Le THieN's Match-Up Newsflash: Marth vs. Diddy is Even

[Le_THieN]

Thien do you still have some of our games from before/after No Koast? I know that some of them were accidentally recorded over when we went out to Cici's.

I'll have to check. I recorded my series with you, Infinity and Light from that weekend on a separate tape since I had a full one with material with Bwett, DPhat and Zac. The bad part, as you mentioned, is that we left the VCR running while we went out for lunch, and we backtracked too far and lost some footage.

I kicked myself for not getting a chance to play and record some new matches with you when we were all in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. =( I'm bringing the ol' trusty VCR again to WHOBO, though for some more snaps.

 

[Bellioes]

I just looked at your matchs vs Bwett on FD and heres what I noticed;
I like how you like to control the ground and keep your opponent in the air. You used Uthrows, Dthrow and what I really liked, Uairs Nairs I dont know if its your Diddys playstyle or how your supposed to fight against Yoshis but I like it. Juggling with Diddy always seemed hard to me but you seem to pull it off very well.
Also, I didnt see your matchs where you say you rolled a lot but now, you NEVER roll. Congrats on overcoming that habit (I have the same habit and Im rewatching replays to overcome that habit and others) I roll like 5 times a match but its better than before (after I killed my bro, I used to roll across the stage to get to the other side it used to be like more than 15 )
Anyways, good spacing and aerial control too. Especially with the Monkey Hump. One criticism I have is that you suicided in 2 of the 3 matchs. Not only that but you also took some risks (ledgehopped Dair) that put you in vurnerable positions and couldve killed you at low percents too. I dont know if you were nervous or you had a spasm and pressed some buttons but yeah, I guess just watch out. You dont want to loose a stock cause your opponent capitilised on a missed ledgehopped Dair.
Good Job. I really like your Diddys playstyle

EDIT: Saw the second to last match on BF; That sucks for you. You got really impatient there at the end. As I said earlier, you seem to take too much risks at lower percents. You usually made back in the FD matchs but this match is a good example of one where you didnt make it back.

 

[ADHD]

snake is a dumb matchup

 

[Le_THieN]

I am hung over
I'm writing haikus wasted
Someone buy next round

 

[DallasPhat]

Diddy glide tosses
Oh how he loves his naners
Thien laughs when drunk

 

[Le_THieN]

I heard this rumor
Dallas is the best region
In the d*mn region

I infracted myself for censor-dodging

 

[ADHD]

How many inhumans are there down there about now thien??

 

[Fogo]

Our city's been inhuman as long as i can remember.

 

[PhantomX]

How many inhumans are there down there about now thien??

You'll find out when TX goes to Apex

 

[Vyse]

Dude, I'm in the middle of choosing and picking vids from your set here to use in ze epic combo video.
Lemme know if there's any that are particularly epic.

 

[Count]

Thien I've been struggling recently with a player I used to always fully one stock or two stock (usually only winning in close games and sometimes losing) but I picked up two things from your vids and two stocked him like 8 straight times yesterday. So thanks =).

 

[Le_THieN]

Thien I've been struggling recently with a player I used to always fully one stock or two stock (usually only winning in close games and sometimes losing) but I picked up two things from your vids and two stocked him like 8 straight times yesterday. So thanks =).

LOL, throw me a frickin' bone - gimme some details!

 

[ADHD]

Who says "throw me a bone" anymore, was that even a saying back in the 90's? I DONT UNDERSTAND

 

[Count]

Ah ok-just small stuff. The throwing a nana up as the opponent is recovering-genius..can't believe I haven't done it before but he plays lucario so lots of times its either a free fsmash or he is gimped. The other thing is latching on with side B more often-this lucario relies only on shield grabs so that has sort of solved my problem. I'm a much better player than this guy but he is one of the few legitimate players here on Butler's campus so naturally we play a ton and he really knows the matchup well. As small as those details sound they really helped me in that matchup. The throwing the nana up near the ledge is huge because often times it leads to a smash attack and the only way I lose to this guy is by him building up a huge percentage as lucario then hitting me like four times and me dying.

