Q&A Tactical Deployment - Roy Q&A Thread

[Solutionme]

Hey folks. I picked up Roy recently and I think he is crazy fun. Like seriously, I can't get enough of using him. I have a question though: To what extent is Roy viable in competitive play overall? I know it might be a bit early to tell, but I'd like to know the consensus based on what's known so far. I love this character and would love to take him to a high level, but I'd be very disappointed if I always had to use a secondary because every top tier destroys him or something like that.

Very. F-throw can lead to some powerful 50% strings/combos using nair, which if it misses you still have a frame advantage that leads into a tech chase. He has very good air to ground mix-ups due to his fall speed and just about everything he has kills. Flare blade is an effective camping and edgeguarding tool and is overall one of those useful last situation mix-ups due to the kill power and shield combo potential. D-throw literally destroys some of the cast, most noticeably with Fox who can almost literally get 0 to deathed by Roy. Some of his normal moves are also really safe on just about every range on shield except on top of them of course. His up-b OoS has super armor and is a kill option and his up-smash has more knockback if it catches someone in the air. It also trips occasionally due to the weak hitboxes, leading to inconsistent but possible infinites. Lot of things, I should compile notes since I feel like I'm one of those few Roys who labs these things.

The only glaring weaknesses he has are his recovery and ease to combo. But that really shouldn't be a problem if you know how to use his stats to mix up a recovery and DI properly.

 

[Jink8]

Is Roy a better option than Marth in tournament play?

 

[ArikadoSD]

Is Roy a better option than Marth in tournament play?

hard to say atm honestly. roy's got a lot of issues and imo he has worse matchups than marth, but I do believe he's a better overall character. one thing for sure is that marth has more results than roy.

 

[Solutionme]

hard to say atm honestly. roy's got a lot of issues and imo he has worse matchups than marth, but I do believe he's a better overall character. one thing for sure is that marth has more results than roy.

Not to sound like a jackass, but did you read that before even posting it? His only two real issues are his slightly bad recovery and juggleability. Also please, point us to those results Marth players get.

 

[meleebrawler]

Not to sound like a *******, but did you read that before even posting it? His only two real issues are his slightly bad recovery and juggleability. Also please, point us to those results Marth players get.

Also consider that Marth has been out longer than Roy so he's had more time to get said results.

 

[Solutionme]

Also consider that Marth has been out longer than Roy so he's had more time to get said results.

You mean the very spotty results that probably only appear in weeklies right? You do understand the character has one of the worst glaring weaknesses in the game where he relies so much on rage but has no solid set-ups to back it up? I mean what you said can also be seen in a more positive light, in which Roy mains aren't pushing the character far enough which is completely true. Roy really does everything better except for offstage gimps, and even then that is slightly debatable.

 

[ArikadoSD]

Not to sound like a *******, but did you read that before even posting it? His only two real issues are his slightly bad recovery and juggleability. Also please, point us to those results Marth players get.

Why are you being so hostile lmao?

"Slightly bad recovery" is underselling it. Roy gets gimped very easily once he loses his double jump and the top tiers all have amazing edgeguarding. Juggleability is also a big issue and not a small one.

As for results look at Mr. E, and off the top of my head since im on mobile atm is False getting top 32 in SSC with solo marth. Roy's literally got 0 results and the only player is Sethlon who got 4th at some texas national a while ago.

I also clearly said that I believe Roy is a better overall character.

 

[Login_Sinker]

Doesn't Roy have a lack luster neutral as well? It could very well be just me but it feels like he has a super hard time with projectiles and is over reliant on Nair.

 

[Solutionme]

Why are you being so hostile lmao?

"Slightly bad recovery" is underselling it. Roy gets gimped very easily once he loses his double jump and the top tiers all have amazing edgeguarding. Juggleability is also a big issue and not a small one.

As for results look at Mr. E, and off the top of my head since im on mobile atm is False getting top 32 in SSC with solo marth. Roy's literally got 0 results and the only player is Sethlon who got 4th at some texas national a while ago.

I also clearly said that I believe Roy is a better overall character.

Play me and I'll show you how it's done. Sethlon isn't good enough at smash 4 Roy.

 

[ArikadoSD]

Play me and I'll show you how it's done. Sethlon isn't good enough at smash 4 Roy.

seriously dude why are you so upset that you're starting to talk **** LOL

 

[Pikaboo]

On just added u I'm ready

 

[Solutionme]

seriously dude why are you so upset that you're starting to talk **** LOL

I'm not talking ****, I'm just going to prove what you said wrong without having to type it up, because that never seems to work now does it?

 

[Jink8]

So what is Roy's best approach option?

 

[Solutionme]

So what is Roy's best approach option?

To be honest with you, it's not that he has one solid approach. It's more about using his speed with extended dash dancing to make an opening. So to give you an idea you approach opponents the same way you do with captain falcon, except with a mix of nair 1 only or full nair with the occasional grab. You can even use flare blade to some extent but you need to be smart about how you use it.

 

[Seraphim.]

