• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

No Disassemble!: Overswarm's instruction manual for ROB

Status
Not open for further replies.

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
Page 1. General Gameplay Tips
-ROB moveset and its uses
-ATs you need to know and their uses
-ROBs natural weaknesses and how to get around them
-ROBs natural strengths and how to abuse them
-Soulcrushing
-Brick Wall Tactics
-How to develop your playstyle
-How to remain in control even when on the defensive
-Stages overview
Mindgames, tricks, and commonly used tactics

Page 2. Character matchups
Difficulty
Appearance Rate
Returning
Edgeguarding
Approaching
Defending
Stages to Ban
Stages to Counterpick
Possible secondaries you may want to consider
Synopsis

Page 3

Reinventing ROB: A new skeleton to build off of

Character list for matchups:

Mario
DK
Link
Samus
Zamus
Kirby
Fox
Pikachu
Marth
Mr. Game & Watch
Luigi
Diddy Kong
Zelda
Sheik
Pit
Metaknight
Falco
Pokémon Trainer
Ike
Snake
Peach
Yoshi
Ganondorf
Ice Climbers
King Dedede
Wolf
Lucario
Ness
Sonic
Bowser
Wario
Toon Link
R.O.B.
Olimar
Captain Falcon
Jigglypuff
Lucas

ROB's moveset

Smashes

F-smash

Advantages: The f-smash can be angled up or down, giving it the wonderful ability to hit enemies that are crouching or jumping. It comes out incredibly quickly, looks awesome, and has low lag. Because of its low lag, a neat mindgame is to simply charge the forward smash, let it go, and then f-smash again; your opponent will often run into it!

Disadvantages: The range is very slight, and it's power isn't amazing.

Primary uses: To knock someone off the edge so they can be edgeguarded. This can occasionally be used as a KO move, but only if it is completely fresh; you have better options for KOs.

D-smash

Advantages: quick to come out, perfect amount of knockback for setups, little lag, easily done out of a spotdodge, and can often shield poke. When the opponent DIs out of it, if he does it at the wrong time it often sets up for another d-smash.

Disadvantages: can rarely kill off the top unless fresh, can be DIed out of by simply holding up, and it is almost always expected by your opponent.

Uses: To set someone up for a u-air or fair, or to use out of a spot dodge or roll so as to remove the enemy from your vicinity

U-smash

Advantages: Very fast, very strong, kills off the top

Disadvantages: very limited killing area, cannot be comboed into reliably when opponent is at kill %, cannot reliably hit a grounded opponent, and is the easiest move to read in the game. You KNOW when ROB is going for a u-smash.

Uses: KO. This is especially useful against characters such as D3 that often recover high on the stage.

Tilts

F-tilt

Advantages: Fast, can be angled, high priority, easily combos into itself, can push the enemy out of range for easy spamming opportunities

Disadvantages: Very difficult to KO with, does low damage

Uses: as a "get away" move or a move to punish opponents that faily slightly in their spacing. The range of this move is deceptive; abuse it!

U-tilt

Advantages: Quick, good for setups, has small hitboxes on the side that combo into the main hitbox

Disadvantages: long enough animation to leave you open for attack if you miss, gives the enemy enough room to DI so that this isn't a reliable move to combo from all the time, has to be done when you are very near the opponent

Uses: Is a great set-up for u-smash or u-air

D-tilt

Advantages: Quick, has an extremely large chance to trip an opponent, can be used as a "jab lock", and combos easily

Disadvantages: Does low damage, can be inconsistent due to enemy DI at times

Uses: as a quick attack inbetween others, often used to combo into d-smash or a grab

Dash Attack

Early Dash Attack

This is when you hit the front of their frame with the dash attack.

Advantages: Sets up for combos easily

Disadvantages: Allows you to be shield grabbed easily

Uses: combos into u-tilt often

Late Dash Attack

This is when you hit the center or end of their frame with the dash attack, often propelling you past them.

Advantages: Makes it near impossible to be shield grabbed, as you are behind them, sets up for aerials that can knock them off the edge

Disadvantages: leaves you open when you are running "through" your enemy

Uses: Depending on the opponents DI, this sets you up for a fair, bair, or shooting a gyro at their falling bodies. This often will also give you the ability to tech chase them.

Aerials

Fair

Advantages: Has the ability to KO when fresh, but when used often is given the new ability of comboing into itself! Can be great for edgeguarding and has an extended hitbox that is misleading. Arguably ROB's most solid move. You can even do two of these out of a short hop!

Disadvantages: Doesn't do as much damage as most attacks, and its uses are inconsistent as they are based off how many times you have used it already.

Uses: Comboing, edgeguarding

U-air

Advantages: does incredible damage, has the ability to combo into itself or other attacks, and if timed properly can go through air dodges

Disadvantages: can be DI'd out of fairly consistently and due to this can do low damage and go stale quickly

Uses: DAMAGE! It is also often used as a way to pressure the opponent into air dodging since they KNOW it is coming. This move makes up for the low damage output of ROB's other moves.

LEARN TO IMPLEMENT THE U-AIR! :mad:

Bair

Advantages: has excellent knockback, an extended and desceptive hitbox, can combo into some seriously damaging strings of attacks, and can automatically space itself so you can't be punished!

Disadvantages: laggy startup, laggy finish

Uses: edgeguarding and, when hitting with the front of the hitbox, comboing into d-tilt or f-tilt.

Dair

Advantages: Is a spike, can be used to set up for a u-smash out of a footstool

Disadvantages: is laggy to start, laggy to finish, and the only time you can use this is when you are above the opponent; being above the opponent is a dangerous place for ROB.

Nair

Advantages: Large and unique hitbox, is totally different when used facing away from your opponent, can be a KO move, is a great KO move when met towards the top of the stage

Disadvantages: goes stale easily, can be difficult to hit a shielded opponent in such a way you can't be punished, has startup lag

Uses: KOing

Jab

Single Jab

Advantages: Comes out quickly, stuns opponent

Disadvantages: short range, can sometimes be difficult to follow up without accidently jabbing twice

Uses: Used to stun the opponent so that you can grab or use another attack

Double Jab

Advantages: Comes out quickly, recharges moves well, knocks enemy away

Disadvantages: difficult to follow up with, laggy enough to be grabbed out of shield

Uses: as a "get away" emergency move, recharging your other moves

Grabs

Grab Release

A "grab release" is where you grab someone, mash A to deal them damage, and then they break out of the grab.

Advantages: can be used to recharge moves, as each time you hit them in a grab it counts as a separate move. It also is surprising and can set up for another grab, which can lead to a quick throw before they can DI!

Disadvantages: Doesn't work on everyone due to them having fast attacks out of grab release. Also, since ROB's grab attack is slower than most, it will sometimes allow them time to do the "jump out" breakaway, making this worthless. A throw also does about 10%, and screwing up a grab release robs (no pun) you of an otherwise free 10% and possibly an edgeguarding opportunity.

Uses: After a grab release, you can sometimes f-tilt to knock them away; due to the poor DI your opponents will often have in this situation and trajectory of the f-tilt, this will send them out and downwards rather than up and out. This is good for ROB.

More useful is the d-tilt out of a grab release. You can grab release, d-tilt, grab, grab release, d-tilt, repeat until about 50%. This is also a GREAT way to CHAIN SOMEONE OFF WALK-OFF EDGES, or at least get them close enough for an f-throw. This is a great way to get some extra damage at early %, and an even better way to get someone close to the edge so you can go for a gimp.

F/B-throw

Advantages: sends them off the stage nearly 100% of the time

Disadvantages: Isn't a kill move for forever

Uses: getting them off the stage so you can edgeguard. At low %, a great trick is to grab someone, back throw them, grab them again. You can sometimes even do this twice! It deals a heavy amount of damage quickly and is very, very fast.

U-throw

Advantages: has lower knockback than the d-throw at low %, but can be a KO move at higher %.

Disadvantages: the opponent has the ability to DI this very strongly

Uses: setting up for combos at low %, kills at high

D-throw

Advantages: has a set knockback, meaning that knockback never changes; if you can something once out of this, you can do it forever

Disadvantages: has nothing that works 100% of the time out of this throw, meaning that your opponent can literally be safe 100% of the time out of this throw if he knows what he is doing.

Uses: setting up for combos, putting opponent in a bad positions.

Specials

Neutral B: Concentrated Beam of Hatred for Bio Structures, aka "laser"

At 0 seconds recharge, is a close range attack with low knockback.
At 1 second recharge, is a fast, thin laser that can be angled and does low damage.
At 20 seconds recharge, is a slower, thick laser that does decent damage and can be used as a KO move

Advantages: Has 3 levels, all of them useful. Is almost always unpunishable due to ROB being far away when he uses it, can force your opponent to air dodge, and helps rack up damage. It also FORCES your enemy to ALWAYS approach you! That's invaluable. This move MAKES ROB.

Disadvantages: Does low damage and has a longer than average cooldown, giving the opponent time to approach if he chooses to. Takes 20 seconds to do the fully charged version, and that version can normally be dodged.

Uses: Edgeguarding, racking up damage, forcing an approach.

Side B: Robocopter

Advantages: Can be surprisingly irritating, has a wide hitbox that surrounds ROB, reflects projectiles

Disadvantages: laggy to start, laggy to end, often gets ROB in trouble.

Uses: Reflecting obvious projectiles or really screwing over Pikachu when he uses thunder. This can also be a surprisingly good way to edgeguard those attempting to sweetspot the ledge with their second jump.

Up B: Robo Burner

Advantages: great for comboing, chasing, recovering, getting away, "snapping" to the edge, you name it. This is mobility central.

Disadvantages: You can't air dodge out of it, making you vulnerable. You are also very predictable. You can go up at a variable speed, but down only at two speeds. This means you are easy to intercept, and that really sucks because this also WILL run out if you get hit towards the edge once or twice when recovering, especially from below.

Uses: recovering, edgeguarding, chasing, comboing

Down B: Gyro

Advantages: has a unique and annoying hitbox, has great knockback, can be used as an item, allows ROB to glide toss, and is useful for just about anything else you want to do.

Disadvantages: can be caught by the enemy, has to go away before it can be thrown again, if thrown straight up or held by the enemy it can be gone for quite some time

Uses: Damage, forcing your opponent into a bad position, edgeguarding, KOing

ATs you need to know and their uses

Glide toss- this tactic allows you to accelerate incredibly quickly while throwing an item.

How to do it: Pick up an item (your gyro, generally), then shield. Roll, and while rolling flick the c-stick in the way you want to throw the item. If your timing is correct, you'll slide forward. Depending on your timing, there can be a short slide or a long slide.

Uses: Great for KOs! You can glide toss to hit them with the gyro, and then f-smash or u-smash to KO them afterwards. This can also be used to fling yourself AWAY from your opponent to get out of trouble and allow you some breathing room. At times, it is important to throw the gyro straight up out of a glide toss so to hit an opponent coming to the stage from above. If an opponent sees this coming and is going to reflect it, glide toss and throw it down. You'll go forward and be able to hit them out of their reflector, but the gyro will stay where you were and promptly disappear!

Reverse Robo Burner- Part of the "b-sticking" group, this allows you to use the robo burner while moving the opposite direction you are facing. This also gives you an extreme momentum boost!

How to do it: hit up+b, then rotate your control stick in a "hadoken" type manner from top to bottom. (i need a better description for this)

Uses: Great for edgeguarding as it gives you a momentum boost

Second jump after up+b- If you do your up+b from the ground and then use the "B" button for the burner rather than up on the control stick, you save your second jump.

