages
55
His dash attack is difficult for me to counter as it comes out quickly and hard to counter at times
DK's dash attack has a great combination of properties that make it good to punish in shield, more so if you're Luigi. Simply shield his dash, punish with Luigi's up-special, and reap the rewards.
 

GrieverSSBU

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jul 7, 2019
Messages
18
Switch FC
SW 1500 9618 1710
DK's dash attack has a great combination of properties that make it good to punish in shield, more so if you're Luigi. Simply shield his dash, punish with Luigi's up-special, and reap the rewards.
The real problem is his side b. It has a ridiculous hitbox, does insane shield damage, can spike, AND can ground you in a nearly unmashable way at mid to higher percents. He basically gets a free punish for doing it. The only real drawback for him is if you parry it he gets punished for free. Oh yeah I also forgot about the insane amount of super armor it has. You can hit him twice and it will still connect with you. I usually never have problems with DK since I play Richter but last night this dude spammed it and basically had me grounded for 2/3 of the match. That was irritating ngl.
 

Aquamentii

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 2, 2015
Messages
178
Just remember no option is un-counter-able, if you know the appropriate punish. DK's sideB is most easily punished by roll behind -> grab (unless they are reading your roll and attacking the other direction!). Other options include ranged attacks or projectiles which keep you out of harms way while still getting at least some damage. You should have the presence of mind to know on the spot whether or not your shield can withstand the move (as a damaged shield cannot, but a full shield can) and that may give you another option to beat the move. Just keep an eye on your opponent.
 
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