Underload
Lazy
Discuss the Diddy Kong matchup in here. Discussion is open indefinitely. Don't be afraid to post.
Bulletpoints:
Bulletpoints:
- Surprise surprise, you'll be dealing with bananas in this matchup. Diddy's kill power isn't a highlight of his game, but his ability to rack up damage is almost unmatched.
- No matter what someone may say, your grenades are fantastic in this matchup. They screw up Diddy's banana game, and thusly his banana combos.
- Learn to use bananas well. Z-catching, ADCTs, and general projectile defense techniques will do you wonders here.
- Keep your blunt mistakes under control. Diddy is an excellent punisher, and you will get combo'd offstage if you, say, land incorrectly on FD or something.
- Watch your feet. Diddy loves to throw bananas under you while you're recovering and follow up with a grab. Airdodging while you land is a good counter to this. You'll catch the banana, and you can instantly throw it back in his face and punish with ftilt.
- You outcamp him. Use that fact to its maximum. You are in a VERY bad spot if you're close to Diddy, so keep your distance and learn how to use those specials, son.
- Your weight is one of your best tools. You shouldn't be dying until 160%+ in this matchup, but still watch for obvious dsmashes and fsmashes.
- Try counterpicking something with platforms and boundaries beneficial to you, to take advantage of Diddy's lack of kill power. Halberd is always great, its short ceiling helps you a lot more than it helps Diddy. Also try Jungle Japes if you can DI up well, or maybe even Frigate Orpheon. Ban FD every time.
- This matchup is difficult to gauge, but the majority thinks it's 50:50. Argue otherwise, as you may be correct in your assumptions.
Finally, been wanting to see this matchup discussed for a while. I'll try to summarize it best I can. Prepare for yet another long post, which almost seems more of a tutorial than a matchup discussion xd.
Snake basically wins this matchup based on the sole reason that he can't die. Unless you get tricked into a spike or Side B shenanigans, Diddy's ability to kill Snake is very poor. However, what he CAN do is rack up damage VERY quickly, which is what makes the matchup pretty close IMO.
Pros:
Snake can live on average 160%+ in this matchup
Nades screw up Diddy's banana combos and options quite a bit
Snake has nice punish options with bananas
Diddy dies early Vs Snake
Hard for Diddy to CP Snake (yes)
Can outcamp Diddy a little
Cons:
Being up close vs Diddy with bananas is very bad
Diddy does a decent job of punishing Snake off stage, and can gimp well
Fast paced matchup?
Alright, so let's start with the basics. Diddys WILL use bananas against you constantly if they know how to use the char. Diddy without bananas is nothing against Snake. Bananas even the matchup more, and make it dangerous to be close up with Diddy when bananas are around him or in his hand. So this leads to the number one thing in this matchup: LEARN TO USE BANANAS! If you don't learn how to pick them up, or throw them effectively, you'll lose. Just picking them up and throwing them offstage isn't as viable as it seems, since Diddy can pop another two out just as quickly.
For using bananas, a great way to pick them up is to Z-catch them. This is done simply by pressing Z right as Snake's body (the middleish) is touching the banana. You will pick it up with no lag, and can even instant toss it with C-stick directions. This is highly effective. Do NOT pick it up with an aerial in the air. That is a wonderful way to get punished by Diddy. Air dodge picking it up can work too, but not as good. You can even Z-catch them on the ground by pressing it right before landing on it, which is EXTREMELY useful so you don't land and trip on them. Same with bananas on platforms. Jump up and Z-catch them. Again, NEVER do aerials to pick them up with Snake.
Okay so now you know how to pick up bananas, how do you use them? You have quite a few options. You can take the path of throwing them off the stage if you really think that'll stop Diddy from pulling more out fast enough. You can throw them high up in the air to throw Diddy off, or drop it on the ground, or even throw them back at Diddy. But let me state that just wildly throwing bananas at Diddy isn't wise, they expect it just as you should, and will just shield it, then grab it, and throw it back at you. Instead, mix things up. Diddy shielding? Drop the banana and go grab him. MIX things up is what makes it important.
Just for some reference, Snake can do some neato things if a banana trips Diddy. Since Snake is so great at punishing, you can do almost anything you normally would do to punish.
Alright, now just to add more to banana knowledge, Diddy has a hard time comboing you with bananas if there are any nades laying around, or mines even. Nades interrupt him well, so whenever you have distance between you and Diddy, have nades in between too. Diddy can't just toss it and go for a dash attack/grab without blowing up. Dropping nades right next to bananas with Diddy close by is also tricky for Diddy to deal with. He may even pick up the nade by mistake and be open for punishment. If you space away from Diddy's bananas range, you're good. If you're too close, jumping will avoid getting tripped. Just don't ever go for an ftilt or utilt if Diddy is standing holding a banana. That's a free combo.
