Koopa Questions: a Bowser Q&A Thread

[Flayl]

Sounds decent, got any mu tips or vids?

 

[Player-1]

I think I got a couple of vids coming and I don't know wtf to against Ike =/

 

[Zigsta]

Against Ike, don't cater to his game. He outranges Bowser pretty easily. I like doing empty shorthops to bait a fair and then punish. The most important thing is to NOT try and retaliate when you get hit, or else you'll get *****. Ike's also most vulnerable when he's above you.

I also find Ike fairly easy to space fsmash against. I almost always get at least one fsmash a game against the Ike main in Austin.

It can also be fairly stage dependent. I wouldn't take Ike to Battlefield or Delfino.

There's also the Bowser Bomb gimp on Aether that Flayl discovered, but I honestly have never practiced it enough to be able to do it in tournament.

Ike's also a character I rarely jab cancel against. I prefer jabbing to re-space.

Don't worry about your percentage. Ike can pour on damage really easily. Just stay calm and get in when you can. Bowser's fully capable to doing serious work against Ike as long as you play patient.

 

[Pachinkosam]

i like bowser in melee wes fast ween u L cancel.

 

[theeboredone]

Just mix up your recovery. Go high some times, and then try going low. Personally, I recover low more often than high.

I got you Chris.

 

[Maharba the Mystic]

Poll from the BBR-RC to the public: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=310386

Discussion about it is not allowed per site rules (even in this thread), but we are allowed to conduct this poll

you heard it from me

 

[Sky Pirate]

I have a quick question that never seems to get answered.
Why is it that Bowser sometimes decides that he's too good to take damage and/or knockback from things aimed at his shell?

As far as I know, this includes Jiggs' Rollout or latched pikmin. In the case of the latched pikmin, they seem to hover a short distance from his shell as if they're attacking some kind of invisible hurtbox.

 

[Zigsta]

I have noooo idea what you're talking about.

 

[Sky Pirate]

You should. I point it out EVERY time it happens.

 

[Zigsta]

I honestly don't know. I never pay attention to my percent when we play, so I don't notice when thrown Pikmin latch onto me or not.

 

[Sky Pirate]

Best I could find on such short notice is this video.
It's really early in the video (some time before 0:20), a white gets latched and doesn't damage when it should because it seems to be floating above him. It's kind of hard to notice.

EDIT: The pikmin toss occurs at 0:07.

 

[Zigsta]

I remember that now. Have you done this to any other character before?

 

[Sky Pirate]

No. Only happens with Bowser.
Oh, and it has occurred with different animations (including the standing animation), so the airdodge wasn't the reason for it (well, it kind of was; helped determine latch location and all that).

Also, I remember seeing Polt hit your shell with a Rollout during your Dthrow and bounce off of nothing (doing zero damage / knockback) which leads me to believe that the issue is with Bowser himself.

 

[Zigsta]

Yeah, I remember the Rollout hitting my shell during dthrow and not damaging/knocking me back at all on CS.

There has to be some reasoning behind this. Let's test stuff Friday.

 

[Player-1]

What can we say? Bowser is just so OPed that he can't take damage and knockback at all

 

[Uncle]

I always joke that characters should get hurt for attacking Bowser's back with their bodies. It's covered with spikes, dammit!

 

[Dre89]

Hey guys I'm looking into maining Bowser and have a couple of questions.

Firstly, I was wondering what his viable kill moves are, seeing as I'm having trouble seeing how any of them can be reliably set up (outside of grab releases) aside from dtilt, because seems like it'd be too stale from spacing to kill early. Also, if you could suggest viable set ups too them that would be helpful.

Also, I'd like to know if GR-downb will still work under Battlefield platforms, and whether it's a technique I should bother implementing.

Finally, I'd also like to know his momentum cancels. I assumed it was fair for horizontal knockback, and maybe FF dair for vertical but I wanted to make sure.

Soz for all the questions. Thanks in advance.

 

[B!squick]

Hey guys I'm looking into maining Bowser and have a couple of questions.

Firstly, I was wondering what his viable kill moves are, seeing as I'm having trouble seeing how any of them can be reliably set up (outside of grab releases) aside from dtilt, because seems like it'd be too stale from spacing to kill early. Also, if you could suggest viable set ups too them that would be helpful.

Pretty much everything Bowser does is a kill move or you will kill with at some point. Besides DAir pretty much. And don't worry about sets ups. Aside from Grab Releases and Jab Cancels, Bowser has no set ups. Additionally, why are you spacing DTilt? I ask because it's not the best move to space, obviously.

Also, I'd like to know if GR-downb will still work under Battlefield platforms, and whether it's a technique I should bother implementing.

I'm pretty sure it does.

Finally, I'd also like to know his momentum cancels. I assumed it was fair for horizontal knockback, and maybe FF dair for vertical but I wanted to make sure.

You got it backwards... and wrong. FF FAir for vertical if I remember correctly and Air Dodge for horizontal. There's only a 1 frame difference between FAir and AD, so you can use it for both if you please. And I personally survive longer with FAir in all cases.

