Temporary summary
The Toon boards desperately need a guide and Sasuke and I didn't feel like doing it on our own so this'll have to be a community project. Here's the plan. You talk, I type. It's that simple. Below you will find the basics of a guide that needs to be filled in. I'd do it myself, but I don't know it all (I know, it's hard to believe right?).
Before you post. Make sure you know what you're talking about and that your post is not just spam. Make sure that you are on topic (I will tell you what we are currently discussing so don't fret).
Current discussion
Right now, we're talking about Spamming. For the spamming section, the kind of discussion I'm looking for isn't going to be a list of set spam inputs that you like to do or that is amazing or anything. These things can be worked out by themselves and aren't useful to be doing in a real game situation when you need to be able to adapt not do that last quickdraw because it's part of your spam combo. So if we can avoid this mentality then that'd be great. We're also going to avoid a description of each separate projectile. This has been done already and I'll probably just get the reader to go over what has been written previously before they read the spamming section. What I envision for the spamming section is a little more natural, a little more real in game kind of helpful discussion. There’ll be a bit of general spamming theory, but for the most part, I want a holistic look at Toon's projectiles. The spamming section follows the spacing section for a reason, so keep this in mind (I wrote a little on projectile spacing already). In short, I want feedback that is focused on the most effective way to spam and use spam. The kind of things that go through your head when you spam; what you're looking for, what you're trying to achieve. Limiting options, predictions, projectile traps, projectile combo starters, projectiles used to run, to approach. How do you use spam, not how do you spam.
PS: You'll get in the credits if we end up using your idea. This goes for everything we ask for help with.
The Triforce of Toon
mini Credits/Summary.
Index
Toon Link General Info
-Toon Link in Win Waker
-Unlocking Toon Link
-Differences between Link and Toon Link
-Toon Link in Brawl
Pros and Cons
Move analysis
-Jab
-Dash Attack
-F-tilt
-U-tilt
-D-tilt
-F-smash
-U-smash
-D-smash
-Nair
-Fair
-Bair
-Uair
-Dair
-Zair
-Neutral B: Arrows
-Side B: Boomerang
-Down B: Bombs
-Up B: Spin Attack Grounded
-Up B: Spin Attack Aerial
-Grab
-Pummel
-Down throw
-Back throw
-Forward throw
-Up throw
-Ledge Attack < 100%
-Ledge Attack > 100%
-Get up attack
Combos
_________________________
Second Post
Killing
Gimping
Edgeguarding
Spacing
Spamming
Recovering
Momentum cancelling
Recovery options
-Off stage
-On the edge
More common AT's
FAQ
Useful (Toon) Links directory
Credits
Toon Link General Info
Toon Link in Win Waker
Toon Link is the Link from Wind Waker and Phantom Hour Glass and is distinctive from the twilight princess Link because of his Toonish appearance and different moveset. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was brought out in 2003 and slowly unravels the story of how the gods flooded Hyrule creating what was to become known as the Great Sea which is scattered with little islands that were once mountain tops. At the start of the game, Link's sister Aryll is captured by a giant masked bird whom we later find out is being controlled by none other then Ganon. In an attempt to save his sister and then defeat Ganon, Link must control the wind itself with the Wind Waker, bring power back to the Master Sword and re-assemble the Triforce of Courage.
Unlocking Toon Link
Toon Link is a secret character that can be unlocked by either clearing Classic mode with Link on any difficulty, clearing the Subspace Emissary and going through the hidden door in The Forest stage, or by participating in 400 brawls.
Differences between Link and Toon Link
There are many differences between Link's and Toon Link's movesets. The Bombs are different. Other then what they look like, Toon's blast range is larger but the knockback is weaker. This can be an advantage anyway because it means we can combo easier from them. The Arrows flight path is different. Our arrows when uncharged go considerably further. The Boomerangs are different mainly because of their returning properties. Link's returning Boomerang has a pulling affect and no damage/hitstun while Toon's Boomerang actually hits on the way back like it's supposed to. There are also many other things that are different like fall speed, jumps, aerials, Dair (our Dair spikes, falls straight down quite fast and has a push effect when he lands.) U-smash, Toon is overall much faster and many other little things.
Toon Link in Brawl
In Brawl, Toon Link is a very versatile character that has the right tools to adapt to anything the opponent can throw at you. He has few bad matchups and goes pretty close to even with the majority of the cast, so he's definitely tourney viable. You should try to blend Toon's projectile game with your swordplay and try not to disuse any one of his projectiles as they all have their uses. The projectiles give you a safe approach and then you hit them hard with some swordplay combos at close range then rinse and repeat. Generally, Toon Link's will stay in the air for the majority of the match because it's easier to spam projectiles, you can use Zair and Toon's aerials are very good. That said, there are many ways you can use him and not all ways will work for specific matchups so you should learn the different styles of play so you can adjust to the right one for that particular matchup.
Pros
-Arguably the second best projectile spam game because of his 3 projectiles.
-Great at juggling and stringing moves together to rack up big percents.
-He's quite fast over all, in the air, on the ground, even his moves are fast.
-Relatively small which can help with not getting hit.
-He's a bit light and floaty which helps a lot with getting out of Chain Grabs at lower percents.
-He has a never ending list of AT's and Tricks XD. Which helps to keep things unpredictable.
-He has great spacing tools like Zair and Nair.
-Great priority on his moves because he has a sword.
Cons
-Generally bad matchups with high tiers.
-Slow Grab and no Grab game which can limit his OoS options.
-Can have some trouble killing but not nearly as much as other characters
-Some moves are quite laggy namely Dair, F-smash, Up-B on the ground and in the air and again Grab but this can be overcome by simply not using them very often.
-Can spike but it's incredibly risky. It's either you or them that'll die when you pull Dair out.
Move analysis
A list of every move, frame data on them, pictures of the hitbubbles when they're done and when to use it/general info.
All hitbubble pictures were taken from Sasuke's and TWiNK's hitbubble thread.
Video of the hitbubbles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCRQ7h0S3q4
All Frame data was taken from Rutger's awesome thread, Filling in the Sea Chart - A Toon Link Research Thread.
All moves shall be set out in the following format.
Name of the Move
Picture of the move
Short description: (of what Toon does.)
Damage when fresh:
Frame Data:
Summary: (Pretty much everything we know about it, uses, when to use it, advantages, tricks and so on.)
Jab/Jabs
First hit
Second hit
Third hit
Short description: You have a choice of hitting once, twice or three times with this move. The first and second hits, Toon will slash with his sword doing minimal knockback and damage. The third hit, Toon will stab straight forwards with his sword which gives half decent knockback and slightly more damage.
Damage when fresh: First hit, 3%. Second hit, 2%. Third hit, 5%. All up, 10%.
Frame Data:
Jab 1.
Duration into Jab 2: 8
Duration: 19
Hit: 6
Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun, Fresh: 1 ..... Stale: 0
Frame Advantage into Jab 2, Fresh: -6 ..... Stale: -7
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -12 ..... Stale: -13
Jab 2.
Duration into Jab 3: 10
Duration: 20
Hit: 6
Hitlag: 5
Block Hitlag: 5
Blockstun: 0
Frame Advantage into Jab 3: -9
Frame Advantage: -14
Jab 3.
Duration: 36
Hit: 6
Hitlag: 7
Block Hitlag: 6
Blockstun: 1
Frame Advantage: -30
Summary: All three Jabs aren't exactly guaranteed. They can be avoided with good DI and so on. They also don't exactly reliably lead into anything. But does this make them pointless? Of course not. The Jab is after all one of Toon's quickest moves, coming out on frame 6...... which is actually a bit pathetic XD. Still, it can be used to beat spotdodges or pulled out when you spaced badly and find yourself in an awkward spot. Although it isn't guaranteed as I stated previously, you can Jab Cancel and string moves together out of your first or second Jab. Things you can string together after a Jab Cancel are, Grab, Nair, Bair, Grounded Up-B, U-tilt, D-tilt, another Jab (you bet) and D-smash. The faster the move you use, the more likely you are to make it connect. That said, it would be wise to also use safe follow ups in case they avoid/shield it, so things like D-smash are not recommended. Summing it up; they're one of our fastest options, but not our best.
Dash Attack
Short description: Toon lunges forwards and slashes his opponent.
Damage when fresh: 10%
Frame Data:
Duration: 39
Hit: 9
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -28 ..... Stale: -29
Summary: Dash Attack comes out relatively quickly but the duration is long. This simply means that it can be punished easily if shielded. So does this mean you shouldn't use it? You'd be a fool not too. It all relies on where and how you use it. Generally, Dash Attack should be used near the edge on a recovering opponent, on an opponent who is getting back onto the stage from the ledge or on an opponent who is standing near the edge. This is because of the angle at which your opponent gets hit, it's sort of a semi spike (they get hit out low at a diagonally downwards angle). This can mean an easy gimp kill, edgehog or spike. If used on stage away from the edge, Dash Attack has a high tripping rate which can lead to a free follow up, tech chase and possibly a kill. Finally, Dash Attack is one of the few moves that have locking properties. A Lock is when the opponent misses a tech or is hit off a platform out of their shield (amongst many other ways to set up locks) and is then hit by a move such as Dash Attack before they can get up. At that point, they are locked. Some characters can keep the opponent in a lock and even infinite them. Unfortunately, Toon is not one of these characters. But we can still take advantage of the lock. When an opponent is locked and is not re-locked/hit before they can do anything else, they have what is called a forced get up. This simply means that they have no control over they're character simply standing up where they are. So what do we do? We can charge a smash and hit them as soon as their invincibility frames are gone and before they can shield. If timed right, it is unavoidable and could get you that kill you needed. Summing it up; it's a great move if used correctly like near the edge, just don't miss or get it shielded.
F-tilt
F-tilt 1
..........
F-tilt 2
F-tilt 3
Short description: Toon Link swings the sword forwards starting with the sword behind him, going over his head and finishing in front of him in an arch that covers him from back to front.
Damage when fresh: 9%
Frame Data:
Duration: 31
Hit: 10 to 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -18 to -16 ..... Stale: -20 to -18
Summary: F-tilt may not be Toon's best move (because it's a bit slow, so like Dash Attack, you don't want it shielded) but it has its uses and should not be ignored completely. Some people who don't know the match up very well are unaware that Toon's F-tilt hits both the front and the back of him. On top of that, it has decent range. So how should it be used? One way of using F-tilt is to hit people who hang on the edge slightly too long. You should get to know how long they have invincibility frames so you can punish them for staying there slightly too long and possibly gimp them. You can take advantage of the fact that it hits on both sides of you by using it to punish rolls behind you and cross ups (a cross up is simply when the opponent jumps from in front of you and unexpectedly lands behind you which limits your options and gives them the advantage). It can even replace D-smash as a way of making sure you punish an opponent's landing lag. So if someone is coming down near you, you move towards where they look like they're going to land and they airdodge into the ground to avoid being punished but right at the last second they drift behind you, F-tilt could be a more reliable option because it hits on both sides quicker then D-smash (especially considering the opponent will only have 2 or 4 frames of landing lag). Finally, it is a reliable follow up of Zair (along with other moves like Nair). Summing it up; F-tilt is something you will only pull out every now and then as a mix up so it doesn't get it predicted but is still a very solid move and should not be ignored.
U-tilt
U-tilt 1
U-tilt 2
Short description: Toon swings his sword in an arch, front to back, high over his head.
Damage when fresh: 9%
Frame Data:
Duration: 29
Hit: 8 to 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -18 to -14 ..... Stale: -20 to -16
Summary: U-tilt is definitely one of Toon's best moves. It hits early on both sides of Toon and it isn't very laggy so it's safer to use then most of Toon's attacks on the ground. So how should it be used? At low percents it can be used to juggle the opponent a few times and then follow up into Bairs to rack up some major damage. Don't get greedy though, if you U-tilt too many times, it won't combo into anything because the opponent will be able to airdodge, double jump or Dair out of it and you won't be able to get Bair to connect. Knowing this, we can use it to our advantage as a mix up. Instead of always going for the Bair that can be avoided, you can U-tilt then shield. If the opponent airdodges or Dair's thinking to avoid the Bair, you will be given another free U-tilt and the situation is reset. Stay unpredictable. The greatest thing about U-tilt is that it is used at lower percentages as stated and it is also used at higher percentages for the kill. U-tilt is our most reliable kill move. Not the strongest, but the most reliable. In comparison, it will usually kill the opponent 20% higher then U-smash and around the same percent as D-smash. So if you need that kill, you don't need to run in and U-smash. I mean, if you get it, well great, but most people will see that coming and you'll only get punished. Sometimes it's best to spam a bit more for that extra 20% and land a much easier/safer kill move like U-tilt. Other then that, because it hits both sides of you, it can help against people who roll behind you or cross up. Summing it up; U-tilt is one of Toon's best ground options because of how fast it is and it's also quite versatile being able to juggle at low percents and kill at high percents.
D-tilt
Short description: Toon crouches and swings his sword close to the ground at the opponent's feet.
Damage when fresh: 9%
Frame Data:
Duration: 22
Hit: 9
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -10 ..... Stale: -12
Summary: On paper, D-tilt is one of Toon's best moves. In reality, it is often forgotten and simply not used. But why? Probably because it doesn't fit into his playstyle which is more about running away. So if you wanted to use it, how should it be used? Probably the best use for it is the D-tilt lock. This is simply where you get someone up against a wall and spam D-tilt. If done right, they will be unable to escape until around 80%. D-tilt also has tripping properties at low percents so you can use D-tilt to Nair and it should connect. Perhaps another reason why D-tilt isn't used that often is because generally, it doesn't lead into anything. D-tilt is one of your safer options if shielded and can be followed up with another D-tilt to push them, in their shield, further away so you can be even safer. It has IASA frames (interruptible as soon as) which just means that before the animation of the move is over, you can interrupt it with another move (including another D-tilt). Some things you can try are Zair to D-tilt or Jab cancel to D-tilt. They are not guaranteed as they can be shielded, but as I said before, you should be ok. Summing it up; D-tilt is rarely used but that doesn't mean it is useless. Amongst other useful things like the D-tilt lock, it is one of Toon's better options as far as frame advantage goes.
F-smash
First Hit
Second Hit
Short description: There are two hits in F-smash so you have a choice of using just one or both. The first hit, Toon slashes his sword in front of him then holds the sword at his side ready for the second hit. The second hit (which can be used straight away or delayed), Toon lunges forwards, swinging the sword from his side and then stabbing it in front of him.
Damage when fresh: First hit, 10%. Second hit, 13%.
Frame Data:
First hit.
Duration: 48
Duration into Second hit: 19
Hit: 15
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -31 ..... Stale: -33
Frame Advantage into Second hit, Fresh: -14 ..... Stale: -16
Second hit.
Duration: 49
Hit: 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 20 ..... Stale: 14
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 4 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -43 ..... Stale: -42
Summary: F-smash; our strongest killing move that is never guaranteed. If you hit them with the first hit of F-smash and the opponent knows what they are doing, you can forget about making the second hit connect. Luckily, not everyone knows what they are doing or don't expect it, so there's still a chance you'll make it connect. The problem is, some characters simply avoid it without doing anything because they are light/floaty and the ones that can't avoid it automatically can DI the first hit up and double jump or whatever away. Even the heavy characters can avoid it by DI'ing the first hit down and shielding the second hit. But is it all a lost cause? Does F-smash have no use if the opponent can always avoid the second hit? Well of course not. You just need to know how to use it. You need to get inside your opponent's head and realise that they are very afraid of the second hit of F-smash (they should be). Knowing this, how can we use it to our advantage? The fun starts when the opponent shields the first hit of F-smash. Right now, they're thinking, I'd better keep my shield up just in case he uses the second hit. So you wait. You wait till you can do anything again and you;
Grab. This screws them over if they continue to hold shield.
Turn around and charge U-smash. This is epic lols if they freak out and try to roll behind you to avoid the second hit.
Jump and Fair/Nair above their head. This works if they jump to avoid the second hit.
Run away and laugh your arse off. This messes with their heads incredibly well cause now they're thinking, darn, I just missed a good opportunity to punish him.
While waiting and not using the second hit is the best option, you should use the second hit every now and then especially if they start catching on and try to shield the first hit then run in and punish you because they predicted you'd do nothing. Don't use the second hit too often, but just enough to keep them afraid and hiding behind their shield. If they shield the second hit, you're gonna be punished every time.
Another good way to use it is near the edge. If they shield the first hit close to the edge, they will be pushed off the edge and you'll be safe (even if they aren't pushed off the edge with the first hit, the second one will push them off and you'll still be safe). Although it's not guaranteed, you can even try to push them off the edge with the first hit and instantly hit them with the second hit. With most characters, the only way they can avoid it is to airdodge asap but most people don't know that.
Finally, some trivia about F-smash. The first hit has set knockback which means that at any percent, the opponent will always be hit the same distance. The second hit has a hitbox behind Toon that can come in handy and a lot of opponents don't know about it. You can F-smash while holding a bomb, if you don't know how then you can look it up in my AT and Trick thread. Summing it up; F-smash may have been poorly designed meaning that the second hit isn't guaranteed, but it can still be quite useful if you use the opponent's fear against him. Mind games son.
U-smash
U-smash 1
U-smash 2
U-smash 3
Short description: Toon swings his sword over his head from front to back in a smaller arch then U-tilt.
Damage when fresh: Front hit, 15%. Back hit, 10%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 37
Hit: 11-15
Front hit.
Hit: 11
Hitlag, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 5 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -22 ..... Stale: -24
Back hit.
