The Book of Squirtle

[Supermrman]

So, I'm new here, but I've been lurking for awhile now, and have been compiling a handbook for Squirtle mains. This will hopefully help you to suck less. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but I'll post what I've got if y'all want me to. In it, I've included a bunch of tips, along with some advanced techniques, B&B combos, and links to where I got all this information from. (Mainly the Squirtle boards.) I figured that new people who would want to pick up Squirtle would want this, instead of poring over all the different threads for the same information. This is going to be a long and rather tedious process, and while I may not be the best at this, I'll try my hardest. Also, feel free to critique it (constructively)! I'm always open to new things, and hopefully we'll all get better from it.

The Moveset

Spoiler

Jab: 3-stage jab combo involving his fist, foot, and tail. No name.
D-tilt: Retreats inside his shell and whips his tail out around him.
U-tilt: Hop upwards. Quick, and good for comboing. His body is the hitbox.
F-tilt: Slaps in front with his tail. Can be angled slightly, and is good for comboing.
U-smash: Sends a jet of water upwards into the air on either side of you. The strongest hitboxes are right next to you at the bottom, extending up a little bit past his standing position. (Also, one frame during his charge-up has a hitbox right above him.)
D-smash: Spins, sending water flying around him.
F-smash: Retreats into his shell, and smashes into the opponent. Has launch resistance frames.
Dash: Lunges forward. Good for getting past the opponent in a pinch.
Nair: Spins in the air, spraying water. Good defensive move.
Uair: Flips, and slaps with his tail above him. Good for KOing.
Dair: Points his tail down and spins. Multiple hitboxes and good for applying shield pressure. (Also, good for countering CCers, if I'm not mistaken.)
Fair: High knockback, and good for KOing.
Bair: Pokes his tail out backwards. Good for RARing, and finishing stocks.
N-Special: Shoots water out of his mouth. Hitboxes are limited, but the rest of the water pushes. Can be charged up.
D-Special: Possibly one of Squirtle's best moves. Sends bubbles outwards with a good range. Good for gimping. If performed in the air, it gives him a little hop up. While this move can be performed more than once in the air, only the first one will give him a hop.
U-Special: Sweetspot is at the very end of the animation, and is a decent size.
S-Special: Retreats into his shell, and slides along the ground for a good ways (if unimpeded), or will hop up when he hits something. Ducks under lasers, and good for comboing into Fair, Bair, and Nair, depending on the opponent's percentage.
D-throw: One of your best kill throws. It has diagonal KB, and is good for killing off the sides.
F-throw: Puts them in front of him, and hits them. Basic.
B-throw: Puts them behind him, and kicks. Kills on the edge at around 200%.
U-throw: Basic up throw, and is good for comboing into stuff.

Advanced Techniques

Spoiler

Shellstall: Shellshift, then let the analog stick return to its neutral position to stall. Another way to shellstall is to shellshift, hold an attack button, then flick the c-stick in the opposite direction, while keeping the control stick in the original direction.
Shellsling: Pretty much a wavedash out of a shellshift.
Hydroplane U-smash: A DACUS out of a shellshift. Start the smash while still in the animation. This can be done with any smash attack.
Hydrojab: Shellshift, but head diagonally backwards-down. Once you've turned, keep your analog stick there, but put your c-stick diagonally backwards-down, so that there is a 90 degree angle between your sticks.
Hydrotilt: Tilt attack out of a shellshift.
Hydrograb: Shellshift, then grab, but flick the c-stick away from the direction you're facing. This achieves an effect similar to wavegrabbing or dash grabbing.

 

[Jamwa]

I've named every move

squirt mains are autists
one day rhus will be titled
THE FAST LONG USMASH

 

[Supermrman]

squirt mains are autists
one day rhus will be titled
THE FAST LONG USMASH

Wat.

 

[~Dad~]

I've named every move

lmao

 

[PlateProp]

"U-tilt (Body Slam): Hop upwards. Quick, and good for comboing. His body is the hitbox."

Hitbox is on the head

D-smash (Whirlpool): Spins, sending water flying around him. Good for comboing into u-smash, and shield pressure.

Does not combo well into usmash, is complete ass on shield

Dash (Tackle): Lunges forward. God for getting past the opponent in a pinch.

LOL no.

U-smash (Aqua Jet): Sends a jet of water upwards into the air on either side of you. The strongest hitboxes are

Up smash is not aqua jet

"F-smash (Body Slam): Retreats into his shell, and smashes into the opponent. Has super armor."

FSMASH DOES NOT HAVE SUPER ARMOR, YOU'RE A SQUIRTLE PLAYER SERIOUSLY WHAT THE ****

 

[rosutookami]

"U-smash (Aqua Jet)"

I....just...just no.

