My worst matchups, a little help?

[shinhed-echi]

So I've been playing Sonic since the game came out (just as much as ROB). But I want to focus my training on HIM now, seeing as how there are so many ROB players in my community.. And not to mention I'm more of a speedster than a camper.

But I have come across impenetrable barriers of characters, such as Zelda and great Lucario players.

I read the whole Zelda discussion in the matchups thread.. but I'm still puzzled by how easy Zelda looks to most Sonic mainers.

Anything I do gets ***** by Zeldas Usmash. Any running attack is countered by her B move, which she can quickly change into a Fsmash the moment I go in for punishing.

I can't hit her from above, I can't hit her from the sides.. My best chance lies on striking from below, but Zelda has no problems going back down via teleport, or airdodging (which I find that hers is the longest airdodge in the whole game).

Din's fire isn't really a problem, but the rest of her moveset is.

Can anyone help me be part of the people that find Zelda EASY enough to give Sonic a 60/40 advantage over her?

My strategies usually lie in trying to be unpredictable.. But it's clearly not enough, I can feint only so much until they learn my tricks..

 

[Chis]

Okay. Zelda sucks at approaching. If you have a lead in percentage/stock, don't approach her. And then try to punish her when she does. Shield Usmash and Fsmash and dash attack out of your shield. If she lands via teleport it shouldn't be too hard to punish her also long as you're grounded. Try not to approach via SDR.

 

[4nace]

Grab and FTilt more against Zelda.

Getting Zelda offstage early is your best chance of winning, and if you can get a forward air to connect and get back to the ledge at the right time then you have an early gimp kill.

Ftilt is also amazing at poking because it has a long range and is just as fast as her fastest attacks, which means it is amazing for punishing forward smash spam and messed up smashes.

Try to never attack her from above simply because upsmash will stop pretty much every move you have, you can feint an above aerial spin charge (down-b in the air) then land right before her and actually hit her during her up smash. It's risky but works sometimes.

Also running in powershielding then grabbing her when she is din's fire spamming is your best bet for building up damage rather than trying to side-b / down-b however if she is in the position to hit you even with your massive speed advantage then aerial spin charge will cancel din's fire without knocking you out of it (as the ground spin attacks cancel out with din's fire) and you can punish if you keep it going when you it the ground.

Power shield sweet spot kick on the ground at every chance you get. You'll earn a free forward smash because of her lag and be able to turn one of her best moves into her riskiest. Practice power shielding it with a friend.

Oh and for some reason i have trouble up airing zelda while coming up from the ledge as she always down-airs me and it somehow takes over. So get up from a ledge very carefully. Never roll while she is on the stage as you will eat an up smash. Also jumping will get you upsmashed as well. The two options that appear to be the safest are dropping off the ledge then jumping into a side B aimed at her feet or dropping off then jumping then springing to the middle of the stage.

So i guess what i am trying to say is, practice powershielding and maybe look up smash DI and master it and then Zelda should not give you trouble again.

 

[shinhed-echi]

Alright, thanks. I'll work on improving my powershielding, to begin with.

I really want to beat Zelda.. ever since a Zelda user left me 2nd place in a Tourney I organized... (and it was a really close call with another Zelda matchup at the beginning of the tourney).

 

[Chis]

Trying to power shield Bair and Fair is silly, just keep your shield up if you suspect it.

 

[4nace]

Trying to power shield Bair and Fair is silly, just keep your shield up if you suspect it.

Powershielding gives you sooo much less shield hit stun and that combined with zelda's lag when she connects with a sweet spot gives you a free hit of your choosing. Watch a Japanese match where a zelda is involved and you'll see what i mean.

 

[Orange_Soda_Man]

Powershielding gives you sooo much less shield hit stun and that combined with zelda's lag when she connects with a sweet spot gives you a free hit of your choosing. Watch a Japanese match where a zelda is involved and you'll see what i mean.

baby steps dude, baby steps. Power Shielding is definitely better than regular shielding in terms of hitstun, but he's got more to worry about in this matchup than just getting the timing on his shield right.

 

[Kataefi]

You can only really powershield her kicks if she's approaching with them, which she generally won't be at all lol unless it's a rare mixup. Japanese Zeldas are reeeally offensive actually (from my stereotype anyways =p), I've only ever seen one video though =( . I wouldn't mind being linked to more if you have any.

She has no reason to kick the shield really, so her kicks tend to come from either an OoS punishment (the most effective imo), if the opponent's anywhere in the air, or more importantly she'll try them at very unexpected times where you're most likely to be caught off guard anyways. Being predictable with them is asking to be punished lol =p They're not a core part of her moveset in terms of offense or defense (not enough to worry about the opponent shielding them anyways), so only if it's thought a sweetspot is guaranteed will they ever be brought out.

I know from Zelda's perspective she'll be desperately trying to keep up with sonic because he's soooo fast. It's a tough matchup (edit: for zelda). You just need to play super patiently and bait really well.. baiting really weakens her because she depends entirely on tracking the opponent's movements, and sonic can make so many erratic movements that it's very hard to tell what he's going to do next.

 

[Kinzer]

Mind if I bump in... Chis if I should not have revived this just feel free to infract me and close this thread, this was still on the first page so I thought it would be alright since I can just post my two cents for this... in 5 minutes anyway.

Let me tell you this, some matchups require hands on knowledge, if Zelda is giving you trouble right now play the Matchup a little bit more. It is easy once you can get it done... I can tell you because the Zelda player here in Vegas will not even use her against me anymore because all I do is just finish him off on my last stock with little trouble, sometimes even 2 stocking him.

As for Lucario, that is a MU you will need to do a lot, and even then it is a lot of work then and after, I am just telling you now. Mhm.

Kinzer out.