Hit: 15
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -20 ..... Stale: -21
Summary: U-smash is one of Toon's best kill moves if not a bit predictable. It doesn't have a whole heap of range either and to make things worse, only the front hit is deadly. The back hit is significantly weaker killing about 60% later than the front. Sounds bad right? Well not necessarily. Even though it has small range and can be predicted then punished, if used correctly, it can still be one of your main kill moves. U-smash is great for punishing airdodges to the ground. One way of baiting these is by jumping up at them as they are falling then instead of using an aerial, bait the airdodge, follow their DI and U-smash. U-smash can also be really good for tech chasing. Most of the time, if people fail to tech and you run at them, they will roll away. Knowing this, you run at them and instead of U-smashing where they are, you continue to run, they should roll with you and then you can just U-smash them. Another way to land an U-smash is to throw out a Boomerang behind them then charge and U-smash in front of them (not right in their face, but within range for the U-smash to connect). They should shield and continue to hold shield hoping to punish you when you finally hit them, the Boomerang returns which pokes through their shield and sets them up nicely for the U-smash. As you can see, it's all quite situational. There's always hoping you'll catch them by surprise and running in to U-smash, but that falls under the predictable category so it can't be relied upon. Still, it's a good choice to kill them with if they miss a laggy attack being our second strongest move and considerably quicker then the second hit of F-smash. Just be aware that some characters don't die that easily when hit vertically. I'd tell you that you can U-smash outa shield by shielding, hitting Jump then instantly hitting the C-stick up, but the lack of range on U-smash makes this sorta pointless. Summing it up; U-smash is great if you connect with it as it can mean an early stock, but if you're having trouble hitting with it, you might want to rack up a bit more damage and finish them off with one of our other kill moves.
D-smash
Front hit
Back Hit
Short description: Toon sweeps his sword out in front of him close to the ground and then swings it along the ground to hit the other side of him.
Damage when fresh: Front hit, 6%. Back hit, 11%. All up, 17%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 49
Hit: 9-17
Front hit.
Hit: 9
Hitlag, Fresh: 7 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 7 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 2 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -38 ..... Stale: -39
Back hit.
Hit: 17
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -29 ..... Stale: -31
Summary: While D-smash may hit the fastest of Toon's smashes (hitting on frame 9), it is also the most easily punished of all our smashes. In other words, if it is shielded or avoided in any way within close proximity to your opponent, you're going to get punished. It is also the weakest of his smashes (unless you count the back hit of U-smash) killing the opponent about 25% higher then U-smash (around the same percent as U-tilt). So how should this easily punishable move be used? While it can be used for killing, it's not recommended because of the risk involved so if you use it, you'd better be sure you'll connect with it. But where D-smash truly shines is gimping. At low percents, generally under 25%, if you hit them with D-smash, they will be hit by both hits but instead of the second hit knocking them upwards, it hits them horizontally. If used in this way near the edge, it can set you up for an early kill, so how good are your gimping skills? If you are successful in gimping them, congratulations, that may have just won you the game. The downside to this method is of course that it can only be used at low percents and you still have to gimp them. There are however, two more methods that you need to know. The second one is stage dependant but it works on any percent and flings them further away then the first one. If you go to a stage that has slanted platforms near the edge of the stage like yoshi's island brawl and PictoChat, stand right on the edge of the stage facing towards the middle of the stage and D-smash your opponent. Because of the slant of the stage, the second hit won't connect and they will get flung out horizontally. Before I go on to the final and ultimate method, there's one bit of trivia you need to know about the first hit of D-smash and that is that it has set knockback. But not just any set knockback, it has the single most broken knockback of all of Toon's moves if not the game. Now if only we could harness it's potential. Well we have. Behold the brokenness of the Bomb Cancelled D-smash (BCD). The final way to gimp with D-smash has so much knockback at such a stupid angle that it kills 1/3 of the cast with a simple edgehog. The BCD works on any stage, at any percent. It even cancels out the vast majority of what makes D-smash so bad in the first place, the lag. Unfortunately, I have run out of room to go into more detail about the BCD including how to perform it so if you want to unlock the secrets of the BCD for yourself, you'll have to look it up in my AT and Trick thread. Sorry XD. Other then that, it's not a bad idea to use D-smash every now and then to aggressively stop an opponent on the edge from getting up because it covers many options including rolling on to stage. Summing it up; D-smash is a fantastic gimping tool amongst other things, just be well aware that if you miss, you'll get punished.
Nair
First hit
Second hit
Short description: In the mid air, Toon hits out in front of him then swings the sword behind him in quick succession.
Damage when fresh: 10% either hit.
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 39
Landing lag: 15
Hit front: 6
Hit back: 13
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage in air, front Fresh: -31 ..... Stale: -32
Frame Advantage in air, back Fresh: -24 ..... Stale: -25
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -14 ..... Stale: -15
Summary: Nair is a fantastic move. It comes out fast enough to 'combo' out of things like Zair and Bomb throw. A staple move of Toon's is of course the SH Zair (land which cancels the lag) SH Nair. It comes out so fast compared to other options that it can be a combo breaker. It hits on both sides of him which is great for many reasons, one being that if you are close enough to the opponent that the first hit of Nair hits the other side of them, it will combo into the second hit of Nair which racks up major damage for a singular aerial. It also has long range which means it can be used for spacing purposes. But even a move as great as Nair can be useless if you don't know how to use it. There are basically two ways. SH Nair and Full Hop Nair. With SH Nair, you want to use Nair as soon as you leave the ground to give you the options of Quickdrawing your landing if it's safe to do so or double jumping away before you touch the ground. You can even SH Nair then double jump instant Nair. With Full hop Nair, you want to make extra sure you use Nair the moment you leave the ground otherwise it won't hit grounded opponents. Full hop Nair is a much safer option and gives you more options because, simply put, you are higher up in the air and therefore have more time to do something before you land. Time to do what? Try Full hop Nair to Zair or Full hop Nair to angled Boomerang. The sky's the limit, or rather the blast zone's the limit, just be creative with it and be sure to mix things up or you'll get predictable. At lower percents, Nair has tripping properties meaning a free follow up. A bit of info you may need to know even though its character specific, Nair is essential when versing Olimar. It destroys his pikmin when they're on or off you and in general ***** him. Summing it up; Nair is a must use move. It's very versatile, very quick and if used properly, it's hard to punish.
Fair
Short description: In mid air, Toon slams the sword from below to out in front of him.
Damage when fresh: 13%
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 37
Landing lag: 18
Hit: 14
Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 4 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage in air, Fresh: -19 ..... Stale: -21
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -15 ..... Stale: -17
Summary: Although Fair comes out the slowest of all Toon's aerials, that doesn't necessarily mean it's slow. If anything, that just says a lot about how quick over all Toon's aerials come out. Fair is actually the quickest to end once the hitbox is out (not of course counting Zair) so once the hitbox is out, it's the hardest to punish in the air (not the hardest to punish when landing). So when pulling this move out, it's best if you start the move a little bit away from you're opponent so the hitbox can at least come out without you being hit in the start up frames. Fair is a great kill move and can be considered one of our best. To give you an idea of how powerful it is, it will kill around 5-10% higher then U-smash so you can consider it the third best kill move as far as power goes. Even better still, we can combo into it if we hit them with a Bomb first. You just need to be in the right position. Fair actually has less duration then Nair, this means that every now and then, as a mix up, you can SH Fair then if they're in front of you chuck out the first hit of Nair before you touch the ground or if they're behind you, chuck out a Bair before you land. Most people will not expect this and be hit by the Nair/Bair. Fair is pretty good off stage as well. If you hit them with it off stage, forget about gimping them, you just killed them. It's also great because using it off stage gives us plenty of time and space to use it early and thus avoid the start up lag. If they recover lower, run off the edge and Fair, if you miss, double jump and Nair/Fair them. Finally, Fair has decent range so it outspaces a lot of other moves. Summing it up; Fair is one of our best kill moves and it's weakness (coming out slow) can be overcome by spacing the start up frames.
Bair
Bair 1
Bair 2
Short description: In the air, Toon quickly swings the sword from below him to behind him and up a bit.
Damage when fresh: 10%
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 30
Landing lag: 10
Hit: 6
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage in air, Fresh: -22 ..... Stale: -23
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -9 ..... Stale: -10
Summary: Bair is Toon's best aerial and one off our best moves over all. Bair is very fast and totally spammable. Coming out on frame 6, Bair ties only with Nair and Jab for the fastest of Toon's moves to come out. It has the fastest duration of all Toon's aerials and (not counting Zair) it has the least amount of landing lag of all Toon's aerials having a sort of semi auto cancel. But it just keeps getting better because other then just on paper being a good move, in reality, it's an amazing move. It has great range so it's useful for spacing, it can be used twice in one SH which only gets better because of the low landing lag and it 'combos' into itself. This means that you can string multiple Bairs together to rack up immense damage at low to medium-high percents. I say 'combos' because in brawl, there are many ways to escape strings of attacks because of the lack of hitstun. But this can be to some extent overcome by speeding up your Bair chain. To do this, you have to SH Bair then fast fall Bair (Instantly rinse and repeat). One way to accomplish this is by using the analog stick and A for the first Bair then use the analog stick to fast fall while using the C-stick for the second Bair. Why? Because if you use the C-stick for the first Bair, it can buffer and simply won't come out and using the C-stick for the second Bair makes it easier to fast fall. That said, if you can manage it another way, then so be it. Other then comboing into itself, Bair can combo in and out of U-tilt, into aerial Up-B, in fact, if spaced properly and at the right percents, it can combo into footstool which means SH Bair, Footstool, Dair, Pogo, Zair to Grab/SH Nair. Bair = combo starter. Something to keep in mind; you can SH Bair Zair. You just need to use Bair asap and use airdodge + A for the Zair otherwise it'll come out as an airdodge. Bair is the aerial we use to momentum cancel. More info can be found about momentum cancelling further on in the thread. Finally, if you're desperate, Bair can kill. It'll usually kill at around 160%, so if the opponent won't die and you want a kill move that will easily hit, then don't forget about Bair. Summing it up; Bair is win. It's fast, it combos like crazy and it can even kill. Definitely one of our best, if not our best move.
Uair
Short description: In the air, Toon sticks his sword straight up and holds this pose for a short period of time.
Damage when fresh: Initial hit, 14%. Lingering hitbox, 12%.
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 59
Landing lag: 21
Hit: 11
Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 5 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage in air, Fresh: -43 ..... Stale: -46
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -17 ..... Stale: -20
Summary: Uair is one of Toon's safest killing options. As far as priority goes, Toon's Uair is one of the best in the game, beating every Dair except maybe Lucario's. So what options do they have without Dair and how do we beat those options? Airdodge? Uair has a lingering hitbox or a 'sexkick' if you will, which just means that as long as Toon holds the sword up, it deals knockback and damage. So if they try to airdodge through it and you follow their DI, you'll still hit them. It should be mentioned that they can airdodge through you if you use Uair while rising, so you should try to time your jumps so you can fall with them. They could mix up the direction they fall in, hoping that you'll go the wrong way, but we have Bombs to limit their options. Simply by throwing a Bomb up at them, it means they have to avoid it or try to catch it which isn't exactly easy. So we can direct them where to go, bait an airdodge and limit their options until they are literally forced into the Uair for fear of the Bomb. If they get hit by the Bomb, sweet, extra damage and a chance to get a free Uair or the situation is reset. What can I say; Bombs and Uair go hand in hand. To make things even better, Uair kills at good percents. The initial hit kills at around 125-130% and the lingering hitbox kills at around 140-145%. This is only accentuated if used as high up as possible; a good example of this is when we kill Snake up the top of the screen after his high recovery. So because of kill power and priority, Uair is one of the main reasons why we want them in the air. Bair can actually combo into Uair if they DI it wrong and even if they manage to airdodge, Uair > airdodge. A little bit of trivia; Uair can auto cancel if you use it just before you touch the ground. Sounds useful right? Well not really, you see, there isn't any hitbox or anything except a flash of light. So if you want to laglessly pick up items when you land in a flash of light, well I won't stop you XD. Summing it up; Uair is a very safe way to get the kill and when you combine it with bombs it becomes a very reliable way to get the kill. So keep it in mind.
Dair
Dair 1
Dair 2
The hitbubbles on the sides are wind hitboxes.
Short description: In the air, Toon bobs up, grabs his sword in both hands, sticks it down below him and plummets downwards at blistering speeds.
Damage when fresh: Spike (initial) hitbox, 16%. Lingering hitbox, 13%. Damage after pogo, 8%.
Frame Data:
Landing lag: 40
Hit: 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 5 ..... Stale: 2
Summary: Dair is all about high risk and high reward. If you miss it, it can cost you a stock or at least a lot of damage because even if it's missed on stage, Dair has a tone of landing lag. If you don't miss, it's Toon's most damaging aerial and usually puts you in an advantageous position. To make it far more likely that you'll make Dair connect, you can footstool the opponent and then instantly Dair. An example of this is stuff like Bair footstool Dair. When you hit with Dair, Toon pogos but still keeps the sword out. At this point, the hitbox is still there, you are free to move left or right, you fall much slower and you can even fast fall the pogo. If you hit them again once you've pogo'd, you will pogo again which is the same as the last pogo, at which point the Dair will soon stop and you are free to do as you will. But, if you fast fall the pogo, Toon won't pogo when he hits them again. If you fast fall from the right distance, you can hit them again, continue to fall and it will auto cancel on the ground. This is because the Dair animation has stopped just before you touched the ground. This can be very useful because it means that you can do things like Dair, fast fall pogo to U-tilt. Off stage, spiking with Toon, while sexy, is very risky. If you miss them, then you can say goodbye to your stock. Fortunately, there are a few ways to make spiking off stage much safer. But before we go into that, you need to know about momentum affected Dairs. If you get hit by anything with enough force to give you decent momentum even after hitstun in any direction and you use Dair asap, Toon will do a momentum affected Dair. He won't bob up at the start, he won't fall extremely quickly. He will slowly fall straight down for the same amount of time as a normal Dair. If you hit someone when doing a momentum affected Dair, the spike will still spike but Toon won't pogo, ever. He will just slowly fall the Dair until he can move again. If instead of just hitting Dair when you have momentum, you hit double Jump then Instantly hit Dair, you will do a Dair stall. This is where Toon rises up the same distance as double jump in his Dair animation and will stay on that horizontal level for as long as the Dair lasts. If you double jump left or right, Toon will hover left or right in his Dair animation. This can be used to momentum cancel and recover from offstage. You will read more about this in the recovery section. So now that you know about momentum affected Dairs, you can learn about the safe spike. I have no room to write about the safe spike XD so you'll have to look it up in my AT and Trick thread. In fact I don't have enough room to write about any more of the many techs you can do with Dair, so you know where to go if you want more info.
Now, Dair is also relatively safe on shield cause if you want, you can pogo off their shield and DI away. You can try to Spike your opponent through the stage if used on the edge of the stage or on certain levels because Toon's sword will reach through. Toon's landing animation has windboxes as seen above. They aren't terribly powerful but they can be used to push enemies and items away including Z-dropped bombs. Other then the obvious, you can use the stall of the part when Toon bobs up at the start of Dair to throw your opponents off just when you're about to land because it can mess them up if they try to punish your landing lag. Summing it up; again, it's high risk high reward. If you're smart about it and unpredictable when using it, Dair can be your best friend. Just don't miss.
Zair/Tether
Short description of Zair: In the air, Toon shoots out his hookshot and then pulls it back. You can laglessly cancel out the Zair by simply landing so you don't need to worry about Toon retracting the hookshot.
Damage when fresh: Always 4%, it never stales.
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 70
Landing lag - cancels into normal landing lag, i.e. 2 or 4
Hit: 11
Hitlag: 6
Block Hitlag: 6
Blockstun: 1
Frame Advantage landing: -1
Summary: Zair is one of our main spacing moves and it's also one of (if not) our best combo starters. Some quick notes just in case you didn't read/understand the above; Zair will always do 4% damage and it autocancels when you land so if you land with it, you'll only get the normal landing lag frames (4 if you fast falled otherwise it's the normal 2 frames of landing lag). When using it, you want to make sure you get the full length of Zair and then instantly land to cancel it, so if you haven't already, quickly mess around with the timing so you know what the timing is. One way to use it is to SH and Zair at around the peak of your jump just as Toon's head starts moving back down. This is the best way to use it when starting on the ground. Other ways are, SH airdodge then at the peak of your jump, cancel the airdodge with Zair. This way is quite telegraphed but is quite useful when avoiding projectiles/some attacks and approaching at the same time. It's not just limited to these of course. Anytime you have enough time to pull it out and you're about to land (this could be from full or double jumps, it doesn't matter though, you're just in the air ok? Maybe you got hit up there or something.) retreating Zair is a pretty safe way of getting down without getting punished. I should probably add at this point that preferably, you want to be hitting them/their shield with the tip of Zair as it's better for spacing and less punishable. So now you have a rough idea of how to use/space it, but what about combos? There are of course no 'true combos', only strings of attacks, but we'll just ignore reality for a second. Zair to Nair is a true combo! (it may as well be). It's one of Toon's staple combos but there's no harm in mixing it up if things get predictable. How about Zair to Grab? Hellz yes. Just don't over use it and you can pretty much guarantee that you'll get that grab. Zair to Jab. If you're close enough, this is about as guaranteed if not more so then Zair to Nair cause they both come out on frame 6. If you're having trouble with spotdodgers, chuck in a Zair to grounded Up-B. How about Zair to Bomb throw? Oh yeah, I didn't explain that part yet. Pretty much, you can Tether or Zair while holding a Bomb if you airdodge first. It doesn't even have to be an airdodge for very long, you can just hit airdodge then Instantly hit Zair/Tether. Less guaranteed stuff includes Zair to F-tilt and Zair to Hyphen smash (hyphen smash is just running U-smash, this one is best used for the kill). Something you will need to know; if you use a move and then try to Zair Instantly after, it will come out as an airdodge. So how do we avoid this? Simple. Just hit airdodge then Instantly hit Zair whenever you think it'll buffer an airdodge. You'll get the hang of it. Summing it up; Zair is one of those moves that you simply can't ignore. It's one of Toon's best spacing and comboing moves.
Short description of Tether: Off stage near the edge, Toon shoots out his hookshot and it goes straight towards the edge wherever you are and latches on. Then Toon retracts the hookshot which pulls him up towards the edge.
Summary: The Tether could easily have its own section apart from Zair, but because of a lack of effort on my part XD, this is how it is. The Tether is of course just a Zair off stage and close enough to the edge after all. The Tether recovery is a great little option we have. It's three main uses are recovering on to the edge, recovering on to the stage and edgehogging. But before we go into that, I'll just explain some stuff you gotta know. You can only Tether three times without your feet touching solid ground. If you try to Tether a fourth time without getting on stage, the Tether will refuse to grab the edge, then by the time you've waited for it to retract, you'll need to recover straight away or you might not make it/get edgehogged. So keeping an eye on how many times you've used it is essential. Really basic stuff; You Tether, at this point Toon will hang down by the chain, if you hit Z again, Toon will quickly snap on to the edge, if you don't, Toon will hang there for a while then automatically retract the Tether. Generally speaking, you will want to get to the edge asap as you are vulnerable just hanging there, so when you Tether, Hit Z twice quickly. You can Chain Cancel by hitting down after you hit Tether once. This is just where Toon drops down out of the hanging by the chain part of Tether. If you tilt down, Toon will drop off and fall at the normal pace and if you Hit Down, Toon will drop off and fast fall. It's best if you have your double jump if you chain cancel from below the edge as it makes things much easier/safer. If you chain cancel directly above the edge, Toon will drop and grab the edge automatically. You can of course Tether while holding a Bomb by simply airdodging then Hitting Tether. There's more to it, but I'll get to that within the next few sections. So, the three main uses.
