Rango the Mercenary
The Mercenary
One thing I learned from Mortal Kombat is that Sub-Zero sucks mid-screen. Everyone could take advantage of him with faster attacks, faster projectiles, and highly damaging combos. It took pushing my opponent to the edge before I could truly do anything with him. Sub-Zero is slow? Give your opponent limited mobility. Keep them in the corner, place an Ice Clone, and completely ruin their day with any attempts to escape.
With Ike, it's a similar deal. Tons of hitlag is detrimental in a game that focuses around competitive viability based on one's ability to recover quickly from strong attacks and make your opponent think you're not safe. Ike doesn't have that. He has good range and power, and is more mobile than some of the other heavyweight characters. His FSmash kill power has been nerfed, and his ability to build damage is limited due to his slow attacks.
He also has tremendous durability and dangerous kills in the air. His greatest weapon comes from his aerials. Use jabs to get people off of you or damage them quickly to send them flying, grabs to punish their shields and BThrow them off the edge (or DThrow into Nair/Fair/Uair combo), and Fair, Nair, and Bair as your primary damage dealers and punishers. Keeping them on the edge will do just that - keep them on edge. They have less room for error, and you can keep grabbing them and throwing them off stage. That leaves them vulnerable to Fair gimping or even Eruption to punish recovery and go for an early kill.
People on Battlefield make this tricky because they rely on platform mindgames. Regardless, Ike has the best chances on the edge. High recover Fair or walk-off Fair, walk-off Bair, Eruption, and on occasion, Dair, are your best killing options. They're far faster than USmash and can kill quite early if your enemy is close enough to the edge. UTilt is decent for punishing ledge recoveries or keeping people off of you, while Nair can at least range around a rolled ledge recovery.
Some characters, such as Little Mac and Captain Falcon, benefit from being on the center of the stage. But if you want to maximize Ike's damage, it's recommended to keep your opponent cornered whenever possible.
With Ike, it's a similar deal. Tons of hitlag is detrimental in a game that focuses around competitive viability based on one's ability to recover quickly from strong attacks and make your opponent think you're not safe. Ike doesn't have that. He has good range and power, and is more mobile than some of the other heavyweight characters. His FSmash kill power has been nerfed, and his ability to build damage is limited due to his slow attacks.
He also has tremendous durability and dangerous kills in the air. His greatest weapon comes from his aerials. Use jabs to get people off of you or damage them quickly to send them flying, grabs to punish their shields and BThrow them off the edge (or DThrow into Nair/Fair/Uair combo), and Fair, Nair, and Bair as your primary damage dealers and punishers. Keeping them on the edge will do just that - keep them on edge. They have less room for error, and you can keep grabbing them and throwing them off stage. That leaves them vulnerable to Fair gimping or even Eruption to punish recovery and go for an early kill.
People on Battlefield make this tricky because they rely on platform mindgames. Regardless, Ike has the best chances on the edge. High recover Fair or walk-off Fair, walk-off Bair, Eruption, and on occasion, Dair, are your best killing options. They're far faster than USmash and can kill quite early if your enemy is close enough to the edge. UTilt is decent for punishing ledge recoveries or keeping people off of you, while Nair can at least range around a rolled ledge recovery.
Some characters, such as Little Mac and Captain Falcon, benefit from being on the center of the stage. But if you want to maximize Ike's damage, it's recommended to keep your opponent cornered whenever possible.
