Emblem Lord
The Legendary Lord
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- Aug 11, 2005
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So, I decided that I was going to do a write-up on some things that any Marth player should know. I'm going to talk about methods for getting past projectile camping, the best options for approaching, how Marth camps and why he excels at it, as well as methods of getting in damage when you are in an advantageous situation. Please read on because I'm just going to jump right into it.
Dealing with projectiles
1) Jabbing - This is simply using Marth's jab or any attack really to neutralize a projectile. This is the simplest and most effective way of dealing with a lot of projectiles and really limits their effectiveness. The attacks that I would suggest you use for this are Marth's jab of course, and his fair. Jab is very quick, but using the fair will allow you to adjust your spacing while getting rid of the projectile. This method works on Thunder Jolt, baby Aura Spheres, PK Fire, PK Thunder, Turnips, Peanuts, Razor Leaf, Fireballs, Boomerangs, Arrows, Missiles, Eggs, Waddle Dees and Paralyzer blasts.
2) SH Airdodge - By taking advantage of the new airdodge system and Marth's great DI, you can close small distances and still be relatively safe. You might eat a projectile or two, but nothing two serious. This can be used in place of jabbing if you like, but I personally reserve it for Din's Fire and Light Arrows. This really reduces the effectiveness of Din's Fire especially. Since you can DI while airdodging you still have control over your spacing, so remember that. You want to land outside of their close range moves, so you can start zoning them.
3) Rolling - Simple, but effective. Just a nice simple way of closing in quickly. Don't spam it otherwise your opponent will wait for it and punish. But if you know your spacing, and know the distance of when your roll will end in relation to your opponent's positioning, this can be a great way to put yourself exactly at the right spacing to start your offense. This is something I tend to use vs Falco.
4) Perfect Shielding - A good alternative to jabbing and gives you something better to work with vs projectiles that might be a bit tougher to get around. Works wonders vs Wolf's laser since it has a slow rate of fire. Works fairly well on Pit's Light Arrows too. After you Perfect Shield you will usually want to walk forward not run since you can't shield in the initial dash frame. If you walk forward however you can still shield. If you are close enough to your opponent, then you can run to close the gap. You can also SH from your shield or roll as well.
5) Jumping - There are three main forms of jumping that are most effective at closing in. There is full jumping, SHing, and instant double jumping. Full jumping is good for long distance, SH is good for very close distances. And Instant double jumping is a SH then immediately using your second jump. This is good for medium distances. Remember that you have complete control over your DI while jumping and you can airdodge at anytime or attack. You can also fast fall to hit the ground sooner. You options at your disposal so don't forget that. Different forms of jumping will come into play depending on your distance of course and who you are up against. I find full jumps to be most useful against Falco and I use SH's when I'm very close to start a spacing game. I also use SH's when I'm close to Pit to do the same. You can SH over Toon Link's standing arrow and Pit's Light Arrow if it's going straight.
6) Ducking - Simple, but effective for when opponents try to use SH projectiles and their projectile travels in a straight line. Most effective on Toon Link's SH arrow and Falco's SHL to an extent as long as the laser isn't too low. You can also duck a straight arrow from Pit.
7) Counter I do this a lot vs Falco not so much vs other characters. Good for when opponents try to use projectiles up close. Pretty straight forward and useful vs the space animals especially Falco, but also good vs Pit's who like to use arrows up close.
8) JC Fair out of shield Another good tactic for when you are close and you shield a projectile. Immediately SH from your shield and do a fair. You could also do Dancing Blade from the SH too if you wanted to be a bit more fancy and you are close enough.
Next, I'll talk about approaching. Marth is one of the best approachers in the game and has safe moves to fall back that allow him to pressure effectively without putting himself in danger. Marth has about 5 moves that are good for approaching and I will talk about them all as well different methods of approaching.
