Is there a specific way Wolf should be played?

[NWRL]

Topic.

I try to play aggressive with him and use his ground moves to set up aerial combos, and fall back to zoning with his laser if stuff goes South, my friend says I shouldn't be aggressive with him I should just laser camp, I think he's wrong but who knows, I'm not too great at this game lol.

 

[RascalTheCharizard]

Laser camping was only really a tactic in Brawl and was based on matchup. In Project M you really shouldn't do it. That said, you can and should still use Blaster. It's an effective approach, combo starter and is good for just harassing your opponent and giving them something to try and avoid other than your attacks.

Wolf was tweaked in Project M to be more in line with the other Starfox characters so yes, he should be played aggressively (at least IMO. Pretty sure other Wolf mains would agree though). I'm easily not the most skilled Wolf main out there so I'll try not to give much potentially incorrect advice. Firstly, Shine is your best friend. It's an integral part of Wolf's (heavy) combo game. Learn to jump cancel it if you haven't already. If you're having trouble doing so, just persist. With time it comes naturally. Next, you're right on the idea that another key point on playing Wolf is lifting your opponent into the air. Shine, dash attack, Bthrow, Dthrow (on some characters, notably Bowser), Utilt, Dtilt and Usmash are some simple ground combo starters. Shine, Fair, Nair and Dair work as landing combo starters. From there, it's easiest to just JC Shine and do aerials but as you would expect, Wolf is capable of so much more varied combos too. Never neglect your options.
So yeah, TL;DR - Keep the heat on your opponents. Do long combos. Combos generally involve lifting your opponent up and lashing out at them with aerials.

Now that my job is done, please someone with more knowledge and experience come and give better advice.

 

[AbstractLogic]

be a literal wolf. don't use brute force, but have that killer instinct and tactically hunt your opponent down.

 

[Tero.]

There is a specific way to play the character that's literally unique to Wolf.

It's called playing (and being) AWESOME AS ****!

 

[Rat]

Go in.


Also play with style and flash.

 

[Justkallmekai]

You play smash the way you want to. That's my philosophy. If it's camping ok, but fu[k you

 

[Aidoony]

go aggressive it is how he should be played

 

[Spiffykins]

Wolf is a lot like Fox in terms of versatility. There is every brand of Fox out there. The kind that out-techs you to death (eg Hax, SW), the one that pressures and goes aggro as much as possible (eg Mango, Chillin), the patient & defensive punish-heavy kind (eg DJN), and so on.

Most characters don't have this kind of flexibility in the neutral game. Wolf still has some things about him in this regard that need to be broken. Given the turbulent meta of PM, there's always going to be new players & characters for you to figure out, and although I'm not very good yet my mindset for improving is sticking with safe pokes & approaches, figuring those things out early, and testing approaches/ways to be more aggressive as the set goes on. Then, if all goes well...

Wolf is still a spacie and will die very, very quickly if your opponent can punish you effectively. The fewer opportunities you give them, the better.

tl;dr do whatever you want but do it ****ing well or you'll get wrecked

 

[Jake The Preacher]

Go in.


Also play with style and flash.

I've seen Chillin follow a back throw with a dash attack then an aerial, do you think that's always how it should be followed unless there's a chance for a Wolf flash?

 

[Rat]

I like regrabbing after a Bthrow. (depends on their DI)

If it's a fast faller or fat character by the edge, Dsmash is a pretty great follow up.

 

[Jake The Preacher]

Thanks man, by the way could you direct me to some videos of your Wolf outside of VGBootcamp? By the way everyone, I don't know exactly how guaranteed this really is since I haven't gotten to use it on people yet, but in training mode I was getting some easy Side B's at mid percents with D throw. Gotta love that howl when you sweetspot it

 

[Booster]

Don't touch the laser and when someone tries to camp against you or toss explosives, use the Deflector

 

[Skeeli]

I'm by no means a good Wolf, but I am starting to pick him up and find how I can play him best. I like approaching with lazer into an aerial > jump cancel shine > uair and then juggle them from there with dairs and uairs, shining where I can. The games where my shines are good, I do well

 

[Boomhound]

I wouldn't place Wolf as an effective camper.
His projectile game isn't as effective for keeping your opponent at bay as other characters' as it tends to be laggier (SH>lazer>wave-land included).
Also, he doesn't have particularly long limbs so it's difficult to keep people out like other characters can, eg. Marth. Unless you're willing to chance wiffing with D and F smash..
I recommend going in with Wolf. You don't necessarily need to go full aggro either though. Defensively, you can space bairs, approach and retreat with wave-landed lazers and F-tilt at the right spacing.
Try and bait also, if you mess up you can always shine OOS.

 

[Usopp]

When it comes to lasers although wolf cant just pitch up a spacie tent and camp his ass off like fox can his laser is still very good. I like to sh laser into opponents for combo starting. I get good grabs out of it too. Then it comes down to what character your playing but the closest ive gotten to laser camping only had like 3 lasers on a donkey kong player and i used the last one to follow up a grab. I think lasers are good for edge guarding too depending on the situation. usually a good bair set up. or a dair setup on a good day. But yeah i agree with most people here, wolf is a spacie and its all about the pressure.

 

[Hzashimi]

Thanks man, by the way could you direct me to some videos of your Wolf outside of VGBootcamp? By the way everyone, I don't know exactly how guaranteed this really is since I haven't gotten to use it on people yet, but in training mode I was getting some easy Side B's at mid percents with D throw. Gotta love that howl when you sweetspot it

https://www.youtube.com/user/WindyCitySmash

There's more footage on this channel.