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Q&A New to Sheik? Look here to learn how to get started/Need help with Sheik? Ask your questions here.

Joeyd123

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
656
Any tips for getting kill set-ups with Sheik? I'm new to her and not very good lol. But she is very fun haha.

So far I have been using Fair -> BF and Bthrow -> reverse BF but people can air dodge these pretty easily. Any good kill set-ups I should know?
 

WondrousMoose

Mind the antlers
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
834
Location
College Station, TX
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WondrousMoose
3DS FC
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Any tips for getting kill set-ups with Sheik? I'm new to her and not very good lol. But she is very fun haha.

So far I have been using Fair -> BF and Bthrow -> reverse BF but people can air dodge these pretty easily. Any good kill set-ups I should know?
Dthrow to Uair will get you far, my friend. If they catch on and air dodge, just nail them with a Vanish. Those two are probably my most successful.
 

Joeyd123

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
656
Dthrow to Uair will get you far, my friend. If they catch on and air dodge, just nail them with a Vanish. Those two are probably my most successful.
So is Vanish one of Sheik's best killing options? I was watching Mr. R and he used grounded vanish pretty often.

He also did this combo where he used aerial needles when they tried to get to the ledge and followed it with bouncing fish. Is that a good kill option as well?
 

WondrousMoose

Mind the antlers
Joined
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Messages
834
Location
College Station, TX
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Any tips for getting kill set-ups with Sheik? I'm new to her and not very good lol. But she is very fun haha.

So far I have been using Fair -> BF and Bthrow -> reverse BF but people can air dodge these pretty easily. Any good kill set-ups I should know?
Dthrow to Uair will get you far, my friend. If they catch on and air dodge, just nail them with a Vanish. Those two are probably my most successful.
So is Vanish one of Sheik's best killing options? I was watching Mr. R and he used grounded vanish pretty often.

He also did this combo where he used aerial needles when they tried to get to the ledge and followed it with bouncing fish. Is that a good kill option as well?
Vanish is like Usmash, in that it hits hard but is tough to land well. If you can hit them with a Vanish - especially in the air - then yes, it's a good option.

To your second question, aerial Needles to Bouncing Fish is a great combo that also has the benefit of looking awesome. I definitely recommend getting that one down.
 

ChKn

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
836
Location
Louisiana
Hey guys,

I've been primarily a PM player for the past year and now I'm looking to pick up Smash 4 as a Sheik main. I'm having a lot of problems adjusting to moving around in neutral in this game. Is there any recommended reading about what I need to just move around?
 

DerpyDayha

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
59
Location
Edmonton, AB
So just a quick backstory, I started off as a sheik main, then played like 15 other characters and I'm not even kidding. Now I've decided that I wanna pick her up. Thing is, I can't get her combos. For some reason fthro->bf isn't working for me and fthro->fair only ever gets me one fair so ya. Any tips. Btw I don't have a wiiu so that's probably the only reason.
 

Dagon97

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
248
Location
Portland, Oregon
So just a quick backstory, I started off as a sheik main, then played like 15 other characters and I'm not even kidding. Now I've decided that I wanna pick her up. Thing is, I can't get her combos. For some reason fthro->bf isn't working for me and fthro->fair only ever gets me one fair so ya. Any tips. Btw I don't have a wiiu so that's probably the only reason.
Keep practicing and with enough patience you will get it down, and no. It does not matter that you have a 3DS the mechanics are the same on both versions.
 

DerpyDayha

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
59
Location
Edmonton, AB
Keep practicing and with enough patience you will get it down, and no. It does not matter that you have a 3DS the mechanics are the same on both versions.
Went to a tournament 2day, and finally figured out the fthro>bf! I also watched some mr. r sheik play. Been practicing and my fair strings and they are much better now. Almost beat a rly good player at a tournament as well, things are going great!
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
1,466
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Dublin
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ArikadoSD
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Went to a tournament 2day, and finally figured out the fthro>bf! I also watched some mr. r sheik play. Been practicing and my fair strings and they are much better now. Almost beat a rly good player at a tournament as well, things are going great!
When doing Fthrow > Bf you gotta buffer bf as you're doing fthrow (keep doing the inputs for it before the animation ends) so you do it as soon as they're knocked back; you'll often have to react to their DI also. Sometimes you gotta jump a bit then do it if they DI up and towards you at percents above 0. This is easy to do, don't worry.