Fair - The mainstay of Marth's arsenal. Fast and very safe on block. Can't be punished when perfectly spaced. The utility of this move is insane. He can use it offensively or defensively. This thing is fast coming out on frame 4 and has little lag. Since it has little lag, when Marth lands he can roll away, spot dodge, dash away or if he is very close he can up b to stuff his opponents attempt to punish him. Here is a rundown of some tactics using fair.
SH Fair - The most used tactic of every Marth every where on the face of the earth and with good reason. Thanks to Marth's DI he can space this easily and stay very safe. Good for pressuring and forcing a reaction. Since it leaves Marth in the air it is slightly passive. It's easy to hit someone's shield with this and then wait a moment. If they roll towards you or spot dodge then you can punish them when they come out of it, usually with Dancing Blade. If they roll away you can FF then continue pressuring. This is a basic and yet very effective strategy. If you want be defensive you can airdodge after the fair if you fear some kind of punishment, but with good spacing you won't have to worry about that much.
SH Double Fair - This is a really effective zoning tool. Both fairs are fast with little lag and thanks to Marth's DI it's easy to adjust the wall that you are creating. This tactic is all about space control and forcing your opponent to find a way around your sword. If you get a hit in then you can usually score an easy Dancing Blade, but even if you don't hit it's extremely easy to stay safe.
SHFF Fair - This is a Short Hop Fast Fall Fair. You do a SH then fast fall your fair. This is an aggressive move and can lead to a Dancing Blade on hit at low percents. It's somewhat harder to stay safe with this since then moment you fast fall you really can't DI anymore. But even if your opponent moves they still can't really punish you. If you space this well on their shield and they don't move you can try for a grab or maybe a shieldstab with another attack. If you land right next to your opponent after this, you can roll away, spotdodge, or up b to avoid retaliation. You might be able to Dancing Blade if they are a bit slow to punish.
D-tilt- This is Marth's main poking tool. A fast stab over the ground that leads to a free Dancing Blade at lower percents. Good range with ok damage, it can be canceled into any other action the moment Marth retracts his arm. It also comes it in 7 frames making it quite fast. This makes it one of the best pokes in the game. Very easy to play a spacing game with this since Marth can just SH, dash roll or w/e he wants to cancel it. A well spaced d-tilt can't be punished either. Abuse this move because it's awesome. Also doing repeated d-tilts in a row will cause Marth to move forward a bit with each one that he does. Just a little spacing tidbit to keep in mind. Also keep in mind that this will lose to SH approaches since it hits low to the ground. So be sure to mix-up between f-tilt and d-tilt to keep your opponent guessing.
Walk to D-tilt - You might think that walking has no place in an effective Marth playstyle, but you would be wrong. Walking allows fine spacing control and there are varying speeds of walking as well. Once you start using it you will realize how much it adds to your spacing game. Walking allows you to adjust yourself accordingly for a well spaced f-tilt. Very easy to do and very reliable. Think Street Fighter 2 when a character walks forward a bit then throws out a poke move. Same concept.
Foxtrot to D-tilt - Repeatedly doing the opening dash animation is called foxtrotting. This is just using Marth's exceptional foxtrot to quickly cover some ground and then follow-up with a quick slash. A faster alternative to walking, but with less space control.
Run to shield drop D-tilt - You cancel a run into a shield then drop that shield immediately into a d-tilt. Fast, safe and effective. Shield drop takes 7 frames so keep that in mind and watch your spacing. But if you play smart and space well you should be ok.
A quick side note - You may also want to use empty Short hops to approach or adjust your spacing and then follow-up with an attack. Again, Marth has great DI in the air so a SH is great for adjusting Marth's spacing.
