kirby vs. R.O.B.

[twistaleve]

any ideas on how to beat R.O.B with kirby

 

[Lord Viper]

☆ Mostly goes to the Kirby Q/A but since t1mmy has the best ROB answer for you, I'll post his thoughts on the Kirby vs ROB match up: ☆

Well... I figured I could write something quickly up now before leaving you waiting for it for two weeks...

Kirby vs. R.O.B.

There can be a bit of a confusion on who has the upper hand in this match-up, so I will be going over each characters advantages and what options each character has against those advantages.

Long Range
R.O.B. has a big advantage when at long distance. Not only does his Laser reach exceptionally far, it also charges over time. He can combine his lasers with his Gyro to more than double his long range effectiveness. A fully charged Gyro can also become a KO option for him when Kirby is at high percents.

Kirby has little he can do at long range save for Final Cutter which is a very ineffective option. Kirby is forced to approach in this match-up, and not only does he have to approach he has to do so while avoiding lasers and Gyros. Crouching can be effectiev against the laser, but ROB can angle the laser down to hit Kirby. Likewise if Kirby tries to jump ROB can angle the laser up to hit. Watch where ROB is angling his laser when you choose to walk, crouch, or jump from a distance. In the air, you'll have to Air Dodge, on the ground you'll want to Shield and block the laser.

The Gyro provides much more difficulties when avoiding. You have to know how far it will fly based on how much it is charged because if it is not charged much and you try to Shield, it might fall in front of you or bounce along the ground and shield stab your feet. If it is fully charged, it comes out very quickly and you'll want to know ahead of time to get your shield up in time. The Gyro can also go over Kirby's head if thrown from a bit of a height and fully charged, or it can drop down and hit Kirby on the head if it is not charged enough to go overhead. Know the distances, how much the Gyro is charged, and when to hold your shield, crouch, or dodge.

If Kirby has copied ROB's laser, you'll have a much easier time at long range. ROB's laser will allow Kirby to strike from long distances either to follow up on an attack or to out-range one of ROB's attacks. It's also great to put added pressure on ROB when he is out of reach. In short, it helps even the odds by giving Kirby some camping options or anti-camping options. Be aware that when Kirby Copies ROB, Kirby can get hit immediately by ROB's D-air before he can get a Shield up. A Star Shot will keep Kirby safe and you can even try to follow-up should the ROB lag himself with his D-air after the Star Shot.

Medium Range
This is the tricky part of playing against ROB. ROB's attacks have more reach than Kirby's and are more disjointed which gives ROB a 'first strike' kind of option. While Kirby has to move in close to get his hits in, ROB can throw out an attack ahead of time and catch Kirby before Kirby can ever get within reach. Kirby needs to play tricky to get in by either going for a dashing Shield, an approaching Air Dodge, or rolling behind ROB. All of these options are not very solid and can be countered with only a little bit of foresight on ROB's part.

Most of the time it is best just to stay a little out of ROB's reach and bait his attacks. Kirby's B-air can come out quickly enough with enough reach to catch ROB if he tries to get a little too aggressive and misses. Watch for when ROB misses a F-air or Grab to punish him with a B-air. Using F-air can be useful because if you happen to hit ROB's shield you'll be in the air to avoid the D-smash, so pull back with your F-air if you hit a Shield, even moving behind ROB's Shield isn't all too safe.

Watch for ROB's F-tilt at this range. It has such suprising reach and speed that it can be used even at this range. If ROB is too far away, the F-tilt is hard to punish and ROB is safe. If it is used at the perfect reach there's little Kirby can do to punish it even if he doesn't take damage from it. So unless Kirby is reacting from a Perfect Shield at the far end of ROB's F-tilt, it's best to not rush in and try to punish it.

Thankfully at this range Kirby can use a couple of attacks. The F-smash is a powerhouse move that can out-prioritize many of ROB's attacks and has a good reach to it and the Final Cutter's blade can catch ROB as he moves in for an attack or gets too close when looking for an opening. Unfortunately both of these moves are easy to punish even with the slightest of miscalculations, so it's best to use these only when the opening presents itself.

Close Range
Kirby can keep up with ROB here, and this is where you want to be for the most part. But Kirby must be fast and confident in his attacks. When ROB is right in front of Kirby, he is capable of using a 3-frame Jab with great effectiveness. The speed of his Jab beats out everything except for Kirby's Jab (also 3-frames) but the range and hitstun on Kirby's Jab is pitifully inadequete to deal with ROB's. In fact, if ROB hits Kirby with a Jab the knockback pulls Kirby up and toward ROB with a good amount of HitStun. This allows ROB to follow-up with a F-smash at higher percents so Kirby will either have to Smash DI out of the Jab or make sure he DI's up against the F-smash to as to not get KO'd easily. ROB can also opt to do a second Jab in his Jab combo which can be used to knock Kirby away to more managable distances.

