Match Up Export: Diddy Kong

[Sage JoWii]

Overview:
ZOMG, is that monkey with no pants? YES! It's Diddy Kong!! Get ready for a battle between the ground vs air, naners vs too many jumps and Bair, 4 hands vs nubs galore! Those naners are going to be all over the ground with Diddy waiting to rush in with incredible speed to beat the puff out of you; stay floaty, stay frosty.

Kirby’s Pros and Cons:

+ Great aerial game
+ Good gimp options
+ Adaptability (able to adapt to naner ctrl)
+ Solid kill options
- Inferior ground game
- Slow in comparison
- Lack of projectile

Diddy Kong's Pros and Cons:

+ Projectiles
+ Superior ground game
+ Combo-bility
- Inferior air game
- Predictable/ bad recovery
- Handicapped if naner ctrl is lost

Watch out for:
Naners – Scariest part of this match-up is when you land and eat a naner to the face. Once you've been hit, you're going to be attacked, naner'd again, maybe naner'd again, grabbed, and ended with a Dsmash or other hard hitting move. The worse part is that is not the only chain, it's interchangeable, ever-changing, and unpredictable AT FIRST. Learn to read Diddy and DI/ tech appropriately to avoid eating damage. Avoid the naners, airdodge them and you'll most likely catch them. An essential part of this matchup is gaining ctrl of the naners even if it's just one. Diddy has a gazillion ways of regaining the naners so don't make it easier by blantantly throwing it @ him; we're not fast at following up and he'll powershield that shiz. Once a naner is gain, be creative with it, but don't lose ctrl of it.

DAir Spike – Don't be predictable in your recovery or you may eat a spike. It doesn't take much thought to keep it in mind so don't be lazy; avoid it.

DThrow and/or DSmash – Dthrow allows Diddy to follow up or run back to grab a banana; it's like a free window for Diddy to prepare. If Dsmash is the follow up from Dthrow, it's probably because you're near killing percent so make sure to DI. Dsmash in general is a fast kill move.

How to win:
Aircamp –

Kirby should definitely aircamp, and force Diddy to throw his banana. Constant rising and falling, plus landing to regain your jumps should pressure the diddy into throwing his banana at you (and missing), where you can then follow up by dropping down with a bair/catching the banana as you land. Diddy has very nice aerials, but to hit you with them he's going to have to jump, and an aerial Diddy is better than a grounded Kirby, and that's when you frametrap his landings/read his banana drops and punish accordingly! If he spams peanuts while you're aircamping, then just drop down between the peanuts, recover your jumps and get back in the air. The peanuts have tons of space between them, enough for you to slip past them at will. {/QUOTE]

DAir Gimp– DOOOOO ITTTT!!!!!111!!!! Diddy has a massively predictable recovery so Dair spike it and be ahead of his *** by a stock, maybe two!

Powershield – If you don't know how, learn; if you know how, use. Powershielding naners means Diddy can't follow up. If you're on the ground, shielding your way to Diddy make sure you're powershielding and once you get to him grab him and get him in the air!

Tilts – Uptilt juggle is a great way to rack of damage and keep Diddy from using his naners. Ftilt after a powershield can stop Diddy's approach/ follow-up; it's a great way to keep him @ bay while you're on the ground in between jumps.

Grab – Rack damage and refresh moves while keeping Diddy from moving. If you can grab Diddy then pummel> anyThrow to get him in the air and begin the juggling!

Spit out or Swallow?
Swallow; If Kirby gets ctrl of a banana AND has the peanut gun? Bring it ON!!!!! Like Diddy Kong. It's a good projectile overall and really helps you if you do land on the ground near Diddy. At the same time, spit can be useful for 'inhale off stage>spit>UAir or >Dair.

What NOT to do:
Be Predictable – If you stay in the air the WHOLE time, you'll start getting read and eat a few peanuts to the face. After you run out of jumps you're going to land, and when you do Diddy is gonna attack you. If you recover the same way, you may be Dair spiked. Mix it up, alternate the amount of jumps you use, alternate your recovery and keep things different.

Allow Diddy to follow up – If you get hit by a naner, Diddy is going to follow up. Minimalize how much follow-up and how much damage you take by teching and DI-ing to get away. Powershield and tilt the naner>approach.

Misuse the naner. – What do you do when you get a naner? You throw it @ Diddy right? WRONG. That's is NOT THE ANSWER. So throw it off stage right? Maybe, but then he gets it right back. The best options is throw it down and get in front of it that way Diddy has to approach to get it (which is something he doesn't wanna do if possible). Or just hold onto it and use it when you can be absolutely positive Diddy isn't going to regrab the naner.

Let Diddy back on Stage – You have gimp options, he has a predictable recovery. It seems like it goes hand in hand?

