Mr. Escalator
G&W Guru
In it to win it: An "In-depth" Guide on
Mr. Game & Watch
A word from the Author:
Well, I want to start off by thanking the Game & Watch community in general for it's help in creating this guide. This is as much my piece of work as it is yours; all the nuances of moves and basic to advanced tactics have been looked into, used, and mastered by contributors and top players alike that one person alone couldn't have covered. Thanks to the eagerness of our community, we advanced G&W's meta-game exceptionally fast, so that it's truly a rare day to see something new discovered, even regarding small, stage-dependent tricks. It's my goal to try and cover Mr. Game & Watch's strategy and basic properties to help both newcomers to this subforum and veterans of the character alike get the most out of this really remarkable character. I'll do my best to cover every little, subtle aspect of his moveset and his gameplay at competitive levels so that each one of you readers can walk away from this guide more knowledgeable.
With that out of the way, let's get to the substance of this thread.
With that out of the way, let's get to the substance of this thread.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
*To skip to a section, Ctrl + F and search for its 4-letter code.
▬ Knowing Your Character [KNYC]
◘ A brief history of Mr. Game & Watch [HOGW]
◘ G&W in Super Smash Bros. Brawl [GWIB]
◘ Why Go 2D? [WG2D]
◘ Strengths and Weaknesses [STAW]
▬ Moveset Dissection [MOVE]◘ G&W in Super Smash Bros. Brawl [GWIB]
◘ Why Go 2D? [WG2D]
◘ Strengths and Weaknesses [STAW]
Knowing Your Character
[KNYC]
A brief history of Mr. Game & Watch [HOGW]
"The monochrome hero of the Game & Watch series, a fellow who oozes personality. First appearing in 1980, the series were the original portable game systems. The first games in the series were quite simple, but as time passed, technology evolved. The multiscreen series featured game play on dual screens. As the name states, the games also kept time." -Melee G&W Trophy description
To add briefly to this short description on Mr. Game & Watch, it should be stated that he is apparently made up of LCD even when appearing in the Smash Bros. series. While he can't talk and moves in a frame-by-frame motion all the while being confined to the 2nd dimension, G&W is very good at getting "the point" across in battle and simply through the way he acts. Mr. Game & Watch has no sense of Good and Evil.
G&W in Super Smash Bros. Brawl [GWIB]
Mr. Game & Watch's attacks in Brawl are all disjointed away from his hurtbox, typically with a good deal of range and/or power behind each one. He has several strong attacks that compliment his bread'n'butter damage dealing pokes, and his ability to rack damage is notable. Though he is typically hailed as a Glass Cannon character, one who hits hard but can't take much abuse, a more accurate description might be that of a disjointed zoner, such as Marth, simply because of his momentum canceling and very good recovery that allows him to survive a long time.
There are a few key differences in how G&W transitioned from Melee into Brawl. First off, his shield has vastly improved and now covers his entire body. Secondly, his recovery went from merely good distance vertically, to great vertical+horizontal distance gained while making his awful landing lag minimized and his freefall from upB disappear. G&W's smashes are also a lot more rewarding on hit, as they buffed not only the sweetspots, which was the only real good part about his Melee smashes, but they also really improved the sourspots of his smashes. His Melee Nair and Melee Dtilt are vastly changed, for the overall good. To put it simply, they removed the majority of the flaws the old Mr. Game & Watch suffered from, and they made his strengths even stronger. I want to be clear with you on this; Game & Watch is an incredible character, which starkly contrasts with his Melee self.
Game & Watch's offstage and edgeguarding game are both amazing. His improved aerials and overall benefits gained from the physic changes (easier to sweetspot ledge, airdodging doesn't cause freefall, overall more floaty engine) make him one of the most fearsome and hard to stop characters offstage. His onstage gameplay is also powerful, using long ranged, disjointed aerials and tilts to keep the enemy close enough, but not too close, all the while he slowly deals damage to bring them into KO range.
While G&W is light, he has among the best Momentum Canceling moves in the entire game; Oil Panic. This allows him to make up for the one real flaw left over from Melee.
His matchups are extremely good, sometimes considered the very best just for the fact that he is such a dominating presence over the lower tiered characters. The top tier characters, who he is among, have either a slight advantage or go even with Game & Watch, but the rule of thumb is that the lower you go down the tier list, the farther matchups get in his favor. Regarding those who do beat him, G&W typically loses out when a character has a way to outrange his BnB damage dealers, such as the Turtle and Dtilt, or at least shut down his approach in some way. Meta Knight and Marth are both good examples of doing both, but ultimately, despite being one of his hardest matchups, neither shuts him down thoroughly. With good mixups and use of feints , G&W can work through their defensive game and come out on top.
Why Go 2D? [WG2D]
A great question. If one were to simply pick up Super Smash Bros. Brawl and look at the cast without any background knowledge on G&W's past, they may simply brush him off as a boring character or one that don't care enough about to learn. They may go straight for someone they know and love, like Meta Knight.
