Royta
Smash Journeyman
This is the (new) matchup guide where we will discuss the matchups for Samus. Starting with Falco. After about one week or few days (depends on the input) I will make a small conclusion and put it in the first post!
Credit goes to YagamiLight from the Ike boards for making this style for a matchup topic that actually works well, kudo's to him!
Now let's start!
Character #1: FALCO
7 / 3
Character Strengths: Spike, excellent camping game,
Character Weaknesses: poor vertical recovery, hard time killing without spikes, light
Recommended Counterpick: Lylat Cruise / Norfair / Brinstar Melee
Recommended Stage-ban: Final Destination / Jungle Japes
Ah Falco, one of the only really remaining characters to keep his high tier place from the previous game. Though his position has hardly changed, his play style has a lot!
Going through Falco’s move list, you’ll find out that some moves are just going to be overused. Usually these are his lasers (shorthopped for zero lag), killer chaingrab (down-throw) and his spike (dair).
Now we already cancelled out one of those options, the chaingrab, by just being Samus. Simply DI up a bit and you should be unable to get chaingrabbed at all. Be mindfull though that Falco’s down-throw sets up to more then one moves, so not getting grabbed is still something you’re going to have to go for.
For killing you, Falco will rely on his trusty spike, which can be considered to be one of the best spikes in the game.
Luckily Samus isn’t doing sandbag training and with her good recovery and usage of bombs should be able to outmanoeuvre Falco and avoid getting spiked all together.
Besides the spike Falco has his sidesmash which is surprisingly powerful but has to be sweet spotted with the centre of his head and his upsmash which is pretty deadly and can be linked into his dashattack. Rule out these options and you’re going to give Falco a nice killing problem.
But for a moment considering that we’ve not being doing sandbag training, we’re going to fight back! Our options are quite limited though.
Zair is pretty much our best move in this matchup since it outranges everything Falco has except his lasers. Try and use it out of an airdodge and sometimes fake into doing one by simply jumping, you’ll be using this move a lot so don’t make it predictable!
Out of our projectiles, you’ll want to use the homing missiles the most for the sole reason that they are the safest of the bunch. Super Missle packs a big punch if reflected (and it will be reflected) but the homing missiles aren’t going to be reflected. If he DOES however, punish him with a Zair to his face or an opening for a Charge Shot.
The reflector is one that covers a nice distance and reflects where the hexagon is at that time, this makes using the Charge Shot very dangerous since if reflected it will usually kill us or do a good chunk of damage (1,5 times the normal damage), so save the Charge Shot for a unique opening.
Now for killing Falco, you’re going to have to take the battle to of the edge of the stage. Falco’s recovery is fairly linear with no real option to stall. If he can recover horizontally he’ll sideB every time. This is simply his best recovery move, it’s fast and even has a spike hitbox. When Falco uses this move it’s all about prediction, this is THE best time to use the Charge Shot if you have it. Our Fair and are also good because of the long lasting hitboxes. You have to learn to predict when and where he’s going to sideB and work from there.
But the main key here is forcing him to use his (horrible) upB.
Go for nair’s and homing missles to force him into a vertical recovery and spike him out of it. It has huge startup lag making it easy to spike.
When talking Counterpicks and Stagebans, it’s best to just ban Final Destination right of the top so you don’t run the risk of going there in the first match. If you’re confident you’ll do fine on FD, then ban Jungle Japes.
As far as counterpicks go, Lylat is a safe bet against him (but he’ll usually ban this one) and Norfair/ Brinstar (Melee) screw him over pretty much.
It’s all about pressure in this matchup and you want to bring the pressure to Falco, if not he’ll be able to spam lasers all day long without even being in remote danger of taking damage let alone getting killed.
So keep up the pressure, get him of the edge and work from there. It’s by no means easy, but do-able!
Character #2: Mr. Game & Watch
6 / 4
Character Strengths: good airgame, priority, good on damage racking and killing, excellent recovery
Character Weaknesses: light
Recommended Counterpick: ~
Recommended Stage-ban: ~
Of the bat, you’ll remember Game and Watch (GaW) as one of those low tier characters from Melee. Well you’d best go into your brain and press “delete” since this is not the case anymore.
With high priority, excellent range, great air game and annoying sound effects he’ll be a force to reckon with.
Now when the match starts there are a few things you can do, mostly is to get away as fast as you can from GaW and get into a good camping position. He’s got almost no ranged moves (only his B which doesn’t have great range) so he’ll have to come and take the battle to us. This… isn’t necessarily a good thing at that, since when GaW gets in range his superior priority on his air moves will beast us.