ROB has other excellent options when up close including his D-tilt. The D-tilt has a high probability of tripping at low percents which gives ROB an excellent option for building damage. A Jab at low percents can also be used as a lead into a D-tilt, from there ROB can do a number of things, but some of the best options include D-tilt to Dash Attack or D-tilt to Grab. The Dash Attack can be used to launch Kirby into another follow-up (F-smash, U-smash, U-tilt) and the Grab can be used to get Kirby off the stage or to get him into the air for a U-air.

Don't forget about ROB's D-smash. It comes out in 4-frames and can do up to 13% damage and launch Kirby. The knockback isn't dangerous until about 150% for Kirby, so remember to Smash DI up as soon as you can when hit by the D-smash and Kirby should rarely be KO'd by this. What it's main use is for a quick hit on both sides of ROB which gets Kirby away and builds more damage on Kirby. What Kirby must do is to hold his Shield against all the hits of the D-smash because ROB is fairly easy to punish after a D-smash. Kirby might be able to get a Grab on ROB if he is close enough when the D-smash is used, or Kirby can go for a D-tilt, F-tilt, U-tilt, or F-smash.

Kirby's U-tilt is very effective at this range. U-tilt will launch ROB into the air, and at low percents can lead to a number of attacks. These attacks are of the usual Kirby fare (U-tilt, B-air, U-air, N-air). While you might not be able to build a huge amount of damage when you get a U-tilt in, remember that every hit helps and also remember not to get too carried away trying to 'combo'. ROB has plenty of options to hit you the moment he is out of HitStun, or he can simply Air Dodge back to the ground and retaliate.

A very important part of the U-tilt is to be able to distinguish when to use it instead of another attack at a moment's notice. The U-tilt comes out in 4-frames which gives you the option of a very quick hit. You'll be needing it's speed in situations where you have no time to think. So if you see ROB move behind you, whether with a Roll, Air Dodge or as he runs behind to Pivot Grab, react without thought and hit him with the U-tilt's speed.

Getting a Grab with Kirby is also very important because it can lead to the standard Kirby combo (F-throw to U-air). This works exceptionally well on ROB due to his large size and heavy weight. Follow up with what you can but watch where ROB is going and what he is trying to do. F-throw to U-air to reverse U-tilt to B-air is great for building up damage, but ROB can Smash DI the U-air and jump away from anything taking at the most 18%. Consider anything Kirby does beyond that as a bonus since ROB really shouldn't be taking more than 18% with proper DI.

Even at higher percents a Grab can be good news for Kirby. Pummel a couple times and using a D-throw can be a great way to build damage and put ROB in an akward position. ROB is not very efficient while right overhead of his opponents since he is pretty much limited to D-air, N-air and Air Dodge. Wait for ROB to come back down and either Shield his aerial attack or read his Air Dodge attempt and punish with either another Grab-Pummel-Throw or catch him with a F-smash/Hammer.

Off-Stage: Kirby's Recovery
When Kirby is off-stage ROB will usually try to follow up with Lasers and Gyros. These can actually be quite deadly if Kirby isn't paying attention because a fully-charged laser can follow Kirby off-stage and KO him while he is close to the death boundaries. Even an uncharged Laser can give that extra nudge and lead into a KO. Gyros are dangerous because of their strong knockback, especially fully-charged Gyros which deal a good amount of damage.

If ROB comes off stage in an aggressive attempt to finish off Kirby, it will usually be with F-air, D-air, or B-air. The F-air is there because it's easy to use; it's not necessarily going to KO Kirby because the knockback is easy to DI up and survive, but it can be used to build damage and nullify Kirby's jumps. The D-air comes out slowly, but is used for a strong spike. Kirby is unable to handle Meteor Smashes well, so make sure to watch out for ROB's D-air any time ROB is overhead. ROB's B-air is a strong horizontal strike that can get KO's fairly well against Kirby. There's a bit of a start-up so watch when it might be used and avoid it.

Kirby can do a good job avoiding many things ROB throws at him while he recovers. Use Kirby's multiple jumps to either go low, go upward, or to zigzag between ROB's edge guarding. It shouldn't be too much trouble to make it back to the ledge and grab on. From there, you'll have to play a bit patiently to see what ROB is up to. He can run off and B-air from behind to get you off the ledge which will stage spike Kirby if he doesn't climb up soon enough. ROB can also stay back and shoot stuff at Kirby while waiting for him to get back on the ledge. Kirby must not be too hasty when getting back up or else he is in danger of getting sent right back off stage again or outright KO'd.

Off-Stage: ROB's Recovery

ROB's recovery is just short of spectacular. His weight keeps him alive for a while and prevents him from getting KO'd from attacks that would KO other characters. While he only has a single mid-air Jump, his Robo Booster allows him quite a bit of flight as long as his fuel reserves are not exhausted.

