Shield Breaker

[Pichu Guru]

I have a feeling that Marth will be top tier this time rather than Fox, just because of the improvements on his Nspecial and overall speed.

 

[Commander]

Nothing was said about Marth's speed though he will probably remain the 4th fastest runner in the game. Shield Beaker has never been such a central or good move. All it means is shielding against Marth is going to be a big mistake and you shouldn't be shielding often in competitive play anyways. Also Marth is already top tier and probably always will be by the nature of his design.

 

[L9999]

Well, Shield Breaker was a nice edge guarding tool in Melee.

 

[Rich Homie Quan]

I think it's safe to assume that he'll be solid because of the nature of his design, as mentioned above.

Right now, I think the biggest question is what changes they've brought to his staples: F-air, N-air, Dancing Blade, etc.

And then we should ponder on how the physics of the game relate to his playstyle, and what adjustments need to be made with how marth is played.

 

[victinivcreate1]

I think it's safe to assume that he'll be solid because of the nature of his design, as mentioned above.

Right now, I think the biggest question is what changes they've brought to his staples: F-air, N-air, Dancing Blade, etc.

And then we should ponder on how the physics of the game relate to his playstyle, and what adjustments need to be made with how marth is played.

I don't think we need to worry about his playstyle in the physics of SSB4. The way I see it, you have Melee and Brawl, two polar opposites of games. Melee being fast paced and combo heavy. Melee having significant movement options which allow players to further extend combos. Brawl being extremely floaty, lacking in hitstun, and significantly slower than Melee. Brawl lacking the immediate movement/increasing speed options (i.e wavedashing, L-cancelling) but instead focusing on less relevant mobility options (i.e glide toss, slide smash, etc). Yet in both games, Marth is top tier. He is 4th in Melee and 5th in Brawl. Why? His mechanics are his saving grace. Spacing is a highly important thing in Smash. Marth players are rewarded when they hit a move with the max spacing (i.e tipper). With tippers, damage, knockback and hitstun increase. Because of this, Marth can be very safe behind his sword. His forward air is a quick move with great range and speed and does reasonable damage when tippered. This move makes up much of his offensive and defensive abilities. Even without fair, Marth has other good moves such as Dancing Blade, down tilt, forward smash, up air, neutral air, etc. Their large disjointed hitboxes allow him to safely attack from a distance and apply pressure on to the opponent. With these things, Marth has the tools to be a powerful offensive and defensive player. Thats why he succeeds in the offensive environment of Melee and the defensive environment of Brawl.

 

[DaDavid]

Yeah I think Marth is just one of those characters like the Spacies and now Meta Knight that in general is just designed to be good at Smash. Plus with his range on certain attacks being seemingly more Melee than Brawl, I think it's safe to say he'll still be a threat.

 

[Awaji66]

Not to nitpick, but when using shield breaker: I noticed Marth's scabbard goes right/disappears into his leg. I would like that to be fixed or impoved, it it's not too much trouble.

 

[negativeX]

Yeah I think Marth is just one of those characters like the Spacies and now Meta Knight that in general is just designed to be good at Smash. Plus with his range on certain attacks being seemingly more Melee than Brawl, I think it's safe to say he'll still be a threat.

Kind of like how Bowser and Mario's just designed to be bad.
(Man I'm on fire today, got all the sick burns)