So let's talk about gimping...

[Brinzy]

This is probably one of the hardest things for me to do as Zelda. Granted, I don't try to gimp enough as it stands, but often times, I feel worried that I'm going to miss an aerial, so I stand back and Din's instead, which obviously doesn't get much done. Another issue I have is that... well, I suicide a lot (maybe like, one out of five times when I go for a gimp by physically putting myself off stage), and I figured that it's time for me to work on that.

I've watched some videos of Zelda players and I see that some of them like to run off when they're barely above Zelda and uair. I thought that was a pretty neat technique overall, and it reminds me that there are more ways to gimp with Zelda than just dair.

So I'd just like to ask you all which attacks you use and when you use them when someone's recovering. If there are any specific strategies for certain characters, I'd like to hear those as well. I naturally go off stage with most of my characters (even Ivysaur >_>), but Zelda's currently the one I'm having most trouble with.

 

[Iris]

weak dair > footstool works well. If your opponent doesn't have multiple jumps, her aerials (save nair) can all be used effectively off-stage. If you want to gimp effectively, worry more about using Farore's Wind to it's full extent than her aerials. People tend to only travel in 8 directions, but there's at least 20-24.

 

[Brinzy]

Yeah, I've been working hard on Farore's, but I tend to do something like:

weak kick -> *freak* -> try to warp onto the ledge... and my opponent grabs it

I guess my main issue is that I panic too much with Zelda off-stage. I like the weak dair > footstool thing, and I'll practice that a bit.

 

[TigerWoods]

dont be afraid to fall down a little farther and di to an easy ledge sweetspot...fayores does take you quite a distance

anyway use dins on recoverys that render oponent useless(cypher,pit upb, etc)

depending on the character yur going against... dair works well too....

you can jump of and do any aerial really....

 

[XFadingNirvanaX]

I like to use Uair a lot. I'll jump off the stage for a sec making my oppnent think I'm trying to land a hit. They air dodge as I stay on the stage and I go in for the kill and Uair them for an awesome KO while they're helpless with air dodge lag.

Something I've noticed is that I can Spike certain chars a lot easier than others. Mostly the heavy fighters like Bowser. And I've foot-stool jumped a lot of small chars. It's easy to do with Squirtle and his Withdrawl *side B move. I think it's withdrawal. not sure*

Also with spikes, if you're up a stock and your oppnent has one stock left, don't be afraid to try and spike them, even if you can't recover when you do it. If you do it right, then you'll get the KO and win. If you fail, at least you have another stock.

And you don't always need to sweetspot a spike to get the KO. Some chars won't be able to recover from even a sour spotted Spike. *assuming the sour spotted spike sends them down far enough*

I hope this helps you. ^^

 

[Luthien]

If your opponent is getting tricky about grabbing the ledge right before you teleport into it, don't forget you can always wait another second to teleport Northeast/west, North-northeast/west, or just North. That way you can reappear after their invincibility is gone and stagespike them.

Also, bair stagespikes are fun.

 

[Brinzy]

Wow, so many good ideas and they're so simple to pull off... yet I never thought of any of this for some reason. Looks like I have a lot to practice before I even consider trying my Zelda in a tournament...

 

[GodAtHand]

Looks like I have a lot to practice before I even consider trying my Zelda in a tournament...

Sometimes they are the best places to learn!

 

[SinkingHigher]

Well, you should be able to warp back to the stage, not the ledge. Try holding away from the stage so you can FW back to the ground.

Apart from that, all her aerials work well. N-air, F/B and D, assuming they are below the stage. When they're above, F/B and U mainly. Honestly, all of them will work from anywhere.

Your only other option is to use NL. I've done this a few times. Very situational.

Say they are hanging on the ledge or return from underneath the stage. Run off the stage and do a B-reversal. NL should knock them further under. At this point, you both know their only chance is the use Up-B. When they do that, " B-stick" a f-air and smack the joystick in the opposite direction to do B-stick. From there, FW to the stage.

It should go something like this.

Run > B-Reversal > F-air > Stage Spike > Move away + Recover.

You can check it out here. Scroll to the bottom to see the Zelda Section.

I would suppose that's not really gimping.

So basically, any aerieal. Depends on the characters location and recovery. NL for, say, Link when he's far from the level. FW for when they are approaching the ledge. With practice, you can time it so you appear just before them and edge-hog. You can also time it so you stage spike.

 

[Brinzy]

Well well, Sheik board taught me a good trick for NL (well, you did, but that thread is good, too).

 

[popsofctown]

dont be afraid to fall down a little farther and di to an easy ledge sweetspot...fayores does take you quite a distance

anyway use dins on recoverys that render oponent useless(cypher,pit upb, etc)

depending on the character yur going against... dair works well too....

you can jump of and do any aerial really....

Be afraid to fall down a little farther and DI to an easy ledge sweetspot.
Zelda is very easily edgehogged, and it's dangerous to ledgeguard too aggressively.

I go with one of these two conservative methods of edgeguarding:

1. I grab the ledge. Once the recoverer gets close, i use my vertical drop and double jump to line up with them and bair. Even if it is airdodge, i should be able to get on stage with FW.
2. I short hop off the edge of the stage and do a bair. I don't drop at all when i do them. I try to bair from as high up as possible, and still plausibly hit my opponent, i don't want to get too close.... this ones a bit harder to explain, itd be nice if i could make a vid. I always make these bairs unpunishable. I can FW back to stage for sure.

 

[SinkingHigher]

I forgot one thing.

Footstools. Sourspot d-air > footstool or Sour d-air > sour d-air works great.

If they're at low percentages, sweetspot f-air to sweetspot f-air works great. Jump once, f-air, jump again, f-air.

 

[popsofctown]

sour dairs and footstools are definitely awesome. Low risk.