hyperstation
Smash Lord
Late to the Party: Speed Hugging
I'm sure a lot of you read about hugging in brawl (aptly named after it's discoverer, the famed melee player Hugs) before it was even released. It's the process of running off the stage and immediately pushing the control stick back towards the stage for an edge hog.
Now, for those of you who didn't know (myself included), speed hugging is the sexier, more mature older sister to hugging...you kind of forget about regular hugging after seeing this beauty. Speed hugging occurs when you run off the stage and immediately smash the control stick down and away from the stage at a 45 degree angle. Your character (this isn't ganon specific by any means) then grabs the ledge immediately. You can also do this once you've rolled up against the ledge. It's beautiful. Hugging in this way allows you to get the edge hog even in incredibly close situations where you might have been hit by your recovering opponent if you tried to get to the ledge any other way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAcIXPJoGTo
Speed hugging is at the end of this video (7:20). Hugging is directly before it. Watch the whole thing though...you probably know most of it, but you might learn something. It's a well done video.
The reason I posted this is because I believe this tactic should be reevaluated specifically for Ganondorf. I often find myself going for the ledge for the edge hog only to see that my opponent is going to make it back onto the stage regardless of whether or not he needs the ledge. In said case, I generally drop, jump, or double jump into an aerial or series of aerials (bair, tipman uair, fair, nair, down+B) to get the kill. Ganon can get off several (2-3) aerials easily off the ledge since it launches you up so high, and with some well timed jumps to keep you at the right height, you can set up a pretty formidable "brick wall" effect beyond the ledge.
It's worth noting that speed hugging puts you on the ledge directly from the stage and into your invincibility frames. Take that, lazy recoverers...you just got bear hugged...from a man with the strength of a six hundred and sixty six bears.
Edit: Addendum for clarity:
As Tenki points out below, this is probably ancient to a lot of you. I should do a better job of suggesting what we might get out of reevaluating the tactic in regards to Ganon specifically. Which get up tactics off the ledge might we be able to incorporate into Ganon's game play by better using speed hugging? I'm asking if this tactic would be viable not only as an edge guarding maneuver, but as something to incorporate into on-stage play.
These come to mind:
I suppose the bigger concept in question here is not speed hugging, but rather the viability of Ganon's ledge game and how one might use speed hugging to put emphasis on that ledge game. Does Ganon even have advantages in coming up from the ledge?
I'm sure a lot of you read about hugging in brawl (aptly named after it's discoverer, the famed melee player Hugs) before it was even released. It's the process of running off the stage and immediately pushing the control stick back towards the stage for an edge hog.
Now, for those of you who didn't know (myself included), speed hugging is the sexier, more mature older sister to hugging...you kind of forget about regular hugging after seeing this beauty. Speed hugging occurs when you run off the stage and immediately smash the control stick down and away from the stage at a 45 degree angle. Your character (this isn't ganon specific by any means) then grabs the ledge immediately. You can also do this once you've rolled up against the ledge. It's beautiful. Hugging in this way allows you to get the edge hog even in incredibly close situations where you might have been hit by your recovering opponent if you tried to get to the ledge any other way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAcIXPJoGTo
Speed hugging is at the end of this video (7:20). Hugging is directly before it. Watch the whole thing though...you probably know most of it, but you might learn something. It's a well done video.
The reason I posted this is because I believe this tactic should be reevaluated specifically for Ganondorf. I often find myself going for the ledge for the edge hog only to see that my opponent is going to make it back onto the stage regardless of whether or not he needs the ledge. In said case, I generally drop, jump, or double jump into an aerial or series of aerials (bair, tipman uair, fair, nair, down+B) to get the kill. Ganon can get off several (2-3) aerials easily off the ledge since it launches you up so high, and with some well timed jumps to keep you at the right height, you can set up a pretty formidable "brick wall" effect beyond the ledge.
It's worth noting that speed hugging puts you on the ledge directly from the stage and into your invincibility frames. Take that, lazy recoverers...you just got bear hugged...from a man with the strength of a six hundred and sixty six bears.
Edit: Addendum for clarity:
As Tenki points out below, this is probably ancient to a lot of you. I should do a better job of suggesting what we might get out of reevaluating the tactic in regards to Ganon specifically. Which get up tactics off the ledge might we be able to incorporate into Ganon's game play by better using speed hugging? I'm asking if this tactic would be viable not only as an edge guarding maneuver, but as something to incorporate into on-stage play.
These come to mind:
- GANONCIDE- punish aggressively offensive fighters who follow you to the ledge to a quick death
- Jump -> Fair onto stage
- Jump Down+B
- Tiny jump -> aerial choke slam
- Jump -> dair
- Scarring - that is, hitting through a stage (with uair, for example)
- Drop away from stage -> rising Dair to someone on the stage (using the disjointed hitbox) -> back to ledge
I suppose the bigger concept in question here is not speed hugging, but rather the viability of Ganon's ledge game and how one might use speed hugging to put emphasis on that ledge game. Does Ganon even have advantages in coming up from the ledge?
