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Nyani's Competitive Swordfighter Resource [Update: Pikachu]

Iko-Seiko

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
93
Hey there, I'm CT Nyani, Mii Swordfighter main from the NJ/PA/NY Tristate area. I really love this character, and frequently find myself wanting to write down some stuff that I've learned about them, so I'm making this post as a sort of repository for the things I learn through maining this character in a very strong region.

Everything in here will probably be decently opinionated, but since the goal of this is to spread some knowledge, I'll try and make sure it's all applicable.

For reference, I compete with a Guest-sized Mii, using 1332 -OR- 1322 as my set, and am learning 1111 so I can still represent Swordie even when the bad rules are in place.

Key:
1. General Strategy
2. Matchups
3. Special Moves


1. General Strategy

Mii Swordfighter, in my opinion, is the epitome of an "honest" character. They have pretty decent range, pretty decent mobility, and pretty decent frame data, though I definitely wouldn't call them proficient in any of those categories. Very middle of the road, which is honestly just how I like my characters.
Because you don't have frame data like Mario or Shiek, you need to pick your options a little more carefully. This is why my general philosophy with Swordie is patience. Rushing in and throwing things at your opponent's shield is going to get you grabbed and beaten, so don't do it. Swordie also doesn't have great cross-up tools, so you need to pick your opportunities carefully.
One thing Swordie does very well, however, is pressure opponents from below. A floaty airborne opponent is hard pressed to safely land, with Utilt covering a wide range and Uair being an ever-present 16% KO threat.

1a. Neutral

Assuming you've taken a projectile special, Swordie's neutral is pretty solid against most characters. You're going to want to position yourself either level with or below your opponent in neutral, as these angles allow you access to Swordie's most effective neutral tools - Fair, Dtilt, and Utilt.

Be Patient. Swordie is not built for rushdown, or to run circles around your opponent. If you're within the far end of move's range, Dtilt can be pretty safe to throw out, even on shield. Dtilt on shield can be a pretty good way to find out how your opponent reacts to you poking their shield. Do they drop shield and dash to grab you? Do they back off? Do they roll? Try to note those sorts of things. If you find you've thrown out a dtilt on shield and your opponent is close enough to get the shieldgrab, just throw another. A lot of the time your second dtilt will either beat the grab, or cause that weird breakout thing that smash 4 has.
Utilt is a move you'll want to become very familiar with. I personally use it a lot to deal with characters like Fox and Mario who want to approach me with SH Nairs. Utilt flat-out beats them, and juggles pretty well, potentially into a bair or two, or just into airdodge traps. Utilt can also be effective against characters who want to run-up grab frequently. Again, it beats that option and lets you juggle. Really, utilt is one of you best defensive options if you're being rushed down. It covers you in an umbrella of disjointed goodness, and catches a lot of people off guard. Oh, and if you've got them in a utilt juggle at very low%, or if there a fastfaller, you'll usually get more damage if you end the juggle early into a grab than if you continue the juggle til they can doublejump out.
Fair is a tool that I admittedly slept on a lot at first. As I play Swordie more though, I really grow to appreciate it. Fair has pretty good range and hits 3 times in front of you, complimented by relatively short endlag. In neutral, I've found it useful to retreat this move when I feel my opponent is going to advance with a run-up shield, or a dash grab. If they run-up shield, it forces them to stop in place and block the whole move, and if you don't fastfall it, it'll autocancel from a shorthop. Another pretty fun use for fair is to use it as an aggressive shield poke, mixing up how many hits you deliver before landing the move. For example, repeatedly shield poking with just the first hit to condition your opponent to go for the grab after that hit, then mixing it up to allowing the first two hits to connect. Your opponent is used to grabbing after hit 1, so they take hit 2, and you land into the option to go for grab or dtilt. It's worked a few times for me.
The only other Neutral option I want to note that isn't a special is Nair. I find it to be a moderately effective cross-up tool until the opponent catches on. If you jump over your opponent's shield while using this move, it just covers a nice chunk of space with its hitbox and encourages them to either keep their shield up or take 8%. Not the best of things, but it can put in work against some people.