Recovering on to the edge, pretty much, if you're close enough to the edge to Tether but too far away to just drift towards stage and grab the edge, you may as well use it other wise you'll have to wait till Toon is below the stage and use Up-B. That said, if the opponent edgehogs and you try to Tether, it will come out as a Zair (say hello to 70 frames of lag). Even if you actually Tether the edge, the opponent can hit you out of the tether before you snap onto the edge because you won't have invincibility frames. This can lead to you getting gimped/stage spiked. So by all means, use it, just don't be predictable with it (like everything else).
Recovering on to stage. Other then a quick fake out that can bait a reaction from the opponent, the Tether renews your invincibility frames. When you grab the edge normally (let's say with an Up-B), you will be given invincibility frames but you will not be able to hit away from the edge and double jump back on stage for a little bit. When you Tether grab the edge, you will be given slightly less invincibility frames but you'll be able to hit away from the edge straight away. So as far as renewing your invincibility frames, you'll have around the same amount to double jump on stage with whether you Tether or not.
Edgehogging is a great way to take advantage of the Tether. Because it renews your invincibility frames, you can use it to stay invincible when the opponent is recovering and potentially gimp them. You can read more about edgeguarding and gimping later on in this thread, but the Tether is an essential tool in edgehogging.
Summing it up; The Tether is something you'll need to learn how to use properly as it gives you more options when near the edge which is a great advantage against most of the cast.
Neutral B: Arrows
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon pulls out his bow an arrow (from seemingly no where) and shoots the arrow.
Damage when fresh: 4% uncharged. 12% fully charged.
Frame Data:
Duration: 41
Quick Draw Duration: 25
Hit (soonest possible): 18
Quick Draw Hit (soonest possible): 2
Hitlag: N/A
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun, Fresh: 1 ..... Stale: 0
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -16 ..... Stale: -18
Summary: Toon's arrows, while not the best projectile by themselves, are an important part of Toon's over all playstyle/spam. They have a set flight path, they move slowly and they can be seen coming/predicted even before the arrow comes out (because if they're used in the air it has startup lag and it can be predicted whenever you land, i.e. the quickdraw). All of this adds up to being easily powershielded. Good thing then that we have more then just the arrows. But before we go into that, you've gotta know the basics like the quickdraw. The Quickdraw is a simple technique that cuts out all the startup lag of the shot. It is done by Hitting the B button just before you land. So if you've got a bit of time before you land, you can quickdraw. Examples? Try SH Nair/Fair/Bair/Arrow/Bomb pull/Bomb throw to quickdraw. The SH Arrow to quickdraw is called a SHDA which simply means, short hop double arrow. This is a useful technique to get a simple and quick wall of projectiles out. It's useful for when certain characters like Falco/Fox are recovering, for outcamping certain characters like Snake or when a returning boomerang is coming back to hit them, but generally it's best used for extra projectile pressure as a mixup. Two more basic techniques are the B-reversal and the Wavebounce. The B-reversal is done by lightly tilting Backwards in the air and Hitting B or by Hitting Backwards in the air (returning the joystick to neutral) waiting half a second then hitting B. What this does is, it lets you continue to drift in the same direction as you were and simply turns Toon Link around to shoot. This can be pretty useful if you want to space the arrow. The Wavebounce is a lot different. To do a wavebounce, you need to Hit B then Instantly Hit Backwards. What this will do is it will reverse Toon's momentum and turn him around to shoot. Because of the unpredictability of reversing your momentum, the wavebounce can be used when getting back down on to stage from up in the air to throw people off or when you're about to land as a reverse quickdraw. These are the three main basic arrow techs, the quickdraw, the b-reversal and the wavebounce. Different combinations of these result in strange and crazy techs like the jerk, but as that stuff isn't exactly necessary to know let alone basic, if you want to look into that stuff yourself, you'll have to look it up in my AT and Trick thread. I cannot stress enough though, learn the basics first or you'll get confused. Summing it up; the arrows need to be used with other things like occasionally quickdrawing aerials or mixed in with your other projectiles in order to be useful. By themselves or if over used, they are easily powershielded and you can/will get punished.
Side B: Boomerang
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon whips out his Boomerang from his bag of tricks and throws it out in a straight line that can be directed up or down........ then it comes back.
Damage when fresh: The damage of the Boomerang is sort of strange. Essentially, even though it looks like it hit them once, it hits them twice. You throw it at them, they take a direct hit, they get damage from the boomerang coming forwards and instantly take damage from the boomerang going back even though it doesn't look like they should be getting hit by the returning boomerang.
Returning Boomerang, 3%.
Damage up close; First hit, 8%. Second hit, 3%. All up, 11%.
Damage from further away; First hit, 5%. Second hit, 3%. All up, 8%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 45
Hit (soonest possible): 27
Catch Lag: 19
Hitlag: N/A
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 0 ..... Stale: 0
Blockstun, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -10 ..... Stale: -12
Summary: The Boomerang can be considered Toon's second best projectile, but no projectile is as good as it can be without the help of the other two. But before you go and just throw it out there, you're gonna wanna know some basic Boomerang facts, stuff that every self respecting Toon should know. So you throw it, but wait, before you even do that, there's stuff you need to know. You can smash or tilt throw the Boomerang. This is done the same way as a smash attack or a tilt, only with the Boomerang. What it does is it affects the speed and distance that the Boomerang travels (so a smash thrown boomerang goes further). Which one should you use? That depends of course. What you might think is that you should obviously always use a smash thrown one cause it's better. This is incorrect however, because there are many times that a tilt thrown Boomerang can prove to be much more useful. So now that you know that, you can throw out the Boomerang right? Not yet XD. You see, there's more to it then just that. The Boomerang can be angled in different directions other then straight forwards. In fact, just throwing it left, there are 7 different angles that you can throw it in. If you're not sure that you know how to get all 7 angles, read the 'In-between Angles' in my AT and Trick thread. Now that you know all that, you may throw it out. As you would expect, it can hit them on the way back as well, but what you may not know is that the returning Boomerang has a set knockback. This just means that at any percent, they will always get hit the same distance. Well, it comes back, what then? If you do nothing, walk/run or in some cases jump, Toon will catch it (I say in some cases because you can also jump over it which will make the Boomerang go past you). Toon catching it is a bad thing. That's not to say that you should always avoid the returning Boomerang, I'm talking about the animation of Toon catching it. That animation is unnecessary lag in which you can do nothing and can get punished. So how do we avoid this unnecessary lag? Simple. By doing anything other then standing, walking/running and in some cases jumping and doing nothing. This isn't hard because there are many other things you can do, but you'd be surprised at how easy it can sometimes be to accidently catch the Boomerang. As long as you keep this in mind, the Boomerang is your friend. If you don't already know about the Phantom Boomerang, Boomerang Gliding, wavebounced/sms Boomerang, check it out in my AT and Trick thread. Something to keep in mind; sometimes it's a good idea to throw the Boomerang where your opponent isn't, for example, throwing it above them and predicting that they'll jump into it. Finally, returning Boomerang is win cause it sets up epic combos. More then that, you can Zair them into the returning Boomerang and then combo them out of that. Summing it up; the Boomerang is a versatile projectile. It has its uses going out and coming back, it can be aimed in many different directions for greater accuracy and less predictability, it can be smashed or tilt thrown, the returning Boomerang can take many different paths depending on how it was thrown and where you are, not to mention the different techs that can be done. But even a versatile tool like the Boomerang can be predictable if used incorrectly, so keep this in mind.
Down B: Bombs
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon pulls out a Bomb from behind his back, supposedly from a Bomb bag that contains an infinite amount of bombs and yet takes up no space, and then he can do many things with it including throw it at the opponent.
Damage when fresh: Anywhere between 8 and 2% depending on a few things. Detailed picture by Rutger here.
Frame Data:
Bomb pull Duration: 39
Throw Duration: 20
Hit(soonest when thrown): 8
Hitlag: N/A
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun, Fresh: 2 ..... Stale: 1
Summary: The Bombs are our best projectile and in most matchups, Toon's best friend. Before we go on, there are some simple facts you need to know about Bombs. Toon can only have 2 bombs out at any one time. This generally isn't an issue even if an opponent catches one because of the timed explosion of the Bomb, but it's good to keep this in mind so you don't needlessly bomb pull and find that the lag of the animation was for nothing. Oh yeah, there's a timed explosion. So when you see the Bomb start to flash, just get rid of it or use it to your advantage by standing near them and shielding. While it does give you heaps of options as you will read further on, holding a Bomb does take a few options away. While holding a Bomb, you can't Grab or use any grounded A attacks other then F-smash (hold A while Bomb pulling or doing any other action so you won't throw the Bomb then hit the C-stick sideways) Dash attack (but you can pick the Bomb up or catch it with Dash attack) and U-smash (but you have to cancel dash attack with U-smash from a dash attack which picked up or caught the Bomb). The Bomb has a tone of priority and hitstun, a large blast radius, it pressures people who shield it, it has combo ability in and out of the Bomb's explosion, not to mention that it is easily one of the most versatile projectiles in the game. You pull out a Bomb and instantly you are given a vast amount of options.
These options are, but not limited to;
Throwing the Bomb in any direction (Up, down, left or right), hard throw or soft throw, in the air or on the ground including the JC throw.
Z-dropping the Bomb on the ground/platforms or simply Z-dropping the Bomb in mid air.
Invincibombing (iBomb) which could have its own section entirely as it is incredibly versatile and useful just in itself.
Other things while holding a Bomb, so stuff like Aerials (ZAC or IZAC), F-smash, Zair/tether and of course other specials.
Bomb fake outs in the air and on the ground and finally, being able to hurt yourself has its benefits. For example, the Bomb can save you a stock by getting you out of chaingrabs and giving you back your already used Up-B recovery or it can be used to make moves better like Dair (the safe spike) and D-smash (BCD).
The large blast radius is big enough to hit opponents through the stage and can hit them back up into the stage and stage spike them. This is known as the Bomb Spike. The high priority of the Bomb means that it can go through other projectiles and opponent's attacks. It sets up and continues combos which can be extremely helpful when you're looking for that kill. Bombs limit opponent's options and can force responses from them that you can predict and punish. Being able to control your opponent, whether it be forcing them to approach, forcing them to avoid the Bomb or simply making them sit in their shield is quite helpful. The Bombs are an important part of Toon's spam game, serving a slightly different purpose to the Arrows and Boomerang. The Arrows and Boomerang can be powershielded and that's all they have to worry about, but the Bombs stick around once shielded which keeps the pressure on. The main difference is that the Bombs don't rely on the other projectiles to be an effective spam game. They can do fine just by themselves. That said, the overall spam game is significantly better when you use all three projectiles smartly. A quick mention about the iBomb, because you air dodge and drop a bomb at the same time, the iBomb acts like a counter in some regards. You dodge their attack and they get a Bomb to the face. The difference is, we can combo out of it (if used close to the ground). Being able to combo out of a counter attack sounds really good, that's cause it is. Try using it whenever you predict a MK will shuttle loop you in mid air. But that's just using it defensively. It can of course be used offensively which has pretty much the same effect except, without them attacking you, it can be hard to hit with because it doesn't have very much range. What also sets it apart from other counters is that you can cancel the airdodge with a Zair which can be used if you miss them while using it offensively or to combo with once the Bomb hits them. (For further info on any of the techs, go to my AT and Trick thread.) Summing it up; Toon's Bombs are an essential part of his playstyle making it easier for Toon to safely go from his spam game to close combat swordplay and making his spam game so much better and more versatile.
Up B: Spin Attack Grounded
Initial hits 1
Initial hits 2
Last hit
Short description: Toon holds the sword out and spins around really fast on the spot doing his signature spin attack.
Damage when fresh: All but the last hit, 1%. Last hit, 3%. All up if hit from the start of the attack, depending on DI, between 10 and 12%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 82
First Hit: 11
Last Hit: 53
Hitlag for last hit, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 10
Block Hitlag for last hit, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun for last hit, Fresh: 1 ..... Stale: 0
Frame Advantage for last hit, Fresh: -33 ..... Stale: -34
Summary: The grounded spin attack is one of those moves that you should only pull out once in a blue moon. That said, it shouldn't be ignored completely or forgotten about, it can be a good move, it's just really bad when it's expected. So before I go into how to use it and when to use it, you need to know why you shouldn't use it all the time. Basically, it's bad if you miss because they can just wait for it to end and punish you easily (or punish you from above/below or outrange you while you're still doing the attack), it's bad if it's shielded for the same reason that it's bad if you miss (although sometimes because it's used very rarely, they can be caught off guard and accidently drop their shield. Don't rely on this though XD.), it's even bad if you hit them with it if they are expecting it because it can be DI'd/SDI'd out of. So you get the point. Use it sparingly. Now that you know all that, how and when should it be used? Because of the multi-hitting properties of the spin attack, it's great for punishing invincibility frames. So things like spot dodges, rolls and airdodging into the ground, the grounded spin attack has got them covered no worries. It's also good to keep in mind that it hits on both sides of Toon, so if an opponent gets behind you, it's an option. The grounded spin attack can actually be charged like a smash attack. Why you would want to do this is beyond me. It does extra damage (Fully charged, between 16 and 19%), but for a move that wants to be a surprise, telegraphing it is probably not a good idea XD. The grounded spin attack also has some interesting techs when used off the edge of a platform/the edge. To find more information on how to perform them, go to my AT and Trick thread, but pretty much, it can be used to make the aerial spin attack fall instead of rise facing either direction and it can also make you drop off the edge with a flash of light and with greater control of your character facing either direction. While dropping off a platform backwards sounds interesting, you don't want to mess any of these techs up as you'll be stuck with the grounded or aerial spin attack lag. Finally, a little bit of trivia; the first hit of the grounded spin attack behind Toon can hit characters hanging on the edge of the stage and sort of has a soft semi spike effect. Summing it up; the grounded spin attack should only be used very rarely as a mix up. It's helpful for punishing any invincibility frames.
Up B: Spin Attack Aerial
First hits
Last hit
Short description: In the air, Toon will spin around holding his sword out at an angle facing upwards and the helicopter affect will make him rise quite high.
Damage when fresh: All but last hit, 2%. Last hit, 4%.
Frame Data: ......
......
Summary: There are two ways to use the Aerial Up-B, for recovering and for attacking. As a recovery move it's pretty average. It makes Toon rise quite high up and can be DI'd to the left or right. It has great sweet spot range so you don't need to aim it perfectly. It has a delayed last hit so if someone tries to edgehog you and you start the recovery from just the right distance so that the last hit will hit them on the edge, they can run out of invincibility frames just in time to get stage spiked by the last hit while you safely snap on to the edge. But there are of course some downsides. It can in fact be edgehogged if timed right. It leaves Toon sort of vulnerable on top as you can see in the picture, so many characters can spike him out of his recovery. While it can be angled, it still has a pretty obvious/predictable flight path. It won't auto snap the edge during the first bit of the Aerial Up-B (just Tether or delay the Up-B if you're that close). You need to make sure that you don't reverse the Up-B when recovering as it leaves you completely vulnerable to getting edgehogged. If you are aware of its flaws, it should serve you well. Now, the aggressive Aerial Up-B used for attacking/killing. This is a very risky move. If you miss for any reason, you can get punished pretty easily. This is because after the long attack animation that makes Toon rise (presumably while the opponent is falling if they airdodged it), the only thing you can control is what direction you drift down in. You can't attack or do anything else other than drift in one way or another trying to trick your opponent into missing you. Even if you cross up and land on their opposite side, you have the terrible landing lag to deal with. But wait there's more. Even if you actually hit the opponent in mid air, it can be DI'd out of. It generally doesn't happen, but be aware of that. So now that you know the risks, this is how it can be used. If you're starting to think that it's too risky so why even bother, then the good news is that Bair true combos into it. This makes things a bit more reliable as we really don't want to miss it. It can also be reliable for punishing airdodges. "But why use it anyway?" I hear you ask. Because it's sexy and because it can kill (obviously). This is not so much because of kill power but because it puts them so much closer to the blast zone. But if you don't feel comfortable taking the risk outside of friendly matches, then by all means, don't. It's just one of those things you need to know are going to hit which just comes with experience. If you are able to implement it into your game without too much downside, then you win. Summing it up; Aerial Up-B as a recovery move does it's job well as long as you can avoid it's weaknesses and as an attacking move, if you know it'll connect, why not use it? If you're not positive that it'll connect, it's probably not worth the risk.
Grab
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon shoots out his hookshot that will latch onto the enemy and then he retracts it to pull them in.
Damage when fresh: Well nothing yet......
Frame Data:
Standing Grab
Duration if you miss: 84
Soonest: 12
Latest: 16
Pivot Grab
Duration if you miss: 94
Soonest: 15
Latest: 19
Dash Grab
Duration if you miss: 94
Soonest: 14
Latest: 18
Summary: The Grab isn't one of Toon's best moves as far as speed and lag go but it is an absolutely essential part of Toon's playstyle. Why? Simply because without it, the opponent could just sit in their shield. It's the old scissors paper rock situation. It is a necessary mix up. We are essentially forced to use it to stay unpredictable, so we may as well make the most of it while we're at it. It does however have pretty decent range compared to most of our attacks which is useful in some situations that I'll go into. Need I remind you that you really don't want to miss this move? As you can see, it has a whopping 84 or 94 frames of duration. You can actually take advantage of knowing that a standing grab is better frame wise than a dash grab by doing running shield grabs instead of dash grabs. With all this in mind, you're gonna wanna know when you can safely get away with the grab and keep the opponent guessing. Zair to Grab is a legit true combo if you do it properly. You just want to be careful that they aren't too far away when you go for the grab as they may be able to spotdodge it. If you predict that they'll try to spot dodge it, you simply Zair to Pivot Grab. In fact that goes for any time you predict a spotdodge, you can just run past them and pivot grab. It's great for punishing landings, such as airdodges into the ground. Just be aware that the opponent can buffer a spot dodge or roll as soon as they land which can make it risky. Obviously because of it's range, it's great for punishing laggy moves that you shield even if you get shield pushed away. A great example of this is MK's D-smash. If you're quick enough, you can punish him every time. Other then that, you can risk a Jab to Grab but it's in no way unescapable and finally it's obviously safe to punish laggy attacks, but you might want to punish with something else for more damage or a kill in that situation. Unfortunately, once you get the grab, Toon doesn't really have too much going for him as you will read in the throws further down. Summing it up; the Grab is something that we have to use and we can't do without whether we like it or not. Good predictions and punishes will serve you well to ensure you can safely get away with the grab.
