Kirby's footstool gimps

[Wrexsoul]

Hey - It's a bit scary posting a thread in this forum seeing how nearly every thread I've clicked on gets yelled at for doing it, but I'm risking it. ;p

Lately I've been getting a lot of kills with Kirby's footstool off-stage (either directly, or by following it up with a dair). It seems much easier to footstool people than with most other characters I've played due to his many short jumps, and it seems to work differently when it comes to connecting than actual attacks. I'd like to hear from Kirbys more experienced than I if/when/how you implement footstools in your game. Also, I'm a bit unsure on the exact specifics of footstools in general - how big is the hitbox, does it "autostick" to people's heads at some point (like how you latch to a ledge when you attack near it)? How does it interact with air dodges? What characters do you feel it works best on, and on which is it the easiest to connect?

Feels like something I'd like to explore a bit anyhow, since it's the best feeling ever when it connects (and made me get this kill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZwOki1jfWw ).

 

[Aunt Jemima]

Congratulations! You've created one of the few threads within the past month that actually is useful. You brought up a question that also allows for discussion, instead of something that falls into every other thread.

I'll edit my response in later, cause I'm on mobile.

That kill was hilarious. Poor Greninja, lol.

 

[Gentatsu-]

Is this correct?

If you swallow and go off the edge you can footstool them when they break out of it. Don't spit them, just let them break out. You just have to mash jump faster than them. I couldn't seem to do this on Lucina though. Maybe it was just a bad day.

 

[Wrexsoul]

I'd love to see some discussion about this - especially in terms of helping us gimp characters that otherwise kick our fluffy behinds off stage (Sheik I'm looking at you). The Inhale-release thing seems neat to look into against characters where normal Kirbycide is hard to pull off due to sick recoveries.

 

[Asdioh]

I'm pretty sure (not positive) that most characters break out above Kirby, making swallowcides/footstools mostly impossible.

 

[Wrexsoul]

I'm pretty sure (not positive) that most characters break out above Kirby, making swallowcides/footstools mostly impossible.

Ah, pity. Do you have any thoughts about the general topic of the thread (i.e. footstools in general)?

 

[Asdioh]

Umm they can be useful, but I'm no expert on the subject. Mostly I get footstools after I Dair offstage, which is good. Sometimes, I try to double jump Dair above someone's head onstage, and it makes me footstool when I don't want to, so I go way up and Dair the sky, which isn't fun.

Also, I'm a bit unsure on the exact specifics of footstools in general - how big is the hitbox, does it "autostick" to people's heads at some point (like how you latch to a ledge when you attack near it)? How does it interact with air dodges? What characters do you feel it works best on, and on which is it the easiest to connect?

Decently big I guess! I guess it "autosticks?" If so that just means the hitbox is pretty big.

I just tested in training mode, it doesn't seem to jump off people when they're airdodging, so airdodging "beats" it. I know that if they're doing an aerial attack or move of some sort, you will jump off them, but you won't push them down and cause them to tumble, they act as if you didn't touch them. This is the real weakness of footstooling, they can beat it by doing an attack or airdodge. Characters like Yoshi should hypothetically have footstooling as a major weakness, since he has 1 jump and then an up special that doesn't give much height, but realistically he can just do an attack/airdodge and get right past footstool attempts.

Sadly, multijump characters like Kirby and Jigglypuff are probably weakest to footstooling. When recovering from below, Kirby can't always afford to jump+attack or jump+dodge every time, because that leaves holes in his recovery. He's also slow in the air, so that makes him an easy target. What's worse, the easiest way to footstool someone is to use your air jump and then mash the jump button. Kirby can't do this because he has 5 jumps, and it would take forever to get rid of them. So he has to have precise timing with his footstools.

I think footstools are usable competitively, but only in very specific situations and usually when your opponent isn't expecting it.

 

[Unknownkid]

Wait... Asdioh. You just gave me an idea against Yoshi. But the question is - Can you footstool superarmor/heavy armor opponent?

The best way to test the super armor theory is against Kirby charging Giant Hammer since the move constantly undergo superarmor. If Footstool beats Charging Hammer, then FS beats Heavy Armor (SuperArmor > Heavy Armor). If not, then we need to test Heavy Armor by itself. Yoshi's second jump has Heavy Armor (not super armor - check the armor guide). If you can activate FS on Heavy Armor, then we are in the gold (minus that fact that yoshi can attack/air dodge this)!

How about FSing on Rob's, Villager's and DHD's Up B?

 

[Asdioh]

Well that's my point, you can footstool Yoshi out of his jump, but only if he does the jump and nothing else. A good Yoshi will always throw out an attack or airdodge if you're in footstooling range, and thanks to the fact that he has the best aerial mobility in the game, you'll never be able to punish it.
It was somewhat of a weakness of his in Brawl, but even there he could throw stuff out to protect himself, so it was only a theoretical weakness.

 

[Rochette]

Since I focus on gimping a any price by staying close to the ledge, I'm so confident with the futur of kirby.

Footstool, Kirbycide, Inhale spit, Down B tip, Down B fastfall, Final Cutter, Stone, etc... So much possibilities... I end some of my match in thirty seconds more and more often.

 

[Mazdamaxsti]

Kirby Dair to Dair/footstool is so satisfying, and relatively easy.

 

[MoHarp]

I -always- follow up my Dairs with footstools. It's so easy and it throws people off all the time!

 

[BriefCasey795]

D-air and footstool is a huge way to hinder your opponents' recovery. If you do this with someone with bad vertical recovery, such as Luigi, it's most likely a guaranteed kill. Satisfying too.