TheGungnir
Smash Cadet
One of the most important parts about playing smash is to learn your recovery, what you can recover from, and what you cannot recover from. Learning proper D.I. and protecting yourself over the edge. I'm going to try and spread a little bit of insight for recovering as D3. D3 has problems over the edge when playing against really good players who know how to predict your recovery, especially Metaknight 
First off lets work a little with D.I.
D.I. stands for Directional Influence, It slightly changes your trajectory, so that you can live to higher %'s. When you get sent flying from a powerful attack, unless your going to hit a wall to tech DO NOT AIRDODGE! you don't gain any D.I. when in airdodge frames, so you will fly farther and be unable to do anything about it until after your airdodge frames are complete. Instead, do a Bair, and after your aerial you can do a jump and cancel most of your momentum.
Here are the Directions in which you can be sent flying, and the correct D.I. for them.
U -> Hold down and towards the right or the left.
UR -> Hold Down and Left.
UL -> Hold Down and Right.
R -> Hold Left and Up.
L -> Hold Right and Up.
DR-> Hold Up and Left.
DL -> Hold Up and Right.
D -> Hold Left or Right, D.I. upwards only really works with things like bowser's fire, or falco's AAA combo. off of a spike try to jump asap or UpB.
The reason for D.I. up and in the opposite direction when sent to the left or right, is because you don't want to put yourself under the stage, because it gives your opponent an advantage, especially against Metaknight.
Momentum Canceling
Momentum Canceling is a trick that helps slow you down, somewhat like D.I. but different in the fact that, you pretty much completely stop your momentum. The best way to do this is when your sent flying from an attack, use your joystick to D.I. correctly, then spam your C-stick for a Bair. After your Bair comes out, either spam the x or y button, or learn the timing. You will notice that your momentum is pretty much canceled. You will move a little after the jump, but not much at all, combined with D.I. momentum canceling can keep you alive to even higher % ^^
There are 3 things you have to remember when momentum canceling.
1) make sure you do your D.I.
2) make sure you do a Bair, it has the least amount of frames, and it lets you jump out earlier than any of Dedede's other Aerials.
3) Jump after to cancel most if not all of your momentum.
Super Dedede Jump.
Pros:
1 Can be angled right as the move starts up.
2 Good horizontal and vertical distance.
3 Super armor when going up.
4 Spikes when going down.
5 Can be canceled by pressing down on the joystick at any time in the animation.
6 When landing you have small protection from the stars.
Cons:
1 Can be read easily by a good opponent.
2 On the down motion you are vulnerable to edge guarding.
3 Really bad lag if you cancel too close to the stage.
4 Long lag after landing on the stage even if canceled.
The best way to use this move is to be as unpredictable as possible. This move, if seen coming you WILL be punished by a good player. I'll go over a few ways to make it a little less predictable. With it you don't gain any jumps after, but you do keep jumps if you use it with a few jumps left over. So if you jump 2 times and use your Super Dedede Jump, if you get knocked out of it you will still have 3 jumps. The hit box on the SDJ is only underneath him, near the middle of him. The hitbox isn't his whole underside, just most of his underside.
A few ways to use this move are
1 Sweet spot the SDJ, watch for the space between Dedede's feet and the ledge, when the space is about the size of jigglypuff hit down to cancel, and fast fall to grab the edge with limited helpless frames.
2 Do a full height SDJ and when your opponent tries to hit you cancel, because your momentum will slow down, making you somewhat unpredictably dodging the edge guarding. After that fast fall to the edge, or to the stage.
3 If your being chased off-stage by someone like metaknight, you can use your SDJ before all of your other jumps to try and get back to the stage, he will out prio you in the air and if he hits you out of it, you still have a few jumps.
4 Complete your SDJ, and it can spike the opponent into the stage, and hit them to send them straight up, can kill at decent % like 150ish.
Protecting yourself over the edge is just as important as D.I. and learning how to use the SDJ in different situations. a couple of ways to protect yourself are.
1 When you see an opponent coming for you, you can turn around and Bair.
2 Airdodge past their attack, and follow up with a punish move to keep them away.
3 Take advatange of an ignorant player, and WoP them because they shouldn't chase D3
4 Stage spike them with Fair, Bair, or if the situation calls for it Dair.
5 Nair comes out really fast if someone approaches you from above, and the hitbox is above you near your head.
6 Sometimes it's a good idea to go lower, or higher depending on the character you fight, if you can bait them into going under the stage, you can Bair stage spike them. Or if you go up, you can Fast fall Airdodge past them because of Dedede's falling speed.
