Social Lower Norfair

[Ridley_Prime]

Something I forgot to post earlier on, but backwards angle Wing Blitz is highkey slept on for recovering this way. Is not only harder to edgeguard than the often used forward version due to the positioning, but it kills earlier than upwards WB and maybe forward too. And since it launch kills straight upwards, it's kinda easier to kill with than either upward or forward WB.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Was gonna post this too since it got uploaded just a bit ago. Definitely more perks of Wing Blitz wall bouncing than previously realized; especially love the bounce effect distance of bonking with backwards WB. A niche but effective alternate ways of recovery, like for getting past characters that edgeguard with a counter (they try to counter you recovering from below? Up B wall bounce to ascend instead), or to reduce the risk for re-grabbing ledges in general.

Agree with the consensus too on Northern Cave being another good stage for Ridley to play on. Great stage all around though.

 

[Garo]

There's rage involved, but killing Wolf at 98% is still... wow. I had no idea it was that strong. I've mostly used the backwards angle to get back to the stage if I'm high enough after a fair train, but I'll have to keep an eye on additional opportunities from now on. Might start to experiment with the bounces too, though I easily forget those kinds of options in the heat of battle.

 

[NintenRob]

Can i just remind everyone how awesome it is that Ridley is in this game at all?

 

[Constantini]

Every now and then I think of that too, usually when on a winstreak lol.

I guess it hasn't really been discussed but yes, backwards blitz is far superior to regular for recovery. I usually recover that way. I just never really thought much of it!

As for those offstage bounces, I wouldn't get TOO excited. Not to be a pessimist but I would just be wary, as the actual time between bounce and snap is something like a whole second and I can assure you a lot of people will react to it. I've done it by accident and been spiked or Ftilted out of it. Still a nice piece of tech to mixup up once or twice a game. Whenever possible though I will go for a downwards blitz into ledge snap. The option is not always on the table, but there's really no reason not do to it when it is, within reason of course.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Ah. Guess you were the cool minority who already recovered that way. Like Garo, I mostly only did backward WB after an offstage f-air train or something, not thinking how it could also be used offensively like that when recovering.

Oh yeah, the offstage bouncing isn't to be used that much. It's more so an option for those that edgeguard with a counter, rather than their tilts. Since it reduces the risk of your "hand" being hit when re-grabbing ledge too though, it adds another layer of viability for planking, for those that want to play like that with certain matchups. And yeah, mixing it up with downward WB snapping or blitz stalling is another way to go.

This is also something that had been done a little before, but not that much; fullhop nair setups with platforms. Probably the best followup if you're facing the edge. Begins being possible from 0 to 20% depending on weight (generally, 0% for lights, 10% for mids, and 20% for heavies). Instead of starting it off with d-throw or d-tilt, you can do so with u-tilt as well, even if they're already on the platform (i.e. u-tilt > fullhop/IDJ rising nair). You can also run off and f-air if they tech or DI away or if you want to setup a tech chase to the other platform but aside from doing that move (short or fullhop), you can end the combo with b-air (rar fullhop or irar shorthop) or irar nair > b-air after the d-tilt on platform as well. Also, after landing on the platform, instead of d-tilt, you can either do gentleman jab for another tech chase or just do jablock as a mixup (jab 1), and then drop down and up air or up smash.

 

[Constantini]

Getting a good Dtilt or Nair into a ledge tech chase is sex, it's one of the most satisfying scenarios for ridley. I usually don't plan for them but you can get nasty mix ups like those and man, is it satisfying to catch bad wakeups with Usmash. It's actually nutty how much better ridley is on battlefield than on FD or even big battlefield!

I do think he'd overall place as a better character if he played exclusively on battlefield. Air dodge cancelling into platforms sets up for really good, fast options.