Pummel
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon hits the opponent in the face with the hilt of his sword.
Damage when fresh: 2%
Frame Data:
Duration: 15
Hit: 9
Summary: The pummel is often overlooked as an option once you get a grab. Sure it only does 2%, but every little bit counts. At low percents, you're probably better off not using any pummels and if you do, make sure it's only one because at lower percents, the opponent can break out of grabs much quicker. Medium percents, feel free to use 2 to 3 if you want and at higher percents you can afford to use more still. If you're pummelling for damage, the worst thing that can happen is they break out before you can throw them, so don't get greedy. One thing to note is that the pummel can force a ground release. This is only really helpful when you're on teams and there's only one opponent left. You can pummel them to death by forcing grab releases back and forth. So why shouldn't you pummel? Don't pummel if hoping to air release a Wario or MK to U-smash. Just note that it's not up to you whether or not they get air released because Toon isn't tall enough to force an air release on anyone. They will only get air released if they are stupid or unfortunate enough to hit Jump while mashing. Don't pummel if you grab a Snake out of his Cypher off the edge of the stage if his C4 is still on stage. Don't pummel if you're trying to catch them by surprise by doing a quick throw and follow up before they realise what happened (B-throw is best for this). This is because when you pummel, the game stops and they are given time to think. And finally, don't pummel if you accidently grab your team mate XD.
Summing it up; while your immediate thought might be, "The pummel gives extra damage, so why not?" as you can see, there are a few situations where it's best not to pummel. Having said that, never forget that it's an option for extra damage. We have to make the most of our grabs and pummelling is one way to achieve just that.
Down throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon slams them on the ground by falling onto them on his back kinda like a wrestling move.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 46
Hit: 21
Note about all throws: Toon's throw game isn't anything to brag about, so usually it doesn't really matter which throw you use. The one thing you wanna keep in mind is to mix up your throws for maximum damage. They all do the same damage (7%) so if you use one throw, use another next time so that way your throws will never stale. Usually, depending on where you got the grab, you'll be in a situation where one throw might prove a better option then the others just because of the certain situation you're in. Other then that, it won't matter which throw you use as they are all not that great.
Summary: D-throw is a decent option out of the four throws. It puts them in a position just above you where you think you can combo them out of it. Due to lack of hitstun however, this usually won't happen. But the mere fact that it looks like it's going to combo is quite useful as some opponents will airdodge to avoid a follow up. Knowing this, you can punish the airdodge with a charged smash, a re-grab, a delayed aerial or anything really. Smarter opponents however, will not airdodge. They will double jump away and if they're really smart, they'll double jump away with an aerial. This too can be punished but it's a lot harder. Depending on the opponent, you just need to Full hop/double jump towards them and aerial them without getting hit yourself. It's do-able, but nothing's guaranteed. One last thing about D-throw. At super low percents, you can D-throw to turn around re-grab. Just the once though as you'd be pushing it if you tried again. Summing it up; D-throw isn't the best throw, but it's not the worst either. All the throws can come in handy in certain situations, so it's good to know what situations they are.
Back throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon rolls onto his back dragging them with him and kicks them over his head in one swift motion Judo style.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 38
Hit: 10
Summary: Possibly our best throw just because of the angle that the opponent gets thrown in and because of how quick it is. B-throw is of course our quickest throw as you can see by looking at the frame data and it's because of this that you can sometimes catch your opponent off guard if you quickly B-throw and follow up with a Nair or if they don't tech it, you run towards them, they will most likely roll backwards so you continue running and punish them when they are coming out of their roll. The angle that they get thrown in is great when you've got your back to the edge as it throws them slightly downwards which can set up for a gimp. This doesn't mean that you should always go out for a gimp as they will see this coming. If they start catching on, they will double jump towards stage and Bair you when you try to come out. If this happens, you can just stay on stage, shield the Bair and punish accordingly. Summing it up; B-throw is our quickest throw and it sends the opponent at a low angle which can be followed up.
Forward throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon barges into them with his shoulder.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 40
Hit: 12
Summary: Possibly our worst throw. You can think of it as a worse version of B-throw. The only thing it has going for it is it throws the opponent forwards, this can come in handy depending on the situation. There aren't really any follow ups, mind games or anything, but if you want to throw the opponent forwards off stage or forwards into a stage hazard, it will do the job just fine. The only unique thing it has going for it is the Faux Super Slide which sounds cool but is extremely situational. If you want to find out about it, look it up in the Bombs section of my AT and Trick thread. Summing it up; F-throw doesn't have much going for it, so unless you want to throw them forwards depending on the situation, you could probably do without it.
Up throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon tosses them just above his head then slashes them in a whirling motion.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 49
Hit: 27
Summary: U-throw is our slowest throw in all regards. It sends them upwards as you might guess, which is a great position to put the opponent in depending on who the opponent is. What can I say, some characters suck when they're in the air. You can throw characters into Bombs, stage hazards and at really high percents (I'm talking around 200% here) it will kill. On stages with platforms, U-throw is useful for throwing the opponent up onto them from below and following up. Time for some trivia; while I said that all throws do the exact same damage, this isn't exactly correct. If there are more than two characters playing (like in doubles or even verses IC's) U-throw does the most damage to the third person. So if you grab someone, and then before or while you're throwing them, someone else comes in, U-throw does slightly more damage to that third person. Not only that, but the hitbox hitting the third person is pretty large compared to the hitbox of the other throws and the angle that they get hit in is ridiculous so that if the third person is at medium to higher percents, they can get gimped. This is all very nice and all, but because it's the slowest throw, it's basically not going to come in handy. Summing it up; U-throw is good simply because it throws the opponent upwards which is a bad position for some characters and can lead to follow ups.
Ledge Attack < 100%
1
2
Short description: Toon gets up from the edge while swinging his sword in an arch over his head to the front kinda like F-tilt.
Damage when fresh: 8%
Frame Data:
Duration: 55
Invincibility: ........
Hit: 27
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 2 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -26 ..... Stale: -27
Summary: The Ledge attack under 100% is faster than the over 100% ledge attack but is easier to punish if missed or shielded as can be easily seen when comparing the frame data. With that in mind, this would be best used as a surprise attack. It's quicker so there's less time to react but you don't want to over do it or you'll get punished. When you're on the edge, you'll usually have better options but it won't hurt to keep this one in mind (for a better idea of what your options are, go to the 'recovery options when your on the edge' section that can be found further down). While I don't have the exact frame data for the invincibility frames yet, I have been told that it doesn't cover our attack. Summing it up; The Ledge attack under 100% is better as a random option to surprise your opponent.
Ledge Attack > 100%
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon gets up from the edge and stabs his sword out in front of him.
Damage when fresh: 10%
Frame Data:
Duration: 70
Invincibility: .........
Hit: 51
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -17 ..... Stale: -18
Summary: While the Ledge attack over 100% is slower than the under 100% ledge attack, it is safer in some ways. For example, it is safer on shield and, while I don't have the exact frame data for the invincibility frames yet, I'm pretty confident that it has more invincibility frames. As I said in the other Ledge attack, if you want a better idea of what your options are when you're on the edge, head down to the recovering section. Summing it up; The Ledge attack over 100% is a pretty decent option but probably not the best as it has a lot of start up time and so it can be seen coming.
Get Up attack
First hit
Second hit
......... (It looks the same as the first hit but it's on the other side so a picture wouldn't hurt.)
Short description: Toon gets up while swinging his sword in front of him and then behind.
Damage when fresh: First hit, 6%. Second hit, 6%.
Frame Data: .........
Summary: The Get Up attack isn't that great an option. Bad news is, our other options like rolling aren't that great either. There is no frame data on this yet, but I can tell you from experience that it's pretty bad on shield. Logically, the second hit is safer than the first one on shield but the second hit is more likely to be shielded because it comes out later. So this is more of a surprise attack again. If you're going for the surprise, it's better that you hit them with the first attack which means they need to be in front of you. There are invincibility frames on this move, but without the frame data I'm not sure how many; I've been told that they don't cover our attack. Summing it up; The Get Up attack isn't a good option, but Toon doesn't have any good options in this situation, so being random and mixing the bad options up is what you want to be doing.
Combos
Welcome to the Combo Section! Here you will find a list of Toon's combos and everything we know about them.
Something you should note about the percents!
For each combo, I'll give starting and finishing percents taken from four characters. (Please note that this may change in the future and I might get around to doing percentages for every character.) The percentages represent the percent range that the combo will be a true combo. This means that as long as you don't stuff up, the opponent won't be able to avoid the combo. (Ok, so this is Brawl, which means that technically there are no true combos, so you do have to remember that nothing is guaranteed, but I am still quite confident in saying that in theory the combos should be unescapable within the parameters I set.) The starting percent signifies the earliest percentage that the true combo can be started on and the finishing percent obviously says the highest percent the opponent can be on before they can escape. "Why have you used four characters?" I hear you ask. Because percents will vary for each character. "Why do they vary?" There are a few reasons like how much space the character takes up i.e. how fat they are, but the main reasons are weight and fall speed that are different for each character. So what I've done is, using this weight and fall speed list http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=162546 I've taken a heavy character with a slower fall speed, a heavy character with a faster fall speed, a light character with a slower fall speed and a lighter character with a faster fall speed. If you can't see the necessity and genius of this plan then I'll explain how you will use these percents. If one of the four characters isn't the one that you wanted to know about, then you look up the weight and fall speed list and compare where the character you want to know about is in comparison to the other characters on the list. This will let you make a pretty accurate estimate as to what percents the combo will work on for any character. (Again, this may change in the near future as I may get around to testing every character.)
Please note that I have tested the percents with a friend (Tedeth) quite thoroughly, but the percents were tested in training mode. This means that they will not account for staling, and the percentage range represents the range that the combo is a true combo when the moves are fresh. What does this mean for you? Well it's actually good news for you. It means that the range of percentage will increase if the move is stale, so if you're a little disappointed or confused by the small range of a combo, just remember that in reality, you would be able to true combo further outside the percent range. Which really means that the percent range given is the worst possible percentage, which adds to it being guaranteed. If you are able to combo outside of the percents given and it has nothing to do with staling, then your opponent isn't trying to escape properly. Any other notes that are more combo specific will be made in the Summary of the combo.
The Characters chosen for the percents are:
Representing Heavy Characters that have a Fast fall speed, we have Bowser.
Bowser is The heaviest character but has the 8th fastest fall speed. The only other option would have been Ganondorf, but that would have sacrificed 5 spots in the weight list to gain 1 spot in the fast fall list.
Representing Heavy Characters that have a Slow fall speed, we have Samus.
She is 7th heaviest but has the 2nd slowest fall speed. If I was to get a slightly heavier character with a pretty slow fall speed then it would be Snake. He is 3rd heaviest but has the 19th slowest fall speed and so in order to properly show what difference weight and fall speed have, Samus was the obvious choice.
Representing Light Characters that have a Fast fall speed, we have oh.... It's between Fox and Squirtle.
Well let's see, Fox has The fastest fall speed, but he's the 9th lightest character. Whereas Squirtle has the 5th fastest fall speed and he's the 3rd lightest character. So as much as I'd love to use Fox, I'll have to do the right thing and use Squirtle who better represents this class of both lightest and fastest. Congratulations Squirtle?
Finally, representing Light Characters that have a Slow fall speed, we have Jigglypuff
There's no disputing this one. Jiggs is The lightest and has The slowest fall speed.
Ok then. This is how the combos will be set out:
Name of the Combo (very simple and obvious name, nothing fancy).
How to Perform:
(This is pretty simple. It will tell you the best way to perform the combo to ensure that it will be successful.)
Percents:
Bowser: starting% to finishing% (Remember, the percentages given do not account for staling.)
Samus: starting% to finishing%
Squirtle: starting% to finishing%
Jigglypuff: starting% to finishing%
Summary:
(This will go into things like how to start/finish the combo, what the opponent can do to avoid the combo/how to deal with them trying to escape and general info about the combo like how important it is to Toon's gameplay, how reliable it is, how easy it is to implement and perform in a real game. Just general info.)
One more time, here's the link to the weight/fast fall list. Use it to estimate the percents you can deal out and the range it will work up until on any character. http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=162546
The Bair Chain
How to Perform: There is no 'one way' to perform the Bair chain as it requires improvisation and depends on many factors. At lower percents, you would be doing things like SH, Double Bair (while spacing correctly), but as they start to get on higher percents, you will have to improvise by using a Full hop Bair or using your Double Jump and at all possible times taking advantage of the platforms. On top of that, once you get out of the guaranteed percent range, they can escape. So you'll have to follow their DI when they airdodge and space correctly. It depends on the character (some characters have invincibility frames at the start of their moves). One last thing; you should try to implement Hyro's way of doing the Bair Chain which is written in the move discussion under Bair, and that is to SH Bair, fast fall Bair. It's explained in more detail, but pretty much, it makes it much harder to escape at lower percents because it speeds things up.
Percents:
Bowser: 15% to 35%
Samus: 30% to 30% (At 25% she can footstool out and at 35% she can airdodge out. Samus is the broken.)
Squirtle: 15% to 25%
Jigglypuff: 10% to 20%
Summary: The Bair Chain is a necessary tool that all Toon's should be able to use effectively. So how do you set it up? One way is to D-throw an opponent at low percents, then depending on how high they get popped up, you can go straight into a Bair chain or you might have to U-tilt them then go into the Bair chain. For that matter, at low percents, even just a simple U-tilt will pop them up at the right height for a SH Bair. If you manage to Zair them really close up (maybe they dashed into it) then you can Zair to RAR (SH) Bair. Other then that, you'll need to improvise to start it, which isn't too hard. But the easiest way to start it is to hit them with a rising Bair (SH instant Bair) as it means you can just go straight into the second Bair. So how long should you continue the Bair Chain? Once the opponent is outside the percent range given, they will be able to escape which means there is a small risk involved by continuing the Bair chain. That said, you'll also want to squeeze as much damage out of it as you can. Just because they technically can escape, doesn't mean they will. My advice to you would be to continue the Bair chain as long as you can until you run out of jumps, hit them too far away, or see that they might be able to attack you before you can hit them. One thing you don't want is to rack up all that damage only to have them combo you right back, so sometimes it's best to play it safe and quit while you're ahead then continue the spam. But how do you end the Bair chain? Well, you can end it with a (double jump) U-air, a (footstool) Dair or an Up-B. All of these finishers aren't exactly guaranteed, but they can still work, especially if you manage to bait an airdodge. Summing it up; The Bair chain, when it comes down to it, is really about improvisation and good reading skills. If used correctly it can rack up stupid amounts of damage, that's why it's one of Toon's staple moves.
Zair to Nair
How to Perform: It's pretty straight forward. At lower percents, you SH, wait until you just start to fall back down, (DI towards the opponent), Zair, then as soon as you land Instantly SH and Instantly Nair. At higher percents, you will need to SH, Zair close up, Dash forwards a tiny bit then SH Instant Nair. Of course, it doesn't need to be a SH Zair, you could Zair out of anything, just as long as the Zair cancels at the same length. In order for it to consistently connect, this combo relies on the Zair hitting them anywhere between close up and mid length. If it hits them at full length, the chances of the Nair connecting are much lower and you will have to Instantly Dash forward as soon as you land before you SH Nair. This combo really relies on the SH (Nair) or Dash SH (Nair) being done as soon as you land. Once you get that right, the rest should come naturally. You will notice that at the start, I mentioned that you need to DI towards the opponent, well this isn't exactly true. If you DI towards the opponent, it will make life a whole lot easier and you are much more likely to land the combo, but, it will still combo if you DI Zair away, if and only if you Zair them at close range, they are on lower percents and if you dash towards them as soon as you land then Instantly SH Nair. So it's possible, just much harder.
Percents:
Bowser: 0% to 300% (In other words, it'll always work. Bowser does actually start to get out at 300%)
Samus: 0% to 115%
Squirtle: ...% to ...%
Jigglypuff: ...% to ...%
Summary: This true combo is legit when performed properly. It does a total of 14% when fresh and the Nair hits them away so you can resume spam. Knowing how to perform this combo is quite necessary for Toon's gameplay as it utilises Toon's two main spacing tools which helps in many matchups that require out-spacing your opponent. Keep in mind that after the Nair, you can Quickdraw to keep the pressure on and at the right percents, this can mean an Arrow Lock. Something you could try is to (SH) Zair to Full hop Instant Nair. This is much safer if shielded and if it isn't shielded it still combos like normal. Also, it means you can Full hop Nair then (Fast fall if you want, but you have to be perfect) land with a Zair to give you the option of repeating the process. Summing it up; This is definitely one of Toon's staple combos, so learn it.
Zair to Grab
How to Perform: ...
Percents:
Bowser: ...% to ...%
Samus: ...% to ...%
Squirtle: ...% to ...%
Jigglypuff: ...% to ...%
Summary: ...
The U-tilt String
How to Perform: ...
Percents:
Bowser: ...% to ...%
Samus: ...% to ...%
Squirtle: ...% to ...%
Jigglypuff: ...% to ...%
Summary: ...
This combo section will get done later. We need to move on for now.
Continued next post.
The Toon boards desperately need a guide and Sasuke and I didn't feel like doing it on our own so this'll have to be a community project. Here's the plan. You talk, I type. It's that simple. Below you will find the basics of a guide that needs to be filled in. I'd do it myself, but I don't know it all (I know, it's hard to believe right?).
