you can dodge roll while the firefox is active and then punish badly
I've done it on a few occasions, and I have never been punished. Considering the firefox has no lag and you have a quick getaway even if they do think to auto-roll by c-stick buffering, it is unlikely you will be severely punished.
Marth doesn't even have time to roll and dash attack unless he rolls immediately after the shine.
Of course, anyone that firefoxes at someone on a repeated basis is a fool, but it is a surprisingly effective tool. Use it the same way a Marth player can use the back throw to make an opponent waste their jump; don't do it several times a match, and don't make it a staple of your gameplay.
Not that i'm taking this entirely seriously, but the charging flames do prevent escape. For your estimate, does that require you to hit them with the main part?
When I do it, I generally do it on the outside of their shield because that is generally where my shine is positioned. When the firefox starts, it hits towards the center of the shield. It rarely shield pokes them unless they are DIng their shield down/up and away.
What I like so much about it is that when Fox full jump approaches, if the enemy is in their shield they often stay in their shield until Fox attacks, thus lowering their shield even more than the standard attack would.
They CAN auto-roll at certain points in the firefox, but it happens so fast rolling is generally not an option that comes to mind.
The only time I have ever broken a shield with the firefox has been when I did a nair to shine, shine again, then JC to a firefox, and then hitting them with the actual firefox attack. This would not really happen at high level play, as most would know to roll or would have such low shield that the firefox would hit them.
I'd also like to note that certain characters with large grab ranges can actually grab Fox out of his firefox while he does this if they are spaced correctly or if their shield is light enough to push them away so they don't get burned.
