Is spacing important with Ike?

[elliotnz]

Also how do I edge guard with B move?

 

[Idon]

Yes.

If opponent can knock you out of it, stay a bit back and charge it up. If they can't, charge it up near the edge and try to catch them.

 

[MG_3989]

Good spacing is literally the most important thing while playing Ike (and every character in the game for that matter), but with it’s even more emphasized with Ike. That’s why he’s considered a good character to learn the game with so you can learn to space properly. I wouldn’t worry about the B ledgetrap really, you need to hit the 2 frame and if you’re just getting into spacing you’re not gonna be hitting that too often. You literally just stand over the edge holding B and let the button go when the opposing character first snaps to ledge

 

[Arrei]

I'm pretty certain the Eruption edgeguard more commonly clips an opponent before they've even begun to grab the ledge, though. The hitbox reaches a decent distance below the ground, so if a character doesn't have a teleport, they're much more likely to be sticking a hand or their head into the hitbox before reaching the ledge, which is why it would sometimes look so janky when characters like Falcon or Marth would get hit in their outstretched hand then withdraw it to enter their knockback animation from very visibly below the ledge.

The attack lasts for five frames (seems we don't quite know if the sword hitbox still has two extra frames?) and takes eleven frames to come out after releasing the charge, so you'll often want to release it as an opponent begins to actually travel in their recoveries. For some characters you are able to react to their recoveries once you know the correct timing, but for others you'll need to try to predict when they'll try their recovery, based on what info you're able to gather about the player. For example, Captain Falcon has a good bit of startup and doesn't travel very fast, making it possible to react to the startup and release the move at the proper time, but Marth and Mario have very little startup, high speed, and they have the option of sharking you by using their recovery moves early, making it so you need to guess if they'll try to hit your toes or stall for time as long as they can, unless you happened to slap them with enough knockback to send them to the limit of how far they can recover. Also, you'll need to be wary of characters with projectiles as they could chuck one at you while you're sitting there waiting for them - I like to jump to make sure I'm out of harm's way and begin charging in the air, but that also often means losing some charge time, and is less effective against characters with lingering and/or boomerang projectiles.

Some characters are nearly, if not outright impossible to hit with this, though. Peach's parasol will clip you every time before extending her hurtbox high enough to get hit requiring the armored charge level to land on her (at least, I've never successfully landed it on her but I've successfully predicted some Dolphin Slashes), Dedede will have super armor unless you perfectly time the 2-frame with the first two active frames of the hitbox, etc., so use your matchup knowledge to know whether you can go for it.



At first glance, it would look like Eruption's multiple plumes could be useful for ledge-trapping, but... I'm not sure if the two-plume version reaches far enough to cover get-up, stalling, and ledge roll? The three-plume version is super useless since that one only comes out at maximum charge, which is easily react-able.

 

[WeretigerX]

Some characters are nearly, if not outright impossible to hit with this, though. Peach's parasol will clip you every time before extending her hurtbox high enough to get hit requiring the armored charge level to land on her (at least, I've never successfully landed it on her but I've successfully predicted some Dolphin Slashes), Dedede will have super armor unless you perfectly time the 2-frame with the first two active frames of the hitbox, etc., so use your matchup knowledge to know whether you can go for it.

I have managed to gimp Peach's Up-B with Eruption once. It was tricky, and I was standing pretty close to the edge if I remember correctly. You really have to release Eruption early just before the parasol hits you. I'm not sure if it works with Peach, but I believe you can ledge grab -> Counter off stage to gimp the parasol. It should kill past 100% damage. That trick works on most recoveries that aren't as fast as say dolphin slash, in which case Eruption is the better option.

 

[Wumbo105]

Did this dude really just ask if spacing is important on a sword-wielding character?

 

[TheHero]

Did this dude really just ask if spacing is important on a sword-wielding character?

Given that Marth and Roy have strict spacing requirements it is not an unreasonable question for a new player. Wondering if Ike has some similar kind of mechanic is not only reasonable but a good question to ask.

Spacing with Ike is important to keep yourself safe while you attack, but the hitboxes of the sword are uniform. Generally it is better to go for hits with the tip to maximize your safety if you miss or hit shield. You will still combo and kill if you hit with the other parts of the sword, but they will leave you open if you miss with them or hit shield.

 

[DDRC]

Spacing is important with every character to varying degrees but spacing is essential to any swordfighter, its part of what makes swordfighters appealing in the first place and i would argue ikes entire play is based around clever spacing.