I assume this is the right place to put this, since that seemed to be the agreement with the mods previously.
For those who don't know, Balanced Brawl is a patch of sorts Ampazing Ampharos and myself developed this summer. The idea is to balance the characters while leaving as much as possible untouched, including hitbox sizes, hitbox positions, all attack speeds and timings, and all aspects of character movement and control. It can be played on any Wii, hacked or not, so I hope everyone can give it a try. We've had feedback from lots of players to make this final version and are very pleased with how it turned out. Ganon players need to check out the video showcase especially!
So... Ganon!
Ganon was by far the most changed character in BBrawl even if his playstyle remains the same. For that reason, I am writing this short guide about everything you could ever want to know about Ganon in BBrawl. (I am not doing this for any other character, since they don't need it.) Now, there are two types of first impressions people get about him:
"Ganon sucks! Nothing about him was fixed, he's still slow and has no safe options, his recovery still sucks, and all the other characters are better!"
-OR-
"Ganon is terrifying, totally broken, and got waaaay too many buffs."
Clearly, the truth is somewhere in between. I think Ganon is middle of the pack in BBrawl right now, perhaps slightly above average. (The characters are so close now that it's hard to tell...) Ganon got the most attention of any character, and I feel really good about his matchups in the final release; none are too good or too bad, and it's a nice spread.
Let's first look at Ganon's total changelist:
It's a pretty big list, but close inspection shows that a majority of his moves (including all aerials) are unchanged. (Like everyone in BBrawl.) I'm going to detail five big changes that actually affect how you play Ganondorf.
1. D-tilt Trips
First, let me preface: This is the biggest change in BBrawl, to anyone. This is the biggest buff, the biggest new advantage, that ANYONE got, by far. If you disagree, you are wrong. This is a really, really powerful tool that no one could use quite like Ganon does.
The first impression for any Ganon player is that d-tilt is now like another side-b. Sure, it doesn't go through shields, it does 12%, it has longer range and doesn't move Ganon, but it's similar: it disables your opponent into a tech-chase position where they have four options.
However, the trip state has key differences from the state that Flame Choke Forces, that allow the following additional options:
D-tilt always gives 9 frames advantage for Ganon, against all characters. Repeating d-tilt forces the tripped opponent to stand up.
What that last point means is that d-tilt always leads to Flame Choke unless the opponent buffers an inward roll. (And even then against Bowser.) That means that if you have unavoidable Flame Choke to d-tilt on your opponent, you can alternate chokes and d-tilts until they roll inward! ...which, obviously, is super-duper punishable if you read it...
Footstool is another interesting option. If the opponent does not buffer a move and remains still for merely 3 frames, you can jump forward and footstool them. If the d-tilt lands the opponent behind Ganon as it will sometimes do to those very close and DIing that way, you can footstool them if they even waste one frame sitting there! I'll cover what this means more in a second.
2. Aerial Wizard's Foot Grounds
If you thought DK Head-Butt-to-Giant-Punch was good... The initial hitbox (the spike part) of Ganon's aerial down-b now grounds. This technique is just brutal. It comes out fast, and essentially risks the massive-as-ever ending lag for what is going to be about 40% damage at less than 50%, and a KO above that.
First let's talk about how you actually pull this off. Jekyll was actually the one who found the real place for this, and that is as the finisher to your Flame Choke/d-tilt tech chase strings. It's easy to hit any reaction except away roll with the opening of your aerial down-b! You can also get down-b's out of footstools of course, which you can now get on delay from any d-tilt! Occassionally I will use this as a risky mixup too now and then, when coming back from the ledge.
So once you've got your opponent disabled in the ground, what then? Don't get greedy and go for the f-smash at low %s, they will break out. A u-smash is your best bet, and at the lowest %s they will break out just in time to get sweetspotted by the boot. Warlock Punch is going to be totally impossible, don't even think about it.
3. Grounded Wizard Foot is a TRUCK
The opening hitbox of (grounded) WizKick now does 16%. That's a lot.
Hitboxes in Brawl will totally outprioritize another if it does at least 10% more damage. That means WizKick now plows through everything in the game that does 6% or less... and most things in the game... do 6% or less....
Jabs? Weak tilts? Any sort of repeating attack? PROJECTILES? The mighty truck laughs at all.
Keep in mind though, once you land this and do that sweet, sweet 16% to the opponent... it will be stale, and be less able to go through things. It might be most wise in some matchups to pull this out in the middle of stocks, after you try for SH dairs at low %s when the opponent is goin for their own combos instead of relying on projectiles?
Also, the duration of WizKick does 11%. That is enough to go through repeating jabs and even Bowser Fire Breath! Kinda handy, but not as fundamental.
Oh, and a word of warning... any type of laser will outprioritize anything. Curse you, Falco!
4. Dark Dive is the Most Evil Attack Ever
So, there's two parts to this.
The first is that the uppercut on Dark Dive is EXTREMELY deadly and will kill most characters at stage level with DI at around 50%. Ledgeguarding against Ganon is really, really risky. If you manage to go up out of the blue and hit someone high above the stage with it, expect them to die at any %.
