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Lucina Match-ups

XXXCheckmate

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Can you guys share your experiences with different match-ups? I'm trying to figure out who she counters and who counters her. I've been doing mostly For Glory, and I want to know who to look out for.


My SUPER rough estimates
In Lucina's favor:
Shulk
Ike
Palutena
Link

In opponent's favor:
Little Mac
Mario (?)
Yoshi
Rosalina (?)
 

Wintropy

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In my experience?

Lucina is adaptable to almost any situation, owing to her balanced stats and refined fighting style. She doesn't rely range and projectiles like certain other fighters, so she's able to just get stuck in and start smashing from the word go. I've found her being able to take on heavier and slower fighters in particular, as she can just dance around them and strike when they turn their backs. Lighter and quicker fighters are much trickier, as they can circumvent her own natural agility and rack up damage quickly and cleanly while she's trying to react.

To that end, these would be the most notable pros and cons I've found thus far.

PROS

- Ganondorf
- Bowser
- Pac-Man
- Charizard

CONS

- Lucina (mirror match)
- Mega Man
- Palutena
- Little Mac
 

XXXCheckmate

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In my experience?

Lucina is adaptable to almost any situation, owing to her balanced stats and refined fighting style. She doesn't rely range and projectiles like certain other fighters, so she's able to just get stuck in and start smashing from the word go. I've found her being able to take on heavier and slower fighters in particular, as she can just dance around them and strike when they turn their backs. Lighter and quicker fighters are much trickier, as they can circumvent her own natural agility and rack up damage quickly and cleanly while she's trying to react.

To that end, these would be the most notable pros and cons I've found thus far.

PROS

- Ganondorf
- Bowser
- Pac-Man
- Charizard

CONS

- Lucina (mirror match)
- Mega Man
- Palutena
- Little Mac
I don't think Palutena is that bad of a match-up for Lucina. Her attacks come out really slow. I think the biggest challenge would be reading and punishing her rolls. Other than that, there isn't much Palutena can do against Lucina.
 

Pebbicle

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I've generally done well against heavier characters such as Bowser and Dedede, as their smashes for example are relatively predictable and can easily be used counter on.

Olimar is one I've had issues with, and as you said, Little Mac. I found smaller characters harder to face, Villager is another example. Then again, online is sort of laggy for me sometimes, so I partly base my answers upon level 9 CPU's.

Also, I've lost to Marth several times. As much as I like Lucina, I believe a skilled Marth player is somewhat better than a skilled Lucina player. Just my observations and thoughts however.
 

Wintropy

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I don't think Palutena is that bad of a match-up for Lucina. Her attacks come out really slow. I think the biggest challenge would be reading and punishing her rolls. Other than that, there isn't much Palutena can do against Lucina.
It's possibly down to different playing styles, then, because I find Ladypal to be a bit of a tough customer. She's absurdly fast for a defensive character and she hits hard, not to mention her ranged skills and ability to counter on cue. I'm sure it'll be more bearable when I get to grips with fighting her, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning all the same.

I'm not sure a mirror match counts as a con.
Speak for yourself! I fought Lucina as Lucina and found her to easily be the most challenging opponent thus far. ;P
 

LIQUID12A

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Speak for yourself! I fought Lucina as Lucina and found her to easily be the most challenging opponent thus far. ;P
Darling, it's a matter of skill :seuss:

I had a mirror with a Lucina yesterday. I'll upload it sometime just as proof.
 

Lichi

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Hm, I'd say she's a pretty even matchup against almost any other character while having an edge over the particularly slow ones. I struggled the most against campy Greninjas, but at the end of the day I pulled off an even win:lose ratio 'gainst them.
 

mega5657

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Little Mac is someone I have a hard time with as well. How has everyone fared against zoning characters?
 

Ryuutakeshi

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Maybe it was just me, but last night this one kirby was completely trolling me and I was having difficulty even approaching. Anyone else having kirby troubles?
 

