inconspikuous
Smash Journeyman
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2006
- Messages
- 314
When he's in disadvantage in the air, Little Mac is really vulnerable. Being a light-to-mid-weight and a pretty fast faller, he is easily juggled by characters who can run their air strings basically for free. But if every Mac knows all of the options available to him, he may be able to escape being juggled or gimped and get back to his amazing neutral/ground game. Therefore, I think a discussion on Mac's landing options is crucial to pushing the Mac meta.
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The following is a brief description of options that Mac has, but is only meant to be a starting point for the discussion. As 'optimal options' become known, I will update the OP to share the knowledge with the rest of the Mac community.
Basic Landing:
Evasion landing with Mac is mainly about trying to get out of range of your opponent's aerial attacks while landing, and are the most low risk/reward options.
Regular fall - Mac's max horizontal airspeed is tied for 29th and he takes a while to build up speed. So, unlike say, Wario, who can quickly influence his horizontal air momentum, Mac cannot really fake out in the air by moving back and forth while landing. If Mac lands while regular falling, he will incur soft-landing lag of 2 frames.
Fastfall - Mac's fastfall is pretty quick, tied for 5th-8th fastest fall. If Mac lands while fast falling, he will incur hard-landing lag of 4 frames.
Airdodge - Mac's airdodge is active from frames 2-25 and his first actionable frame is 31, meaning that when you commit to airdodge, Mac is vulnerable for 1.9ish frames at the start and at least 6 frames at the end. If Mac lands while airdodging, he commits to 22 frames (source?) of landing lag (I don't know if Mac can dodge cancel effectively, so input is appreciated).
Double Jump - Mac's double jump is vital for escaping combos and recovering. It is his best tool for changing his momentum and creating space between him and his opponent in midair. However, once used, Mac is severely limited in his options, forcing any combination of the above landing options and making the trajectory of Mac's landing extremely predictable.
Intermediate Landing:
Offensive landing with Mac is primarily based on surprise factor, and have higher risk/reward than evasion. Mac cannot reliably autocancel his aerial attacks when landing (from being juggled, for example), so in many cases you will be committing to the full landing lag.
F-air/B-air - Very situational for landing, Mac's f-air and b-air hitboxes are active on frames 10-12/11-12, respectively, with terrible range. The slow start-up means that your opponent will likely see either attack coming and either react by shielding (which is now a little more safe with the newer shieldstun mechanics, so this is probably the 2nd best 'desired' effect of using this option), or punishing you outright for using the option. However, as a mix-up, sometimes throwing these out will 'scare' the opponent from spacing properly and give you enough space to land. Landing lag for f-air is 22 frames, and landing lag for b-air is 26 frames.
N-air - Mac's n-air comes out on frame 2 with low cooldown, so with good timing it can be a useful tool to stuff any aerial attempts before the opponent's hitbox comes out. The main problems are that it is not a sex kick and its range is abysmal. That said, the surprise factor of landing with n-air can sometimes lead into jab, dtilt etc. If you hit the ground while using n-air, you will incur 16 frames of landing lag.
D-air - Mac's d-air hitbox is active from frames 7-10 and can effectively 'semi-spike' thirsty opponents back to the ground. However, besides the surprise factor, there is very little disjoint on d-air and poor range, so most opponents will be able to u-air you for free right through it. If you hit the ground while using d-air, you will incur 30 frames of landing lag.
U-air - Mac's u-air hitbox is active from 5-8, but has the most frames of commitment at 42, so if you whiff in the air with its terrible range, you will be punished hard. With 34 frames of endlag in the air, it is actually safer to land with u-air with only 22 frames of landing lag. The optimal way to use u-air (if you're going to use the option), then, is on landing -- and at mid-to-kill percents it actually strings into Up-B.
Up-B - Mac's Up-B is still frame 1 invincible in the air and its hitbox comes out on frame 3. Should be fairly apparent, but if you whiff, you will probably die. However, Up-B can be primarily used to get out of getting juggled by combo strings if you DI correctly. For example, DI away-and-down from Sheik's f-air or Ness's f-air and if they are not frame perfect you can escape and punish with Up-B. If they get caught by Up-B, you can land successfully. Also, Up-B can also be used to mix up your trajectory/momentum but after the initial few frames, it is extremely telegraphed and puts Mac into freefall, so on landing try to mix-up with a platform/drop-through if it's available.
Side-B - Mac's Side-B is not frame 1 invincible from the air, so one of its' primary uses is a surprise attack to close the distance between your opponent's spaced aerial and knocking your opponent away at the earliest by frame 9 (to land successfully). The other main use of Side-B is to change your aerial momentum/position/trajectory to mix-up your landing. There is an 'autocancel' window where the Side-B landing lag is reduced to about 5-8 frames at about one-and-a-third mac jumps from the ground, but the height you have to be at to autocancel it is very precise and will not likely be something you can realistically attempt. If you don't get the autocancel window, you will suffer considerable landing lag (not sure how many frames, but you will get punished unless you really faked out your opponent with the change in trajectory).