Dancing Blade- THIS MOVE....UGH!!!!! It's just too sexy for words people. It has a sweetspot at the tip. The sweetspot does 1% more damage per hit, except the last hit if it's the down b, which always does the same damage. The sweetspot also does more knockback. The basic combo will usually do about 13%, but it can go up to around 18% if you do the down b as the last hit. Now this is where it gets interesting. The Dancing Blade counts as 4 seperate attacks, which means EACH attack counts towards attack regeneration. HOLY ****!!!! Too good. The only bad thing about Dancing Blade is that it's on the unsafe side. But you can mitigate that somewhat. If your opponent is blocking you can just choose to stop the combo, do the third down b hit and Marth will move back a bit which can mess with your opponents timing, or you could do the last down b hit and it will usually shield stab.
Walk to Dancing Blade - You should know why this is good by now. Combines finer space control with the blistering speed of Dancing Blade.
Foxtrot to Dancing Blade - This is too good with Dancing Blade. When you Foxtrot you can Dancing Blade in EITHER direction. So you can dash back if your opponent is too close then Dancing Blade immediately. It's very useful. I love this tactic and use it whenever I see an opportunity. It's also good for spacing since you can Foxtrot and stop in your tracks with one forward b.
Run to shield drop Dancing Blade - You know the deal by now.
Grab- I know, I know. Marth's grab game FEELS very underwhelming at first. But it's still a good way to circumvent shields and get in some chip damage. Plus grab hits recharge your moves as well as the throw itself which is nice. If you do f-throw or d-throw you can usually get in a free hit if you wait for an airdodge which alot of people do on instinct after Marth throws them. You could also go for a re-grab. If they are at low percents you can get a tipper f-smash off a f-throw or a d-throw if they mess up thier DI.
Pivot Grab - The dojo explained this one. You just run or dash and then hit the opposite direction on the analog and grab at the same time. You will grab in the opposite direction. Good for mindgames and just keeping your opponent guessing.
Run to shield grab - A nice mix-up tool between shield drop approaches. Marth's regular grab is better then his dash grab so this let's him take advantage of that.
Camping with Marth
I will say this to start us off. Marth is good at camping. No, he doesn't have a projectile. He doesn't need one. His sword and his moveset give him all the tools he needs. I explained this very well in another thread that I made so I'll copy and paste that explanation here.
"Once he gets close enough he can camp at a certain "optimal" range with SH fairs, f-tilts and d-tilts. Ideally this range is close enough that they cannot safely spam projectiles, but far away enough that Marth outranges them in close combat and can punish any attempt to attack him or rush him. This special type of camping actually allows gives Marth advantage in certain match-ups vs projectile campers and makes other match-ups even. And Marth has another trick up his sleeve concerning his Fair. Thanks to his DI he can easily do a Wall of Pain with retreating fairs or approaching fairs to encroach upon his opponents space while adjusting his own. Marth has a lot of options after a SH fair as well. He can airdodge to be defensive. Fast fall to hit the ground sooner for a different action. Do Dancing blade or Shieldbreaker. Use counter to stuff any attempt to punish. Also from a SH fair Marth is in a position to react to almost anything his opponent does. If they try to roll behind you just use Dancing Blade in that direction. If you know they will try to attack then you can airdodge then punish or counter. If they like to roll back then you can DI forward and fast fall then chase them. If they want to sit in their shield then just DI enough to adjust your spacing so that when you do another Fair on the way down you will be safe. Marth has a lot of options so please experiment and see what you can come up with."
This pretty much sums it up. Marth camps, but he camps in his opponents face more or less. In this way he can shut down an offense, while maintaining control. This is a basic but very effective tactic. It's easy to set-up with just walls of SH double fairs with some d-tilts and f-tilts to mix-up your timing and mess with your opponent. It's also extremely reactive. It takes alot of patience and great reaction time. And most of the time if your opponent rolls you can punish them. Only characters with the fastest rolls have less trouble with this i.e Lucario, MK and maybe a few others. But this can be mitigated by spacing yourself so that if they try to roll behind you, they end up a bit in front of you. Spacing is key with this tactic. You need to remain safe at all times and give yourself enough room to react to anything your opponent does. I'm not saying you won't get hit. I'm saying that you should never be getting hit, due to bad spacing. If you get hit it should be, because your opponent either guessed what your next move would be or they just took a risk and decided to attack. Usually taking a risk won't work that well though since SH fair will beat ground approaches, so if they want to hit you they will have to try to predict you which is why you must very your timing and the moves that you use. Also don't be afraid to rush in with a Dancing Blade or a grab when you think they don't expect it.