As for the practicality of the combo itself, you should usually only use it when you grab the near the ledge and you can't follow it up with anything else, or if you simply can't follow it up with anything else and need some extra damage. Otherwise, following up with aerials is usually better.
 

DerpyDayha

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
59
Location
Edmonton, AB
When doing Fthrow > Bf you gotta buffer bf as you're doing fthrow (keep doing the inputs for it before the animation ends) so you do it as soon as they're knocked back; you'll often have to react to their DI also. Sometimes you gotta jump a bit then do it if they DI up and towards you at percents above 0. This is easy to do, don't worry.

As for the practicality of the combo itself, you should usually only use it when you grab the near the ledge and you can't follow it up with anything else, or if you simply can't follow it up with anything else and need some extra damage. Otherwise, following up with aerials is usually better.
Thank you. I found with the bouncing fish that u need to activate the first kick earlier by pressing b soon after u initially use bouncing fish. The kick happens higher this way and has worked perfectly for me so far. Also, with certain characters that get out of strings with quick moves, this combo is helpful since bf does a good amount of damage with only one hit. Idk this seems to make sense I might be wrong lol
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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Thank you. I found with the bouncing fish that u need to activate the first kick earlier by pressing b soon after u initially use bouncing fish. The kick happens higher this way and has worked perfectly for me so far. Also, with certain characters that get out of strings with quick moves, this combo is helpful since bf does a good amount of damage with only one hit. Idk this seems to make sense I might be wrong lol
You're right. For example against Yoshi I'd go for fthrow bf rather than fthrow to fair strings just for quick damage and because his nair is ridiculous. Most other characters I'd try to maximize the gain though and try to get a fair string going; worst case scenario is I'll get one fair off and still have them in a bad position.

That's the reason fthrow bf is inferior to fthrow > any other followup; it gives up stage positioning which is pretty huge. That's something I learned not so long ago and have been interpreting it in my gameplay.
 

DerpyDayha

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
59
Location
Edmonton, AB
You're right. For example against Yoshi I'd go for fthrow bf rather than fthrow to fair strings just for quick damage and because his nair is ridiculous. Most other characters I'd try to maximize the gain though and try to get a fair string going; worst case scenario is I'll get one fair off and still have them in a bad position.

That's the reason fthrow bf is inferior to fthrow > any other followup; it gives up stage positioning which is pretty huge. That's something I learned not so long ago and have been interpreting it in my gameplay.
True, it does give up some positioning, however, to avoid this (to a certain extent), u can shorten the second flip. Mr. R does this a lot.
 

Ascen

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
Messages
80
Location
Chicago, IL
NNID
ascendtothetop
Advantages of using D-throw instead of F-throw? I have had multiple players tell me that I should be using D-throw to follow up and I'm not seeing the logic, any Sheik mains willing to help me weigh the advantages and disadvantages to both?
 

WondrousMoose

Mind the antlers
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
834
Location
College Station, TX
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WondrousMoose
3DS FC
3024-5909-8345
Advantages of using D-throw instead of F-throw? I have had multiple players tell me that I should be using D-throw to follow up and I'm not seeing the logic, any Sheik mains willing to help me weigh the advantages and disadvantages to both?
Both throws are awesome but in different ways. As a general rule (very general), Fthrow tends to work better at lower percents, while Dthrow works better at higher. Look around at some different threads on the Boards for percents and follow-ups.
 

MintyBreeze

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
267
Location
Bardstown, KY
3DS FC
0361-8437-7637
While I don't need help playing Sheik, I have a problem. I actually haven't found many Sheiks online to play against, and the ones I have fought have been... sub par.
What I'm saying is, I've yet to fight a real, needle slinging, kick bringing ninja of pain in SSB4, and that's strange to me. So, if anyone would be willing to play me on the 3DS, and preferably destroy me so I can actually learn from it, I would appreciate it so so much.
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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While I don't need help playing Sheik, I have a problem. I actually haven't found many Sheiks online to play against, and the ones I have fought have been... sub par.
What I'm saying is, I've yet to fight a real, needle slinging, kick bringing ninja of pain in SSB4, and that's strange to me. So, if anyone would be willing to play me on the 3DS, and preferably destroy me so I can actually learn from it, I would appreciate it so so much.
Good luck trying to find good Sheiks on the 3DS. It was an absolutely painful experience maining her on the 3DS and it still is :/
 