Well, if you've read up to this part already, you most likely know a bit about our flat friend. As far as character choices goes, G&W is one of the best around. He has an amazing recovery that's simple enough to use correctly, he has excessively strong smashes, great range and damage on his disjointed aerials and tilts, and he turns out to be really mobile with his great aerial deceleration and max air speed complimented by several moves that alter his rate of fall. Overall, he's extremely good, and only a few moves are arguably bad. If you want a character who will most likely have an answer to everything the opponent throws at you, one who actually has multiple moves to mix up with, and has a nice, low skill floor to start off at, no character is better suited for this than G&W.
All of his minor flaws can be worked around using Brawl's defensive options and good mixups. G&W is a character that you can always depend upon for being sturdy. He's also effective on just about every stage, making it hard to counterpick against him. That being said, I want to make something clear right now if you are planning on using G&W in the long run. While he is an easy character to pick up, which means his skill floor is nice and low, he is NOT an easy character to get good at and compete with. He has a high skill ceiling because of his dependency on mix-ups and varied approaches, as well as knowing how to condition the opponent and how to play off of this. More importantly, as a Game & Watch user you have to have exceptionally tight spacing to compete at a high competitive level. You will also need to know how to do ample shield pressure, and you will need to be proficient with momentum canceling. Just don't think that since it's an easy start picking up this character that it will be easy from then on out. This is just a warning. If you love G&W enough, and you are willing to stick it out with him, you shouldn't worry at all, as this guide is here to help you out of any slumps you get in!
Anyway, G&W has a lot of personality that many don't notice right off the bat, Get used to his quirky mobility in the air and his windboxes, and enjoy the ride. I want to add that Game & Watch might be the single best character in doubles, if this is something you are interested in.
Strengths and Weaknesses [STAW]
G&W is a character of many, many strengths. His few flaws are not as problematic as you might suspect by just reading these Pros/Cons. Regardless, they are still flaws and things you have to be aware of to work around and compensate for. Without further wait, here are the Pros and the Cons that Game & Watch has:
Game & Watch's Strengths:
- Long and disjointed range in general
- A lot of lingering and multihit moves to punish airdodging and sidestepping
- Has great shield pressure in the form of multihits, as well as several moves that shield stab
- One of the highest killing potentials
- An amazing offstage and edgeguarding game
- Is relatively unaffected by grab releases and chaingrabs
- One of the best Anti-Projectile characters
- Very little cooldown across all of his moves
- A strong out of shield game
- Light weight means he is harder to perform combos on
- Very potent at juggling and keeping the opponent above himself
- Amazing aerials in terms of safety and damage
- Generally very mobile, having diverse options of changing the rate at which he falls
- One of the very best recoveries in the entire game in terms of distance and safety
- Most likely the best character in the entire cast at refreshing stale moves
- Benefits a ton from the counterpick system, moreso than most characters
- Smaller frame means it is harder to land hits, and it's not rare to be able to duck under a lot of attacks
- A powerful tech chase game
- One of the best Glide Tosses
- Has the most practical momentum canceling special in the game
Game & Watch's Weaknesses:
- G&W's close combat game, although quick, neither deals impressive damage nor is it as rewarding his long ranged pokes
- His stronger finishers are telegraphed and can only be set up into in a couple of situations, so you will most likely need to fall back on killing with your aerials
- While G&W's light weight is largely a blessing because it kills chaingrabs and keeps him from being juggled a lot, he does die quite a bit earlier than a good deal of the cast even with the help of Bucket Braking
- Though not stage dependent, you will find some matchups harder on flat stages without, or limited in, platforms
- Below average roll framewise, as well as little distance on his regular, getup, ledge, and tech rolls
- Average startup time on his ground game can be considered a setback
Moveset Dissection
[MOVE]
Now that we've covered some pretty broad explanations on how G&W performs in Brawl and his strengths and weaknesses, we'll be covering something a lot more specific. Namely, Game & Watch's moveset. This is an important aspect to cover and be familiar with, as all the high level strategies and facets of his advanced gameplay can't even be touched upon without some rudimentary knowledge of the properties of his moves.
You're most likely somewhat familiar with his moves in general, but if for some reason you haven't put your cursor over G&W's icon in versus mode, you can expect his moves to be similar in a lot of regards. By this, I mean every single one of his attacks is disjointed away from his hurtbox, and you can think of this as each of his moves being 'weapon based'. He also usually has good range and excellent cooldown, to note, but there are exceptions as well.
Pretty much, you can expect this format throughout this section:
Name of Move
Short Description of Move
Max (Fresh) Damage / Min (Stale) Damage
Frame Data: Startup frames / active hitbox frames / IF frames (if applicable) / cooldown frames
Aerial Frames (if applicable): Autocancel frames / landing lag frames
Range (Short, Mid, Long, Projectile)
Summary
*Note: Frame data is only included for the moves in this guide. For more complete frame data (item throwing, rolling, spotdodging, etc.), visit the G&W Frame Data thread.