Pressing the advantage
Lack of combos in Brawl really makes it hard to get in good damage. You have all come to this realization I'm sure. But there are situations that you can put your opponent in that will greatly increase your chances of getting in more damage. I will talk about those situations and how you can get the most out of them.
When your opponent is in the air
This is a very common scenario and I'm sure alot of you already know what I'm about to talk about. Thanks to the new airdodging mechanic, it has become far more difficult to juggle an opponent and keep them in the air. You must find a way to take advantage of the airdodge system. There are 3 ways to do this. You can just wait for the airdodge. This works the first few times since your opponent will most likely airdodge out of instinct. Just wait for it and punish. The second method is baiting. This is very easy. You just move towards your opponent or jump at them to scare them into airdodging. After they come out of it punish them. The third method takes more skill, but it is the most effective. You force the airdodge with an attack that has little land lag, then a soon as you land use a fast attack to punish. Now keep in mind you have 3 frames sometimes a bit more to punish, so you have to be fast and you have to take into account how much Marth will lag when he lands from the aerial. So usually you will want to use Uair then fast fall and then punish with Dancing Blade, D-smash or U-tilt. You can also grab since most people tend to shield when they land from an airdodge. If you grab them you should u-throw so you can reset the situation. Using these methods you can get the most out of this advantageous situation.
When your opponent is on the ledge
First off all, know your spacing. You need to be far away enough that you can avoid the ledge get up attack. This way you have effectively covered three options. The first being ledge attack, the second being the normal get up and the third being roll get up. If they do either of these you can rush in and attack. So now their options are somewhat limited. Now alot of characters can also do a ledge drop then use their second jump to hop onto the stage and attack. But your spacing covers this option as well. So as long as you are far away enough you now have covered 4 options. The key is to be close enough to react to anything they do, but still far away enough that if they do a ledge attack you won't get hit. The spacing will vary depending on your opponent, since everyone has varying range on their ledge attacks so remember that. So in this scenario, the best thing to do would be a ledge jump. Jump up from the ledge and then try to airdodge on the way down, attack on the way down, or use their second jump to get away.
There is no real sure fire method of dealing with this. But the fact that you know that this is their best option means you can prepare for it. The moment you see them pull themselves up for the jump you can rush and then try to force an airdodge. if they don't then they will probably eat your attack. If they attack it may catch you off guard, but once you start to predict that response you could counter, if their aerials outrange yours. If they don't then your attacks should beat theirs and the situation should reset itself. If they try to double jump, but you are close, then you can attack before they can get their jump off. Now some characters have methods of getting on the stage that are specific to them. You will have to think of your own counters to their methods, but some can be stopped on reaction while others you will have to predict. Falco for example can use his phantasm after a ledge hop, but if you watch him closely you can hit him out of this on reaction.
When your opponent is off the stage
You know what to do here and it doesn't need much explanation. Go for off the stage edgeguarding. Even if you don't kill them, it still nets you some easy damage. Thanks to Brawl's physics and Marth's floatiness it's easy to just run out and swipe at opponents, so don't hesitate to do so. And remember to space and time your attacks well so your opponent can't hit you when you attempt to edgeguard him. Once you become proficient at this you will almost always get in some damage and best case scenario is that you gimp your opponent. There really is no down side in going for off the stage edgeguarding. Try to go for tipper fairs or nairs if you want to net a kill since those have really good knockback.
This wraps it up. I hope this info was useful for you. And even if you don't like my strats I suggest you give them a try because they work and they will definitely help anyone improve their game. At the very least it will open your eyes to more possibilities in your gameplay.