So what is Roy's best approach option?

Nair but you want to mixup your approaches, mindlessly spamming Nair won't work against better players. Other things you can do is Fair (Space it properly though), Dtilt as a good poking tool and empty jump grabs.

DED can also be good for punishing spotdodgers who want to avoid Roy grabbing them.

 

[Jink8]

Nair but you want to mixup your approaches, mindlessly spamming Nair won't work against better players. Other things you can do is Fair (Space it properly though), Dtilt as a good poking tool and empty jump grabs.

DED can also be good for punishing spotdodgers who want to avoid Roy grabbing them.

thank you

Is dair a good option for edge guarding?

Moderator edit: Please use the edit button to avoid double posting.

 

[Astrofallz]

I hardly ever use dair unless it's in for glory or style reasons. It's honestly too inconsistent and too much of a commitment to justify me using it on even an occasional basis.

Also I'm seeing a lot of people crying about his bad match ups and saying that Marth is equally perhaps more viable than Roy (which I strongly disagree with) because of them. Can someone please tell me what match ups are bad for him and why? It would be a shame if I'm using Roy to cover my Luigi's bad match ups and it's even worse for him. Also, you don't have to tell me yourself if the info has been typed up or had a vid made on it. As long as it is a credible source fe free to just link me to the right place.

EDIT: I meant dair.

 

[Flubz]

While messing around in training mode, I've been able to get the first hit of Nair from a falling Nair to true combo into Utilt, and sometimes even Up B.

It only really seems to work at high percents, like 95%+. I find that it only works if you sweetspot the Nair, and it works even better at very high percents because the first hit of Nair will send the opponent at just the right angle to be hit by the sweetspot of Utilt, which mostly results in a KO.

I have not tested this with the opponent DI'ing, and I have only tested this on Pac Man.

 

[HerbSuperb]

In terms of the marth roy debate, i think marths recovery is the only thing going for him. Otherwise roy has better combos and sheer killing power

But i agree that roy has got 0 representation. Hes only bein utilized as a counterpick/secondary character in tourney play.

Does anyone else like lylat as much as i do though with roy? What stages do you like going to against marios or sonics for example

 

[Lady Kuki]

Hi! Not sure if this question is appropriate here, but I will ask just in case:

How the heck do you fight Link? Both Toon Link and regular Link? I tried looking up videos on such things, only to not find any results. Looking at the Link/Toon Link boards doesn't help either; in fact, they heavily discourage such questions.

I'm asking this specifically for Roy by the way, since I'm a Roy main and all. Every time I try to approach, I get hit with a tether grab, a Zair, a forward smash or an upward smash. It's hard enough for me to fight a Link in real life, but on FG I have yet to win a battle against one. Anyone have any advice on how to beat him consistently?

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

Hi! Not sure if this question is appropriate here, but I will ask just in case:

How the heck do you fight Link? Both Toon Link and regular Link? I tried looking up videos on such things, only to not find any results. Looking at the Link/Toon Link boards doesn't help either; in fact, they heavily discourage such questions.

I'm asking this specifically for Roy by the way, since I'm a Roy main and all. Every time I try to approach, I get hit with a tether grab, a Zair, a forward smash or an upward smash. It's hard enough for me to fight a Link in real life, but on FG I have yet to win a battle against one. Anyone have any advice on how to beat him consistently?

You have to be very patient in this matchup. The Links love to control the stage by the zoning the heck out of it with their projectiles so they an advantage on the neutral, and they have solid anti air options as well so it makes approaches very difficult. Using Roy's excellent speed you need to remain constantly moving and evading or shielding projectiles until they give you an opening for an attack; just remember that you just can't constantly try to rush him down or you'll heavily punished. The good news is that once you land a grab, it's fairly easy to follow up them with one of Roy's moves so you get a slight advantage on the offensive.

 

[Cr0n]

How do you guys use double edge dance in a regular matchup? I don't seem to use it often except the down hits while edge-guarding.

 

[Seraphim.]

How do you guys use double edge dance in a regular matchup? I don't seem to use it often except the down hits while edge-guarding.

Double-edge Dance or DED is good for punishing spotdodges or bad rolls, Fthrow > DED works pretty well at low to mid-high %'s so you definitely want to add Fthrow > DED to your gameplay.

Upwards variation is good for getting your opponent in the air for juggles, Neutral for getting them offstage and downwards if you just want damage.

 

[ligersandtigons]

How can Roy punish a ledge re-grab?

are d-tilt and d-smash the only way?

 

[Gamegenie222]

No flare blade as well unless they are one of few character who expose their heads over the ledge then f smash

 

[ligersandtigons]

No flare blade as well unless they are one of few character who expose their heads over the ledge then f smash

kk thanks

so against a character that isn't f-smashable, what's generally considered the most optimal re-grab punish? d-tilt to an offstage follow up? and at high percents, d-smash?

 

[Seraphim.]

I usually Dtilt and try to connect a run off Fair as a re-grab punish. Dsmash is good too if you got the spacing for it down.