7 Last but not least, dedecide :3 if you come to the edge, and you have a campy opponent just Swallow him and take him with you >:D
I would be a little hesitant to use the Fair to protect myself off of the edge, because of how slow it can be. But it's good in ledge hogging techniques.
Dedede has a good ledge game overall, he has ways to get people away from the edge, and he has a couple of good, safe approaches from the edge to the stage.
1 Tap back, use a midair jump and do a Fair, repeat this process 2 more times because after 1 or 2, sometimes your opponent get's frustrated, or anxious for the kill and might go after you.
2 Drop down, mid air jump and preform an Uair. Your hammer can go through a lot of stages near the edge like Final Destination, Battlefield, Smashville, Lylat Cruise, Delfino Plaza. If they shield it once, do it 1 more time and they will usually back off from fear of their shield breaking.
3 Tap back, jump away from the stage then jump backwards to preform a RAR because of your speed, prio, and hit box of your Bair.
4 Jump from the ledge, and immediately do a Dair, you will land with no lag, and you will have lowered their shield, or hit them for 15%
5 Jump up off of the ledge, D.I. backwards and inhale, most opponents aren't expecting this one.
I don't like these, but they are options if you can find yourself needing them
6 Hit B or A to do a ledge attack.
7 Roll on using shield, and after do a Standing dodge to see what your opponent tries to do, then punish.
8 Plain old pull yourself up by pressing Forward on your joystick.
Don't throw waddles unless your high up over the edge, they have a long end lag and can kill you if you just jumped off of the ledge.
Coming down from the air, and trying to not leave yourself open for a grab you have a few options. It's sometimes difficult to avoid being punished from returning from the air to the stage. A couple of these options might help you.
1 Fast fall airdodge, then when you land Shield, or Shield grab.
2 fall down, Mid-air jump and time a Dair, but make sure you space it correctly so you don't get landing lag.
3 Fall down Mid-air jump Bair, follow up with another Bair incase they Drop their shield after the first Bair to punish you.
4 Drop down and Sidestep instead of Shield Grab.
5 Watch your opponent carefully, if they are an aggressive player they will come after you when you come down, time a Dair, or Airdodge past them and the Utilt!!
6 Drop down, Nair them up into Utilt.
These are just a few things to help people that are having problems recovering. Remember the most important thing is being unpredictable, so change up your playstyle a little so that your opponent has to keep guessing. Dedede has a lot of options at his disposal use all of it! I hope this Guide will will help anyone that is having problems recovering with Dedede, and if i miss anything important tell me so i can edit the guide.
Hope you guys like it ^^
First off lets work a little with D.I.
D.I. stands for Directional Influence, It slightly changes your trajectory, so that you can live to higher %'s. When you get sent flying from a powerful attack, unless your going to hit a wall to tech DO NOT AIRDODGE! you don't gain any D.I. when in airdodge frames, so you will fly farther and be unable to do anything about it until after your airdodge frames are complete. Instead, do a Bair, and after your aerial you can do a jump and cancel most of your momentum.
Here are the Directions in which you can be sent flying, and the correct D.I. for them.
U -> Hold down and towards the right or the left.
UR -> Hold Down and Left.
UL -> Hold Down and Right.
R -> Hold Left and Up.
L -> Hold Right and Up.
DR-> Hold Up and Left.
DL -> Hold Up and Right.
D -> Hold Left or Right, D.I. upwards only really works with things like bowser's fire, or falco's AAA combo. off of a spike try to jump asap or UpB.
The reason for D.I. up and in the opposite direction when sent to the left or right, is because you don't want to put yourself under the stage, because it gives your opponent an advantage, especially against Metaknight.
Momentum Canceling
Momentum Canceling is a trick that helps slow you down, somewhat like D.I. but different in the fact that, you pretty much completely stop your momentum. The best way to do this is when your sent flying from an attack, use your joystick to D.I. correctly, then spam your C-stick for a Bair. After your Bair comes out, either spam the x or y button, or learn the timing. You will notice that your momentum is pretty much canceled. You will move a little after the jump, but not much at all, combined with D.I. momentum canceling can keep you alive to even higher % ^^
There are 3 things you have to remember when momentum canceling.
1) make sure you do your D.I.
2) make sure you do a Bair, it has the least amount of frames, and it lets you jump out earlier than any of Dedede's other Aerials.
3) Jump after to cancel most if not all of your momentum.
Super Dedede Jump.
