Maraphy
Smash Ace
So something that I've noticed not just Palutena players doing but a LOT of players, is that when they've sent an opponent flying off the stage, they stay on the ground and wait. That's a good tactic sometimes; Palutena's tilts and U-smash are good options for punishing a neutral get-up or jump, but it can be way more effective to go off-stage and challenge them in the air. Palutena's got great aerials; every single one of them has great strengths, and she can threaten ....pretty much the entire cast with them, especially offstage vs characters who fall quicker than her or don't have great recoveries.
N-air is probably her bread and butter edgeguarding tool, since it catches a lot of options and you can drag the opponent downwards. If you didn't know (and I think every Palutena should learn this
it can "spike" if you hit an opponent from above. It can also stage spike if you move yourself away from the stage as the move is hitting them. It also straight up just kills them at higher percents. The move lasts a while, so it's easy to scoop up people out of an airdodge, or hit them out of their recovery move.
I wanna take the opportunity to mention that Fox is an opponent where you NEED to jump off and edgeguard. I used to think Fox was THE single hardest matchup for Palutena, and for the most part he still is one of the most difficult - he completely dominates us on the ground and we have to play as patiently and predictive as possible. But try thinking of Fox like Little Mac; once he's in the air, that's our chance. N-air snuffs out both of Fox's recovery options. All you have to do is line yourself up with Fox when he's about to Side-B, and just send out a n-air. It works every single time unless you miss, but with practice it's not very hard to get it right. His Up-B is also pretty easy to spike, which leads me to...
D-air needs mentioned here. Everyone already knows F-air and B-air and U-air are great, but nobody talks about D-air. It comes out very fast, and the hitbox always spikes. ..Yes, I know its hitbox is like 1 or 2 frames, but that's probably to balance the aforementioned very fast spike. Practice this move. A LOT. Practice it on offstage opponents every match. It's seriously an underrated move. Palutena is usually regarded as a character who has a hard time killing, but everyone forgets she can kill very early once she gets someone off stage. Here's a couple of videos of a Japanese player who's particularly good with the d-air: https://youtu.be/ky_irLCtVIE https://youtu.be/EVz7xu4EExs
so yeah that's all i have to say. palutena has great aerials which can be used to great effect off-stage and it's a good idea to get out there a lot and use em. Especially d-air.
N-air is probably her bread and butter edgeguarding tool, since it catches a lot of options and you can drag the opponent downwards. If you didn't know (and I think every Palutena should learn this
it can "spike" if you hit an opponent from above. It can also stage spike if you move yourself away from the stage as the move is hitting them. It also straight up just kills them at higher percents. The move lasts a while, so it's easy to scoop up people out of an airdodge, or hit them out of their recovery move.I wanna take the opportunity to mention that Fox is an opponent where you NEED to jump off and edgeguard. I used to think Fox was THE single hardest matchup for Palutena, and for the most part he still is one of the most difficult - he completely dominates us on the ground and we have to play as patiently and predictive as possible. But try thinking of Fox like Little Mac; once he's in the air, that's our chance. N-air snuffs out both of Fox's recovery options. All you have to do is line yourself up with Fox when he's about to Side-B, and just send out a n-air. It works every single time unless you miss, but with practice it's not very hard to get it right. His Up-B is also pretty easy to spike, which leads me to...
D-air needs mentioned here. Everyone already knows F-air and B-air and U-air are great, but nobody talks about D-air. It comes out very fast, and the hitbox always spikes. ..Yes, I know its hitbox is like 1 or 2 frames, but that's probably to balance the aforementioned very fast spike. Practice this move. A LOT. Practice it on offstage opponents every match. It's seriously an underrated move. Palutena is usually regarded as a character who has a hard time killing, but everyone forgets she can kill very early once she gets someone off stage. Here's a couple of videos of a Japanese player who's particularly good with the d-air: https://youtu.be/ky_irLCtVIE https://youtu.be/EVz7xu4EExs
so yeah that's all i have to say. palutena has great aerials which can be used to great effect off-stage and it's a good idea to get out there a lot and use em. Especially d-air.
Last edited:
