I'm pretty darn lazy, so this isn't going to be some guide-length lecture on Kirby or something.
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From the videos I've seen from Kirby players, whether YouTube, Streamers, or SmashBoards videos, so far, nobody is playing Kirby with a "correct" mindset ("correct", as there's no specific mindset in Smash). People are playing Kirby extremely aggressively, as if they're playing a rush-down character like Sheik or Lucina. Pretty much all of Kirby's moves are punishable on shield, which is incredibly stupid. Kirby was designed as an aggressive character, but nerfed to a defensive character.
Now, here's my answers to a few common questions...
How do you approach with Kirby?
You don't. Simple as that. You need to bait your opponent, and then punish them. Now, do NOT think this is just sitting there and then shielding their approach. You can't follow the same style, either, or it'll become easy to read. SH B-Air shielded moves when they're behind you, grab when they're in front of you. Mix it up, too. Jump around, use aerials, just slowly rack up damage.
How do you deal with projectile spammers if you're not approaching?
This is where you mix it up. Switch to an aggressive playstyle, then when they start playing aggressively, switch to a defensive playstyle. Walk around, make them think you're vulnerable, DO NOT dash everywhere. You'll get caught in a projectile storm, as most projectiles are faster than Kirby himself. Just stay relaxed, and keep dodging projectiles until they decide to run up to you, then punish them.
Kirby gets DEMOLISHED against this character, so he obviously isn't viable, right?
No. Every character in the game has their bad MUs. Kirby has some bad MUs, but he also excels in other MUs. So far, from what I can tell, some of Kirby's worst MUs are Yoshi, Greninja, Sheik, and Rosalina. Some characters Kirby seems to excel against are ZSS, Robin, Shulk, and Captain Falcon.
Why does Inhale and Copy Ability suck so much? I should just be keeping it for Kirbycides, right?
It depends on the character, but quite a few characters have better Copy Abilities than most think. While I won't go into incredible detail on which ones are better, going down the roster, here's the characters that have pretty good Copy Abilities.
Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Rosalina, Bowser Jr, Mr. Game & Watch, Link, Zelda, Sheik, Toon Link, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Palutena, Marth, Robin, King DeDeDe, Metaknight, Fox, Falco, Pikachu, Charizard, Lucario, Jigglypuff, Greninja, Duck Hunt, R.O.B., Villager, Olimar, Wii Fit Trainer, Dr. Mario, Dark Pit, Lucina, Shulk, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Sonic, and Mii Fighter.
Quite a list, covering almost the whole roster. Along with that, there's also a problem that has seem to arisen regarding Inhale vs Copy Ability. People seem to have forgotten that Kirby can get rid of his Copy Ability at any time during battle by taunting, along with the fact that he has one of the shortest taunts in the game (D-Taunt). You can use this in many ways, too. You can get a quick 10% on the opponent by inhaling them, then dropping the ability immediately after, you can switch between Inhale and an Ability mid-match to strategize, you can Kirbycide, you can follow up on Star Spit, you can use Copy Abilities in truly odd ways (ie: jumping off and using Bowser's Flame Breath to carry him down into his death), so mix it up.
Getting an Inhale without getting punished is so hard, it's useless to try to Copy!
This answer is an answer to the next question, so that's good. Use Custom Moves. Specifically, Jump Inhale. The reason I say this is because it, overall, is better than Inhale. It gives you extra recovery (although you don't really need it), a great way to leap over projectiles for an ability, CAN NOT be shielded, is generally safer than Inhale, and is an amazing way to get Kirbycides. Other than the obvious use of eating them with it while on stage, then flying off, it's also very effective to punish ledge campers while you're off-stage by using Jumping Inhale to grab them. This isn't just for Inhale, either. Final Cutter isn't that useful, but becomes incredibly useful with Upper Cutter, as you get added recovery, a better killing move, an easy stage spike on people trying to edgeguard you, and insane set-ups. Such as, U-Tilt to Upper Cutter can grab you a kill on most characters, and Copy to reversed Upper Cutter can get you a kill, too. Hammer Flip is debatable, but so far is proving to be better with Hammer Bash, as you can catch taller characters with it by SHing. Stone, although controversial, seems to do better with Meteor Stone, as you can catch ledge campers by falling into them, punish recoveries that don't latch onto the ledge, and grab kills on people like Pikachu who generally like to recover from above.