Before you post. Make sure you know what you're talking about and that your post is not just spam. Make sure that you are on topic (I will tell you what we are currently discussing so don't fret).
Current discussion
Right now, we're talking about Spamming. For the spamming section, the kind of discussion I'm looking for isn't going to be a list of set spam inputs that you like to do or that is amazing or anything. These things can be worked out by themselves and aren't useful to be doing in a real game situation when you need to be able to adapt not do that last quickdraw because it's part of your spam combo. So if we can avoid this mentality then that'd be great. We're also going to avoid a description of each separate projectile. This has been done already and I'll probably just get the reader to go over what has been written previously before they read the spamming section. What I envision for the spamming section is a little more natural, a little more real in game kind of helpful discussion. There’ll be a bit of general spamming theory, but for the most part, I want a holistic look at Toon's projectiles. The spamming section follows the spacing section for a reason, so keep this in mind (I wrote a little on projectile spacing already). In short, I want feedback that is focused on the most effective way to spam and use spam. The kind of things that go through your head when you spam; what you're looking for, what you're trying to achieve. Limiting options, predictions, projectile traps, projectile combo starters, projectiles used to run, to approach. How do you use spam, not how do you spam.
PS: You'll get in the credits if we end up using your idea. This goes for everything we ask for help with.
The Triforce of Toon
mini Credits/Summary.
Index
Toon Link General Info
-Toon Link in Win Waker
-Unlocking Toon Link
-Differences between Link and Toon Link
-Toon Link in Brawl
Pros and Cons
Move analysis
-Jab
-Dash Attack
-F-tilt
-U-tilt
-D-tilt
-F-smash
-U-smash
-D-smash
-Nair
-Fair
-Bair
-Uair
-Dair
-Zair
-Neutral B: Arrows
-Side B: Boomerang
-Down B: Bombs
-Up B: Spin Attack Grounded
-Up B: Spin Attack Aerial
-Grab
-Pummel
-Down throw
-Back throw
-Forward throw
-Up throw
-Ledge Attack < 100%
-Ledge Attack > 100%
-Get up attack
Combos
_________________________
Second Post
Killing
Gimping
Edgeguarding
Spacing
Spamming
Recovering
Momentum cancelling
Recovery options
-Off stage
-On the edge
More common AT's
FAQ
Useful (Toon) Links directory
Credits
Toon Link General Info
Toon Link in Win Waker
Toon Link is the Link from Wind Waker and Phantom Hour Glass and is distinctive from the twilight princess Link because of his Toonish appearance and different moveset. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was brought out in 2003 and slowly unravels the story of how the gods flooded Hyrule creating what was to become known as the Great Sea which is scattered with little islands that were once mountain tops. At the start of the game, Link's sister Aryll is captured by a giant masked bird whom we later find out is being controlled by none other then Ganon. In an attempt to save his sister and then defeat Ganon, Link must control the wind itself with the Wind Waker, bring power back to the Master Sword and re-assemble the Triforce of Courage.
Unlocking Toon Link
Toon Link is a secret character that can be unlocked by either clearing Classic mode with Link on any difficulty, clearing the Subspace Emissary and going through the hidden door in The Forest stage, or by participating in 400 brawls.
Differences between Link and Toon Link
There are many differences between Link's and Toon Link's movesets. The Bombs are different. Other then what they look like, Toon's blast range is larger but the knockback is weaker. This can be an advantage anyway because it means we can combo easier from them. The Arrows flight path is different. Our arrows when uncharged go considerably further. The Boomerangs are different mainly because of their returning properties. Link's returning Boomerang has a pulling affect and no damage/hitstun while Toon's Boomerang actually hits on the way back like it's supposed to. There are also many other things that are different like fall speed, jumps, aerials, Dair (our Dair spikes, falls straight down quite fast and has a push effect when he lands.) U-smash, Toon is overall much faster and many other little things.
Toon Link in Brawl
In Brawl, Toon Link is a very versatile character that has the right tools to adapt to anything the opponent can throw at you. He has few bad matchups and goes pretty close to even with the majority of the cast, so he's definitely tourney viable. You should try to blend Toon's projectile game with your swordplay and try not to disuse any one of his projectiles as they all have their uses. The projectiles give you a safe approach and then you hit them hard with some swordplay combos at close range then rinse and repeat. Generally, Toon Link's will stay in the air for the majority of the match because it's easier to spam projectiles, you can use Zair and Toon's aerials are very good. That said, there are many ways you can use him and not all ways will work for specific matchups so you should learn the different styles of play so you can adjust to the right one for that particular matchup.
Pros
-Arguably the second best projectile spam game because of his 3 projectiles.
-Great at juggling and stringing moves together to rack up big percents.
-He's quite fast over all, in the air, on the ground, even his moves are fast.
-Relatively small which can help with not getting hit.
-He's a bit light and floaty which helps a lot with getting out of Chain Grabs at lower percents.
-He has a never ending list of AT's and Tricks XD. Which helps to keep things unpredictable.
-He has great spacing tools like Zair and Nair.
-Great priority on his moves because he has a sword.
Cons
-Generally bad matchups with high tiers.
-Slow Grab and no Grab game which can limit his OoS options.
-Can have some trouble killing but not nearly as much as other characters
-Some moves are quite laggy namely Dair, F-smash, Up-B on the ground and in the air and again Grab but this can be overcome by simply not using them very often.
-Can spike but it's incredibly risky. It's either you or them that'll die when you pull Dair out.
Move analysis
A list of every move, frame data on them, pictures of the hitbubbles when they're done and when to use it/general info.
All hitbubble pictures were taken from Sasuke's and TWiNK's hitbubble thread.
Video of the hitbubbles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCRQ7h0S3q4
All Frame data was taken from Rutger's awesome thread, Filling in the Sea Chart - A Toon Link Research Thread.
All moves shall be set out in the following format.
Name of the Move
Picture of the move
Short description: (of what Toon does.)
Damage when fresh:
Frame Data:
Summary: (Pretty much everything we know about it, uses, when to use it, advantages, tricks and so on.)
Jab/Jabs
First hit
Second hit
Third hit
Short description: You have a choice of hitting once, twice or three times with this move. The first and second hits, Toon will slash with his sword doing minimal knockback and damage. The third hit, Toon will stab straight forwards with his sword which gives half decent knockback and slightly more damage.
Damage when fresh: First hit, 3%. Second hit, 2%. Third hit, 5%. All up, 10%.
Frame Data:
Jab 1.
Duration into Jab 2: 8
Duration: 19
Hit: 6
Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun, Fresh: 1 ..... Stale: 0
Frame Advantage into Jab 2, Fresh: -6 ..... Stale: -7
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -12 ..... Stale: -13
Jab 2.
Duration into Jab 3: 10
Duration: 20
Hit: 6
Hitlag: 5
Block Hitlag: 5
Blockstun: 0
Frame Advantage into Jab 3: -9
Frame Advantage: -14
Jab 3.
Duration: 36
Hit: 6
Hitlag: 7
Block Hitlag: 6
Blockstun: 1
Frame Advantage: -30
Summary: All three Jabs aren't exactly guaranteed. They can be avoided with good DI and so on. They also don't exactly reliably lead into anything. But does this make them pointless? Of course not. The Jab is after all one of Toon's quickest moves, coming out on frame 6...... which is actually a bit pathetic XD. Still, it can be used to beat spotdodges or pulled out when you spaced badly and find yourself in an awkward spot. Although it isn't guaranteed as I stated previously, you can Jab Cancel and string moves together out of your first or second Jab. Things you can string together after a Jab Cancel are, Grab, Nair, Bair, Grounded Up-B, U-tilt, D-tilt, another Jab (you bet) and D-smash. The faster the move you use, the more likely you are to make it connect. That said, it would be wise to also use safe follow ups in case they avoid/shield it, so things like D-smash are not recommended. Summing it up; they're one of our fastest options, but not our best.
Dash Attack
Short description: Toon lunges forwards and slashes his opponent.
Damage when fresh: 10%
Frame Data:
Duration: 39
Hit: 9
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -28 ..... Stale: -29
Summary: Dash Attack comes out relatively quickly but the duration is long. This simply means that it can be punished easily if shielded. So does this mean you shouldn't use it? You'd be a fool not too. It all relies on where and how you use it. Generally, Dash Attack should be used near the edge on a recovering opponent, on an opponent who is getting back onto the stage from the ledge or on an opponent who is standing near the edge. This is because of the angle at which your opponent gets hit, it's sort of a semi spike (they get hit out low at a diagonally downwards angle). This can mean an easy gimp kill, edgehog or spike. If used on stage away from the edge, Dash Attack has a high tripping rate which can lead to a free follow up, tech chase and possibly a kill. Finally, Dash Attack is one of the few moves that have locking properties. A Lock is when the opponent misses a tech or is hit off a platform out of their shield (amongst many other ways to set up locks) and is then hit by a move such as Dash Attack before they can get up. At that point, they are locked. Some characters can keep the opponent in a lock and even infinite them. Unfortunately, Toon is not one of these characters. But we can still take advantage of the lock. When an opponent is locked and is not re-locked/hit before they can do anything else, they have what is called a forced get up. This simply means that they have no control over they're character simply standing up where they are. So what do we do? We can charge a smash and hit them as soon as their invincibility frames are gone and before they can shield. If timed right, it is unavoidable and could get you that kill you needed. Summing it up; it's a great move if used correctly like near the edge, just don't miss or get it shielded.
F-tilt
F-tilt 1
..........
F-tilt 2
F-tilt 3
Short description: Toon Link swings the sword forwards starting with the sword behind him, going over his head and finishing in front of him in an arch that covers him from back to front.
Damage when fresh: 9%
Frame Data:
Duration: 31
Hit: 10 to 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -18 to -16 ..... Stale: -20 to -18
Summary: F-tilt may not be Toon's best move (because it's a bit slow, so like Dash Attack, you don't want it shielded) but it has its uses and should not be ignored completely. Some people who don't know the match up very well are unaware that Toon's F-tilt hits both the front and the back of him. On top of that, it has decent range. So how should it be used? One way of using F-tilt is to hit people who hang on the edge slightly too long. You should get to know how long they have invincibility frames so you can punish them for staying there slightly too long and possibly gimp them. You can take advantage of the fact that it hits on both sides of you by using it to punish rolls behind you and cross ups (a cross up is simply when the opponent jumps from in front of you and unexpectedly lands behind you which limits your options and gives them the advantage). It can even replace D-smash as a way of making sure you punish an opponent's landing lag. So if someone is coming down near you, you move towards where they look like they're going to land and they airdodge into the ground to avoid being punished but right at the last second they drift behind you, F-tilt could be a more reliable option because it hits on both sides quicker then D-smash (especially considering the opponent will only have 2 or 4 frames of landing lag). Finally, it is a reliable follow up of Zair (along with other moves like Nair). Summing it up; F-tilt is something you will only pull out every now and then as a mix up so it doesn't get it predicted but is still a very solid move and should not be ignored.
U-tilt
U-tilt 1
U-tilt 2
Short description: Toon swings his sword in an arch, front to back, high over his head.
Damage when fresh: 9%
Frame Data:
Duration: 29
Hit: 8 to 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -18 to -14 ..... Stale: -20 to -16
Summary: U-tilt is definitely one of Toon's best moves. It hits early on both sides of Toon and it isn't very laggy so it's safer to use then most of Toon's attacks on the ground. So how should it be used? At low percents it can be used to juggle the opponent a few times and then follow up into Bairs to rack up some major damage. Don't get greedy though, if you U-tilt too many times, it won't combo into anything because the opponent will be able to airdodge, double jump or Dair out of it and you won't be able to get Bair to connect. Knowing this, we can use it to our advantage as a mix up. Instead of always going for the Bair that can be avoided, you can U-tilt then shield. If the opponent airdodges or Dair's thinking to avoid the Bair, you will be given another free U-tilt and the situation is reset. Stay unpredictable. The greatest thing about U-tilt is that it is used at lower percentages as stated and it is also used at higher percentages for the kill. U-tilt is our most reliable kill move. Not the strongest, but the most reliable. In comparison, it will usually kill the opponent 20% higher then U-smash and around the same percent as D-smash. So if you need that kill, you don't need to run in and U-smash. I mean, if you get it, well great, but most people will see that coming and you'll only get punished. Sometimes it's best to spam a bit more for that extra 20% and land a much easier/safer kill move like U-tilt. Other then that, because it hits both sides of you, it can help against people who roll behind you or cross up. Summing it up; U-tilt is one of Toon's best ground options because of how fast it is and it's also quite versatile being able to juggle at low percents and kill at high percents.
D-tilt
Short description: Toon crouches and swings his sword close to the ground at the opponent's feet.
Damage when fresh: 9%
Frame Data:
Duration: 22
Hit: 9
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -10 ..... Stale: -12
Summary: On paper, D-tilt is one of Toon's best moves. In reality, it is often forgotten and simply not used. But why? Probably because it doesn't fit into his playstyle which is more about running away. So if you wanted to use it, how should it be used? Probably the best use for it is the D-tilt lock. This is simply where you get someone up against a wall and spam D-tilt. If done right, they will be unable to escape until around 80%. D-tilt also has tripping properties at low percents so you can use D-tilt to Nair and it should connect. Perhaps another reason why D-tilt isn't used that often is because generally, it doesn't lead into anything. D-tilt is one of your safer options if shielded and can be followed up with another D-tilt to push them, in their shield, further away so you can be even safer. It has IASA frames (interruptible as soon as) which just means that before the animation of the move is over, you can interrupt it with another move (including another D-tilt). Some things you can try are Zair to D-tilt or Jab cancel to D-tilt. They are not guaranteed as they can be shielded, but as I said before, you should be ok. Summing it up; D-tilt is rarely used but that doesn't mean it is useless. Amongst other useful things like the D-tilt lock, it is one of Toon's better options as far as frame advantage goes.
F-smash
First Hit
Second Hit
Short description: There are two hits in F-smash so you have a choice of using just one or both. The first hit, Toon slashes his sword in front of him then holds the sword at his side ready for the second hit. The second hit (which can be used straight away or delayed), Toon lunges forwards, swinging the sword from his side and then stabbing it in front of him.
Damage when fresh: First hit, 10%. Second hit, 13%.
Frame Data:
First hit.
Duration: 48
Duration into Second hit: 19
Hit: 15
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -31 ..... Stale: -33
Frame Advantage into Second hit, Fresh: -14 ..... Stale: -16
Second hit.
Duration: 49
Hit: 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 20 ..... Stale: 14
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 4 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -43 ..... Stale: -42
Summary: F-smash; our strongest killing move that is never guaranteed. If you hit them with the first hit of F-smash and the opponent knows what they are doing, you can forget about making the second hit connect. Luckily, not everyone knows what they are doing or don't expect it, so there's still a chance you'll make it connect. The problem is, some characters simply avoid it without doing anything because they are light/floaty and the ones that can't avoid it automatically can DI the first hit up and double jump or whatever away. Even the heavy characters can avoid it by DI'ing the first hit down and shielding the second hit. But is it all a lost cause? Does F-smash have no use if the opponent can always avoid the second hit? Well of course not. You just need to know how to use it. You need to get inside your opponent's head and realise that they are very afraid of the second hit of F-smash (they should be). Knowing this, how can we use it to our advantage? The fun starts when the opponent shields the first hit of F-smash. Right now, they're thinking, I'd better keep my shield up just in case he uses the second hit. So you wait. You wait till you can do anything again and you;
Grab. This screws them over if they continue to hold shield.
Turn around and charge U-smash. This is epic lols if they freak out and try to roll behind you to avoid the second hit.
Jump and Fair/Nair above their head. This works if they jump to avoid the second hit.
Run away and laugh your arse off. This messes with their heads incredibly well cause now they're thinking, darn, I just missed a good opportunity to punish him.
While waiting and not using the second hit is the best option, you should use the second hit every now and then especially if they start catching on and try to shield the first hit then run in and punish you because they predicted you'd do nothing. Don't use the second hit too often, but just enough to keep them afraid and hiding behind their shield. If they shield the second hit, you're gonna be punished every time.
Another good way to use it is near the edge. If they shield the first hit close to the edge, they will be pushed off the edge and you'll be safe (even if they aren't pushed off the edge with the first hit, the second one will push them off and you'll still be safe). Although it's not guaranteed, you can even try to push them off the edge with the first hit and instantly hit them with the second hit. With most characters, the only way they can avoid it is to airdodge asap but most people don't know that.
Finally, some trivia about F-smash. The first hit has set knockback which means that at any percent, the opponent will always be hit the same distance. The second hit has a hitbox behind Toon that can come in handy and a lot of opponents don't know about it. You can F-smash while holding a bomb, if you don't know how then you can look it up in my AT and Trick thread. Summing it up; F-smash may have been poorly designed meaning that the second hit isn't guaranteed, but it can still be quite useful if you use the opponent's fear against him. Mind games son.
U-smash
U-smash 1
U-smash 2
U-smash 3
Short description: Toon swings his sword over his head from front to back in a smaller arch then U-tilt.
Damage when fresh: Front hit, 15%. Back hit, 10%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 37
Hit: 11-15
Front hit.
Hit: 11
Hitlag, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 5 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -22 ..... Stale: -24
Back hit.
Hit: 15
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -20 ..... Stale: -21
Summary: U-smash is one of Toon's best kill moves if not a bit predictable. It doesn't have a whole heap of range either and to make things worse, only the front hit is deadly. The back hit is significantly weaker killing about 60% later than the front. Sounds bad right? Well not necessarily. Even though it has small range and can be predicted then punished, if used correctly, it can still be one of your main kill moves. U-smash is great for punishing airdodges to the ground. One way of baiting these is by jumping up at them as they are falling then instead of using an aerial, bait the airdodge, follow their DI and U-smash. U-smash can also be really good for tech chasing. Most of the time, if people fail to tech and you run at them, they will roll away. Knowing this, you run at them and instead of U-smashing where they are, you continue to run, they should roll with you and then you can just U-smash them. Another way to land an U-smash is to throw out a Boomerang behind them then charge and U-smash in front of them (not right in their face, but within range for the U-smash to connect). They should shield and continue to hold shield hoping to punish you when you finally hit them, the Boomerang returns which pokes through their shield and sets them up nicely for the U-smash. As you can see, it's all quite situational. There's always hoping you'll catch them by surprise and running in to U-smash, but that falls under the predictable category so it can't be relied upon. Still, it's a good choice to kill them with if they miss a laggy attack being our second strongest move and considerably quicker then the second hit of F-smash. Just be aware that some characters don't die that easily when hit vertically. I'd tell you that you can U-smash outa shield by shielding, hitting Jump then instantly hitting the C-stick up, but the lack of range on U-smash makes this sorta pointless. Summing it up; U-smash is great if you connect with it as it can mean an early stock, but if you're having trouble hitting with it, you might want to rack up a bit more damage and finish them off with one of our other kill moves.