 

[Dojo]

Who says "throw me a bone" anymore, was that even a saying back in the 90's? I DONT UNDERSTAND

Dr. Evil says hi.

 

[Le_THieN]

My Long Thoughts on My Most Recent String of Friendlies

So, here is the culmination of my current progress in revaluating my entire play-style after Clash of the Titans 4. I've taken two months off of attending tournaments and have sporadically tweaked my game, refining my style mostly against Texas competition. Here are some free-association notes of the last two months based on the following posted match-ups:

• Bwett (Yoshi)
  
  I've faced off against Billy frequently since I started to really immerse myself into the competitive scene last summer. We've played countless of hours' worth of friendlies, and am still currently undefeated against him in tournament (3-0). My stance on this match-up oscillated back in forth between being slightly favorable for one character or the other for a long time despite coming out on top against best Yoshi main in the country, but I feel like that the couple of new tactics I developed in this match-up firmly shoves the slight margin of favor into Diddy's column.
  
  Firstly, Yoshi's larger-than-normal character model makes him very susceptible to Diddy Hump. It's excellent for punishing cool-down on a number of Yoshi's laggy ground attacks; since many of his attacks actually expand or extend his character model in weird directions, you should almost never be out of position to unleash this high-priority, high-mobility grab.
  
  Similarly, Yoshi's character model and relatively heavy weight makes N-air a viable combo-starting option. I used N-air somewhat frequently after baiting F-smashes, as it would always connect against Yoshi's extended collision boxes off of the F-smash, and then I would follow up with F-air.
  
  Yoshi's pivot grab was almost reduced to being a nonexistent issue due to my refined banana pressure, but that may be more player-specific than anything else.
  
  The only times I actually lost matches was usually a direct result of my showboating carelessness (going for fancy-pants off-stage spikes, etc.); other than that, I felt like I was in control for the majority of several of our friendlies, and I was still able to make up considerable ground if I got gimped during the previous stock.
  
  On a separate note, Yoshi is nearly ungimpable. I got a couple of D-air spikes here and there, but that was a result of sheer luck more than anything else. Yoshi simply has way too many safe recovery options that he can mix up, and my brand of banana peel and popgun edge-guarding yielded only extra damage, if anything at all. In many cases, I was better off just letting him back onto the stage so that I could resume working my magic.
  
  Finally, Egg Throw-camping from the ledge should not be challenged, ever. It's just free damage for Yoshi. Just retreat out of range and let him back onto stage.

• UTD Zac (Señor Game & Watch)
  
  Not too terribly much has changed with this match-up in the year since Brawl's release, although bucket braking is somewhat irritating. This match-up is theoretically slightly in Diddy's favor, although I would love to have a crack at Dire Vulcan again, knowing what I know about G&W's crossover game. The number one thing that cost me my set against Dire in Philly was that I was either set up or put myself in a bad position to be punished by G&W's D-air. It's a very difficult move to guard or prepare yourself against, especially if you aren't armed with a banana peel and you don't know which side of the shield he is going to land on.
  
  I've tempered my reactions somewhat so that I don't panic every time G&W drops that key on my head, but I've also managed to refine my zoning game a great deal more in order to avoid that situation all together. As I said, not much as really changed with this match-up, and G&W still does not much of an answer if he's being harassed by a salvo of peanuts and banana peels. The pressure should never relent, because once it does you will be eating shield-stabbing aerials for the rest of the match.
  
  If you're getting tired of being tech-chased after G&W's D-throw and you're feeling saucy, try teching the throw in place (i.e. without rolling) and throwing out a smash or grab immediately afterward. Most G&W mains are conditioned to chase down tech rolls as opposed to moving right into the offensive after a D-throw, so take advantage of that. I thought of doing it in the middle of my set against Dire, and it's worked out beautifully since then. Make sure you mix it up, though, otherwise you will be eating a D-smash.
  
  Since Philly, bucket-braking has largely been a non-issue for me. I usually make sure I obliterate G&W so badly that he doesn't even have time to N-air.