Discuss.
If you think I should add anything just say what it is and why.
And I hope it was a good read.
Dealing with projectiles
1) Jabbing - This is simply using Marth's jab or any attack really to neutralize a projectile. This is the simplest and most effective way of dealing with a lot of projectiles and really limits their effectiveness. The attacks that I would suggest you use for this are Marth's jab of course, and his fair. Jab is very quick, but using the fair will allow you to adjust your spacing while getting rid of the projectile. This method works on Thunder Jolt, baby Aura Spheres, PK Fire, PK Thunder, Turnips, Peanuts, Razor Leaf, Fireballs, Boomerangs, Arrows, Missiles, Eggs, Waddle Dees and Paralyzer blasts.
2) SH Airdodge - By taking advantage of the new airdodge system and Marth's great DI, you can close small distances and still be relatively safe. You might eat a projectile or two, but nothing two serious. This can be used in place of jabbing if you like, but I personally reserve it for Din's Fire and Light Arrows. This really reduces the effectiveness of Din's Fire especially. Since you can DI while airdodging you still have control over your spacing, so remember that. You want to land outside of their close range moves, so you can start zoning them.
3) Rolling - Simple, but effective. Just a nice simple way of closing in quickly. Don't spam it otherwise your opponent will wait for it and punish. But if you know your spacing, and know the distance of when your roll will end in relation to your opponent's positioning, this can be a great way to put yourself exactly at the right spacing to start your offense. This is something I tend to use vs Falco.
4) Perfect Shielding - A good alternative to jabbing and gives you something better to work with vs projectiles that might be a bit tougher to get around. Works wonders vs Wolf's laser since it has a slow rate of fire. Works fairly well on Pit's Light Arrows too. After you Perfect Shield you will usually want to walk forward not run since you can't shield in the initial dash frame. If you walk forward however you can still shield. If you are close enough to your opponent, then you can run to close the gap. You can also SH from your shield or roll as well.
5) Jumping - There are three main forms of jumping that are most effective at closing in. There is full jumping, SHing, and instant double jumping. Full jumping is good for long distance, SH is good for very close distances. And Instant double jumping is a SH then immediately using your second jump. This is good for medium distances. Remember that you have complete control over your DI while jumping and you can airdodge at anytime or attack. You can also fast fall to hit the ground sooner. You options at your disposal so don't forget that. Different forms of jumping will come into play depending on your distance of course and who you are up against. I find full jumps to be most useful against Falco and I use SH's when I'm very close to start a spacing game. I also use SH's when I'm close to Pit to do the same. You can SH over Toon Link's standing arrow and Pit's Light Arrow if it's going straight.
6) Ducking - Simple, but effective for when opponents try to use SH projectiles and their projectile travels in a straight line. Most effective on Toon Link's SH arrow and Falco's SHL to an extent as long as the laser isn't too low. You can also duck a straight arrow from Pit.
7) Counter I do this a lot vs Falco not so much vs other characters. Good for when opponents try to use projectiles up close. Pretty straight forward and useful vs the space animals especially Falco, but also good vs Pit's who like to use arrows up close.
8) JC Fair out of shield Another good tactic for when you are close and you shield a projectile. Immediately SH from your shield and do a fair. You could also do Dancing Blade from the SH too if you wanted to be a bit more fancy and you are close enough.
Next, I'll talk about approaching. Marth is one of the best approachers in the game and has safe moves to fall back that allow him to pressure effectively without putting himself in danger. Marth has about 5 moves that are good for approaching and I will talk about them all as well different methods of approaching.
Fair - The mainstay of Marth's arsenal. Fast and very safe on block. Can't be punished when perfectly spaced. The utility of this move is insane. He can use it offensively or defensively. This thing is fast coming out on frame 4 and has little lag. Since it has little lag, when Marth lands he can roll away, spot dodge, dash away or if he is very close he can up b to stuff his opponents attempt to punish him. Here is a rundown of some tactics using fair.
