My friends are all convinced that sheik has this amazing air game, and its the source of a lot of saltiness because I main sheik. They generally cite the knockback on her fair and the "360 degree range" on her nair as evidence to her unbeatableness in the air. I really want to tell them that her aerial game isnt all they crack it up to be but nobody seems to want to listen. Does anyone have good tips and/or insight on how to beat her aerials? I see on smashboards all the time posts that mention that shes way better on the ground, but rarely is it mentioned what is so "bad" about her air game exactly. If it helps, my friends generally play kirby, samus, and mario. Thanks in advance guys
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Sheik's air game.
- Thread starter crabflesh
- Start date
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nah sheiks air game is basically ****ing incredible
4tlas
Smash Lord
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2014
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- 1,298
I would say she is better on the ground, and her moves combo excellently in the air, but her neutral game is ass in the air. She has a hard time dealing with disjointed attacks (which your friends dont have) and (as with most characters) she has trouble dealing with opponents beneath her, so you should rarely take to the air before they do. She also has no lateral air mobility whatsoever, so once you jump you are pretty committed to the spacing you already have. And since aerial moves don't clank and each of Sheik's aerial moves isn't amazing if you don't combo out of it, aerial trades should at least be even if not beneficial for the opponent (depending upon the move).
But if anyone else goes airborne (or you hit/throw them airborne), Sheik is going to give them a bad time. First thing your friends should do is to not go into the air before you do. Sheik can approach them from anywhere if she's on the ground, and whatever move you use is pretty much guaranteed to hit them due to no clanking in the air, so after that you can punish pretty freely. Also Sheik is so fast you can close the last bit of spacing distance whenever you want, making it difficult to predict when you will hit them. Their reaction times had better be good.
The second thing they should do is force you airborne. The better you get the harder this will be to do for them, but Mario's fireballs do a good job of this. Approaching him should be very difficult if he jumps and spams them, as you will need to either time shields very well or jump/roll to avoid them, leaving you vulnerable. They can also shield your ground attacks and then grab you, throwing you into the air.
The third thing they should do is hit you first if they're already airborne. This is difficult against Sheik because her grounded approach is so fast and flexible that you can approach from near anywhere at any time, but persistent hitboxes will at least allow them to trade when you do approach. Mario and Samus have nairs just like Sheik's, and Mario and Kirby both have bairs like Sheik's. Kirby might even be able to space with his multiple jumps to bait you, or time a swallow to block your attack with grab armor while putting you in a bad situation.
The fourth thing they should do is airdodge. This is something I am particularly bad at so I don't have much advice here, but I think if they airdodge sideways at the right time not only will Sheik miss, but since she's already committed to the jump she will have a difficult time following up after the airdodge too. Short hops not included, if you are that low to the ground you could probably airdodge toward the ground to shield sooner.
The fifth thing they should do is never get hit into the air. If they could do this they'd be godlike, but my point is that Sheik's air game is EXCELLENT if the opponent is in hitstun. She can follow up on most everything from almost anywhere using her ground speed. Her moves combo well at low/medium percent and kill well enough at high percent. The best way to avoid this is to not get hit. Dumb advice, I know, but it will help a lot if they just get better at the neutral game.
The sixth thing they should do is stop complaining. Fairs knockback is pretty meh with all the recoveries (especially against those characters), and all of those characters have sex kicks too. Again, perhaps dumb advice.
Good luck! Hope this is helpful.
But if anyone else goes airborne (or you hit/throw them airborne), Sheik is going to give them a bad time. First thing your friends should do is to not go into the air before you do. Sheik can approach them from anywhere if she's on the ground, and whatever move you use is pretty much guaranteed to hit them due to no clanking in the air, so after that you can punish pretty freely. Also Sheik is so fast you can close the last bit of spacing distance whenever you want, making it difficult to predict when you will hit them. Their reaction times had better be good.
The second thing they should do is force you airborne. The better you get the harder this will be to do for them, but Mario's fireballs do a good job of this. Approaching him should be very difficult if he jumps and spams them, as you will need to either time shields very well or jump/roll to avoid them, leaving you vulnerable. They can also shield your ground attacks and then grab you, throwing you into the air.
The third thing they should do is hit you first if they're already airborne. This is difficult against Sheik because her grounded approach is so fast and flexible that you can approach from near anywhere at any time, but persistent hitboxes will at least allow them to trade when you do approach. Mario and Samus have nairs just like Sheik's, and Mario and Kirby both have bairs like Sheik's. Kirby might even be able to space with his multiple jumps to bait you, or time a swallow to block your attack with grab armor while putting you in a bad situation.
The fourth thing they should do is airdodge. This is something I am particularly bad at so I don't have much advice here, but I think if they airdodge sideways at the right time not only will Sheik miss, but since she's already committed to the jump she will have a difficult time following up after the airdodge too. Short hops not included, if you are that low to the ground you could probably airdodge toward the ground to shield sooner.
The fifth thing they should do is never get hit into the air. If they could do this they'd be godlike, but my point is that Sheik's air game is EXCELLENT if the opponent is in hitstun. She can follow up on most everything from almost anywhere using her ground speed. Her moves combo well at low/medium percent and kill well enough at high percent. The best way to avoid this is to not get hit. Dumb advice, I know, but it will help a lot if they just get better at the neutral game.
The sixth thing they should do is stop complaining. Fairs knockback is pretty meh with all the recoveries (especially against those characters), and all of those characters have sex kicks too. Again, perhaps dumb advice.
Good luck! Hope this is helpful.
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