• Fogo (King DeDeDe)
  
  I missed out on my chance of playing either Seibrik or Atomsk at CoT4, so I haven't gotten a taste of playing a high-level D3 player from the East Coast. The only real, solid experience in this match-up has been through playing Fogo, and I've always had strong propensity for bombarding characters with massive collision boxes in a sea of potassium. This single match that I posted isn't really fair to Fogo, because I more or less bum-rushed him from the get-go in our first friendly of the night. =) He demonstrated a much better understanding of the match-up as the night went on. Still, my advice in this match-up remains the same: save your kills, and camp like there is no tomorrow. Still a relatively even match-up.

• Light (Sheik)
  
  A very weird match-up, for sure. Whether or not it's due to the fact that it's actually weird or because it is a relatively foreign match-up that I still don't fully comprehend is beyond me.
  
  One thing I learned is that if Sheik's F-air is perfectly spaced, it is almost unpunishable, especially without a banana peel. You will most assuredly eat jabs if you're not prepared for this.
  
  Speaking of which, her jab has a one-frame activation time, and it has sickeningly high priority. Jab cancels into tilts and grabs are all fair game; if you get locked in the jab combo, it is almost impossible to DI through it like you normally would against, say, Falco, even with SDI. DIing away is the safest option that I have come up with so far.
  
  Due to the nonexistent start-up time on virtually all of her ground attacks and aerials, they will all catch banana peels with ease. Make sure your banana pressure lacks predictability.
  
  Shield-canceled dashes make Sheik much, much more mobile and less predictable. She already has insane ground speed, and this option allows her to reverse directions at the drop of a dime.
  
  DACUS grants her even more mobility, as well as a very viable KO option. Be careful when retreating through the air, because this can actually be used against you as you may just be spacing yourself to eat a sweet-spotted DACUS.
  
  As I gradually learned the match-up, I began to have a considerably easier time with it. Sheik only has a couple of realistic kill options out side of gimping, but carelessness will allow her to relentlessly stack on damage. Sheik also more or less gets ***** when she trips, as her heavy weight sets her up for some beautiful combo strings. Also, banana peels discourage the use of DACUS for obvious reasons, and if you can bait it, Diddy Hump will destroy that approach.
  
  Sheik has terrible recovery options. Always go for the speed hugs, as your chances of thwarting her Chain Whip recovery are high and will usually net you a free kill. If she goes for Vanish, be sure to time your retreat so that you don't get stage-spiked by it. Punish her cool-down quickly and accordingly once she reappears back on the stage.
  
  Oh, yeah. Watch out for Sheiks that can DACUS on command, as they can grab-release into a DACUS. *scratches head* Luckily, I don't think it ever sweet-spots this way.
  
  I feel that this match-up is slightly in Diddy's favor.

• Light, d4bA & Dojo (Meta Knight)
  
  At this high of a level of play, there really aren't that many tricks for you to work with, especially when you're dealing with MK mains who have extensive Diddy Kong experience. Everyone who's worth their grain of salt will have at least seen every fancy technique in the book, so I'd scale back on abusing popgun-canceled glide-tosses so much. The only thing that shines and perseveres in this match-up is strong fundamental play.
  
  Light had the most trouble with me between the three of them, primarily due to his lack of Diddy experience. MK players share a common DNA strain for being aggressive; my match with Light is just a showcase for punishing general over-aggression.
  
  d4bA, conversely is not very aggressive at all. There was more than one occasion where he nearly turned the tables on me as he started to exclusively punish my mistakes and my hasty desire to fight against the inertia of the matches. Although MKs who camp are not entirely unmanageable, they are an entirely different beast all together and need to be approached with an equal amount of patience. Aggression will not get you anywhere, and you need to make sure you keep your calm if the match starts to devolve into a game of systematically trading hits.
  