In addition to this, a short description of the role of the move will be next to the move's name. This is just a pretty general role and it isn't meant to limit what you can do with his moveset; it's to just explain the typical use of the move in situations. Here are the categories that will be used, and some moves may have more than one or possibly none at all:
Combo Starter!: The move sets up well into itself or into other moves depending on percentage
KO Move!: The move is adequate at killing the opponent either early, safely, or possibly both
GTFO Move!: The move sends the opponent away from the character so that their close ranged pressure game is repelled
Damage Staple!: The move is a great source of safe and/or quick damage when used by itself
C-C-C-Combo Breaker!: The move is quick enough to disrupt combos being performed on the character
Advanced Tech Move!: The move is associated with an advanced technique which will be listed in the move summary
Ground Moves
Jab | Combo Starter!
G&W takes out a canister of Bug Spray and peppers the opponent
Max Damage: 3%, 1% consecutive hits / Min Damage: 1%
Startup: 1-3 / Active: 4-6 (repeated hits begin on frame 12) / Cooldown: 7-15
Range: Short
Greenhouse is G&W's shortest ranged move, despite it being fairly long for a jab, but it has it's uses as his fastest move ignoring Oil Panic and one of his better mixup tools. The primary function of this poke is to jab cancel it into his other moves, such as Dtilt and grab in particular, usually after a Dthrow. The consecutive jab combo part of this move is quite useful in punishing spotdodges, but it's usually outclassed by jab cancels. One other thing you can try is using it as an edgeguarding tool in some situations, however it's typically more productive to use Dtilt instead.Max Damage: 3%, 1% consecutive hits / Min Damage: 1%
Startup: 1-3 / Active: 4-6 (repeated hits begin on frame 12) / Cooldown: 7-15
Range: Short
Not without it's merit, Game & Watch's jab is one of his primary close ranged moves. Not altogether that rewarding, but you will definitely find times to work this move in. Also, it's disjointedness helps cancel out non-energy based projectiles.
Also, it's of note that G&W's Jab1 doesn't link into his rapid jabs. Keep this in mind when deciding whether or not to cancel Jab1 into another move (such as Dtilt or Grab) or if you wanna try for the rapid jabs.
Forward Tilt | GTFO Move! | KO Move!
G&W pulls out a chair and shoves it into the opponent
Max Damage: 10% / Min Damage: 5%
Startup: 1-9 / Active: 10-15 / Cooldown: 16-35
Range: Mid
Forward tilt is a fairly straightforward move. It's a decently ranged, quick move with enough knockback to send the opponent away a good distance, resetting the fight back into your comfort zone. When the opponent has a high percent, this is one of your better moves to use when they are avoiding your slower smashes. It kills well enough, even moreso when near the edge, or at the very least sets up for some advantageous edgeguarding opportunities.Max Damage: 10% / Min Damage: 5%
Startup: 1-9 / Active: 10-15 / Cooldown: 16-35
Range: Mid
This poke is usually considered strictly outclassed by Dtilt and Fsmash for a GTFO move and for a KO move, respectively, but this isn't exactly the case. Down tilt is usually a better ranged poke, but the key leg up (Get it? It's a chair!) this has is it's killing potential at higher percents and does more consistent damage. As a KO move it has it's boasting point that it's quicker to toss out than Fsmash, and isn't as telegraphed in terms of animation. You will find situations where the opponent is caught offguard by throwing out this move before they can react.
Regardless, this isn't one of his better moves, but his ground game in general isn't all that noteworthy.
Down Tilt | GTFO Move! | Combo Starter!
Game & Watch flips over a manhole cover, sending the foe flying
Max Damage: 6% (9% aerial target) / Min Damage: 3% (4% aerial target)
Startup: 1-5 / Active: 6-15 / Cooldown: 16-25
Range: Long
Forget what I just said at the end of Ftilt's summary; this move singlehandedly makes G&W's ground game notable. Not only does this move have great startup, amazing cooldown, and a lingering hitbox, it also has extremely long and disjointed range on it. The knockback on this is pretty horizontal, though not close enough to be considered a semi-spike. Due to these qualities, it's an ideal move for beating out non-energy based projectiles and punishing spotdodges. This move also has a habit of either hitting the opponent off the ledge or, in some cases, stage spiking them down. One thing to note is that the damage output increases if it hits an aerial target, so that makes this move not only good versus grounded opponents, but also means it's a rock-solid anti-air move. This damage increase allows G&W to knock Snake out of his cypher, which he wouldn't be able to do without it.Max Damage: 6% (9% aerial target) / Min Damage: 3% (4% aerial target)
Startup: 1-5 / Active: 6-15 / Cooldown: 16-25
Range: Long
As briefly touched upon at various points in this guide, Dtilt is a very good move to use in edgeguarding scenarios. The heightened damage to aerial foes, amazing startup time, large range, and knockback that sends them mostly horizontally makes this your primary grounded tool for edgeguarding scenarios. Even on whiff, the cooldown makes it hard to punish without having a move that outranges it. Not many moves can outrange it, however.
