Official Official Standard Custom Moveset Project: Villager

[COLINBG]

My current custom set for villager has been a campy ledge villager with 1222. The default pocket seems best for me. The timber counter with exploding balloons is nice for edge control, and I've been using liftoff Lloid as a reliable vertical recover, and as a way to hit opponents who try and approach from the air. Is this a viable set, or can I do better? I'm a bit new to custom movesets.

The Lloid is unnecessary because you already have an amazing vertical recovery in EBT/BT. If they approach from the air simply Fair/Bair/Uair them, and giving up the stage control and pressure that standard/pushy Lloid offers is not worth it.

Villager has always been comfortable on the ledge, but I also don't think ledge camping is a viable strategy. At least it won't be when people start to catch up to it and learn how to deal with it efficiently.

 

[Someguyyoulikelydontknow]

The Lloid is unnecessary because you already have an amazing vertical recovery in EBT/BT. If they approach from the air simply Fair/Bair/Uair them, and giving up the stage control and pressure that standard/pushy Lloid offers is not worth it.

Villager has always been comfortable on the ledge, but I also don't think ledge camping is a viable strategy. At least it won't be when people start to catch up to it and learn how to deal with it efficiently.

Yeah, I used to think that the EBT was bad vertical recovery, but then I found out that exploding the balloons gives you an additional vertical push. I'll probably go back to the default Lloid. I love that Conker profile pic BTW.

 

[Kofu]

How many of you dismissers of Liftoff Lloid have actually used the move in matches? Sure, you lose significant horizontal control, but that's mainly important on stages without platforms or without high ones (FD, SV). However, on stages with platforms, especially if they go high, I can see the move being quite handy. It covers a range that Villager otherwise can't control and it actually gains power as it flies. I wouldn't choose it for every matchup and not for every stage, but I feel it's definitely an option to consider, especially if the opponent likes to apply aerial pressure. It works well in tandem with Timber Counter's sapling, too.

 

[Makai Wars]

How many of you dismissers of Liftoff Lloid have actually used the move in matches? Sure, you lose significant horizontal control, but that's mainly important on stages without platforms or without high ones (FD, SV). However, on stages with platforms, especially if they go high, I can see the move being quite handy. It covers a range that Villager otherwise can't control and it actually gains power as it flies. I wouldn't choose it for every matchup and not for every stage, but I feel it's definitely an option to consider, especially if the opponent likes to apply aerial pressure. It works well in tandem with Timber Counter's sapling, too.

It's not that I'd like to dismiss it as a terrible custom and have it thrown into the garbage, it's just, as you said, would only work in a few select matchups or situations as opposed to the other two rockets which have a myriad of uses.

Villager has trouble killing anyone who can hang out by the upper blast zones, at a certain point we can only wait for them to come down, and the Liftoff Lloyd fixes this, however I don't think losing a really decent approach option is worth it.

That being said I wanna give it a shot, imagine whipping it out and riding it to finish off someone you just knocked away.

 

[SoniCraft]

Yeah I would like to use it just for fun and see how it works out. Who knows, maybe it has some undiscovered potential. The only problem is, if it does, then we would need to consider a set for it, and Villager is already chock full of those.

 

[Someguyyoulikelydontknow]

Villager has always been comfortable on the ledge, but I also don't think ledge camping is a viable strategy. At least it won't be when people start to catch up to it and learn how to deal with it efficiently.

I know how that goes. My friend is wise to my campy villager. His Lucarios down tilt edge guards well. >_< Now I just need to figure out strategys against Lucario. I will note that I was using the default villager set in this MU.

 

[COLINBG]

I know how that goes. My friend is wise to my campy villager. His Lucarios down tilt edge guards well. >_< Now I just need to figure out strategys against Lucario. I will note that I was using the default villager set in this MU.

If you have trouble at the edge, try to simply mix your get-ups. Villager's aerials are great so you have a lot of options, but you can also force him to shield with Lloids, or put a Counter sappling near the ledge if it's that problematic.

You can outspace Lucario with Lloids (this is why you take default) and Fairs/Bairs. Counter Sapling pretty much renders his ''rush down'' useless, so it's much more dangerous for him to try to approach. You should be using this variation of the tree most of the time. Just be careful; Lucario at high percents is super dangerous, so giving up a kill move in the Timber/Axe in exchange for the Counter Timber is kinda up to you. You can just pocket and throw back his Aura Spheres, with greater power, so always go for the default Pocket. He can't simply throw them to zone you, like he would with other characters, and he has to be much more conservative with them. Also, no matter how big the Aura Sphere is, Lloid blocks it, so keep that in mind.

I'd say it's in Villager's favor, you just have to space well, but space aggressively. His Force Palm is dangerous but it has ending lag, so you can punish if he tries to outspace you with it (which he souldn't).

The rage + aura is really nasty though, and Villager is not THAT heavy, so just don't do punishable things when you don't need to (read: don't need to KO), 'cause you can get KO'ed earlier than you should for it.

 

[Someguyyoulikelydontknow]

If you have trouble at the edge, try to simply mix your get-ups. Villager's aerials are great so you have a lot of options, but you can also force him to shield with Lloids, or put a Counter sappling near the ledge if it's that problematic.

You can outspace Lucario with Lloids (this is why you take default) and Fairs/Bairs. Counter Sapling pretty much renders his ''rush down'' useless, so it's much more dangerous for him to try to approach. You should be using this variation of the tree most of the time. Just be careful; Lucario at high percents is super dangerous, so giving up a kill move in the Timber/Axe in exchange for the Counter Timber is kinda up to you. You can just pocket and throw back his Aura Spheres, with greater power, so always go for the default Pocket. He can't simply throw them to zone you, like he would with other characters, and he has to be much more conservative with them. Also, no matter how big the Aura Sphere is, Lloid blocks it, so keep that in mind.