Emblem Lord

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Lost to a little mac in tourney and just did several hours of gameplay vs my friends little mac. I will say he does have slight advantage. his ground game is simply better. He has faster ground speed and attack speed, more kill set-ups and his range is only slightly less then hers. He can be gimped but you have to hit him first. its rough. Custom moves make it closer namelt assault rush and storm thrust.

I think in Wii u version it may be even since due to latency its hard to react to his speed and space correctly.
 

Einyuri

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I don't see Mega Man being a very hard match for Lucina. I think it goes down to who gets the hit first. If Mega Man can make his space then it'll be hard for her to fight against him. But if you can get in first and get pressure down then I think it's a little towards Lucina's favor.
 

Ryuutakeshi

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I don't see Mega Man being a very hard match for Lucina. I think it goes down to who gets the hit first. If Mega Man can make his space then it'll be hard for her to fight against him. But if you can get in first and get pressure down then I think it's a little towards Lucina's favor.
I found it was somewhat easy to get them to SD whenever they try a leaf shield.
 

Einyuri

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Megaman. I wasn't so much killing them as I was just poking them off the edge a bit.
Ah alright. Yeah I see what you mean, I would usually just gradually space them out until I had edge advantage, then I'd start chasing them off of the stage and MM has no real answer for that aside since you can counter most moves and send him even further off.
 

JUr

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I'm interested in the matchup against Robin and Wii Fit Trainer...

I think that against Robin the matchup could help Lucina, in my experience against Robin (principally local multiplayer) the most favorable option is to close up with SH (well done you could avoid Arcfire completely), rolling/perfect shield for thunder and its variants and Counter against the Levin Sword... In the air Lucina has advantage... The key is press constantly and use the limit of Robin's specials to hit hard with the Smash Attacks...

Any corrections are welcome :)
 

Lichi

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Agreed. From my experience Robin is too slow to keep up with Lucinas pace once she's in his/her face. Getting close is not too difficult, the fire can be dodged easily with short hops from which you can do you wonderful f-air. I also have an easy time edgeguarding Robin. Elwind is just too slow and predictable.
 
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Wintropy

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Tried mirror matching Lucina again.

Nope, still finding her a tough opponent. I think fighting somebody who's pretty much designed to counter your entire fighting style just scuppers my usual strategies and perplexes me greatly.

Finding Bowser a bit tough as well. Not sure why - I can ordinarily beat big slow fighters with grace and finesse. Bowser's surprisingly agile for his size, though, and I think getting up close and personal with him is nigh-on suicidal for somebody as light and fragile as Lucina.

Not too shabby against Little Mac, though. Counter him on the ground, get him into the air, keep him guessing and just lay into him. No problems there~!
 

Izayoi

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I agree with Wintropy's statement on the Bowser matchup, I just fought a Bowser and I had a really difficult time doing anything, especially against his wider/longer range in certain attacks. Not really a frustrating matchup, though, but simply difficult.
 

Daybreak

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Lost to a little mac in tourney and just did several hours of gameplay vs my friends little mac. I will say he does have slight advantage. his ground game is simply better. He has faster ground speed and attack speed, more kill set-ups and his range is only slightly less then hers. He can be gimped but you have to hit him first. its rough. Custom moves make it closer namelt assault rush and storm thrust.

I think in Wii u version it may be even since due to latency its hard to react to his speed and space correctly.
I agree. The rate at which he comes back is nasty, you can only punish on occasion. Tilts in general are pretty effect against him, the timing is by no means easy though.
 

mega5657

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Bowser's not too bad, but I guess I can chock that up to not having played any good Bowsers. It is scary however since he can easily ko you at early percents. It pays to be extra careful around him and not use any moves with too much ending lag. Using counters against his smashes are terrifying o_o definitely the best if you can pull them off though
 

KentaKurodani

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Honestly, Zelda has been nailing my ass, multiple people playing her just wreck me
 

Fastblade5035

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Link is one character that I absolutely get WRECKED by, even with my other main Greninja.