G&W's Down tilt wall locks opponents typically up to 100%, but it can vary either higher or lower, even more dramatically depending on their SDI. Another factor is wall height, but walls are typically tall enough on stages not named Delfino to have this lock last a long time. After landing the Dtilt lock, you can finish with any one of your smashes depending on your proximity to the foe bouncing on the wall. Sometimes you can predict a roll towards you after this lock and finish them with a charged Usmash.
Up Tilt | Combo Starter!
G&W waves a flag with the number 1 over his head
Max Damage: 8% / Min Damage: 3%
Startup: 1-12 / Active: 13-21 / Cooldown: 21-29
Range: Short-Mid
The Flag is one of our best setup moves; at low percentages, our Utilt combos into itself, and soon after they can get out of it, they are positioned perfectly for a Uair, Nair, or UpB. The drawback is in both it's horizontal range and it's startup. The horizontal range is pitifully small, so you will have to be right next to the opponent to land it and the startup is similar to G&W's Dsmash startup. It's not good in comparison to the rest of our moveset, but the niche it fills in setting up and dealing a lot of damage is enough to make this move good. The cooldown and the duration of the hitbox are noteworthy, not to mention the vertical range on this move.Max Damage: 8% / Min Damage: 3%
Startup: 1-12 / Active: 13-21 / Cooldown: 21-29
Range: Short-Mid
At higher percents and on stages with lower ceilings, or alternatively on platforms, the Flag can actually be turned into a fairly useful kill move given the right percents. Brinstar's upper platform is one good example of Utilt becoming a useful kill move.
On stages such as Luigi's Mansion, the Flag can be used repeatedly to bounce the opponent from one flag, off the ceiling, and into a new one. Teching this is the main way of countering this situational strategy.
Forward Smash | KO Move! | Damage Staple!
Mr. Game & Watch pulls out and swings a gigantic matchstick that launches the opponent in a blast of fire
Max Damage: 19-26% (8%-16% weak fire hitbox) (14%-20% Non-fire hitbox) / Min Damage: 8%-11% (3%-5% weak fire hitbox) (6%-9% Non-fire hitbox)
Startup: 1-16 / Active: 17-21 (strong hitbox) 22-33 (weak hitbox) / Cooldown: 34-42
Range: Long
The Matchstick is the first of G&W's several extremely powerful smashes, and of the three, this is most likely the best for dealing damage, not killing. Of the three hitboxes, the first is obviously the strongest. The weak hitbox will usually only ever come into play when they run into Fsmash after the main hitbox has ended. The non-fire hitbox is when G&W swings down the matchstick, yet doesn't hit with the lit fire part. Just for reference, because this attack has fire properties it does more knockback to Ivysaur and less to Squirtle.Max Damage: 19-26% (8%-16% weak fire hitbox) (14%-20% Non-fire hitbox) / Min Damage: 8%-11% (3%-5% weak fire hitbox) (6%-9% Non-fire hitbox)
Startup: 1-16 / Active: 17-21 (strong hitbox) 22-33 (weak hitbox) / Cooldown: 34-42
Range: Long
G&W's Forward smash has pretty average startup and can't set up into from other moves besides the possible Bair cancel, but this is remedied by the great cooldown, impressive power in terms of damage and knockback, and good charge release time. Don't be surprised to be killing a lot of heavy characters at what seems like early percents when this move is fresh. The range and priority on Fsmash is also pretty impressive, so don't expect it to be getting beat out, though don't assume you can't be outranged. The biggest thing to note about this move is the long, lingering hitbox, ideal for punishing spotdodges and ledgerolls. Despite all this, it's his least safe on block smash unless they manage to run in and shield the weak part of the hitbox. However, it's not completely crippled by shielding; the Fsmash shield pokes through even slightly weakened shields, and when it fails to do this it actually pushes the shielding opponent away a good deal, sometimes knocking them off the edge.
While typically Game & Watch's smashes are noted for their very high knockback, the damage on the Matchstick is really quite high to match. If you can land it at low percents, take the opportunity; stale moves are not one of G&W's concerns, as his Uair refreshing is really good, and Fsmash shouldn't be your staple kill move anyway. The angle is also pretty swell, because it sends them not only out, but also high, a spot that G&W is well suited for capitalizing on. The high damage makes this your best move to use on a foe with a broken shield at low percents, unless you want to risk going for a Nine Hammer or you have a full bucket. Don't be afraid to use this move, but also realize there are situations where it's risky due to it's unsafeness on shield.
The fire hitbox on Game & Watch's Forward Smash is a blessing and a curse in two separate matchups. Against Ivysaur, the fire hitbox of the matchstick has increased knockback, while it has less versus Squirtle. The second matchup the fire hitbox has a part in is versus Olimar; this hitbox doesn't do anything to Red Pikmin, so don't be surprised when it latches on you mid Fsmash.