Advanced Landing:
Mix-up/Mindgame landing with Mac is based on more 'advanced' techniques/mindgames that will (hopefully) help keep the opponent guessing as to trajectory of your landing.
Platforms - Contrary to popular commentary, I think platforms assist Mac as it gives him a 50/50 on platform landing. If Mac looks like he's going to land on the platform but opts to drop through the platform, often the opponent will have to read that in order to punish it. If they read incorrectly, Mac will usually be able to land safely. Of course, this is situational, so apply this knowledge accordingly.
Counter - Mac's Down-B counters from frame 4-26, but if you whiff you are vulnerable for almost 40 frames, and are practically gift-wrapped for your opponent. Make sure you have the read and the proper frame understanding before throwing the option out (i.e. if Luigi's n-air comes out frame 3, it will beat out Mac's counter if they start at the exact same time). Besides requiring a read (you should not be carelessly throwing out counter), the reason I placed counter as 'Advanced' is because counter also changes Mac's fall-speed, so as a mix-up you may be able to mess up an opponent's vertical spacing on a hard read. However, it is extremely situational, and if you 'whiff' your counter, you are probably going to lose your stock.
Neutral-B - Mac's neutral-B has heavy-armor while charging and will 'eat' attacks up to 8%. The heavy armor becomes active on frame 1 (I think?) and can assist Mac from getting juggled by aerials like Sheik's, Ness's, or even Mac's f-air. It is also useful for getting out of Mac's rapid jabs, getting out of juggles by Mario's d-throw to u-tilt combos, Sheik's f-tilt strings, Fox's u-tilt strings etc. However, this option requires a lot of commitment and also requires a read, so it is very situational. However, to mix-up your landing and if you have the read, neutral-B is a solid option that is more useful in certain matchups than others.
Fast Fall Break - As seen here. You can slow your fast fall by using an "A" or "B" move while in fast-fall. I would suggest using n-air (not u-air!), as it has the least commitment, and theoretically would allow you to re-fast-fall if necessary. Overall, this option is to change your vertical momentum so that your opponent has to guess your vertical position when punishing. The difference will be very subtle, but at the highest level of play it should make a difference.
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If anyone has any other landing options they can think of, it would really help. Also, let me know if anything is incorrect and I'll fix it. Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a brief description of options that Mac has, but is only meant to be a starting point for the discussion. As 'optimal options' become known, I will update the OP to share the knowledge with the rest of the Mac community.
Basic Landing:
Evasion landing with Mac is mainly about trying to get out of range of your opponent's aerial attacks while landing, and are the most low risk/reward options.
Regular fall - Mac's max horizontal airspeed is tied for 29th and he takes a while to build up speed. So, unlike say, Wario, who can quickly influence his horizontal air momentum, Mac cannot really fake out in the air by moving back and forth while landing. If Mac lands while regular falling, he will incur soft-landing lag of 2 frames.
Fastfall - Mac's fastfall is pretty quick, tied for 5th-8th fastest fall. If Mac lands while fast falling, he will incur hard-landing lag of 4 frames.
Airdodge - Mac's airdodge is active from frames 2-25 and his first actionable frame is 31, meaning that when you commit to airdodge, Mac is vulnerable for 1.9ish frames at the start and at least 6 frames at the end. If Mac lands while airdodging, he commits to 22 frames (source?) of landing lag (I don't know if Mac can dodge cancel effectively, so input is appreciated).
Double Jump - Mac's double jump is vital for escaping combos and recovering. It is his best tool for changing his momentum and creating space between him and his opponent in midair. However, once used, Mac is severely limited in his options, forcing any combination of the above landing options and making the trajectory of Mac's landing extremely predictable.
Intermediate Landing:
Offensive landing with Mac is primarily based on surprise factor, and have higher risk/reward than evasion. Mac cannot reliably autocancel his aerial attacks when landing (from being juggled, for example), so in many cases you will be committing to the full landing lag.
F-air/B-air - Very situational for landing, Mac's f-air and b-air hitboxes are active on frames 10-12/11-12, respectively, with terrible range. The slow start-up means that your opponent will likely see either attack coming and either react by shielding (which is now a little more safe with the newer shieldstun mechanics, so this is probably the 2nd best 'desired' effect of using this option), or punishing you outright for using the option. However, as a mix-up, sometimes throwing these out will 'scare' the opponent from spacing properly and give you enough space to land. Landing lag for f-air is 22 frames, and landing lag for b-air is 26 frames.