How do we take him? His projectiles are just too damn good, and if we DO manage to get close, Link can shield + grab our rush in, and Link definitely has more kill power than we do.

Gimping works, but because of his clawshot its difficult to really keep him down. Usually I end up having to keep racking up damage until a Fair can kill or put him out of Clawshot range.
 

Pipmonchan

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What about Sonic? I couldn't beat him yesterday! He kept going at me through his spin and I couldn't do more than counter ocasionally or shield and wait till he finished throwing aerials at me :(
 

Nasreth

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I seem to struggle most against people with spammable ranged attacks or moves that have better range than my aerials.

A well played Shulk actually outranges Lucina on the ground and in the air with many of his abilities and can be super annoying with his counter. Beating a good Shulk usually comes to quick jabs in and out before he can get his attacks off from my experience. You have to be super aggressive because otherwise he'll zone you really hard.
 

Nasreth

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Link is one character that I absolutely get WRECKED by, even with my other main Greninja.

How do we take him? His projectiles are just too damn good, and if we DO manage to get close, Link can shield + grab our rush in, and Link definitely has more kill power than we do.

Gimping works, but because of his clawshot its difficult to really keep him down. Usually I end up having to keep racking up damage until a Fair can kill or put him out of Clawshot range.

Try getting link directly above you. His only strong downwards attack is his down air which has a massive lag time when he hits the stage and is fairly easy to dodge. Keep close to him and grab him into down throws and try to juggle him and take advantage of his slow recovery when he lands on the stage.
 

LovableTroll

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I've played quite a bit of Lucina, and I find that anyone who forces you to play very carefully is frustrating to fight against. I've found the most trouble against Link, Megaman, and Ness, as they all have projectiles and/or ways to disrupt your approach. I could see Palutena being somewhat frustrating as well, but I've only played 1-2 matches against her, so my experience is rather limited there.

That being said, she definitely shines against slow people like Ike, Gannondorf, and DK (for obvious reasons). I personally think she also has the edge against Little Mac, as she is very good at punishing poor recovery/aerial combat.
 

Emblem Lord

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You guys need to fight better macs or just examine his tools.

He has advantage on Lucina. His neutral game > Lucinas
 

Fastblade5035

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You guys need to fight better macs or just examine his tools.

He has advantage on Lucina. His neutral game > Lucinas
While that's not false, after a while you should be able to read most of Mac's attacks and counter them with Counter or other methods, like shielding and grabbing.
 
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Emblem Lord

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His neutral game is better. He doesnt need to take any risks during this match. If you could counter everything she would never take damage. You can block vs mac but all. His good pokes are safe. So is fsmash and dsmash and all his smashes have armor
 

VictoryIsMudkipz

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She really doesn't do well with Heavy's like GDorf, Bowser, & DK, they throw her around like a ragdoll because of the weightclass difference
 

MrXilas

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She really doesn't do well with Heavy's like GDorf, Bowser, & DK, they throw her around like a ragdoll because of the weightclass difference
I beg to differ. Dorf is way too slow to really do anything. Bowser is another issue because he is somehow heavy and faster. The trick in the case of LM is timing and rolling. I'd argue you would have to trick them into coming at you, rolling, and throwing them.
 

LovableTroll

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Perhaps I wasn't facing top tier LM's, but I have definitely faced quite a few on FG and against reasonably skilled friends. I generally bide my time until I can get a grab, or any attack that sends him into the air, then go hyper aggressive. When paired against people of similar skill level to my own (solid, but with room for improvement), I tend to come out on top.

As for the heavies, I would like to alter my view against Bowser. He can be rather frustrating, as getting the KO against him can take FOREVER, and he can punish you very easily. I still find him to be a decent match-up, but not as favorable as I once thought.
 

Thane of Blue Flames

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We really should be beating Mac on paper. How tough is he to edgeguard? Does out Counter break through his recovery's armor, or at least tack on good damage? Is there any footage? How hard is he to grab, to send-offstage? Does Mac tend to avoid grabs in general because of too much shield pushback in this game and good dash speed?
 