  Dojo, as many of you are well aware, is incredibly aggressive. His pressure game is insane and largely unmatched by anyone else in the entire region. The worst part about all this is that his technical understanding of the character is amazing. This is dangerous territory to be treading in for a number of reasons, but mostly because not only will a guy like Dojo be in the driver's seat for the majority of the match, but he will also be the one forcing the most mistakes.
  
  Oh, yeah, he knows how to use bananas.
  
  The handful of times I persevered against Dojo depended on not how much space I could get when I was overwhelmed, but on how much I could bait his aggression. I did this with a lot of retreat feints, only to reverse directions with an instantly-activated cartwheel or Diddy Hump. Once you are able to condition spot-dodges, N-air will emerge as one of your best friends as well. Out-of-shield aerials can punish the cool-down of MK's F-air, B-air and against your shield. In fact, OOS aerials are almost a necessity in this match-up. Banana pressure seems like less of a viable option at this level due both to MK's generally high mobility and small collision boxes; those of you hoping for a banana peel to randomly shield-stab are pretty much out of luck here. Only confusion tactics and measured projectile pressure will net you that valuable trip.
  
  Also, I'm inclined to say that (my) Diddy performs a helluva lot better if there are platforms around for you to weave your banana play around. Battlefield will be my weapon of choice from here on out until otherwise noted.
  
  As always, this is slightly in MK's favor.

*phew* I think that's all I have for now.

 

[iLight]

my sheik will win!!

don't ever doubt it

and i just picked up some sick new tricks beware i will gimp you even harder than before



<3 you leThien

 

[Le_THieN]

my sheik will win!!

don't ever doubt it

and i just picked up some sick new tricks beware i will gimp you even harder than before



<3 you leThien

Luckily for you, my skill level hovers in a state of stasis, so I will never get better ever again. =)

See you in three days!

 

[ADHD]

Your diddy isn't to the point. You do risky things which are most oftenly smart, but risky. You dash attacked dojo's shield a million times just to pick up the banana, and NONE of them went punished. Maybe it's just friendlys, but if that was a DDD you would have taken about 300 damage from that habit. Your nair use was also very risky, you even got shield grabbed from it. Also you could have missed a footstool combo in the last match which would have automatically given you the win but you won anyway so it wouldn't have really mattered Great diddy, I will watch the rest later (as I have only watched the last one XD)

 

[Le_THieN]

Your diddy isn't to the point. You do risky things which are most oftenly smart, but risky. You dash attacked dojo's shield a million times just to pick up the banana, and NONE of them went punished. Maybe it's just friendlys, but if that was a DDD you would have taken about 300 damage from that habit. Your nair use was also very risky, you even got shield grabbed from it. Also you could have missed a footstool combo in the last match which would have automatically given you the win but you won anyway so it wouldn't have really mattered Great diddy, I will watch the rest later (as I have only watched the last one XD)

Good stuff. Keep it coming.

I'm in a hurry, 'cause I have to finish this sandwich and run out to work, but I got the grab-release-footstool combo off twice in two other matches, and Dojo survived both times; simply by proxy of the fact that he had only exhausted one or two jumps by the time I baited him into it. Afterward, he just used his remaining jumps and Drill Rushed back onto the ledge. It's not really guaranteed unless MKs have close to no jumps left.

 

[Teh Future]

It depends on where you footstool them Im guessing, cause if they are near the bottom of the stage then they are just going to be in hitstun until they die.

Good job vs. Dojo, he handles bananas way too well. He seemed to punish you whenever you were in the air and were landing on the ground. Im not too sure if this is your fault, or Diddys for not having any mobility after his overB. It seems like Diddy has very little options when it comes to landing on the stage.

 

[thumbswayup]

snake is a dumb matchup

It's my favorite.

Dr. Evil says hi.

This made me laugh.

 

[Deez.]

snake is a dumb matchup

I agree.

But I'm learning the matchup alot better though so idk mabye i just hate the fact its Snake.