Down Smash | KO Move! | GTFO Move!
This time G&W pulls out two large hammers and smashes the ground on both sides of him simultaneously
Max Damage: 15-22% (13%-19% sourspotted) / Min Damage: 6%-9% (5%-8% sourspotted)
Startup: 1-14 / Active: 15-19 / Cooldown: 20-33
Range: Mid
The second of G&W's smashes, his down smash, has two notable hitboxes which do two different things. The sweetspot of our Dsmash, located at the tips of the hammers, is our second strongest method of killing vertically, after Usmash. Closer to G&W's body is where the "sourspotted" hitbox occurs. When sourspotted, the opponent is semi-spiked horizontally a great distance away. Both have their uses.Max Damage: 15-22% (13%-19% sourspotted) / Min Damage: 6%-9% (5%-8% sourspotted)
Startup: 1-14 / Active: 15-19 / Cooldown: 20-33
Range: Mid
Using it's relatively quick startup and great charge release time, this smash is the one you want to throw out "cold" when attempting to get a kill quickly. Not only does it kill really early off the top, but the sourspot sends the foe horizontally, usually landing them offstage in a situation to be edgeguarded or gimped, depending on the character. This effect is magnified as you charge his Dsmash, and because of the fast charge release don't be hesitant to do as such. The damage and cooldown are also adequate, so, as said in Fsmash's section, don't be afraid to use this at earlier percents. Playing to damage is a pretty successful philosophy when using G&W.
As to why this is listed as a GTFO move, it's because of the relatively fast startup and ability to send the foe in favorable positions away from oneself. These qualities actually make it one of the best followups for after a Dthrow; it's quick enough to land on most of the cast provided they do not tech the throw, and it automatically sourspots. If the opponent fails to tech and fails to DI behind you, you can use Dthrow -> Dsmash to set up offstage chases to moderate success. Also of note, his Down Smash is great when used on a platform, such as the ones on the side of Jungle Japes and Battlefield, as it practically covers all of their options with it's range out of a Down Throw. The down smash is also pretty good at punishing ledge rolls in general.
Up Smash | KO Move!
In an impressive display of strength, Game & Watch equips himself with a diving helmet and performs a powerful headbutt
Max Damage: 18-26% / Min Damage: 8%-11%
Startup: 1-23 / Active: 24-28 / Cooldown: 29-38
Range: Mid
The last of this powerhouse's smash attacks, up smash, is an absurdly powerful, albeit slow, move. The main drawback it suffers is the startup of 23 frames, which is below average speed as far as Usmashes go, but like all of his smashes, it has other amazing qualities to make up for the drawback. The first thing to note is the cooldown is just about as quick as the Matchstick, which is really good for both their respective power. The second, big thing is that this Usmash is the third strongest Usmash in the entire game in terms of vertical kill potential. The last two qualities are that it's incredibly safe on block and the charge release hits on frame 7.Max Damage: 18-26% / Min Damage: 8%-11%
Startup: 1-23 / Active: 24-28 / Cooldown: 29-38
Range: Mid
Those qualities bring up the main use of up smash; charging it to gain even more shield stun and sheer power to score extremely early kills without getting punished, assuming you do it correctly. The important aspect of this is the charge release time. Usmash is barely blockable on reaction; throw in the ability to charge it and release in only seven frames, and the complexity of this one move sky rockets. Typically, Usmash is an extremely good way to take advantage of your conditioning on characters who despise being juggled in the air, such as Snake. The trick here is to use Nair enough as they are coming down to get them use their airdodge. When they are conditioned properly, the next time the situation arises charge an up smash, they will, most likely, air dodge early in reaction to the supposed Nair, and fall right into this killer of a move.
The range on Usmash is quite reasonable. It hits behind G&W, above him a great deal more than the animation seems to show, and the same is true for in front of G&W. Also with the fair range and disjointedness, the hurtbox on Game & Watch's entire head disappears for the majority of the move, giving it the appearance of having invincibility frames. Up Smash is also the most reliable way of punishing broken shields at mid to high percents.
Dash Attack | Combo Starter!