 

[Gamegenie222]

kk thanks

so against a character that isn't f-smashable, what's generally considered the most optimal re-grab punish? d-tilt to an offstage follow up? and at high percents, d-smash?

Usually down tilt or down smash

 

[Redline!]

What's the best/safest/option-coveringist strategy for maintaining stage control at the ledge? I've had some success charging flare blade and then, depending on their getup, doing one of the following:

Short Roll: Flare Blade release, followed by dtilt or ftilt if FB misses due to invuln.

Long Roll: Reverse Ftilt or Blazer out of FB release

Jump: Blazer out of FB release

Getup Attack: Flare Blade release, followed by dashgrab if shielded/dodged

Is there a better way to cover ledge getup options not reliant on reads?

 

[phili]

Hi, I'm just picking up Roy and I want to know his best combos for dealing damage at early and mid percents.
Specifically, if I land a grab at 0%, I can't seem to find any true combos that work on most characters. So...

1) What grab combos should I be going for at very low percents (less than 5%)?

2) Which grab combos are most reliable at low to mid percents for racking damage?

3) What are the bread and butter combos I should be looking for when trying to build damage as Roy?

If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would greatly appreciate your help

 

[Redline!]

0% grab -> dthrow -> ftilt OR jab on most chars
on some chars, 0%grab -> dthrow -> fSMASH works!
0% -> fthrow -> (chase) -> dashATK OR Double-Edge-dance. This keeps working w/ varying conditions well into high %s with DED if you read the tech.

 

[FEFIZ]

0% grab -> dthrow -> ftilt OR jab on most chars
on some chars, 0%grab -> dthrow -> fSMASH works!
0% -> fthrow -> (chase) -> dashATK OR Double-Edge-dance. This keeps working w/ varying conditions well into high %s with DED if you read the tech.

Can you do a complete list about the down throw low % combos with Roy vs the rooster? Or show one already done? Or is just down throw to filt or jab vs all? What kind of chars you can Fsmash after down throw? I use down throw do uilt, isn't good? It's 0 to 17%.

 

[Seraphim.]

Hi, I'm just picking up Roy and I want to know his best combos for dealing damage at early and mid percents.
Specifically, if I land a grab at 0%, I can't seem to find any true combos that work on most characters. So...

1) What grab combos should I be going for at very low percents (less than 5%)?

2) Which grab combos are most reliable at low to mid percents for racking damage?

3) What are the bread and butter combos I should be looking for when trying to build damage as Roy?

If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would greatly appreciate your help

Fthrow > DED works at low/mid percents, Fthrow > Nair strings start working at mid percents. Dthrow > Jab/Ftilt/Utilt can be used at low percents and Dthrow > Uair at mid percents.

Fthrow > DED is his most reliable grab combo for damage racking imo.

 

[Redline!]

A properly-timed Mid-Shaft SHFF autocancelled Nair following an Fthrow can hit your opponent back down into the stage, setting them up for a jab reset or tech chase or regrab. You can carry somebody across the stage in 2-4 nairs this way, and mixup with fairs, downthrow, etc.

The Space Animals get wrecked by this really badly.

 

[phili]

A properly-timed Mid-Shaft SHFF autocancelled Nair following an Fthrow can hit your opponent back down into the stage, setting them up for a jab reset or tech chase or regrab. You can carry somebody across the stage in 2-4 nairs this way, and mixup with fairs, downthrow, etc.

The Space Animals get wrecked by this really badly.

I might be wrong, but I thought nair didn't autocancel. I've tried many different timings for landing with it, and I can never get a lagless short hopped nair

 

[EnGarde]

Stringing nairs definitely works as advertised, but they aren't autocancelled. None of Roy's aerials autocancel out of a short hop. Fair has a low enough FAF that he can double jump out or use a special to avoid the landing lag, but that's it.

 

[roymustang1990-]

Question.Where exactly is Roy's sweet spots located approximately on his blade. Is it in the center or near the hilt?

 

[EnGarde]

Question.Where exactly is Roy's sweet spots located approximately on his blade. Is it in the center or near the hilt?

Some of Roy's moves have 2 hitboxes--a sweet and sourspot--and some have 3--sweet, mid, and sourspot. On moves that have 3 hitboxes (i.e. ftilt and fsmash), the difference is approximately hilt/inside Roy (particularly ftilt, which can hit behind Roy) = sweetspot, middle of the blade = mid, and tip = sourspot. On moves that have 2 hitboxes, sweet is approximately mid-blade and closer, sour is mid to tip.

 

[BoxedOccaBerrys]

What are some true combos and good throw followups at low percentages?

 

[Cr0n]

0% grab -> dthrow -> ftilt OR jab on most chars
on some chars, 0%grab -> dthrow -> fSMASH works!
0% -> fthrow -> (chase) -> dashATK OR Double-Edge-dance. This keeps working w/ varying conditions well into high %s with DED if you read the tech.

What are you opinions on dthrow into upb? I heard some people say it is good, and some people say it is the worst thing to ever do.