The Tactical Kirby

[Galvanic]

I've been a completely casual Kirby main from the start. Now I want to become pro-Kirby.


What techniques have been found for him in Brawl? What -- or rather who -- should I be weary of? What moves of Kirby's have higher and lower priority?

 

[Serpent]

Short hop fair toward your opponent and then DI back away from them mid-jump is handy. It'll land the third kick but if they try to shield grab, you'll be out of reach. A good KO move is bair, so a running forward turn around bair. Up tilt to get them in the air for combos. A good edge guard technique is stringing fairs together and then a hammer (depends on character and stage). Kirby's short hop fast fall by itself is good for maneuvering around the stage, and is good for mind games. Kirby is also a character that can utilize fox trotting. Kirbycides can be great if you are one stock up and you are at high damage. Just do it and you'll have a stock + a stock's worth of damage between you and your opponent if you haven't already won the match with the Kirbycide. Best way to do this is when they aren't expecting it and off the stage while you are edge guarding. Just practice using it against opponents and find the best way. Find out which copy abilities work for you. There are some characters where it's better to have your inhale ability for Kirbyciding, star KO's, or racking up damage with inhale + spitting. Just learn how to properly space yourself against different characters and play styles. Down throw + up tilt can do some damage, especially at 0%. Some people don't DI away from it and you can either chain that for a bit (works best against heavier characters), or you can do more than one up tilt, just find out what you can do. Again, read the FAQ, the hammer can be deadly, especially in the air. Against some characters at certain percentages you can do dair to forward smash after you land. It usually puts them just in reach and they can't do much to stop it. Good KO move. Not sure how full-proof that is, I'm certainly not the authority on playing Kirby--though I too hope to be one day.

To do the running forward dair: "Pivot Break
-While doing a dash, start to turn around, and then immediately jump, and flick the control stick back in your original direction. You'll be turned around, and can do a back air or whatever while still maintaining your initial direction and speed." -Omnigamer

There is a priority thing in the FAQ.

 

[Plasmaexe]

I'm pretty sure Omni-gamer came up with this, but starting at 0% damage, you can begin the battle with a forward throw and aerial hammer, it's proven to be very helpful and can usually do around 22-27% depending on how many times you hit them when throwing. Kirbcide I heard isn't that great since getting out of it is the same at every level.

Your main knock back moves will be his B-air, aerial hammer (1st swing is good, but the 2nd swing is the best because it's got a very insane amount of knockback that sends them 100% horizontally), and all of Kirby's smash attacks. If they try to get behind you by roll dodging or whatever, then I'd go with Down smash. Up smash if they're in the air and Forward smash when you can find an opening. For characters with tether recovery (olimar, zero Suit Samus, etc), grab the ledge and even if they hit you with their Up b, they won't be able to grab the ledge. It's best if you do most of your damage off the stage when they're trying to get back if possible. His Up A, although it has less knockback than in Melee, it's got very high priority if they're right above you and you can usually combo at least 2 hits depending on their percent.

 

[Kirby Redux]

learn to meteor smash and edgeguard whenever you hit someone off of the stage. this makes battles go a lot quicker if you are proficient at meteoring opponents/edgehogging tetherers to death. Your bread and butter move will most likely be b-air, but make sure to replenish its knockback after about 8 uses, as it will be weaker the more you use it and the longer the match is. A good move to replenish this is either final cutter or f-air. Aerial hammer works well too, as constantly using it gives you horizontal protection. N-air is a great move for getting someone away from you so you have time to set up for a grab or a smash. Your downthrow is your most versatile throw because it allows for combos and chainthrowing more easily than any other throw. Jabs are also a great move for replenishing your other moves, but if the opponent is proficient at DIing, this is not the best tactic. Make your air game your priority, and if there is a crowd, try to disperse it with hammer or N-air. Stone can be great to fast fall while off the stage and immediately come out of it with a b-air or f-air or aerial hammer. Thats pretty much it, plus all the stuff the other guys said. Cheers!

-Redux

 

[Sterowent]

Wow, the sheer amount of information summarized and packaged so briskly here, outside the FAQ, all being moderate to extremely helpful, is wickedly awesome.

Hum, duly noted...

 

[Jimtopia]

From what I've read, I'm already a pretty good Kirby player apparently, lol

 

[Marth117]

Get lucky on the Wario ware stage and get the stand still objective. While the enemy is to desprite for a power-up (thanks to a *** kicking). Hit him with the hammer it'll kill him. How do I know it happened to me.

 

[Kirby Redux]

lol, but Wario Ware probably will be banned from tourneys, so that advice wouldnt help a competitive player unless all they did was basic brawls.

 

[sway15]

great little summary here guys. definitely picked up a few tips.

 

[Marth117]

lol, but Wario Ware probably will be banned from tourneys, so that advice wouldnt help a competitive player unless all they did was basic brawls.

Wow that's sad is Brawl tournament style becoming so uptight to were they won't allow anyone to play on any of the fun stages. Did they ban Pictochat

 

[NintenJoe]

Great info here! I picked up a few tips as well.... Anyway, to add something unmetioned, (and much less important) try to inhale opponents who guard a little too close to the edge. Even if you don't succeed, you can still get back on the stage with kirbys amazing recovery.

P.S. Only do that if it's not a serious match and if you're at high percentage, I don't recomend using it often

 

[Gumtastik]

wow guys, awesome advice. i picked up a few things, and they shall make me awsome...er =D

 

[Starizzle]

when ur oponents % is high, like around 100, some good KO moves are the hammer and down B. but watch out when u use down B if its some1 like Ike they might use their up B to cancel ur down B. also get into the habit of using sheild+control stick left or right especially if u want to inhale or use hammer cus they will be facing the wrong direction and its a little laggy for them to turn around. if you knock some1 far off the edge but theyre still alive, you can float above them and use down B to hit them. but ONLY do this if u know how to cancel it out quickly or you'll die. it takes some practice too. if your using the gamecube controller, you can use push the c stick up and continuously hit someone in the air. also something i found very handy is when someone uses a final smash that has things hitting you like Lucas's for example, just use down B to prevent urself from getting blasted across the stage. you will still take damage, but a least you wont die. also note that you may have to do down B more than once if u get out of it which u always will.

 

[KiteDXX]

Generally, Fsmash is Kirby's best KO move for me. Everything else except for the hammer is for building up damage, but I don't use the hammer much, anyway, aside from edgehopping.

 

[Wind Owl]

Wow that's sad is Brawl tournament style becoming so uptight to were they won't allow anyone to play on any of the fun stages. Did they ban Pictochat

As of yet there is no banned stage standard, but a stage that grants mushrooms and starmans (starmen?) isn't exactly tournament-friendly.

 

[Shiken]

Get lucky on the Wario ware stage and get the stand still objective. While the enemy is to desprite for a power-up (thanks to a *** kicking). Hit him with the hammer it'll kill him. How do I know it happened to me.

You're just the worst kind of person.

 

[Marth117]

As of yet there is no banned stage standard, but a stage that grants mushrooms and starmans (starmen?) isn't exactly tournament-friendly.

Alright then fine, but I forgot that part (slaps head). remembering how I got the crap knocked out of me on a stage isn't my style. But on subject I don't know much on how to use Kirby actually. I just posted that for fun. And well it might help in a friendly match outside of a tournament. Or outside of a match where your opponet will leave your match if you play there. Thanks for filling me in on that, I don't know the banned stage list for Brawl.