GaW will rack up damage pretty fast with his good air moves, smashes and grabs. His Bair and Nair have huge (long lasting) hitboxes and will kill any aerial approach that is not called Zair. His dashattack has an insanely long lasting hitbox and will stagespike you if you ledgecamp for too long. So don’t stay on the edge too long.
His Dthrow needs a special mention, since it’s a tech chase. Make sure you don’t get predictable with your reaction to this, or you will get severely punished. He’ll be able to Dtilt, Dsmash or regrab you out of it, giving you nice percentage or even killing you. Sometimes just don’t tech, lie still and wait for him to make a move and then quickly respond.
Not only does he rack up damage fast, he’s got a good amount of kill moves. Fsmash comes out fairly fast and has lingering hitboxes, Dsmash comes out fast too, Upsmash kills insanely hard but is a bit slow on start-up etc. He’s got a speedy game and has the kill moves to back it up.
Now when it comes down to attack him you’ll have some options. Your trusty Zair is ready to aid you as always but be careful of GaW predicting it. You won’t be able to camp him all match long but racking extra percentage is always nice, eventually you’ll have to fight up close. Ftilt and your lag-less air moves work nice here. So would a pivot grab if you predict well. Keep your distance and keep racking a steady percentage.
From your close combat moves you’re better of saving your Dtilt so that it is at full killing potential and stick to your normal tilts. On stages with platforms Uptilt works nice and covers a nice angle of GaW’s approach, and your air moves are again awesome when it comes to speed and damage racking. When putting pressure on GaW be mindful of his upB OoS, this can do decent damage and will put him above you. It should be noted that a lot of GaW users tend to use the Key (Dair) when above you, punish this with a upB to the side of his hitbox. Again, don’t get predictable though.
Missiles are nice again for racking up damage and to search for a possible Charge Shot opening. Note that he needs to absorb your cannon 3 times with his bucket before he can use it to attack but that his charges are saved even if he dies, so don’t screw up too many times.
Now that you’ve actually hurt him you’ve got to find a way to get rid of him. But this is harder then it sounds, not only does his upB protect him from spikes with a wind effect and invincibility frames, he can also survive horizontal kill moves up to insane percentage due to the recent discovery of momentum cancelling. By using his fastest air move and then using the bucket he’ll lose all momentum, which can lead to some high survivability. Best way to kill him is of the top with Dsmash and or Dtilt, so learn to set these up. Best is to use these out of a shorthop Uair or Fair and buffer the kill move during the animation.
Stages are yet to be really discussed, but counterpick Final Destination mostly. GaW really needs those platforms to be strong.
It’s mainly a cat and mouse game, if GaW gets in range he’ll rampage Samus, but if he can’t get close by he won’t be able to do a thing about it. Learn his hitboxes, know when you can strike and keep him at a reasonable distance.
Not an easy matchup, but there are far worse out there!
Note: this write-up is not yet complete and will be completed later on when more experience is made by the Samus users.
Character #3: Ike
55 / 45
Character Strengths: Killing power, racks damage quite fast, can be quite fast
Character Weaknesses: Some moves have long lag, bad recovery
Recommended Counterpick: Final Destination, Battlefield
Recommended Stage-ban: Corneria, Pirate Ship
Ah Ike, once the most overused character in the game, we have now learned how to airdodge and the standard yell will be “use projectiles, gimp his recovery, 7-3”.
The fact that I was once an Ike main, might cloud my judgement about this write-up, so keep that in mind!
First thing you’ll notice, is that flat out killing Ike will be an issue while he has absolutely no issues doing so himself. Having 4 spikes (B, upB, dtilt and Dair), tilts, smashes, jabs…everything can kill actually even his downthrow if you are around ~200%. This means that you’re going to have to keep your damage low and keep him away from you. When you are at 100% expect to die sometime today.
Be mindfull of his jab, which can lead to a good amount of things. Including more jabs, grabs or aerials. Jab to Bair is a good combo on Samus and could kill her easily if the Ike manages to pull it off. So stay away from them at all costs, which isn't likely to happen.
Also when recovering use bombs and weirdly timed upB’s to put him off, a good Ike will try and spike you with his Dair or upB.
Zair and missiles will do a fine job racking damage, but most importantly of all...it keeps him at bay. Be aware of dash-attacks since this has a hitbox that goes insanely far and is fast as well. This is something you have to remember the entire match, keep an close eye on Ike. His moves are somewhat slow, but a good Ike user is very fast with auto-canceles and jabs. Never underestimate an Ike or you will die.