Just leave while your pride is intact before the other Squirtle players eat you alive.

 

[Daftatt]

No point in giving superfluous names to the moves, you're just going to distract all the squirtle mains around here lol.

Hope to see your handbook finished, but IMO you should stick to Dair/Uair and the sort

 

[Supermrman]

Okay, I've taken your guys' input to heart, and removed the names. Now, on to other matters. PlateProp, Dsmash does indeed combo into Usmash, just at lower percents, as the water from Dsmash sort of bounces around the opponent. His dash attack is also good for getting out of situations in a pinch. I know this, because I've dodged someone's final smash (not sure, but I think it might have been Samus' or Sheik's) with it. It's hard to pull off, but can be done. A lot of combat with Squirtle, I find, is very unorthodox.

I want to keep doing this, because I like doing this, but if I'm gonna get crap for it, I won't do it. So please don't be trolls, or (redacted).

 

[~Dad~]

His dash attack is also good for getting out of situations in a pinch. I know this, because I've dodged someone's final smash (not sure, but I think it might have been Samus' or Sheik's) with it. .

bruh

 

[PlateProp]

Okay, I've taken your guys' input to heart, and removed the names. Now, on to other matters. PlateProp, Dsmash does indeed combo into Usmash, just at lower percents, as the water from Dsmash sort of bounces around the opponent. His dash attack is also good for getting out of situations in a pinch. I know this, because I've dodged someone's final smash (not sure, but I think it might have been Samus' or Sheik's) with it. It's hard to pull off, but can be done. A lot of combat with Squirtle, I find, is very unorthodox.

I want to keep doing this, because I like doing this, but if I'm gonna get crap for it, I won't do it. So please don't be trolls, or (redacted).

Dsmash does not combo into usmash if the opponent knows how to CC, and dash attack is not a move you ahould be using at all.


All you've done so far is convince us that you have no idea what you're talking about

 

[Supermrman]

Dsmash does not combo into usmash if the opponent knows how to CC, and dash attack is not a move you ahould be using at all.


All you've done so far is convince us that you have no idea what you're talking about

I never said I did know what I'm talking about. I used dash attack because I was in a pinch, and I knew that that window was there and the physics of his dash attack. I also never said anything about CCing. I don't play at that level typically, and didn't and that has been fixed. Don't worry!

 

[Arrow (Kyle)]

lol /thread

 

[PlateProp]

Shellsling isint a thing anymore, it's super rar. And it's not a wavedash out of shellshift

 

[~Dad~]

shut up plate

 

[PlateProp]

shut up plate

Shut up dad

We had an agreement

 

[Daftatt]

Dsmash does not combo into usmash if the opponent knows how to CC, and dash attack is not a move you ahould be using at all.

All you've done so far is convince us that you have no idea what you're talking about

Plate don't be a rascal, you very often are very wrong when it comes to theorycrafting. Don't let your ego turn you into a hypocrite.

Dash attack is a high commitment (20 frames of endlag) option but is a great mixup given that it can be a very quick reversal of direction that catches the opponent off guard, the hitbox that comes out frame 5 (very quick for a dash attack) is very powerful at higher percents. Damage: 9, BKB 40, KBG 100 and is a great way to get an opponent offstage when f-tilt won't reach.

It sends at 3 angles, sakurai angle, 60 degrees, and -60 degrees so DI can be very tricky

Almost no disjoint however so it should never be used to challenge or trade with your opponent, only as a suprise attack out of neutral or as a desperation followup if your opponent DIs the opposite direction you thought they would and you need to immediately switch direction and throw out a hitbox.

D-smash does not combo into U-smash, but if the 110° combo hitbox lands it can combo into most any aerial at a very wide range of percents (usually 20%-90% in most MUs). CC is only an issue with the first 2 hits of D-smash since they don't have any vertical KB. The move is actually very complex in it's hitboxes, relying on reverse hits to keep opponents trapped within the move until the pop-up hit.

Shellsling isint a thing anymore, it's super rar. And it's not a wavedash out of shellshift

People can call it whatever they want I rarely ever get confused what people mean.

just to clarify convention

Slingjump (Super RAR) is the orange window, whereas shellsling is the blue window (it's the same window as hydrograb, in fact hydrograb is technically a slingjump that is canceled by grab during jumpsquat)


Super Rar is a good name for slingjump though (jump out of the beginning of shellshift, shellsling is a more ambiguous term though. It could either mean jump out of the beginning of shellshift or jump out of the end of shellshift, two very different things mechanically and in utility.