N-air - Mac's n-air comes out on frame 2 with low cooldown, so with good timing it can be a useful tool to stuff any aerial attempts before the opponent's hitbox comes out. The main problems are that it is not a sex kick and its range is abysmal. That said, the surprise factor of landing with n-air can sometimes lead into jab, dtilt etc. If you hit the ground while using n-air, you will incur 16 frames of landing lag.
D-air - Mac's d-air hitbox is active from frames 7-10 and can effectively 'semi-spike' thirsty opponents back to the ground. However, besides the surprise factor, there is very little disjoint on d-air and poor range, so most opponents will be able to u-air you for free right through it. If you hit the ground while using d-air, you will incur 30 frames of landing lag.
U-air - Mac's u-air hitbox is active from 5-8, but has the most frames of commitment at 42, so if you whiff in the air with its terrible range, you will be punished hard. With 34 frames of endlag in the air, it is actually safer to land with u-air with only 22 frames of landing lag. The optimal way to use u-air (if you're going to use the option), then, is on landing -- and at mid-to-kill percents it actually strings into Up-B.
Up-B - Mac's Up-B is still frame 1 invincible in the air and its hitbox comes out on frame 3. Should be fairly apparent, but if you whiff, you will probably die. However, Up-B can be primarily used to get out of getting juggled by combo strings if you DI correctly. For example, DI away-and-down from Sheik's f-air or Ness's f-air and if they are not frame perfect you can escape and punish with Up-B. If they get caught by Up-B, you can land successfully. Also, Up-B can also be used to mix up your trajectory/momentum but after the initial few frames, it is extremely telegraphed and puts Mac into freefall, so on landing try to mix-up with a platform/drop-through if it's available.
Side-B - Mac's Side-B is not frame 1 invincible from the air, so one of its' primary uses is a surprise attack to close the distance between your opponent's spaced aerial and knocking your opponent away at the earliest by frame 9 (to land successfully). The other main use of Side-B is to change your aerial momentum/position/trajectory to mix-up your landing. There is an 'autocancel' window where the Side-B landing lag is reduced to about 5-8 frames at about one-and-a-third mac jumps from the ground, but the height you have to be at to autocancel it is very precise and will not likely be something you can realistically attempt. If you don't get the autocancel window, you will suffer considerable landing lag (not sure how many frames, but you will get punished unless you really faked out your opponent with the change in trajectory).
Advanced Landing:
Mix-up/Mindgame landing with Mac is based on more 'advanced' techniques/mindgames that will (hopefully) help keep the opponent guessing as to trajectory of your landing.
Platforms - Contrary to popular commentary, I think platforms assist Mac as it gives him a 50/50 on platform landing. If Mac looks like he's going to land on the platform but opts to drop through the platform, often the opponent will have to read that in order to punish it. If they read incorrectly, Mac will usually be able to land safely. Of course, this is situational, so apply this knowledge accordingly.
Counter - Mac's Down-B counters from frame 4-26, but if you whiff you are vulnerable for almost 40 frames, and are practically gift-wrapped for your opponent. Make sure you have the read and the proper frame understanding before throwing the option out (i.e. if Luigi's n-air comes out frame 3, it will beat out Mac's counter if they start at the exact same time). Besides requiring a read (you should not be carelessly throwing out counter), the reason I placed counter as 'Advanced' is because counter also changes Mac's fall-speed, so as a mix-up you may be able to mess up an opponent's vertical spacing on a hard read. However, it is extremely situational, and if you 'whiff' your counter, you are probably going to lose your stock.
Neutral-B - Mac's neutral-B has heavy-armor while charging and will 'eat' attacks up to 8%. The heavy armor becomes active on frame 1 (I think?) and can assist Mac from getting juggled by aerials like Sheik's, Ness's, or even Mac's f-air. It is also useful for getting out of Mac's rapid jabs, getting out of juggles by Mario's d-throw to u-tilt combos, Sheik's f-tilt strings, Fox's u-tilt strings etc. However, this option requires a lot of commitment and also requires a read, so it is very situational. However, to mix-up your landing and if you have the read, neutral-B is a solid option that is more useful in certain matchups than others.
Fast Fall Break - As seen here. You can slow your fast fall by using an "A" or "B" move while in fast-fall. I would suggest using n-air (not u-air!), as it has the least commitment, and theoretically would allow you to re-fast-fall if necessary. Overall, this option is to change your vertical momentum so that your opponent has to guess your vertical position when punishing. The difference will be very subtle, but at the highest level of play it should make a difference.
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If anyone has any other landing options they can think of, it would really help. Also, let me know if anything is incorrect and I'll fix it. Thanks!
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