SH Fair - The most used tactic of every Marth every where on the face of the earth and with good reason. Thanks to Marth's DI he can space this easily and stay very safe. Good for pressuring and forcing a reaction. Since it leaves Marth in the air it is slightly passive. It's easy to hit someone's shield with this and then wait a moment. If they roll towards you or spot dodge then you can punish them when they come out of it, usually with Dancing Blade. If they roll away you can FF then continue pressuring. This is a basic and yet very effective strategy. If you want be defensive you can airdodge after the fair if you fear some kind of punishment, but with good spacing you won't have to worry about that much.
SH Double Fair - This is a really effective zoning tool. Both fairs are fast with little lag and thanks to Marth's DI it's easy to adjust the wall that you are creating. This tactic is all about space control and forcing your opponent to find a way around your sword. If you get a hit in then you can usually score an easy Dancing Blade, but even if you don't hit it's extremely easy to stay safe.
SHFF Fair - This is a Short Hop Fast Fall Fair. You do a SH then fast fall your fair. This is an aggressive move and can lead to a Dancing Blade on hit at low percents. It's somewhat harder to stay safe with this since then moment you fast fall you really can't DI anymore. But even if your opponent moves they still can't really punish you. If you space this well on their shield and they don't move you can try for a grab or maybe a shieldstab with another attack. If you land right next to your opponent after this, you can roll away, spotdodge, or up b to avoid retaliation. You might be able to Dancing Blade if they are a bit slow to punish.
D-tilt- This is Marth's main poking tool. A fast stab over the ground that leads to a free Dancing Blade at lower percents. Good range with ok damage, it can be canceled into any other action the moment Marth retracts his arm. It also comes it in 7 frames making it quite fast. This makes it one of the best pokes in the game. Very easy to play a spacing game with this since Marth can just SH, dash roll or w/e he wants to cancel it. A well spaced d-tilt can't be punished either. Abuse this move because it's awesome. Also doing repeated d-tilts in a row will cause Marth to move forward a bit with each one that he does. Just a little spacing tidbit to keep in mind. Also keep in mind that this will lose to SH approaches since it hits low to the ground. So be sure to mix-up between f-tilt and d-tilt to keep your opponent guessing.
Walk to D-tilt - You might think that walking has no place in an effective Marth playstyle, but you would be wrong. Walking allows fine spacing control and there are varying speeds of walking as well. Once you start using it you will realize how much it adds to your spacing game. Walking allows you to adjust yourself accordingly for a well spaced f-tilt. Very easy to do and very reliable. Think Street Fighter 2 when a character walks forward a bit then throws out a poke move. Same concept.
Foxtrot to D-tilt - Repeatedly doing the opening dash animation is called foxtrotting. This is just using Marth's exceptional foxtrot to quickly cover some ground and then follow-up with a quick slash. A faster alternative to walking, but with less space control.
Run to shield drop D-tilt - You cancel a run into a shield then drop that shield immediately into a d-tilt. Fast, safe and effective. Shield drop takes 7 frames so keep that in mind and watch your spacing. But if you play smart and space well you should be ok.
A quick side note - You may also want to use empty Short hops to approach or adjust your spacing and then follow-up with an attack. Again, Marth has great DI in the air so a SH is great for adjusting Marth's spacing.
Dancing Blade- THIS MOVE....UGH!!!!! It's just too sexy for words people. It has a sweetspot at the tip. The sweetspot does 1% more damage per hit, except the last hit if it's the down b, which always does the same damage. The sweetspot also does more knockback. The basic combo will usually do about 13%, but it can go up to around 18% if you do the down b as the last hit. Now this is where it gets interesting. The Dancing Blade counts as 4 seperate attacks, which means EACH attack counts towards attack regeneration. HOLY ****!!!! Too good. The only bad thing about Dancing Blade is that it's on the unsafe side. But you can mitigate that somewhat. If your opponent is blocking you can just choose to stop the combo, do the third down b hit and Marth will move back a bit which can mess with your opponents timing, or you could do the last down b hit and it will usually shield stab.