Noso

Hilarious words
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133
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Florida
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spiritenemy
That a lot of the tech she uses I can't pull off on the 3ds, like rising needle -> BF, dthrow -> u-air chain. so wii u is definitely the way to go. the 3ds version is ok, but it's limiting.
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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That a lot of the tech she uses I can't pull off on the 3ds, like rising needle -> BF, dthrow -> u-air chain. so wii u is definitely the way to go. the 3ds version is ok, but it's limiting.
I remember being able to use needles > bf just fine in the 3ds
 

keninblack

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Messages
63
Location
Summit, NJ
Ayo, been playing since launch but i've been dipping in and out of the game and now just starting to get reaaally back into it.

What advanced "techs" or whatever do I really need to start getting a grasp on that really benefit Sheik?

Right now the only thing I see top Sheiks doing is B Reverse Needles and everything else is just.. the character I guess.

Anything else that you guys feel is needed though would be great to know, thanks!
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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Ayo, been playing since launch but i've been dipping in and out of the game and now just starting to get reaaally back into it.

What advanced "techs" or whatever do I really need to start getting a grasp on that really benefit Sheik?

Right now the only thing I see top Sheiks doing is B Reverse Needles and everything else is just.. the character I guess.

Anything else that you guys feel is needed though would be great to know, thanks!
B-reversing is the most important tech for Sheik tbh. another basic/important one is RAR.
 

keninblack

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Messages
63
Location
Summit, NJ
Dope, so am I straight with just those two for the most part? Or do I need to study anymore that are super beneficial?
 

pokio55

Smash Cadet
Joined
Mar 3, 2015
Messages
73
Location
New York
NNID
Pokio55
Hello, I am hoping that someone could rate how I play and could give me some pointers and critique. I wouldn't consider myself a completely novice player because I do know a lot about Sheik and SSB4 in general, but I found myself lacking when it comes to battles and actually winning a battle(even against any level player). If anyone is interested then reply or send me a message. I live on the east coast by the way(NY :]) Thank you!
 

Funkermonster

The Clown
Joined
May 19, 2013
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1,460
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Mesa, Arizona
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Funkermonster
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Do you think Sheik go even with or lose to anybody? I hear from people (even ZeRo) that :4kirby: and :4pikachu:does well against you guys, I think I can kinda understand Pika but I honestly completely fail to see how Kirby is a threat, seeing as how mediore of a character he is in general. I ask this because I mostly play these 4: :4megaman::4greninja::4pacman::4pit: , all 4 of whom don't particularly do well against you and if I keep this team I'll likely have a lot of trouble should I ever come across a good sheik in bracket (right now, my region doesn't have that many Sheiks though, we don't even have one on our PR). I don't wanna replace any of these guys but to stand a chance against your character I might have to, and playin anymore characters is probably gonna be severely detrimental to me and would overstep my bounds. Of anyone else I enjoy playing, I think my two best options are :rosalina: & :4sonic:, I don't find them quite as fun as the original 4 (still fun in general though), but if I don't use them I'll likely have my whole team invalidated by this one character, and I think playing these two as well would spread me too thin. As much as I'd love to do this, playing multiple characters hurts you in the long run, and I think playing a total of 6 characters is gonna let everyone in my region pass me by and slow down my progress.
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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Do you think Sheik go even with or lose to anybody? I hear from people (even ZeRo) that :4kirby: and :4pikachu:does well against you guys, I think I can kinda understand Pika but I honestly completely fail to see how Kirby is a threat, seeing as how mediore of a character he is in general. I ask this because I mostly play these 4: :4megaman::4greninja::4pacman::4pit: , all 4 of whom don't particularly do well against you and if I keep this team I'll likely have a lot of trouble should I ever come across a good sheik in bracket (right now, my region doesn't have that many Sheiks though, we don't even have one on our PR). I don't wanna replace any of these guys but to stand a chance against your character I might have to, and playin anymore characters is probably gonna be severely detrimental to me and would overstep my bounds. Of anyone else I enjoy playing, I think my two best options are :rosalina: & :4sonic:, I don't find them quite as fun as the original 4 (still fun in general though), but if I don't use them I'll likely have my whole team invalidated by this one character, and I think playing these two as well would spread me too thin. As much as I'd love to do this, playing multiple characters hurts you in the long run, and I think playing a total of 6 characters is gonna let everyone in my region pass me by and slow down my progress.
Pikachu, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Lucario can all have advantageous MUs against Sheik.