1b. Bread-and-Butters

Swordie is what I like to call a "fake combo character". They have very few actual combos, but they have a lot of really comfortable strings that flow together very well. Here's the ones I find most useful.

Dtilt -> Grab (low%)
Dtilt -> Fair
Fair(land before hit 3) -> Dtilt
Fair(land before hit 3) -> Grab
Jab 1 -> Dtilt
Utilt -> Grab
Dthrow -> Fair (low%)
Dthrow -> Uair (best combo)
Utilt->Bair
Dthrow -> Usmash (heavies/fastfallers, low%)

Landing Fair -> Fsmash is super fake, but catches a lot of people, especially air dodge mashers or heavies who get stuck in that weird landing crouch thing.

1c. Getting the Kill

Swordie does not lack KO moves, which is a blessing for a character with mobility like theirs. Scoring the kill isn't exactly easy, but it's not as hard as it is for other characters.
The main KO moves for this character, in my experience, are Fsmash, Usmash, Uair, and Hero's Spin.
Fsmash is big. Real big. During the animation, Swordie's sword actually extends a bit cartoonishly. It's also their strongest smash attack, and doesn't have the worst startup. The biggest problem with it is its cooldown, so be sure before you swing for the fences with it. Being such a big move, I use it a lot to flat-out beat moves that are smaller than it. If my opponent wants to hold jab, for example I'll fsmash through it. If someone wants to try to fall on me with an aerial, a pivot fsmash can turn that into a KO for me. Not to mention the move just makes a great hard punish on mis-spaced or just laggy actions from your opponent.
Usmash is much faster than fsmash, and compliments Swordie's ability to make falling difficult. It doesn't have much range at all in front of you though, so its uses can be a little limited. I personally use it to KO opponents landing on platforms above me, or to punish a baited airdodge. It's definitely a usable KO move, but I don't get the most mileage out of it.
Uair is probably Swordie's best move. The move comes out pretty quick, and the sweetspot does 16%, with as much knockback as you'd expect from a move with that sort of damage. What's more, it can be true-comboed out of dthrow at kill percents on a pretty wide range of characters. The downside is, this sort of thing requires both very specific percents, and not-so-hot DI from your opponent. Most of the time, if you're fighting someone who knows about your hoo-ha shenanigans, you'll be using this move to score a KO from a baited air dodge. Also very very useful for beating other aerials.
Hero's Spin is Swordie's Up Special 3. I personally really like this move, and not just because I feel it offers the move flexible recovery. On the ground, at close range, Spin has a pretty strong hitbox. It kills at percents just over fsmash's kill percents, and comes out much faster. The part that makes it most interesting to me, however, is that you can fake-combo Jab 1 into Spin. Jab 1 pops the opponent up a little at high percents, so if you initial and jump-cancel spin, you'll sweetspot it and maybe score a kill. In the air, Spin has an interesting property where if the opponent is behind you as the last hit connects, the knockback will send them that way. This can be really useful to score a kill as you're recovering and surprise opponents. Up-b and DI through your opponent, and if you've spaced it right, it'll kill opponents by the ledge at very reasonable percents, even before rage.
Honorable mentions go to Fair, Dair, Dsmash, and Bair. Fair can score kills at respectable percents, but only if you go a bit deep with it off-stage. Dair is a multi-hit meteor, much like Kirby's, which can drag your opponent down for a gimp. The reason it's only an honorable mention is that there's a lot of matchups where it's not effective at all, and it's also pretty avoidable if the opponent's looking out for it. Dsmash comes out very quick, but the front hit isn't that strong. The back hit, however, has much more knockback, but it's a lot harder to land. Bair comes out quick and if you haven't staled it, can be a really nice surprise KO tool at 140+.


2. Matchups

In this section I'll be sharing bits of what I've learned about Swordie's matchups with other characters. I'll only detail characters I consider myself experienced in fighting, and will be sure to update as I find out more.

