Tips on becoming a better Zero Suit?

[NataMZ]

I'm new to smash and I love the mobility and damage options with Zero Suit Samus but I feel as if I'm not using her to her full ability. What tricks or combos do you guys do that can help me improve?

 

[Sir Ught]

Take this with a grain of salt as it is only my personal method on learning a character:

Depending on how new you are, I would just spend time playing as her and getting used to her before you start looking for combos. Make sure you know EVERY move of hers, where's it's going to land, where's it's going to put your enemy, how high the priority is on the move, which moves kill at what percents and things like that. Her moveset really needs to be second nature first. I prefer to just screw around on a character until I understand the moves before I dedicate time to learning frame data and combos and stuff

 

[pichuthedk]

Like above said getting used to her is generally all you need for the start.

If you don't care about random losses just try and have fun with it.

However if you do care there are a few things you should avoid doing until you've practiced, things like her down b kick off stage should be avoided until you've gained experience and controL over the move(going to far is a stock).

Try not to over laser while it is a good option to study or open up your opponents to punishment based on what they choose to do when you fire, being overzealous in this endevour will only end poorly.

Take it from the master of over using laser it's good but not that good.

If your serious about zss here are some techs that are kinda mandatory in adding to your ability to be that lithe assassin.

Intro:
B-reverses , wave bounces and turn around b specials.

Her down throw combos.

Advanced:

-Tether cancels from the ledge.

-Down b platform canceling (sliding off stages/platforms with down b both normal and kick).

Perfect pivot down smash and laser.


Final note while up b is a very solid option it only is so when the right conditions are met...that or when you develop the ability to read minds.

If you have any questions post them either here or in the questions thread.

 

[NataMZ]

Like above said getting used to her is generally all you need for the start.

If you don't care about random losses just try and have fun with it.

However if you do care there are a few things you should avoid doing until you've practiced, things like her down b kick off stage should be avoided until you've gained experience and controL over the move(going to far is a stock).

Try not to over laser while it is a good option to study or open up your opponents to punishment based on what they choose to do when you fire, being overzealous in this endevour will only end poorly.

Take it from the master of over using laser it's good but not that good.

If your serious about zss here are some techs that are kinda mandatory in adding to your ability to be that lithe assassin.

Intro:
B-reverses , wave bounces and turn around b specials.

Her down throw combos.

Advanced:

-Tether cancels from the ledge.

-Down b platform canceling (sliding off stages/platforms with down b both normal and kick).

Perfect pivot down smash and laser.


Final note while up b is a very solid option it only is so when the right conditions are met...that or when you develop the ability to read minds.

If you have any questions post them either here or in the questions thread.

Thanks!

 

[pichuthedk]

Thanks!

Np that sex face in your picture doh. That's me after dismantling a power ranked players stock...well almost probably am foaming at the mouth to xD.

 

[AUS]

First and foremost, do not over laser with Neutral B. When I began playing smash 4 I used Neutral B way to much due to the fact that I loved stun into grab, down throw and than Uair, nair, fair or even Up B after. (This is Smash 4 by the way, dont know how to play her in Brawl. Only use the Neutral B when you see an opening, be very careful if you are facing reflector characters like Paulintina, Pit/Dark Pit, or Fox/Falco since a stun sent back can make for a devastating punish.

Be very careful with grab, grab and then down throw is in my opinion the best starter of combos for ZSS however if the grab is missed you have a long wait time till you can use another move in which time your opponent will be able to punish.

I personally love turn around to side B since it has good knockback and goes out quite fast, very good move since the opposing character will usually not expect it.

In a game like Smash 4 where rolling is a usual occurrence I suggest using Down smash to punish rolls towards you since it give you a free Down Throw, you should also learn to pivot down smash since its quite good for punishing rolling.

Up tilt is a great move for approaching opponents since it throws up the other player usually allowing for some aerials. Personally I don't like Up-Smash since it can be avoided and has plenty of lag.

Finally for recovering when far horizontally from the stage you should down B. When slightly below the stage Side B to tether is better than Up B'ing since Up B is fairly short and can be punished and is harder to suite spot.

Anyways that's just what I personally think for playing ZSS, might be wrong but all of this stuff has been working well for me thus far.

 

[pichuthedk]

Few things could have sworn tether behaviour was longer at eye level with the stage.

Down smash Is the best roll punish if you can get the rEads dash attack and dash grab are somewhat easier to get on rollers.

Laser is not just for openings it's for creating openings or forcing stupid options from oppoents for example shooting someone with laser who's air dodgin g into the ground so you can dash grab them because of the lag.

Characters with reflectors are not that bad when you SPACE it properly, I beat a fox named guard at my last tourney and there were 2 different times where I used fully charged lasers at pretty much max range which had him sh reflect it and I just flip jumped kicked him before he could cancel it (free stock since fox dies at like 80 % from that.).

Up tilt is good bit Zss's over use it a lot especially out of spot dodge.

 

[Meek Moths]

use Flip Jump (down special B move) as much to confuse your opponent, always makes them wonder a lot

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

use Flip Jump (down special B move) as much to confuse your opponent, always makes them wonder a lot

DON'T OVERUSE IT!!!! It has a lot of ending lag. Use it only to recover (combined with the tethers, she gets amazing horizontal recoveries), escape deadly stuff (the first frames have invincibility) or when you see an opening for the kick.

