Little Mac vs Kirby/Dedede

[AdaptiveTrigger]

So I just got out of a series of For Glory matches with a Kirby player. The strategy that this Kirby player implemented was to stand by the edge and just use his inhale the entire time. He would just inhale me then jump off the cliff and kill me (his recovery was significantly better than mine). I couldn't figure out a way around this. I kept losing, but I didn't really care about my record as I wanted to figure out a way to beat this.

I couldn't outpoke this attack with any smash or tilt. Armor didn't work since inhale counts as a grab. I couldn't use Side B to hit over the inhale. And an aerial approach was just laughable.

I consider myself to be pretty decent with Little Mac, but this guy just completely schooled me with a very basic tactic. Please help! What can I do against this type of strategy? I imagine this might be worse with Dedede.

I'm gonna try to work on a way to get around this with my brother or cousin. If anyone has already figured out a way around this, then please do tell!

I'm trying to avoid having a knee jerk reaction and just outright say this is a bad match up for Mac (as it is too early).

 

[Highwayman300]

Mash? You can easily get out of Kirby/Dedede's command grab by just mashing like a regular grab. At low % they can't even jump out the ledge without Mac escaping from it.
If that is not enough, you can easily jump over it and hit him with N-Air + Jab or N-Air + F-Tilt.

And if you happen to be really scared of his swallow, just wait it out. Remember that FG matches have a time limit, and that Mac has a ton of approach options, making him dangerous in sudden death.

 

[AdaptiveTrigger]

Mash? You can easily get out of Kirby/Dedede's command grab by just mashing like a regular grab. At low % they can't even jump out the ledge without Mac escaping from it.
If that is not enough, you can easily jump over it and hit him with N-Air + Jab or N-Air + F-Tilt.

And if you happen to be really scared of his swallow, just wait it out. Remember that FG matches have a time limit, and that Mac has a ton of approach options, making him dangerous in sudden death.

You don't understand what I'm asking for help with. I'm trying to figure out a way to outpoke the inhale move, not mash out of it. Also, if the opponent has more lives than you, then he will win so all the Kirby player has to do is get the stock lead and then he would *theoretically* win.

Anyhow, I figured out how to beat this clean and safely. This works for both Kirby and Dedede. Stand at the very edge of the inhale attack and then, press and hold A. Mac will move forward very slightly...enough to get in the inhale suction hitbox. This will pull Mac closer to Kirby/Dedede. The Jab outranges the inhale grab hitbox.

 

[Nat Goméz]

Did you tried to roll behind him? Mac's rolls go 1/4 FD (4 rolls and you covered the howl stage) i wouldn't be surprise if you could just roll, pass the inhale grab and end up behind them to punish them even harder.

Also if jab outranges the inhale grab hitbox then ftilt outranges it even better. The thing is jab racks up more damage and ftilt hits harder, so we got two options here.

Thanks for the tips, they will be coming handy if someone tries to do this against me.

 

[AdaptiveTrigger]

Did you tried to roll behind him? Mac's rolls go 1/4 FD (4 rolls and you covered the howl stage) i wouldn't be surprise if you could just roll, pass the inhale grab and end up behind them to punish them even harder.

Also if jab outranges the inhale grab hitbox then ftilt outranges it even better. The thing is jab racks up more damage and ftilt hits harder, so we got two options here.

Thanks for the tips, they will be coming handy if someone tries to do this against me.

He stood at the very edge of the stage so I don't think I could roll behind him. I'll give it a shot sometime anyhow though.

I tried f-tilt, but the spacing is very, very precise. If you are just a little off then you will get eaten and inevitably killed. I wouldn't recommend it because f-tilt makes you go forward TOO far. I think jab is the safer option.

Another trick is to use Down Smash just outside the suction part of the inhale. Little Mac will move slightly forward with that attack too. Again, pretty risky but it is less risky than the f-tilt option you mentioned. Jab is without a doubt the safest option, even if it isn't the most punishing.

The thing I didn't mention is that this Kirby was doing some trick to where after he'd eat me, he would instantly fall off the ledge so I didn't have enough time to mash out. Not sure how he was doing it.

 

[Nat Goméz]

Mmm... interesting. He was committed with his tactic then if he was on the very edge xD Is funny because some people made up this kind of tactics against him and then go like "He have no options against this" or "I own Little Mac" ...Will be very fun to destroy that tactic with this.

But well i haven't found anyone doing this yet but when i do i will do the jab then, the safer the better.

 

[AdaptiveTrigger]

Mmm... interesting. He was committed with his tactic then if he was on the very edge xD Is funny because some people made up this kind of tactics against him and then go like "He have no options against this" or "I own Little Mac" ...Will be very fun to destroy that tactic with this.

But well i haven't found anyone doing this yet but when i do i will do the jab then, the safer the better.

Well I'm not one of those type of Little Mac players that just aggressively and recklessly rushes in and gets grabbed and killed within 10 seconds of the match. I've known about the gimmick where people would just stand at the edge and wait for the dash attack or side special before blocking and grabbing. My Little Mac is very footsies oriented.

I just...never had to deal with this particular variation before so I wasn't sure how to beat it. Knowledge is half the battle I suppose.

 

[Gaoo]

I've had similar experiences online. It was funny at first but then quickly ineffective. Just let them come to you, hangout in the middle and mash if you get inhaled.

 

[foxyopiumfun]

F-smash should do it. I was doing it last night to someone and he quickly caught on and knew how to space his smash to connect far enough.

 

[TheReflexWonder]

You can roll behind someone standing on top of the ledge, actually.

That said, if you're spaced perfectly, a lot of your moves should just hit him before you get sucked in. I imagine F-Tilt, D-Tilt, F-Smash and D-Smash all work well.

 

[guedes the brawler]

i think neutral b could work. you'd just need to observe the kirby and let it go as soon as the inhalling...starts to stop... yeah

 

[TheReflexWonder]

Inhale can be held indefinitely and could probably be dropped on reaction to you charging before you can release it.

 

[Highwayman300]

If spaced properly the second hit of F-Tilt will hit Kirby without getting you inhaled.