How to do it: Simply hit B rather than up after doing the up+b off the ground

Uses: allows you to up+b off the stage, do an attack, then jump and follow up with another. This saves you muchos fuel.

Reverse gyro charge-this turns ROB around when he's charging his gyro

How to do it: Just like the reverse robo burner

Uses: allows you to face the direction you'd like.

Gyro Cancel- This allows you to start charging your gyro then stop without shooting or shielding or air dodging.

How to do it: Hit shield the moment the gyro appears.

Uses: Help set you up for a back-air. Can also be used as a mindgame, as many people expect you to be unable to do anything once you start charging.

Jab Lock

How to do it: When someone hits the ground without teching while in the "tumbling" animation, you walk up and d-tilt them once, walk forward, d-tilt, repeat until they are near the edge.

Uses: Does a significant amount of damage, recharges moves, and brings them near the edge.


ROBs natural weaknesses and how to get around them

Blind spot behind and below him

A "blind spot" is an area that you cannot easily cover. ROB, while airborne, has a blind spot directly below him and behind him. While his dair and bair cover this area, they both have enough startup lag to be ineffective in protecting ROB in most circumstances.

It is rare that the blind spot directly behind him will be an issue, but when it is it can be solved easily. The first and most common way to solve it is to simply back air early. This does not guarantee you a hit, but it does push you away from the enemy. Be careful though! Good players will run forward, powershield your backair, and then grab you when you are descending. It is not difficult to do this; it just takes a lot of balls.

Because of this, we need another approach. The three remaining options we have are

1. Up+b up and over the enemy behind you so that you are facing him

2. Charge a gyro facing them, cancel the gyro charge, and prepare to throw out a fair

3. Use a neutral air

The up+b over teh enemy is risky unless you time it iwth their attack (which is risky in itself), and using a neutral air has similar issues to using a back air, so it would be wise to practice gyro canceling to a fair for these situations.

The much more taxing issue is ROB's weakness from below. This is where ROB will take the majority of his damage, and often enemies will use vertical-based attacks to launch ROB off the top, preventing him from surviving for his normal ridiculous amount of time.

The most obvious way to get around this is to simply up+b, go to a ledge, and then go from there. ROB is good on the ledge, so this solves the problem. However, this uses up a considerable amount of fuel and should not be standard procedure, as it is very dangerous. Defensive tactics should never be dangerous.

Air dodging or throwing out a nair can work, but these are not uncommon; this turns into a rock paper scissors game where ROB is always shooting first. If the enemy jumps towards you and you start to nair, he can air dodge and attack you. If the enemy jumps towards you and you air dodge, he can wait and attack you out of it. It is not difficult for your enemy to do this due to the startup lag of your nair; since you have startup lag directly below and behind you, he is safe due to his ability to air dodge.

Using your back-air to propel yourself off horizontally off the stage and getting to the ledge from there CAN work, but the lag from the backair often leaves you open for aerial attack anyway; this defeats the purpose. You can get two, maybe three, off in the same direction before your opponent is done with you and just hits you back into the air.

There are two solutions for this issue. If you're hit high enough, it is simple to just DI off the stage and then go to the ledge, but that has always been known. The two solutions left are:

1. Gyro canceled back airs to propel yourself in more than one direction

If you back-air, turn around with a gyro cancel, then back-air again, you can zig-zag downwards towards the stage. Added in with normal DI and a mix of fast-falling, you can often cause your opponent to go into their dash animation; this gives you the edge you need! One you see your opponent start running, you want to fast fall as fast as possible to the stage, possibly with another back-air or air dodge. When your opponent is running, they can't immediately turn around due to the lack of dash dancing in Brawl. They need to cancel their dash with a shield, turn around, then come after you. You should have more than enough time if they run the wrong direction.

2. Get hit

Sounds crazy, but ROB's blindspot from below is a WEAKNESS. When you have a weakness, it hurts you. Your first priority is to make it hurt you less, not avoid it completely.

Most vertical KO moves are strictly, well, vertical. This means you can air dodge out of that "vertical" attack range and then set yourself up to be faired, baired, f-smashed, or d-smashed. Your goal here is to DI OFF the stage so you can retreat back towards the ledge. Getting hit for 8-15% is a lot better than them hitting you for the same amount straight upwards and starting the cycle again.

The inability to KO

The plague of ROB's everywhere!

First off, the trick to preventing this from occuring is edgeguarding. That's a different animal, and will be discussed in the character matchup section.

That siad, there are other things you can do.

ROB's potential kill moves are:

U-smash, Nair, Bair, F-smash, Dair, fully charged gyro, fully charged laser (the projectiles are best off the edge) and to a lesser extent his D-smash.

Seeing that long list makes you wonder why ROB can't get KOs, but when you realize his U-smash, fully charged gyro, and fully charged laser are all hard to get off... his F-smash doesn't hit as hard as we'd like.... the bair is awkward to approach with and you can't combo into meaning you have to call someone on something for it... the dair has more startup lag than your grandfather's sex drive... and the d-smash can only kill light characters fresh at around 130%.... you aren't left with many good options.

The Nair stands out as a wonderful kill move, and it is, but it is also a staple to ROB's air game and an excellent approach and retreat aerial. To simply remove it to keep it from going stale is very difficult for a ROB, and probably not worth it.

So how do you get KOs? Edgeguarding is the obvious answer, but it can't be your only answer; how are you going to edgeguard Metaknight?

The trick is to find some sort of attack that can KO, and save it. That's it. Personally, I save the f-smash and spam the hell out of the rest of my attacks, and then am able to kill near 130% with relative ease from my f-smash. Some players use the f-smash quite frequently while others never use the bair.... look at your own playstyle and see what you don't use very much, and then just remove what little you do lose until they are at a high enough % for it to kill.

No one likes to hear that, because that doesn't really solve anything and isn't creative, but that's the way it is. Other than aggressively edgeguarding, that's the way it is.

To give yourself more opportunities to aggressively edgeguard, implement the f-tilt into your game. It is probably the easiest move to land with ROB, but due to its lack in knockback and damage power it seems more irritating than useful when used... but when you use it deliberately to knock someone off the edge so that they can be edgeguarded, it becomes a powerful tool.


-ROBs natural strengths and how to abuse them

His up+b

You have the craziest, most unique, and most versatile recovery in the game. Like anything good you have, you abuse it.

A "blind spot" that most characters have is at their 1 to 2 o'clock position while they are grounded. To hit this area, most characters need to jump and use a forward air. Using your up+b, you can approach in the air with a nair (forcing them to stay grounded or jump into it), and then hover in this position and simply wait for them to make a move. If they jump, immediately nair and DI away from them. Your nair will hit them, or it will miss them and you'll be on the ground and can wait for them to land, from which you will attack.

When edgeguarding, you can use your up+b to gain great distance (facing towards or away from the opponent) using the up+b. Even better is that you save your jump by using B to fuel your up+b, which allows you to quickly get back to the stage if you need to.

Invincibility on respawn is always an irritating thing to get around. ROB can easily force the opponent to stay at bay for extended periods of time under normal conditions, but when your opponent is invincible you will have difficulty scaring them. With your up+b you solve this problem! Simply full hop off the stage the moment your opponent starts coming towards you and do not fast fall. When your opponent goes off the edge, immediately jump and up+b. Your opponent's invulnerability has worn off, and now you can easily grab the ledge or get back to the stage without fear. If you're feeling ballsy, you can go for a gimp; nothing is better than gimping someone the moment their invincibility wears off!

The ability to fight at a distance

Unlike other characters, ROB can fight at a distance. Some characters can't even deal damage, some can spam to get damage on their opponent, but ROB can ****ing kill you and your opponent knows it.

Due to ROB's up+b instantly sweet spotting the edge, you can fight from the ledge with ease. You can spam lasers and gyros until they are close and, if you don't find their approach easy enough to punish with some other form of attack, you can simply jump off edge and continue to spam projectiles. When you need to, you can grab the ledge and patiently wait there until your opponent decides to do something to you. He may think you are simply stalling and that he can "wait you out". Little does he know that you are charging your laser. On matchups that often REQUIRE a fully charged laser for easy early kills, such as Olimar, any of the space animals, Ike, etc., etc., simply holding the ledge and then rolling or jumping off of it the moment your opponent starts an animation of an attack that will harm you can give you enough time to charge your laser.

Another way to abuse this ability is to simply run away. A lot. Approaching your opponent involves danger; running away from your opponent does not. There's no reason to approach when they are forced to approach you. If you hit them with a nair and they fly off the stage but you don't believe you can edgeguard them.... run to the other side of the stage and spam lasers and gyros. This often has an irritating effect on your opponent, and this will get them into the habit of approaching YOU. Very few characters other than Metaknight have the ability to approach safely, and even Metaknight can be tripped up if gets into the habit of constantly charging you.

When my opponent is at a low % and I have a gyro in my hand, I often find myself glide tossing the gyro towards them, but me away from them, and then continuing to fire lasers. The reaction of the opponent is priceless.

Soul Crushing

Soul Crushing is the term I use when referring to the destruction of one's drive to play. Killing their motivation, lighting the fuse to their anger, or simply making them despondent and apathetic to their gameplay in general.

Many people originally thought I was joking when I originally mentioned this. I am not.

I first noticed this phenomenon when traveling to tournaments and making **** sure I watched every match of whatever player was using my main character. During this time, I saw many players get completely WRECKED the first game, often a 4 stock (it was Melee), by these amazing players that have been around forever. The counterpick always went just as poorly. I did not understand this, as the counterpick should give you an advantage! Why would Darkrain four stock your Fox on Dreamland, but then do the same thing on Onett? If the skill gap was wide enough for that to occur, sure, but it often wasn't. The player just played his best on a stage that didn't give an advantage, got wrecked, and then played WORSE when he DID have an advantage, which led to the same result.

There was a study decades ago involving this. They had several students wind string on a reel a few times and got an average time for them, and after everyone had an average a competition was held where two people would simply wind string on a reel and whoever finished first won. That was it. There were no variables, and your opponent's progress had 0 effect on yours... except it did. The study found that nearly 100% of the time, whenever someone's opponent did poorly, they did better than average. When their opponent did well, they did worse than average.

When you obviously are out-playing your opponent, their skill level will naturally drop and therefore increase your likelihood of doing well.

That's huge! Unfortunately, it's not too applicable. It adds one rule to Soul Crushing: "never goof off in a tournament match". This leads to your opponent playing above their normal potential, or at least at average, rather than playing poorly. But if you could destroy your opponent normally, you don't really need this advantage anyway, right?

I looked in the smash community for other such instances of Soul Crushing and was surprised at my findings. To do this properly, I've made a list of rules.

Rules of Soul Crushing

1. Never goof off; it gives your opponents hope.

I already mentioned why above.

2. When playing in friendlies or matches that don't matter, sandbag.

Play characters you don't play, when something works don't do it again, and make sure even the games you win are close. This will give your opponent the false illusion that they have a chance and will make them play at their best against you. Not only are you getting to see the every best of what they have to offer (and therefore learning what to do in a real match), but you're preparing them for massive mental breakdown. When you play them in the real match, give it your all (make sure to do everything that worked before that you didn't repeat) and destroy them; this will be completely against what they think SHOULD happen and will shake them to their core. They will then play worse as a result.

