"I'm an earthquake in a can!" - Bowser video thread

[Chaos_Blasta]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO_O33uIHX4

Tournament set vs Ally, starts at around 26:11.

 

[Frost | Odds]

That's a damn respectable Bowser, though it looked like you knew the MU much, much better than Ally.

Biggest notes:
- looks like you approach with grounded up b way too much (I'm guilty of this too)
- not nearly enough flame cancels imo
- You don't force him to respect your dash grab at all. You WD around a bit when Ally's dead, but don't really mix up your movement that much during the actual game
- Grounded Klaw is actually pretty bad most of the time. Verrrrrry slow and punishable. I like how much you Klaw in general, but maybe mix it up more with your aerials rather than your grounded game (where you should probably be tilting more)
- Recovery could use some work - notably how you kinda predictably always go for the down b to edge (I'm also guilty of this one)
- You used upB as your only OOS option. While it's by far the best choice in general, you gotta mix it up at least a bit with grabs and SH aerials to force opponent to respect those, because it's super punishable on shield.
- At least once, you used upB instead of jab-cancelling his missed tech into a better punish, like a grab. Not a big deal, but worth noting.

Good stuff. Ally is no slouch.

 

[Jacob29]

I really like some of the things you do.

But, gotta clean up them down-b's .

Also no flame breath at all I believe? is it really that bad vs Ike? feel like it could have been used in several circumstances

 

[Jacob29]

Excluding the double post because I am a bad man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiIxcKcVetY&list=UUK7tziygxPktXMbHpY5OnSQ

Here are some friendlies. Any major flaws or improvements?

There are SD's and what not mainly because it is just friendlies so I usually try silly things, and it was also netplay and occasionally inputs are missed (there is one later one where I just jump off and die due to this very reason)

 

[Mr. Bones]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO_O33uIHX4

Tournament set vs Ally, starts at around 26:11.

This is just a small detail, but for the characters that like to Dair you from above a platform, Up-Smash all day. XD Also flame-cancel stuffs Ike's side-b approaches. Be careful with too much grounded Up-B, it gets predictable and easy to punish. Short-hop Nair out of shield is a really useful mix-up. Another good thing to do when hanging on the ledge is to try flame-cancel onto the stage. It's good for when they're expecting side-b or the get-up attack and eats their shield and invalidates spot dodges. :b

 

[Shadow Huan]

well, I don't have any tournament sets to share, but I do have a few casuals.

nothing high quality, my recording methods are rather low tech atm, and it's not high level play. but still

vs Flaco

Falcon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Zw...N2c=&client=mv-google&gl=US&hl=en

vs Marth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfJ6...N2c=&client=mv-google&gl=US&hl=en

 

[Candypants]

Found some replays from a while ago.

vs Falco http://youtu.be/15PQFpke_kA

 

[Frost | Odds]

Games 2 and 3 I played Bowser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEFdO_rLnzA

 

[Jacob29]

while you're far better than me Odds, and I see you going for those cheeky pivot f-tilts .

I did notice something.

You like 80% of the time tech towards them from a grab. I know it isn't Bowser specific, because really I can't offer you any advice there just yet, but that is just a general observation I picked up on.

 

[Mr. Bones]

All add in my two cents. I know you said something about controller scheme or something so I won't bug you about the random double USmash against MK.

Certain things you did like raw f-tilt to threaten space is dangerous against faster characters because it's still fairly laggy for a tilt. He didn't seem to take notice or punish you for it though. When I threaten space I prefer Jab 1 since it's so quick and still has great range for a Jab; it's a little harder to punish.

Also the raw Up-Bs are dangerous if you don't Fortress hog with them, but you know this. I only mention it because every time you did it, I had flashbacks of being 0-deathed for mine...*shudder*

But you were mostly safe; I only noticed the things I mentioned one or two times. The only other thing was that when edge-guarding he was way above you when you F-tilted empty space and I think that happened one or two times.

Overall Great Bowser. <3 Your Flame-cancels were so fresh and clean. If only more Bowser players took advantage of it. It's incredibly underrated/overlooked/forgotten.

 

[Frost | Odds]

Thanks for the crits guise <3

Some legit advice there, I'll try to work it in.

Here is my fancy new youtube playlist for friendlies against my roommate. I'll try to add to it regularly, but there's a decent amount of footage in there already.

 

[Ace55]

Used Boozer one match yesterday. Feel free to copy my techniques and don't feel too bad for yourselves, perhaps your Boozers will one day live up to mine:

 

[Frost | Odds]

Truly, you are an artist.

 

[Ace55]

Directly after the set I assumed I started my upB's too far from the ledge. But no, I was right ****ing next to it and I still completely whiffed it. The one on Randall was just IDK, brainfart.

Why can't I just grab the ledge Cmart? Why?

I miss the days when I felt I had an hard counter to Falco.