I'd say it's in Villager's favor, you just have to space well, but space aggressively. His Force Palm is dangerous but it has ending lag, so you can punish if he tries to outspace you with it (which he souldn't).

The rage + aura is really nasty though, and Villager is not THAT heavy, so just don't do punishable things when you don't need to (read: don't need to KO), 'cause you can get KO'ed earlier than you should for it.

Like I said, I was using the default set for villager in this MU, otherwise I would've had counter sapling up. he is also really careful with his aura spheres, knowing I have my pocket at the ready. And yeah, his rage + Auras is kind of BS, forcing me to play super defensively and all that. I think I just need to research the MU a bit more. My friend doesn't lock on to a character too often, but when he does, he's committed to it.

 

[J.Noble]

Pocket, COUNTER TIMBER, X- Balloon and Liftoff LLoyd
Counter opens up a effin ton of options starting at the sapling.
When tree is up, the counter has kill potential! I can slingshot the tree and kill the enemy it definietely works way better at defense than reg timber and stays out incredibly long.
X-balloon trip improves your recovery with 2 more hitboxes with kill potential (and make villager even more badass.
Liftoff lloid I enjoy because it keeps your lateral defense when first deployed and covers more aerial options.
Liftoff is also a wonderful recovery because it's non-linear.
SOO MANY OPTIONS!!! SOO MANY HIT BOXES!!
Sorry if this is old info. I'm new here '

 

[MeteorSpike]

I'm a fan of 2322

In my opinion, there isn't much that Pocket can do that Garden can't; if there is, it's hard to tell because I don't know the exact frame data on Garden (or Pocket Plus for that matter), but Garden's FAF seems similar to Pocket's (not sure about the intangibility of Garden, but it's still noticeably there, applicable, and usable)
B-reverse makes Garden's blind spot pointless, and I like Garden because I've found it to be one of Villager's most damaging follow-ups to a d.smash and most damaging punishes in general

Default and Pushy Lloids were a toss-up to me, but I've settled on Pushy Lloid for a number of reasons
Firstly, Pushy Lloid has less range: Yes it sounds like a downgrade from Default, but this means that the Lloid itself is ready when I need it to be, rather than flying forward off-camera or off-screen and wasting time, which also means it's deployed at more relevant ranges, like just a hair's breadth beyond roll-distance
Villager can throw this out more often, harass with it more often, and pressure with it more often
I'm not the kind of Villager who sits across an omega-stage, firing full-screen Default Lloids to begin with
It seems like Pushy Lloid is better at forcing unsafe approaches, while Default Lloid is better at maintaining your own distance; between the two, the former instance is much more valuable to me
Secondly, Pushy Lloid has the obvious benefit of doing multiple hits: This means heavier pressure against shield and a marginal punish from certain projectile-counters like Rosa's down.b (you only get hit by the looping hits--not the damaging explosion of the Pushy Lloid)
When on the offensive, Pushy Lloid's multiple hits make it perfect for dragging across the stage, granting you invaluable space and stage control on hit
The looping hits also make is very easy to get follow-up hits after Pushy Lloid
Lastly, the fact that it has multiple hits has saved me countless times from overaggressive grabbers: Where Default Lloid's single hit can be armor'd by the opponent's grab-invincibility frames during a throw, Pushy Lloid simply shreds through, forcing them to release Villager while also dragging them along--also presenting an opportunity to maybe get in a follow-up of your own
Thirdly, I'm convinced that Pushy Lloid has larger hitboxes (which wouldn't surprise me; Pushy Lloid appears physically larger than the Default) and more durability than default Lloid
I admittedly have no evidence to back this, nor do I have appropriate means to reliably test this myself, but using both Lloids against friends, Pushy Lloid, for lack of a better term, simply seems more 'reliable'
The larger hitboxes (if they do exist) are useful for edgeguarding: If I want to force a low recovery, I'll plant the Pushy Lloid at around stage level; if I want to force a high recovery, I'll walk-off/drop-off, fall, then plant the Pushy Lloid at some altitude below the edge; Villager's mean aerials can handle the rest from there

Extreme Balloon Trip: Do I need to say more?
Incredibly safe and long-distance recovery, the lingering balloons are amazing at forcing opponents into bad situations...Just be ready to tech stage spikes and you're gold
...And yes, I do know "planking" or "camping" whatever you will call it is "lame" or "cheesy" or frowned upon, and I know the game itself discourages it with its mechanics, but I've found certain characters, match-ups, and situations where my opponent simply cannot stop Villager from doing so with these balloons
It adds another valuable mix-up to Villager when he's caught on the ledge: Aside from conventional ledge get-up options everyone has, he now has a move viable to allow ledge re-grabs...Of course, like anything in this game, it can only carry as far as you aren't predictable

Counter Timber: Do I need to say more?
Should go without saying, but the sapling itself does wonders for Villager's neutral
While said sapling is largely butchered on soft platforms, I've found that if and when people try counter-picking a stage against me (for example Battlefield), the tree itself is very useful to have
Where the sapling fails to do much on soft platforms, the tree shines as an automatic, defensive obstacle that cleanly beats out most aerials that don't "kill" the tree (it does have rather low hp, around 15% I think, but it does retaliate hard)
The tree is also another reason I like Pushy Lloid: It's looping hits synergize well with the tree, effectively turning the air into a minefield of hitboxes
So long as the Pushy Lloid's final blast, where the majority of its damage is, doesn't hit the tree, then it doesn't exhaust the tree's hp too quickly