:4dedede:King Dedede(50:50)

This matchup is a doozy. It's honestly a massive test of your patience. Dedede completely outranges you with bair, fair, and ftilt, and blows through most of your options with dtilt. His grab is also huge, outranging your dtilt and catching you out of fair pretty easily. However, Swordie just scrapes by on his mobility, having just enough dash speed to score grabs off of shielded ftilts and aerials. Ftilt may seem like a wall at first, but learn the timing of when you can drop shield after its last hit, and it becomes a free grab every time. Dedede is also a heavy, allowing your dthrow->uair to connect very reliably, meaning it can be pretty doable to swing the percents back into your favor. The rough area here for you is getting the kill, and again, I'll just say be patient. Try and pressure him while he's above you and get a uair, or use a spaced fsmash to beat a grab or punish a laggy option.


:4rob:R.O.B.(60:40)

R.O.B. is rough times for a lot of characters, and Swordie is no exception. Laser beats your projectile options sans Gale Strike, which it outranges and outspeeds massively. Gale strike also doesn't destroy Gyro, and Gyro destroys Chakrams and Shurikens. Nair will give you a lot of trouble until you find the holes in it, but again, be patient - they're there. Being a floaty, R.O.B. won't be hit by Dthrow->Uair at higher percents, but it's still reliable damage when you can land a grab. You're a good weight for his dthrow->uair though, so watch out. Also, if you've taken Hero's Spin or Skyward Slash Dash, be wary of R.O.B.'s dair, it'll ruin you. Honestly, killing a smart R.O.B. is the hardest part. This matchup requires you to be really brave with your off-stage dairs. Dair beats R.O.B.'s uair, making him very vulnerable if you can force him to need to recover low. If you can get the hang of gimping him that way, the matchup will feel a lot better, but until you learn this one, it's going to feel very one-sided.


:4falcon:Captain Falcon(60:40)

This is another matchup that, if not for dair, would be 70:30. Captain Falcon is fast, has an amazing dash grab, and has the tools to gimp you pretty easily if you haven't taken Stone Scabbard. The most frustrating strategy Falcon can take here is run up->shield->jab->run away. It's very hard for Swordie to do a lot about it, but this is true for a lot of characters outside the top tiers. Try and use Dtilt or Utilt to beat the jab attempts, and grab when you're predicting the shield. Captain Falcon combos you about as well as he combos any midweight, so nothing special there. However, being a heavy fastfaller, your dthrow->uair works exceptionally well on him, to the point that it can become a kill confirm at specific windows. This, however, would be a lot more useful if Swordie were quick enough to reliably grab the captain. Luckily, Captain Falcon's up-b has no hitbox above him, so dair away and drag him down. It's the most reliable way to kill him, and the most redeeming aspect of the matchup for us.


:4sheik:Shiek(70:30)

Easily Swordie's worst matchup, which in this meta is a very unfortunate thing. Shiek has all the tools needed to rush you down, and Swordie lacks many options to break out of that, unless you take Blade Counter and are also the chosen one. Shiek can also send you offstage with a fair string from a grab, which is where Swordie is most vulnerable - Do not expect a smooth recovery in this matchup, you'll have to mix it up a lot to survive. Try to use utilt to beat her aerial approaches, but fair is so big that this sometimes doesn't work. Don't go offstage unless the opportunity is golden, because her recovery beats dair easily. She's a fastfaller, and pretty light, so start looking for dthrow->uair to become a kill combo around 90%. Take her to Dreamland to up your chances of the hoo-ha killing her early. Just a really hard MU, I'm always trying to learn more for it.


:4marth::4lucina:Marth/Lucina(50:50)

Probably one of the most even matchups there is for Swordie, in that you don't really need any exceptionally specific gameplan to overcome Falchions. You're prettymuch the same type of character, except that their recovery is better, their spacing tools are more effective, and you have access to projectiles. Find the holes in their aerial spacing and get grabs for an early damage lead from the hoo-ha. Dair can be a pretty decent gimping tool, as for some reason it'll trade with Dolphin Slash at later points in the animation, or just beat it close to the end. Taking Chakram or Light Shuriken helps a ton here, because it can help motivate Falchions approach instead of making you do all the work. I like this MU a lot.