@ Supermrman to be honest you may not be knowledgeable enough to write a handbook on how to play squirtle. But don't be discouraged, I don't think any squirtle main including myself is experienced enough to do it either. The higher level you go the more complex approaching situations with squirtman becomes as his movement becomes more elaborate and precise. The difference in playstyle between low and high level squirtle mains is almost an impassible barrier when discussing effective strategy.

 

[~Dad~]

you people make me drink

 

[PlateProp]

Plate don't be a rascal, you very often are very wrong when it comes to theorycrafting. Don't let your ego turn you into a hypocrite.

Dash attack is a high commitment (20 frames of endlag) option but is a great mixup given that it can be a very quick reversal of direction that catches the opponent off guard, the hitbox that comes out frame 5 (very quick for a dash attack) is very powerful at higher percents. Damage: 9, BKB 40, KBG 100 and is a great way to get an opponent offstage when f-tilt won't reach.

It sends at 3 angles, sakurai angle, 60 degrees, and -60 degrees so DI can be very tricky

Almost no disjoint however so it should never be used to challenge or trade with your opponent, only as a suprise attack out of neutral or as a desperation followup if your opponent DIs the opposite direction you thought they would and you need to immediately switch direction and throw out a hitbox.

D-smash does not combo into U-smash, but if the 110° combo hitbox lands it can combo into most any aerial at a very wide range of percents (usually 20%-90% in most MUs). CC is only an issue with the first 2 hits of D-smash since they don't have any vertical KB. The move is actually very complex in it's hitboxes, relying on reverse hits to keep opponents trapped within the move until the pop-up hit.

People can call it whatever they want I rarely ever get confused what people mean.

just to clarify convention

Slingjump (Super RAR) is the orange window, whereas shellsling is the blue window (it's the same window as hydrograb, in fact hydrograb is technically a slingjump that is canceled by grab during jumpsquat)


Super Rar is a good name for slingjump though (jump out of the beginning of shellshift, shellsling is a more ambiguous term though. It could either mean jump out of the beginning of shellshift or jump out of the end of shellshift, two very different things mechanically and in utility.

@ Supermrman to be honest you may not be knowledgeable enough to write a handbook on how to play squirtle. But don't be discouraged, I don't think any squirtle main including myself is experienced enough to do it either. The higher level you go the more complex approaching situations with squirtman becomes as his movement becomes more elaborate and precise. The difference in playstyle between low and high level squirtle mains is almost an impassible barrier when discussing effective strategy.

This doesnt make me a hypocrite at all? Saying dsmash doesnt combo into usmash if they cc isint theory, it's a true statement. Me being wrong about theory has nothing to do with me telling other people they're wrong about proven things that arent theory.

 

[Daftatt]

This doesnt make me a hypocrite at all? Saying dsmash doesnt combo into usmash if they cc isint theory, it's a true statement. Me being wrong about theory has nothing to do with me telling other people they're wrong about proven things that arent theory.

All you've done so far is convince us that you have no idea what you're talking about

You were being a meanie and you know it, there is a way to tell people they're wrong without being derisive.

 

[~Dad~]

You were being a meanie and you know it, there is a way to tell people they're wrong without being derisive.

to be fair, this dude really shouldn't write a guide

 

[Daftatt]

to be fair, this dude really shouldn't write a guide

To be fair, it's not his fault he doesn't know enough to be aware of that. Yall need to be more empathetic, we were all beginners at one point.

 

[PlateProp]

You were being a meanie and you know it, there is a way to tell people they're wrong without being derisive.

>acting like I dont already admit that I am an asshole
]

 

[Supermrman]

And here's the genius of this handbook. I'm not the only writer. For instance, Daftatt put up a graphic for shellshift's windows during the animation. The handbook isn't only what I post, it's what everyone posts in the thread. Also, thank you, Daftatt for being civilized about critiques, and correcting me, rather than yelling at me that I was wrong. Reading through this will help others to learn as well as me, so that I can write a more comprehensive guide.

 

[Supermrman]

Added some things in his moves. If I'm not mistaken, his Dair is good at countering CCers. (I could be totally wrong here, as I've been before.)

 

[Daftatt]

Added some things in his moves. If I'm not mistaken, his Dair is good at countering CCers. (I could be totally wrong here, as I've been before.)

No you're right, crossup Dair is the perfect answer (besides bubble) to CC, his tail is intangible and if they are crouching they have no verticality in range. Crossup dair is free damage on people who think you're going to ground approach (maybe d-smash) and crouch to prepare for CC

 

[Asdfpie]

Squirtle's u taunt is OP. Abuse at will.