Bandana Waddle Dee’s prime spacing tool on the ground is his forward tilt: Spear Thrust. It is a quick horizontal thrust of his spear that allows him to poke at opponents from a good distance away, and check their approach. If you hit with it, you can press the attack button again to preform Multispear Thrust, a multi-hit attack with an ending hit that pushes opponents back similar to multiple characters’ rapid jab attacks.
To combat aerial approaches, Bandana Waddle Dee can use his up tilt: Spinning Spear. Bandana Waddle Dee throws his spear straight up as it spins horizontally. He doesn’t toss it far, it isn’t enough to hit opponents standing on platforms above him, but its enough for a heavy disjoint that stuffs out most attacks. It’s also a multi-hit move. The hitbox that comes out when he catches the spear sends opponents up and in front, allowing him to follow up with up air juggle scenarios, or forward air pressure.
If the opponent gets too close, you can use his neutral attack or down tilt to push them away, or try to escape. Bandana Waddle Dee’s neutral attack is a strike with the butt of the spear. Pressing the attack button again has him strike perform a slash with the tip of the spear. Both of these attacks have much lower range than most of his other attacks, but they lack a close-range sour spot, allowing you to hit opponents right in front of him. His down tilt is a sliding kick that moves Bandana Waddle Dee forward a decent distance, allowing him to get away from opponents that are in his face. It has a faster startup than his neutral attack, allowing you to out-speed other characters’ boxing tools, but it has a lot more end lag, making it much more unsafe on whiff, and best used as a mixup tool. While performing this move, Bandana Waddle Dee is really close to the ground, allowing him to low profile aerial advances.
Bandana Waddle Dee’s dash attack causes him to fall on his face, just like his king! The attack isn’t quite as slow or powerful as King Dedede’s, but it can K.O. at high percents. It’s still slow enough to be a commitment, so it’s best not to spam the move.
Bandana Waddle Dee’s forward smash is a more powerful thrust cut from the same cloth as Byleth’s forward smash. It’s angleable, and does a lot of damage at the tip, but its usefulness as a K.O. tool drastically lowers at close range.
His up smash is Skyward Thrust: Bandana Waddle Dee thrusts his spear straight up, dealing a ton of damage at the tip, and scooping up opponents that are right next to him. The sweet spot is placed so that it will usually hit opponents standing on platforms above him like the lower ones on Battlefield, or the one on Smashville. His down smash is Turn Around Mow Down - Cut in Half: Bandana Waddle Dee hops up as he twirls his spear behind him before slamming it to the ground. The initial hitbox scoops opponents behind him into the final spear slam, and the attack itself doesn’t have a close ranged sour spot with the tradeoff of not having quite as much damage, range, or K.O. power. It’s probably the least useful of his smash attacks, but with a read on your opponent, you can use it as an anti-air, or a tech chase with good positioning.