:4luigi:Luigi(50:50)

After the nerfs Luigi recieved, and given that even 1111 rulsets give you Gale Strike, I think Luigi is the top 10 character that Swordie fights the best. In neutral, Gale Strike eats up fireballs and forces Luigi to shield in place, or pushes him back at higher ranges. With how slidey Luigi is, this can force him to use more aggressive approaches to be able to get close, which in turn are more punishable for you. Your fair beats his, your uair and utilt beat his nair(and Luigis seem to love falling on you with nair), and your dair beats non-misfire Missile and his up-b, making him very gimpable. You are, however, a midweight, meaning Luigi won't have any problems comboing you off of grabs, and remember that he's top 10 for a reason. Respect his options and exploit your advantages.


:4yoshi:Yoshi(???)

Swordie might lose this Matchup, or it might be even. I'm honestly not sure yet. Taking Chakram gives you a projectile that, in my opinion, can keep up with eggs. Gale Strike eats eggs too, so it can encourage Yoshi to stop camping. Your uair beats Yoshi's dair and nair, and your utilt, if spaced right, does as well. This can make it pretty hard for Yoshi to fall. He's a midweight so dthrow->uair works decently to help keep damage even, but doesn't work long enough to be a kill confirm. KO-ing Yoshi can be really really tough if the player doesn't give you an opening. His double jump armor means he's unphased by Dair, and you need to rely on uair winning trades or fsmash being good. Don't get fair spiked, it hurts.


:4diddy:Diddy(60:40)

Diddy wins this matchup, but it's not nearly as bad as it could be. Diddy falls fast, so a lot of your combos work well on him. Gale Strike eats bananas, so Diddy has to hold onto one to get use out of it. Strong Chakram knocks Diddy out of Up-B, and he's vulnerable to Dair while charging it, so gimping him is very doable. However, Diddy's a character who can run circles around you, and that's why we lose the matchup. His dtilt is bigger than yours, and his fair can beat a lot of your grounded options. Plus, he's the sort of character who can pressure you into shielding and then grab you just because. It's winnable, but it's frustrating.


:4megaman:Mega Man(50:50)

From what I've played, this feels pretty even if you take Reversal Slash. Mega Man isn't vulnerable to dair, so you're gonna be going for traditional KOs with fsmash and uair. If you've taken in Gale Strike, it eats pellets, metal blade, and crash bomb, but if Mega Man walks towards you and mashes pellets, he'll trade with Gale Strike's hitbox and walk right through it. It's pretty hard to Mega Man to kill you, but it's not exactly easy for you to kill him either. If you catch him going for fsmash, you should be able to reflect it on reaction. Otherwise, abuse his weak landing to get usmashes. This MU is honestly probably worse for us than I think, but I haven't fought a super campy Mega Man yet so it's hard to say. Oh, and he gets his up-b back if you hit him with reversal slash so... rip that idea.


:4miigun:Mii Gunner(55:45)

This matchup can be really frustrating but it's definitely winnable if you keep your cool. Gunner's optimal sets usually include Bomb Drop, which is something a good Gunner will give you a lot of trouble with. If they don't have bombs, they probably have grenades, which are arguably more annoying. Gale Strike beats fair, weak charge shot, and sets off bombs. Bombs, Fair, and Charge Shot all beat Chakram. If you've taken in Chakram, try to sneak them in when Gunner's above you dropping a projectile. Alternatively, try and catch their landings with dash attack. Gunner gets hit pretty reliably by jab->spin and jab->dsmash, and is pretty vulnerable to dair regardless of the up special they take. Don't lose your patience, because if you do you'll also lose the set. Learn the pattern and treat it like a bullet hell game and you can win it.


:4villager:Villager(60:40)

Another pretty frustrating matchup. If you haven't taken 13X2, good luck. Gale Strike goes through tree and lloid rocket, and beats fair and bair. It's not really even a bad thing if they pocket it, because it doesn't do damage at longer ranges. Chakram goes through tree when they try to hide behind it. every time they start to spawn a lloid, throw a strong Chakram. It'll go through the rocket without detonating it, and he'll take some damage. Learn their pattern with bair and fair, and Reversal Slash them. Doing so at closer ranges can be useful for kills. Offstage, don't try to sweetspot the ledge from directly below, because bowling ball beats all of your recoveries. If you can't avoid going into bowling ball territory, remember that reversal slash can cover above you, and try to reflect it if you can. Bowling Ball is honestly the biggest reason Swordie loses this matchup. Campy characters are your weakness as a Swordie, so as usual, keep your cool and think.


