A2ZOMG
Smash Legend
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2007
- Messages
- 12,542
- Location
- RPV, California
- NNID
- A2ZOMG
- Switch FC
- SW 8400 1713 9427
^read the title
From my experience using this character, Mario really just isn't meant to be offensive and aggressive in this game. His strengths actually lie in his defensive options and ability to poke his way for some safe damage.
If you are looking for a character who can constantly benefit from aggressive strategies...try Luigi. Luigi is what Mario would have been if Mario was designed to be an offensive character, and in exchange he loses defensive options. So don't play Mario like Luigi if you want to win. Mario is a completely different beast that requires a different fundamental approach to his playstyle.
To put in better detail why Mario should be played defensively, I'll list specific differences between him and Luigi:
Luigi has
+More damaging combos
+easier combo starters
+A more consistent D-throw with less growth rate
+Massively powerful kill moves ranging from his F-smash and Up-B, the former which is safe on block, the latter which can sometimes be comboed into
+A longer ranged Jab that also is less situational for combo starting
+A down-B that closes range quickly
+A FAST F-air that pressures easily
In addition, Luigi also has less traction than Mario, which is best abused offensively for increasing the range of his ground moves and is rarely ever helpful in defensive situations.
Mario has
+Less ending lag and landing lag on N-air, U-air, and B-air
+A multhi hit D-air which can frametrap dodges that has fairly weak combo potential
+An Auto Jab which can be used to punish dodges consistently
+A U-tilt with more vertical range and priority that anti-airs better and punishes dodges more consistently when aimed correctly
+More versatile fireballs which are affected by gravity and travel farther
+more run speed and aerial speed
+A disjointed Cape which reflects projectiles and also stalls aerial momentum
+A longer ranged F-smash and D-smash
+A much faster F-tilt
+A disjointed Up-B that starts up frame 3, the fastest oos option in the entire game
+Awesome edgestalling
A combination of these factors should make my point clear. Mario is clearly a much more defensive character by design when compared to Luigi, with more options that can be made harder to punish but fewer options for building damage in quick spurts. At any rate, Luigi should be at most only 2 spots above Mario on the tier list, and I'll prove it through matchup theory if necessary.
Besides that, I must really stress to anyone who is using Mario, while it may be fun and occasionally beneficial to go aggressive with Mario, that is not where his fundamentals lie.
The Mario players that I expect to win most matches will fireball camp and poke a lot with B-airs and F-tilts, only going for a combo when they have conditioned the opponent to approach or defend in certain ways and when they get a grab at low percents. You will be baiting a lot with retreat or leanback F-smash. Spacing with Cape as a pseudo F-air is an underused tactic that I will expect more of in the future. Where as Luigi will rush down an opponent expecting his N-air to come out on top of whatever the opponent uses to defend, Mario users will draw different approaches towards him and can react with an option that covers it such as his Jab or U-tilt (the latter is for advanced Mario users, do not expect to understand how to anti-air or frame trap dodges with it immediately).
And the reason why I find Mario vs Luigi fun, and Mario dittos UNBEARABLE has become pretty clear to me. Neither character in the Mario vs Luigi matchup has to really change their playstyle much in order to go about the matchup correctly (this is assuming that players like me play to exploit Mario's defensive advantages over Luigi's). Luigi approaches and Mario defends, and that doesn't change in that matchup.
In Mario dittos, Mario is forced to move outside of his normally defensive playstyle and get ***** for trying to approach past fireballs and retreat spacing in order to do anything entertaining. The campier player wins the matchup, not the better Mario player.
Again I'm not telling you to stop playing Mario aggressively, but if you're looking to win matches by just going aggro...Mario is definitely not the best character for that.
From my experience using this character, Mario really just isn't meant to be offensive and aggressive in this game. His strengths actually lie in his defensive options and ability to poke his way for some safe damage.
If you are looking for a character who can constantly benefit from aggressive strategies...try Luigi. Luigi is what Mario would have been if Mario was designed to be an offensive character, and in exchange he loses defensive options. So don't play Mario like Luigi if you want to win. Mario is a completely different beast that requires a different fundamental approach to his playstyle.
To put in better detail why Mario should be played defensively, I'll list specific differences between him and Luigi:
Luigi has
+More damaging combos
+easier combo starters
+A more consistent D-throw with less growth rate
+Massively powerful kill moves ranging from his F-smash and Up-B, the former which is safe on block, the latter which can sometimes be comboed into
+A longer ranged Jab that also is less situational for combo starting
+A down-B that closes range quickly
+A FAST F-air that pressures easily
In addition, Luigi also has less traction than Mario, which is best abused offensively for increasing the range of his ground moves and is rarely ever helpful in defensive situations.
Mario has
+Less ending lag and landing lag on N-air, U-air, and B-air
+A multhi hit D-air which can frametrap dodges that has fairly weak combo potential
+An Auto Jab which can be used to punish dodges consistently
+A U-tilt with more vertical range and priority that anti-airs better and punishes dodges more consistently when aimed correctly
+More versatile fireballs which are affected by gravity and travel farther
+more run speed and aerial speed
+A disjointed Cape which reflects projectiles and also stalls aerial momentum
+A longer ranged F-smash and D-smash
+A much faster F-tilt
+A disjointed Up-B that starts up frame 3, the fastest oos option in the entire game
+Awesome edgestalling
A combination of these factors should make my point clear. Mario is clearly a much more defensive character by design when compared to Luigi, with more options that can be made harder to punish but fewer options for building damage in quick spurts. At any rate, Luigi should be at most only 2 spots above Mario on the tier list, and I'll prove it through matchup theory if necessary.
Besides that, I must really stress to anyone who is using Mario, while it may be fun and occasionally beneficial to go aggressive with Mario, that is not where his fundamentals lie.
The Mario players that I expect to win most matches will fireball camp and poke a lot with B-airs and F-tilts, only going for a combo when they have conditioned the opponent to approach or defend in certain ways and when they get a grab at low percents. You will be baiting a lot with retreat or leanback F-smash. Spacing with Cape as a pseudo F-air is an underused tactic that I will expect more of in the future. Where as Luigi will rush down an opponent expecting his N-air to come out on top of whatever the opponent uses to defend, Mario users will draw different approaches towards him and can react with an option that covers it such as his Jab or U-tilt (the latter is for advanced Mario users, do not expect to understand how to anti-air or frame trap dodges with it immediately).
And the reason why I find Mario vs Luigi fun, and Mario dittos UNBEARABLE has become pretty clear to me. Neither character in the Mario vs Luigi matchup has to really change their playstyle much in order to go about the matchup correctly (this is assuming that players like me play to exploit Mario's defensive advantages over Luigi's). Luigi approaches and Mario defends, and that doesn't change in that matchup.
In Mario dittos, Mario is forced to move outside of his normally defensive playstyle and get ***** for trying to approach past fireballs and retreat spacing in order to do anything entertaining. The campier player wins the matchup, not the better Mario player.
Again I'm not telling you to stop playing Mario aggressively, but if you're looking to win matches by just going aggro...Mario is definitely not the best character for that.