Being the heavy guy that Ike is, and one of the best vertical survivors, killing him will be no easy feet. Save your downtilt and only use it when Ike is around 170% for a sure kill. Fsmash and Uptilt work too but are dangerous because of Fsmash’s weird hitbox en low priority and Uptilt’s speed.
Though a good Ike is good at avoiding gimps, it is still possible, and it is our way to go if we are to kill him. One well placed Zair should kill any Ike during recovery, so that is our best bet. Try and mix it up, make sure it doesn’t get predictable. Bait and airdodge and punish with a Zair. Charge Cannon and Missiles will also work nicely to kill Ike during his recovery. If the Ike decides to recover using his SideB, punish him by jumping into it. You can even airdodge if you time it well, this will trigger his attack and let him fall to his doom unable to do anything
Speaking of Zair, this move will play a keyrole in this matchup, even more so then in any other. Keeping Ike away from you will play a big part of how this match will go. Ike’s Fair goes very far (only outranged by 4 attacks, including your Zair), so when he gets in close he can use this to outrange you. A Zair will do you no good at that close range, so he’ll have the upperhand.
Counterpickwise Final Destination will do okay’ish. It’s a stage that Ike doesn’t really like, but it isn’t Samus’s best stage either.
Battlefield is a mixedbag, since it’s Ike’s favourite Neutral stage, one where he can really beast you. Then again Samus does nicely there too.
It all comes down to where you like to play, and know you can exploit the errors in Ike’s game.
As you might have read, this matchup is fairly straightforward. If Ike gets in close you lose, if he isn’t able to get in close you win. Keep him away from you and if he gets close exchange a few blows and get away again, save your Dtilt for when you know it will kill and choose counterpicks wisely.
Character #4: Zelda
~ / ~
Character Strengths: ~
Character Weaknesses: ~
Recommended Counterpick: ~
Recommended Stage-ban: ~
Writeup shall be up at the beginning of next week. I'm falling behind lol xD
Character #5: Snake
~ / ~
Character Strengths: ~
Character Weaknesses: ~
Recommended Counterpick: ~
Recommended Stage-ban: ~
Considered to be the best character in the game for some time untill we discovered Metagameknight.
He's got insane hitboxes, he's heavy, he's en par with Ike when it comes down to power. AND he's got a cool beard, and we all know beards make you stronger!
How will Samus cope with this beast?
Discuss!
Credit goes to YagamiLight from the Ike boards for making this style for a matchup topic that actually works well, kudo's to him!
Now let's start!
Character #1: FALCO
7 / 3 Character Strengths: Spike, excellent camping game,
Character Weaknesses: poor vertical recovery, hard time killing without spikes, light
Recommended Counterpick: Lylat Cruise / Norfair / Brinstar Melee
Recommended Stage-ban: Final Destination / Jungle Japes
Ah Falco, one of the only really remaining characters to keep his high tier place from the previous game. Though his position has hardly changed, his play style has a lot!
Going through Falco’s move list, you’ll find out that some moves are just going to be overused. Usually these are his lasers (shorthopped for zero lag), killer chaingrab (down-throw) and his spike (dair).
Now we already cancelled out one of those options, the chaingrab, by just being Samus. Simply DI up a bit and you should be unable to get chaingrabbed at all. Be mindfull though that Falco’s down-throw sets up to more then one moves, so not getting grabbed is still something you’re going to have to go for.
For killing you, Falco will rely on his trusty spike, which can be considered to be one of the best spikes in the game.
Luckily Samus isn’t doing sandbag training and with her good recovery and usage of bombs should be able to outmanoeuvre Falco and avoid getting spiked all together.
Besides the spike Falco has his sidesmash which is surprisingly powerful but has to be sweet spotted with the centre of his head and his upsmash which is pretty deadly and can be linked into his dashattack. Rule out these options and you’re going to give Falco a nice killing problem.
But for a moment considering that we’ve not being doing sandbag training, we’re going to fight back! Our options are quite limited though.
Zair is pretty much our best move in this matchup since it outranges everything Falco has except his lasers. Try and use it out of an airdodge and sometimes fake into doing one by simply jumping, you’ll be using this move a lot so don’t make it predictable!
Out of our projectiles, you’ll want to use the homing missiles the most for the sole reason that they are the safest of the bunch. Super Missle packs a big punch if reflected (and it will be reflected) but the homing missiles aren’t going to be reflected. If he DOES however, punish him with a Zair to his face or an opening for a Charge Shot.