:4robinm:Robin(40:60)

Swordie wins this one, especially if you take Reversal Slash. Robin is a weird case of a character that Swordie actually moves a lot faster than, and that really helps in setting up grabs and strings. Most of Robin's projectiles are predictable or can be reacted to via audio cues, so Reversal Slash them back or just jump over them. Try to avoid shielding them as a lot of them are multihit so youll be vulnerable. Robin's recovery has no hitbox above him so feel free to pressure hard with dair offstage. Learn to avoid Levin aerials, and this is a winning matchup for Swordie.

:4jigglypuff:Jigglypuff(40:60)

Another MU Swordie wins, in my opinion. Most of a Jiggs' gameplan is trying to set up a wall with aerials, weaving in and out and all that. So you just wait for the gaps between hitboxes and harass with chakram. Gale Strike can help encourage her to back off, but sometimes gets into weird trades with aerials. You really don't need to approach, since you probably have projectiles and she doesn't. So, wait for her to over-commit, and fsmash right through any aerial she tries to come in with. You can KO her pretty early too, seeing as shes bottom 5 in weight. You can also pressure her offstage with dair, because sending her low forces her to use jumps to try and get back up. The reason this isn't more of a win for us is because Swordie's pretty gimpable, and a good Jiggs will definitely know how to drag you offstage like it's 64.

:4miibrawl:Mii Brawler (50:50)

So this matchup, at first, I thought would be a lot worse, since Swordie usually has issues with rushdown characters. Brawler's range isn't fantastic on most of their faster moves, however. So unlike Captain Falcon, this allows Swordie to have some success in walling Brawler out with tilts and fairs, and beat most of Brawler's aerials with utilt. Brawler can be volatile, though, being a quick character with a few very powerful moves at his disposal. Watch out for Hellicopter Kick out of shield, obviously, or be wary when they're below you if they've taken Piston Punch instead. The offstage game is the most redeeming thing about the matchup for Swordie, though. Where Brawler can run circles around you on stage, Swordie's dair sort of rocks Brawler off-stage. Most Brawlers take either Piston Punch or Hellicopter Kick. Dair cuts right through HCK and sends brawler too low to recover even at very low percents. Piston Punch is a little harder, as it can actually trade with Dair, and rises up a fair bit. Oh, and if you learn to space it, it's possible to Dair Brawler out of Feint Jump and its kick. So basically, while Brawler's faster with better frame data, and can give you some real trouble on the stage, learning the offstage pressure really makes this matchup even and pretty fun.

:4wario2:Wario(50:50)


I actually think that if not for a few key factors we'd win this one. But, those factors are present, so let's talk about them. Wario's a mixup character, in my opinion. He does a lot of things that scare you into picking an option and then punishes the option you pick. He'll do high up aerials with the threat to drop so you'll shield, then fall on you with bite to beat the shield, or bait a grab and punish with his actually really good dash attack. Overall though, these things require you to buy into the baits, and that's never mandatory. Swordie holds their own in this matchup very well, because a lot of Wario's approaches and falling options involve his aerials, and utilt cuts through all of them. Using utilt defensively can lead to good juggles, maybe even grabs. One area you'll struggle though, if you play like me, is that dtilt is not even close to safe on shield against Wario. His grab is huge, I've yet to be able to space a dtilt on his shield so he couldn't grab me out of it. It also makes retreating fairs less safe on landing. You really need to rethink your approaches for this matchup. I find a lot of success with empty jumps, seeing how they react, and then playing around that. Also, Dair Dair Dair Dair, because it knocks Wario off his bike as he's trying to recover and beats his up-b from above. Just don't fall into the trap of Wario getting rage and wafting you at 40, and this matchup is even and pretty fun.