3. Don't announce you are sand bagging, but don't deny it either

If you tell someone "you only won because I was sandbagging", they consider this TWO victories over one. They don't believe you and think you are embarassed! It doesn't even matter if it is true. If you do it long enough though, you get a reputation for "not trying", and this will constantly keep your opponent on their toes. Even if they beat you in a tournament match, were you REALLY playing your best or did you just not care? This prevents your opponents from having the "boost" effect that normally occurs when someone is doing better than their opponent because THEY came to the conclusion you were sandbagging and now are never sure of themselves.

4. Lie and create false realities

If you think "but telling a lie is wrong", you aren't thinking very hard; everything I've listed under this topic is wrong. However, it is also useful. And fun. Lots and lots of fun.

Have you ever played someone and they say "this is my best matchup" and then you WRECK them? How does that make you feel? How does that make them feel? The inverse is true. If someone says it is their WORST matchup and they wreck you, you feel like crap. Use this to your advantage!

Lie. Tell them it is a bad matchup for you or that you "need to find a secondary for this matchup" even if you don't feel you do, then when you do surprisingly well this will inevitably attack their confidence. "If he's so bad at this matchup, why am I doing so poorly?!" is not an uncommon thought.

More effective than lying (which people can catch) is to create a false reality, which is basically a top tier lie. If you have to play a Snake player in tournament, make sure he watches you lose a friendly or a $1 MM to a Snake player. Then wreck him in the first game in tournament.

5. Stay silent

Don't gloat, don't guffaw, don't anything. Stay straight faced, say "good game", then get up and leave. This leaves their emotions nowhere to go but inward, and emotions turned inward are destructive. This is the best ending to a match for Soul Crushing purposes, but a close second is them standing up wanting to speak to you, finding you are leaving, and then just announcing to the room "MAN, THAT CHARACTER IS SO DUMB" and other such johns.


The point of Soul Crushing is, primarily, to gain a psychological edge on your opponent. The effects of one tournament can last for years, so it can be well worth it. You also receive bonuses. Sometimes, a player will simply quit playing that character or the game itself! This can be useful. I'm sure many good players have disappeared simply because they had their souls crushed; makes it easier for us soulless robots to get first. Another bonus is that it is a lot of fun to know that you just mentally destroyed the core of someone's being.

M3D's abridged version of Overswarm's ROB guide

I was having a conversation with M3D and we ventured into the topic of ROB and he made an abridged ROB guide that you may find useful.

Step #1: Be gay
Step #2: Be gayer
Step #3: Shoot projectiles
Step #4: Be even gayer than before

Brick Wall Tactics

A "brick wall" tactic is a simple strategy with a specific counter. Brick wall strategies beat noob players 100% of the time, and often a more experienced player won't expect them. So, used in moderation, these can be very frustrating. However, no brick wall strategy is infalliable. In fact, they are ALL easily beaten if the opponent knows what tehy are doing. Be careful, but use the following brick walls against your opponents and see how they react. Often opponents will attempt to counter your brick wall with the obvious counter, and if you know they will do this you can do something to counter their counter and it turns into a mix-up game. These mix-up games generally loop like paper rock scissors, so they can really randomize a game.

Spot dodge spam

Simply spot dodging in place can be an effective tool. Wait until your opponent whiffs an attack, then throw out a d-smash or grab.

Counter: Any move with multiple hits or a long hitbox (such as jiggly's pound) that will automatically hit once the spot dodge ends.

Counter to the counter: Shielding after the original spot dodge then grabbing or d-smashing

Gimmie your lunch money

Walking forward and f-tilting over and over again at low % can be frustrating to your opponent due to the incredible range. Once you get the first hit off, it is very easy to get multiples on an opponent that is unprepared. If they try to shield and attack you, you can just f-tilt them after they get out of their shield!

Counter: Shielding and then rolling away

Counter to the counter: Shooting a gyro or laser to follow up their roll

Ledge camping with projectiles

Grabbing the ledge only to drop off, jump and shoot a gyro or laser at your enemy doesn't do much damage, but a little bit adds up. This also forces your opponent to approach the edge, which allows you to do whatever you feel like.

Counter: Grabbing the other ledge and stalling if at higher % or running off and grabbing the ledge that ROB is on, then jumping off to aerial him.

Counter to the Counter: Rolling when your opponent runs off the edge, then edgeguarding them.

Running away and lasering

Simply knocking your opponent away or running away gives ROB a huge advantage due to his laser and gyro. Doing this in excess can frustrate the more aggressive players.

Counter: Simply walking forward and shielding whenever ROB throws his head back

Counter to the Counter: Throwing a fully charged gyro after the laser, then another laser; this lowers their shield enough for you do d-smash through it easily unless they powershield. If they hold their shield too long when blocking your projectiles, you can sometimes nair through their shield.


How to develop your playstyle

A playstyle is simply a word to describe how you play. Someone who has a campy playstyle will camp, someone who has an aggressive playstyle will be on the offensive a lot.

How you play one character generally transfers over to others, so acknowledging how you play your character is a big deal; once you accept that you are always aggressive, always defensive, always spamming, always whatever, it allows you to develop your playstyle. No one is ever going to be always something, but your natural playstyle is generally what you fall back to during periods or rest in matches.

Developing your playstyle is important because it helps move you beyond the basic elements of your gameplay. To develop your playstyle, you first must figure out what your playstyle is. Are you notoriously campy, like me? Do you focus on baiting your opponent and then capitalizing on his mistakes? Do you go all out aggression? Do you focus on strings rather than single hits? Do you use whatever move is easiest to land in the situation or do you consciously use damage dealing moves during lower % and use only KO moves at higher %? Answering these questions helps to tell you where you stand and what you tend to naturally do.

I will focus on defensive and offensive playstyles in this, as they are the easiest to convey.

When Brawl first came out, people assumed Defensive playstyles were the best in the business. Being an aggressive player meant getting shield grabbed and smashed out of shield, so those that camped in their shields and camped ledges would HAVE to win 100% of the time. This was incorrect.

The problem was that those with aggressive tendencies didn't develop their playstyle.

The first step is to acknowledge the problems with your playstyle.

These early players did this by complaining about shield grabbing and smashes out of shield.

The second thing they SHOULD have done, but did not, was find a way around it. NOT change your playstyle, but to find a way around it. If their problem was being shield grabbed, they should have focused on aerials that can be spaced out of grab range, getting grabs, or working with safe, quick attacks like jabs or tilts to set up further punishment.

You've already seen this occur with characters such as Wario. He will do an aerial, then float out of shield range. He repeats this process until you advance into his smash/grab range or until you retreat. Wario players can now be aggressive without worrying about shield grabbing quite as much.

It's that simple.

1. Acknowledge common problems with your playstyle that happen to everyone that plays similarly to your playstyle.

2. Find a way to adapt your playstyle to keep the heart of it intatct, but lessen the severity of the disadvantages involved

Sometimes your playstyle just doesn't work in a matchup. Being an aggressive ROB against D3, for example; this doesn't work most of the time. One powershield and you're grabbed no matter what attack you were doing, and that's bad news for our robotic buddy. The solution is generally NOT to change your playstyle, but to pick up a secondary that has an easier time in that matchup. It's easy to SAY "be defensive against D3, but aggressive against Snake", but it is much harder to do so without muddling what makes your ROB unique. Having a unique ROB is always better than having a cookie cutter ROB; that's why you can beat so many Snakes and Metaknights out there with ease. They just copy what someone else has done and don't understand that weaknesses exist and need to be counteracted.

How to remain in control even when on the defensive


Controlling the match generally means controlling space and limiting options. As this is the case, going on the offense is generally the best way to control the pace of the match. This is bad if you want to play defensive. Most people that attempt to play defensively lose because even though they may win several individual encounters... once the opponent wins one, he controls the pace of the match and ends up dealing more damage and getting easier KOs. Because of this, defensive playing is often seen as "noobish"; the easy thing to do with quick results that will win you battles, but not the war.

The end result to that logic is 'why play defensive?', which means most upper level players end up being aggressive or "wait and bait" type players.

How do you solve this problem?

The solution lies in consistency. The defensive player will win most exchanges; if someone comes in with an aerial to someone who is waiting with a shield, the shielding player will win most of the time. This is good and something you want to happen as often as possible.

If you can do something once, you can do it a million times. So, how can your opponent approach to beat you?

If he approaches with an aerial, you've got a counter.
If he approaches with a dash attack or grab, you've got a counter.
If approaches with a tilt, you've got a counter.
If he attempts to shoot projectiles, you've got a counter.

There's NOTHING that your opponent cna do that beats you 100% of the time; if something like that existed, no one would do anything but that.

This is basically like rock paper scissors, except your opponent is showing you his hand long before you show yours; this should be simple.

Your opponent breaks through your defenses for two reasons:

1. You just plain old mess up
2. He tricks you


If you mess up, that sucks. Not much y ou can do to fix that but practice your tech skill by playing often.

If he tricks you, that means he knew what you were going to do and countered it appropriately. If I know that every time I jump in with an aerial you are going to shield and then grab, that gives me incentive to fake a jump only to land a bit away from you and then proceed with a tilt or smash.

But remember, he shows his hand first. If someone realizes you throw scissors when they throw paper, you shouldn't lose just because they throw rock. You see the rock BEFORE you make your decision, and then you make your choice. The problem of the defensive player is that he relies off of instinct, and will often throw the wrong move out simply hoping he knows what the opponent will do. This is often called guessing.

It's true to a certain extent that you have to guess; many moves and situations are too fast for us to react to... but it is very possible to minimize the amount of situations you lose in by simply being patient and reacting to what your opponent does. Low risk, and potentially high reward (but settle for low reward before increasing the risk!)

Stage Overview

If you don't see a stage on here, it is either too frequently banned to matter or doesn't give large advantages/disadvantages... except the neutrals, of which I'm going over all of them.

Battlefield

This is the worst of all starters for ROB. It DOES have good things going for ROB; the platforms let you get u-airs and u-smashes off a lot easier than normal. That's great for ROB! He deals a lot of damage and gets easier KOs. Unfortuantely, ROB is hurt a lot worse than his opponents are on this stage. The platforms covering most of the stage lead to ROB being in danger at nearly all times, and simple u-throws from your opponent that normally set up for nothing will then put you in danger of being attacked through the platforms relentlessly. If you do find yourself above the stage, avoid exposing your blind spot by focusing on getting on the ledge. Another good trick is to put a gyro on a platform when returning so you've got a bit of a "safe zone".

This stage isn't horrible for ROB, but it changes how you have to play and can easily screw you over. Avoid if possible in most matchups.

Smashville

A big problem a lot of ROB players have when recovering is that after getting hit only once, they lose most of their fuel. Smashville solves this problem by having a moving platform. When your opponent is attempting to edgeguard you, just stay on the ledge till the plat is back on your side and then you get your robo burner back.

Final Destination

This stage can be dangerous for ROB depending on the matchup, but overall it isn't too bad. It's pretty standard, if you haven't noticed.

Castle Siege

The first transformation is best for ROB; the initial platforms are great for u-tilts, u-airs, and u-smashes, and the edges help you gimp your opponent. The second transformation isn't that great for you, but you can shoot lasers through the statues while most other characters can do nothing. Use this to your advantage and force your opponent to come to you. The third transformation is, again, pretty standard. If you are ever stuck on a ledge, just stay on it so that when the transformation occurs you'll get your robo burner back. Not a bad stage for ROB at all if you can last on the 2nd transformation.