Kirby's specials are so punishable and useless, he basically has four less moves than other characters...
Above answer.
I keep winning at For Glory matches, but then I get destroyed by people here!
Stop playing For Glory. I'm sorry if this disappoints anybody, but For Glory is filled with players who don't know what they're doing. Yes, you'll run into the occasional good player, but you'll develop horrible habits, follow the same strategies, and generally not think about anything during matches. For Glory is really a bad place to try and get better. You should find people here to battle, instead. Also, the fact that you can't use custom moves while playing in For Glory is detrimental for Kirby. Don't think you're a pro because you have a high For Glory win rate, but you also shouldn't think you're bad because you have a bad win rate
Why is killing so hard with Kirby?
To be honest, it really isn't that hard. Using good reads, getting an U-Smash, D-Smash, or F-Smash in isn't really that hard. Study your opponent to quickly get a kill. D-Air to D-Smash works very well, D-Air to U-Smash works very well, too (choose D-Smash or U-Smash depending on where they land). Kirby also has one of the best edgeguarding games, able to easily kill most opponents with a D-Air to Footstool, stage spike, or killing them with F-Air strings or off-stage B-Airs. He also has other options, such as the Copy Abilities that can kill (ie: Charge Shot, Thoron), Kirbycide, and Upper Cutter set-ups. I can get kills within seconds of a match just by faking out opponents to trick them into a D-Air off stage.
When I try to edgeguard, my opponent always grabs the ledge/gets on stage/avoids me before I can hit them!
This is something which is actually easily solved, and which is why Kirby has a big chance of being a good character. Kirby has one of, if not, the BEST edgeguarding game. What I've seen quite a lot, and heard more than often is that people only try to go for D-Airs while off-stage. You need to pressure your opponent while they're off-stage. Float around, use F-Airs, B-Air them away, pretend you're going to hit them, then punish their air dodge, stage spike them, just pressure them. Another thing that people need to start doing is playing with the ledge. Kirby can efficiently B-Air after trumping somebody off the ledge, can D-Air them when they get back on, and can just generally put them in a bad position. Ledge Trumping has grabbed me quite a few kills, as Kirby can use it incredibly efficiently. Also, quite a few characters have recoveries that leave them vulnerable, such as Pit, Dark Pit, Duck Hunt, Palutena, Rosalina, Jigglypuff, Robin, King DeDeDe, R.O.B., and many more. Along with that, you have characters that attack while recovering, but are incredibly vulnerable during this time. Characters like this include Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr, Wario, Mr. Game & Watch, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Link, Ganondorf, Toon Link, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Marth, Fox, Falco, Charizard... and a whole lot more. For these characters, doing RAR'd D-Airs will easily hit them while they're recovering. Such as, while Link and Marth are recovering, they swing their swords in front of them,
so you can use RAR'd D-Air to hit their head, which is vulnerable. Also, D-Air to FF into a Footstool is amazing.
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I'd write more, but I'm really lazy, so I'll finish it off with one problem that's arisen, which I really find annoying.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS is a new game. The meta game is just starting out, and has barely even grown. Heck, we haven't even had the game for a month! Do NOT write off Kirby as a bad character just because he's seemingly flawed. I mean, look at where Jigglypuff went from the beginning of Melee's scene towards now! She's considered one of the best characters in the game! People need to stop doing the same things as they did in Brawl, and build Kirby from the ground up. Don't follow the same techniques as you did in 64, Melee, or Brawl. Develop new techniques, try new things, help our pink puffball grow. Kirby has several changes compared to any other game, and is completely different than before. The more you complain about how bad Kirby is, the worse he'll become, and the less he'll develop. We need to stop applying the same tactics and playstyles to Kirby, or he just won't get better. To be completely honest, I think Kirby can become one of the most complex characters in the game, as he has, technically, the biggest moveset in the game. Kirby uses his Copy Abilities a lot different than the actual characters he copied them from do, so if we can find out all the possible techniques and tricks for each ability, he could skyrocket his viability up. INSERT BAD CONCLUSION SENTENCE THING HERE.
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Sorry that this post is so sloppy. Nothing is in an actual order, so hopefully it's easy to read.