Ediy: For the record, imo it does seem easy enough to consistently fortresshog in 3.5, I just rushed it and died because of it. Still don't see the benefit of making it harder than versions 2.0 through 2.6 but it's fine I guess.

 

[Calm_Animal]

hey bowser boards, CalmAnimal is my name. I'm the bowser in the dfw area.i place pretty well at the weekly but, i'm tryng to get better, so that i can stop losing to the usally top dfw player.. I'm going to be going to ask yall to help me out. these are also before 3.5 but i would like help..but ill have matches that are in 3.5 later.
me vs. sethlon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h80VwIGg6YA
me vs lucas/DK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_uRmhmHeoE
me vs. diddy kong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCLBD8JGQaI
me vs. wolf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-2ZG3jm65o

 

[Frost | Odds]

@ Calm_Animal Add me on skype: username joshmdyck

I'll start reviewing your games with you in voice chat literally right now if you're down.

 

[Calm_Animal]

alright odds, i sent u a resquest.

 

[Frost | Odds]

That was a lot more long/productive than I thought/anticipated, lmao. I'll try to figure out OBS and maybe I can record or stream that stuff.

 

[Master WGS]

My Bowser is awful. Help me not be, please.

 

[Frost | Odds]

@ Master WGS add me on Skype (joshmdyck) and I'll stream a review for you a bit later

 

[Megapants]

Hey @ Master WGS I really like your style. Your execution is on point and you rarely miss a beat.

The games vs sheik were pretty even generally but I would say that the most obvious thing that could be improved would be your punishes on knockdowns/tech chases and your edgeguarding. For the former, I noticed that you really want to get a follow-up on the sheik's wakeup, but you almost always whiff like a grab or dash attack and the situation gets reversed from there. Example at 5:10 you get a knock down but then you get tech chased and pushed off stage for over 50% for free. Happens again in game 3 at 8:25, you knock her down with ledge attack and just jump in with a dash attack and it basically leads into you losing your stock after that. And finally, the last stock of the game was lost due to a poor dash attack.

My suggestion would be to work on feinting in those situations and just committing way less. You could try to bait a reaction rather than going for an immediate followup. I like to poke with jabs or tilts in those positions because they are less committal while letting you put on pressure. Chase the tech but either wavedash back or just cancel the run with a crouch and start poking, hopefully you can choke them out or possibly even nick them and knock them offstage. I also like this option because you can fluidly transition into a little bit of dash dancing, pivot ftilt, reverse side-Bs, that sort of thing.

In general, I think running in and crouching is a good tactic that I didn't see you using a lot. I love using jab or dtilt in those neutral or knockdown situations because it's the perfect gauge for what range you are relative to your opponent and they are fast enough that they allow you to turn on a dime, so to speak.

As for the edgeguarding, I think in almost all of those cases it would have been advantageous to just grab ledge and go for the free punish on sheik's landing. Sheik lands and then you can fair, ledge attack, side-B > back throw, all sorts of stuff. You just never grabbed ledge and it led to you getting punished instead most of the time.

 

[Candypants]

All done in a single weekend over two tournaments, got a bit lazy by the second one.

vs Diddy

vs Squirtle

vs Wario

vs Shiek/Ganon

vs T.Link

vs Dedede

vs DK/Dedede

 

[Filosafer]

@ Candypants Didn't see a single spot dodge. You also have upB to ledgeguard, not just downB. And you were getting on the ledge too early, especially if you're bowser bombing it. Mostly talking about the TL matchup. Also your approaches were pretty linear and obvious. You have all the mechanics of Bowser down, evidenced by your amazing combos and early kills, but once that wore off, you were combo food, as Bowser should be. Wavedashing and dashdancing aren't amazing with Bowser, but it does affect gameplay/

 

[Frost | Odds]

@ Candypants Didn't see a single spot dodge.

This is a good thing. Bowser's spotdodge is almost never worth using.

 

[Abeebo]

I think spot dodging is actually a decent upB mix up for those times my friend(usually sheik) throws out mix-up dash attacks, or puts out his grabs a little late, as to beat the 4 frames of invincibility and snag me at those few frames of the first hitbubble. You may even turn the tables if you're close enough to a ledge.

 

[OnFullTilt]

I think spot dodging is actually a decent upB mix up for those times my friend(usually sheik) throws out mix-up dash attacks, or puts out his grabs a little late, as to beat the 4 frames of invincibility and snag me at those few frames of the first hitbubble. You may even turn the tables if you're close enough to a ledge.

Well if you're dodging dash attacks from Sheik at least I can't imagine a world where Bowser's spot dodge ends before Sheik is able to throw out a jab.

 

[Filosafer]

This is a good thing. Bowser's spotdodge is almost never worth using.