Halberd

The ability to u-air through the stage during recovery from the ledge is invaluable. This entire stage is great for ROB, and shouldn't be avoided.

Pokémon Stadium 1

If running the timer out is your thing, this stage is good for you. Each transformation has an area you can camp on to charge your laser/gyro and waste time on the clock. This is almost always in ROB's favor! There are also several spots where you can do d-tilt infinites.

Yoshi's Island

This Starter is great for ROB. It's harder than normal to pick up the gyro, but that screws your opponent over even more. When recovering, if you are stuck on the ledge without much robo burner, wait for Roger the potted ghost to come and you're good to go. You can also do a cool gyro trick here; simply throw a fully charged gyro while standing on roger and it'll pop up and then quickly down onto your opponent, making it perfect for approaching. The fact that there is a wall on the edge makes spiking with dair and bair much easier too.

Delfino

This stage has several walls and walk-offs, so be careful of those. Other than that, this stage works well for ROB. The platforms and permeable floor let you u-air all day long, and the fact the stage lands gives you the ability to wait on the ledge for your robo burner.

Lylat Cruise[/SIZE]

This is a great Starter for ROB! Almost every other character's recovery and projectiles have been screwed over, but not ROB's! Plus, these platforms are PERFECT for him. They are small enough not to be a danger to him, but large enough to let him get off a u-smash or u-air off on any opponent that lands on them. You can also easily go under this stage AND you can u-air or nair through the slanted sides. Arguably the best starter for ROB.

Luigi's Mansion

This stage is hit or miss, depending on the matchup. Avoid playing this against Metaknight or G&W, but other than that you're good to go. Your lasers go through the pillars, your Gyro bounces off of them and therefore you can throw your gyro at it so it stands spinning in front of the ledge (this helps you recover). You can spam d-smash against opponents when they are on the bottom floor, recharge your moves by d-tilting the pillars, and can u-air or nair people that are on the 2nd floor. You can also easily pull off a jab lock on a stage like this by smacking them against the ceiling and then using your d-tilt.

Corneria

This stage is generally not bad for ROB; there are a few characters that give him trouble here (like D3), but overall it isn't bad. ROB can easily kill people at low % by baiting them to the fin and then hitting them with a nair, can get an infinite on the right, and due to the extremely close blast zones on the left and right side, you can use your f-throw or b-throw as a kill move in many situations! Your gyro can also be tossed towards the fin to bounce back towards you, allowing you an easy setup for glide tossing.

Rainbow Cruise

This is gimp central. The boat is pretty standard as far as stages go except you have a great wall to do infinites on. The entire left side (when it is scrolling vertical) is when you want to be incredibly aggressive. Getting them off the edge at this point can easily mean certain death on its own, but add to that an aggressive robot throwing out fairs and you've got trouble. The side scrolling part at the top isn't particularly good for ROB; I suggest going to the right side and simply following the stage. If possible, do a u-throw towards the end to keep them in the air and then when the screen lowers they'll fall off the top.

Frigate Orpheon

A great ROB stage. During the first transformation, you can get u-airs and u-smashes off from the platform very easily. On the right side there is no ledge, so you can gimp people REALLY easy here. There is no auto-snap, so you can edgeguard with f-smashes. The second transformation has interesting slants that allow you to do some cool gyro/laser tricks, and the platforms coming in and out on the side are great for camping. Jump on them to recharge your robo burner, then jump, laser, jump, laser, up+b, laser, up+, laser, on and on until it comes back. Then recharge and repeat. This forces your opponent to be REALLY risky. If you are at 180% or so, this isn't a bad idea.

Skyworld

D-smash to kill the platforms and knock your opponent off the top is about all you need to know. There is a platform that runs along the bottom that is great for ROB, but don't depend on it. This is a great stage to pick against characters with horrid recoveries, because ROB lives forever here and they do not.

Jungle Japes

Standing on either side of the stage means your opponent has to approach you FROM THE AIR. This is HUGE. That means you can intercept with a gyro or f-tilt or some other nigh lagless attack, and if they air dodge you can d-smash or grab them, send them away, then repeat the process. This is perfect for those with poor aerial games, like Snake.

Norfair

This is not a good stage for ROB. The increased amount of ledges means you don't get to edgeguard as well, and the hazards make it very difficult for you to keep stage control. This is especially bad because your opponent easily gets access to your blind spot. Steer clear of this one.

Brinstar

This isn't too bad for ROB, but the acid steals your gyro for minutes at a time and it is very easy to screw up your tilts due to the stage's bumps and hills. This isn't something you want to go to, but if you do I suggest focusing on u-airs or nairs through the stage and, if possible, breaking the stage and forcing them to approach you.

Distant Planet

This is deceptively awful for ROB. Not only does the slanted side not help ROB in any way, shape, or form, the platforms here hurt him but don't really help him. There are also items appearing on the stage that hurt your projectile game and can let them force YOU to approach. Be careful on this stage.

Green Greens

Another deceptively bad stage; while edgeguarding is great for ROB, dying at extremely low % isn't, and that's what happens on this stage to anyone that plays it. Your projectiles are nerfed and you are forced to come in at odd angles, often with your blind spot exposed. This stage can be pretty rough on ROB.

Pirate Ship

This is an uncommon stage at best, but sometimes it'll come out of left field... and generally by a player that not only has experience here, but enjoys it. Keep in mind you don't recharge your up+b when in the water and that the boat, if it touches you on the left side, is a OHKO. Focus on projectiles and your d-throw/u-throw here; it is often the case that your opponent will want to land on the platforms in the center to regain their jumps. Use this to your advantage and u-air them. Other than that, ROB's got nothin' here. He can't really gimp, his recovery isn't super amazing anymore, and the shape of the stage is about as bad as can be.


Mindgames, tricks, and commonly used tactics

This section won't have much information as to why, how, or essential info like that. I'm simply going to post things I have done or observed that are pretty awesome across the board, and you can implement them into your game if you want.

Drop off ledge to nair to regrab ledge repeatedly, mixing it up by a drop off to fair.

When an opponent is far above you, full hop fast-falled nair early so you are obviously going to miss them, then double jump to u-air.

D-tilt to grab.

Dash attack to u-tilt.

U-tilt to u-air.

F-tilt to fully charged gyro

Running bair to d-tilt

Repeated fairs

Nair to chasing nair

Glide toss down to dash attack that picks up the gyro

Glide toss forward to f-smash

Glide toss forward to u-smash

Glide toss forward to grab

Glide toss forward to short hop fairs

Grab release to d-tilt and, if tripping occurs, another grab

Edgehog to getup attack on characters that will land by the stage (it knocks them back off the stage)

U-throw to falling u-air

Spot dodge d-smash

Spot dodge u-tilt

Spot dodge double jab
 

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
Character Matchups

Most people have difficulty levels in their guides and I approve of that; I do not approve of 6/10 compared to 7/10 for difficulty ranking. That's stupid. The metagame will constantly evolve, but whether a match is easy, average, or hard will not unless some serious changes are made. The balance of power in a matchup might change slightly... but not much without the discovery of a chaingrab, new AT, or other such thing. So... you can read "this match is average" and know that while it may be less in ROB's favor than other 'average" matches, they all fit the same pool.

I've also added "appearance" levels. I can't tell you the appearance rate for your region, but I can tell you what iwll be around overall. This will help you learn what you really need to study up on if you want to consistently place well in a tournament.

I've also separated the matchup into four categories:
Returning To The Stage
Edgeguarding
Approaching
Defending

Or READ for short. These are basically the four components of every matchup; I'm not going to go over "you can d-tilt out of a grab release" or what to do out of a grab or spot dodge. You're all big robots and you can do that yourself. I'm just trying to get you to a place where your rudimentary knowledge of the character can be implemented in an effecient manner without having to worry about telegraphic your moves.

Difficulty levels:
Easy- You should win this match and not lose unless your opponent knows things you don't or you are horribly unfamiliar with the matchup. Or just plain bad at the game.
Average - Your character choices mean little when compared to your actual skill level.
Hard- This is an uphill battle and can be considered a counter except at the highest level of play, in which case it will only be slightly less difficult.

Appearance:
Common- You'll almost inevitably have one of these at your tournament
Uncommon - These are generally the "middle tier" character zealots; you'll have a few of these every now and then.
Rare - You might just have to travel out of state for this one, seeing as how you'll only find one or two that main this character.


Yoshi


Difficulty: Easy
Appearance: Rare


I start with Yoshi because it is a simple matchup.

Returning

Easy stuff. Yoshi can cause some trouble with his eggs while you are returning, but this is a double-edged sword for Yoshi since you can actually take a hit and gain a lot of height out of it. Use this to save fuel if you're running low for some reason.

Yoshi will rarely jump out to edgeguard if he's smart; if he does, it will almost inevitably be in a C shape due to him jumping out and DIing towards the stage near the peak of his jump to keep him safe. This doesn't keep him safe. Hit him with a fair and just trade hits with whatever weak attack he throws out (his own fair is too laggy to use against you; if he tries it, call him on it).

This basically means Yoshi can only hurt you when you are on or above the stage, making this one of the easiest matchups in terms of surviving. The only exception is his incredibly powerful u-air, which is much faster than we'd like. When you are above the stage, it is highly recommended that you try to go off the stage and back to the ledge or be very well prepared to dodge his u-air. A good Yoshi will find a way to hit you with his u-air; because of his floaty second jump, he can literally jump inside you and wait for you to air dodge and then u-air you. If you're not careful, he'll pop you back up in the air with an egg. Dangerous.

If you're having trouble above the stage, bair off the side and then grab the edge.

Edgeguarding

Fair is your friend. It knocks him out of his second jump and allows you to combo him off the stage. D-tilt will ALSO knock him out of his second jump. Timing is everything, so you need to practice it a bit, but this is one of the easier edgeguarding situations out there. A lot of Yoshi players will stall by the ledge with his up+b, trying to hit you OFF the ledge so they can grab it. Just stay on the ledge and don't roll. Often, Yoshi's won't be able to hit you off. If they do, so what? You take a bit of damage. It is worth the risk to just stay on the edge and suck every second out of that invincibility.

Approaching

Yoshi has a HORRIBLE shield. Horrible. He can't jump out of it or do much out of it worth saying at all. This means you can space a nair or fair easily when approaching. Yoshi also has ZERO forward approach, so you can approach with bairs. They auto space away from his f-tilt and f-smash, and if he tries to jump forward with an aerial to capitalize on your failed bair, just jump and bair again. Your tilts are better than his, your aerials will beat anything he has standing still, and your nair is going to win out over all his aerials. Rush this dinosaur down all day. If you get shieldgrabbed, you've done something horribly wrong. Don't worry though, his grab game sucks too.

Defending

Yoshi isn't an awful character, but he only has a few things going for him. If he's approaching, it's with his bair 9/10. Shield it, then walk forward. His instinct is going to be to shield, and if he is bad he will do so. Grab him then you're good to go. If he's a good Yoshi and attempts to ward you off with jabs or f-tilts, teach him a lesson by f-tilting him back. Some Yoshi's also think it is cool to nair, and then do a falling u-air, while others love to dair. Just roll and then punish him with lasers or gyro and this won't last long.


Stages to Ban

Green Greens- The small size of the stage allows for him to get very early % kills. His recovery, which is normally what hurts him, isn't an issue here. He can even save his second jump to recover inbetween the two platforms when knocked off the side! Even worse? He can spam with eggs when you can't spam with lasers. His neutral B (turns you into an egg), which is normally useless, can actually be dangerous when used on the center platform. It pops you up and forces you to hover above him or to DI straight into the path of the blocks which very well may be bombs.