 

[David Viran]

DON'T OVERUSE IT!!!! It has a lot of ending lag. Use it only to recover (combined with the tethers, she gets amazing horizontal recoveries), escape deadly stuff (the first frames have invincibility) or when you see an opening for the kick.

Watch out the invincibility frames come out on frame 3 and not 1 also you can use dspecial with ledge canceling to move around stages like battlefield better because of the platforms.

 

[Muffin!]

DON'T OVERUSE IT!!!! It has a lot of ending lag. Use it only to recover (combined with the tethers, she gets amazing horizontal recoveries), escape deadly stuff (the first frames have invincibility) or when you see an opening for the kick.

You can bait with it too. It's good for hopping of projectiles, showing a long flip and then landing short instead. If you show long/short and land short/long the opponent will often misread and whiff a punish or throw up their shield so you can grab.

 

[LthePanda]

I like to stay active. Always moving and throwing quick moves out while approaching my opponent to see how they react. Shes a quick character so I like to use her speed to my advantage. her side special is also pretty good for catching roll spammers off guard.

 

[JBix]

Like above said getting used to her is generally all you need for the start.

If you don't care about random losses just try and have fun with it.

However if you do care there are a few things you should avoid doing until you've practiced, things like her down b kick off stage should be avoided until you've gained experience and controL over the move(going to far is a stock).

Try not to over laser while it is a good option to study or open up your opponents to punishment based on what they choose to do when you fire, being overzealous in this endevour will only end poorly.

Take it from the master of over using laser it's good but not that good.

If your serious about zss here are some techs that are kinda mandatory in adding to your ability to be that lithe assassin.

Intro:
B-reverses , wave bounces and turn around b specials.

Her down throw combos.

Advanced:

-Tether cancels from the ledge.

-Down b platform canceling (sliding off stages/platforms with down b both normal and kick).

Perfect pivot down smash and laser.


Final note while up b is a very solid option it only is so when the right conditions are met...that or when you develop the ability to read minds.

If you have any questions post them either here or in the questions thread.

Hey Pichuthedk,

Thank you for the suggestions. Do you by chance know a video that demonstrates these techniques? Im having trouble finding one.

Thank you,

Josh Bichsel

 

[pichuthedk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlnhrxwrCTg&list=PL1nxsdfaVTl9glwBTpOPphE3AHM1ZsoN_

i get knocked off and instead of making a mistake to get punished and edgeguarded I flip jump cancel resetting.

tether cancel is just pushing down on the control stick any time your tethered.

perfect pivoting can be found on youtube as well easily.

 

[extremechiton]

As for other basic combos

Single laser to dtilt, to zair at low percents is a good way to get ppl away from you,

Back throw has a free dash attack, or fair at higher percents or a zair mixup and sometimes can finish with an up smash

Forward throw leads into zair to which you might be able to run up fair

For more complex combos, d throw up air strings are your bread n butter,
Some mixups with dthrow include nair, turn around bair (a good kill set up too)

If you land a. Fully charged laser, that is a free flip kick at long range, and at close range, a flip jump will spike (very usefull when connected at the ledge or near offstage)
And another thing, if your opponent is not in the air when the laser lands, a flip jump will bury them to which you can get creative with follow ups like boost kick, d smash to boost kick, up smash, dsmash to run away flip kick sweet spot spike, dsmash to flip jump stomp spike, dsmash short hop flip kick non sweet spot hit.... very powerful near the ledge but not over it.
(Running theme here always dsmash after burrying someone at mid to high percents, otherwise at low percents, up air, nair or fair or even a dair.)

 

[Fidyyuan]

I would say Up+B as an OOS option is a must. It'll be your best friend since it's a really reliable kill when you powershield into an Up+B

 

[LthePanda]

Up B is also a good answer to get out of a blocked/whiffed down smash. for some reason the second it gets blocked her up b comes out almost immediately after the opponent lets go of their shield to either counter or grab your blocked/whiffed down smash. it seems to almost always either hit them or give you an escape route from the upcoming punish.

 

[David Viran]

Up B is also a good answer to get out of a blocked/whiffed down smash. for some reason the second it gets blocked her up b comes out almost immediately after the opponent lets go of their shield to either counter or grab your blocked/whiffed down smash. it seems to almost always either hit them or give you an escape route from the upcoming punish.

If they stuff up b on start up you will be put into loads of landing lag called RCO. I would use jab after dsmash instead because it faster and safer.

 

[extremechiton]

If they stuff up b on start up you will be put into loads of landing lag called RCO. I would use jab after dsmash instead because it faster and safer.

I use ftilt for more range.

 

[David Viran]

I use ftilt for more range.

Jab has good enough range and it's so fast I don't have to worry about it being too slow.

 

[extremechiton]

Jab has good enough range and it's so fast I don't have to worry about it being too slow.

I sometimes find my self jabbing nothing, unless the run into it... then i guess jab is a safe cover option.
But i also worry about smashes and jump over aerials that would out beat my jab. Or small characters that cant get hit by jab 1

 

[LthePanda]

i do see how jabbing and fltilt can be a far safer option and should definitely be the go to option, but if they enemy is weak and not expecting the up b it is pretty much a sure kill (if it hits, which it normally does) rather than a "get off me"