Palpi
Smash Hero
Wolf+
What's The Matter...Scared?
A Guide to Using Wolf in Brawl+
A Guide to Using Wolf in Brawl+
Table of Contents
- Updates/Version
- Videos
- What's Changed
- Moves
- Tips and Strategies
- Matchups
Updates/Version
Update 1: Initial Version May 3rd, 2009
Update 2: Current Codeset June 7th, 2009
Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ffRS0Ko1v8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99gj3YM5XrY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9tP7d34dSw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYxivv1GSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdPjunPAG7Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42DodjJdRfY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANn6HpXmkzk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99gj3YM5XrY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9tP7d34dSw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYxivv1GSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdPjunPAG7Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42DodjJdRfY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANn6HpXmkzk
What's Changed?
In original Brawl Wolf was made fun of for being another Star Fox clone, but once people played around with him and experimented with his moveset, people realized he was more then just a clone. New players quickly fell in love with Wolf and his relatively spammy smash attacks and blaster, but these were far from viable at a high level of play. Wolf was destined to middle tier, a sad fate for the Ace Pilot and Star Fox rival.
In Brawl+ Wolf gained a lot from the physics changes that were implemented. His auto-canceled F-air is still a great asset to his game, it is far from as important as it was in vBrawl, thanks to ALR. Hitstun has also provided him with some amazing juggle combos with F-air and U-air. Momentum blaster shots are also nothing to sneeze at. And lets not forget his new reflector. Overall, Wolf is a solid character in Brawl+. He isn't one of the best, but he can certainly dish out the pain and show why he earned his spot.
Here are the list of things Wolf is good and bad at in Brawl+
PROS:
- A great juggle character
- Above average weight
- The B-air, nuff said
- A spammable projectlie
- The reflector is a powerful combo breaker
CONS:
- Wolf suffers A LOT of hitstun
- A poor recovery (distance wise)
- Slow on his feet
Wolf is the worst space animal as of now because of his less than par recovery and his ability to get combo'd into to possible gimps. Wolf still can juggle like a maniac and do very good strings/combos. He has the ability to force approaches with his blaster and with good spacing, can have fairly reliable approach options, when timly placed.
Moves
Jab: Wolf's jab is actually one of his better ground moves. It is a good, GTFO move because of its fairly decent speed and hitstun on the 3rd hit. Depending on DI and tech rolls, it can start some great combos. After a full jab combo, if your opponent DI's away, depending on how fast the character falls, he will have to tech roll or wolf can hit him with an up-smash which leads into great juggling combos. It can be DI'd up though. The third hit should still connect, but it will give your opponent more time to react and he will probably jump and air-dodge. Your best option if your opponent chooses this path is to try to buffer a jump and up-air or try to bait your opponent air dodge while they are falling and punish with a smash,tilt, or blaster.
D-tilt: With no more auto-snap ledges in Brawl+, Wolf's d-tilt is a decent edge poke that is pretty helpful at keeping people off the stage. I have had luck using 1 or 2 d-tilts then chasing off the stage with a RAR'd b-air or a d-air spike. Overall, the D-tilt is not useful against every character for edgeguarding, but don't forget it. The other use for D-tilt is after a single jab. Jab -> D-tilt is a great setup still thanks to lower hitlag.
U-tilt: The U-tilt is a decent combo starter. It is kind of slow, but if you time it right it can set up for either an U-air, B-air, or F-air (depending on how they DI). Overall, this move isn't suddenly super useful, but is decent for mixing things up to keep your opponents on their toes.
F-tilt: F-tilt still has the great range it did in vBrawl. Another move that isn't radically different. Because of shield stun, your opponent cannot shield grab your ftilt anymore, thus probably making it Wolf's safest poke.
F-air: The F-air is a good retreating defense move, a good combo starter, and is good at continuing combos. You can still auto cancel it from a full hop, but the timing is SLIGHTLY stricter due to a higher gravity, but that is nothing a little practice can't solve. The F-air also has 60% less landing lag (when it isn't auto-canceled) then it did in vBrawl. Don't spam it, it isn't that safe of an approach, but it is a very solid move.
U-air: The U-air is Wolf's best juggling move. It doesn't knock people very far away and Wolf's fast fall speed allows it to be SHFFL'd with some pretty extreme speed. Use this and the F-air to continue Wolf's incredible juggle game.
D-air: Wolf's dair is very hard to pull off when not out of a tech chase or a punishing move, but when landed, at low - mid percents, it can be a absurd combo starter (Juggling). It has hit-stun comparable to better, stronger spikes in the game. Also at low percents you can dair and charge a smash, specifically a down-smash to get them off stage for a possible gimp. Amazingly move, but don't overuse it. Your opponents will catch on and punish you.
F-smash: In Brawl+ you can dash cancel by pressing down to crouch at any time during a run. This gives Wolf more variety in his approach options. But when combined with the F-smash it is also a powerful tech chasing tool used to get opponents off the stage and set up for a b-air edgeguard. You can also cancel your dash at the maximum range of a f-smash to stay right outside of the opponents range and punish their missed attacks.
B-air: Bair is one of Wolf's best moves, as it was in vBrawl. Like in vBrawl it was wolf's best "combo" starter and best spacing move. It has kill potential, great speed, range and it can lead into strings like f-smash. Without proper spacing on this move, you can get punished if you connect with a shield. Other than falling bair -> f-smash, you should use it for spacing (free damage!!!) and while your opponent is recovering since it has some kill potential.
N-air: Nair has definitely gained some use from vBrawl. In vBrawl there was always a better OoS option for you, but in brawl+ it can be a good way to mix things up and lead into some jab/tilt combos. It hits multiples times so OoS DI'd towards them can work and even shield poke. Low-mid percents is where it can go into a jab combo or jab, d-tilt, or even a fsmash if they miss a tech or as a tech chase.
Specials
Side-B: Advanced Wolf players will remember 'stage scarring' in vBrawl and it is back in Brawl+ but much more prevalent thanks to the no auto-snap ledges. There are way too many locations and spots Wolf can appear in really any location. I can't list them all, I'm not that dedicated. I can only say you need to practice with Wolf's recovery on every stage. Recovering from one distance on Smashville can yield a totally different recovery from that same distance on Final Destination.
The Reflector: The reflector got a lot of new potential in Brawl+. (Covering this at a later time)
Throws
F-throw: Wolf's hit his opponent forward between a 30-50 degree angle depending on character and percents. This throw has not proven that useful for combos as of yet, but you can sneak in a blaster depending on your opponent DI and %.
B-throw: This has been my most successful throw when it comes to stringing moves together. After this throw you can buffer a turn around then bair if the character is a fairly fast faller. You can do it with a fair, but bair's range is much better. Once again, this is also dependent on DI.
U-throw: This can start combos if you are playing a really fast faller, but I don't know the percents at which it works. Sometimes on Fox and Sheik I have been able to get some full-hopped upairs, but most of my opponents air dodge or jump to safety.
D-throw: D-throw was wolf's best throw in vBrawl. If wolf had better ground speed it could be used as a tech chase, but luckily his blaster can be timed so if they roll away or stand up from it, the blaster can connect.
Basically, from my knowledge, his throws don't really, lead into anything that spectacular that can't be avoided with DI. If you do get a grab, do your best to bait an air dodge as they descend or try to use your projectile if you send them away/off the stage.
Tips and Strategies
Force the approach. Wolf's blaster is still spammable to a certain extent. Wolf has spacing/zoning option with his blaster and bair so use them accordingly. Wolf's combo's may seem hard to start, but if you keep your spacing at its potential, then your opponent will make a mistake for you to punish. Wolf is a punisher, don't get too ancy for the kill or combo, it all come's naturally.
Wolf's reflector is not only a good combo-breaker as previously stated, but it can be fairly good at gimping recoveries, like the other space animals. It can be very risky, since it gets you offstage and wolf's recovery is...scary bad.
Be patient. You can't be over aggressive. Since Wolf is a punisher, that also means that he is easily punished. Try to be patient
Match-ups!
Sheik : Sheik is a very formidable opponent. Sheik can combo Wolf a lot from throws, and from those throws, she has the power to gimp you. Other than gimping, sheik won't kill you any way else unless you messed your DI from a throw (getting hit by an up-air will kill you at fairly high %'s. 120-140)
Sheik does have a fast, long-ranged projectile that forces some characters to approach, but Wolf's blaster , though shorter range, can and will force Sheik to approach. Shielding against Sheik is something you can't abuse. She will grab you, and you will take a lot of damage so don't try to shield every time Sheik dashes at you. I have found myself using bair for spacing a lot. Though it doesn't really lead into anything unless they are in the air, it will keep the sheik at bay since it cuts her options thin. If you are on the ground, jab has been proven successful aswell.
Wolf being wolf, and sheik being sheik, you have to decide which attack (fair or uair) from Sheik's throws you want to get hit with. DI up for u-air, away for fair. Uair probably is the better of the choices since wolf's recovery is under par. Try not to get a clean connect from Sheiks up-air at high percents since it can kill, so even if it does hit you, DI to the corner blast zone.
Edgeguarding sheik can be difficult if done inccorrectly, but when done right you can and will have an easy time punishing. Sheiks chain is a very quick way to tether to a ledge safely without the possibility of getting gimped. If your opponent likes to abuse the chain, you can try to speed hug the ledge right before you think the Sheik player will use the chain. The sheik player will likely fall to their demise. Sheik up-b is an average recovery, the explosion is something to watch out for. If you can hog the edge while sheik is recovering, make sure the explosion doesn't hit you by doing a ledge attack or anything that grant invincibility frames from ledge.
(This is pretty much all I have in my think tank right now. I will try to analyze the match up more during this week's brawlage. Please input anything or everything you know about this match up. Thanks!)
-this is a concerted effort by the community! Goodoldganon's put a lot of work on this thread too!-
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