:025:Pikachu(60:40)

This MU is super frustrating. I went to a local at Nebulous and had to fight Pika 3 rounds in a row. What I learned throughout the set was that Pikachu's gameplan here is to literally run circles around us. Pika can pace fairs on us pretty safely, and if you haven't taken Reversal Slash, thunder jolts can give you some trouble. You can sometimes beat his approaching aerials with utilt, and utilt will clank with quick attack most of the time. Pika's of a weight that makes him fall into dthrow uair decently enough, and utilt to grab also works reliably on him. The most difficuly part of this matchup, though, and the reason we have a slight loss in it, is how hard it can be to land the kill on Pika with Swordie. Because of just how safe most of Pikachu's options are, we'll have to get really creative when it comes to landing one of our comparitively slow kill moves. If Pikachu plays safe enough, we'll rarely be able to land more than a jab or grab. Because of this, getting dthrow->Uair within its guaranteed KO window is very inportant. If you haven't landed it, be patient and try to get off one of our patented jab links. Jab to dsmash or jab to Hero Spin work pretty well here. failing that, baiting into bairs or fairs can be your only real way to close the stock, especially since gimping Pikachu is a questionable endeavor.


3. Special Moves

I'll use this section to talk about the special moves I've used competitively and what I think their advantages and drawbacks are.

Gale Strike

The move I most regret sleeping on pre-EVO. This move feels laggy and wonky at first, but it's actually a pretty powerful neutral tool. It's great for canceling out other projectiles and pushes people back with wind at longer ranges. This can make it difficult for characters with exclusively aerial approaches to get in. In very specific instances, it true combos into uair. On battlefield, throw it out while on a platform, and it'll scoop up taller characters on the main stage allowing you to potentially grab or get some damage off. Integral to the Luigi and Diddy matchups.


Shuriken of Light

This move really let me down, personally. I feel like a quick projectile, either straight or with a slight arc, would add a lot to Swordie's game, and Shurikens outwardly look like they're it. The problem is that they have no hitstun at closer ranges, so all the opponent needs to do is rush you down and they become useless. They also travel a little slower than I'd like, making it hard to use them for longer-range exchanges. A move that I can easily describe as "almost".


Burning Blade

I'm honestly not sure what they were going for with this move. It feels like they wanted something functionally similar to Marth's shieldbreaker, but as a KO move instead. The issue is that it requires a good bit of charge before it does any meaningful knockback, and it does relatively little shield damage, or damage at all. Charge it fully mid-air and go flying towards the stage as a strong hitbox, which might work on someone who's never seen it one time, but will probably be dodged on reaction. I personally don't feel like this move is competitive unless you're the god at reading when a Jigglypuff will miss a rest.


Airborne Assault

Has a Smash input, giving the move some "instant charge", and had its angle lowered in a patch. Also can no longer be "ledge canceled", so it's slightly harder to SD with this move now. Probably work looking at, as it's a great horizontal recovery. I'll be in the lab with this move in the months before Genesis 3.
(Updated 11/22/15 with help from Naegi)


Slash Launcher

A nerfed version of quick draw, retaining its exploitability from Brawl. My personal favorite of the two horizontal recovery options, though, because it won't slide you off a ledge and kill you, and you travel faster so you can mix things up more easily on recovery. However, all your opponent has to do is take the actual attack from the move, and you'll be unable to grab the ledge til that animation ends, and go into freefall. It's solid but very exploitable.


Chakram

My personal favorite special for this character and the reason I picked them up in the first place. I loved this move even before it got buffed, and now that it has been it's even more versatile. Strong throw travels pretty far at a great speed and does 6%. That's really respectable for a Smash 4 projectile. Can be angled up or down, and goes through objects without hitboxes. Integral to the Villager matchup. I use it to harass, as well as throwing one at my opponent after a string when I know they're trying to land. The extra damage really helps. Weak throw has multiple hits, and can combo into itself for the length of the stage against some characters. Also combos into grab and fsmash. Can be hard to land, so I try to wavebounce it when I think they're going for a grab. Don't throw it out often at close range, as both throws have enough ending lag that your opponent can shield the projectile and punish you easily.