As for even MUs, there are plenty. Sonic, Rosalina, Yoshi, Fox, Peach, Wario, Jigglypuff... and then there are a lot of MUs where it's 55:45 Sheik's favour which doesn't sound that bad for the other character honestly.

People like to exaggerate MUs where Sheik really just shuts down her opponents, and I won't deny that those MUs exist (Luigi being one of the characters who get shut down), but yeah.

The reasoning behind Kirby is simply the combos he can pull off on Sheik (which can grab 60% guaranteed from bread 'n butter combos alone), combined with the fact that he's extremely hard to gimp, can duck needles, has multiple jumps so he can't get punished on landing with needles, AND can swallow Sheik for needles himself. He's also floaty so a lot of combos don't work as easily against him.

Unfortunately as you said the characters you play don't exactly do super well against Sheik, but Pit and Greninja don't really lose to her by that much.
 

Illuminose

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
671
I feel like you're exaggerating Arikado. My opinions/impressions of those matchups are more like this. Will explain any that you ask about, but I think this is a more accurate depiction of those matchups.

:rosalina:55:45
:4pikachu:50:50
:4kirby:55:45 (no customs), 50:50 (customs)
:4metaknight:52:48
:4lucario:45:55
:4sonic:50:50
:4yoshi:55:45
:4fox:55:45
:4peach:60:40
:4wario:65:35 (at best for Wario)
:4jigglypuff:55:45
 

pokio55

Smash Cadet
Joined
Mar 3, 2015
Messages
73
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New York
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Pokio55
I feel like you're exaggerating Arikado. My opinions/impressions of those matchups are more like this. Will explain any that you ask about, but I think this is a more accurate depiction of those matchups.

:rosalina:55:45
:4pikachu:50:50
:4kirby:55:45 (no customs), 50:50 (customs)
:4metaknight:52:48
:4lucario:45:55
:4sonic:50:50
:4yoshi:55:45
:4fox:55:45
:4peach:60:40
:4wario:65:35 (at best for Wario)
:4jigglypuff:55:45
Is the peach MU in sheik's favor or peach's? Also, can you explain that MU if you dont mind. (Might be the wrong forum to do that lol!)
 

Illuminose

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
671
Is the peach MU in sheik's favor or peach's? Also, can you explain that MU if you dont mind. (Might be the wrong forum to do that lol!)
Based on my exp and what I looked up on the Sheik boards. Basically Peach has a lot of trouble in general against Sheik. She can't really float safely, needles are a big pain, she has trouble landing, and she doesn't have the frame data to keep up. Also Sheik can gimp her.
 

Steelballray

Smash Journeyman
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Hello, Sheik mains! I've got a question for you. Me and my friend decided to pick up some high tiers after watching Omni's video and we started playing Luigi and Sheik respectively. And I happen to be kicking his *** too much for my liking. I know Sheik is much harder than Luigi but that guy is a very potent player, and his learning abilities are always pretty good compared to lots of people and even mine.
Thing is, I wish to know what he should be focusing on in general and in the Luigi match up. His spacing for the fairs got much better and I rarely break the shorter strings with a simple nair now. He never uses the grenades and I don't know if that's good or bad. Also, his ability to DI out of my cyclone been getting better and its falling a bit on the ranking of my favourite killing options against him. And his ability to to intercept my recovery is the one deadly thing he's been acquiring and I like how annoying he gets.
Please help me, we will be meeting soon and I plan to give him some hints and advices if the number of the times he beat me doesn't increase by the time we meet.
 

HFlash

Future Physician and Sm4sher
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Miami, Florida
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Sorry if this has been asked but is there an effective way to edge guard shiek in the ditto MU? I can edge guard pretty much anyone in the cast, but having trouble closing out stocks early vs another shiek.
@ Steelballray Steelballray , Shiek actually has an advantage on Luigi due to the fact that
A) Luigi is forced to approach shiek, where Luigi doesn't have the greatest of approaches with the help of needles
B) For luigi to rack up damage, and perform his Hoo-Hah (dthrow to downB) he needs grabs, and if Shiek uses safe, spaced aerials, she shouldn't get grabbed
C) Like you said, sort of, Shiek can edge guard luigi effectively, but not vice versa.
You want to grab your friend as much as possible, but you IN THEORY shouldn't really be able to. You are probably just at least slightly better than him to consistently win a negative MU. Your friend needs to follow the 3 points I laid out, and you should find him much harder to win against.

