Emblem Lord
The Legendary Lord
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2005
- Messages
- 9,720
- Location
- Scotch Plains, NJ
- NNID
- ShinEmblemLord
- 3DS FC
- 3926-6895-0574
- Switch FC
- SW-0793-4091-6136
Inspired by Ankoku's Shield Pressure for Dummies thread in the Sheik boards. Thanks Ankoku. ^_^
Also, since shield pressure relates directly to approaching, you may want to check out this thread I made. http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=164063 In this thread I talk about approaching with Marth as well as some other things that any Marth should know.
In any fighting game it's important to know what moves a character has at thier disposal, that allows them to apply pressure on a defensive opponent while still remaining safe. This way you can force a reaction from your opponent, so they can't turtle and block all day.
If you do something unsafe, your opponent can just block and beat your face in. But if you attack them with a safe move, then your opponent can't retaliate and if they try then they will leave themselves open and you can punish. Before we get into what is safe on block, let's go over what is unsafe on block. Basically, these are the moves you should never ever attack an opponents shield with.
Dash attack
U-smash
F-smash
D-smash
Up B
Bair*
Dair
Nair*
Do NOT attack a shield with these moves. If you do prepare to have your face rearranged by your opponent. Nair is a special case that I will get into after I go over the safe moves. Now, that you know what is unsafe, I will list what is safe on block.
Tipper F-tilt
Tipper D-tilt
Tipper SH Fair
Tipper SHFF Fair
Tipper SHFF Uair
Cross-up SHFF Uair
Cross-up SHFF Nair
Tipper Jab
Tipper Forward B
You will noticed that I use some terms that you may not be familiar with. Tipper just means that the attack has to be spaced at the tip of Marth's sword. This is very important for shield pressure. Tipper hits deal increased shield push back. It's vital that you space out your attacks, since it makes Marth a much safer character and one of the safest characters in the game. I also use the term cross-up. This is an old-school fighting game term used to describe when you do an action that puts you behind your opponent, making it harder for them to punish you. In this case you do a SH forward and then an aerial so that you end up behind your opponent. This not only allows you to pressure safely, but gives you an advantage in positioning. SH is an acronym meaning Short hop. SHFF is an acronym meaning Short hop fast fall.
I will go into a bit of detail with each of these moves. The Uair is safe, since when Marth fast falls it the blade arc starts right in front of him. So as soon as he hits the ground the sword will just start to come out and hit his opponent's shield, while he will have almost no lag from the Uair which makes it very safe. Jab and forward b both come out fast at 4 frames, but jab seems a bit safer since it has noticable IASA frames on it and it seems to have a bit more shieldstun. Fair is bread and butter as is the d-tilt. Any Marth should know that these moves are extremely safe and they are two pillars of Marth's gameplay. The Nair is nice, since it can be tricky. Normally it wouldn't be good for pressure since Marth does the attack at a higher angle then in Melee, but if he does a cross-up with it then it becomes a viable shield pressure tool. This works well vs taller and medium height characters. Don't use it vs short characters at all since it will miss unless you land right on top of them. Cross-up Uair works in a similar fashion, but is a better option, since it leads into things better if it hits, since it pops the opponent upwards slightly.
*Note that Bair and Nair aren't safe if you use them more aggressively on shields out of a SH, but if you retreat with them, then they are very safe overall.
I'll also list some other moves that wouldn't exactly qualify as shield pressure, but they are options that Marth has at his disposal that are good to know. It's always good to have some extra tricks up your sleeve.
Tipper Shieldbreaker
Dash cross-up to pivot grab
Dash cross-up to Dancing Blade
Dash cross-up to ShieldBreaker
Dancing Blade to Shieldbreaker
Grab
None of these tactics is really safe, they are just tricks Marth has it his disposal. The dash cross-up stuff are mix-up tools to keep your opponent guessing. Also if your opponent is sitting in their shield and you suddenly dash at them, most of the time you can expect a spot dodge, so when you dash cross-up, your dash will draw out the spot dodge then you can retaliate. You can only dash cross-up to Shieldbreaker if you are in the full run. The other stuff is done out of the opening dash animation. Also to do a Shieldbreaker in the opposite direction, just hit b when you are running after letting go of the analog and then hit the opposite direction. Marth will draw back for the Shieldbreaker and then switch directions. Grabbing needs no explanation. It is the counter to shielding. Dancing Blade to Shieldbreaker can be tricky for your opponent. After hitting a shield with 2 or 3 strikes of the Dancing Blade, the shield will be low enough that the Shieldbreaker will destroy your opponents shield. So do those 2 or 3 hits then use Shieldbreaker. It's a very easy set-up and you can mix-up the number of Dancing Blade attacks you do and what you do after you stop. Although you are vulnerable after you stop the Dancing Blade, as long as you don't overuse this tactic and you space yourself well, you won't be punished often or severely for using this.
Well, just knowing what you can pressure with is great, but it's also helpful to know what you can follow-up with. Well, Uair will be followed up with U-tilt, U-smash , or Dancing Blade. D-tilt leads to grabs, smashes, another D-tilt or Dancing Blade. When you get a grab you should U-throw to set up for juggles. You can also f-throw to f-smash at very low percents. F-throw or D-throw can set-up for positioning advantage and allows you to reset your spacing and continue pressuring. If ShieldBreaker breaks a shield then do a fully charged Tipper Shieldbreaker. It will kill if your opponent's percent is high enough or if they are very close to the edge they will probably fall to their doom. Even if it doesn't kill, it will still get them off the stage and set-up for edgegaurding. F-tilt won't really lead to anything, since it has high knockback. It's really just a move to use when you want some breathing room. Jab is the same way, but it doesn't have quite as much knockback as the f-tilt. If the forward b hits then just continue with the rest of the Dancing Blade. Fair can be follow-up with Dancing Blade if the Fair was a SHFF Fair.
