MARTH - Character Matchup 6
Introduction
Marth is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Marth appears in the game's opening video, standing back to back with Meta Knight. It is uncertain whether Marth has improved since Super Smash Bros. Melee (in which he was considered the second best character on the tier list, and is 3rd best on Brawl's list excluding newcomers), as he has one of the most powerful Final Smashes in the game and his Counter improved, but his standard attack combo is slower, his standard special is harder to hit with, and the range of his sword and grabs is shorter. He is 7th best on the Brawl Tier list, currently at the top of High tier.
Behaviour:
Marth is a faster attacker, with more power, more reach and loads more priority.
Defensive Marth > Offensive Marth, definately so.
You can't really touch a defensive Marth. An offensive Marth, and the lag is more punishable.
-ROOOY!
Most Marths do not recover with shield breaker. The just DI foward, second jump, side B boost, up B. If their close enough they skip the side B boost part.
-Dark Sonic
They up B early because it's better than just taking the hit and dying. They poke you with d-tilt because they have the frame advantage. They bait spotdodges with side B because it hits through it, but with very little risk to themselves. These are things that work, and things that you'll constantly run into when fighting good Marths. Yes, Marths will have different playstyles, but all playstyles are based on Marth's better moves (fair, d-tilt, f-tilt, side B, up B). The different playstyles stem from how much they use these specific moves, and how much they incorporate Marth's other moves (he doesn't really have "bad" moves, it's just that these are better) into their gameplay. You'll fight ground based approachers, airbased approachers, fair campers, d-tilt campers, Marths who use side B extremely aggressively, you name it. But these are the moves that work the best and the ones that you'll run into the most. And it's our job to do our best to deal with these highly effective strategies, and find weaknesses in them (like getting out for free on the third hit of DB with no chance of Marth following up. I believe you can get out for free after the second hit as well, and even roll behind him before he gets out of lag).
Dark Sonic
Commonly Used Moves:
F-smash: Extremely powerful move with a great sweet spot, hits slightly around Marth as well
Nuetral B Don't put your shield in the way of this or you are rooted. It'll bust your shield up something chronic.
Dancing Blade: Learn to DI out of this or avoid it in general. It is very annoying and can even be a reliable KO move.
How to Win:
I played against a Marth recently so I'll tell you what I know.
Marth can be really good at edgeguarding. Even with a spring I would get knocked away with a Fair so be careful when recovering (It starts to get predictable). If your fighting at close range and he's spotdodging, use a dsmash. I can't tell you how many times I've punished a spotdodgey Marth with that dsmash...The counter can be a pest so punish that with a grab if you can (A well timed counter is almost impossible to avoid) In this match, I find that Dsmash, Fsmash, shielding, grabbing, and gimping will be your best friends. Spacing is key to this match, so be on the ball and try to predict his movements and act accordingly. I've been messing around with pivots and they work extremely well against Marth. If he approaches with a shorthop fair, go for a backward foxtrot-turnaround fsmash. It works like a charm.
-Camalange
his ledge get up attack is horrible. you can just stand outside of its range and fsmash him, its has seriously low range and enough lag to hit him easily. you dont even need to predict it, so if he rolls onto the stage you can easily grab him. his best option is to ledgehop a f-air which although hard to punish, can become predictable.
bait his aerials. his bair and dair have pretty bad lag and you can just stay outside their range and finish him off with a bair of your own once marth attacks.
edgeguard him... dont let him get back on the stage without taking at least a ledge attack in the process. its soooo easy to time an edgehog to his upb, i he lands above you hes going to take a get up attack or a uair. if you misstime it this leaves marth on the edge. drop springs on his head.
djbrowny
as far as i can tell this match is about baiting, you need to know what he wants to do, so you can counter it.
be really agressive, so as to bait a counter, and than grab.
weave in and out of forward air range, and counter it with HA if in the air or SH fair if you are on the ground.
Shield grab all forwards: Falling air, tilt, b, and smash.
whenever you hit marth across the stage at a low angle (i.e. SC to jump to back air at 30%, follow up with running up smash, i believe it beats his airials if done early enough.
da K.I.D.
Recommended Stages:
Castle Siege- This is a great stage as it gives Sonic the option of so many angles to attack, but at the same time, removing the pressure game that Marth's often rely on.
Lylat Cruise This level has always given Sonic the advantage and for some reasons Marths, dont seem to like it + added chance if gimping their recovery
Matchup Summary: 30: 70 or 25:75 Marths Favour