Donning a batting helmet, G&W "slides home"
Max Damage: 12% / Min Damage: 5%
Startup: 1-5 / Active: 6-29 / Cooldown: 30-37
Range: Short
One of the lesser utilized moves in many Game & Watch's repertoire, the Dash Attack is a really solid move, framewise, except for one quality. While it is among his fastest attacks in terms of startup and cooldown, and having an extremely long hitbox duration all the while sending G&W slowly forward, it's unsafe on shield for most of the attack. It's typically used for setting the foe into the air while landing good damage, or to punish a spotdodge. The Dash Attack is one of the many solid followups after G&W's Dthrow, and should be used when you suspect the foe to spotdodge immediately after getting up to avoid your "feinted" grab. The "Headbutt" has a large amount of priority because of the combination of disjointedness and it's high damage; it can clash with PKT2's non-invincible hitbox. The hitbox is not only your helmet, but in fact your entire body becomes the hitbox, though don't assume this means you become disjointed. Only the helmet part is.Max Damage: 12% / Min Damage: 5%
Startup: 1-5 / Active: 6-29 / Cooldown: 30-37
Range: Short
This is listed as a Combo Starter not for it's ability to simply set up for aerial juggling, but for the fact that when landed, the Dash Attack sends the opponent up at the perfect height usually to fall helplessly on their back on top of platforms. This is among the best set ups for landing a Nair besides Utilt. You might also be able to get away at low percentages with chaining this move into itself. Just to be make it obvious, while Dash Attack is unarguably a good move, the trick to using it is to rarely use it. That may sound strange, but it's primary use is as an unexpected mixup to throw out.
It should also be noted that this attack stagespikes on practically all stages to foes going towards or hanging on the ledge. When timed correctly, the Dash Attack can be used to punish recoveries such as Meta Knight's using it's extremely high priority, lingering hitbox, and stage spiking property.
Aerial Moves
Neutral Aerial | Combo Starter! | Damage Staple!
G&W pulls out a large fishbowl above himself in mid air, as two fish jump out
Max Damage: 17% (5% first hit, 4% consecutive hits) / Min Damage: 7% (2% consecutive hits, 1% last hit)
Startup: 1-6 / Active: 7-10, 12-15, 17-20, 22-25 / Cooldown: 26-34
Landing Lag: 9
Range: Mid-Long
G&W's neutral aerial, the Fishbowl, is our most reliable method of racking of a lot of damage fast; when fresh, this move does 17% total damage and it is overall pretty difficult to get out of the first three hits to avoid taking the full damage, and the last hit of this attack sends them upwards close enough for followups found in another rising Nair, Uair, or simply an upB. The speed on this move and it's multiple hits make it pretty solid at dealing with airdodges, as well as forcing early airdodges in anticipation of this move.Max Damage: 17% (5% first hit, 4% consecutive hits) / Min Damage: 7% (2% consecutive hits, 1% last hit)
Startup: 1-6 / Active: 7-10, 12-15, 17-20, 22-25 / Cooldown: 26-34
Landing Lag: 9
Range: Mid-Long
The Nair is one of our most valuable tools to punish or pressure a platformed foe. Whether they shield it, or jump to avoid the move, they are still in the single most favorable position for G&W to abuse, which would be above himself. You will want to use this move at any opening involving the opponent above or on top of a platform to get the most desired application of this move. This isn't to say Nair is useless on stages lacking or without platforms; the Fishbowl can be set up into from UpBs and Utilts, as well as our Nair being able to followup into moves such as, excuse the redundancy, Nairs, Uairs, and UpBs in addition to being able to lead into grounded Dsmashes and Utilts. To set up into grounded moves, you will have to land with any but the last hitbox of the move right near the ground to set them up next to yourself and in a good position to carry on the assault or send them away. This is because of the autocancel properties.
Planking is a very successful strategy for Game & Watch, as will be touched upon in a later section, in part because of the Fishbowl. It's large disjointed, deceptive hitboxes (the fish themselves are part of the hitboxes, not just a pretty graphics effect) hit through many stage tips and above G&W's hurtbox enough to keep him from being punished outright. The ability to lead into more Nairs make it intimidating to approach a ledged G&W in a great deal of matchups.
Forward Aerial | KO Move!
Game & Watch grabs a large sized Box and swings it down over his head in a powerful arc
Max Damage: 16% (6% sourspot) / Min Damage: 7% (2% sourspot)
Startup: 1-9 / Active: 10-12 sweetspot, 13-32 sourspot / Cooldown: 33-44
Landing Lag: 22
Range: Mid
The most common move for G&W players to kill with typically turns out to be this aerial; the forward aerial. It may not have the power of his Smashes, but hitting on frame 10 and having a wider range of situations to use it more than makes up for this. This isn't to say the power is bad. It's quite great, and can score several easy kills near the sides of the stage. When not outright killing, Fair can be used for damaging early in the match and for sending the opponent offstage for more pressure. The sourspot, found after the first two frames of the attack, can be used to extend the helpless grounded animation or to provide just enough stun offstage to make recovery impossible, but the poor damage and knockback make it, for the most part, inferior to hitting with the sweetspot.Max Damage: 16% (6% sourspot) / Min Damage: 7% (2% sourspot)
Startup: 1-9 / Active: 10-12 sweetspot, 13-32 sourspot / Cooldown: 33-44
Landing Lag: 22
Range: Mid
As mentioned, his Fair sets up well for offstage situations. Forward aerials can be often chained together offstage, and it's not rare in the least to chase the opponent offstage and get a really early kill off the side blastzone. Besides this, the Fair can be used on opponents recovering low towards the edge; drop down and use Fair to knock them into the stage, effectively stage spiking them if they fail the tech. Also mentioned, using the sourspot on an enemy far out can actually out them in stun long enough to have gravity make it impossible to recover, or easy to ledgehog with your upB.