Soz for all the questions. Thanks in advance.

You better be sorry. :U /jk

 

[Flayl]

Maybe I misunderstood you Dre., but you shouldn't be using DTilt for spacing. It's only useful as a killing move or to catch someone who is airdodging to the ground. You want to space with Jab, Klaws and FTilt (the latter not so much really but I'm not goign to go into it now).

Bowser's best kill moves are in no order: BAir, DTilt, UTilt, USmash. UTilt is the trickiest of these to use, since it hits above and behind instead of in front, but it's also the fastest. I recommend learning how to buffer a turnaround UTilt (like after an airdodge) or how to turn around in reaction, then shield and buffer UTilt.

FSmash and DownB are other kill moves but only function if you know your opponent well enough. If you know your opponent is going to space you with a slightly laggy move, you can dodge it with FSmash and kill him/her at 85%+ (it's weak for a heavyweight fsmash specially without the sweetspot). DownB is more a surprise move - use the groudned version like once per game and the aerial version as a way to halt midair and evade attacks you are certain are coming.

DownB sends Bowser above the highest platform in Battlefield, you could have tested this yourself.

FAir is overall Bowser's best option to use as momentum cancel. Just be aware that it doesn't cancel any horizontal momentum by itself, if you estimate you're going to die you need to double jump right after.

 

[Dre89]

Sorry I misworded that. I meant to say that dtilt looks like it's his only viable kill move.

I meant to say ftilt would stale from spacing.

 

[Cassius.]

Most of the time you would refrain on spacing with FTilt because FTilt isn't safe on block. You should only use it to stuff out aerial approaches, Jab is safer on shield and doesn't extend his hurtbox too far.

And FTilt probably won't be staled because you'll be klawing more than FTilting..hopefully.

 

[Flayl]

Most of the time you would refrain on spacing with FTilt because FTilt isn't safe on block. You should only use it to stuff out aerial approaches, Jab is safer on shield and doesn't extend his hurtbox too far.

And FTilt probably won't be staled because you'll be klawing more than FTilting..hopefully.

This I what I would've written too but decided not to since I wanted to emphasize on kill moves.

Seriously if Bowser's FTilt wasn't so laggy he'd be mid tier.

 

[B!squick]

I have a feeling it's more than just a laggy FTilt keeping him low. Though that would help alot.

 

[JuxtaposeX]

Why is Bowser's item throw so stupid? He's a giant fire breathing turtle with spikes and ****, but he has a limpwristed throw that takes ages?

 

[Zigsta]

Sakurai gave up on him. XD

 

[Cassius.]

Idk, his dashing throw is weird though. After the throw animation he skids forward for a bit. It gives some pretty good setups...

it sucks altogether though

 

[holyv]

Where do we have super armor?

 

[Flayl]

Bowser doesn't have any super armor, just grab armor and invincibility frames on grounded UpB.

I don't get why people who obviously don't main a character use "we" when they're talking about him. Pet peeve of mine.

 

[Dre89]

They say 'we' because they're referring to when they use him.

If you're going to be elitist and say that only people who frequent this character board and use him in tourneys can say 'we', then you're basically saying you need to earn the right to be associated with a fictional video game character, which is really, really, sad.

 

[Player-1]

bowser isn't fictional. Only the truly deserving people should be allowed to say "we" because bowser is that legit.

 

[Dre89]

What is it with gamers and always resorting to "X is just too awesome for people to understand" jokes?

It's like they have no creativity.

 

[Player-1]

what joke? I'm only stating the truth.

 

[Dre89]

Exactly the response I expected. Gamers after a bad joke remind me of actors trying not break character after they've shot a scene.

 

[Player-1]

I keep telling you it's not a joke and I'm not trying to break character because there's no character to be broken...what don't you get about this?

 

[Zigsta]

Exactly the response I expected. Gamers after a bad joke remind me of actors trying not break character after they've shot a scene.

I approve of this reference.

 

[Phiddlesticks]

dre have you considered changing your name to Captain Killjoy

 

[Flayl]

They say 'we' because they're referring to when they use him.

If you're going to be elitist and say that only people who frequent this character board and use him in tourneys can say 'we', then you're basically saying you need to earn the right to be associated with a fictional video game character, which is really, really, sad.

Please don't project, lol. Calm down.

 

[Dre89]

dre have you considered changing your name to Captain Killjoy

No, but I have considered changing my name to Captain Shut The **** Up.

Na seriously though, I've noticed some gamers seem to feel like there's a right of passage to their character. I remember when Zelda got dropped to second last, the Zelda boards got more activity, and some veteran Zeldas were claiming that it was their character and that they didn't need anyone and that no one else was a legit Zelda. Kinda sad over video game characters.

Flayl- I am totes calm, I'm the iceman.

 

[Player-1]

No, but I have considered changing my name to Captain Shut The **** Up.

unoriginal joke not very creative.

 

[B!squick]

I wish you would change your name to Captain Shut The **** Up, then we wont have to hear you type!