The reflector is one that covers a nice distance and reflects where the hexagon is at that time, this makes using the Charge Shot very dangerous since if reflected it will usually kill us or do a good chunk of damage (1,5 times the normal damage), so save the Charge Shot for a unique opening.
Now for killing Falco, you’re going to have to take the battle to of the edge of the stage. Falco’s recovery is fairly linear with no real option to stall. If he can recover horizontally he’ll sideB every time. This is simply his best recovery move, it’s fast and even has a spike hitbox. When Falco uses this move it’s all about prediction, this is THE best time to use the Charge Shot if you have it. Our Fair and are also good because of the long lasting hitboxes. You have to learn to predict when and where he’s going to sideB and work from there.
But the main key here is forcing him to use his (horrible) upB.
Go for nair’s and homing missles to force him into a vertical recovery and spike him out of it. It has huge startup lag making it easy to spike.
When talking Counterpicks and Stagebans, it’s best to just ban Final Destination right of the top so you don’t run the risk of going there in the first match. If you’re confident you’ll do fine on FD, then ban Jungle Japes.
As far as counterpicks go, Lylat is a safe bet against him (but he’ll usually ban this one) and Norfair/ Brinstar (Melee) screw him over pretty much.
It’s all about pressure in this matchup and you want to bring the pressure to Falco, if not he’ll be able to spam lasers all day long without even being in remote danger of taking damage let alone getting killed.
So keep up the pressure, get him of the edge and work from there. It’s by no means easy, but do-able!
Character #2: Mr. Game & Watch
6 / 4Character Strengths: good airgame, priority, good on damage racking and killing, excellent recovery
Character Weaknesses: light
Recommended Counterpick: ~
Recommended Stage-ban: ~
Of the bat, you’ll remember Game and Watch (GaW) as one of those low tier characters from Melee. Well you’d best go into your brain and press “delete” since this is not the case anymore.
With high priority, excellent range, great air game and annoying sound effects he’ll be a force to reckon with.
Now when the match starts there are a few things you can do, mostly is to get away as fast as you can from GaW and get into a good camping position. He’s got almost no ranged moves (only his B which doesn’t have great range) so he’ll have to come and take the battle to us. This… isn’t necessarily a good thing at that, since when GaW gets in range his superior priority on his air moves will beast us.
GaW will rack up damage pretty fast with his good air moves, smashes and grabs. His Bair and Nair have huge (long lasting) hitboxes and will kill any aerial approach that is not called Zair. His dashattack has an insanely long lasting hitbox and will stagespike you if you ledgecamp for too long. So don’t stay on the edge too long.
His Dthrow needs a special mention, since it’s a tech chase. Make sure you don’t get predictable with your reaction to this, or you will get severely punished. He’ll be able to Dtilt, Dsmash or regrab you out of it, giving you nice percentage or even killing you. Sometimes just don’t tech, lie still and wait for him to make a move and then quickly respond.
Not only does he rack up damage fast, he’s got a good amount of kill moves. Fsmash comes out fairly fast and has lingering hitboxes, Dsmash comes out fast too, Upsmash kills insanely hard but is a bit slow on start-up etc. He’s got a speedy game and has the kill moves to back it up.
Now when it comes down to attack him you’ll have some options. Your trusty Zair is ready to aid you as always but be careful of GaW predicting it. You won’t be able to camp him all match long but racking extra percentage is always nice, eventually you’ll have to fight up close. Ftilt and your lag-less air moves work nice here. So would a pivot grab if you predict well. Keep your distance and keep racking a steady percentage.
From your close combat moves you’re better of saving your Dtilt so that it is at full killing potential and stick to your normal tilts. On stages with platforms Uptilt works nice and covers a nice angle of GaW’s approach, and your air moves are again awesome when it comes to speed and damage racking. When putting pressure on GaW be mindful of his upB OoS, this can do decent damage and will put him above you. It should be noted that a lot of GaW users tend to use the Key (Dair) when above you, punish this with a upB to the side of his hitbox. Again, don’t get predictable though.
Missiles are nice again for racking up damage and to search for a possible Charge Shot opening. Note that he needs to absorb your cannon 3 times with his bucket before he can use it to attack but that his charges are saved even if he dies, so don’t screw up too many times.
Now that you’ve actually hurt him you’ve got to find a way to get rid of him. But this is harder then it sounds, not only does his upB protect him from spikes with a wind effect and invincibility frames, he can also survive horizontal kill moves up to insane percentage due to the recent discovery of momentum cancelling. By using his fastest air move and then using the bucket he’ll lose all momentum, which can lead to some high survivability. Best way to kill him is of the top with Dsmash and or Dtilt, so learn to set these up. Best is to use these out of a shorthop Uair or Fair and buffer the kill move during the animation.