Stages to Counterpick

Frigate- The lack of a ledge on the right side of the first transformation, the very real possibility of stage gimps on Yoshi, and your ability to force him to follow you off the stage to the right side (and thus being able to run away to the stage, forcing him to start "recovering" to the stage while you edgeguard)... all of these help tremendously.

Jungle Japes- When Yoshi kills you, he's going to kill you upwards. Jungle Japes solves this problem and basically allows you to attack Yoshi to your heart's content without worrying about an early u-air kill. ROB is just plain old better than Yoshi, so this puts the matchup in your favor. If you can learn when he will jump out of the water, you can gimp his second jump and put him back in; this will often cost him a stock.


Possible secondaries you may want to consider

You shouldn't need any; if you're losing this matchup consistently with ROB against multiple Yoshi's, you just need to get better as a player.

Synopsis
Overall, Yoshi is a very easy matchup you won't run into very often, but when you do you can get some 3 stocks pretty easy if you play effeciently. Play smart, rush him down and force him to panick and jump away, and always edgeguard with fair; as long as you don't trade hits with him too often, he shouldn't really damage you that much.



Snake


Difficulty: Average
Appearance: Common

Returning

Snake, like so many other characters with gimpable recoveries or very situational aerials (Snake has both!), almost universally refuses to leave the stage to edgeguard you. This is good for ROB, as it means he can get to the edge easy. Be careful though! Snake's will rarely leave the stage, but when they do it will almost always be with a bair or nair, both of which are deadly. A simple air dodge would stop it, but you're often in your up+b animation and therefore can't air dodge! To solve this dilemma, try to recover low. This leaves only a bair for Snake as a viable option (no Snake will ever do a reverse nair off the stage and if they do they'll die), and the bair will be easily dodged.

More commonly, Snake will throw a grenade or two while you are returning, or simply charge u-smashes (or spam them). Their goal is to cause chaos and unpredictability, and it often works. Their ultimate goal is to knock you back off the stage with f-tilt, or to knock you out of the park with their u-tilt. They can actually hit you with their u-tilt while you're on the ledge (sometimes stage spiking you!), and this makes the ledge a dangerous place.

If you can, you want to recover to the stage... but this is rarely possible and dangerous, so should generally be avoided unless the Snake player just can't space u-tilts well. So you're going for the ledge, which means you are in danger. This is the only time in the game where Snake really shines in the game against ROB, and this is where most ROBs get destroyed.

When returning, make sure to spam lasers and gyros; if possible, land a gyro on the stage. You can then up+b over said gyro and land on the opposite side. Snake will often dash attack to pick it up, thinking he is clever, but this just gives you more time to land. If you cannot land a gyro on the stage, go for the ledge and assess your options.

If he drops a grenade at the ledge and then does an auto-canceled nair while DIing away from the edge, DROP FROM THE LEDGE AND REGRAB. That is your ONLY option. If you getup attack, the nade will explode. If you jump, roll, or stand up, you will get hit by the nair or knocked back off the stage by the nade's explosion.

If he stands directly by the ledge, your best bet is to jump up and air dodge or to use your getup attack. If you roll, he will turn around and u-tilt you. If you drop off the ledge and fair, he will shield and THEN u-tilt you. Jumping and air dodging is often a viable solution, as they will almost always lose their advantage since you will then be BEHIND them, and they will be facing the ledge. Your getup attack, if shielded, won't leave you safe; however, Snake's rarely shield in this situation. They will often be expecting you to do something evasive, and thus leave you open for a u-tilt.

If he's standing slightly away from the edge and waiting for you to move, he is a good Snake. He is leaving his options open, meaning he can jump and nair you if you jump, f-tilt if you stand up or getup attack or drop off with an aerial, or u-tilt if you roll or try to drop off nair. This is a dangerous position for ROB, but ROB has one thing that Snake does not.

A laser.

Drop off the ledge, jump, and shoot a laser or gyro. Repeat ad infinitum until Snake HAS to move closer so that he can attempt to f-tilt or u-tilt you the next time you try it. From there, react appropriately; getup attack, roll, jump with air dodge... use your imagination. If you don't think he'll shield, drop off and fair.

Some Snake's refuse to move forward and instead pull a grenade like a genius. And by genius I mean idiot. If Snake pulls a grenade, simply get back on the stage. The worst he can do is a few measly % from pelting you with it, and you're back on the stage. You can time the grenade just like he can, and can therefore shield it.

Just remember: at all times, Snake has the advantage when you are on the ledge and he is near you. If he was a computer capable of 1 frame reaction time, he'd win every situation and you'd die frequently. Knowing this, switch it up every now and then. Whatever you do, don't try to drop off the ledge and nair against a good Snake; that guy will u-tilt you straight out of that.



Edgeguarding

Snake can be knocked off his Cypher by any attack that does MORE than 7%. This includes your fair, meaning Snake is incredibly easy to edgeguard. The more stale your fair is, the easier this becomes. Just hit him repeatedly off teh stage, land so you can recharge your fuel, and then hit him back out. Eventually he will have to use his down+b to knock himself back into the air; if he does this, you know exactly where his Cypher is going to go. Up+b above him and then dair, or simply drop down and bair him off the side.

If possible, grab the cypher from him so he falls to his death quickly... but this won't be an option many of the times.

If you do grab him by the edge, don't f-throw him. Let him fall. Stay by the edge and, if he uses his double jump, f-tilt or d-tilt him to stop his momentum, then wait for his up+b. If it's early, grab his cypher. If it is late, dair him or bair him into the stage. Always remember, you want Snake either low and away from the stage, or low and close to the edge. Never high. That means no nair edgeguards unless you're looking to KO or just don't see any other options.

If Snake is careful, he'll down+b and then DI away from the stage, then up+b to recover high. If he does this, hit him with a fully charged gyro as he ascends towards the top to mess with him a bit. A fully charged laser also works.

Inevitably, a good Snake will gain the ability to recover high onto the stage. He will then fall and air dodge when appropriate. If you want to play a risky game, go up with your up and B and try to nair him. You have to bait an air dodge to get this to work, but it is possible. A much safer route (since this won't get you hit with a bair or nair while you're trying to bait an air dodge) is to stand under him, following his DI.... and simply u-tilt. This will pop him back up into the air, and often will set him up for more dangerous attacks like nair, fair, or u-air. ROB's u-tilt DESTROYS Snake from below. If he air dodges it, grab him when he lands or simply repeat your u-tilts until he's popped back up into the air.

Approaching

Yeah.... Approaching. You don't need to, really. He has to approach you. Laser, gyro, do that all day and all he can do is walk forward and shield.

But, being aggressive against Snake (especially at low %) can be a good thing and lead to gimps. We like gimps here.

Snake likes to shield and then follow it up with an f-tilt or, if you are at a high %, a u-tilt. They're creative like that. Abuse this by simply walking up and f-tilting their shield. If they try to f-tilt out of it, you can f-tilt them before they hit you if your spacing is right. Or, if you feel your spacing is off, just shield and then f-tilt him out of his f-tilt. This really throws a wrench in Snake's plan.

Another excellent approach is to space a nair and follow it up with a d-tilt. Many Snake players remove their shield after the nair expecting to f-tilt only to get hit with the d-tilt, and then once they get hit with the d-tilt they often trip, leading to a free grab by ROB.

Gyro canceled bairs are a great way to pressure Snake; they rarely do anything to him, but many Snake's panic after shielding one or two of these and then attempt to "do something" rather than react to what you do. ROB enjoys it when Snake takes the initiative.

Defending

You won't have to worry about this much. If Snake is approaching, it is with an auto-canceled nair (roll behind him early and f-tilt, or shield) followed by an f-tilt (shield), or he simply walks up and f-tilts (shield). Some Snake's like to throw timed grenades. This doesn't work against ROB. Just shoot lasers and gyros, your lasers make him drop his grenades and sometimes make them explode.

At early levels of play, a Snake doing the mortar slide seems dangerous and scary. It isn't. Just shield, then punish with a laser or gyro.

If you have a gyro in your hand, don't worry about glide tossing much. Instead, just short hop away from him and laser; when you feel there is an opening, throw the gyro and then catch it again. Since Snake rarely goes into the air, this turns his approach into a crawl.

Stages to Ban

Battlefield- This stage makes you cry because he u-tilts you through those platforms all day. It also is bad because it gives him a top platform to recover onto, which makes him pretty safe. The small size is bad for projectile spam too.


Brinstar- "But this isn't a good stage for Snake at all! No one picks that!" you say? Bull****. This is one of Snake's better stages; it hurts his ability to do auto-canceled nairs and his mortar slide. The two things noob snake's do a lot. What this DOES do is royally screw up ROB's ability to edgeguard, removes ROB's gyro from the game (if it hits the lava, it bounces up and down for minutes at a time), prevents ROB from spamming projectiles (the gyro also bounces off the connectors), and is incredibly small. It gets even smaller when the lava appears, meaning ROB can't space himself well while Snake can literally f-tilt or u-tilt you off a platform no matter where you are shielding on it. Snake can also go THROUGH the stage to recover; this gives him many incredible recovery options, all of which are helped by the fact that he can hit the lava and regain his up+b. Snake can also drop grenades on the slant and watch them roll towards you.

Your best bet on Brinstar is to destroy the connector and then camp on one side, forcing Snake to make an aerial approach. A good Snake won't let you do that and, if it happens, will simply wait on the ledge of shield until it comes back together.

Corneria- The low, low ceiling near the fin, the ability for Snake to spam grenades and nikita (when you can't spam him!) from the right side, and Snake's f-tilt becoming a kill move even when stale... it's just not a good stage for ROB. This is a stage that forces you to continually approach Snake in a bad manner, so avoid it if possible.

Stages to Counterpick

Frigate- No ledge on the right side of the first transformation = easy cypher grab. The plats on the second transformation allow you to camp over there, forcing Snake to make an aerial approach. That's fantastic for you!

Jungle Japes- Camping on the left or right side means Snake has to either throw grenades at you (this won't work, just be patient and time his grenades) or approach you with an aerial. We all konw how well THAT works out for Snake. This also prevents his u-tilt from being an early kill move. Since his f-tilt is his standard damage dealer, this turns Snake into a pansy.

Luigi's Mansion- Some early Snake players thought this was an excellent Snake stage. They were dumb. You can spam your laser all day here, and Snake has ZERO kill moves if you DI properly. Since you can still edgeguard him (he can't edgeguard you; recover high and land on the top!), this means you can kill him much faster than he can kill you. Score!

Possible secondaries you may want to consider

Pikachu. Snake generally can't beat ROB in a set, but he's not a complete pushover. If he takes you to a crazy stage like Corneria or Brinstar, a much more versatile character like Pikachu could be a good bet. Chain throw him off the side, edgeguard with Thunder (Snake HAS to cypher through it if you time it correctly), and yet another spammable projectile. Too good.

Synopsis

ROB is a Snake eater. He has the advantage on the majority of stages and has a much, much, MUCH deeper game than Snake does. Snake has a powerful, but shallow, set of strategies. I doubt this will change in the future. Once you know how to play against one good Snake, you know how to play against almost all of them. Just play smart and DON'T get f-tilted. Also, you **** well need to be DIing out of Snake's nair.

Falco


Difficulty: Easy
Appearance: Uncommon

Returning

When returning to the stage, know that Falco can't really go off the edge to hurt you with anything other than bair or dair. His u-air is possible, but unlikely unless you leave yourself wide open, so let's stick to the other two.

