I've been a dedicated roy-boy since he got revived with DLC. I remember picking him up and thinking how absurdly fast and powerful he is, thinking that he'd surely be nerfed, and abused the opportunity by taking full advantage of stupid downthrow reads and his absurd neutral air strings. Little did we all know that competitively speaking, he'd only ever go on to be an obscure counterpick to floaties (like Bayo and Mewtwo), and even then not seen as preferable over other "safer" meta characters. In considering SmashU's arrival just a month away, I've had a lot of bitter thoughts about Roy, his representation in the meta, and if I could be so bold to suggest, maybe some misuse of his kit that hindered his potential.
There are the obvious things to point out, like "Roy's recovery is garbage", "his disadvantaged state is one of the worst in the game", or "his sourspots don't kill like Marth's". These are all valid critiques of the character, and absolutely favor into his perceived "low tier but good but mid tier but trash" status. Take this all with a grain of salt, coming from a wifi warrior who hardly ever got out to locals and even then couldn't break into the PR as infrequently as I was motivated to attend, but I like to think that from a conceptual point, I have a good argument for why Roy was actually a secret high-tier all along. I have wins over interstate players and no recognition behind my name, so again, take this all with a grain of salt. The most misused/under-utilized tools at Roy's disposal were:
Utilt was never used as it should have been. It's a phenomenal out-of-shield option at high percents. While it's framedata clearly shows that it's the laggiest tilt in Roy's kit, the knockback data doesn't lie-- and the startup and shieldstun make for a surprisingly safe option when facing characters with poorer OOS options.
Uair's front sourspot connects into fsmash reliably at high percents, and while it's not something that should be used explicitly, it's an option if you recognize the sourspot connects quickly enough. Connecting with it's reverse hit while falling could lead to a doublejump bair-- reliably killing at the ledge near 100%.
Nair1 is as good and maybe even better for Roy than Ryo or Izaw ever stated in the Art of Roy interview, and when combined with Roy's initial dash speed and air acceleration, using it as a crossup makes it safe on block. As much attention as Nair1>Usmash got, I feel that Nair1>Fsmash was criminally underused. It necessitates almost frame-perfect input, but it makes Roy's scariest option a reliable tool for punishing where it would otherwise be impossible. Rather than jumpcancelling Usmash, leaping in with Nair1>Fsmash would do a better job of sealing stocks, and is safer on block because of Usmash's multihits having hardly any shieldstun.
B-reversed Flareblade was an amazing mobility option both to mix up landings and even starting combos. As Roy would carry his momentum into the attack, low or medium percents would yield nair strings or other aerial followups. The same can't be said for standing Flareblade because hit opponents would be too far from Roy after the FAF to close distance and followup. Pivot Flareblade is a cool little trick that I never saw used, but I don't think it would have shaped his meta in any way.
But the facts remain. his dair was ass. His dsmash (while having a cool double-hit shieldbreak gimmick) was ass. Etc. Roy sucks, but he could have been good.
There are the obvious things to point out, like "Roy's recovery is garbage", "his disadvantaged state is one of the worst in the game", or "his sourspots don't kill like Marth's". These are all valid critiques of the character, and absolutely favor into his perceived "low tier but good but mid tier but trash" status. Take this all with a grain of salt, coming from a wifi warrior who hardly ever got out to locals and even then couldn't break into the PR as infrequently as I was motivated to attend, but I like to think that from a conceptual point, I have a good argument for why Roy was actually a secret high-tier all along. I have wins over interstate players and no recognition behind my name, so again, take this all with a grain of salt. The most misused/under-utilized tools at Roy's disposal were:
Utilt was never used as it should have been. It's a phenomenal out-of-shield option at high percents. While it's framedata clearly shows that it's the laggiest tilt in Roy's kit, the knockback data doesn't lie-- and the startup and shieldstun make for a surprisingly safe option when facing characters with poorer OOS options.
Uair's front sourspot connects into fsmash reliably at high percents, and while it's not something that should be used explicitly, it's an option if you recognize the sourspot connects quickly enough. Connecting with it's reverse hit while falling could lead to a doublejump bair-- reliably killing at the ledge near 100%.
Nair1 is as good and maybe even better for Roy than Ryo or Izaw ever stated in the Art of Roy interview, and when combined with Roy's initial dash speed and air acceleration, using it as a crossup makes it safe on block. As much attention as Nair1>Usmash got, I feel that Nair1>Fsmash was criminally underused. It necessitates almost frame-perfect input, but it makes Roy's scariest option a reliable tool for punishing where it would otherwise be impossible. Rather than jumpcancelling Usmash, leaping in with Nair1>Fsmash would do a better job of sealing stocks, and is safer on block because of Usmash's multihits having hardly any shieldstun.
B-reversed Flareblade was an amazing mobility option both to mix up landings and even starting combos. As Roy would carry his momentum into the attack, low or medium percents would yield nair strings or other aerial followups. The same can't be said for standing Flareblade because hit opponents would be too far from Roy after the FAF to close distance and followup. Pivot Flareblade is a cool little trick that I never saw used, but I don't think it would have shaped his meta in any way.
But the facts remain. his dair was ass. His dsmash (while having a cool double-hit shieldbreak gimmick) was ass. Etc. Roy sucks, but he could have been good.