While it is fine to use for damaging at lower percents, you want to be careful when you use it. Unlike Melee, shorthopping this move ends up forcing you into it's poor landing lag and open to punish if you missed. You will usually want to use this as a means of damaging from a fullhop or to add on some percent against offstage/platformed foes. This, like many of his attacks, is extremely effective at canceling projectiles, such as Din's Fire and Snake's Mortar.
Back Aerial | Damage Staple! | Combo Starter!
Delving into his large pockets, Mr. G&W pulls out a snapping turtle that chomps away at the enemy
Max Damage: 15% (aerial hitbox, all 5 connect), 3% (landing hitbox) / Min Damage: 6% (aerial hitbox, all 5 connect), 1% (landing hitbox)
Startup: 1-9 / Active: 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 22-23 / Cooldown: 24-39
Landing Lag: 12
Range: Long
This is commonly referenced as one of, if not the best moves G&W has in his arsenal. Many positives can be said for his back aerial, including great range, incredible safety, pretty quick in terms of cooldown and startup, and great pressure. It's all around pretty solid. The only really issues are that multihit moves in general can be gotten out of quickly with proper SDI and the damage per hit is pretty low. However, these flaws are compensated well enough in the fact that even though they won't be getting hit by all the hits and each hit does a low amount, you will be able to throw out multiple Turtles with impunity in a large deal of matchups. This can stale your Bairs quickly, but G&W is the very best character at refreshing moves, so do whatever is necessary.Max Damage: 15% (aerial hitbox, all 5 connect), 3% (landing hitbox) / Min Damage: 6% (aerial hitbox, all 5 connect), 1% (landing hitbox)
Startup: 1-9 / Active: 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 22-23 / Cooldown: 24-39
Landing Lag: 12
Range: Long
The Bair's pressure comes in two forms; shield pressure and spacing pressure. Each hit of the back aerial eats a lot of the enemy's shield, and it actually shield pokes, provided they don't angle the shield towards you, and only a select few characters can shield grab you with perfect spacing. The other form of pressuring is slowly either forcing the opponent to back up to try and punish the turtle's cooldown or outspace it with one of their moves. This pressuring makes the Bair a great move to gain positional advantage and a solid approaching tool. The opponent can only back up so far if your spacing is tight, and backing up flushes them out from camping under platforms as well as gets the near to the stage edges, which means an easier time to force them off.
However, don't expect the Turtle to be the perfect pressuring tool; in some matchups, the opponent, such as Meta Knight or Marth, can use their upB our of shield to punish the Turtle's shield pressure. In other cases, the Turtle's cooldown/range can be taken advantaged of with quick Dash Grabs, such as Ness' and Meta Knight's, or beaten out by a longer ranged move, for example, Marth's Fsmash. Don't use the Turtle as a crutch, but rather just another tool to bait these reaction based counter attempts. To do this, you can do two things to add another layer of depth in pressuring the foe. One is Bair canceling, in which you use Bair before the hitbox comes out, effectively keeping the animation but not having the commitment the landing lag and cooldown impose upon you. You can use this to force reactions and then capitalize on them. The second thing you can do to make up for counters to the Bair is learning the proper autocancel times. Landing in between hits doesn't invoke any landing hitbox or landing lag, so you can instantly shield or chain into another attack upon autocancel.
Besides just pressure, the Turtle can be a great move on offstage and platformed foes. Much like Fair, you can sometimes kill the opponent with the fifth hit of the Turtle when near the blastzone, as well as being able to stage spike the opponent after dropping down. The Bair is also just another effective tool at beating out projectiles, but be aware it will be beat out by moves such as Falco's lasers, and even regular projectiles can occasionally get in between hits. On a final note, the landing hitbox of the Turtle has a noticeably stronger knockback than the fifth hit of the Bair the higher the percent the opponent is at, but you will rarely kill with it still.
Up Aerial | GTFO Move! | KO Move!
G&W's mouth takes the form of a trumpet from one of his games, as he blows twice into it sending the foe up in a gust of wind
Max Damage: 7% first hit, 9% second hit / Min Damage: x% first hit, x% second hit
Startup: 1-5 / Active: 6-7, 20-21 / Cooldown: 22-39
Landing Lag: 9
Range: Mid-Long
Another one of our best moves, Uair, is also one of his most unique aerials; in addition to the two hitboxes of the "puff" (the second one having the capability of killing), it also has a very large vertical windbox accompanying it. This windbox acts as if you landed either of the hitboxes in the sense that it is added on in the stale moves queue under the same move. With the large windbox and it's ability to stale, which means it can unstale other moves, up aerial also refreshes when the windbox is used on breakable stage hazards, such as Brinstar's "capsules" and the Smashville balloon. This simply makes it the best move in the entire game at unstaling a character's moveset, and G&W really appreciates the ability to use his kill moves for damage at early percentages.Max Damage: 7% first hit, 9% second hit / Min Damage: x% first hit, x% second hit
Startup: 1-5 / Active: 6-7, 20-21 / Cooldown: 22-39
Landing Lag: 9
Range: Mid-Long
Though, let us backtrack back to the actual hitboxes for a moment. The first is weak and only sends the foe up slightly. The windbox interrupts most chains from the first hitbox into the second hitbox unless you use it while they are a bit under the Trumpet, or easier to picture, when they are covering G&W's body. The second of the two hitboxes actually has some solid kill potential. Due to the fact that anytime you land it, you will be typically higher than where you would land an Usmash or sweetspot Dsmash, and it's good power, you will notice you can fall back onto this move for killing at reasonable percents. This being his fastest aerial also helps, but don't expect to kill with it when it's staled.
However, the windboxes of this move should be your primary focus when trying to apply this move into your game. So much can be said, so first I would like to mention that Uair's property of refreshing moves works great in conjunction with the strategy of Planking; the windboxes both work through the stage, refresh on stage hazards such as Brinstar's capsules while planking, as well as refreshing on the opponent and certain projectiles used to counter planking, and keeping the opponent away from yourself. Besides this, the wind from his up aerial also resets momentum on targets. An interesting application of this is using up aerial on your teammate in 2v2s as they are sent to their death, effectively saving them (and it's worth mentioning Uair in teams is great in general, as you can also assist teammate's recoveries). This phenomena can also be used to stop the opponent's momentum right after the last hit of Nair, keeping them from flying extra high, though this is pretty situational. One last thing to mention is that the property of pushing the foe up a good deal can be used during certain character's special moves that leave them in freefall to then abuse said freefall. Meta Knight's tornado is a good example of using the wind to force a free fall animation. Also, using the upward force of the windboxes, you can score star KOs at any percent when used near a blastzone on an opponent who is moving up through either a jump or a special that sends them high in the air. This move has a lot of depth, so play around with it.
Down Aerial | Damage Staple! | KO Move!
This time Game & Watch pulls out a key and plunges downward at a quick rate
Max Damage: x% / Min Damage: x%
Startup: 1-11 / Active: 12-49 / Cooldown: 22-39
Landing Lag: 13
Range: Long
G&W's down aerial is best known for being a very safe, high mobility damage-dealer. Aside from this, the Dair can also be used as a pocket kill move for when the opponent is at high percents and has just avoided all your earlier kill moves. Both applications are solid in the right scenarios, given the flexibility in the Key. For starters, the Key, like all of G&W's other aerials, is extremely disjointed and has a long lasting hitbox. Secondly, it's a plunging down aerial; this fact in itself isn't unique, but the additional property, being able to "slowfall" it, is. By "slowfalling" the Key, you simply input another down command while the hitbox is active. What's occurring is that this aerial can be fastfalled, unlike other plunging down aerials, and that G&W's fast falling speed is significantly less than that of the Key's descendant speed. These things allow for mixups in his rate of descent and the angle he will come down with (determined by where you air control with him during it), making it an amazingly safe and effective move to edgeguard with. Not to mention, slowfalling it keeps you from suiciding off stage during edgeguard attempts.Max Damage: x% / Min Damage: x%
Startup: 1-11 / Active: 12-49 / Cooldown: 22-39
Landing Lag: 13
Range: Long
The Key isn't always safe, however, as a few particular aerials and up tilts can beat it out/clash with it when timed correctly, and it's risky business to be Dairing shields even when done correctly. To avoid these, it's important you know when to slow the fall of your Dair and where to air control. One example is Zelda using Din's Fire from below. As it's a telegraphed move, you have ample time to slowfall the Key to dodge the short duration hitbox and still land a successful hit with the move. On shields, what you want to do is slowfall it to avoid certain Utilts that would normally beat you out, and then air control behind the shield. If you fail do to do this, you will likely get shield grabbed, which otherwise can't happen. A good rule of thumb is to avoid trying to actively hit a grounded enemy with the Dair, and to typically save it for aerial opponents.
A couple other things of note with the Dair include it's spiking hitbox on frame 12, as well as it being one of the few aerials with a landing hitbox. The Keyspike isn't too common, but it can be very effective on recoveries with predictable paths and/or recoveries that aren't covered in a hitbox, such as Snake's and Rob's. The landing hitbox helps versus grounded opponents and keeping shields stunned long enough to make this move even more safe. Interestingly enough, though, these two properties have a certain degree of synergy; when you land the Keyspike on an opponent above the stage, without slowfalling it, you will land as they land and follow up the spike with the grounded hitbox, doing a great deal of damage in the process. As noted, the Key does a high amount of damage while being safe, making it a reliable damage dealer, as well as a solid backup kill move because of it's knockback growth. It shines as an edgeguarding tool, so don't hold back when you see Toon Link going for that UpB.