When ROB is far off the stage, Kirby can either stay on the stage to wait to see what ROB does (maybe throwing out a Final Cutter shot) or he can try to take the fight to the air. The reason why you might want to wait and see what ROB does is because he's still capable of shooting lasers and Gyros at Kirby even during his recovery, running headlong into one of those is pretty detrimental to edge guarding.

If Kirby goes out after ROB it will usually be to go for a gimp or to try to get a finishing move on a ROB that refuses to die quietly. The most common Kirby gimp would be the D-air in an attempt to spike ROB off the bottom of the stage. ROB is very difficult to do this to because of his heavy weight and his Robo Boosters. Kirby might have to D-air to Footstool multiple times before ROB runs out of fuel or gets taken down off the very bottom of the screen and dies.

When Kirby is looking for the KO off-stage, it will usually be with a B-air, F-air, or Giant Swing (F-Special). The B-air is normally spammed and won't likely KO ROB until very high percents - even this close to the death boundary. If the B-air is fresh, it can KO at fairly reasonable percents. The F-air only really KO's with the third kick and only at high percents or when close to the boundary, but it can KO none-the-less. The Giant Swing is the most powerful option Kirby has off-stage and can KO at almost any percent, most notably with the second swing. The first swing has a more pronounced vertical angle which makes it slightly harder to KO ROB with off the side, but it's such a strong hit that it's likely to KO off the top too.

ROB has plenty leisure time during his recovery which takes a lot of pressure off of him that other characters with more limited recoveries might have. His F-air is an excellent tool when he feels like muscling his way back onto the stage; it comes out quickly with a nice hitbox in front of him and can knock Kirby away clearing a path to the ledge or stage. When slightly above Kirby, a N-air can perform a similar function putting a big hitbox all around ROB to fend off much of Kirby's offense. While Air Dodging can look to be a good idea most of the time, ROB has to remember that Kirby's Giant Swing hits twice and can catch an Air Dodging ROB with the second swing which is very often fatal.

Lasers and Gyros can always be used, especially if Kirby decides to play it safe and stay on the stage. Even if Kirby comes off the stage, a well-timed laser or well-placed Gyro can catch him before he ever has a chance to reach ROB. Bouncing Gyros off the side of the stage for a boomarang type of effect can catch Kirby off-guard sometimes. For the most part, ROB can fly back to the stage and send attacks at Kirby when necessary.

KO Options

ROB has a lack of powerful attacks, and the ones he has are not especially easy to land. His U-smash can KO Kirby around 90-100% but the hitbox is right over ROB and difficult to land. ROB's full-charged Gyro can be strong enough to be used as a KO option, but it can be stale and is easily defended against. For the most part, ROB will have to rely on his N-air, or possibly his F-smash, both of which do not KO until much higher percents (about 130%). Since ROB's choice of KO attacks is limited, they become easy to defend against allowing Kirby to live to much higher percents than his light weight would seem to allow.

Kirby has a number of strong attacks at his disposal, some are absurdly powerful. Kirby can KO with the Stone, Hammer, Giant Swing, F-smash, U-smash, and D-smash. The Stone and Hammer should be avoided for the most part since they're hard to land and easy to punish. The Giant Swing can be a bit difficult to land, but it's much safer to use and can be very effective while off-stage. Of all of Kirby's smashes, F-smash is the most effective due to it's reach and power, and it comes out fairly quickly for a Smash. The F-smash is often the best choice when predicting ROB's Dodges or when using an attack to hit through ROB's F-air, F-tilt, D-tilt, or Jab. A D-air or D-tilt trip can combo into an F-smash which can give Kirby that early KO he's looking for.

While Kirby's KO options are better than ROB's, they can still be difficult to land, especially when ROB is looking for their usual instances and baits Kirby into using one. Because of this, Kirby will have to play it safe for most of the fight and keep an eye open for when he can land one of his finishers. Since ROB has plenty of options to keep himself safe, he will often live to percents far past what Kirby could be KOing him at, but once he reaches around the 150% mark, Kirby has more options open for KOs. The most important of these is a fresh B-air since it comes out quickly and can be used much more safely than say the F-smash. The F-air can also be used for a KO at high percents and the third kick can be dangerous even for ROB when off-stage.

While it should be unlikely to work it should still be mentioned that Kirby can get KO's with his Inhale Kirbycide. It should be even more difficult than normal because if ROB breaks out his recovery practically allows him freedom to return to the stage and could even put Kirby at a disadvantageous position. Even if Kirby uses Star Shot to send ROB under the stage, ROB should have no difficulty making it back without getting KO'd.

Summary:
45-55 ROB's Advantage

 

[momochuu]

There's a matchup thread. Why did you make this?