His dair, if used correctly, will kill you. However, this is incredibly easy to see coming and he only has two trajectories that he can use the dair, and there is a high chance of suicide.

His bair can be deadly, so be careful. Your best bet is to time a nair so that it ends when you get close to the edge, then allowing you to grab it. This will outprioritize his bair.

Most Falco players don't leave the stage to edgeguard though, not when there is opposition. Most will simply spam lasers and wait for you to get back to the stage where they will often attempt to throw out a smash attack to catch you out of the stun.

Laser's don't do much damage, but there's no since in taking it unnecessarily. When recovering, do an up+b + bair, then DI towards the stage and air dodge through the lasers. This also allows you to air dodge through a bair, since you aren't using your up+b, AND it saves your fuel. Falco won't be doing much when you're off the stage.

If you're feeling particularly ballsy, shoot him with lasers as you are returning; Falco is very easy to hit if he's lasering himself.

Edgeguarding

Bair is your friend. This is the move you want to hit with 100% of the time. He's up+bing? Bair. Over-bing? Bair and, if it doesn't hit him out of it, grab and throw him off the stage. After all, the bair spaces you to near where he will be anyway.

Fair also works, but only at low % or when it is degenerated. Your main goal with fair is to hit him low enough so he HAS to up+b, and then you just follow him with your up+b until you can hit him with a fair or dair him out of his firebird.

Your gyro is a great tool when fully charged; if he's using his over-b, just shoot a fully charged gyro and you get a free 20% and an edgeguarding opportunity. Your laser is also great for hitting them JUST below the ledge, forcing them to up+b; it also hits them out of their up+b to give you that extra time you need.

Edgeguarding this bird is super easy, and just takes some minor reading of your opponent. Just know that when they can, they'll over-b to the stage or the ledge. As long as you prevent them from over-bing to the stage (without you standing there waiting to grab them or smash them), this edgeguarding game can go on all day. It's always nice to b-throw Falco at 0% and get frustrated at how you can't seem to KO this bird... only to see him finally get back to the stage with 80% of damage taken from that edgeguarding game.

My personal philosophy when edgeguarding is to deal damage, not to KO; the KO will come naturally when the opportunity arises, and if it doesn't you've dealt a ton of damage.

Approaching

First off, don't do it. Grab the ledge and make him come to you. There are literally ZERO options he has that are safe; use this to your advantage. Wait for him to get close, then do whatever you feel like. He can't chain grab you for much damage here (and as if his spike would kill you) since you are so close to the edge, he can't kill you with a smash (he can degenerate them though) if you are at low %, and the entire time he is in grave danger. Just grab the ledge.

For those more aggressively inclined....

Charging your gyro is essential. Falco doesn't have a lot of laggy things, and those he has he doesn't do; that means you need to be able to capitalize in an instant, often from far range. A fully charged gyro does just that. So make sure you have it!

It also adds a little depth to the game, since Falco is waiting to throw out his shine at all times now... if he does, you get a free grab or smash or dash attack.

Jumping is a good way to get near him... a full hopped falling nair to d-tilt will often push Falco towards the edge (literally) and turn it into an edgeguarding game. Your f-tilt, if you are close enough, wrecks havoc on anything Falco can do to you. If a Falco is dashing towards you... F-tilt him in the face.

Gyro-canceled bairs, if you can get them off between lasers, is an unpunishable approach. It doesn't really DO much since he can just shield, but it forces him to come to you in close quarters if you just repeatedly do so. His only other option is to do standing laser (doesn't work) or run away (start the game over again). I wouldn't recommended doing the gyro-canceled bairs very often... but if you're ever in a pinch, just do it on loop until you get your nerves back.

Defending

Falco has two main things against you in this matchup: laser and d-throw.

His laser is more annoying than anything... it is easily dodged by shielding. If you have trouble with this, just spot dodge once and hold down the shield button and you should auto-powershield it.

His d-throw does a lot more damage and can be pretty violent. To avoid this being a large part of the match, simply stay with your back near the edge. When you have his back to the edge, roll behind him. He will often go for the grab anyway, allowing you to throw him off the ledge if he makes a mistake.

Other than that, you don't have much to worry about! His jab can be deadly, but your f-tilt prevents him from using that. His aerials all pretty much suck when compared to yours, and his smash attacks, while good, are easily punishable. Just worry about lasers and d-throw, and the rest becomes pretty easy. It is rare that Falco doesn't do something cool out of a laser or d-throw... which means he has trouble setting up attacks otherwise.

Stages to Ban

Final Destination- This isn't an awful stage, but it gives him a lot of room to manuever his lasers. Just an irritation, and something you could consider.

Smashville- Again, not an awful stage... but this does give him more options during recovery on a consistent basis. That's a bad thing.

Jungle Japes- Japes is a good stage for you, but an excellent stage for Falco. He still has over-b tricksies here, his lasers are perfect for this stage, and if he grabs you anywhere he can dair you into the water. Depending on where that is, that could be death by water or klap trap. Not a good thing for you. This becomes a game of dying off the bottom at ridiculously low %, and ROB likes to survive.

Stages to Counterpick

Frigate- As with most poor recoveries, the ability to throw them off the right side and have no ledge for them on the first transformation is just too perfect. If you get Falco below the stage here with a laser or gyro, he's dead and there is nothing he can do. One bair will often do the trick... and then it's jsut a matter of tapping him away from the stage with your fairs and lasers.

Luigi's Mansion- The pillars completely prevent Falco's lasers, but not yours (which you can angle to prevent from being reflected back at you). You also live forever here while Falco, who is viciously edgeguarded, dies at lower % as per normal. This is a good thing.

Port Town- Okay, this is normally banned... but in the SBR ruleset it is able to be put in the CP category so it goes here because it is almost a perfect Falco counter. The transformations in the stage prevent Falco from "setting up" with his lasers, the cars kill him at low % because he is so light while you survive much longer, and there are no edges on many of the segments of the stage! That means you can literally stand on the platform, wait for him to recover, then throw him off and repeat!

Possible secondaries you may want to consider

None. ROB owns this matchup.

Synopsis

Falco's a shallow bird with some good qualities. Recognize his good qualities, fear them, and then eradicate them from his arsenal through smart play and you've got nothing more than a lightweight with poor aerials and decent smash attacks that can be edgeguarded easily at any %.

Ice Climbers



Difficulty: Easy
Appearance: Rare

Returning

The Ice Climbers, should they leave the stage, have very few options. They can do a fair (plenty of startup lag allowing you to air dodge), a u-air of you are above them, or can do a reverse up+b to hit you with nana. The two dangerous ones, nanapulting and fair, are easy to see coming. Air dodge and get back on the stage. The u-air isn't gonna do crap and you can get around that by recovering low or very high.

If possible, you want to recover high and land on a platform. The ICs literally have only the u-air as a potential danger, and it is awful at shield poking, dealing damage, and KOing. You're basically safe if you are on a platform.

Most ICs, instead of leaving the stage, simply stay and wait. Oftentimes, they will be using desynching to have Nana grab the ledge and Popo do a smash attack. This is not hard to get around; just hover below Nana and nair, then up+b to the ledge when she gets up or gets knocked off. Or, as I said earlier, just recover high.

The biggest thing you need to worry about, as always, is getting grabbed. If you're landing on the ground and they are running at you, you best be ending this iwth a bair to space yourself. If you can't, all you can do is spot dodge and/or d-smash and hope for the best; don't let that happen.

Edgeguarding

When people say "do you practice against computers", we laugh because computers are so easy and predictable. Nana is a computer. She cannot see you, but merely reacts, never learning. That means if it works once, it'll work forever. Remember it.

Basically, you want a fully charged gyro. You want to laser them when you can and attempt to make them waste their jump. If they have wasted their jump, you can simply gyro them to force them to up+b or over-b while vulnerable. At this point, do NOT go for a kill on popo. Kill nana, and then worry about the near defenseless popo.

You don't really want to go out there to hit them, you have better options with your gyro and laser. If you don't have that option, focus on bairs. A nair will just allow them to DI closer to the stage and recover more safely. Your goal is to make them up+b or over-b in such a way that makes Nana vulnerable.

Approaching

Don't. Just laser and gyro. If you want to do something else, stand on a platform. Wait for them to be at such a high percent that a single attack will knock them off the stage.

Other acceptable forms of approach involve f-tilting and then jumping away (running = trip = grab; jump away instead), or doing a well spaced nair and then jumping away. There is no risk needed in this matchup.

ICs can do very little to you when you are on the ledge, so get on the ledge and just ledge hop nair, fair, laser, or gyro to regrab. One grab and you could be in serious trouble... so don't risk it.

Defending

If they can't grab you, you're good to go.

If they do grab you, mash buttons fast. If they try to do that goofy d-throw to fair chain grab, smash DI the fair behind them to mess them up. If they do the ice blocks across the stage, try to get a roll off. If you can't, smash DI the ice blocks until you get to the ledge to end it.

Just make sure you don't act too quickly and don't get in their bair range; they don't have much that's dangerous to you if you're careful.

Stages to Ban

Final Destination- It's flat.

Smashville- It is also flat. Basically, anything that is flat and non-platform.

Stages to Counterpick

Brinstar- the lava totally messes them up

Frigate- no ledge = knock them off the right side at any % and then hit them back off over and over again.

Lylat Cruise- The ability to nair and u-air through the side of the stage lets you get back on much easier. The tilting also messes up their chain grabs.

Possible secondaries you may want to consider

ROB's got this, but Metaknight with his tornado can really mess them up too.

Synopsis

Basically, you play to prevent them from grabbing you. Stay on the ledge or on platforms, and your first objective is to kill nana. That's all you have to worry about. Past that, it is cakewalk.


Lucario


Difficulty: Average
Appearance: Common

Returning

When returning to the stage, know that if you are ANYWHERE near Lucario, he will hit you. He has a *****in' projectile that will kill you if you are up+bing since you cannot air dodge, and his fair hits above and in front of him. Did I mention that his dair completely takes the ledge out of the equation if he so chooses?

You are at a serious disadvantage when returning. Lucario can rarely KILL you like this, but he can almost always deal a ton of damage. Your best bet is to recover high, very high, and land on the stage with an air dodge or falling nair. If you have to grab the edge, Lucario again has the advantage. His dair out prioritizes your u-air, his jab sets you up for several combos of his and is practically lagless, and one mistake makes you forward smashed to hell. Generally your goal here is to get on the stage or get Lucario off.

If you can, bait him by grabbing the ledge continuously. Most Lucario's think they are clever when they run off and dair several times. They are not. Simply roll or stand up on the stage then edgeguard appropriately. If you cannot bait them off the stage and they simpy spam aura sphere, jabs, tilts, and smashes.... your best bet is a jump off ledge +air dodge or a roll to get behind them and then pray you don't get knocked off the ledge again.

If you want to be risky, you can try a drop off ledge to jumping fast-falled nair followed by a d-tilt, or sometimes a single fastfalled fair. Many Lucarios are VERY shield happy; once they shield, they are able to come out with a jab (which combos into their d-tilt or over-b) or a fair that allows them to dair your shield (that shield pokes often, too).

Edgeguarding

Bair. Plain and simple, bair is how you do it. Set yourself up to fall with him or, if you cannot, hover near the ledge. When he starts his up+b, bair him. Grab ledge or land on stage, repeat.