Stages are yet to be really discussed, but counterpick Final Destination mostly. GaW really needs those platforms to be strong.
It’s mainly a cat and mouse game, if GaW gets in range he’ll rampage Samus, but if he can’t get close by he won’t be able to do a thing about it. Learn his hitboxes, know when you can strike and keep him at a reasonable distance.
Not an easy matchup, but there are far worse out there!
Note: this write-up is not yet complete and will be completed later on when more experience is made by the Samus users.
Character #3: Ike
55 / 45Character Strengths: Killing power, racks damage quite fast, can be quite fast
Character Weaknesses: Some moves have long lag, bad recovery
Recommended Counterpick: Final Destination, Battlefield
Recommended Stage-ban: Corneria, Pirate Ship
Ah Ike, once the most overused character in the game, we have now learned how to airdodge and the standard yell will be “use projectiles, gimp his recovery, 7-3”.
The fact that I was once an Ike main, might cloud my judgement about this write-up, so keep that in mind!
First thing you’ll notice, is that flat out killing Ike will be an issue while he has absolutely no issues doing so himself. Having 4 spikes (B, upB, dtilt and Dair), tilts, smashes, jabs…everything can kill actually even his downthrow if you are around ~200%. This means that you’re going to have to keep your damage low and keep him away from you. When you are at 100% expect to die sometime today.
Be mindfull of his jab, which can lead to a good amount of things. Including more jabs, grabs or aerials. Jab to Bair is a good combo on Samus and could kill her easily if the Ike manages to pull it off. So stay away from them at all costs, which isn't likely to happen.
Also when recovering use bombs and weirdly timed upB’s to put him off, a good Ike will try and spike you with his Dair or upB.
Zair and missiles will do a fine job racking damage, but most importantly of all...it keeps him at bay. Be aware of dash-attacks since this has a hitbox that goes insanely far and is fast as well. This is something you have to remember the entire match, keep an close eye on Ike. His moves are somewhat slow, but a good Ike user is very fast with auto-canceles and jabs. Never underestimate an Ike or you will die.
Being the heavy guy that Ike is, and one of the best vertical survivors, killing him will be no easy feet. Save your downtilt and only use it when Ike is around 170% for a sure kill. Fsmash and Uptilt work too but are dangerous because of Fsmash’s weird hitbox en low priority and Uptilt’s speed.
Though a good Ike is good at avoiding gimps, it is still possible, and it is our way to go if we are to kill him. One well placed Zair should kill any Ike during recovery, so that is our best bet. Try and mix it up, make sure it doesn’t get predictable. Bait and airdodge and punish with a Zair. Charge Cannon and Missiles will also work nicely to kill Ike during his recovery. If the Ike decides to recover using his SideB, punish him by jumping into it. You can even airdodge if you time it well, this will trigger his attack and let him fall to his doom unable to do anything
Speaking of Zair, this move will play a keyrole in this matchup, even more so then in any other. Keeping Ike away from you will play a big part of how this match will go. Ike’s Fair goes very far (only outranged by 4 attacks, including your Zair), so when he gets in close he can use this to outrange you. A Zair will do you no good at that close range, so he’ll have the upperhand.
Counterpickwise Final Destination will do okay’ish. It’s a stage that Ike doesn’t really like, but it isn’t Samus’s best stage either.
Battlefield is a mixedbag, since it’s Ike’s favourite Neutral stage, one where he can really beast you. Then again Samus does nicely there too.
It all comes down to where you like to play, and know you can exploit the errors in Ike’s game.
As you might have read, this matchup is fairly straightforward. If Ike gets in close you lose, if he isn’t able to get in close you win. Keep him away from you and if he gets close exchange a few blows and get away again, save your Dtilt for when you know it will kill and choose counterpicks wisely.
Character #4: Zelda
~ / ~ Character Strengths: ~
Character Weaknesses: ~
Recommended Counterpick: ~
Recommended Stage-ban: ~
Writeup shall be up at the beginning of next week. I'm falling behind lol xD
Character #5: Snake
~ / ~ Character Strengths: ~
Character Weaknesses: ~
Recommended Counterpick: ~
Recommended Stage-ban: ~
Considered to be the best character in the game for some time untill we discovered Meta
He's got insane hitboxes, he's heavy, he's en par with Ike when it comes down to power. AND he's got a cool beard, and we all know beards make you stronger!
How will Samus cope with this beast?
Discuss!
I coudl go on about how awsome they are but I'd really rather not. makes samus sad 