Alright, that wraps it up.
Discuss.
Also, since shield pressure relates directly to approaching, you may want to check out this thread I made. http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=164063 In this thread I talk about approaching with Marth as well as some other things that any Marth should know.
In any fighting game it's important to know what moves a character has at thier disposal, that allows them to apply pressure on a defensive opponent while still remaining safe. This way you can force a reaction from your opponent, so they can't turtle and block all day.
If you do something unsafe, your opponent can just block and beat your face in. But if you attack them with a safe move, then your opponent can't retaliate and if they try then they will leave themselves open and you can punish. Before we get into what is safe on block, let's go over what is unsafe on block. Basically, these are the moves you should never ever attack an opponents shield with.
Dash attack
U-smash
F-smash
D-smash
Up B
Bair*
Dair
Nair*
Do NOT attack a shield with these moves. If you do prepare to have your face rearranged by your opponent. Nair is a special case that I will get into after I go over the safe moves. Now, that you know what is unsafe, I will list what is safe on block.
Tipper F-tilt
Tipper D-tilt
Tipper SH Fair
Tipper SHFF Fair
Tipper SHFF Uair
Cross-up SHFF Uair
Cross-up SHFF Nair
Tipper Jab
Tipper Forward B
You will noticed that I use some terms that you may not be familiar with. Tipper just means that the attack has to be spaced at the tip of Marth's sword. This is very important for shield pressure. Tipper hits deal increased shield push back. It's vital that you space out your attacks, since it makes Marth a much safer character and one of the safest characters in the game. I also use the term cross-up. This is an old-school fighting game term used to describe when you do an action that puts you behind your opponent, making it harder for them to punish you. In this case you do a SH forward and then an aerial so that you end up behind your opponent. This not only allows you to pressure safely, but gives you an advantage in positioning. SH is an acronym meaning Short hop. SHFF is an acronym meaning Short hop fast fall.
I will go into a bit of detail with each of these moves. The Uair is safe, since when Marth fast falls it the blade arc starts right in front of him. So as soon as he hits the ground the sword will just start to come out and hit his opponent's shield, while he will have almost no lag from the Uair which makes it very safe. Jab and forward b both come out fast at 4 frames, but jab seems a bit safer since it has noticable IASA frames on it and it seems to have a bit more shieldstun. Fair is bread and butter as is the d-tilt. Any Marth should know that these moves are extremely safe and they are two pillars of Marth's gameplay. The Nair is nice, since it can be tricky. Normally it wouldn't be good for pressure since Marth does the attack at a higher angle then in Melee, but if he does a cross-up with it then it becomes a viable shield pressure tool. This works well vs taller and medium height characters. Don't use it vs short characters at all since it will miss unless you land right on top of them. Cross-up Uair works in a similar fashion, but is a better option, since it leads into things better if it hits, since it pops the opponent upwards slightly.
*Note that Bair and Nair aren't safe if you use them more aggressively on shields out of a SH, but if you retreat with them, then they are very safe overall.
I'll also list some other moves that wouldn't exactly qualify as shield pressure, but they are options that Marth has at his disposal that are good to know. It's always good to have some extra tricks up your sleeve.
Tipper Shieldbreaker
Dash cross-up to pivot grab
Dash cross-up to Dancing Blade
Dash cross-up to ShieldBreaker
Dancing Blade to Shieldbreaker
Grab
None of these tactics is really safe, they are just tricks Marth has it his disposal. The dash cross-up stuff are mix-up tools to keep your opponent guessing. Also if your opponent is sitting in their shield and you suddenly dash at them, most of the time you can expect a spot dodge, so when you dash cross-up, your dash will draw out the spot dodge then you can retaliate. You can only dash cross-up to Shieldbreaker if you are in the full run. The other stuff is done out of the opening dash animation. Also to do a Shieldbreaker in the opposite direction, just hit b when you are running after letting go of the analog and then hit the opposite direction. Marth will draw back for the Shieldbreaker and then switch directions. Grabbing needs no explanation. It is the counter to shielding. Dancing Blade to Shieldbreaker can be tricky for your opponent. After hitting a shield with 2 or 3 strikes of the Dancing Blade, the shield will be low enough that the Shieldbreaker will destroy your opponents shield. So do those 2 or 3 hits then use Shieldbreaker. It's a very easy set-up and you can mix-up the number of Dancing Blade attacks you do and what you do after you stop. Although you are vulnerable after you stop the Dancing Blade, as long as you don't overuse this tactic and you space yourself well, you won't be punished often or severely for using this.
Well, just knowing what you can pressure with is great, but it's also helpful to know what you can follow-up with. Well, Uair will be followed up with U-tilt, U-smash , or Dancing Blade. D-tilt leads to grabs, smashes, another D-tilt or Dancing Blade. When you get a grab you should U-throw to set up for juggles. You can also f-throw to f-smash at very low percents. F-throw or D-throw can set-up for positioning advantage and allows you to reset your spacing and continue pressuring. If ShieldBreaker breaks a shield then do a fully charged Tipper Shieldbreaker. It will kill if your opponent's percent is high enough or if they are very close to the edge they will probably fall to their doom. Even if it doesn't kill, it will still get them off the stage and set-up for edgegaurding. F-tilt won't really lead to anything, since it has high knockback. It's really just a move to use when you want some breathing room. Jab is the same way, but it doesn't have quite as much knockback as the f-tilt. If the forward b hits then just continue with the rest of the Dancing Blade. Fair can be follow-up with Dancing Blade if the Fair was a SHFF Fair.
Alright, that wraps it up.
Discuss.
. 