Stone Scabbard

Has the lowest vertical leap of the three up-specials, and gives essentially 0 horizontal movement. That said, this move it actually really good, so long as you take Slash Launcher or Airborne Assault with it. Swordie starts with a quick swipe in front of them, going invincible on frame 4, and leaping upward before slamming back down with a strong meteor hitbox. The invincibility lasts 1/3-1/2 the initial leap.
This move is amazing both ostage and off. Onstage, it gives you a quick invincible out-of-shield option, or string escape, and reaches high enough to safely plant you on Battlefield's top platform. Great for getting out of unfavorable scrapes. The move's hitbox also extends below a platform slightly if you land on one.
Off stage, this move is a really flashy and satisfying spike. On the way down it's very hard to challenge, and since you can sweetspot the ledge while the hitbox is below you, it's easier to spike with than Aether or Final Cutter. Overall a very viable move, provided you bring additional recovery.
+Combo Escape
+OOS Option

-No Horizontal Recovery


Skyward Slash Dash


This move has the highest vertical leap of all of the up specials since the buffs it received. Think of this like Firefox, but multi-hit with a disjointed flurry of hitboxes in front of it. All of the hitboxes together do 12%, with unimpressive knockback, making this the worst up-special offensively. It also offers little in the way of out of shield options compared to the other two. However, it offers the greatest recovery on its own, I feel, so Chakram sets will want to look at this one. Having a higher recovery also means you can go deeper with dairs, which is always good. Just be wary, when trying to perform mew2king angles, this move doesn't charge nearly as long as firefox, so you have less time to line up the joystick where you want it. Another viable move, in my opinion.
+Recover in any direction
+Highest Straight Upwards

-Weak offensively
-Little/no OOS Application



Hero's Spin

Goes slightly higher than Stone Scabbard, but not as high as Skyward Slash Dash. However, you start rising and become a hitbox faster than SSD. This can make the move a little easier to mix up recoveries with. Spin also offers the most offensive benefits of the up-specials, dealing a solid 14% uncharged and becoming a situational kill move out of dash or shield. Also has some janky hitboxes in the air that can help you steal a KO while recovering by swiping the opponent behind you, over your shoulder. All aerial hits together do 20%. Combos out of dthrow for more percent than dthrow->uair, but leaves you vulnerable after. Another up special that Chakram sets will enjoy, but it also plays nice with the other two side-specials. Viable, like the other two.
+Strongest Hitbox
+OOS KO Option

-Exploitable recovery
-Can't move horizontally if you don't have momentum already



Blade Counter

This move is hard for me to talk about. Counter is, in theory, integral to matchups vs. combo and string characters, as Swordie otherwise has no real escape options from those strings(Except Stone Scabbard I guess). Counters in general are also, in theory, just really good things to have in your kit, because it lets you punish obvious KO attempts. The downside is that I am personally completely useless with a Counter, which is sad for someone who had a pretty solid Marth in Brawl. If you're good with a counter, this move is probably for you. I aim to learn to use it myself eventually.


Reversal Slash

Basically a Cape. Very very useful, and my down-b of choice. Comes out a little slower than I'd like, so reflecting on reaction with it can be rough. Campy characters are insufferable to fight without this thing, and it's also a great gimping tool as it turns opponents around and reverses their controls briefly just like Cape. Also super useful for the small aerial stall it gives. Since I'm very familiar with Mario's cape, this move is a no-brainer for me to include in my set. You used to be able to Cape Dash with this move, but they patched it out. RIP technology.


Power Thrust

I actually really like this move. When I was new to Swordie, I was learning a 3333 set because I loved Chakram and was under the impression that only all-one-number sets would be usable. My use for this move was basically to ignorantly charge through other attacks, either from above or on level with them. It was also a pretty fun way to punish landings. I can't really see myself using this move instead of cape, but it's definitely a fun move to try out.


Closing

I'll be trying to update this as I find more things out, and make this post a repository for everything I learn about the character. Thanks for reading, if you did, and happy stabbing.

~Nyani
(@Nyanidesuka)
 
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Antonykun

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one note on SSD, unlike Fire Fox, SSD has large disjointed hitboxes that make it more difficult to edgeguard it than Fire Fox
 

Yorsh

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Really enjoyed reading this. I agree with pretty much all you said (so i'm not totally lost with this character i guess). I just realised i have never done utilt -> grab, i usually try to go for an upair, but it makes more sense to get a free 4% or 7% with pummel before.