Bowser's counter is any grab. Plenty of grabs in the matchups were easily dodgeable. They're not good for dodging attacks due to low frames, but they can still dodge grabs.

 

[Frost | Odds]

Right, and the problem is that if you spotdodge a grab, it's usually punishable by another grab.

 

[Abeebo]

Well if you're dodging dash attacks from Sheik at least I can't imagine a world where Bowser's spot dodge ends before Sheik is able to throw out a jab.

Doh! I guess my wording made it sound like i'm suggesting you spot-dodge a dash attack. I meant to say that he'll mix up his dash attacks with grabs, or just be more patient with his grab game overall, so I myself will mix it up with a spot-dodge to upB. Works every time, sometimes.

 

[Candypants]

Thanks for the advice and kind words guys!

Hope you had an amazing Christmas!

 

[Electric Tuba]

Tied for 5th at Austin's weekly last Thursday. Both losses got on stream, thankfully. Thoughts/tips/comments would be appreciated.

Match before winner's finals, vs EclipseKirby (Meta Knight). Moderately happy with how I played, but too many dash attacks and messed up crouch>jab/ftilt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8fFerofTZc

Match before loser's finals, vs Captain Birdman's Dedede (who entered as Shrek). I got wrecked here, not really sure what to do against DDD. Last stock was so sad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px5cpx8yqw4

 

[Filosafer]

Tied for 5th at Austin's weekly last Thursday. Both losses got on stream, thankfully. Thoughts/tips/comments would be appreciated.

It was painful to watch nearly EVERY getup attack hit you. You'd smash near the edge during their invincibility or run at them before they got up and attack unsafely. Don't be afraid to shield, and spotdodging is only good in very minute cases. Bowser has an awful, awful spotdodge: if you spotdodge a grab, they can usually frametrap you into another grab.
I saw a LOT of dair near the edge. Put simply, on shield, Dair is incredibly unsafe. Usually only good for hitting people below platforms. Even at low percentages, an on-contact Dair can be fully punished.
You should wait at the edge at about one Bowser length away, so you can react to their getup. You'd normally just run in and smash when he reached the ledge, which is bad. If you're going to run in, shield. If they roll or jump, techchase. If they attack, you have your pick from your OOS options.
When you're on the edge, don't be so predictable. Jump -> Dair (Stop this.), jump -> Klaw, and Attack were nearly all you did. Try stalling a little bit, make them use an option. Bowser's ledge game is second to none, and yours was unpolished. That's the main reason you lost.
The first stock of the last match against MK showed you can combo. Great turn around Utilts. BowserBombing the ledge right before they grab it is one of my favourite tactics as well. You had some great flame cancels throw in at the perfect time, except for once. If you don't get them with it initially, cancel it immediately, and do something else.

Final few notes, I don't have much experience with DDD, but I think he's heavily discussed in the MU thread. I'm almost positive him and Charizard are hard counters for Bowser. Usmash next to the ledge is VERY hard to spike with. I'd rather use Luigi's down taunt. Don't rely on doing that so much. Practice approaching and getting out of juggles, and quit spamming dtilts. I do the same thing. Jabs are good, I saw very few. They cancel nicely into other attacks. And watch their spacing when you're on the edge. If they're right in front of where you end up when you getup attack, don't do it. The getup hits once, so use it if they're in the air, or just whiffed something, ONLY.

 

[Electric Tuba]

It was painful to watch nearly EVERY getup attack hit you. You'd smash near the edge during their invincibility or run at them before they got up and attack unsafely. Don't be afraid to shield, and spotdodging is only good in very minute cases. Bowser has an awful, awful spotdodge: if you spotdodge a grab, they can usually frametrap you into another grab.
I saw a LOT of dair near the edge. Put simply, on shield, Dair is incredibly unsafe. Usually only good for hitting people below platforms. Even at low percentages, an on-contact Dair can be fully punished.
You should wait at the edge at about one Bowser length away, so you can react to their getup. You'd normally just run in and smash when he reached the ledge, which is bad. If you're going to run in, shield. If they roll or jump, techchase. If they attack, you have your pick from your OOS options.
When you're on the edge, don't be so predictable. Jump -> Dair (Stop this.), jump -> Klaw, and Attack were nearly all you did. Try stalling a little bit, make them use an option. Bowser's ledge game is second to none, and yours was unpolished. That's the main reason you lost.
The first stock of the last match against MK showed you can combo. Great turn around Utilts. BowserBombing the ledge right before they grab it is one of my favourite tactics as well. You had some great flame cancels throw in at the perfect time, except for once. If you don't get them with it initially, cancel it immediately, and do something else.

