Kirby vs. Snake

[Mushroom Pie]

All right I posted this in the FAQ thread but I haven't got an answer yet, and I've got a tournament tomorrow, so sorry for the doubling up, but yeah.

So, Snake ruins Kirby. Eats him alive. I get that. Unfortunately, Kirby's my best character and the only local tournament makes us stick to one character throughout the whole thing. I can do okay against the local Marths and ROBs but when I run into one of our Snakes, it's game over. We're gonna try and talk the host into letting us counterpick characters, but in case he says no for whatever wacky reason, is there any way to minimize Snake's advantage over Kirby? I mean, there's the Omnigay, but that's incredibly situational and not really something you can rely on.

One of our Snakes is really aggressive while the other is really defensive. Some strategies against either one would be greatly appreciated. I'm most likely still gonna lose, but I'd rather not get two-stocked again!

 

[SpikeSpiegel19]

For the aggressive snake u can play a counter game. Shield grab a lot, nomral grab a lot, but always, no matter whatt u do, let him make the first move and counter it.

Against the Defensive take his power is all i can tell u. There is a really good defensive Snake player in my area and taking his power is the only real way i know how to rack any damage on him. If u get good with the grenade copy u can force him to take a more aggressive stance and since he doesnt play that style take advantage of mistakes he'll b making.

 

[Dpete]

What Gonzo said. Pray to the Brawl gods that he isn't good at both playstyles...

Kirby might have a slight advantage in the air as well.

 

[TwilightKirby]

I have to say that I have played snake so much that I have sorta a subconscious knowledge of when they are vulnerable and when they aren't.

Really all you can do to beat snakes is to play him so much you learn every little detail about him and all his exact spacings so you punish any tiny mistake he makes. It will come natural to you eventually.

By the way snake is very easy to juggle in the air, especially if you mix up uairs bairs and fairs (mainly uairs and bairs)

throws bairs and juggling snake are your main methods of attack, and the occasional aerial hammer

final cutter can be a huge asset in this fight if you learn when you are safe to use it, as it blows up his grenades and forces him to shield or jump. Do not spam it, just use it at opportune moments. It will really pressure snake and sometimes hit for 5% damage. If you are really lucky you can hit his grenade as he drops it to turn it into an item and blow him up.

 

[Deg222]

If they're defensive, one simple rule, don't approach. Just don't, even if the fight has to last the 7 minutes. That happened to me in my last tournament, this Snake was being so defensive, I simply didn't approach most of the time. I ended up winning each match due to having a lower percent. Another useful tip, if you get up tilted, spam down air immediately, it sometimes can save you.

 

[Mushroom Pie]

All right, that advice all sounds pretty solid and I'll do my best to apply it.

Twilight Kirby: I've actually got a friend who uses Snake and we're going to get together soon so that I can get a better grasp on handling Snake with Kirby and he can get a better grasp on handling ROB with Snake, so hopefully I'll start to pick up on the same things you have.

 

[OverLade]

I've never played an exceptional skilled snake, but the snakes I've played with Kirby I usually ****. Spaced Bairsand fairs are a great approach. The Gonzo combo works wonders. Shieldgrab Mortar slides.

 

[Tomato Kirby]

^You like to approach SNAKE!? O_O

To Mushroom Pie: Ah, a thousand pardons. I did not get a good chance to reply to your question in the FAQ. My greeting is like a belated card lost through the mail. Belated welcome to you!

So...anyways...
My advice is rather limited, since I like to play Marth against Snake.

I guess all I can say is to watch out for u-tilt and never approach (you will eat a u-tilt).

 

[OverLade]

^You like to approach SNAKE!? O_O

Ah, a thousand pardons. I did not get a good chance to reply to your question in the FAQ.

My advice is rather limited, since I like to play Marth against Snake.


I guess all I can say is to watch out for u-tilt and never approach (you will eat a u-tilt).

Well obviously not JUST approach snake. More like punish anything he does with a SHbair or Ftilt (if you can).

 

[Ills]

If it takes you the whole match and you do nothing but turtle, copy.

And then run for the hills, after that you can start throwin' nades.

 

[Mushroom Pie]

^You like to approach SNAKE!? O_O

To Mushroom Pie: Ah, a thousand pardons. I did not get a good chance to reply to your question in the FAQ. My greeting is like a belated card lost through the mail. Belated welcome to you!