D-smash
Front hit
Back Hit
Short description: Toon sweeps his sword out in front of him close to the ground and then swings it along the ground to hit the other side of him.
Damage when fresh: Front hit, 6%. Back hit, 11%. All up, 17%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 49
Hit: 9-17
Front hit.
Hit: 9
Hitlag, Fresh: 7 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 7 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 2 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -38 ..... Stale: -39
Back hit.
Hit: 17
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -29 ..... Stale: -31
Summary: While D-smash may hit the fastest of Toon's smashes (hitting on frame 9), it is also the most easily punished of all our smashes. In other words, if it is shielded or avoided in any way within close proximity to your opponent, you're going to get punished. It is also the weakest of his smashes (unless you count the back hit of U-smash) killing the opponent about 25% higher then U-smash (around the same percent as U-tilt). So how should this easily punishable move be used? While it can be used for killing, it's not recommended because of the risk involved so if you use it, you'd better be sure you'll connect with it. But where D-smash truly shines is gimping. At low percents, generally under 25%, if you hit them with D-smash, they will be hit by both hits but instead of the second hit knocking them upwards, it hits them horizontally. If used in this way near the edge, it can set you up for an early kill, so how good are your gimping skills? If you are successful in gimping them, congratulations, that may have just won you the game. The downside to this method is of course that it can only be used at low percents and you still have to gimp them. There are however, two more methods that you need to know. The second one is stage dependant but it works on any percent and flings them further away then the first one. If you go to a stage that has slanted platforms near the edge of the stage like yoshi's island brawl and PictoChat, stand right on the edge of the stage facing towards the middle of the stage and D-smash your opponent. Because of the slant of the stage, the second hit won't connect and they will get flung out horizontally. Before I go on to the final and ultimate method, there's one bit of trivia you need to know about the first hit of D-smash and that is that it has set knockback. But not just any set knockback, it has the single most broken knockback of all of Toon's moves if not the game. Now if only we could harness it's potential. Well we have. Behold the brokenness of the Bomb Cancelled D-smash (BCD). The final way to gimp with D-smash has so much knockback at such a stupid angle that it kills 1/3 of the cast with a simple edgehog. The BCD works on any stage, at any percent. It even cancels out the vast majority of what makes D-smash so bad in the first place, the lag. Unfortunately, I have run out of room to go into more detail about the BCD including how to perform it so if you want to unlock the secrets of the BCD for yourself, you'll have to look it up in my AT and Trick thread. Sorry XD. Other then that, it's not a bad idea to use D-smash every now and then to aggressively stop an opponent on the edge from getting up because it covers many options including rolling on to stage. Summing it up; D-smash is a fantastic gimping tool amongst other things, just be well aware that if you miss, you'll get punished.
Nair
First hit
Second hit
Short description: In the mid air, Toon hits out in front of him then swings the sword behind him in quick succession.
Damage when fresh: 10% either hit.
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 39
Landing lag: 15
Hit front: 6
Hit back: 13
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage in air, front Fresh: -31 ..... Stale: -32
Frame Advantage in air, back Fresh: -24 ..... Stale: -25
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -14 ..... Stale: -15
Summary: Nair is a fantastic move. It comes out fast enough to 'combo' out of things like Zair and Bomb throw. A staple move of Toon's is of course the SH Zair (land which cancels the lag) SH Nair. It comes out so fast compared to other options that it can be a combo breaker. It hits on both sides of him which is great for many reasons, one being that if you are close enough to the opponent that the first hit of Nair hits the other side of them, it will combo into the second hit of Nair which racks up major damage for a singular aerial. It also has long range which means it can be used for spacing purposes. But even a move as great as Nair can be useless if you don't know how to use it. There are basically two ways. SH Nair and Full Hop Nair. With SH Nair, you want to use Nair as soon as you leave the ground to give you the options of Quickdrawing your landing if it's safe to do so or double jumping away before you touch the ground. You can even SH Nair then double jump instant Nair. With Full hop Nair, you want to make extra sure you use Nair the moment you leave the ground otherwise it won't hit grounded opponents. Full hop Nair is a much safer option and gives you more options because, simply put, you are higher up in the air and therefore have more time to do something before you land. Time to do what? Try Full hop Nair to Zair or Full hop Nair to angled Boomerang. The sky's the limit, or rather the blast zone's the limit, just be creative with it and be sure to mix things up or you'll get predictable. At lower percents, Nair has tripping properties meaning a free follow up. A bit of info you may need to know even though its character specific, Nair is essential when versing Olimar. It destroys his pikmin when they're on or off you and in general ***** him. Summing it up; Nair is a must use move. It's very versatile, very quick and if used properly, it's hard to punish.
Fair
Short description: In mid air, Toon slams the sword from below to out in front of him.
Damage when fresh: 13%
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 37
Landing lag: 18
Hit: 14
Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 4 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage in air, Fresh: -19 ..... Stale: -21
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -15 ..... Stale: -17
Summary: Although Fair comes out the slowest of all Toon's aerials, that doesn't necessarily mean it's slow. If anything, that just says a lot about how quick over all Toon's aerials come out. Fair is actually the quickest to end once the hitbox is out (not of course counting Zair) so once the hitbox is out, it's the hardest to punish in the air (not the hardest to punish when landing). So when pulling this move out, it's best if you start the move a little bit away from you're opponent so the hitbox can at least come out without you being hit in the start up frames. Fair is a great kill move and can be considered one of our best. To give you an idea of how powerful it is, it will kill around 5-10% higher then U-smash so you can consider it the third best kill move as far as power goes. Even better still, we can combo into it if we hit them with a Bomb first. You just need to be in the right position. Fair actually has less duration then Nair, this means that every now and then, as a mix up, you can SH Fair then if they're in front of you chuck out the first hit of Nair before you touch the ground or if they're behind you, chuck out a Bair before you land. Most people will not expect this and be hit by the Nair/Bair. Fair is pretty good off stage as well. If you hit them with it off stage, forget about gimping them, you just killed them. It's also great because using it off stage gives us plenty of time and space to use it early and thus avoid the start up lag. If they recover lower, run off the edge and Fair, if you miss, double jump and Nair/Fair them. Finally, Fair has decent range so it outspaces a lot of other moves. Summing it up; Fair is one of our best kill moves and it's weakness (coming out slow) can be overcome by spacing the start up frames.
Bair
Bair 1
Bair 2
Short description: In the air, Toon quickly swings the sword from below him to behind him and up a bit.
Damage when fresh: 10%
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 30
Landing lag: 10
Hit: 6
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage in air, Fresh: -22 ..... Stale: -23
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -9 ..... Stale: -10
Summary: Bair is Toon's best aerial and one off our best moves over all. Bair is very fast and totally spammable. Coming out on frame 6, Bair ties only with Nair and Jab for the fastest of Toon's moves to come out. It has the fastest duration of all Toon's aerials and (not counting Zair) it has the least amount of landing lag of all Toon's aerials having a sort of semi auto cancel. But it just keeps getting better because other then just on paper being a good move, in reality, it's an amazing move. It has great range so it's useful for spacing, it can be used twice in one SH which only gets better because of the low landing lag and it 'combos' into itself. This means that you can string multiple Bairs together to rack up immense damage at low to medium-high percents. I say 'combos' because in brawl, there are many ways to escape strings of attacks because of the lack of hitstun. But this can be to some extent overcome by speeding up your Bair chain. To do this, you have to SH Bair then fast fall Bair (Instantly rinse and repeat). One way to accomplish this is by using the analog stick and A for the first Bair then use the analog stick to fast fall while using the C-stick for the second Bair. Why? Because if you use the C-stick for the first Bair, it can buffer and simply won't come out and using the C-stick for the second Bair makes it easier to fast fall. That said, if you can manage it another way, then so be it. Other then comboing into itself, Bair can combo in and out of U-tilt, into aerial Up-B, in fact, if spaced properly and at the right percents, it can combo into footstool which means SH Bair, Footstool, Dair, Pogo, Zair to Grab/SH Nair. Bair = combo starter. Something to keep in mind; you can SH Bair Zair. You just need to use Bair asap and use airdodge + A for the Zair otherwise it'll come out as an airdodge. Bair is the aerial we use to momentum cancel. More info can be found about momentum cancelling further on in the thread. Finally, if you're desperate, Bair can kill. It'll usually kill at around 160%, so if the opponent won't die and you want a kill move that will easily hit, then don't forget about Bair. Summing it up; Bair is win. It's fast, it combos like crazy and it can even kill. Definitely one of our best, if not our best move.
Uair
Short description: In the air, Toon sticks his sword straight up and holds this pose for a short period of time.
Damage when fresh: Initial hit, 14%. Lingering hitbox, 12%.
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 59
Landing lag: 21
Hit: 11
Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 10 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 5 ..... Stale: 2
Frame Advantage in air, Fresh: -43 ..... Stale: -46
Frame Advantage landing, Fresh: -17 ..... Stale: -20
Summary: Uair is one of Toon's safest killing options. As far as priority goes, Toon's Uair is one of the best in the game, beating every Dair except maybe Lucario's. So what options do they have without Dair and how do we beat those options? Airdodge? Uair has a lingering hitbox or a 'sexkick' if you will, which just means that as long as Toon holds the sword up, it deals knockback and damage. So if they try to airdodge through it and you follow their DI, you'll still hit them. It should be mentioned that they can airdodge through you if you use Uair while rising, so you should try to time your jumps so you can fall with them. They could mix up the direction they fall in, hoping that you'll go the wrong way, but we have Bombs to limit their options. Simply by throwing a Bomb up at them, it means they have to avoid it or try to catch it which isn't exactly easy. So we can direct them where to go, bait an airdodge and limit their options until they are literally forced into the Uair for fear of the Bomb. If they get hit by the Bomb, sweet, extra damage and a chance to get a free Uair or the situation is reset. What can I say; Bombs and Uair go hand in hand. To make things even better, Uair kills at good percents. The initial hit kills at around 125-130% and the lingering hitbox kills at around 140-145%. This is only accentuated if used as high up as possible; a good example of this is when we kill Snake up the top of the screen after his high recovery. So because of kill power and priority, Uair is one of the main reasons why we want them in the air. Bair can actually combo into Uair if they DI it wrong and even if they manage to airdodge, Uair > airdodge. A little bit of trivia; Uair can auto cancel if you use it just before you touch the ground. Sounds useful right? Well not really, you see, there isn't any hitbox or anything except a flash of light. So if you want to laglessly pick up items when you land in a flash of light, well I won't stop you XD. Summing it up; Uair is a very safe way to get the kill and when you combine it with bombs it becomes a very reliable way to get the kill. So keep it in mind.
Dair
Dair 1
Dair 2
The hitbubbles on the sides are wind hitboxes.
Short description: In the air, Toon bobs up, grabs his sword in both hands, sticks it down below him and plummets downwards at blistering speeds.
Damage when fresh: Spike (initial) hitbox, 16%. Lingering hitbox, 13%. Damage after pogo, 8%.
Frame Data:
Landing lag: 40
Hit: 12
Hitlag, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 7
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 7
Blockstun, Fresh: 5 ..... Stale: 2
Summary: Dair is all about high risk and high reward. If you miss it, it can cost you a stock or at least a lot of damage because even if it's missed on stage, Dair has a tone of landing lag. If you don't miss, it's Toon's most damaging aerial and usually puts you in an advantageous position. To make it far more likely that you'll make Dair connect, you can footstool the opponent and then instantly Dair. An example of this is stuff like Bair footstool Dair. When you hit with Dair, Toon pogos but still keeps the sword out. At this point, the hitbox is still there, you are free to move left or right, you fall much slower and you can even fast fall the pogo. If you hit them again once you've pogo'd, you will pogo again which is the same as the last pogo, at which point the Dair will soon stop and you are free to do as you will. But, if you fast fall the pogo, Toon won't pogo when he hits them again. If you fast fall from the right distance, you can hit them again, continue to fall and it will auto cancel on the ground. This is because the Dair animation has stopped just before you touched the ground. This can be very useful because it means that you can do things like Dair, fast fall pogo to U-tilt. Off stage, spiking with Toon, while sexy, is very risky. If you miss them, then you can say goodbye to your stock. Fortunately, there are a few ways to make spiking off stage much safer. But before we go into that, you need to know about momentum affected Dairs. If you get hit by anything with enough force to give you decent momentum even after hitstun in any direction and you use Dair asap, Toon will do a momentum affected Dair. He won't bob up at the start, he won't fall extremely quickly. He will slowly fall straight down for the same amount of time as a normal Dair. If you hit someone when doing a momentum affected Dair, the spike will still spike but Toon won't pogo, ever. He will just slowly fall the Dair until he can move again. If instead of just hitting Dair when you have momentum, you hit double Jump then Instantly hit Dair, you will do a Dair stall. This is where Toon rises up the same distance as double jump in his Dair animation and will stay on that horizontal level for as long as the Dair lasts. If you double jump left or right, Toon will hover left or right in his Dair animation. This can be used to momentum cancel and recover from offstage. You will read more about this in the recovery section. So now that you know about momentum affected Dairs, you can learn about the safe spike. I have no room to write about the safe spike XD so you'll have to look it up in my AT and Trick thread. In fact I don't have enough room to write about any more of the many techs you can do with Dair, so you know where to go if you want more info.
Now, Dair is also relatively safe on shield cause if you want, you can pogo off their shield and DI away. You can try to Spike your opponent through the stage if used on the edge of the stage or on certain levels because Toon's sword will reach through. Toon's landing animation has windboxes as seen above. They aren't terribly powerful but they can be used to push enemies and items away including Z-dropped bombs. Other then the obvious, you can use the stall of the part when Toon bobs up at the start of Dair to throw your opponents off just when you're about to land because it can mess them up if they try to punish your landing lag. Summing it up; again, it's high risk high reward. If you're smart about it and unpredictable when using it, Dair can be your best friend. Just don't miss.
Zair/Tether
Short description of Zair: In the air, Toon shoots out his hookshot and then pulls it back. You can laglessly cancel out the Zair by simply landing so you don't need to worry about Toon retracting the hookshot.
Damage when fresh: Always 4%, it never stales.
Frame Data:
Duration in air: 70
Landing lag - cancels into normal landing lag, i.e. 2 or 4
Hit: 11
Hitlag: 6
Block Hitlag: 6
Blockstun: 1
Frame Advantage landing: -1
Summary: Zair is one of our main spacing moves and it's also one of (if not) our best combo starters. Some quick notes just in case you didn't read/understand the above; Zair will always do 4% damage and it autocancels when you land so if you land with it, you'll only get the normal landing lag frames (4 if you fast falled otherwise it's the normal 2 frames of landing lag). When using it, you want to make sure you get the full length of Zair and then instantly land to cancel it, so if you haven't already, quickly mess around with the timing so you know what the timing is. One way to use it is to SH and Zair at around the peak of your jump just as Toon's head starts moving back down. This is the best way to use it when starting on the ground. Other ways are, SH airdodge then at the peak of your jump, cancel the airdodge with Zair. This way is quite telegraphed but is quite useful when avoiding projectiles/some attacks and approaching at the same time. It's not just limited to these of course. Anytime you have enough time to pull it out and you're about to land (this could be from full or double jumps, it doesn't matter though, you're just in the air ok? Maybe you got hit up there or something.) retreating Zair is a pretty safe way of getting down without getting punished. I should probably add at this point that preferably, you want to be hitting them/their shield with the tip of Zair as it's better for spacing and less punishable. So now you have a rough idea of how to use/space it, but what about combos? There are of course no 'true combos', only strings of attacks, but we'll just ignore reality for a second. Zair to Nair is a true combo! (it may as well be). It's one of Toon's staple combos but there's no harm in mixing it up if things get predictable. How about Zair to Grab? Hellz yes. Just don't over use it and you can pretty much guarantee that you'll get that grab. Zair to Jab. If you're close enough, this is about as guaranteed if not more so then Zair to Nair cause they both come out on frame 6. If you're having trouble with spotdodgers, chuck in a Zair to grounded Up-B. How about Zair to Bomb throw? Oh yeah, I didn't explain that part yet. Pretty much, you can Tether or Zair while holding a Bomb if you airdodge first. It doesn't even have to be an airdodge for very long, you can just hit airdodge then Instantly hit Zair/Tether. Less guaranteed stuff includes Zair to F-tilt and Zair to Hyphen smash (hyphen smash is just running U-smash, this one is best used for the kill). Something you will need to know; if you use a move and then try to Zair Instantly after, it will come out as an airdodge. So how do we avoid this? Simple. Just hit airdodge then Instantly hit Zair whenever you think it'll buffer an airdodge. You'll get the hang of it. Summing it up; Zair is one of those moves that you simply can't ignore. It's one of Toon's best spacing and comboing moves.
Short description of Tether: Off stage near the edge, Toon shoots out his hookshot and it goes straight towards the edge wherever you are and latches on. Then Toon retracts the hookshot which pulls him up towards the edge.
Summary: The Tether could easily have its own section apart from Zair, but because of a lack of effort on my part XD, this is how it is. The Tether is of course just a Zair off stage and close enough to the edge after all. The Tether recovery is a great little option we have. It's three main uses are recovering on to the edge, recovering on to the stage and edgehogging. But before we go into that, I'll just explain some stuff you gotta know. You can only Tether three times without your feet touching solid ground. If you try to Tether a fourth time without getting on stage, the Tether will refuse to grab the edge, then by the time you've waited for it to retract, you'll need to recover straight away or you might not make it/get edgehogged. So keeping an eye on how many times you've used it is essential. Really basic stuff; You Tether, at this point Toon will hang down by the chain, if you hit Z again, Toon will quickly snap on to the edge, if you don't, Toon will hang there for a while then automatically retract the Tether. Generally speaking, you will want to get to the edge asap as you are vulnerable just hanging there, so when you Tether, Hit Z twice quickly. You can Chain Cancel by hitting down after you hit Tether once. This is just where Toon drops down out of the hanging by the chain part of Tether. If you tilt down, Toon will drop off and fall at the normal pace and if you Hit Down, Toon will drop off and fast fall. It's best if you have your double jump if you chain cancel from below the edge as it makes things much easier/safer. If you chain cancel directly above the edge, Toon will drop and grab the edge automatically. You can of course Tether while holding a Bomb by simply airdodging then Hitting Tether. There's more to it, but I'll get to that within the next few sections. So, the three main uses.