The second is that the grab itself sends opponents at a diagonal angle DOWNWARD. That gives it a knockback unlike any other attack in smash, which can put opponents under the stage or off in the bottom corner. either way, not something many characters can recover from. "You're not gonna need DI, you're gonna need therapy!"
5. U-tilt wind Does Damage
This at first seems silly. Why does adding a couple %s of damage to a move that is ALWAYS punished make it better? Well, three small tricks:
First, the wind out-ranges Sheik's chain. That means you can do u-tilt against a camping Sheik; she's take some damage, you'll take about the same amount of damage when she is pulled into you, and she will have been dragged a few feet. the key is that you can control the camping Sheik's position, and get her out from under platforms and such, while only trading damage. Plus, trading damage is always good for Ganondorf.
Second, doing 1% damage means the wind now inflicts shield-stun. This makes opponent's struggle and panic more as they try to get away from the impending volcano. More often can Ganon pull of surprise u-tilts, and less often is he punished for attempting. don't go crazy though, it's still a pretty awful move.
Third, a final small trick is using it as a novelty defense to kill tossed Pikmin. Laugh as they get trapped in your tornado, choke to death on the wind damage, and die to the volcano kick! No promises that you won't get grabbed afterwards, but I've taken people by surprise with it in a few situations leading to my advantage.
*****************
...well, that's it for now. I'll probably add pictures and revise later. I hope you guys play aroudn with BBrawl, especailly Ganon, because I'm really pleased with how he turned out in particular. Also, it was great talking to all of you who helped provide input during BBrawl's development!
At any rate, I'll certainty stick around and answer any questions. I've played Ganon more than anyone else in BBrawl, so I feel like I could address pretty much anything at this point.
For those who don't know, Balanced Brawl is a patch of sorts Ampazing Ampharos and myself developed this summer. The idea is to balance the characters while leaving as much as possible untouched, including hitbox sizes, hitbox positions, all attack speeds and timings, and all aspects of character movement and control. It can be played on any Wii, hacked or not, so I hope everyone can give it a try. We've had feedback from lots of players to make this final version and are very pleased with how it turned out. Ganon players need to check out the video showcase especially!
So... Ganon!
Ganon was by far the most changed character in BBrawl even if his playstyle remains the same. For that reason, I am writing this short guide about everything you could ever want to know about Ganon in BBrawl. (I am not doing this for any other character, since they don't need it.) Now, there are two types of first impressions people get about him:
"Ganon sucks! Nothing about him was fixed, he's still slow and has no safe options, his recovery still sucks, and all the other characters are better!"
-OR-
"Ganon is terrifying, totally broken, and got waaaay too many buffs."
Clearly, the truth is somewhere in between. I think Ganon is middle of the pack in BBrawl right now, perhaps slightly above average. (The characters are so close now that it's hard to tell...) Ganon got the most attention of any character, and I feel really good about his matchups in the final release; none are too good or too bad, and it's a nice spread.
Let's first look at Ganon's total changelist:
Code:
Up tilt wind damage (0%) -> (1%)
Down tilt slip element (like bananas; causes trip)
Down smash first hit sweetspot knockback (100/0) -> (90/0), angle (140) -> (150)
Down smash first hit sourspot knockback (100/0) -> (75/0), angle (50) -> (150)
Down smash second hit damage (14%) -> (16%), knockback (75/60) -> (80/60)
Pummel damage (2%) -> (5%), darkness element
Back throw damage (5%) -> (6%) (New total: 11%)
Up throw damage (3%) -> (5%) (New total: 9%)
Down throw has more constant knockback (50/70) -> (25/75)
Aerial Flame Choke damage (12%) -> (14%)
Dark Dive uppercut damage (7%) -> (18%), knockback (90/70) -> (90/80)
Dark Dive repeated hits damage (1%) -> (2%) (new total: 15%)
Dark Dive throw angle (-) -> (335)
Wizard's Foot startup hit damage (12%) -> (16%), knockback (70/60) -> (65/75)
Wizard's Foot duration hit damage (10%) -> (11%), knockback (70/60) -> (70/75)
Aerial Wizard's Foot initial hitbox knockback (100/50) -> (46/40), grounding element
Aerial Wizard's Foot landing hitbox knockback (35/80) -> (0/80), angle (80) -> (0)1. D-tilt Trips
First, let me preface: This is the biggest change in BBrawl, to anyone. This is the biggest buff, the biggest new advantage, that ANYONE got, by far. If you disagree, you are wrong. This is a really, really powerful tool that no one could use quite like Ganon does.
The first impression for any Ganon player is that d-tilt is now like another side-b. Sure, it doesn't go through shields, it does 12%, it has longer range and doesn't move Ganon, but it's similar: it disables your opponent into a tech-chase position where they have four options.