What I need to do now, is figure out how to beat lucas and min min. There's two are my current anathema. Lucas frames plus disjoints throw me on a hella loop and min min....is min min lol.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I'm a Ridley main and I think Ridley is one of the most underrated, underused, and misunderstood characters in the roster as he's a lot better than most people think he is. I would almost go as far to say Ridley might potentially be the best heavyweight in the roster in the right hands. Ridley along with Simon, Bowser Jr., Pac-Man, and Duck Hunt have so much potential most people haven't even digged into.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Getting a good Dtilt or Nair into a ledge tech chase is sex, it's one of the most satisfying scenarios for ridley. I usually don't plan for them but you can get nasty mix ups like those and man, is it satisfying to catch bad wakeups with Usmash. It's actually nutty how much better ridley is on battlefield than on FD or even big battlefield!

I do think he'd overall place as a better character if he played exclusively on battlefield. Air dodge cancelling into platforms sets up for really good, fast options.

What I need to do now, is figure out how to beat lucas and min min. There's two are my current anathema. Lucas frames plus disjoints throw me on a hella loop and min min....is min min lol.

This video from Japan's top Ridley gave me more confidence on the Min-Min matchup but still... It's tough like it is for anyone with her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EArChU0ap2g

Lucas I'm used to having a linear pattern to punish, but depends on the player. With how he edgeguards, definitely want to shark past the ledge with upwards wing blitz. One thing I still like to do too is either a single or half charged plasma breath to get them to absorb, so you can followup with side special or some attack after.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

This video from Japan's top Ridley gave me more confidence on the Min-Min matchup but still... It's tough like it is for anyone with her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EArChU0ap2g

Lucas I'm used to having a linear pattern to punish, but depends on the player. With how he edgeguards, definitely want to shark past the ledge with upwards wing blitz. One thing I still like to do too is either a single or half charged plasma breath to get them to absorb, so you can followup with side special or some attack after.

I played against an amazing Lucas player the other day as Ganondorf and we were beating each other match after match it was so fun. This guy was attempting to get me off stage so he could constantly spike me yet I was able to read it and dodge most of his moves. He did mange to spike me off stage a few times, but I was able to get back on with Down Special what not. I got some good reads with my Smash Attacks as well. It was fun.

 

[Garo]

Funny enough, Ridley's down smash seems to straight up beat Sephiroth's counter, Scintilla. I guess it makes sense since the wing is technically hitting him from above and Scintilla only protects his front, but I was still surprised by this. Granted, I only tested this like 5 times since controlling two characters at once is such a pain (Sakurai is a champ), so things like timing and distance might factor in. If anyone gets contradictory results, please let me know.

 

[Minix0]

Something I forgot to post earlier on, but backwards angle Wing Blitz is highkey slept on for recovering this way. Is not only harder to edgeguard than the often used forward version due to the positioning, but it kills earlier than upwards WB and maybe forward too. And since it launch kills straight upwards, it's kinda easier to kill with than either upward or forward WB.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Was gonna post this too since it got uploaded just a bit ago. Definitely more perks of Wing Blitz wall bouncing than previously realized; especially love the bounce effect distance of bonking with backwards WB. A niche but effective alternate ways of recovery, like for getting past characters that edgeguard with a counter, or to reduce the risk for re-grabbing ledges in general.

Agree with the consensus too on Northern Cave being another good stage for Ridley to play on. Great stage all around though.

This is cool but I don't see the point of this? Seems like a niche mix up if anything. Up B is intangible and BS'es through a lot of moves so whatever use this has seems like it can be done with an air dodge.

I'm a Ridley main and I think Ridley is one of the most underrated, underused, and misunderstood characters in the roster as he's a lot better than most people think he is. I would almost go as far to say Ridley might potentially be the best heavyweight in the roster in the right hands. Ridley along with Simon, Bowser Jr., Pac-Man, and Duck Hunt have so much potential most people haven't even digged into.

I'd say second best. Better than Bowser is pushing it.

