Uses of Down Special

[Infinite901]

I've been playing PM for about 2 months now and I think I'm comfortable with maining Ivysaur. I love the Razor Leaf setups, Uair is amazing, Solar Beam is phenomenal, I like everything about Ivysaur and I'll usually end up using just about the entire moveset every match... except for Down Special (is it Seed Bomb? I don't even know) which I find situational use for at best. I can sometimes use it to edgeguard or for really obvious combos, but there must be some really strong uses for it, I can tell. Any tips?

 

[cisyphus]

It seems primarily useful as a zoning tool: hitting with it is a threat, no doubt, but the threat of getting hit by it is usually a lot more useful than the hit itself. if someone gets too high for you to continue juggling (or they barely live a u-air or u-smash) then you can use seed bomb to control which part of the stage they descend to. You can also use the wavebounce mechanics to get some interesting movement mixups as well as control space with a difficult-to-predict projectile while in neutral. Edgeguarding with it can force opponents to go low in which case you ledgedrop back air them or what have you.

 

[Infinite901]

Hm, that makes sense. I often use Razor Leaf to control stage space so adding in Seed Bomb will definitely help. Usually when I end up using them I end up throwing out a whole bunch, I suppose I should be using it as more of a mix-up tool?

 

[TreK]

It is a very useful tool for when you're recovering : under normal circumstances, the opponent would just have to hold the ledge for 5 seconds and he'd get a free hit when you tether to the ledge, but using razor leaf and seed bomb, two projectiles which both hit after a delay, means you can stall out the invincibility frames that they get for edgehogging and hit them after it's gone.
You can see an example here :

 

[Verduyn]

I find myself using it a lot in neutral. Never use it on the ground though. It serves as a very good tool for claiming space. If you're obvious with where it's going then you can essentially say "You see that space? Don't go there"

 

[The Party]

Seed bomb gives you an insane amount of stage control. You don't need to throw them out necessarily expecting them to hit. It's more about keeping your opponent in spaces where you don't want them to be able to go.