Overview:
Zero Suit Samus is Samus without her power suit, but is a completely different character. She has a large amount of range, and her recovery is better than you'd think. Her air game rivals your own, and it can be a tough matchup to handle.
Pros+Cons:
+Powerful air game, stronger than kirby’s.
+Very hard to gimp, and can gimp us if we’re not careful.
-Mid-range game is easily beaten by slowly walking forward and powershielding.
-Dash attack and paralyzer shot (except fully charged) both go over a crouching Kirby.
Watch out for:
Dsmash – Getting hit by a Dsmash guarantees that ZSS can land a kill move on you. Be cautious at high %’s. If you’re in the middle of the stage and she hits you, DI up and get ready to momentum cancel. If you’re on the edge and she hits you, better luck on your next stock. Dsmash also leads into combos.
Her Air Game – ZSS’ aerials are generally longer-ranged and more powerful than yours. Watch out for the killing uair, bair and fair, and the dair which spikes a little and is a stall-then-fall. Plasma wire will always beat or clash with dair, and drags stone below her without hitting her.
Her Uair – It’s so good it needed its own paragraph. ZSS’ Uair is the rough equivalent of our bair; it combos into itself and it can kill. Note that her combo starters are all hard to hit with (Dthrow, dtilt and utilt), but that you will get hit by them eventually and you will take on a bunch of %.
Down B – It works as a surprisingly good recovery attack, has invincibility in the beginning and can spike you if you’re not careful. DON’T APPROACH FROM UNDER HER. DON’T DO IT.
How to win:
Powershield –Powershielding pretty much wrecks ZSS’ game. Since her grab is so laggy, just walk forward slowly while perfect shielding what she throws at you. If you see the grab coming, spotdodge and punish.
Powershield the Jab – If ZSS jabs you (you may need to DI towards the ground), hold shield to powershield the third hit. Get prepared to punish, preferably with a Dthrow.
Learn to Catch the Armor – If you’ve seen some matches of ZSS, the armor does a hell of a lot of damage if they use it right. Learn to catch the armor, then throw it offstage. SH->Dthrow->Uair is a good way to keep the armor.
Inhale the Down B – (situational) If you inhale her and she escapes in midair, you have a guaranteed footstool on her. Make sure to start the inhale as she starts the down b or you will be hit by the sex kick if she pulls it out. She doesn’t get her down b back, so she has her double jump (maybe) and her upb. The footstool stun should last long enough to edgehog her, but you can always ff dair->footstool if it won’t. Be careful, as she can footstool out of her down b which is a special footstool, gives her lots of horizontal distance, she can do the same footstool out of that AND it doesn't shorten the height of her normal footstool.
Spit out or Swallow?
This is really your choice. Spitting out allows you to inhale her out of her down b for a guaranteed footstool, but this is situational. Paralyzer gives you a mid-range projectile, though it isn't that great. It all depends on what you feel most comfortable with.
What NOT to do:
Take Her to the Air – ZSS has better airspeed and aerial attacks than us. Don’t do it.
Rush In – Rush in and you're asking for a side b to the feet. Slowly walk in while powershielding to approach.
Edgecamp Her – If you get hit with a dsmash while edgcamping her, she can use a kill move and you will die. If you get hit with a dsmash at non-kill %'s, you will eat damage.
Stages (in order of priority):
Jungle Japes – Uair is neutralized as a killing move and her horizontal kill moves are hard to land. You can live to extremely high %'s with good DI. If it's not banned, pick it.
Frigate Orpheon– The lack of a ledge on the left side helps you more than you'd expect, and ZSS is bad in general on this stage. Ninja Spiking on the right side of the first transformation is a situational and unknown trick that could net you a kill. Pick it if they ban JJ.
Brinstar– Brinstar limits the use our ground game can be put to and our air game is inferior to ZSS’. The exact combination you DON'T want.
Synopsis:
Zero Suit Samus is a hard matchup, but get a few things down and it won’t be too difficult. Approach by perfect shielding what she throws at you and spotdodging her grab and punishing it. Stay out of the air when you can; your air game is inferior to hers. If you can inhale her out of her down b, do it, as you have a guaranteed footstool on her out of it. Watch out for Dsmash; it leads into all her KO moves. Don’t camp her on the edge of a stage; if you get hit by dsmash, better luck on your next stock.
Major Contributors: DC, fromundaman, Supermodel from Paris
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