Walk to Dancing Blade - You should know why this is good by now. Combines finer space control with the blistering speed of Dancing Blade.
Foxtrot to Dancing Blade - This is too good with Dancing Blade. When you Foxtrot you can Dancing Blade in EITHER direction. So you can dash back if your opponent is too close then Dancing Blade immediately. It's very useful. I love this tactic and use it whenever I see an opportunity. It's also good for spacing since you can Foxtrot and stop in your tracks with one forward b.
Run to shield drop Dancing Blade - You know the deal by now.
Grab- I know, I know. Marth's grab game FEELS very underwhelming at first. But it's still a good way to circumvent shields and get in some chip damage. Plus grab hits recharge your moves as well as the throw itself which is nice. If you do f-throw or d-throw you can usually get in a free hit if you wait for an airdodge which alot of people do on instinct after Marth throws them. You could also go for a re-grab. If they are at low percents you can get a tipper f-smash off a f-throw or a d-throw if they mess up thier DI.
Pivot Grab - The dojo explained this one. You just run or dash and then hit the opposite direction on the analog and grab at the same time. You will grab in the opposite direction. Good for mindgames and just keeping your opponent guessing.
Run to shield grab - A nice mix-up tool between shield drop approaches. Marth's regular grab is better then his dash grab so this let's him take advantage of that.
Camping with Marth
I will say this to start us off. Marth is good at camping. No, he doesn't have a projectile. He doesn't need one. His sword and his moveset give him all the tools he needs. I explained this very well in another thread that I made so I'll copy and paste that explanation here.
"Once he gets close enough he can camp at a certain "optimal" range with SH fairs, f-tilts and d-tilts. Ideally this range is close enough that they cannot safely spam projectiles, but far away enough that Marth outranges them in close combat and can punish any attempt to attack him or rush him. This special type of camping actually allows gives Marth advantage in certain match-ups vs projectile campers and makes other match-ups even. And Marth has another trick up his sleeve concerning his Fair. Thanks to his DI he can easily do a Wall of Pain with retreating fairs or approaching fairs to encroach upon his opponents space while adjusting his own. Marth has a lot of options after a SH fair as well. He can airdodge to be defensive. Fast fall to hit the ground sooner for a different action. Do Dancing blade or Shieldbreaker. Use counter to stuff any attempt to punish. Also from a SH fair Marth is in a position to react to almost anything his opponent does. If they try to roll behind you just use Dancing Blade in that direction. If you know they will try to attack then you can airdodge then punish or counter. If they like to roll back then you can DI forward and fast fall then chase them. If they want to sit in their shield then just DI enough to adjust your spacing so that when you do another Fair on the way down you will be safe. Marth has a lot of options so please experiment and see what you can come up with."
This pretty much sums it up. Marth camps, but he camps in his opponents face more or less. In this way he can shut down an offense, while maintaining control. This is a basic but very effective tactic. It's easy to set-up with just walls of SH double fairs with some d-tilts and f-tilts to mix-up your timing and mess with your opponent. It's also extremely reactive. It takes alot of patience and great reaction time. And most of the time if your opponent rolls you can punish them. Only characters with the fastest rolls have less trouble with this i.e Lucario, MK and maybe a few others. But this can be mitigated by spacing yourself so that if they try to roll behind you, they end up a bit in front of you. Spacing is key with this tactic. You need to remain safe at all times and give yourself enough room to react to anything your opponent does. I'm not saying you won't get hit. I'm saying that you should never be getting hit, due to bad spacing. If you get hit it should be, because your opponent either guessed what your next move would be or they just took a risk and decided to attack. Usually taking a risk won't work that well though since SH fair will beat ground approaches, so if they want to hit you they will have to try to predict you which is why you must very your timing and the moves that you use. Also don't be afraid to rush in with a Dancing Blade or a grab when you think they don't expect it.