I feel like Riddles needs some moves buffed to get out of mid tier. Ftilt and side b don't feel like they kill early enough, especially side b considering the amount of risk in using it and considering other command grabs in the game. F-tilt feels like it has a small sweetspot as well. Fair feels a little weak overall too. For a character that plays like a lancer he sure does have weak tippers. Outside of gimping you really have to work for some kills onstage sometimes.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

This is cool but I don't see the point of this? Seems like a niche mix up if anything. Up B is intangible and BS'es through a lot of moves so whatever use this has seems like it can be done with an air dodge.



I'd say second best. Better than Bowser is pushing it.

I feel like Riddles needs some moves buffed to get out of mid tier. Ftilt and side b don't feel like they kill early enough, especially side b considering the amount of risk in using it and considering other command grabs in the game. F-tilt feels like it has a small sweetspot as well. Fair feels a little weak overall too. For a character that plays like a lancer he sure does have weak tippers. Outside of gimping you really have to work for some kills onstage sometimes.

I honestly think DK might be better than Bowser as I've seen so many great DK players. I think DK is probably the best heavyweight. But with Ridley though and pretty much every heavyweight, you got to play the defensive game and get a little offensive when you get close to your opponent. Reads is also another critical thing to master with the heavyweights especially with Ganondorf.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Down smash beating Seph's counter too huh? Noted. Will try to test it sometime.

This is cool but I don't see the point of this? Seems like a niche mix up if anything. Up B is intangible and BS'es through a lot of moves so whatever use this has seems like it can be done with an air dodge.


I'd say second best. Better than Bowser is pushing it.

I feel like Riddles needs some moves buffed to get out of mid tier. Ftilt and side b don't feel like they kill early enough, especially side b considering the amount of risk in using it and considering other command grabs in the game. F-tilt feels like it has a small sweetspot as well. Fair feels a little weak overall too. For a character that plays like a lancer he sure does have weak tippers. Outside of gimping you really have to work for some kills onstage sometimes.

Depends on what the opponent's edgeguarding with. Speaking of airdodge though, dropping from ledge + instant double jump + forward airdodge is an excellent alternate way of getting back to stage. Using like wavebounce skewer to get from ledge to stage is also a thing, but kinda requires a different control setup to do more reliably.

Yeah, f-tilt seems to mostly only kill when it's the down angled one used on an opponent either recovering or hanging from ledge at higher %. A good finisher after racking up damage with plasma edgeguarding at least. The side B would mostly say just needs some of the end lag shaved off. That's the main problem with it compared to other command grabs in the game; the amount of lag prior to and after it, though I get why Ridley's is intended as a high risk high reward kind of thing.

I don't know what they could do to improve f-air, but you might be right on that too. Not sure how known it is, but with f-air, if you do the move while fastfalling just after a fullhop, you'll consistently land the 3rd hit, even on small characters. This is good to know since more commonly people end f-air with the 2nd hit after shorthop which can leave them open to a punish if not careful. The 3rd hit is where the real knockback comes from; anything less than landing all three hits makes f-air seem more underwhelming than it otherwise would be.

Far as onstage kills, I recently got a better handle of doing the jab 1 > f-smash during jablock consistently, but still can't really do it on an active opponent that typically rolls away in time. Maybe jab 1 > turnaround f-smash during jablock could work for when they roll behind you depending on the timing. Oh, and if you do a jab 2 before they're up, followup with skewer (move in and turnaround skewer to cover rolltech behind, and shorthop forward skewer to cover rolltech away), or can dash back and f-smash/skewer depending on where you think they’ll move.

 

[RomanceDawn]

Always love to see what you all are up to when trying to up my own Ridley game. Thats my boy. I'm still in the I can't believe it phase. I got 1450 hours in Ultimate and the majority of it is playing as Riddles.

As far as that large Ridley statue from First4figures my account was charged and the statue is in their warehouse. If any of you decided on getting it your accounts may have been charged as well. Should be receiving it within a month or two. Hip hip hooray!

 

[Constantini]

You know really, REALLY sucks? Setting up a fully charged Usmash when you got zss offstage anticipating her down B, then visually seeing it hit her entire ****ing body, but not only do you not trade, but flat out get buried.

