The "Thought Process" of the options on the ledge

[Showyoucan]

Recently I have trouble against good players who catches my ledge climb (2 frames of vulnerability?) since it's the safest option out of all the other options. I... "react" to how my opponent is on the ledge which could be a habit of mine cause I think "oh at this range you shouldn't be able to hit me" and when I do ledge climb, I get punished. Ledge jump is probably the 2nd safest option cause 1) you can air dodge right after and 2) a quick aerial right after the jump.
How do you guys choose your options? I have a habit of doing ledge climb when I feel it is "right" to do so. I play Ganondorf and I struggle a lot when I'm on the ledge at high % which seems normal but I get really annoyed by it. I do use other options like ledge attack or ledge roll sometimes but I fear that I might die just for it. There is no right answer but I feel like I'm missing something...

TL;DR: What are your guys's "thought process" when you are on the ledge in Smash 4?

 

[Red Shirt KRT]

If I am far away from the opponent I usually jump to get instant aerial mobility. When they are close you just have to mix it up. Do a getup option 2 times in a row then mix it up for the 3rd. Try and look at what they try and do to punish you. If every time they do an Nair above ledge then you should roll.

It gets really tough against harder opponents because they will punish you hard for habits.

 

[Showyoucan]

If I am far away from the opponent I usually jump to get instant aerial mobility. When they are close you just have to mix it up. Do a getup option 2 times in a row then mix it up for the 3rd. Try and look at what they try and do to punish you. If every time they do an Nair above ledge then you should roll.

It gets really tough against harder opponents because they will punish you hard for habits.

Hmm... I'll keep this in mind, Thanks for sharing out your opinion!

 

[Wintropy]

I tend to drop down and try to bait the opponent off-stage with reverse edgeguard shenanigans.

Otherwise I just go for whatever feels right. I don't really think about it when I do it. Probably why I get read so easily, heh.

But yeah it depends on how my opponent reacts and if it's consistent. For example, if I know they tend to throw out a smash to cover me, I will either go for a getup attack or roll behind, depending on their distance from the edge.

If my opponent doesn't have a consistent pattern and is good at reading, then my options become a bit more important. If I know my opponent can read me and has established my own pattern, then oftentimes I find the best thing to do is to go for something unexpected - for example, jump back and fire a projectile to bait them out, or jump up and keep jumping to dissuade them from a f-air or b-air. It's really down to context. I don't really have a coherent thought process, I tend to just go on instinct based on what I think works best in that particular instant.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Having a character like Falco is pretty great because he has many different options to throw out upon ledge grab.
upair/fair/dair/phantasm onto the stage along with all the standard options give plenty of options to mix it up. I usually do what feels right at the time. Specifically, if my opponent tries to hard read a Smash attack I use the phantasm to get to ledge asap, then punish with fair or another aerial depending on where they are near the ledge, and which direction the Smash is.
Also I almost forgot, the bair off ledge can punish bad edgeguard attempts as well.

 

[Raijinken]

It depends heavily on both my character, my opponent's character, and my opponent's position.

Edge getups of all types are extremely punishable, but the strength of the potential punish determines the choice. As a Marth main I have an exceptionally strong punish for jumps and rolls, and a decent option (counter) against predictable drop-down-jump-up-attacks. A standard getup is the hardest to meaningfully punish, but that's still doable if I expect my opponent to do so (Shield Breaker, move a bit for a tipper, or just usmash or grab). On the other hand, when I play Roy, I have a harder time reliably punishing rolls, but can punish anything else just by holding B until they move or it explodes. Especially if my opponent is likely to take their time holding the ledge, I'll just use the relative lack of awareness of the literal explosion that comes with a full charge Flare Blade, and take my free kill.