Pros:
1 Can be angled right as the move starts up.
2 Good horizontal and vertical distance.
3 Super armor when going up.
4 Spikes when going down.
5 Can be canceled by pressing down on the joystick at any time in the animation.
6 When landing you have small protection from the stars.
Cons:
1 Can be read easily by a good opponent.
2 On the down motion you are vulnerable to edge guarding.
3 Really bad lag if you cancel too close to the stage.
4 Long lag after landing on the stage even if canceled.
The best way to use this move is to be as unpredictable as possible. This move, if seen coming you WILL be punished by a good player. I'll go over a few ways to make it a little less predictable. With it you don't gain any jumps after, but you do keep jumps if you use it with a few jumps left over. So if you jump 2 times and use your Super Dedede Jump, if you get knocked out of it you will still have 3 jumps. The hit box on the SDJ is only underneath him, near the middle of him. The hitbox isn't his whole underside, just most of his underside.
A few ways to use this move are
1 Sweet spot the SDJ, watch for the space between Dedede's feet and the ledge, when the space is about the size of jigglypuff hit down to cancel, and fast fall to grab the edge with limited helpless frames.
2 Do a full height SDJ and when your opponent tries to hit you cancel, because your momentum will slow down, making you somewhat unpredictably dodging the edge guarding. After that fast fall to the edge, or to the stage.
3 If your being chased off-stage by someone like metaknight, you can use your SDJ before all of your other jumps to try and get back to the stage, he will out prio you in the air
and if he hits you out of it, you still have a few jumps.4 Complete your SDJ, and it can spike the opponent into the stage, and hit them to send them straight up, can kill at decent % like 150ish.
Protecting yourself over the edge is just as important as D.I. and learning how to use the SDJ in different situations. a couple of ways to protect yourself are.
1 When you see an opponent coming for you, you can turn around and Bair.
2 Airdodge past their attack, and follow up with a punish move to keep them away.
3 Take advatange of an ignorant player, and WoP them because they shouldn't chase D3
4 Stage spike them with Fair, Bair, or if the situation calls for it Dair.
5 Nair comes out really fast if someone approaches you from above, and the hitbox is above you near your head.
6 Sometimes it's a good idea to go lower, or higher depending on the character you fight, if you can bait them into going under the stage, you can Bair stage spike them. Or if you go up, you can Fast fall Airdodge past them because of Dedede's falling speed.
7 Last but not least, dedecide :3 if you come to the edge, and you have a campy opponent just Swallow him and take him with you >:D
I would be a little hesitant to use the Fair to protect myself off of the edge, because of how slow it can be. But it's good in ledge hogging techniques.
Dedede has a good ledge game overall, he has ways to get people away from the edge, and he has a couple of good, safe approaches from the edge to the stage.
1 Tap back, use a midair jump and do a Fair, repeat this process 2 more times because after 1 or 2, sometimes your opponent get's frustrated, or anxious for the kill and might go after you.
2 Drop down, mid air jump and preform an Uair. Your hammer can go through a lot of stages near the edge like Final Destination, Battlefield, Smashville, Lylat Cruise, Delfino Plaza. If they shield it once, do it 1 more time and they will usually back off from fear of their shield breaking.
3 Tap back, jump away from the stage then jump backwards to preform a RAR because of your speed, prio, and hit box of your Bair.
4 Jump from the ledge, and immediately do a Dair, you will land with no lag, and you will have lowered their shield, or hit them for 15%
5 Jump up off of the ledge, D.I. backwards and inhale, most opponents aren't expecting this one.
I don't like these, but they are options if you can find yourself needing them
6 Hit B or A to do a ledge attack.
7 Roll on using shield, and after do a Standing dodge to see what your opponent tries to do, then punish.
8 Plain old pull yourself up by pressing Forward on your joystick.
Don't throw waddles unless your high up over the edge, they have a long end lag and can kill you if you just jumped off of the ledge.
Coming down from the air, and trying to not leave yourself open for a grab you have a few options. It's sometimes difficult to avoid being punished from returning from the air to the stage. A couple of these options might help you.
1 Fast fall airdodge, then when you land Shield, or Shield grab.
2 fall down, Mid-air jump and time a Dair, but make sure you space it correctly so you don't get landing lag.
3 Fall down Mid-air jump Bair, follow up with another Bair incase they Drop their shield after the first Bair to punish you.
4 Drop down and Sidestep instead of Shield Grab.
5 Watch your opponent carefully, if they are an aggressive player they will come after you when you come down, time a Dair, or Airdodge past them and the Utilt!!
6 Drop down, Nair them up into Utilt.
These are just a few things to help people that are having problems recovering. Remember the most important thing is being unpredictable, so change up your playstyle a little so that your opponent has to keep guessing. Dedede has a lot of options at his disposal use all of it! I hope this Guide will will help anyone that is having problems recovering with Dedede, and if i miss anything important tell me so i can edit the guide.
Hope you guys like it ^^