Fair works, but it sends him up and out so it it much harder to gimp with this unless he is at low % or fair is weakened. Your main goal is to remove his second jump or send him out far enough to force him to up+b, and from there you can bair him. If you can fall ABOVE him, a dair is also possible... but stick to bair.

Many Lucarios will commit the sin of jumping into the ****. You b-throw them off the edge, and they immediately jump forward. Why do so many Lucarios do this? Because their forward air comes out fast and has insane priority; this allows them to safely land on the stage. But them doing this is just plain silly. Angle an f-tilt and then short hop fair in place to knock them back off or, if you prefer, short hop and fully charged gyro or laser. From there, they will have to use their up +b.

If it turns out you have to hit them with your fair to knock them away from the edge and you are facing the wrong way, don't be afraid to shoot a laser to make them fall or do a gyro cancel to face the opposite direction.

While it SOUNDS like Lucario can be super easily gimped from reading the above... he can't. Many Lucario players will end up making it back to the stage no matter how good you are; he has many options and the more damage he takes the more likely he will survive. Luckily for you, once he uses his up+b this is an almost guaranteed 80% or so. From here you can proceed with killing him as per normal. Just be wary of Lucario's at high % and focus on getting him off the stage. Remember, when Lucario is returning he can't combo; on the stage he can.

Approaching

Approaching spike hands mcdougal is difficult. His OOS options are very good, his aerial game is just as good as yours if not better, and if he is at a high % trading hits with him means you are taking more damage than he is. That's bad, especially considering the huge gap that will appear if you are down a stock!

That said, there are three ways you really want to approach Lucario:

F-tilt

Grab

Dash attack

Those 3 are gold in this matchup, and are listed in order of effectiveness. If you f-tilt, Lucario can't really punish you. He can f-smash, but you can f-tilt him before he finishes it. From there, you can follow up with whatever you'd like. Your grab isn't amazing, but it gets him off the stage (which is where you want him).

Your dash attack is good in that it puts Lucario on the defensive. Try to push him in the direction you want and don't attempt to punish him unless he makes a mistake with an aerial or hits the ground. U-tilting Lucario makes it look like he is ready for a u-air, but to Lucario it looks like you're ready for a face full of down-air.

Defending

Again, don't attempt to punish Lucario unless you KNOW he is open or your move outranges him. F-tilt, nair, bair, u-smash, things like that. Hitting him with u-air or fair is a good way to get hit back.

When he's approaching you, they standard approaches are fair to nair, landing behind you, then short hop dairing or just turning around and jabbing. They also will frequenlty full hop fair to repeated dairs on your shield. These WILL shield poke, so be careful.

His aura sphere spam is also incredibly powerful, especially at high %. These can deal 12% when spammed!!! Don't try to challenge it. Shield, walk forward, shield, walk forward, and be ready to f-tilt. Alternatively, you can jump and laser; Lucario telegraphs his aura sphere, so moving to plats to angle lasers at him works well. Just be sure not to trade hits with your laser and his sphere.

Two tricks with your projectiles against him is to shoot a fully charged gyro; it will often go through the aura spheres or simply destroy it and bounce back towards you depending on the level of his charge. If it bounces back, this gives you an opportunity to glide toss in the near future! The other trick is to simply powershield for 20 seconds, then trade hits. You shoot a fully charged laser, he shoots an aura sphere; you'll both take near the same damage, but he's off the stage!

When he's jabbing you, you either want to DI towards him and mash jump to footstool (if you can react fast enough, dair) or just DI away. Most Lucarios jab jab over-b or d-tilt, both of which are laggy enough to punish if you DI away from his jabs far enough to make him miss.

Stages to Ban

Norfair - While not inherently a good Lucario stage, his ability to survive here when edgeguarded makes one of ROB's biggest strenghts disappear. Add to that the new emphasis on aerial games and Lucario has himself a nice place against ROB.

Green Hill Zone- this may be a local thing, but Bloodhawk has taken me here and he is able to spam aura sphere ALL DAY here. Not only that, but there is no edgeguarding! Super hard to do anything worthwhile against Lucario here, and he can easily KO you in any direction.

Stages to Counterpick

Luigi's Mansion- "But OS, he lives forever here!" Yeah, I know. You can prevent this by destroying the house when you please, but the main point of this stage against Lucario is that he can spam aura sphere through the pillars while you can laser AND his aerial game is hurt. The ceiling is low enough to where a fair to dair from him leaves him open for a grab or tilt many times. Did I also mention that most of the fighting will take place near the edges of the stage, meaning you'll have ample opportunity to edgeguard him?

Frigate- The lack of a ledge on the right side of the first transformation = easy gimps. You can actually edgeguard with d-tilt here!

Corneria- Camping by the fin gives you opportunity for an infinite, that's great, but the big thing is that everyone dies sooner here. This means that Lucario won't get his % boost as he normally does. Plus, you can have f-throw/b-throw to f-smash combos here and those are sexy.

Possible secondaries you may want to consider

ROB should work well enough for this matchup.

Synopsis

Lucario has the advantage in the beginning of conflict, and is at a disadvantage at the end. That is the basic summary of this matchup. Let Lucario think he is in control and be patient, then you'll get your chance and he will be defenseless.

Bowser


Difficulty: Average
Appearance: Rare

Returning

Returning to the stage against Bowser, whether from above or below, is a single exchange 90% of the time. Bowser will throw out a single move, and ROB will either get hit or dodge it. This is a little good, little bad... Bowser players rarely put themselves in danger, and when they do it is often a huge surprise. Don't underestimate Bowser's fair speed, and ALWAYS be wary of Bowser's up-air; it'll kill you incredibly fast. Some Bowser players will jump out with the over-b, but that is a rarity (and really not that effective).

You generally want to recover low, as not only does this prevent Bowser from using his all-powerful u-air, but it means he has to fall off the edge and fair you if he wants to hit you with something powerful! Bowser will rarely attempt to bair you into the stage due to the high probability of that being a suicide move, so you generally only have to worry about his fair. This means that Bowser only really has ONE small area he can fair! Go past that, then go underneath and grab the edge. Ta da! It makes Bowser's job a lot harder if you can do this. You also might want to keep in mind that he has no attacks that hit up and to the right in the air, so you can do a falling nair towards him followed by an air dodge to gain some serious ground! I generally try to recovery in this manner unless I am near the stage and therefore am able to be liberal with my fuel; in that case I go under.

Edgeguarding

Kill Bowser's momentum, kill Bowser.

Probably the best way to go about things is to laser and gyro him until he is in position where you can bair him (REALLY easy) out of a gyro cancel or simply dair him out of his up+b. If you can, fully charge that laser and it'll kill him for sure! His trajectory is so transparent it is ridiculous.

Approaching

Bowser has great defense options; his short hop fair auto-cancels and has great range, his up+b and u-smash out of shield are dangerous, his shield grab leads to GREAT setups... he's dangerous.

When you do approach him, you generally want him to shield. When he does, BACK OFF. Space a fair or nair or do nothing. When you land, f-tilt him or grab him. This series of events will prevent Bowser from liberally using his shield and will open up your offensive options in the future.

Bowser also has NO WAY to deal with the two following things effectively:

Throwing the gyro as an item.
Bair.

Bowser has nothing but defensive options in these cases. He can attempt to catch the gyro with an aerial (leaving him open both during the move and after he has it because his item throwing sucks) and can run away from your bair... but that's about it. Maybe if he knows you are going to do it he could firebreath in advance, but even that leaves him open.

So, SPAM BAIR AND THROWING GYROS. Whenever you can, shoot a weak gyro and then grab it. This makes your life a TON easier in this matchup. If he ever gets too close, just throw out those bairs and he'll forced to take it easy.

Defending

Bowser's approach is often a grab or a short hopped auto-canceled fair. Knowing this, most players counter everything he can do by doing a retreating short hop aerial and then shielding if he up+bs out of shield and punishing him afterwards.

Because of this, Bowser rarely approaches. Oftentimes, his "aggressive" attacks are merely mistakes in YOUR approach. You land a bit too close and he f-tilts, or he calls you on something and does a smash attack... He rarely does anything worthwhile on his own. Being reactionary against Bowser works wonders.

Stages to Ban

Battlefield.

Ban it. He can destroy you with his u-air, u-smash, and even over-b here. Not only that, but his recovery works well on this stage!

Stages to Counterpick

Frigate Orpheon - the inability for him to approach on the second transformation, and the lack of ledge on the right side of 1rst transformation make this stage dangerous

Luigi's Mansion- You can force him to approach here and, well, his approach sucks. Just be careful where you stand; if he gets an early KO on you, you are toast.

Jungle Japes- His poor aerial approach and poor vertical recovery here allow you to really mess with him. Add in that his vertical KO ability

Possible secondaries you may want to consider

Dedede- His ability to grab and destroy Bowser with his infinite standing grab makes this matchup a cakewalk.

Synopsis

Bowser is a tough opponent, but a transparent one. Most Bowser players play extremely similar and very safe, and the more you convince them to take risks the more the odds are in your favor. You have to be careful though; a single mistake on your part can be a ton of damage! Focus on reading your opponent and spamming projectiles and bair and Bowser will be forced to take risks, and then the advantage is with you.



For Overswarm's own sanity:
Difficulty:
Appearance:
Returning
Edgeguarding
Approaching
Defending
Stages to Ban
Stages to Counterpick
Possible secondaries you may want to consider
Synopsis
 

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
Drift2King is going to chew on rabbit bones until his gums can't take anymore

ROB's primary weakness is that he has trouble getting KOs that are not in the form of edgeguarding. A second weakness, one rarely talked about, is that ROB's moves are generally useful for one thing and one thing only. His nair CAN be a damage builder and a move used to approach... but it is better used as a kill move. His d-smash can be a kill move, but it is better used as a "get away" move after a spot dodge.

Unfortuantely, this moves are also REALLY good at certain situations. Falling to the stage or returning? A nair can be great. Did your opponent do an aerial into your spot dodge? You're going to d-smash, even if a grab or jab would be better. You have to prevent yourself from falling into these bad habits; not only will it set you apart from other ROB mains, it will also help improve your game.


To improve ROB's overall performance in tournament play, I invited some of the best ROB players out there to a group to discuss an idea I had. The good news is, the strategy works; it turned 2 stocks into 3 stocks, and made several matchups easy. This also is a boon to anyone that goes into tournament and plays a character for the first time (such as those rare Bowsers, Yoshis, and whatnot) as well as someone who simply wants to use ROB as a secondary and needs an outline of what to do.

So, here is the skeleton of the strategy for you:

When your opponent is at 0-60%:

Focus on weaker, combo-oriented moves and damage dealers. You do NOT want to throw your opponent far away. Keep up the pressure! Your tilts, u-air, fair, dash attack, and to a lesser extent your grab (grab release to d-tilt really helps on some matchups) should be your focus.

When your opponent is from 60-100%:

You can no longer combo them and stlil cannot yet KO them without a lucky u-smash. Instead, focus on shooting gyros and lasers. When your opponent gets inside, get them away with a d-smash, throw, or f-tilt, and then continue to spam. Do not follow under any circumstances, but instead run away and camp. If you have the ability to, grab and hold a gyro; remember you can do aerials out of your up+b while holding the gyro.

When your opponent is at 100%+:

Your opponent can now be KO'd fairly easily. Since your KO moves should be recharged or even unused, you have many more options than we previously had. Abusing the nair or d-smash for damage dealing and combos in the past left us without a KO move in particular at the end.... we generally had to hope for a dair, bair, or u-smash and this was rarely in our control.