That move. I hate it with all my heart. And we all know how massive the hitbox on ridleys Usmash is. If there was one move in this game that just carries way too hard, that's gotta be it.

 

[Minix0]

You know really, REALLY sucks? Setting up a fully charged Usmash when you got zss offstage anticipating her down B, then visually seeing it hit her entire ****ing body, but not only do you not trade, but flat out get buried.

That move. I hate it with all my heart. And we all know how massive the hitbox on ridleys Usmash is. If there was one move in this game that just carries way too hard, that's gotta be it.

The first half of the arc is entirely intangible (which is pretty dumb yeah lol). Just wait for the latter half and intercept it with a nair. Trading with upsmash is risky since that's still a part of his hurtbox.

I honestly think DK might be better than Bowser as I've seen so many great DK players. I think DK is probably the best heavyweight. But with Ridley though and pretty much every heavyweight, you got to play the defensive game and get a little offensive when you get close to your opponent. Reads is also another critical thing to master with the heavyweights especially with Ganondorf.

Yeah sorry I don't see DK being better than Bowser and Ridley. He's got good options but he's a giant punching bag. With Ridley he has multiple jumps and a very strong up b to mix up his landings. Bowser has multiple ways to get down fast and flamebreath if spaced right. DK's a sitting duck lol. His recovery is much worse than those two characters as well.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

I would think up air would be better during the latter half of her jump, or depending on how high in the air she already is, upward Wing Blitz, but that goes for how to punish any descending attack spammers in general.

Besides that, if ZSS is already off stage, you should probably be trying to edgeguard her accordingly rather than trying to set up something like a charged up smash. That I only do when under platforms, though I understand said smash is another good anti-air against her flip when timed right. Still, I feel you, but it used to be more annoying when the bury time from her move was longer.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

The proposed Metroid lego set got updated with most of the Ridley forms, along with the Zebesians. Already got the votes needed btw.

This Metroid Set Could Be Officially Reviewed By LEGO With Your Votes

Update: LEGO Ridley added to the mix

www.nintendolife.com

 

[Constantini]

!!!

That is so fugging cool. I will be getting that no matter what.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Yeah sorry I don't see DK being better than Bowser and Ridley. He's got good options but he's a giant punching bag. With Ridley he has multiple jumps and a very strong up b to mix up his landings. Bowser has multiple ways to get down fast and flamebreath if spaced right. DK's a sitting duck lol. His recovery is much worse than those two characters as well.

I do agree with you on Bowser and Ridley having better recovery options than DK because DK's recovery kind of sucks as it goes only side ways. And yes, DK is a sitting duck when he is free falling off stage.

 

[Cosmic77]

Still shocks me how Ridley isn't used as often compared to other larger, heavy characters. I see DK, K. Rool, and Ganondorf online all the time, and all three are pretty much just living beach balls whenever I face them.

 

[Minix0]

Still shocks me how Ridley isn't used as often compared to other larger, heavy characters. I see DK, K. Rool, and Ganondorf online all the time, and all three are pretty much just living beach balls whenever I face them.

Probably because Ridley has an easier time landing and doesn't have some normal heavy weaknesses. Not to mention Ridley technically isn't a heavyweight (which for some reason makes ppl think he's as light as Mario).

 

[Cosmic77]

Probably because Ridley has an easier time landing and doesn't have some normal heavy weaknesses. Not to mention Ridley technically isn't a heavyweight (which for some reason makes ppl think he's as light as Mario).

I meant more along the lines of I don't understand why there aren't more people who use him. I feel like he fares better in more match-ups, but he's not chosen as often as others.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

I meant more along the lines of I don't understand why there aren't more people who use him. I feel like he fares better in more match-ups, but he's not chosen as often as others.

I think it comes down to the heavy examples you mentioned just being easier to pick up and learn on a casual level (Ganondorf being braindead in that regard), while Ridley requires a bit more thought/effort to use well, even though he obviously has more going for him than the aforementioned heavies when you start to break it down.