Video of MU played: Chudat vs. ADHD

Stages (in order of priority):
Firgate-about it. – It's a no-brainer that this stage can help Kirby. The stage going upside-down is fun for someone with as many jumps as Kirby. If you feel like chasing Diddy out to oblivion? Chances are you'll have that side platform there to catch you. Platforms are always present as well~
Lylat – The stage tilt can mess up Diddy's recovery. The platforms help Kirby avoid the naners.
Rainbow Cruise – Whatcha gonna do when there's no room for Diddy's naners and the stage is forever moving up and around? Enjoy the scenery while Diddy struggles to keep up without getting gimped.
Japes – While this is normally a good Kirby stage, you gotta believe that it's just as good, if not better, for Diddy. It's not bad, but you don't wanna go here if you can help it

Neutrals: Ranked and Explained

Key: Good, Bad.

Smashville – Yay for terrain! Halt his naners, aircamp and gimp = victory.
Battlefield – The Kwekky Option: Choose it. (Platforms are helpful @ this stage)
FD – It's wide, open space with no platforms; that means naners are going to be all over and when you're pausing your aircamp you can't land on a platform.
Smashville – Same as FD except you have the moving platform but when you wanna gimp Diddy, that may be a helping hand in allowing him to recover.​

Synopsis:
It's a fairly simple match-up on Kirby's part. Stay aerial but don't be predictable about it. Get the peanut gun and control of a naner and you too can be a Diddy! Don't panic if you get caught in Diddy's combos but don't get caught if you can help it. Diddy will try and keep this match-up fast to keep Kirby offbalanced and it's up to Kirby to keep it @ a slower pace. Striking stages correctly will play a big factor so keep stages in mind! Stay floaty, stay frosty.

 

[TaterSalad0811]

We just did Diddy in the old thread >.>

 

[Tiersie]

I don't see no old thread.

 

[TaterSalad0811]

The one that Giovanni and/or A1 ran, after Lucas, we did a brief Ness, then a Samus, and a decent Diddy one, though me and Berserker were the only Kirbies that really posted much in that, so it's no surprise you guys don't remember.

W/e we'll do a more official Diddy discuzam.

1st topic=Nanners: What to do?

 

[Sage JoWii]

>_> Obviously if it was in the old one, and only you and Berserker did it, we're gonna re-do it because this is the new one.

So! This is a matchup you definitely have to stay in the air if you can. Space your FAir and BAir while not being predictable.
Avoid the naners, airdodge them and you'll most likely catch them (it's how I do it). An essential part of this matchup is gaining ctrl of the naners even if it's just one. Diddy has a gazillion ways of regaining the naners so don't make it easier by blantantly throwing it @ him; we're not fast at following up and he'll powershield that shiz. Once a naner is gain, be creative with it, but don't lose ctrl of it.
The recovery of Diddy is bad but I'm not sure what we have that clashes/ beats Diddy's overB. Obviously DAir the upB recovery.
Gain the stock lead, get ctrl of a naner and camp. That's a solid strategy. It's easier to implement that strategy on a stage with platforms because you can avoid his remaining naner easier.
Ban FD.
CP PS1 or any other stage that will nullify his naners.

 

[TaterSalad0811]

Well a bunch of Diddy users dropped in, I'll go see if I can salvage the more informative posts. BRB.

And for the record, Dair does through the jetpack, and I'm pretty sure Bair goes through the sideB, though I think Dair goes through that too. Will go check.

Anyway, the old MU was 50-50, but Diddy has found new ways to be an @$$-hat with those bananas. Still, Kirby can gimp him, and being in the air really makes bananas worthless, and by swallowing, we either can copy the Peanut Popgun, which can hassle him while recovering, OR footstool him out of the escape.

As for kill power, they go pretty even. His F-smash lacks the range ours does, and even if they stutter-step it (should we be doing that too?) it still has even range, at best.

The D-smash punishes us like nobody's business, and can also kill, though his recovery either sends him on a predictable path (side-b), or holds him temporarily (up-b). Not too sure what the priority on the D-air will allow us to do, but the B-air really hassles him off the stage. U-Tilt can juggle at lower %'s, but his fast D-air or Up-B can spike/meteor us.

Tater

Since Kirby is more of an aerial oriented character, he'll be staying on the air for a long time so that makes Diddy needs to struggle since his ground game won't work well against Kirby at the same time, his bananas are generally used on ground. What Diddy can do to us is possibly punishing our landing so he can start his banana game but we can copy his ability and use peanut popgun.

Berserker01

because of the delay in diddy's up B, stone is a useful counter. also, Final Cutter will trade hits with the up B, except diddy will recieve the spike from FC and kirby will be hit back towards the stage. i'm not sure how useful kirby's dair would be.