So...anyways...
My advice is rather limited, since I like to play Marth against Snake.

I guess all I can say is to watch out for u-tilt and never approach (you will eat a u-tilt).

Haha, don't worry about it. People miss things some times.

 

[HW_Dark Link]

Falco vs Snake=pwned XD

 

[Mushroom Pie]

Well, no Snakes showed up this week, so I managed to take 4th out of 22 people. Starting next week we're gonna be allowed to use counter-characters, so I guess this is kind of moot now. All the same, big thanks for all the advice.

 

[Theftz22]

I've never played an exceptional skilled snake, but the snakes I've played with Kirby I usually ****. Spaced Bairsand fairs are a great approach. The Gonzo combo works wonders. Shieldgrab Mortar slides.

What's the gonzo combo

 

[SpikeSpiegel19]

What's the gonzo combo?

Fthrow, Uair, Utilt or Fsmash

 

[Rollo]

For the Gonzo combo, I actually prefer fthrow>uair>fthrow>aerial hammer
It makes for a quick 43%, and possibly an edgeguard K.O. immediatly after.

 

[SpikeSpiegel19]

For the Gonzo combo, I actually prefer fthrow>uair>fthrow>aerial hammer
It makes for a quick 43%, and possibly an edgeguard K.O. immediatly after.

they can jump away from the aerial hammer so its no technically not a combo, try it against a human and tell them to jump when u use the hammer, u'll c no matter who they are they can get away b4 hammer hits

 

[Rollo]

Thanks for the advice. By the way, I like to edge camp when playing against Snake, popping up every once in a while to hit him with a fair. If you can get good at avoiding his fsmash and nikita in this position, its quite effective. It will also make the snake comfortable fighting you at the edge of the stage, creating opportunites for kirbycides. I actually dont prefer to copy snake's ability and give up the valuable ability to kirbycide at high percents. I also find the Inhale good for very ocassional approaching, and setting up for edgeguarding, since snake is fairly easy to gimp as long as you use bair. (and bair only)

 

[SpikeSpiegel19]

a good snake will use uptilt against u when ur on the edge, it such a broken move

 

[Kewkky]

If a snake tries utilt while on the edge...
If you're above: Use the final cutter to slash him and grab the ledge, but make sure you don't get too close to snake, or too far off the ledge.
If you're below: I dunno about this one... Avoid the mortars, dtilts, cooked pineapples, and concentrade on grabbing the ledge. If all seems lost, you could always go for a kirbycide and spit him under the stage, far too low for him to recover, then try to recover. If kirbycide won't work either, then final cutter to grab the ledge is your last hope.

I also had a problem with snake at my last tourney. Don't you just hate campy, mortar-sliding snakes?

 

[Metal_Dave]

Snakes just require a lot of patience, not just for Kirby but for pretty much the whole roster in the game. =\

 

[Rollo]

I like the aerial hammer as well, outranges the utilt horizontally while Im edge camping. I've been able to use it effectively in the matches I've played at least, but if you miss you're in danger of being below the stage, which is not a good position. I guess its just mindgames, using what move you think will catch him off balance.

 

[OverLade]

I played Inui's snake and got close, but lost. Bair is god, out space snakes ftilt most of the time. Utilt is also awsome for attacking him behind you an avoiding getting grabbed. Fsmash him if he ever lands, and edge guard like hell. Its not easy, but its not impossible.

 

[SpikeSpiegel19]

for those saying that u should try to Kirbicide him, just spit him under the stage and use a Bair to keep him there. Once he's under the stage without a jump all is lost for Snake.

Also when he comes out of his upB and u inhale him. He doesnt not get his double jump back or his upB back, however if u spit him out then he gets them back so u have time when u jump of the stage so that u can still recover and Snake struggles out

 

[lockdown7]

I have yet to really have any problems with snakes when I play.

It may just be my play style. I like to stay in the air against snake and drop in bairs quickly on him.

At 0% I usually go for a dthrow -> utilts -> uair. this works really well when you do the combo under a platform because the second utilt puts him above the platform, aside from Smashville.

You really just need to stay patient. When its all said and done, I don;t think Snake will be a problem for kirby players.