 

[Gnes]

Thien...u didnt get to play infinity...playing him and dojo pretty much sets u up for anything lol

 

[Le_THieN]

Thien...u didnt get to play infinity...playing him and dojo pretty much sets u up for anything lol

Actually, I played Sean 3 or 4 times after I got over my hangover during pools this past weekend. And what exactly are we being set up for? =)

 

[Blistering Speed]

• Light (Sheik)
  
  A very weird match-up, for sure. Whether or not it's due to the fact that it's actually weird or because it is a relatively foreign match-up that I still don't fully comprehend is beyond me.
  
  One thing I learned is that if Sheik's F-air is perfectly spaced, it is almost unpunishable, especially without a banana peel. You will most assuredly eat jabs if you're not prepared for this.
  
  Speaking of which, her jab has a one-frame activation time, and it has sickeningly high priority. Jab cancels into tilts and grabs are all fair game; if you get locked in the jab combo, it is almost impossible to DI through it like you normally would against, say, Falco, even with SDI. DIing away is the safest option that I have come up with so far.
  Unless you're at the edge, Sheik's rapid jabs should be punished. SDI out and either hit with something outranging the jab or wait till they're done and finish in the small cooldown. What you should really be concerned with in Sheik's ground game is her F Tilt, it's strange you didn't mention her best move in all this.
  I cant tell by your wording if you know this, but Jab comes out frame 2.
  
  Due to the nonexistent start-up time on virtually all of her ground attacks and aerials, they will all catch banana peels with ease. Make sure your banana pressure lacks predictability.
  
  Shield-canceled dashes make Sheik much, much more mobile and less predictable. She already has insane ground speed, and this option allows her to reverse directions at the drop of a dime.
  
  DACUS grants her even more mobility, as well as a very viable KO option. Be careful when retreating through the air, because this can actually be used against you as you may just be spacing yourself to eat a sweet-spotted DACUS.
  Be aware that Sheik wants that U Smash fresh for KO so if you're getting in the vicinity of its KO percent then the Sheik will hopefully be smart enough to NOT DACUS. DACUS is also punishable in general.
  
  As I gradually learned the match-up, I began to have a considerably easier time with it. Sheik only has a couple of realistic kill options out side of gimping, but carelessness will allow her to relentlessly stack on damage. Sheik also more or less gets ***** when she trips, as her heavy weight sets her up for some beautiful combo strings. Also, banana peels discourage the use of DACUS for obvious reasons, and if you can bait it, Diddy Hump will destroy that approach.
  Heavy weight? Sheik is relatively light, I assume you mean her fast falling speed. Also be aware Sheik is fast enough to escape many of these "strings" easily e.g. her 2 frame N Air
  
  Sheik has terrible recovery options. Always go for the speed hugs, as your chances of thwarting her Chain Whip recovery are high and will usually net you a free kill. If she goes for Vanish, be sure to time your retreat so that you don't get stage-spiked by it. Punish her cool-down quickly and accordingly once she reappears back on the stage.
  
  Oh, yeah. Watch out for Sheiks that can DACUS on command, as they can grab-release into a DACUS. *scratches head* Luckily, I don't think it ever sweet-spots this way.
  I'm fairly sure Diddy can DJ or airdodge and avoid the hit completely. Regardless, even if he cant, you're still not going to get hit by the tipper and the Sheik is therefore just staling their best KO move for damage.
  
  I feel that this match-up is slightly in Diddy's favor.

• 
  
  Just thought I'd correct a few errors so you're not going into the matchup with wrong information.
  
  I'll critique some of the Light matches later.

 

[Diddyknight]

*Bump* will see your video again this weekend =3

 

[Gnes]

Videos of Hanson vs Kos-Mos are out....dear god...

 

[ADHD]

Videos of Hanson vs Kos-Mos are out....dear god...

must....... see.......eeee.............eeeeeeeeeee

 

[Gnes]

Until he updates this himself...this one will tide u over

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4KesI4p3bU

 

[Kaptain Kong]

ive never felt so helpless from watching a match until right now

edit: im starting to understand how tough peach can be

 

[Le_THieN]

Until he updates this himself...this one will tide u over

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4KesI4p3bU

LOL

D*mn you, Keith - don't ruin my life before I have a chance to live it!