About match ups, I hoped for some ideas to beat sheik, since i have a looot of trouble as well. Also i find the mewtwo MU way harder than it should be, i'm not sure why.

I love chakrams too, but if you pick it, you can't really mix up your recovery anymore, so I picked power thrust to give me an alternative offstage and...i liked it so much. the sweet spot actually kills at decent %, and even if it doesn't kill, the horizontal knockback can lead into a dair gimp or something. I feel like it's the easiest kill move to hit, but it's a bit weaker than fsmash and upair. It also works really well with stone scabbard, because you can downB->UpB to recover really quickly. Talking about stone scabbard, I use it mostly because i find it really fun, but also because it's a really nice combo breaker thanks to the frame 4 invincibility.
 

Iko-Seiko

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Glad you've found the post helpful! I'm gonna try to find a way to lab the shiek MU soon, maybe i'll commit some time to it at my next local if any of the good shiekers show up.

I also totally agree that Power Thrust can be a great recovery mixup, I used to use it for just that purpose during my 3333 days. I would use it to plow downward through edgeguard attempts lol. And yeah, frame 4 invincibility on Stone Scabbard is pretty cool, i should probably add that to the main post.

also, update: Added Jiggs MU, another one we win imo.
 

naegi

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a few things worth noting:
inputting airborne assault like a smash attack gives it more charge which = more distance and power
airborne assault can no longer be ledge canceled and had its angle changed for less SDs
skyward slash dash was also buffed in terms of recovery, which now makes it the highest of the 3 up-b's. still can't kill though.

great post, though! i await to see what you find with stone scabbard (which will help me as a 1111 swordie player). it might be of use in the villager matchup as you can use the invincibility to avoid the bowling ball?

also hi i'm that guy whos sometimes in your stream asking a bunch of swordfighter questions
 

KochiSNSD

Smash Rookie
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Sep 12, 2014
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Recently I noticed that mii swords up b 1 is good only if you are getting combed by something that isnt a true combo like mario's up tilts or like sheik's ftilt but its not really useful other than that and recovering.
 

Darklink401

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I think I've seen dair landing hitbox be used to combo break combos that are low to the ground, since it comes out frame 3.

But yeah, I hadn't noticed the severe lack of combo breakers swordie has...

Great guide!! :3
 

Iko-Seiko

Smash Apprentice
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I actually started using Dair's landing hitbox to break rapid jabs against some characters. It seems to weirdly come out super fast if i'm low enough to the ground.
 

Iko-Seiko

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it's hard to describe but idk. Some rapid jabs i can hold down and mash A, and the landing hit breaks me out somehow.
 

Routa

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Dair is really weird indeed. I usually try to Dair when I'm being juggled and hope for it to break the chain.

Also I thought Dair breaking was common knowledge within Swordfighter community.
 
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Iko-Seiko

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Feb 11, 2014
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It's one of those things i just sort of do but never thought to talk about i guess.

Oh, i'm starting work on a swordie video guide soon i think.
 

Antonykun

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it's hard to describe but idk. Some rapid jabs i can hold down and mash A, and the landing hit breaks me out somehow.
makes sense, most jabs are not true combos, as villager has taught me and if you jet jabbed really low to the ground well idk what frame starts on
 

Darklink401

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it's hard to describe but idk. Some rapid jabs i can hold down and mash A, and the landing hit breaks me out somehow.
I'm guessing the sword animation goes down within 1-2 frames but the hitbox is only active later on, unless the sword touches the ground during the start of the animation, in which it would automatically do the grounded hitbox

Which is neat.


Also something a tad funky happened with upsmash the other day, I upsmashed a Pikachu and missed, but he tried to dsmash as punish, and because I was up in the air due to the upsmash, his dsmash missed xD
 

Saltyman

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Falling Up Airs into Up Air, Up Tilt, or Up Smash works pretty well. Dash Attack also has a fairly long lasting hitbox, which is good and bad. It can hit spotdodges and getups pretty effectively.

Swordfighter is quite adept at edgeguarding and going to the bottom of the screen for KOs whille still recovering. But they definitely do have some solid true combos, not longer ones.. but like, strings of true combos.

Nice work :)
 
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