Depth_
Smash Apprentice
Platform Canceled F-air
Simply full hop rising f-air and land on a platform. This can lead a lot of nasty tricks. D-Throw → Platform Canceled F-air → Jab / F-tilt is a true combo. *Note that F-air doesn't auto cancel after a short hop*
Stage Canceled F-air
Press back and rising F-air onto the stage instead of pressing down. With this, Samus is a bit more like her Brawl / Melee self on the ledge. Due to increased hit stun and the 361 degree knockback angle of F-air true stage carry strings and grab setups can come out of this.
Charge Shot Planking
Now this is one of the reasons I think Samus is a ledge monster. With a lead, Charge Shot planking will put your opponents in a bad situation. They're forced to approach and or shield. They become predictable. Now, if your opponent has a whittled shield, anticipate shield dash approach and ledge jump morph ball bomb into an attack of your choice. D-air is preferred due to it's immense shield chip. Note that this can be done faster that I am demonstrating.
Super Missile Planking
Albeit slightly more difficult, this can be a timing mixup to charge shot planking. It's also an alternative to CS planking if you have a full charge. Hit one missile and you get a free charge shot. If they happen to shield the missile, you could break their shield with your shot.
D-tilt Ledge Snap Punish
Denying your opponent the ledge is edgeguarding. Although D-tilt pops the opponent up in the air, they may have already wasted their second jump before being caught by the 2 frame punish. I wouldn't use this at higher percents, but if you're positive that your cannot capitilize further off of their opponents recovery, this seems optimal.
Submission by
Afro Smash
SH Airdodge → U-air → Jab 1 → CC → F-tilt
SH Airdodge into U-air is perfect for shield poking, conditioning opponents with your approach, and leading into devastating strings. This can setup for a charge shot tech chase and is a lot safer than praying for a well spaced F-tilt to hit. I face palmed when ZeRo did upwards to 20 F-tilts until one finally hit so he could get a CS kill. Be creative. Don't limit this character. Note that CC means crouch cancel. Crouch canceling Samus' jab takes advantage of it's IASA frames and removes the possibility that you go into jab 2.
I'm in the lab frequently with Samus so I'll post more as it comes. Also, SH Airdodge → U-air → Jab 1 → F-smash is a true combo, albeit very difficult to register. Even if it doesn't it's a trap and yet another way for Samus to secure the kill with her great poking tools.
Touch of Depth (0-Death Concept)
I'm looking for help on this project. This seems to star K.O and blast K.O Mario. There are many alternate versions of this which are much easier, but I'm not sure about their legitimacy. However, these versions seem to be real 0-Deaths. I've actually gotten the second version shown in the video during a match on Samus for a kill. This also kills Bowser in training mode... I guess that means it's guaranteed death after screw attack for more than half the cast?
That aside, this is quite difficult to do, but if you feel you're not up to the task, the opponent could start mashing air dodges. One could read that and follow up with more U-airs to kill or add on more percent. Note that you must fast fall to the platforms after preforming the first two full hop U-airs.
Ledge Drop → Rising Air Dodge → B-air
This is a great option and a good scare tactic considering how powerful Samus' sweet spot b-air is near the blast zones. Hasty opponents who are tired and ready to knock a planking Samus off-stage will get a Chozo boot to the spinal cord. 
Submission by @
-_ellipsis_-
Charge Shield Dropping
This adds a layer of depth to charging on platforms. As we all know, a vast amount of interchangeable options to chose from makes for a better attack. Before, we would just charge on platforms and wait for someone to tap our shields so they could get scooped up by Screw Attack OOS, but now, we can apply pressure while standing on a platform, charge one of the best projectiles in the game, and not be forced to resort to defensive options to stop. We generally get a lot out of this. Combo starters in the form of shield drop --> falling u-air and shield pressure in the form of shield drop --> z-air, missiles, or CS. We could always empty hop the shield drop too for even more mixups.
Submission by @
-_ellipsis_-
Rising RAR B-air → Reverse CS
This is good for a variety of reasons. As most of us know, shielding increases the hurt box of all characters. So, RAR B-air would tap the shield and either force them out in their attempt to punish or keep them in. At that point, Charge shot should get the shield incredibly low, removing one of the opponents defensive options from Smash's Rock-paper-scissors neutral.
Submission by @
Afro Smash
B-Reverse Charge Shot Slide Cancel
Sheik mains are avid users of this technology. It's optimal for positioning in neutral for well spaced attacks and mind conditioning / mind gaming the opponent. What use could Samus have with this? Well, let's take a look at our options out of shield without dropping. We have grab, jump canceled up smash, and jump. With good timing, we could use our tether grab and this technique to essentially preform a wavedash back --> grab to snatch the opponent out of their active or cooldown frames of their approach. Letting go of the charge early is great too.
Upsmash is pretty unreliable as an anti-air, so that's out of the question. On the other hand, jumping out of shield gives us some options. There is z-air, f-air, and n-air for horizontal approaches, the latter of which we have to be very careful about using unless we're sure we can hit the opponent during the recovery frames of their approach.
As for shield dropping (not to be confused with shield dropping through platforms), keep in mind that the entire sequence of frames for a shield drop is 7, so add those frames to the start of frames of any standard or special attack you would like to do. If our timing and positioning are perfect, maybe we can hard punish with things like smashes or tilts.
Submission by @Unholydeath123
True Combos and Inescapable Setups after Jab 1
Here it is, proof that Samus can kill after jab 1 as a true combo. It works on a variety of characters sizes, but is easiest to preform on floaties at kill percents. Note that even Jab 1 --> B-air is a true combo during these percent ranges. This is my estimate on the frames advantage after hitting an airborne opponent with jab 1.
Our jump squat is 5 frames. Add that to the frames in which b-air isn't active and we have 14 frames. That's 14 frames of advantage after jab 1, but there's more. Air dodges also have startup frames in which characters are vulnerable. Sheik's is in the fastest tier at 2 frames of startup. That gives us a bare minimum of 16 frame advantage after jabbing someone in the air. For the characters that have hitboxes too small for these combos, I suggest Jab --> Charge shot instead. Charge shot starts up in exactly 16 frames, meaning that it's a true frame trap against Sheik.
If you can get that read on your opponents opproach and totally avoid it with SHAD --> U-air --> Jab 1, then you can kill at high percents quite easily.
Submissions by @Scream
Z-air combo setups (F-smash confirmed)
There's a good player in my region who uses Ike. His name is Ryo. He's single-handedly put fear into the entire state of Florida by merely short hopping within close proximity to them. Why can he do this? Well, he conditions his opponents well and Ike just so happens to have some really good aerials that kill. Maybe we could emulate that short hop fast fall game with Samus now that we have kill setups from z-air. Without our backs turned for b-air, we needed a charge shot to reliably kill with aerials, which made our options a little limited while airborne and our opponent at kill percents. Now, this little string adds a layer of depth to our short hop game when the matches are reaching their critical point.
Submissions by @Seniks and
-_ellipsis_-
Fast Fall Auto Cancel (FFAC)
Auto canceling aerials from a fast fall speeds up our pressure to frightening degrees. Perhaps we can punish tech in place with FFAC D-airs. Also, applying pressure with RAR FFAC B-air can do crazy damage to platform campers and make air-to-air encounters with your opponents even more safe. This video also covers wall jump landing. I'll call it that for simplicity, but it's essentially landing on stage after a wall jump and being able to act immediately. As we all know, Samus applies great ledge pressure that can force the opponent to shield. If you're sure that you won't get much out of tapping their shield or waiting on ledge, this can get you on stage easily if your opponent commits to shielding your options. It's a great mixup.
Submissions by @Seniks
Missile Frame Traps
After D-throw
Sometimes we all become very reliant on D-throw for damage output against shield heavy opponents that avoid our Dash Attack, but what happens when opponents DI out of our grab? Pivot grabbing can effectively mix them up, but there could still be problems if they're expecting that.
Here's a solution, frame trapping. Missiles are good. They're something to put on the screen and force defensive options like jumping, airdodging, shielding, and rolling. If your oponent happens to DI away from your grab, throw a super missile. You might just force them to use their mid-air jump, possibly last resource anyone would want to use in any given situation. It's pretty easy to catch the opponents landings with dash attack, charge shot, and even more grabs after that. You could even go for U-air chases and airdodge reads.
Submission by @
KayJay
The Dirty Bomb
It's quite easy to break shields with Samus. In my opinion, she nearly makes that entire aspect of the neutral obsolete. We have D-air, B-air, Missiles, Bombs, Screw Attack, and Charge Shot. The intricacies of this character baffle me sometimes. What we don't have, we make up for in abundance, but I digress. The Dirty Bomb is a nasty little hard punish technique that can take stocks at percents as low as 30 with minimal effort if setup correctly.
Submission by @Primer TMT
Samus Movement Options
At first glance, our character may seem quite slow. We have average running speed, below average fall speed and air speed, and a really high shorthop. However, if we combine all of the games movement mechanics together, our speed can increase dramatically. Take short hops, fast falls, perfect pivots, foxtrot cancels, and various other movement options and we can effectively confuse our opponents. With foxtrot canceling, we can bait shields, spotdodges, and jumps. We can perfect pivot for crazy spacing, and fast falls can generally shake our opponents up because of what we can get out of them, being z-air, b-air, u-air, and charge shot.
Submission by me
Simply full hop rising f-air and land on a platform. This can lead a lot of nasty tricks. D-Throw → Platform Canceled F-air → Jab / F-tilt is a true combo. *Note that F-air doesn't auto cancel after a short hop*
Stage Canceled F-air
Press back and rising F-air onto the stage instead of pressing down. With this, Samus is a bit more like her Brawl / Melee self on the ledge. Due to increased hit stun and the 361 degree knockback angle of F-air true stage carry strings and grab setups can come out of this.
Charge Shot Planking
Now this is one of the reasons I think Samus is a ledge monster. With a lead, Charge Shot planking will put your opponents in a bad situation. They're forced to approach and or shield. They become predictable. Now, if your opponent has a whittled shield, anticipate shield dash approach and ledge jump morph ball bomb into an attack of your choice. D-air is preferred due to it's immense shield chip. Note that this can be done faster that I am demonstrating.
Super Missile Planking
Albeit slightly more difficult, this can be a timing mixup to charge shot planking. It's also an alternative to CS planking if you have a full charge. Hit one missile and you get a free charge shot. If they happen to shield the missile, you could break their shield with your shot.
D-tilt Ledge Snap Punish
Denying your opponent the ledge is edgeguarding. Although D-tilt pops the opponent up in the air, they may have already wasted their second jump before being caught by the 2 frame punish. I wouldn't use this at higher percents, but if you're positive that your cannot capitilize further off of their opponents recovery, this seems optimal.
Submission by
Afro Smash
SH Airdodge → U-air → Jab 1 → CC → F-tilt
I'm in the lab frequently with Samus so I'll post more as it comes. Also, SH Airdodge → U-air → Jab 1 → F-smash is a true combo, albeit very difficult to register. Even if it doesn't it's a trap and yet another way for Samus to secure the kill with her great poking tools.
Touch of Depth (0-Death Concept)
That aside, this is quite difficult to do, but if you feel you're not up to the task, the opponent could start mashing air dodges. One could read that and follow up with more U-airs to kill or add on more percent. Note that you must fast fall to the platforms after preforming the first two full hop U-airs.
Ledge Drop → Rising Air Dodge → B-air
Submission by @
-_ellipsis_-
Charge Shield Dropping
This adds a layer of depth to charging on platforms. As we all know, a vast amount of interchangeable options to chose from makes for a better attack. Before, we would just charge on platforms and wait for someone to tap our shields so they could get scooped up by Screw Attack OOS, but now, we can apply pressure while standing on a platform, charge one of the best projectiles in the game, and not be forced to resort to defensive options to stop. We generally get a lot out of this. Combo starters in the form of shield drop --> falling u-air and shield pressure in the form of shield drop --> z-air, missiles, or CS. We could always empty hop the shield drop too for even more mixups.
Submission by @
-_ellipsis_-
Rising RAR B-air → Reverse CS
This is good for a variety of reasons. As most of us know, shielding increases the hurt box of all characters. So, RAR B-air would tap the shield and either force them out in their attempt to punish or keep them in. At that point, Charge shot should get the shield incredibly low, removing one of the opponents defensive options from Smash's Rock-paper-scissors neutral.
Submission by @
Afro Smash
B-Reverse Charge Shot Slide Cancel
Sheik mains are avid users of this technology. It's optimal for positioning in neutral for well spaced attacks and mind conditioning / mind gaming the opponent. What use could Samus have with this? Well, let's take a look at our options out of shield without dropping. We have grab, jump canceled up smash, and jump. With good timing, we could use our tether grab and this technique to essentially preform a wavedash back --> grab to snatch the opponent out of their active or cooldown frames of their approach. Letting go of the charge early is great too.
Upsmash is pretty unreliable as an anti-air, so that's out of the question. On the other hand, jumping out of shield gives us some options. There is z-air, f-air, and n-air for horizontal approaches, the latter of which we have to be very careful about using unless we're sure we can hit the opponent during the recovery frames of their approach.
As for shield dropping (not to be confused with shield dropping through platforms), keep in mind that the entire sequence of frames for a shield drop is 7, so add those frames to the start of frames of any standard or special attack you would like to do. If our timing and positioning are perfect, maybe we can hard punish with things like smashes or tilts.
Submission by @Unholydeath123
True Combos and Inescapable Setups after Jab 1
Here it is, proof that Samus can kill after jab 1 as a true combo. It works on a variety of characters sizes, but is easiest to preform on floaties at kill percents. Note that even Jab 1 --> B-air is a true combo during these percent ranges. This is my estimate on the frames advantage after hitting an airborne opponent with jab 1.
Our jump squat is 5 frames. Add that to the frames in which b-air isn't active and we have 14 frames. That's 14 frames of advantage after jab 1, but there's more. Air dodges also have startup frames in which characters are vulnerable. Sheik's is in the fastest tier at 2 frames of startup. That gives us a bare minimum of 16 frame advantage after jabbing someone in the air. For the characters that have hitboxes too small for these combos, I suggest Jab --> Charge shot instead. Charge shot starts up in exactly 16 frames, meaning that it's a true frame trap against Sheik.
If you can get that read on your opponents opproach and totally avoid it with SHAD --> U-air --> Jab 1, then you can kill at high percents quite easily.
Submissions by @Scream
Z-air combo setups (F-smash confirmed)
There's a good player in my region who uses Ike. His name is Ryo. He's single-handedly put fear into the entire state of Florida by merely short hopping within close proximity to them. Why can he do this? Well, he conditions his opponents well and Ike just so happens to have some really good aerials that kill. Maybe we could emulate that short hop fast fall game with Samus now that we have kill setups from z-air. Without our backs turned for b-air, we needed a charge shot to reliably kill with aerials, which made our options a little limited while airborne and our opponent at kill percents. Now, this little string adds a layer of depth to our short hop game when the matches are reaching their critical point.
Submissions by @Seniks and
-_ellipsis_-
Fast Fall Auto Cancel (FFAC)
Auto canceling aerials from a fast fall speeds up our pressure to frightening degrees. Perhaps we can punish tech in place with FFAC D-airs. Also, applying pressure with RAR FFAC B-air can do crazy damage to platform campers and make air-to-air encounters with your opponents even more safe. This video also covers wall jump landing. I'll call it that for simplicity, but it's essentially landing on stage after a wall jump and being able to act immediately. As we all know, Samus applies great ledge pressure that can force the opponent to shield. If you're sure that you won't get much out of tapping their shield or waiting on ledge, this can get you on stage easily if your opponent commits to shielding your options. It's a great mixup.
Submissions by @Seniks
Missile Frame Traps
After D-throw
Sometimes we all become very reliant on D-throw for damage output against shield heavy opponents that avoid our Dash Attack, but what happens when opponents DI out of our grab? Pivot grabbing can effectively mix them up, but there could still be problems if they're expecting that.
Here's a solution, frame trapping. Missiles are good. They're something to put on the screen and force defensive options like jumping, airdodging, shielding, and rolling. If your oponent happens to DI away from your grab, throw a super missile. You might just force them to use their mid-air jump, possibly last resource anyone would want to use in any given situation. It's pretty easy to catch the opponents landings with dash attack, charge shot, and even more grabs after that. You could even go for U-air chases and airdodge reads.
Submission by @
KayJay
The Dirty Bomb
It's quite easy to break shields with Samus. In my opinion, she nearly makes that entire aspect of the neutral obsolete. We have D-air, B-air, Missiles, Bombs, Screw Attack, and Charge Shot. The intricacies of this character baffle me sometimes. What we don't have, we make up for in abundance, but I digress. The Dirty Bomb is a nasty little hard punish technique that can take stocks at percents as low as 30 with minimal effort if setup correctly.
Submission by @Primer TMT
Samus Movement Options
At first glance, our character may seem quite slow. We have average running speed, below average fall speed and air speed, and a really high shorthop. However, if we combine all of the games movement mechanics together, our speed can increase dramatically. Take short hops, fast falls, perfect pivots, foxtrot cancels, and various other movement options and we can effectively confuse our opponents. With foxtrot canceling, we can bait shields, spotdodges, and jumps. We can perfect pivot for crazy spacing, and fast falls can generally shake our opponents up because of what we can get out of them, being z-air, b-air, u-air, and charge shot.
Submission by me
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