Recovering on to the edge, pretty much, if you're close enough to the edge to Tether but too far away to just drift towards stage and grab the edge, you may as well use it other wise you'll have to wait till Toon is below the stage and use Up-B. That said, if the opponent edgehogs and you try to Tether, it will come out as a Zair (say hello to 70 frames of lag). Even if you actually Tether the edge, the opponent can hit you out of the tether before you snap onto the edge because you won't have invincibility frames. This can lead to you getting gimped/stage spiked. So by all means, use it, just don't be predictable with it (like everything else).
Recovering on to stage. Other then a quick fake out that can bait a reaction from the opponent, the Tether renews your invincibility frames. When you grab the edge normally (let's say with an Up-B), you will be given invincibility frames but you will not be able to hit away from the edge and double jump back on stage for a little bit. When you Tether grab the edge, you will be given slightly less invincibility frames but you'll be able to hit away from the edge straight away. So as far as renewing your invincibility frames, you'll have around the same amount to double jump on stage with whether you Tether or not.
Edgehogging is a great way to take advantage of the Tether. Because it renews your invincibility frames, you can use it to stay invincible when the opponent is recovering and potentially gimp them. You can read more about edgeguarding and gimping later on in this thread, but the Tether is an essential tool in edgehogging.
Summing it up; The Tether is something you'll need to learn how to use properly as it gives you more options when near the edge which is a great advantage against most of the cast.
Neutral B: Arrows
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon pulls out his bow an arrow (from seemingly no where) and shoots the arrow.
Damage when fresh: 4% uncharged. 12% fully charged.
Frame Data:
Duration: 41
Quick Draw Duration: 25
Hit (soonest possible): 18
Quick Draw Hit (soonest possible): 2
Hitlag: N/A
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun, Fresh: 1 ..... Stale: 0
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -16 ..... Stale: -18
Summary: Toon's arrows, while not the best projectile by themselves, are an important part of Toon's over all playstyle/spam. They have a set flight path, they move slowly and they can be seen coming/predicted even before the arrow comes out (because if they're used in the air it has startup lag and it can be predicted whenever you land, i.e. the quickdraw). All of this adds up to being easily powershielded. Good thing then that we have more then just the arrows. But before we go into that, you've gotta know the basics like the quickdraw. The Quickdraw is a simple technique that cuts out all the startup lag of the shot. It is done by Hitting the B button just before you land. So if you've got a bit of time before you land, you can quickdraw. Examples? Try SH Nair/Fair/Bair/Arrow/Bomb pull/Bomb throw to quickdraw. The SH Arrow to quickdraw is called a SHDA which simply means, short hop double arrow. This is a useful technique to get a simple and quick wall of projectiles out. It's useful for when certain characters like Falco/Fox are recovering, for outcamping certain characters like Snake or when a returning boomerang is coming back to hit them, but generally it's best used for extra projectile pressure as a mixup. Two more basic techniques are the B-reversal and the Wavebounce. The B-reversal is done by lightly tilting Backwards in the air and Hitting B or by Hitting Backwards in the air (returning the joystick to neutral) waiting half a second then hitting B. What this does is, it lets you continue to drift in the same direction as you were and simply turns Toon Link around to shoot. This can be pretty useful if you want to space the arrow. The Wavebounce is a lot different. To do a wavebounce, you need to Hit B then Instantly Hit Backwards. What this will do is it will reverse Toon's momentum and turn him around to shoot. Because of the unpredictability of reversing your momentum, the wavebounce can be used when getting back down on to stage from up in the air to throw people off or when you're about to land as a reverse quickdraw. These are the three main basic arrow techs, the quickdraw, the b-reversal and the wavebounce. Different combinations of these result in strange and crazy techs like the jerk, but as that stuff isn't exactly necessary to know let alone basic, if you want to look into that stuff yourself, you'll have to look it up in my AT and Trick thread. I cannot stress enough though, learn the basics first or you'll get confused. Summing it up; the arrows need to be used with other things like occasionally quickdrawing aerials or mixed in with your other projectiles in order to be useful. By themselves or if over used, they are easily powershielded and you can/will get punished.
Side B: Boomerang
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon whips out his Boomerang from his bag of tricks and throws it out in a straight line that can be directed up or down........ then it comes back.
Damage when fresh: The damage of the Boomerang is sort of strange. Essentially, even though it looks like it hit them once, it hits them twice. You throw it at them, they take a direct hit, they get damage from the boomerang coming forwards and instantly take damage from the boomerang going back even though it doesn't look like they should be getting hit by the returning boomerang.
Returning Boomerang, 3%.
Damage up close; First hit, 8%. Second hit, 3%. All up, 11%.
Damage from further away; First hit, 5%. Second hit, 3%. All up, 8%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 45
Hit (soonest possible): 27
Catch Lag: 19
Hitlag: N/A
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 0 ..... Stale: 0
Blockstun, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -10 ..... Stale: -12
Summary: The Boomerang can be considered Toon's second best projectile, but no projectile is as good as it can be without the help of the other two. But before you go and just throw it out there, you're gonna wanna know some basic Boomerang facts, stuff that every self respecting Toon should know. So you throw it, but wait, before you even do that, there's stuff you need to know. You can smash or tilt throw the Boomerang. This is done the same way as a smash attack or a tilt, only with the Boomerang. What it does is it affects the speed and distance that the Boomerang travels (so a smash thrown boomerang goes further). Which one should you use? That depends of course. What you might think is that you should obviously always use a smash thrown one cause it's better. This is incorrect however, because there are many times that a tilt thrown Boomerang can prove to be much more useful. So now that you know that, you can throw out the Boomerang right? Not yet XD. You see, there's more to it then just that. The Boomerang can be angled in different directions other then straight forwards. In fact, just throwing it left, there are 7 different angles that you can throw it in. If you're not sure that you know how to get all 7 angles, read the 'In-between Angles' in my AT and Trick thread. Now that you know all that, you may throw it out. As you would expect, it can hit them on the way back as well, but what you may not know is that the returning Boomerang has a set knockback. This just means that at any percent, they will always get hit the same distance. Well, it comes back, what then? If you do nothing, walk/run or in some cases jump, Toon will catch it (I say in some cases because you can also jump over it which will make the Boomerang go past you). Toon catching it is a bad thing. That's not to say that you should always avoid the returning Boomerang, I'm talking about the animation of Toon catching it. That animation is unnecessary lag in which you can do nothing and can get punished. So how do we avoid this unnecessary lag? Simple. By doing anything other then standing, walking/running and in some cases jumping and doing nothing. This isn't hard because there are many other things you can do, but you'd be surprised at how easy it can sometimes be to accidently catch the Boomerang. As long as you keep this in mind, the Boomerang is your friend. If you don't already know about the Phantom Boomerang, Boomerang Gliding, wavebounced/sms Boomerang, check it out in my AT and Trick thread. Something to keep in mind; sometimes it's a good idea to throw the Boomerang where your opponent isn't, for example, throwing it above them and predicting that they'll jump into it. Finally, returning Boomerang is win cause it sets up epic combos. More then that, you can Zair them into the returning Boomerang and then combo them out of that. Summing it up; the Boomerang is a versatile projectile. It has its uses going out and coming back, it can be aimed in many different directions for greater accuracy and less predictability, it can be smashed or tilt thrown, the returning Boomerang can take many different paths depending on how it was thrown and where you are, not to mention the different techs that can be done. But even a versatile tool like the Boomerang can be predictable if used incorrectly, so keep this in mind.
Down B: Bombs
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon pulls out a Bomb from behind his back, supposedly from a Bomb bag that contains an infinite amount of bombs and yet takes up no space, and then he can do many things with it including throw it at the opponent.
Damage when fresh: Anywhere between 8 and 2% depending on a few things. Detailed picture by Rutger here.
Frame Data:
Bomb pull Duration: 39
Throw Duration: 20
Hit(soonest when thrown): 8
Hitlag: N/A
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun, Fresh: 2 ..... Stale: 1
Summary: The Bombs are our best projectile and in most matchups, Toon's best friend. Before we go on, there are some simple facts you need to know about Bombs. Toon can only have 2 bombs out at any one time. This generally isn't an issue even if an opponent catches one because of the timed explosion of the Bomb, but it's good to keep this in mind so you don't needlessly bomb pull and find that the lag of the animation was for nothing. Oh yeah, there's a timed explosion. So when you see the Bomb start to flash, just get rid of it or use it to your advantage by standing near them and shielding. While it does give you heaps of options as you will read further on, holding a Bomb does take a few options away. While holding a Bomb, you can't Grab or use any grounded A attacks other then F-smash (hold A while Bomb pulling or doing any other action so you won't throw the Bomb then hit the C-stick sideways) Dash attack (but you can pick the Bomb up or catch it with Dash attack) and U-smash (but you have to cancel dash attack with U-smash from a dash attack which picked up or caught the Bomb). The Bomb has a tone of priority and hitstun, a large blast radius, it pressures people who shield it, it has combo ability in and out of the Bomb's explosion, not to mention that it is easily one of the most versatile projectiles in the game. You pull out a Bomb and instantly you are given a vast amount of options.
These options are, but not limited to;
Throwing the Bomb in any direction (Up, down, left or right), hard throw or soft throw, in the air or on the ground including the JC throw.
Z-dropping the Bomb on the ground/platforms or simply Z-dropping the Bomb in mid air.
Invincibombing (iBomb) which could have its own section entirely as it is incredibly versatile and useful just in itself.
Other things while holding a Bomb, so stuff like Aerials (ZAC or IZAC), F-smash, Zair/tether and of course other specials.
Bomb fake outs in the air and on the ground and finally, being able to hurt yourself has its benefits. For example, the Bomb can save you a stock by getting you out of chaingrabs and giving you back your already used Up-B recovery or it can be used to make moves better like Dair (the safe spike) and D-smash (BCD).
The large blast radius is big enough to hit opponents through the stage and can hit them back up into the stage and stage spike them. This is known as the Bomb Spike. The high priority of the Bomb means that it can go through other projectiles and opponent's attacks. It sets up and continues combos which can be extremely helpful when you're looking for that kill. Bombs limit opponent's options and can force responses from them that you can predict and punish. Being able to control your opponent, whether it be forcing them to approach, forcing them to avoid the Bomb or simply making them sit in their shield is quite helpful. The Bombs are an important part of Toon's spam game, serving a slightly different purpose to the Arrows and Boomerang. The Arrows and Boomerang can be powershielded and that's all they have to worry about, but the Bombs stick around once shielded which keeps the pressure on. The main difference is that the Bombs don't rely on the other projectiles to be an effective spam game. They can do fine just by themselves. That said, the overall spam game is significantly better when you use all three projectiles smartly. A quick mention about the iBomb, because you air dodge and drop a bomb at the same time, the iBomb acts like a counter in some regards. You dodge their attack and they get a Bomb to the face. The difference is, we can combo out of it (if used close to the ground). Being able to combo out of a counter attack sounds really good, that's cause it is. Try using it whenever you predict a MK will shuttle loop you in mid air. But that's just using it defensively. It can of course be used offensively which has pretty much the same effect except, without them attacking you, it can be hard to hit with because it doesn't have very much range. What also sets it apart from other counters is that you can cancel the airdodge with a Zair which can be used if you miss them while using it offensively or to combo with once the Bomb hits them. (For further info on any of the techs, go to my AT and Trick thread.) Summing it up; Toon's Bombs are an essential part of his playstyle making it easier for Toon to safely go from his spam game to close combat swordplay and making his spam game so much better and more versatile.
Up B: Spin Attack Grounded
Initial hits 1
Initial hits 2
Last hit
Short description: Toon holds the sword out and spins around really fast on the spot doing his signature spin attack.
Damage when fresh: All but the last hit, 1%. Last hit, 3%. All up if hit from the start of the attack, depending on DI, between 10 and 12%.
Frame Data:
Duration: 82
First Hit: 11
Last Hit: 53
Hitlag for last hit, Fresh: 11 ..... Stale: 10
Block Hitlag for last hit, Fresh: 6 ..... Stale: 5
Blockstun for last hit, Fresh: 1 ..... Stale: 0
Frame Advantage for last hit, Fresh: -33 ..... Stale: -34
Summary: The grounded spin attack is one of those moves that you should only pull out once in a blue moon. That said, it shouldn't be ignored completely or forgotten about, it can be a good move, it's just really bad when it's expected. So before I go into how to use it and when to use it, you need to know why you shouldn't use it all the time. Basically, it's bad if you miss because they can just wait for it to end and punish you easily (or punish you from above/below or outrange you while you're still doing the attack), it's bad if it's shielded for the same reason that it's bad if you miss (although sometimes because it's used very rarely, they can be caught off guard and accidently drop their shield. Don't rely on this though XD.), it's even bad if you hit them with it if they are expecting it because it can be DI'd/SDI'd out of. So you get the point. Use it sparingly. Now that you know all that, how and when should it be used? Because of the multi-hitting properties of the spin attack, it's great for punishing invincibility frames. So things like spot dodges, rolls and airdodging into the ground, the grounded spin attack has got them covered no worries. It's also good to keep in mind that it hits on both sides of Toon, so if an opponent gets behind you, it's an option. The grounded spin attack can actually be charged like a smash attack. Why you would want to do this is beyond me. It does extra damage (Fully charged, between 16 and 19%), but for a move that wants to be a surprise, telegraphing it is probably not a good idea XD. The grounded spin attack also has some interesting techs when used off the edge of a platform/the edge. To find more information on how to perform them, go to my AT and Trick thread, but pretty much, it can be used to make the aerial spin attack fall instead of rise facing either direction and it can also make you drop off the edge with a flash of light and with greater control of your character facing either direction. While dropping off a platform backwards sounds interesting, you don't want to mess any of these techs up as you'll be stuck with the grounded or aerial spin attack lag. Finally, a little bit of trivia; the first hit of the grounded spin attack behind Toon can hit characters hanging on the edge of the stage and sort of has a soft semi spike effect. Summing it up; the grounded spin attack should only be used very rarely as a mix up. It's helpful for punishing any invincibility frames.
Up B: Spin Attack Aerial
First hits
Last hit
Short description: In the air, Toon will spin around holding his sword out at an angle facing upwards and the helicopter affect will make him rise quite high.
Damage when fresh: All but last hit, 2%. Last hit, 4%.
Frame Data: ......
......
Summary: There are two ways to use the Aerial Up-B, for recovering and for attacking. As a recovery move it's pretty average. It makes Toon rise quite high up and can be DI'd to the left or right. It has great sweet spot range so you don't need to aim it perfectly. It has a delayed last hit so if someone tries to edgehog you and you start the recovery from just the right distance so that the last hit will hit them on the edge, they can run out of invincibility frames just in time to get stage spiked by the last hit while you safely snap on to the edge. But there are of course some downsides. It can in fact be edgehogged if timed right. It leaves Toon sort of vulnerable on top as you can see in the picture, so many characters can spike him out of his recovery. While it can be angled, it still has a pretty obvious/predictable flight path. It won't auto snap the edge during the first bit of the Aerial Up-B (just Tether or delay the Up-B if you're that close). You need to make sure that you don't reverse the Up-B when recovering as it leaves you completely vulnerable to getting edgehogged. If you are aware of its flaws, it should serve you well. Now, the aggressive Aerial Up-B used for attacking/killing. This is a very risky move. If you miss for any reason, you can get punished pretty easily. This is because after the long attack animation that makes Toon rise (presumably while the opponent is falling if they airdodged it), the only thing you can control is what direction you drift down in. You can't attack or do anything else other than drift in one way or another trying to trick your opponent into missing you. Even if you cross up and land on their opposite side, you have the terrible landing lag to deal with. But wait there's more. Even if you actually hit the opponent in mid air, it can be DI'd out of. It generally doesn't happen, but be aware of that. So now that you know the risks, this is how it can be used. If you're starting to think that it's too risky so why even bother, then the good news is that Bair true combos into it. This makes things a bit more reliable as we really don't want to miss it. It can also be reliable for punishing airdodges. "But why use it anyway?" I hear you ask. Because it's sexy and because it can kill (obviously). This is not so much because of kill power but because it puts them so much closer to the blast zone. But if you don't feel comfortable taking the risk outside of friendly matches, then by all means, don't. It's just one of those things you need to know are going to hit which just comes with experience. If you are able to implement it into your game without too much downside, then you win. Summing it up; Aerial Up-B as a recovery move does it's job well as long as you can avoid it's weaknesses and as an attacking move, if you know it'll connect, why not use it? If you're not positive that it'll connect, it's probably not worth the risk.
Grab
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon shoots out his hookshot that will latch onto the enemy and then he retracts it to pull them in.
Damage when fresh: Well nothing yet......
Frame Data:
Standing Grab
Duration if you miss: 84
Soonest: 12
Latest: 16
Pivot Grab
Duration if you miss: 94
Soonest: 15
Latest: 19
Dash Grab
Duration if you miss: 94
Soonest: 14
Latest: 18
Summary: The Grab isn't one of Toon's best moves as far as speed and lag go but it is an absolutely essential part of Toon's playstyle. Why? Simply because without it, the opponent could just sit in their shield. It's the old scissors paper rock situation. It is a necessary mix up. We are essentially forced to use it to stay unpredictable, so we may as well make the most of it while we're at it. It does however have pretty decent range compared to most of our attacks which is useful in some situations that I'll go into. Need I remind you that you really don't want to miss this move? As you can see, it has a whopping 84 or 94 frames of duration. You can actually take advantage of knowing that a standing grab is better frame wise than a dash grab by doing running shield grabs instead of dash grabs. With all this in mind, you're gonna wanna know when you can safely get away with the grab and keep the opponent guessing. Zair to Grab is a legit true combo if you do it properly. You just want to be careful that they aren't too far away when you go for the grab as they may be able to spotdodge it. If you predict that they'll try to spot dodge it, you simply Zair to Pivot Grab. In fact that goes for any time you predict a spotdodge, you can just run past them and pivot grab. It's great for punishing landings, such as airdodges into the ground. Just be aware that the opponent can buffer a spot dodge or roll as soon as they land which can make it risky. Obviously because of it's range, it's great for punishing laggy moves that you shield even if you get shield pushed away. A great example of this is MK's D-smash. If you're quick enough, you can punish him every time. Other then that, you can risk a Jab to Grab but it's in no way unescapable and finally it's obviously safe to punish laggy attacks, but you might want to punish with something else for more damage or a kill in that situation. Unfortunately, once you get the grab, Toon doesn't really have too much going for him as you will read in the throws further down. Summing it up; the Grab is something that we have to use and we can't do without whether we like it or not. Good predictions and punishes will serve you well to ensure you can safely get away with the grab.