Pressing the advantage
Lack of combos in Brawl really makes it hard to get in good damage. You have all come to this realization I'm sure. But there are situations that you can put your opponent in that will greatly increase your chances of getting in more damage. I will talk about those situations and how you can get the most out of them.
When your opponent is in the air
This is a very common scenario and I'm sure alot of you already know what I'm about to talk about. Thanks to the new airdodging mechanic, it has become far more difficult to juggle an opponent and keep them in the air. You must find a way to take advantage of the airdodge system. There are 3 ways to do this. You can just wait for the airdodge. This works the first few times since your opponent will most likely airdodge out of instinct. Just wait for it and punish. The second method is baiting. This is very easy. You just move towards your opponent or jump at them to scare them into airdodging. After they come out of it punish them. The third method takes more skill, but it is the most effective. You force the airdodge with an attack that has little land lag, then a soon as you land use a fast attack to punish. Now keep in mind you have 3 frames sometimes a bit more to punish, so you have to be fast and you have to take into account how much Marth will lag when he lands from the aerial. So usually you will want to use Uair then fast fall and then punish with Dancing Blade, D-smash or U-tilt. You can also grab since most people tend to shield when they land from an airdodge. If you grab them you should u-throw so you can reset the situation. Using these methods you can get the most out of this advantageous situation.
When your opponent is on the ledge
First off all, know your spacing. You need to be far away enough that you can avoid the ledge get up attack. This way you have effectively covered three options. The first being ledge attack, the second being the normal get up and the third being roll get up. If they do either of these you can rush in and attack. So now their options are somewhat limited. Now alot of characters can also do a ledge drop then use their second jump to hop onto the stage and attack. But your spacing covers this option as well. So as long as you are far away enough you now have covered 4 options. The key is to be close enough to react to anything they do, but still far away enough that if they do a ledge attack you won't get hit. The spacing will vary depending on your opponent, since everyone has varying range on their ledge attacks so remember that. So in this scenario, the best thing to do would be a ledge jump. Jump up from the ledge and then try to airdodge on the way down, attack on the way down, or use their second jump to get away.
There is no real sure fire method of dealing with this. But the fact that you know that this is their best option means you can prepare for it. The moment you see them pull themselves up for the jump you can rush and then try to force an airdodge. if they don't then they will probably eat your attack. If they attack it may catch you off guard, but once you start to predict that response you could counter, if their aerials outrange yours. If they don't then your attacks should beat theirs and the situation should reset itself. If they try to double jump, but you are close, then you can attack before they can get their jump off. Now some characters have methods of getting on the stage that are specific to them. You will have to think of your own counters to their methods, but some can be stopped on reaction while others you will have to predict. Falco for example can use his phantasm after a ledge hop, but if you watch him closely you can hit him out of this on reaction.
When your opponent is off the stage
You know what to do here and it doesn't need much explanation. Go for off the stage edgeguarding. Even if you don't kill them, it still nets you some easy damage. Thanks to Brawl's physics and Marth's floatiness it's easy to just run out and swipe at opponents, so don't hesitate to do so. And remember to space and time your attacks well so your opponent can't hit you when you attempt to edgeguard him. Once you become proficient at this you will almost always get in some damage and best case scenario is that you gimp your opponent. There really is no down side in going for off the stage edgeguarding. Try to go for tipper fairs or nairs if you want to net a kill since those have really good knockback.
This wraps it up. I hope this info was useful for you. And even if you don't like my strats I suggest you give them a try because they work and they will definitely help anyone improve their game. At the very least it will open your eyes to more possibilities in your gameplay.
Discuss.
If you think I should add anything just say what it is and why.
And I hope it was a good read.