Final few notes, I don't have much experience with DDD, but I think he's heavily discussed in the MU thread. I'm almost positive him and Charizard are hard counters for Bowser. Usmash next to the ledge is VERY hard to spike with. I'd rather use Luigi's down taunt. Don't rely on doing that so much. Practice approaching and getting out of juggles, and quit spamming dtilts. I do the same thing. Jabs are good, I saw very few. They cancel nicely into other attacks. And watch their spacing when you're on the edge. If they're right in front of where you end up when you getup attack, don't do it. The getup hits once, so use it if they're in the air, or just whiffed something, ONLY.

Yeah, I kept trying to get down smash off to eat his getup attack, but I never quite got it off quick enough. Shield would have been better, as you said.
Thanks for pointing out some issues for me, I'll work on them.

 

[Jimbo_G]

Hello, it looks like this thread is a little out of date, but I don't see any other video threads. Here are three sets of my Bowser on stream at Kumite in Tennessee that I think might be of some value. This took place between the 10th and 12th of this year.

Vs Mario
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KdhnTCNf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R85KCuLQj6g

Vs. Ness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GJQhUdtWhQ

 

[Filosafer]

Hello, it looks like this thread is a little out of date, but I don't see any other video threads. Here are three sets of my Bowser on stream at Kumite in Tennessee that I think might be of some value. This took place between the 10th and 12th of this year.

Vs Mario
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KdhnTCNf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R85KCuLQj6g

Vs. Ness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GJQhUdtWhQ

That Ness match was a LOT of fun to watch. Your Fsmashes are a thing of beauty. How'd you do in the tourney?
As for critique, you almost always approached by dash attacking or an empty hop. Bowser's dash grab looks quite a bit like his dash attack, so try using that to mix up. Practice follow ups and mind games. You showed one great sweetspot recovery during one of the Mario matches, but then you recovered high almost every other time. During the Ness match, I understood why most of the time. I like to use my double jump, like I'm recovering high, then fastfall into sweetspot the UpB.
Your edge game is also seeking improvement. It's where Bowser excels, and you should capitalize on it as much as possible. I think Bowser Bomb has priority over PK Cross2. Or whatever it's called.

Watch your own matches. From your gameplay, it seems like you know his options, you just get stuck doing other ones. A lot of fun to watch, regardless.

 

[Jimbo_G]

That Ness match was a LOT of fun to watch. Your Fsmashes are a thing of beauty. How'd you do in the tourney?
As for critique, you almost always approached by dash attacking or an empty hop. Bowser's dash grab looks quite a bit like his dash attack, so try using that to mix up. Practice follow ups and mind games. You showed one great sweetspot recovery during one of the Mario matches, but then you recovered high almost every other time. During the Ness match, I understood why most of the time. I like to use my double jump, like I'm recovering high, then fastfall into sweetspot the UpB.
Your edge game is also seeking improvement. It's where Bowser excels, and you should capitalize on it as much as possible. I think Bowser Bomb has priority over PK Cross2. Or whatever it's called.

Watch your own matches. From your gameplay, it seems like you know his options, you just get stuck doing other ones. A lot of fun to watch, regardless.

I appreciate the feedback. That's pretty much the same stuff everyone in our community is telling me. I have all the fundamentals down. I just need to make better decisions.

I placed 4th in my pools. Each pool had between 10 and 12 people, and I had Mew2King and Iori in my pool, so I like to think I placed pretty well given the circumstances.

 

[Jacob29]

That PK Fire Crutch was real.

i don't think I saw you shield a single one. Remember that in 3.5 they don't activate on shield anymore so throwing a shield on when ness isn't nearby (he doesn't run very fast and has short arms and legs) isn't that big of a problem.


and Filo,

yes BB does beat Ness pkt2 (pk FLASH). But only if he isn't SUPER close to you when he does it.

He you hit him during the start of it prepare to get hit, it's super strong near the start and will go through your armour if you have a decent amount of damage on you, and also might kill.

 

[Jimbo_G]

Yeah, the reason I was so hesitant to shield the PK Fire was because I have practiced with another Ness player earlier and every shield I got still got grab punished. It's definitely a match-up I need more exposure to, but in this match it looked like he was equally unfamiliar.

I actually knew the BB beat Ness's Up-B, I'm just not 100% confident in my ability to use it wisely yet. I had successfully beaten the Ness Up-B with the F-smash numerous times in casuals while practicing, which is why I kept going for it, and it eventually did work. Tournament jitters were just making me fudge my timing every time, and this was the best Ness player I had played up to this point, who was much better at recovering than I expected.

 

[Frost | Odds]

So I recorded my latest game review/ coaching session with @ Calm_Animal . If anyone else wants this treatment, please let me know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzAkXDjyYkw

 

[ZoloTheVulture]

Thanks so much for making that video, @ Frost | Odds ! You're dropping some real knowledge. I'm trying to get better with Bowser since he's so freaking fun to play in this game and I've already picked up a ton from your analysis. I'd definitely keep watching if you made more. Shouts to @ Calm_Animal btw, love your Bowser!