Mew2King
King of the Mews
^ This so hard (Zhu thinks falco is the best too though)
I actually think Fox is the 3rd best character (I realize there is nobody in the world that agrees with me though). I think falco and puff are better in singles. Falco's Dair, better range, guaranteed combos (not crouch-cancellable and DIable ones like fox has) and lasers make him better than fox in singles by far. Fox is clearly better in teams. I think Fox's lack of range makes him worse than falco in most MUs, except Peach (mainly peach) and Jiggs (slightly). I realize a theoretical perfect fox is different, but I don't ever see that, when I do I might change my mind. This isn't based on potential, it's based on my experience playing the game since 2005 of where I see Fox as a tourney threat both to me and for getting 1st at a major compared to those 2 characters. I wouldn't base this judgment off of only one player though (I mess around with falco and puff a lot in friendlies and I do really well; I honestly think they are the best 2 characters for winning a big tournament). I've always thought Falco was the best (or 2nd) since about 2005 though, when I could beat everybody but I would always lose to PC chris. Unlike Fox, Falco's tools for combos are much easier to do consistently (this is very important) but also more guaranteed and longer, especially when you can chase people with lasers and control the match and manipulate habits much easier. With Fox it's much trickier. For example if you're a frame off in your drill shine, you will get shield grabbed.
As far as puff, it's mostly based on 2 things besides tourney results
1) easy to do consistently
2) planking gives a big advantage vs. the 3 fast-fallers. Example, you are at 4 stock high % and they are at 3 stock. There is no reason to not plank if you really want to win. It gives you a big advantage in terms of risk/reward ratio, and many characters can't easily kill you from there, but if they don't approach you can time them out. This has not happened by a good player in a high level match, but I definitely think it is a factor in how good she can be.
I think marth is a bit overrated, for the SOLE reason of how badly he gets ***** (at TOP level play, which is all that matters) once he gets hit. He's at the perfect get-zero-to-deathed-by-many-characters weight and falling speed. His offense and combo game is crazy good, but his defensive game + recovery are really bad at top level play. Sheik has the same problem but her recovery and weight are slightly better for this than marth's is, and her OOS options are better too. Take peach for example and compare them. I still think marth and sheik are slightly better than peach (but I could be wrong but I still think they are better), but the main difference is that Peach doesn't get 0-deathed like marth/sheik do overall. She has a big weakness though, and that is her lack of range. Her defense otherwise is far better since her recovery is not nearly as exploitable. C.falcon i think is slightly overrated honestly. Ice climbers are without a doubt better than captain falcon. If you are playing good against a captain falcon, you can 0-death him... with a LOT of characters. Doc would be right after these characters for sure (SIGNIFICANTLY better character than Mario imo), followed by pikachu (I am basing this solely off of what I have seen Axe do, but from my knowledge of melee over 10 years and the things I have done, experienced, or seen, I cannot imagine another character deserving to be above pikachu, even though I think what Axe does is really hard to do). Doc might deserve to be above captain falcon... not sure. Think about it.. he can down throw chain grab and up throw chain grab so many characters, and he has several strong finishing moves, and really good camping, and good edge guarding. His only weakness (and it is a big one vs Sheik/Falco at least) is his bad recovery.