Moving onto off stage, Diddy can gimp Snake fairly well. But most of his options are easily telegraphed. Diddys options generally are to spike you if you recover low (you will lose your stock 9/10 times), grab release you over the ledge and dtilt your double jump then gimp, Fair you, or Side B you if you Up B a little too close (though this option isn't too smart for Diddy). All of those are easily avoidable by recovering high and up as soon as you can. Only Fair can really snag you, and then you can just DI.
Likewise, Snake can do some nasty things to Diddy over the ledge. Learn Diddy's recovery options. They're not as bad as people make it out to be, but still gimpable. So you knock Diddy off stage, and he either Side B's or Up Bs. If you predict the Side B, you can Bair Diddy out of it, though risky. Up B can be beat by just grabbing the ledge before Diddy does. Sometimes he'll be forced to charge it to land on stage, which is another punish. Don't forget bananas interrupt his Up B too, so you can toss them at him if they're still on stage. Most of the time, Diddy will try to save his Side B for grabbing the ledge then Up B as a failsafe if you grab it. Try to mix up how you edge guard, as you would Falco. If you drop a Bair off stage every time, you're going to get messed up eventually. Also note Diddys tend to charge Up B while still aiming for the edge if you're hanging onto it, simply because they expect you to get off of it once your invincibility frames are up. Keep note of this.
Diddy, like most chars, beats Snake in the air. His Uair, Fair, and Bair are good. Uair juggles, Bair wall of pains a little, and Fair can KO decently. Try not to hang in the air long vs Diddy.
For stages, most people say ban FD. I personally don't think Snake does that bad on FD Vs Diddy, but that's me. I think it's really easy to space away from bananas with nades there. But if you don't ban FD, I honestly don't know what else you would ban Vs Diddy other than SV for similar reasons as FD. As for counterpicking, Halberd can be your best choice due to utilt, but you'd have to be careful of getting naner locked across the large parts of the stage. I've heard Diddy does pretty poorly on Brinstar, and possibly Rainbow Cruise, but Snakes usually don't go there. BF is kind of small making it harder to space away from bananas, though the platforms do provide interruptions of naner locks.
When it comes to killing for Diddy, you can expect Dsmash/Fsmash/Fair and occasionally a Uair KO attempt if high up. Hilariously, they're all fairly weak as far as kill moves go, which is something very bad Vs Snake. If he trips you at high %, expect Dsmash/Fsmash. DI upward to survive. Not much you can do about Uair other than just avoid it. That's about all he's going to do to try to kill you, short of gimping. Fair off stage of course. Snake killing Diddy is not too bad. Utilt KOs pretty well. That's about all you need to kill with. Wait for a trip, then utilt.
Some common "combos" for Diddy are, at low %'s they will dash attack to Usmash Snake and try to combo with that. It's a little tricky, but don't fall for it. Predictable banana combos of not top level Diddys are usually glide toss forward, go for the grab or dash attack regardless of whether or not you trip. Dash attack is hard to punish, but not unstoppable. Grab is dodgeable of course. If you see the Diddy having patterns with their bananas, just bait and punish. Nades will screw up glide toss to dash attack Diddys quite a bit. If a banana is thrown at you while shielding and bounces off your shield, you can Z-catch it in the air. But be warned that if Diddy throws it really close he can jump Fair you to punish.
Last, lemme talk about Diddy's Side B. Diddy's LOVE to use this move against opponents who shield too much. Don't stand next to Diddy shielding, you'll just get Side B'd. It also has high priority, apparently, so don't try to beat it with an attack if it's coming towards you. Your best bet is to shield grab it if you're spaced properly. If you're edge guarding Diddy and standing right near the ledge with him hanging onto it, the Diddy will probably try to Side B you. Be aware of it.
Overall, it's a tricky matchup that Snake gets ***** in until you learn how to use bananas and figure out that Diddy has a ridiculous time killing Snake. Diddy with momentum can be overwhelming, but once you hit 60% that momentum can go away and Snake can come back from it. It's hard for me to pin a number on this matchup. It can be anywhere between 50-50 to 60-40 Snake. Because I have yet to play a top level Diddy like ADHD/Gnes/Felix, but at the same time haven't lost to one in a long time, I'm going to say it's 50-50 until I play a top Diddy.
