MythTrainerInfinity
Smash Champion
I've been playing with this idea for a bit, discussed it a bit in the Lucario Back Room, so here goes!
With every move there is both risk and reward. Its a basic concept of play that we Lucarios need to explore, as we constantly go on "autopilot" in certain situations where we get punished pretty hard. The purpose is to understand what options we have and see what better decisions we can make.
Edit: Certain situations have different risks and rewards when you do something. For example Aura Sphere's priority increases as Lucario takes damage making it possible to outprioritze things you normally would not.
I want to keep this a focused, but yet open discussion. I'd like to start discussing what options we have against common and less common situations.
Let's start with common things I've seen that trouble us.
What to do against Marth's FAir spam:
FAir him back
Risk: There's a good chance he will hit you before you hit him. Even if you both hit each other you will be taking more damage.
Reward: 3-7% damage on Marth and/or a possible string at low %s.
Roll behind him
Risk: He could do a retreating FAir or some other form of punishment.
Reward: You get to nail him with one of your tilts. If you execute this at the same time he FAirs (and he does not hit you) you have a 2 frame advantage, which only something like an UTilt should be able to hit with the least amount of risk.
Nair
Airdodge forwards
Retreat and charge AS
DTilt
RAR Bair
Double Team
FTilt
FSmash
You get the idea.
Approaching via full hopping in close/mid quarters against Snake
Risk: You stand to get punished really really easily. Snake can easily fire a mortar up your butt, UTilt, pull out more nades, air attack of his choice OoS, grabbed, etc.
Reward: If his shield is low there's a good chance you'll whack him with DAir, Aura Sphere
Analysis: Be reallllly careful when you full hop in close/mid range vs. Snake. You want to get him in the air, not the other way around. Short-hopping is often better if you must jump to approach him (unless if you are jumping over nades).
Bait characters with energy absorption/reflecting abilities by doing empty jumps in close/mid range:
Risk: If they read you or are trigger happy (Pit, Fox, Falco) they might try to camp you back. If you're too close you have a chance to get Up Smashed by Fox and Falco.
Reward: You wear down their shield without doing anything. If they try some air attack there's a good choice you'll be able to punish with Lucario's disjointed hitboxes.
Analysis: It can be a good mind game, but don't get predictable with it.
Pound someone's shield with DAir
Risk: Getting grabbed, Back aired, USmashed, Utilted, Shuttle Looped, explode a Grenade, etc. If we attack at higher percents we have a better chance of easily getting hit by <insert kill move here>.
Reward: Shield pressure, shield poking, but both of these options are better when you can apply more pressure. At higher percents we apply more pressure.
Analysis: Not something we should rely on when our opponent has a full or near full shield. You might even avoid this altogether, as it can be relatively easy to punish us for it.
Hard camping against Peach when we are at higher % (let's just say 75%)
Risk: You might have some trouble getting away to camp if she closes in on you and you could get DAired or something. She could just use Toad. She could throw the Stitchface turnip (lol). She may go aggro here.
Reward: At full charge at 75% we beat most of her turnips even if you take into account staling AS a bit. Even if she autocancel FAirs at an Aura Sphere (and does not hit you) you might try a BAS to follow up. If she uses Toad (and does not hit you) you could follow up with a BAS. If she glidetosses she gets hit, if she airdodges she will likely get hit, not to mention she's not exactly the fastest.
Analysis: Peach is vulnerable to Lucario's camping at higher %s. So, don't just jump at her and spam FAirs >.>
tl;dr version: Let's talk about the risk and reward of doing something.
With every move there is both risk and reward. Its a basic concept of play that we Lucarios need to explore, as we constantly go on "autopilot" in certain situations where we get punished pretty hard. The purpose is to understand what options we have and see what better decisions we can make.
Edit: Certain situations have different risks and rewards when you do something. For example Aura Sphere's priority increases as Lucario takes damage making it possible to outprioritze things you normally would not.
I want to keep this a focused, but yet open discussion. I'd like to start discussing what options we have against common and less common situations.
Let's start with common things I've seen that trouble us.
What to do against Marth's FAir spam:
FAir him back
Risk: There's a good chance he will hit you before you hit him. Even if you both hit each other you will be taking more damage.
Reward: 3-7% damage on Marth and/or a possible string at low %s.
Roll behind him
Risk: He could do a retreating FAir or some other form of punishment.
Reward: You get to nail him with one of your tilts. If you execute this at the same time he FAirs (and he does not hit you) you have a 2 frame advantage, which only something like an UTilt should be able to hit with the least amount of risk.
Nair
Airdodge forwards
Retreat and charge AS
DTilt
RAR Bair
Double Team
FTilt
FSmash
You get the idea.
Approaching via full hopping in close/mid quarters against Snake
Risk: You stand to get punished really really easily. Snake can easily fire a mortar up your butt, UTilt, pull out more nades, air attack of his choice OoS, grabbed, etc.
Reward: If his shield is low there's a good chance you'll whack him with DAir, Aura Sphere
Analysis: Be reallllly careful when you full hop in close/mid range vs. Snake. You want to get him in the air, not the other way around. Short-hopping is often better if you must jump to approach him (unless if you are jumping over nades).
Bait characters with energy absorption/reflecting abilities by doing empty jumps in close/mid range:
Risk: If they read you or are trigger happy (Pit, Fox, Falco) they might try to camp you back. If you're too close you have a chance to get Up Smashed by Fox and Falco.
Reward: You wear down their shield without doing anything. If they try some air attack there's a good choice you'll be able to punish with Lucario's disjointed hitboxes.
Analysis: It can be a good mind game, but don't get predictable with it.
Pound someone's shield with DAir
Risk: Getting grabbed, Back aired, USmashed, Utilted, Shuttle Looped, explode a Grenade, etc. If we attack at higher percents we have a better chance of easily getting hit by <insert kill move here>.
Reward: Shield pressure, shield poking, but both of these options are better when you can apply more pressure. At higher percents we apply more pressure.
Analysis: Not something we should rely on when our opponent has a full or near full shield. You might even avoid this altogether, as it can be relatively easy to punish us for it.
Hard camping against Peach when we are at higher % (let's just say 75%)
Risk: You might have some trouble getting away to camp if she closes in on you and you could get DAired or something. She could just use Toad. She could throw the Stitchface turnip (lol). She may go aggro here.
Reward: At full charge at 75% we beat most of her turnips even if you take into account staling AS a bit. Even if she autocancel FAirs at an Aura Sphere (and does not hit you) you might try a BAS to follow up. If she uses Toad (and does not hit you) you could follow up with a BAS. If she glidetosses she gets hit, if she airdodges she will likely get hit, not to mention she's not exactly the fastest.
Analysis: Peach is vulnerable to Lucario's camping at higher %s. So, don't just jump at her and spam FAirs >.>
tl;dr version: Let's talk about the risk and reward of doing something.