 

[ADHD]

Lol, thien, that peach is ****. You do realize though the utilt will always clash with her SH dair but swat her away? You need to uthrow her more, and then run. If she is that high in the air she doesn't have that great of an ability to space her aerials like he always does from SH's and then goes into a nair or uair or w/e. Also you didn't use fair AT ALL. You had a million opportunities to use it against her during all of those matches but refused to for some reason <_<. You were just grounded the entire time really, and he picked off of it. Also his tactics are much less effective on stages with a large center platform like yoshis island or halberd. And you can punish when he's charging his fsmash at the ledge better (even tho he hasn't learned )

 

[Player-1]

It just didn't look like you knew the Peach matchup at all, I'll critique after school today though.

 

[KOS-MOS]

LOL Chrome, I just charge f-smashes alot hoping he will flip kick into it. It works sometimes . I always ban YS >_>. If I have to play a diddy in tournament, I don't really play THAT aggressive as I do in some of those videos; these are friendlies after all :D

 

[Gnes]

LOL Chrome, I just charge f-smashes alot hoping he will flip kick into it. It works sometimes . I always ban YS >_>. If I have to play a diddy in tournament, I don't really play THAT aggressive as I do in some of those videos; these are friendlies after all :D

He doesn't....I can vouch for that...LOL

Ill beat u next time Kos-Mos...ive leveled up since last time we've played. Time to end your diddy killing reign

 

[pastaboy]

LOL Chrome, I just charge f-smashes alot hoping he will flip kick into it. It works sometimes . I always ban YS >_>. If I have to play a diddy in tournament, I don't really play THAT aggressive as I do in some of those videos; these are friendlies after all :D

you ban yoshis? i thot yoshis was always one of her better stages because you can flaot over the ghosts and wait for them to pop up. But i guess the slant would probobly mess up her auto cancels and all that jazz?

 

[Le_THieN]

Why I Feel Peach is the Worst Match-Up in the Game

Please check the OP for a few free-association notes I have on this matter. As far as this match-up goes, I would like to start off by debunking some false information:

1. The Peanut Popgun is an excellent deterrent to Peach's Float.
   
   Despite how useful the popgun seemed in NinjaLink's friendly set against Drk.Peach from August, it is in reality one of the least effective methods for physically grounding Peach out of her Float. There is only a three- or maybe four-frame opportunity for a peanut to successfully connect Peach in between chained D-airs or D-air to N-air. The fact that you often have to adjust the angle of the peanut by charging the popgun makes the entire move obvious and telegraphed; either D-air or N-air will usually already be activated by the time the peanut harmlessly breaks against her attacks.
   
   
2. If Peach D-airs against your shield, you can punish her by U-smashing out of it.
   
   This is also no longer true or even remotely viable. U-smash's hit-box appears on Frame 6; Peach can D-air against your shield and have N-air buffered for you to eat before U-smash even has a fighting chance of doing any damage. D-air's nonexistent cool-down combined with N-air's two-frame start-up are just too much for even Diddy's fastest anti-air ground attacks (U-smash, U-tilt) to handle.
   
   
3. Peach's F-air is punishable against your shield with either a shield-grab or a jab.
   
   This is only true if Peach incorrectly spaces F-air and manages to not auto-cancel it upon landing; it is rare for both of these scenarios to occur at the same time. Peach's F-air is, to my knowledge, the only aerial in the entire game that actually grants a character frame advantage if it connects against a shield. What better to follow that up with outside of a jab combo that comes out on the first frame? Peach's F-air to jab is virtually unpunishable; the only time I have shield-grabbed Peach out of her F-air is when KOS-MOS didn't react fast enough; the pseudo-super-armor frames on my grab absorbed the blows of his first jab twice in one match. This is only ever punishable due to user error, but I still would never count on user error to surface while trying to counterattack Peach's F-air.
   
   
4. Peach does not have a good or reliable approach against Diddy Kong.
   
   LOL. Welcome to SHed D-air, the newest Peach flavor currently being popularized by KOS-MOS. D-air, upon activation, turns Peach's short hops into quick, jagged arcs whose pressure can start from the front of your shield and position her behind you, making it ideal for defensive conditioning. Upon landing behind you, she will also still have frame advantage.
   
   Also, Peach is a zoning machine while she is in Float. She can be elevated enough off the ground to render glide-tossing temporarily useless, and can move forward to advance and pressure, or backward to retreat after baiting aerials (this usually the case when KOS-MOS ends up stuffing my F-air attempts). She closes distance relatively fast in this state, making even a retreat over her head via a smashed Monkey Flip somewhat of a gamble.
   
   Float is amazing because it allows her to zone large chunks of both stage ground and air space simultaneously.
   
   
5. Peach has issues KOing.
   
   No.
   
   No, she does not.
   
   
6. Le THieN simply does not know the match-up very well.
   
   In a way, this is true, but I would love to see all of you other Diddy mains who have never been two- or three-stocked by anyone before deal with an unorthodox Peach player that knows the Diddy match-up inside and out. MM this beast, and then we shall talk.

This is all I could think of off the top of my head. Now, for some of my other, free-association observations of this match-up:

• Many of Peach's ground attacks are unpunishable (even by OOS glide-tosses) due to their low cool-down times. The only ones that I have managed to consistently punish with any degree of success have been whiffed or blocked U-smashes, D-smashes or F-tilts. This needs to be tested more, but even her F-smash seemed safe against my shield, as KM often power-shielded my glide-toss attempts immediately after I tried to counterattack.
  
  
• I mulled over this with NinjaLink last night, and we arrived at one important distinction about Float: when Diddy is grounded, he has no answer to it. I realize, however, that I did not attempt to take the skies to compete with her as often, where Float is actually somewhat vulnerable. The problem that discouraged my use of F-air, for as wonderful as it is, is that it was often baited; all KOS-MOS would have to do was respace backwards and stuff my F-air with hers. If I am going to connect with F-air, I can only do in one linear direction; therefore, I have to be a little crafty and unpredictable when I spring one on KM next time.
  
  Also, NL suggested that I should do more retreating SHed or full-jumped banana peel throws. Peanuts may be nearly useless, but Peach can't D-air or N-air through banana peels, under any circumstances.
  
  Lastly, I will try to challenge Float with a mix-up of Diddy Hump and Diddy Kick in the future. With the hump, I'm hoping the worst-case scenario will be that the super-armor on the grab will absorb the blow of her aerials; with the kick, I'm hoping it will just clank with whatever aerial she uses if it doesn't connect for damage.
  
  
• Most of my damage expectedly came from combos I started after I tripped KM. Part of the problem is that KM has very competent item micromanagement, and is also overly familiar with my patterned offense and various habits. I had modest success with Z-dropped banana peel traps, but I know I need to mix it up a great deal more to keep him on his toes.

Even though I feel like this is currently Diddy's worst match-up, I realize that this is still largely a work-in-progress, and that I am essentially properly teaching myself an entire match-up all over again. My bad habits tend to be much more pronounced in match-ups or against opponents that I don't have a clear idea how to deal with, so this will all be worked on.

As it stands, though, I would much rather take on Dojo or Roy_R in tournament a thousand times over.

I never thought I would see the day I would say something like that.

Coming soon: Why getting ***** in the Peach match-up has helped me discover a breakthrough in the Marth match-up.

 

[Kataefi]

If Peach D-airs against your shield, you can punish her by U-smashing out of it.

This is also no longer true or even remotely viable. U-smash's hit-box appears on Frame 6; Peach can D-air against your shield and have N-air buffered for you to eat before U-smash even has a fighting chance of doing any damage. D-air's nonexistent cool-down combined with N-air's two-frame start-up are just too much for even Diddy's fastest anti-air ground attacks (U-smash, U-tilt) to handle.

Iirc there's a moment around the 2nd and 3rd kick where you can spotdodge the fourth kick and retaliate before her buffered nair.

 

[white peachy]

Can you SDI u-air peach out of the floating d-air?