Is the peach MU in sheik's favor or peach's? Also, can you explain that MU if you dont mind. (Might be the wrong forum to do that lol!)
Easily Shiek. Just the fact that Peach is forced to approach because of needles, and can't really do so because she is sluggish plus floating typically (from my MU experience which isn't super intensive) puts her at perfect BF position. IMO, it's at the very least 60:40 (no customs). Idk if customs would change this, but I'd be doubtful.
 
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ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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Please don't call luigi's dthrow down b hoo hah, just let that term die
 

WhatxDxDxD

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Messages
1
Location
Switzerland
Hey sheiks. I'm kinda new to sheik, mostly because I never had time to actually practice.

So, Arials. How do you execute them, c-stick or control stick + A?
For me it's easier to use c-stick for spacing, but as a result the follow-ups are harder. I find it hard to switch between A/cstick in the middle of the action. So are there any recommendations, do you use both depending on the situation or do you stick to one?

Another question, do you use any special button layouts? Cstick for tilts? Or an additional jump for needles>BF?

Would be nice to hear some opinions, thanks :D
 

ArikadoSD

the cream of the crop
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Hey sheiks. I'm kinda new to sheik, mostly because I never had time to actually practice.

So, Arials. How do you execute them, c-stick or control stick + A?
For me it's easier to use c-stick for spacing, but as a result the follow-ups are harder. I find it hard to switch between A/cstick in the middle of the action. So are there any recommendations, do you use both depending on the situation or do you stick to one?

Another question, do you use any special button layouts? Cstick for tilts? Or an additional jump for needles>BF?

Would be nice to hear some opinions, thanks :D
Control stick + A for aerial strings, c stick for when I'm spacing Fair on shield.

C stick for tilts (because if it's set to smashes then it messes up aerial mobility)
L for jump (OoS stuff + needles to bf)
X for grab
tap jump/rumble off
 

WondrousMoose

Mind the antlers
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834
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College Station, TX
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Hey sheiks. I'm kinda new to sheik, mostly because I never had time to actually practice.

So, Arials. How do you execute them, c-stick or control stick + A?
For me it's easier to use c-stick for spacing, but as a result the follow-ups are harder. I find it hard to switch between A/cstick in the middle of the action. So are there any recommendations, do you use both depending on the situation or do you stick to one?

Another question, do you use any special button layouts? Cstick for tilts? Or an additional jump for needles>BF?

Would be nice to hear some opinions, thanks :D
I almost exclusively use the C-stick for aerials. It allows easier retreating Fairs or advancing Bairs, and I just find it easier to have a set way of doing things. Rather than sometimes C-sticking in the air or sometimes not, it's probably best to stick with one or the other.

Of course, it's all personal taste. Do what is simple, comfortable, and effective.
 

ShinRamen

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I almost exclusively use the C-stick for aerials. It allows easier retreating Fairs or advancing Bairs, and I just find it easier to have a set way of doing things. Rather than sometimes C-sticking in the air or sometimes not, it's probably best to stick with one or the other.

Of course, it's all personal taste. Do what is simple, comfortable, and effective.
How do you do buffered aerials? Are you one of those guys who can move their thumb from X to the c stick at light speed?
 

pokio55

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How do you do buffered aerials? Are you one of those guys who can move their thumb from X to the c stick at light speed?
I believe you have to do an input within 7 frames or 4 frames to buffer something. You can find more information at http://smashboards.com/threads/new-sheik-tech-instant-needle-cancels.402777/ , the thread briefly talks about buffering an attack from needles to an attack. Buffering is avaliable to all characters the "can". I hope that made sense
 
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ArikadoSD

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How do you do buffered aerials? Are you one of those guys who can move their thumb from X to the c stick at light speed?
You don't buffer aerials with C stick. Like I said I use it purely for spacing Fair on shields (or sometimes retreating fairs; but for the same purpose, to space it on shield) and that doesn't really require buffering as far as I'm concerned.
 

ShinRamen

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Which is why I didn't ask you rofl

And yeah i know how buffering works pokio, in sheik's case you need to input the aerial within 4 frames after pressing jump, most do this by sliding your thumb from x/y to A
 
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