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Emblem Lord

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On paper highest level its probably even. He has slight advantage in footsies but off stage means death usually though he can use counter if he reads a gimp attempt and he is high enough.
 

MrXilas

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So I just won a match on For Glory by killing Captain Falcon with his own Falcon Punch with the counter. Twice. Just in case you guys needed an information on a Falcon match up.
 
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Random4811

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I can say for sure as a decent Marth player that against Lucina, Lucina is at the disadvantage. Marths tippers keep her at bay, and other than that its almost a mirror match- which is hard to go up against as Lucina (though not so much Marth, for some reason)
I've put a small amount of time in for Lucina, but Marth is still my boy.

Otherwise, they run into a lot of the same problems.

Rosilina is difficult, she can be very hard to adapt to playing against. Expect your first couple matches against her to go very poorly.

Dedeedee, DK, Bowser, and Charizard- Lucina and Marth both have problems with these heavy characters because of the fact that they can make some INSANE mid game turnarounds. They can be at like 230%, with Luci/Marth at mabye 80%, and get a quick stock off of them. The worst of these offenders is definitely Bowser. DK is the least offensive of these brutes. Triple D is like 2nd to Bowser, and Charizard is 3rd place. Charizard is pretty easy to read, but he can also get Luci/Marth into some stick situations, and if you miff a counter/dodge against Flare Blitz at/above 80%, you're toast for the most part, because even if you make it back, at that point even an uncharged smash will take you out. Triple D has his Gordos and insane recovery buttstomp. Other than that, his inhale can be annoying to work around, and a well placed hammer shot is toxic to Marth/Luci. The match in the end will go to the better player. I've won multiple matches against this lot, but at the same time I've also lost just as many. In one instance, I fought a Bowser 6 times before giving up, and every single time he wrecked me.

Outside of those guys, Mac can be initially very tough. But, his air game is laughable, and Luci/Marths air game isnt. Get Mac in the air after countering/dodging his hits, and you pretty well have the match in the bag. A good stage to practice on in training mode is Omega Brinstar. The lava is pretty much the cutoff point for Luci/Marths dolphin blade recovery. From there, you can find the sweetspot for every character to know when they're down for the count. Macs is pretty much at that line barring few special instances. Safest way to fight Mac as Luci/Marth is to stick to the edge and bait him either to you or off the stage. Its not hard to pull off.

I wouldnt say Yoshi shuts Luci/Marth down. He's just kind of really annoying. He can be hard to get used to fighting. He's pretty different from most everyone else on the roster. A lot of what works for other characters doesnt work for him. I dont really have any tips, as I'm ~1:6 (not saying I've only won 1, but thats about how my track record is) with Yoshi matches atm, but I have shut him down before. Its not impossible, its just mildly difficult depending on the player behind the Yosh.

Mega Man in every instance I've ever fought him is a joke vs Luci/Marth. Now, maybe in this one instance her differences shine enough to warrant her getting ate by Mega Man, but as Marth, MM is the most predictable character in the game other than villager, all of his moves have some sort of start up lag/tell to them and can be easily avoided as such. Otherwise, his options kind of suck, as his melee potential is low Vs. Marths, his melee speed is low vs. Marths, and his projectile game sort of sucks. [Okay, really sucks] to the point where you dont have to dodge the full charge shot. You can just jump behind Mega while he's doing it and Shield Breaker to rack up some good damage. Honestly, I think he'd be easier to fight as Lucina because you can close the gaps between yourself and MM better due to the differnce in her blade. Marth can be subject to some small combos by MM before breaking out of them just based on the distance between the swordsman and the Blue Bomber.

Gannondorf, despite being slow, is a serious threat to Luci/Marth. With his Side B, he does some decent damage and then throws the opponent to the ground, where a dtilt can be used to maximize on damage. This followed by some well placed grabs and down B's led to my Marth being shut down twice.

Other than that, I cant think of any characters who really shut Luci/Marth down easily.
 
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