Pummel
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon hits the opponent in the face with the hilt of his sword.
Damage when fresh: 2%
Frame Data:
Duration: 15
Hit: 9
Summary: The pummel is often overlooked as an option once you get a grab. Sure it only does 2%, but every little bit counts. At low percents, you're probably better off not using any pummels and if you do, make sure it's only one because at lower percents, the opponent can break out of grabs much quicker. Medium percents, feel free to use 2 to 3 if you want and at higher percents you can afford to use more still. If you're pummelling for damage, the worst thing that can happen is they break out before you can throw them, so don't get greedy. One thing to note is that the pummel can force a ground release. This is only really helpful when you're on teams and there's only one opponent left. You can pummel them to death by forcing grab releases back and forth. So why shouldn't you pummel? Don't pummel if hoping to air release a Wario or MK to U-smash. Just note that it's not up to you whether or not they get air released because Toon isn't tall enough to force an air release on anyone. They will only get air released if they are stupid or unfortunate enough to hit Jump while mashing. Don't pummel if you grab a Snake out of his Cypher off the edge of the stage if his C4 is still on stage. Don't pummel if you're trying to catch them by surprise by doing a quick throw and follow up before they realise what happened (B-throw is best for this). This is because when you pummel, the game stops and they are given time to think. And finally, don't pummel if you accidently grab your team mate XD.
Summing it up; while your immediate thought might be, "The pummel gives extra damage, so why not?" as you can see, there are a few situations where it's best not to pummel. Having said that, never forget that it's an option for extra damage. We have to make the most of our grabs and pummelling is one way to achieve just that.
Down throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon slams them on the ground by falling onto them on his back kinda like a wrestling move.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 46
Hit: 21
Note about all throws: Toon's throw game isn't anything to brag about, so usually it doesn't really matter which throw you use. The one thing you wanna keep in mind is to mix up your throws for maximum damage. They all do the same damage (7%) so if you use one throw, use another next time so that way your throws will never stale. Usually, depending on where you got the grab, you'll be in a situation where one throw might prove a better option then the others just because of the certain situation you're in. Other then that, it won't matter which throw you use as they are all not that great.
Summary: D-throw is a decent option out of the four throws. It puts them in a position just above you where you think you can combo them out of it. Due to lack of hitstun however, this usually won't happen. But the mere fact that it looks like it's going to combo is quite useful as some opponents will airdodge to avoid a follow up. Knowing this, you can punish the airdodge with a charged smash, a re-grab, a delayed aerial or anything really. Smarter opponents however, will not airdodge. They will double jump away and if they're really smart, they'll double jump away with an aerial. This too can be punished but it's a lot harder. Depending on the opponent, you just need to Full hop/double jump towards them and aerial them without getting hit yourself. It's do-able, but nothing's guaranteed. One last thing about D-throw. At super low percents, you can D-throw to turn around re-grab. Just the once though as you'd be pushing it if you tried again. Summing it up; D-throw isn't the best throw, but it's not the worst either. All the throws can come in handy in certain situations, so it's good to know what situations they are.
Back throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon rolls onto his back dragging them with him and kicks them over his head in one swift motion Judo style.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 38
Hit: 10
Summary: Possibly our best throw just because of the angle that the opponent gets thrown in and because of how quick it is. B-throw is of course our quickest throw as you can see by looking at the frame data and it's because of this that you can sometimes catch your opponent off guard if you quickly B-throw and follow up with a Nair or if they don't tech it, you run towards them, they will most likely roll backwards so you continue running and punish them when they are coming out of their roll. The angle that they get thrown in is great when you've got your back to the edge as it throws them slightly downwards which can set up for a gimp. This doesn't mean that you should always go out for a gimp as they will see this coming. If they start catching on, they will double jump towards stage and Bair you when you try to come out. If this happens, you can just stay on stage, shield the Bair and punish accordingly. Summing it up; B-throw is our quickest throw and it sends the opponent at a low angle which can be followed up.
Forward throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon barges into them with his shoulder.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 40
Hit: 12
Summary: Possibly our worst throw. You can think of it as a worse version of B-throw. The only thing it has going for it is it throws the opponent forwards, this can come in handy depending on the situation. There aren't really any follow ups, mind games or anything, but if you want to throw the opponent forwards off stage or forwards into a stage hazard, it will do the job just fine. The only unique thing it has going for it is the Faux Super Slide which sounds cool but is extremely situational. If you want to find out about it, look it up in the Bombs section of my AT and Trick thread. Summing it up; F-throw doesn't have much going for it, so unless you want to throw them forwards depending on the situation, you could probably do without it.
Up throw
Picture of the move
Short description: (Toon grabs someone then...) Toon tosses them just above his head then slashes them in a whirling motion.
Damage when fresh: 7%
Frame Data:
Duration: 49
Hit: 27
Summary: U-throw is our slowest throw in all regards. It sends them upwards as you might guess, which is a great position to put the opponent in depending on who the opponent is. What can I say, some characters suck when they're in the air. You can throw characters into Bombs, stage hazards and at really high percents (I'm talking around 200% here) it will kill. On stages with platforms, U-throw is useful for throwing the opponent up onto them from below and following up. Time for some trivia; while I said that all throws do the exact same damage, this isn't exactly correct. If there are more than two characters playing (like in doubles or even verses IC's) U-throw does the most damage to the third person. So if you grab someone, and then before or while you're throwing them, someone else comes in, U-throw does slightly more damage to that third person. Not only that, but the hitbox hitting the third person is pretty large compared to the hitbox of the other throws and the angle that they get hit in is ridiculous so that if the third person is at medium to higher percents, they can get gimped. This is all very nice and all, but because it's the slowest throw, it's basically not going to come in handy. Summing it up; U-throw is good simply because it throws the opponent upwards which is a bad position for some characters and can lead to follow ups.
Ledge Attack < 100%
1
2
Short description: Toon gets up from the edge while swinging his sword in an arch over his head to the front kinda like F-tilt.
Damage when fresh: 8%
Frame Data:
Duration: 55
Invincibility: ........
Hit: 27
Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 2 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -26 ..... Stale: -27
Summary: The Ledge attack under 100% is faster than the over 100% ledge attack but is easier to punish if missed or shielded as can be easily seen when comparing the frame data. With that in mind, this would be best used as a surprise attack. It's quicker so there's less time to react but you don't want to over do it or you'll get punished. When you're on the edge, you'll usually have better options but it won't hurt to keep this one in mind (for a better idea of what your options are, go to the 'recovery options when your on the edge' section that can be found further down). While I don't have the exact frame data for the invincibility frames yet, I have been told that it doesn't cover our attack. Summing it up; The Ledge attack under 100% is better as a random option to surprise your opponent.
Ledge Attack > 100%
Picture of the move
Short description: Toon gets up from the edge and stabs his sword out in front of him.
Damage when fresh: 10%
Frame Data:
Duration: 70
Invincibility: .........
Hit: 51
Hitlag, Fresh: 9 ..... Stale: 6
Block Hitlag, Fresh: 8 ..... Stale: 6
Blockstun, Fresh: 3 ..... Stale: 1
Frame Advantage, Fresh: -17 ..... Stale: -18
Summary: While the Ledge attack over 100% is slower than the under 100% ledge attack, it is safer in some ways. For example, it is safer on shield and, while I don't have the exact frame data for the invincibility frames yet, I'm pretty confident that it has more invincibility frames. As I said in the other Ledge attack, if you want a better idea of what your options are when you're on the edge, head down to the recovering section. Summing it up; The Ledge attack over 100% is a pretty decent option but probably not the best as it has a lot of start up time and so it can be seen coming.
Get Up attack
First hit
Second hit
......... (It looks the same as the first hit but it's on the other side so a picture wouldn't hurt.)
Short description: Toon gets up while swinging his sword in front of him and then behind.
Damage when fresh: First hit, 6%. Second hit, 6%.
Frame Data: .........
Summary: The Get Up attack isn't that great an option. Bad news is, our other options like rolling aren't that great either. There is no frame data on this yet, but I can tell you from experience that it's pretty bad on shield. Logically, the second hit is safer than the first one on shield but the second hit is more likely to be shielded because it comes out later. So this is more of a surprise attack again. If you're going for the surprise, it's better that you hit them with the first attack which means they need to be in front of you. There are invincibility frames on this move, but without the frame data I'm not sure how many; I've been told that they don't cover our attack. Summing it up; The Get Up attack isn't a good option, but Toon doesn't have any good options in this situation, so being random and mixing the bad options up is what you want to be doing.
Combos
Welcome to the Combo Section! Here you will find a list of Toon's combos and everything we know about them.
Something you should note about the percents!
For each combo, I'll give starting and finishing percents taken from four characters. (Please note that this may change in the future and I might get around to doing percentages for every character.) The percentages represent the percent range that the combo will be a true combo. This means that as long as you don't stuff up, the opponent won't be able to avoid the combo. (Ok, so this is Brawl, which means that technically there are no true combos, so you do have to remember that nothing is guaranteed, but I am still quite confident in saying that in theory the combos should be unescapable within the parameters I set.) The starting percent signifies the earliest percentage that the true combo can be started on and the finishing percent obviously says the highest percent the opponent can be on before they can escape. "Why have you used four characters?" I hear you ask. Because percents will vary for each character. "Why do they vary?" There are a few reasons like how much space the character takes up i.e. how fat they are, but the main reasons are weight and fall speed that are different for each character. So what I've done is, using this weight and fall speed list http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=162546 I've taken a heavy character with a slower fall speed, a heavy character with a faster fall speed, a light character with a slower fall speed and a lighter character with a faster fall speed. If you can't see the necessity and genius of this plan then I'll explain how you will use these percents. If one of the four characters isn't the one that you wanted to know about, then you look up the weight and fall speed list and compare where the character you want to know about is in comparison to the other characters on the list. This will let you make a pretty accurate estimate as to what percents the combo will work on for any character. (Again, this may change in the near future as I may get around to testing every character.)
Please note that I have tested the percents with a friend (Tedeth) quite thoroughly, but the percents were tested in training mode. This means that they will not account for staling, and the percentage range represents the range that the combo is a true combo when the moves are fresh. What does this mean for you? Well it's actually good news for you. It means that the range of percentage will increase if the move is stale, so if you're a little disappointed or confused by the small range of a combo, just remember that in reality, you would be able to true combo further outside the percent range. Which really means that the percent range given is the worst possible percentage, which adds to it being guaranteed. If you are able to combo outside of the percents given and it has nothing to do with staling, then your opponent isn't trying to escape properly. Any other notes that are more combo specific will be made in the Summary of the combo.
The Characters chosen for the percents are:
Representing Heavy Characters that have a Fast fall speed, we have Bowser.
Bowser is The heaviest character but has the 8th fastest fall speed. The only other option would have been Ganondorf, but that would have sacrificed 5 spots in the weight list to gain 1 spot in the fast fall list.
Representing Heavy Characters that have a Slow fall speed, we have Samus.
She is 7th heaviest but has the 2nd slowest fall speed. If I was to get a slightly heavier character with a pretty slow fall speed then it would be Snake. He is 3rd heaviest but has the 19th slowest fall speed and so in order to properly show what difference weight and fall speed have, Samus was the obvious choice.
Representing Light Characters that have a Fast fall speed, we have oh.... It's between Fox and Squirtle.
Well let's see, Fox has The fastest fall speed, but he's the 9th lightest character. Whereas Squirtle has the 5th fastest fall speed and he's the 3rd lightest character. So as much as I'd love to use Fox, I'll have to do the right thing and use Squirtle who better represents this class of both lightest and fastest. Congratulations Squirtle?
Finally, representing Light Characters that have a Slow fall speed, we have Jigglypuff
There's no disputing this one. Jiggs is The lightest and has The slowest fall speed.
Ok then. This is how the combos will be set out:
Name of the Combo (very simple and obvious name, nothing fancy).
How to Perform:
(This is pretty simple. It will tell you the best way to perform the combo to ensure that it will be successful.)
Percents:
Bowser: starting% to finishing% (Remember, the percentages given do not account for staling.)
Samus: starting% to finishing%
Squirtle: starting% to finishing%
Jigglypuff: starting% to finishing%
Summary:
(This will go into things like how to start/finish the combo, what the opponent can do to avoid the combo/how to deal with them trying to escape and general info about the combo like how important it is to Toon's gameplay, how reliable it is, how easy it is to implement and perform in a real game. Just general info.)
One more time, here's the link to the weight/fast fall list. Use it to estimate the percents you can deal out and the range it will work up until on any character. http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=162546
The Bair Chain
How to Perform: There is no 'one way' to perform the Bair chain as it requires improvisation and depends on many factors. At lower percents, you would be doing things like SH, Double Bair (while spacing correctly), but as they start to get on higher percents, you will have to improvise by using a Full hop Bair or using your Double Jump and at all possible times taking advantage of the platforms. On top of that, once you get out of the guaranteed percent range, they can escape. So you'll have to follow their DI when they airdodge and space correctly. It depends on the character (some characters have invincibility frames at the start of their moves). One last thing; you should try to implement Hyro's way of doing the Bair Chain which is written in the move discussion under Bair, and that is to SH Bair, fast fall Bair. It's explained in more detail, but pretty much, it makes it much harder to escape at lower percents because it speeds things up.
Percents:
Bowser: 15% to 35%
Samus: 30% to 30% (At 25% she can footstool out and at 35% she can airdodge out. Samus is the broken.)
Squirtle: 15% to 25%
Jigglypuff: 10% to 20%
Summary: The Bair Chain is a necessary tool that all Toon's should be able to use effectively. So how do you set it up? One way is to D-throw an opponent at low percents, then depending on how high they get popped up, you can go straight into a Bair chain or you might have to U-tilt them then go into the Bair chain. For that matter, at low percents, even just a simple U-tilt will pop them up at the right height for a SH Bair. If you manage to Zair them really close up (maybe they dashed into it) then you can Zair to RAR (SH) Bair. Other then that, you'll need to improvise to start it, which isn't too hard. But the easiest way to start it is to hit them with a rising Bair (SH instant Bair) as it means you can just go straight into the second Bair. So how long should you continue the Bair Chain? Once the opponent is outside the percent range given, they will be able to escape which means there is a small risk involved by continuing the Bair chain. That said, you'll also want to squeeze as much damage out of it as you can. Just because they technically can escape, doesn't mean they will. My advice to you would be to continue the Bair chain as long as you can until you run out of jumps, hit them too far away, or see that they might be able to attack you before you can hit them. One thing you don't want is to rack up all that damage only to have them combo you right back, so sometimes it's best to play it safe and quit while you're ahead then continue the spam. But how do you end the Bair chain? Well, you can end it with a (double jump) U-air, a (footstool) Dair or an Up-B. All of these finishers aren't exactly guaranteed, but they can still work, especially if you manage to bait an airdodge. Summing it up; The Bair chain, when it comes down to it, is really about improvisation and good reading skills. If used correctly it can rack up stupid amounts of damage, that's why it's one of Toon's staple moves.
Zair to Nair
How to Perform: It's pretty straight forward. At lower percents, you SH, wait until you just start to fall back down, (DI towards the opponent), Zair, then as soon as you land Instantly SH and Instantly Nair. At higher percents, you will need to SH, Zair close up, Dash forwards a tiny bit then SH Instant Nair. Of course, it doesn't need to be a SH Zair, you could Zair out of anything, just as long as the Zair cancels at the same length. In order for it to consistently connect, this combo relies on the Zair hitting them anywhere between close up and mid length. If it hits them at full length, the chances of the Nair connecting are much lower and you will have to Instantly Dash forward as soon as you land before you SH Nair. This combo really relies on the SH (Nair) or Dash SH (Nair) being done as soon as you land. Once you get that right, the rest should come naturally. You will notice that at the start, I mentioned that you need to DI towards the opponent, well this isn't exactly true. If you DI towards the opponent, it will make life a whole lot easier and you are much more likely to land the combo, but, it will still combo if you DI Zair away, if and only if you Zair them at close range, they are on lower percents and if you dash towards them as soon as you land then Instantly SH Nair. So it's possible, just much harder.
Percents:
Bowser: 0% to 300% (In other words, it'll always work. Bowser does actually start to get out at 300%)
Samus: 0% to 115%
Squirtle: ...% to ...%
Jigglypuff: ...% to ...%
Summary: This true combo is legit when performed properly. It does a total of 14% when fresh and the Nair hits them away so you can resume spam. Knowing how to perform this combo is quite necessary for Toon's gameplay as it utilises Toon's two main spacing tools which helps in many matchups that require out-spacing your opponent. Keep in mind that after the Nair, you can Quickdraw to keep the pressure on and at the right percents, this can mean an Arrow Lock. Something you could try is to (SH) Zair to Full hop Instant Nair. This is much safer if shielded and if it isn't shielded it still combos like normal. Also, it means you can Full hop Nair then (Fast fall if you want, but you have to be perfect) land with a Zair to give you the option of repeating the process. Summing it up; This is definitely one of Toon's staple combos, so learn it.
Zair to Grab
How to Perform: ...
Percents:
Bowser: ...% to ...%
Samus: ...% to ...%
Squirtle: ...% to ...%
Jigglypuff: ...% to ...%
Summary: ...
The U-tilt String
How to Perform: ...
Percents:
Bowser: ...% to ...%
Samus: ...% to ...%
Squirtle: ...% to ...%
Jigglypuff: ...% to ...%
Summary: ...
This combo section will get done later. We need to move on for now.
Continued next post.