ShockIsBack

well take advantage of the fact that your f-smash kills him at a pretty nice percentage.

and generally floating in the air (as a kirby should) slows diddy down pretty hard.

he's really easy to gimp as is and Kirby has a decent array of tools with which to do so. (Bair especially)

It shouldnt be a terribly hard match up for kirby. But be sure not to stale your f-smash ( no clue why you would) or you could get stuck kill fishing with it at higher percents, and its really predictable. If a Diddy starts reading you ****s gonna get REALLY bad for kirby (or any character for that matter)

Sai90

idk to me its a pretty even match up all u really gotta do is either get rid of the bannas as fast as possible. or just use it against them. lol see i main kirby and second diddy. now if u use the bannanas against them, it slows them down almost entirley due to the fact that the diddys would expect u to throw the bannas off instead of use it against them. whatever the diddys can do to u, you can do it right back to them just keep that in mind

*XLR8*

Last time I checked, I couldn't glide toss, better yet glide toss -> glide toss -> grab/dsmash.

I throw them directly behind me but not off the stage to force the Diddy into a position in which he must "approach" (not really approaching, since he still has 1 banana and popgun) to retrieve it. At your feet works fine as well.

Throwing them AT the Diddy is dumb. If he catches it or shields it, you're back in a terrible position.

I like how people post things like "Don't get greedy for kills" and "Camp the air, that's what Kirby's supposed to do anyway" and "Don't stale Fsmash" since none of these things are even close to specific for the Diddy matchup and the second one is blatantly wrong in most matchups.

I disagree with camping the air. Kirby's aerial mobility is rofl-terrible, and the only thing camping the air will net you is peanuts in your face followed up by bananas into combos. You have about 10 billion times more control on the ground, shielding all the **** that he throws at you. I would approach this matchup like I would against most other campy characters. Be patient, approach slowly with shields (mix up with Bairs, obviously), then use your grab game to pop him up into the air. Where he can't throw **** at you.

EDIT: I like the suggestion of using Stone to gimp his recovery. Never thought to do that.

Ledger Daymayn

Kirby should definitely aircamp, and force Diddy to throw his banana. Constant rising and falling, plus landing to regain your jumps should pressure the diddy into throwing his banana at you (and missing), where you can then follow up by dropping down with a bair/catching the banana as you land. Diddy has very nice aerials, but to hit you with them he's going to have to jump, and an aerial Diddy is better than a grounded Kirby, and that's when you frametrap his landings/read his banana drops and punish accordingly! If he spams peanuts while you're aircamping, then just drop down between the peanuts, recover your jumps and get back in the air. The peanuts have tons of space between them, enough for you to slip past them at will.

Our dair is beautiful against offstage diddies, as well as bairs. If you hit a Diddy with a dair while offstage, he's going to sideB>upB, so keep an eye out fot either (or both). You can dair him, grab the ledge, then ledgedrop a slow dair and Diddy's as god as dead. Hell, even a ledgedrop fastfall bair can stop his barrels easily! Lucky for us, our spike lasts for a very long time, we have lots of jumps, and are spacey so we can maintain the same aerial height for long periods of time, making it much harder for opponents to recover... and Diddy is one of those opponents.


I'll write something soon enough... Sorry if I'm inactive, no laptop = limited access.

Kewkky

This. Don't get greedy for kills, as you will be punished for each miss.

rvkevin

Yes, I know it's short, but I felt it was important

 

[Sage JoWii]

Good **** Tater. Obviously that wasn't just you and Berserker. We'll wrap this matchup in a summary as soon as we get some more stage discussion and a general consensus on a ratio..

I've already mentioned stages in my post and right now we're looking at a 55-45 Kirby favor matchUp

 

[sai_:)]

That seems like a fair matchup percentage. good stuff kirby boards

 

[TaterSalad0811]

Really? 55-45? Because nearly everyone says it's 50-50, seeing as Kirby can't always be in the air, he needs his smashes to kill outside of gimps. And Diddy's still got an air game, it's just inferior. Were it the case that everybody new how to consistently catch bananas like in in Atomsk vs. ADHD 2.1 (Atomsk's MK is scary good at banana catching),I might go with that, but for the sake of logic, lets leave it at 50-50 until more info is present, hopefully a bit more Kirby input this time around.

EDIT: Well, if that ninja diddy says so too, I guess I can go with it. Kirby DOES seem to be able to exploit Diddy's weaknesses, such as offstage game and juggling (still need to be careful about his pants-less Dair, that thing's a beast)

And about stages, I like the idea of PS1, but Rainbow Cruise can be pretty beast, since he can't consistently use the nanners because of it's air-game biased nature. Vulcan jab/Tail Whip (lol moar poke-puns) and nanners can lock/semi-lock on the boat's right lip.

 

[Sage JoWii]

>_> Jeez Tater, ONE diddy ninja's and says that sounds good and you flip.

That MU ratio will start 55-45 because if you're playing Kirby and know the Diddy MU i.e. you should be catching naners fairly well, then it's more in Kirby favor than even.

 

[TaterSalad0811]

I suppose. Also just realized that air-dodge catching works in brawl.

But I was skeptical about 55-45 because I felt that everyone else on both sides disagreed, but w/e the numbers aren't as important as the actual info.

Why not draft up a rough summary and see what still needs to be discuzzed?

 

[Berserker.]

50:50 or 55:45 Kirby. I'm not arguing which one should be the ratio.