In summary:

Combo, Spam projectiles, KO moves.


It's very important to keep this in mind! Using your nair early weakens it! Save that move, as it is ROB's only KO move that is mobile.


Exceptions

There are obvious exceptions to this strategy. First of all, this strategy doesn't work very well on heavy characters. They can survive much longer than 100% on average, so it makes it much more difficult to use this; it is wiser to attempt to gimp or edgeguard them when possible. Unfortunately, this also doesn't work against Metaknight. Yes, that's right, the character that is beating ROB left and right is immune. You can' effectively combo him at all due to his ability to break out with a plethora of moves (including the tornado), and camping him doesn't work well since he can cover the ground of FD in the time you can shoot a laser.

Another exception is when you are at high percentages. Nair is a great move, but you want to save it for a KO move. Chances are, if you are at 120%, you aren't going to live much longer. So use that nair whenever you want! Once you die it won't effect you, and the nair can be a good move to throw out there.

Sudai made a pretty accurate list concerning this strategy shown below; use it as a reference sheet, if you will. The ? sections are characters that we are unfamiliar with or just aren't sure how the strategy would work against them, so feel free to tell us what you think.



Sudai said:
I made this! Keep in mind that these are general percent ranges so these can change depending on your stage and position.
Code:
Character:..............0%-35%..........- 35%-70%........- 70-110%.......- 110%-135%.....- 135%-150%

Bowser:.................Combo...........- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Camp/Poke.....- Kill
Captain Falcon:.........Combo/Gimp......- Camp/Poke/Gimp - Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Charizard:..............Combo...........- Combo/Camp.....- Camp..........- Camp..........- Kill
Diddy Kong:.............Combo...........- Camp...........- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Donkey Kong:............Combo...........- Combo..........- Camp..........- Camp..........- Kill
Falco:..................Combo/Gimp......- Ledge Camp.....- Ledge Camp....- Kill..........- Kill
Fox:....................Combo/Gimp......- Combo/Gimp.....- Poke..........- Kill..........- Kill
Game And Watch:.........Combo...........- Poke...........- Poke..........- Kill..........- Kill
Ganondorf:..............Combo/Gimp	- Camp/Poke/Gimp - Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Ice Climbers:...........Split and gimp..- Camp/poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Ike:....................Combo/Gimp......- Combo/Gimp.....- Camp..........- Kill..........- Kill
Ivysaur:................Combo/Gimp......- Camp/Gimp......- Camp/Gimp.....- Kill..........- Kill
JigglyPuff:.............Poke/Camp.......- Poke/Camp......- Kill..........- Kill..........- Kill
King Dedede:............Camp/Combo......- Camp...........- Camp..........- Camp/Kill.....- Kill
Kirby:..................Combo/Poke......- Poke/Camp......- Poke/Kill.....- Kill..........- Kill
Link:...................Combo/Gimp......- Camp/gimp......- Camp..........- Kill..........- Kill
Lucario:................Camp/Poke/Gimp..- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Lucas:..................Combo/Gimp......- Poke/Gimp......- Poke/Gimp.....- Kill/Gimp.....- Kill
Luigi:..................Camp/Poke.......- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke/Gimp- Kill..........- Kill
Mario:..................Combo/Poke......- Combo/Poke.....- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Marth:..................Combo/Gimp......- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Meta Knight:............???.............- ???............- ???...........- Kill..........- Kill
Ness:...................Combo/Gimp......- Poke/Gimp......- Poke/Gimp.....- Kill..........- Kill
Olimar:.................Combo/Gimp......- Camp/Gimp......- Camp/Poke/Gimp- Kill/Gimp.....- Kill/Gimp
Peach:..................???.............- ???............- ???...........- Kill..........- Kill
Pikachu:................Combo...........- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Pit:....................Combo/Gimp......- ???............- ???...........- Kill..........- Kill
R.O.B.:.................Combo...........- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Samus:..................???.............- ???............- ???...........- ???...........- Kill
SheiK:..................Combo...........- ???............- ???...........- ???...........- Kill
Snake:..................Combo/Camp/Gimp.- Combo/Camp.....- Camp..........- Camp..........- Kill
Sonic:..................???.............- ???............- ???...........- Kill..........- Kill
Squirtle:...............Combo/Poke......- Poke...........- Poke..........- Kill..........- Kill
Toon Link:..............Combo/Camp......- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Kill..........- Kill
Wario:..................Combo/Camp......- Camp/Poke......- Camp/Poke.....- Camp/Kill.....- Kill
Wolf:...................Combo/Gimp......- Combo/Gimp.....- Poke..........- Poke/Kill.....- Kill
Yoshi:..................Combo/Camp......- Camp...........- Camp..........- Camp/Kill.....- Kill
Zelda:..................Combo...........- Poke...........- Poke..........- Kill..........- Kill
ZSS:....................???.............- ???............- ???...........- ???...........- ???




ROB Room members that helped:
General Strategy Testers and Contributors:
-Ch0zen0ne
-chckn
-Hey_Its_Nacker
-HugS
-JCaesar007
-MachinegunNorm
-omegawhitemage
-Overswarm
-SamuraiPanda
-Sudai
-toasty
 

Morrigan

/!\<br>\¡/
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
18,681
(can I post or you need to reserve more posts? D: )

Nice guide OS, some images won't hurt ;)
 

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
(can I post or you need to reserve more posts? D: )

Nice guide OS, some images won't hurt ;)
Robots need none of that tomfoolery.

I'll prolly be using those tiny sprite heads later for the character matchup pages. Can anyone find those for me? >_>
 

waks

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
281
By the looks of the moveset alone, the guide looks promising. Looking forward to it :)
 

JCaesar

Smash Hero
Joined
May 28, 2004
Messages
9,657
Location
Project MD
NNID
JCaesar
You forgot jab and Nair in your moveset. Also, there's some very helpful info here. I hope all the newbies read this.
 

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
You forgot jab and Nair in your moveset. Also, there's some very helpful info here. I hope all the newbies read this.
*embarrassing*

It was early in the morning :'(

/johns


Fixin' that now, working on this again on monday
 

Wolydarg

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 12, 2008
Messages
244
Location
Cypress, CA
Can you also mention Uair's use as anti-spike? It's always a bit offsetting whenever I see someone get dair spiked in a ROB ditto. To my knowledge there aren't many spikes that both outrange and are faster than ROB's uair.

Or is completely avoiding a situation where you can be spiked superior?

Anyways, it's shaping up to be a great guide, keep it up.
 

Sudai

Stuff here
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Messages
7,026
Location
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
I don't think avoiding a spike position would be superior. I find myself putting myself in those situations some times hoping that people will try to spike me just to get the UAir damage in. 20% fresh? Yes please. This isn't the place to talk about that kind of stuff though. XP

I'm liking the guide so far, OS. Also, DThrow does -not- have set-knockback. The growth rate for its knockback is just really small.
 

TechnoMonster

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 9, 2008
Messages
836
You should note that powerful/disjointed attacks can out prioritize F-tilts extended hitbox instead of clanging and hit your arm from a huge distance.

Half circle down for "Hadouken".

There is surprisingly not a lot of info in this guide, but its good.
 

Cubone

Smash Lord
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
1,917
Location
Clarksville, TN
NNID
Cubone
I can't wait for the character match ups.
Me either, always a useful thing to have :p

Overall it seems pretty good so far, can't wait to see what its like once you finish it.

Oh one thing that might be useful for people also are the kill %'s for the moves. Most guides tend to have those also. :)
 

Sudai

Stuff here
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Messages
7,026
Location
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The problem (I see) with adding kill percents is that it's only probably to list kill percents for a fresh attack. Chances are, ROB's "kill" moves aren't going to be fresh (save for UThrow and USmash.).
 

soloSHADOWROB

Smash Journeyman
Joined
May 13, 2008
Messages
299
OS no one really uses this but ROB's Neutral-A comes out very quick, so if you stand next to the ledge and time it just right on an opponent trying to get back up onto the stage the Jab will come out faster then their move, once you hit them you can lead up to a Grab, F-Smash, F-Air, or F-Tilt.
 

MiraiGen

Smash Ace
Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
710
I'm enjoying it so far.

I have a breakdown of the Gyro if it helps - located here.

Looking forward to final version.
 

Cat Fight

Smash Lord
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,425
Location
Bloomfield, NJ
NNID
NoGoodEndings
Johnny Five, nice. ;"}

EDIT: Oh, and nice guide OS. I needed an easy read up on some ROB info seeing as how I got ***** by PC's way back when because of lack of knowledge. Need to find a way to counter 'em.
 

Crizthakidd

Smash Champion
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
2,619
Location
NJ
thanks. these concepts help my rob game. robs a good char that requires much patience and can be very aggresive or defensive
 

DtJ Glyphmoney

Summoned from a trading card
BRoomer
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
8,559
NNID
Tip_Tappers
3DS FC
1032-1228-5523
I will sacrifice a goat to you when you finish the soulcrushing section. Seriously, that is my favorite thing on all of SWF.
 

J-Money

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 9, 2008
Messages
123
Location
B-H20
Can you also mention Uair's use as anti-spike? It's always a bit offsetting whenever I see someone get dair spiked in a ROB ditto. To my knowledge there aren't many spikes that both outrange and are faster than ROB's uair.

Or is completely avoiding a situation where you can be spiked superior?

Anyways, it's shaping up to be a great guide, keep it up.
talk about how if it wasn't for upair i would spike you all day with ness
 

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
Decent size update, you filthy cretins.

Also, M3D made an abridged ROB guide that I decided to throw in here.
 

Sudai

Stuff here
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Messages
7,026
Location
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The long awaited soul crushing topic. I read it 3 times then recited the general rules and strategies of soul crushing aloud.. I suggest everyone do this or something similar to make sure it is ingrained in your head.
 

RedPeppers

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Messages
672
Location
&quot;La La Land&quot;
Soul Crushing was a good section. It may be useful against those who haven't watched "Playing with the Proper Mindset" By Gimpyfish. Anyone who has real game should be pretty much immune to it though.
 

DtJ Glyphmoney

Summoned from a trading card
BRoomer
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
8,559
NNID
Tip_Tappers
3DS FC
1032-1228-5523
The soul crushing segment made me pregnant.

And I'm a guy.



Honestly, thats sh*t to live by.
 

Overswarm

is laughing at you
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
21,181
Soul Crushing was a good section. It may be useful against those who haven't watched "Playing with the Proper Mindset" By Gimpyfish. Anyone who has real game should be pretty much immune to it though.
Don't listen to gimpyfish XD

I have witnessed the Soul Crushing effect at EVERY tournament I have ever been to, bar none, and sometimes in the finals of a tournament. It works on everyone unless they logically think "he's trying to get in my head", which is why I didn't add" trash talking" to that list. Trash talking can crush someone's soul, but it can also light a fire under them and make them determined. We don't want that.
 

Sudai

Stuff here
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Messages
7,026
Location
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Soul crushing works on people that know wtf they're doing.

This one for example:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_video_blog?sid=C688624DE0871AB2&id=E174F203C94C61EA

Cyphus knows whadufux up with this game. 3rd best in the state, was the original "good" doc back in Melee and inspired quite a few of the current top Melee Doc mains. In that fight, he thought he was behind a stock, when he realized he still had his 3rd stock, he started doing better and coming back. It's not quite the same as soul crushing, but it still has the same effect.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom