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Secondarys for Bowser

Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
505
Location
Plover, WI
I'm a relativly new bowser main. I'm having troubles with the peach, lucario and ivy matchups among many others. So i'm wondering the safest secondary to have for bowser.
 

LupinX

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
226
marth could be a good secondary considering he has good matchup on the said characters above.
 

Et cetera

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
15
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I've also been wondering about picking up a secondary. Not only do I have trouble against MUs like Wario, Falco, Diddy, and others that can heavily pressure shields, sometimes I just get too impatient and choose bad approach options. I am considering Fox since he's just really solid overall, but I've also considered Falco or Samus. I have more of a bait-and-punish playstyle, so I feel like those two choices would be decent backup choices. If you guys have any suggestions for strong MUs with the trouble characters listed above, let me know. I can give them some consideration.
 

Frost | Odds

Puddings: 1 /// Odds: 0
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Messages
2,328
Location
Calgary, Alberta
If you need to ask who to play as a secondary, then you're not playing at anywhere near a level where you may need a secondary.
 

SushiKiller

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
175
If you need to ask who to play as a secondary, then you're not playing at anywhere near a level where you may need a secondary.
Hey am a bowser main and I need help, what should I do out of shield.
 

Vandire

Smash Cadet
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
60
Location
Newark, IL
Marth is my secondary to go to, as well as Wario. Marth, because of him being my Melee main, can handle a lot of MU's Easy PZ. Wario, cause he's a bruiser type character, like Bowser, and he's all around fun.
 

Mr. Bones

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 16, 2014
Messages
269
Location
Tifton, GA
NNID
Bones-kun
3DS FC
3797-8360-5628
Hey am a bowser main and I need help, what should I do out of shield.
Nair/Grab/Up-B. You're likely to get punished for only using UP-B out of shield unless you're in a position to Fortress-hog. Also be careful with Odds, he thinks F-smash is bad.
 

Mr. Bones

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 16, 2014
Messages
269
Location
Tifton, GA
NNID
Bones-kun
3DS FC
3797-8360-5628
It's not the most optimal thing lol
but it's pretty predictable and has a lot of startup so it's super punishable
Grab stops it completely
But it's a kill move with a start-up that micro-spaces against things.

Of course it's not optimal. But it's one hell of a mix-up. :b
 

meebius

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
102
Location
Texas
But it's a kill move with a start-up that micro-spaces against things.

Of course it's not optimal. But it's one hell of a mix-up. :b
lmao if it hits, it can kill at 40%
plus, all bowser mains have that gut feeling of when to throw it out (kinda like g&w mains with the 9 hammer)
 

Mr. Bones

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Mar 16, 2014
Messages
269
Location
Tifton, GA
NNID
Bones-kun
3DS FC
3797-8360-5628
lmao if it hits, it can kill at 40%
plus, all bowser mains have that gut feeling of when to throw it out (kinda like g&w mains with the 9 hammer)
I'll usually go the first game or two without it and then throw it out later in the set. It usually works out fairly well.
 

REInstalleD

Smash Rookie
Joined
Sep 29, 2014
Messages
21
Location
Palo Alto, California
I've been thinking about this a bit more recently as I think my bowser is maybe good enough to start thinking about secondary options (okay fine, probably not but it's still fun to play other characters).

One approach would be to look at particular matchups and counter specific characters. This would be a melee approach and seems a bit shallow given the larger cast of PM. However, if you were looking to basically be a solo bowser player but just couldn't stand one or two matchups, it might be the way to go.

The second approach is the more holistic one, taking into account a character's weakness and picking a secondary who is strong in those areas. For bowser, that would mean picking a character who is less easy to combo/chain grab, and less easy to camp with dash dancing or projectiles, which means a character who is smaller, faster, and has a strong dash dance or projectiles of their own.

Some characters who immediately come to mind: ZSS, Pikachu, Sheik, Space Animals (yes they can be easy to combo but for very different reasons than bowser), Pit, Toon Link...probably others I can't think of...Olimar maybe. All pretty fast with different weights and gravities from bowser and all with some form of ranged attack.

Of course, I think the most important part is enjoying the game (that's why we all play bowser, right?) so you should pick a secondary that you think is fun. That's why I've been playing Zelda even though I would definitely not recommend her as a bowser secondary...

So what do you guys think? Is having a secondary not as necessary with the 3.6 changes?
 

Joak.

Smash Rookie
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
9
Location
Northern VA
Obviously at any given time pick the character with whom you play the best. It isn't all about match ups if you are only really good with one character. If you have the ability to pick a good secondary for certain match ups then look at Bowser's weaknesses and pick a character that covers those. G&W is dramatically different from Bowser for multiple reasons. Marth is also very different. It really depends on what you are having issues with when using Bowser. For the G&W secondary maybe you had trouble with Bowser's size and weight in certain matchups. For Marth maybe you like his disjoint or grab game to help with something.
 

Waffl-Kun

Smash Rookie
Joined
Aug 16, 2015
Messages
2
I main Bowser. If they counterpick me, I counterpick back with Bowser. When stage bans come around, I ban any stage excluding the letters B-O-W-S-E-R and stare at Warioware whilst licking my lips. I suppose if your turtle isn't turtly enough, you could always secondary Squirtle tho.
 

shairn

Your favorite anime is bad.
Joined
Nov 16, 2013
Messages
2,596
Location
Laval, QC
3DS FC
4742-6323-2961
Lmao your "secondary" will always have better matchups than Bowser so it kind of defeats the purpose of playing Bowser. Just suck it up and play Bowser.
 
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