 

[Minix0]

I think it comes down to the heavy examples you mentioned just being easier to pick up and learn on a casual level (Ganondorf being braindead in that regard), while Ridley requires a bit more thought/effort to use well, even though he obviously has more going for him than the aforementioned heavies when you start to break it down.

Yeah Ridley is much harder to use. I still can't believe the amount of people who SD because they think he has Fox up-b.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Skewer in the middle of f-air train? A new mixup for me. More known, but you can also do a side B after the first offstage f-air which punishes a regular airdodge.

Oh yeah, Garo , I tested the down smash on Sephiroth's counter with someone earlier, but did not work for me. Not sure how you did it, but I guess it is kind of a strict timing/distance thing.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I meant more along the lines of I don't understand why there aren't more people who use him. I feel like he fares better in more match-ups, but he's not chosen as often as others.

Yeah, I don't understand that either. And as someone who mains a lot of these heavies like Ridley, Ganondorf, K. Rool, and Bowser, I feel like I do better with Ridley in more match-up scenarios than the other heavies. Technically, Ridley isn't a heavy like Minix0 stated above, but he certainly feels like one in terms of power.

 

[Garo]

Oh yeah, Garo , I tested the down smash on Sephiroth's counter with someone earlier, but did not work for me. Not sure how you did it, but I guess it is kind of a strict timing/distance thing.

Did some additional testing after reading this. It seems it's strictly a timing thing as there's a small gap between Scintilla's counter frames and the automatic attack coming out where you could fit any attack in with the right timing. So yeah, nothing to do with Ridley's down smash at all, just happened to get the lucky timing few times in a row and jumped to conclusions.

On another note, I found a mildly interesting interaction with Ridley and Sephiroth: If you break Scintilla with a sweetspotted Skewer and then immediately do Space Pirate Rush, Ridley and Sephiroth will be frozen in the air for the first few frames of the grab animation.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Turns out spot dodging (out of shield) mid way through those multi-hit up B's allows for a free punish...

https://twitter.com/itswebbjp/status/1354638751843180544?s=21

While Ridley wasn't shown as an example there, for him, spot dodged at the right time can punish with like nair, f-air, grab, f-tilt, d-tilt, up tilt, f-smash, SPR, and even skewer depending, so most of his kit. Now they can't up B on ledge repeatedly once you're back on stage.

Guess this applies to multi-hit moves in general though, which is certainly a better alternative to shield mashing and hoping you parried enough of them all, though you can do that for some.

 

[Goomboi]

I just picked up Ridley recently, but wow is he fun and pretty good. I don't see why people don't use him I got the game 2 years ago and have only seen him online twice I think.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I just picked up Ridley recently, but wow is he fun and pretty good. I don't see why people don't use him I got the game 2 years ago and have only seen him online twice I think.

Ridley is one of those characters the community really hasn't tapped into their full potential yet. Ridley has fast running speed, decent aerials, good grab game, fast and powerful Smash Attacks, and some of the best anti-aerial tools in the game with his Up Tilt, Up Smash, and Up Aerial being some of the best ones in the game. Ridley is very underrated.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Ridley’s running speed is fast, but not fast enough to be considered a tried and true rushdown, but he can be played aggressively like that as Nair showed. Only up smash I would consider particularly fast out of the smash attacks; maybe forward smash at times, but down smash is more situational (i.e. platforms, post skewer).

It doesn’t help that Ridley’s one of the characters whose not able to be used to their best potential in wifi, which I forget at times when we’ve been stuck in a wifi era for so long now with covid. The input lag makes wing blitz less reactable, but that’s about it. He’s still fun, but yeah.

 

[Constantini]

Funny to see that brought up. I remember near 20 years ago the community was screaaaaming for ridley. Brawl announced, WHERES RIDLEY. Wii u smash announced, WHERES RIDLEY. Now he's here and fake fans show their true face. 99% of the people out there will immediately flock to the characters considered top tiers by the pros and proceed to inundate online with those characters, who they will still suck ass with anyway.