However, the trip state has key differences from the state that Flame Choke Forces, that allow the following additional options:
- Standing Grab on most characters
- Dash/Pivot Grab on all characters
- Footstool
- Jab on all characters but Kirby (instead of just some)
- SH dair on all characters but Kirby (instead of just some)
- Wizard's Foot on all characters but Kirby (instead of just some)
- ...and most importantly... FLAME CHOKE!
D-tilt always gives 9 frames advantage for Ganon, against all characters. Repeating d-tilt forces the tripped opponent to stand up.
What that last point means is that d-tilt always leads to Flame Choke unless the opponent buffers an inward roll. (And even then against Bowser.) That means that if you have unavoidable Flame Choke to d-tilt on your opponent, you can alternate chokes and d-tilts until they roll inward! ...which, obviously, is super-duper punishable if you read it...
Footstool is another interesting option. If the opponent does not buffer a move and remains still for merely 3 frames, you can jump forward and footstool them. If the d-tilt lands the opponent behind Ganon as it will sometimes do to those very close and DIing that way, you can footstool them if they even waste one frame sitting there! I'll cover what this means more in a second.
2. Aerial Wizard's Foot Grounds
If you thought DK Head-Butt-to-Giant-Punch was good... The initial hitbox (the spike part) of Ganon's aerial down-b now grounds. This technique is just brutal. It comes out fast, and essentially risks the massive-as-ever ending lag for what is going to be about 40% damage at less than 50%, and a KO above that.
First let's talk about how you actually pull this off. Jekyll was actually the one who found the real place for this, and that is as the finisher to your Flame Choke/d-tilt tech chase strings. It's easy to hit any reaction except away roll with the opening of your aerial down-b! You can also get down-b's out of footstools of course, which you can now get on delay from any d-tilt! Occassionally I will use this as a risky mixup too now and then, when coming back from the ledge.
So once you've got your opponent disabled in the ground, what then? Don't get greedy and go for the f-smash at low %s, they will break out. A u-smash is your best bet, and at the lowest %s they will break out just in time to get sweetspotted by the boot. Warlock Punch is going to be totally impossible, don't even think about it.
3. Grounded Wizard Foot is a TRUCK
The opening hitbox of (grounded) WizKick now does 16%. That's a lot.
Hitboxes in Brawl will totally outprioritize another if it does at least 10% more damage. That means WizKick now plows through everything in the game that does 6% or less... and most things in the game... do 6% or less....
Jabs? Weak tilts? Any sort of repeating attack? PROJECTILES? The mighty truck laughs at all.
Keep in mind though, once you land this and do that sweet, sweet 16% to the opponent... it will be stale, and be less able to go through things. It might be most wise in some matchups to pull this out in the middle of stocks, after you try for SH dairs at low %s when the opponent is goin for their own combos instead of relying on projectiles?
Also, the duration of WizKick does 11%. That is enough to go through repeating jabs and even Bowser Fire Breath! Kinda handy, but not as fundamental.
Oh, and a word of warning... any type of laser will outprioritize anything. Curse you, Falco!
4. Dark Dive is the Most Evil Attack Ever
So, there's two parts to this.
The first is that the uppercut on Dark Dive is EXTREMELY deadly and will kill most characters at stage level with DI at around 50%. Ledgeguarding against Ganon is really, really risky. If you manage to go up out of the blue and hit someone high above the stage with it, expect them to die at any %.
The second is that the grab itself sends opponents at a diagonal angle DOWNWARD. That gives it a knockback unlike any other attack in smash, which can put opponents under the stage or off in the bottom corner. either way, not something many characters can recover from. "You're not gonna need DI, you're gonna need therapy!"
5. U-tilt wind Does Damage
This at first seems silly. Why does adding a couple %s of damage to a move that is ALWAYS punished make it better? Well, three small tricks:
First, the wind out-ranges Sheik's chain. That means you can do u-tilt against a camping Sheik; she's take some damage, you'll take about the same amount of damage when she is pulled into you, and she will have been dragged a few feet. the key is that you can control the camping Sheik's position, and get her out from under platforms and such, while only trading damage. Plus, trading damage is always good for Ganondorf.
Second, doing 1% damage means the wind now inflicts shield-stun. This makes opponent's struggle and panic more as they try to get away from the impending volcano. More often can Ganon pull of surprise u-tilts, and less often is he punished for attempting. don't go crazy though, it's still a pretty awful move.
Third, a final small trick is using it as a novelty defense to kill tossed Pikmin. Laugh as they get trapped in your tornado, choke to death on the wind damage, and die to the volcano kick! No promises that you won't get grabbed afterwards, but I've taken people by surprise with it in a few situations leading to my advantage.
*****************
...well, that's it for now. I'll probably add pictures and revise later. I hope you guys play aroudn with BBrawl, especailly Ganon, because I'm really pleased with how he turned out in particular. Also, it was great talking to all of you who helped provide input during BBrawl's development!
At any rate, I'll certainty stick around and answer any questions. I've played Ganon more than anyone else in BBrawl, so I feel like I could address pretty much anything at this point.
).
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