Marth FUNdamentals

[Bormp]

As the title implies, this is a thread about the fundamentals of Marth play, and the fact that I need some help with them. What are the core values of Marth play? What should I keep in mind when playing Marth? What should I do in neutral? How should I reset to neutral? How do I take control of the stage? How should I approach? Stuff like that. Go crazy.

 

[Sycorax]

Just read/watch everything in AirFair's resource list.

For stage control, these resources might help. PPMD's post and BluEG's Advance Attack Avoid.

You can find even more resources about all of this kind of stuff in my library linked in my signature.

 

[Link24a]

http://smashboards.com/threads/kadano’s-perfect-marth-class—advanced-frame-data-application.337035/

 

[FE_Hector]

I do recommend you look through all the resources and stuff, but in the meantime, here are some pointers.

• In neutral, Dash Dancing will be your best friend. His DD puts to shame that of basically everybody who isn't CF or Ganon, and he has a ton of options out of it. Using DD to approach, you could pivot aerial or fsmash, Run Cancel Dtilt, JC grab, etc.
• Marth's biggest goal is to get his opponents off the ledge. His edgeguarding skills are ridiculously good if you can get them down, and he can get really low % KOs thanks to them.
• Don't yield space too much. A cornered Marth does not have nearly as many options as a Marth with open space.
• Platforms are bad for your opponent and worse for you. If Marth gets stuck on the ledge, he's open to whatever his opponent feels like doing, and his only way to get around it safely is a falling L-Canceled Dair, which is a pretty risky option. If they're above you, SH late uair, properly spaced fsmash, or utilt. It's quite fun.
• Marth's grab range is ridiculous. Abuse it
• Reset to neutral... depends on the character, but I'd suggest landing a single ftilt. The KB is pretty nice even at low %s, and if they techroll away, it's an effective reset. Jab resets aren't too good of an idea for Marth.
• Marth doesn't like to commit to moves. His smash moves, Counter, and dash attack are the moves I'd really suggest avoiding. The smash moves because they're ridiculously punishable if whiffed, Counter even more so, and the dash attack because you're only giving yourself one option: the dash attack. They're all pretty risky moves, but there are exceptions. Fsmash can be used quite effectively if you're in a safe situation and are 99.999999999% sure you'll hit. Counter can be used well, but only if you have a read. For example, if Sheik gets you off of the edge (but you're above the stage), and is going in for a fair or a uair, it's pretty difficult to beat her to an attack, so I recommend that you Counter her. It'll knock her away and give you enough time to recover.
• Other than that, really I suggest watching the pros (PewPewU, PPMD, M2K, and Ken to a slightly lesser extent are the big 4 I can think of) and watch 1) what they do and figure out 2) why they do it.

 

[Sycorax]

His DD puts to shame that of basically everybody who isn't CF or Ganon,

Are you saying Ganon has a good dashdance?

 

[Wafflesaurus]

I would dare say Ganon doesn't even have a dash dance, he just throws out attacks in neutral and hopes you run into them, of course this is a little far fetched but still, Ganon has one of the worst dash dances and movement, especially in FD.
As a Marth main you shouldn't really be afraid of Ganon, you are faster than basically anything he can do (I say this because a lot of people dash dance really far away from Ganon and respect him too much, which makes the match up harder than it should, I mean, he has 12 frames of landing lag after a fair and that's with l-cancel and you can react to almost everything he can do).

 

[Bormp]

Thank you, everybody!

 

[FE_Hector]

Are you saying Ganon has a good dashdance?

Didn't even realize I typed that up. I was thinking about his wavelands and accidentally added his name to the good DD list. Purely accidental, I assure you.