Its just how fighting games are. He's the same as banjo. As long as smash has existed, I remember everyone clamoring for banjo. Cool, he's here. Aaaaaaaand......nobody plays him.

Long story short though, Ridley is hard to win with and while he doesn't take a ton of technical skill and execution, he requires a fairly overwhelming amount of matchup knowledge. He's not DK or Bowser. You can't just bang your head against the controller and get carried by one or two moves.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

That’s just how it is with any character. After they’ve been around long enough they just become another Smash character. Even the hype DLC’s many move on from once the novelty wears off. That said, I don’t think tier mongrels make up like 99% of the people. Compared to previous Smashes, I’d argue that character loyalty has been stronger than ever with Ultimate, but could be better still. Every character has some not insignificant playerbase though, which isn’t represented by just how often you see them online. Their Discord, subreddit, etc. Also agree with RetrogamerMax here on Rid’s potential, even if it’s hampered by online to a point.

I think the matchup knowledge required for Ridley is mostly just knowing what moves to use on what character if they mash out of space pirate rush (to maintain advantage), and what moves to best use when edgeguarding which can be matchup dependent, as we have so much edgeguard options. There’s other things too but those are kinda the main ones to know imo.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Funny to see that brought up. I remember near 20 years ago the community was screaaaaming for ridley. Brawl announced, WHERES RIDLEY. Wii u smash announced, WHERES RIDLEY. Now he's here and fake fans show their true face. 99% of the people out there will immediately flock to the characters considered top tiers by the pros and proceed to inundate online with those characters, who they will still suck ass with anyway.

Its just how fighting games are. He's the same as banjo. As long as smash has existed, I remember everyone clamoring for banjo. Cool, he's here. Aaaaaaaand......nobody plays him.

At least some people still play with K. Rool after he got in unlike a lot of people who supported Ridley and Banjo and than dumped them after they got in. It's sickening to see those people who supported characters for years only to dump them after they get in because they think "Hmm... This character sucks!" Like, I only support characters because I love them or what they could potentially bring with their moveset. I'm not the type to care where they end up on the tier list as I only play as certain characters because I like them. People who abandon characters like that are fake fans who are just bandwagoners. This community has too much of that to be honest.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

This was uploaded just a bit ago, but some great setups all around.

My favorite parts was like nair > d-tilt > bair on the Palu, high angle f-tilt > d-tilt > up smash on the Zelda, and f-air > turnaround descending bair on the ROB.

I guess they'd been playing Ridley for awhile, tho Citadel hadn't been on my radar much before now. Amazing stuff.

 

[Constantini]

Its every fighting game honestly, I could point you at just about any game and it will have followed that trend. Tier/whoring always beats character loyalty, unfortunately, because at least half of those people don't understand the whole concept of tiers and how/why they exist.

As for K.Rool it's because he's got the cheese factor and does better online. You can't just pick up ridley or banjo and get easy W's because it takes a bit of time to figure out their kits and how to meld them.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

It do be like that, but for Ultimate I was just pointing out & complementing how we've come a long way from just seeing a handful or so characters played consistently at most like with previous Smashes, thanks to character loyalty in part, among other factors.

The F4F Meta Ridley unboxing thing was posted today. Cool seeing how he's put together.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

It do be like that, but for Ultimate I was just pointing out & complementing how we've come a long way from just seeing a handful or so characters played consistently at most like with previous Smashes, thanks to character loyalty in part, among other factors.

The F4F Meta Ridley unboxing thing was posted today. Cool seeing how he's put together.

So sick.

 

[RomanceDawn]

It do be like that, but for Ultimate I was just pointing out & complementing how we've come a long way from just seeing a handful or so characters played consistently at most like with previous Smashes, thanks to character loyalty in part, among other factors.

The F4F Meta Ridley unboxing thing was posted today. Cool seeing how he's put together.

Yes!!! Mine is on it's way! Soon...