Weekly Character Discussion: Bowser

[darkspatan117]

he is high tier for sure

 

[Bowser King]

he is high tier for sure

No, he's mid tier for sure. He's good but definitely not a high tier.

 

[Yoshi Kirishima]

I havent played much Bowser but i do like him So, can you guys tell me a good way/best way to approach, if at all? i find it hard. But during a match i did remember reading a lot of places where the term "fortressing" was used and tried it. It works so well XD I'll watch some pro Bowser vids too to learn some stuff

 

[xXSciophobiaXx]

I havent played much Bowser but i do like him So, can you guys tell me a good way/best way to approach, if at all? i find it hard. But during a match i did remember reading a lot of places where the term "fortressing" was used and tried it. It works so well XD I'll watch some pro Bowser vids too to learn some stuff

I find a good way to approach, altough easily countered by semi-decent players (if you do it consistantly) is to jump and pretend like you're going to do and arial(f-air) and your opponent usually prepares for a shield grab, but instead of an arial you use your side-b grabbing their futile shield and give them and easy 18-19 dmg. Don't expect it to work every time! You can change this strategy up slightly by jumping and passing over their head and reversing a b-sideways and grab them as you fade away over their head, its a unpredictable sort of move, but don't use it consistantly.

 

[rpgmunchkin]

Just a question:
Does Bowser's bair edge guard from melee still work just as well or is there too much lag after using bair?

also a great edge guard is down-b from the ground!
if you use it right you can kill anyone trying to recover and grab on to the edge
it's great for terrifying your friends
this adds yet another level to Bowser's play--his reliable and varied edge guards
he has his fire, down b (air or ground), bair (maybe), fair, and even up-b against characters like Lucario, Olimar, or Pikachu

plus, I don't care what anyone says but
HE LOOKS FRIEKING AWESOME

 

[Vex Kasrani]

imo he's worse than his melee version.

klaw rarely kills now.
gimp kills are even rarer.
up-b a one hit kill? most of the stages have vertical kill zones that are too high for that - it's weaker too.
his cool edgeguards (which made him playable) in melee are all gone.
downsmash isn't as easily caught into and can be interrupted.
f-smash much weaker.

and whilst most characters have upgraded recoveries, his still sucks.

Fsmash does 46% D: but theres much less knockback

 

[mimic_king]

imo he's worse than his melee version.

klaw rarely kills now.
gimp kills are even rarer.
up-b a one hit kill? most of the stages have vertical kill zones that are too high for that - it's weaker too.
his cool edgeguards (which made him playable) in melee are all gone.
downsmash isn't as easily caught into and can be interrupted.
f-smash much weaker.

and whilst most characters have upgraded recoveries, his still sucks.

bull****. there is no such thing as a one hit KO.

 

[Vex Kasrani]

No, he's mid tier for sure. He's good but definitely not a high tier.

I think he could potentially be high tier.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

High tier? That depends on the impact of the Release Grabs on Bowsers metagame...

 

[mimic_king]

bowser actually could be high tier.

nevermind. mid tier for sure

 

[Vex Kasrani]

High tier? That depends on the impact of the Release Grabs on Bowsers metagame...

http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=193617

Bowser's grab release game is ridiculous.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

I'm not talking about the grab game itself but rather its influence on match-ups

 

[The Falconator]

I don't mind Bowser, I play with him every once and awhile. His smash attach are incredible but his jumping ability makes me vomit. His negitives to me just seem to overpower his positives.

 

[Justblaze647]

I think Bowser is an excellent character with lots of potential... but I can't play with him well enough to main him... oh well lol

 

[deadpoe7]

Funny story (not "haha," but like "oooo, nice"): I'm a G-dorf main, but for some reason the other night my friend and I were playing, and I decided to just have some fun with Bowser. Dude, I seriously tore it UP with the Bowsa! My friend tried every character he played well with and I beat all of them. That f-air makes him like a 2-ton Marth! I honestly had never given Bowser much thought (and he just played horribly for me in melee), but after seeing what the Bowsa can do, I am really impressed. He's now definitely a secondary, and who knows? Maybe even my future main.

 

[gantrain05]

Funny story (not "haha," but like "oooo, nice"): I'm a G-dorf main, but for some reason the other night my friend and I were playing, and I decided to just have some fun with Bowser. Dude, I seriously tore it UP with the Bowsa! My friend tried every character he played well with and I beat all of them. That f-air makes him like a 2-ton Marth! I honestly had never given Bowser much thought (and he just played horribly for me in melee), but after seeing what the Bowsa can do, I am really impressed. He's now definitely a secondary, and who knows? Maybe even my future main.

if you like that Fair, you should try out his tilts, and his new bowsercide, oh and his firebreath is nice too, you can aim it, bowser bomb has invincibility frames on the startup from the ground and can kill at good percents, and his grab release game is wicked, just grab release everyone into a Ftilt or Dtilt or some characters can even be bowser bombed out of it.

 

[mikybee93]

Bowser is really good in 2v2 battles, but 1v1 isn't all that great.
I still love him, he just looks so cool!

 

[CloudGer]

I enjoy dealing a lot of damage with fire breath. I also love the fact that it can be angled up and down, awesome for pissing off people near the edge.
I think they improved Bowser a lot, he's able to deal damage very fast and also has multiple killing moves. Another thing is the combination of his weight + side b, like you kill your opponent when you have 200% and right after he returns you suicide (he has to be a DI n00b though...).
But the bad things about bowser are still significant, his height still makes him an easy target for example... also he sucks at vertical recovery...
I don't think Bowser's that good for competive play, but at least you can own some of your friends when you know how to use him.

 

[jehonaker]

Compared to his Melee incarnation, I really like Bowser in Brawl. He seems to play like a Ganondorf that traded raw power for added efficacy in every other area.

I doubt he'll ever rise above Mid tier, though, because his flaws (attack speed, substandard recovery, and bulk among others) are still as obvious as a neon-painted eel and nearly everybody has a way to take advantage of his deficiencies.
He has a few fast attacks (Whirling Fortress, Flying Slam, and his tilts, aerials, and jab combo to an extent), but all of his power is in the overly slow attacks he bears.

On the other hand, his ability to punish mistakes is amazing. He really has some devastating options...it's just using them that takes a bit of getting used to.
Also, grab release is excellent.
Plus, Bowser will usually have the element of surprise. He's not exactly a character that people see or fight that often, but Bowser should have experience against them.

Bottom line: he'll never be great, simply because his flaws are far too obvious. He can be good, though, and he can get the job done nicely.

 

[mimic_king]

He also had some cool SHFFLs in Melee.

 

[Vect0r]

Bowser was the first character I played in SSBB. Also, first trophy I ever got was Bowser, by classic mode.

And months later I'm finally gonna main him. For real.

Wish me luck d('-')b

 

[B.A.M.]

mimic king, how the hell can you say bowser is mid tier and high tier after stating that bowser shouldnt be used against pros. tiers are created with a characters pro level metagame among other things. the point is u keep babbling about bowser being garbage against pros then u start meatriding when everyone states hes mid or high. stick to ur statements kid. and yeah bowser is ridiculously underrated. ppl need to play a good bowser before they speak. just because you pick him up for two seconds and get destroyed by a decent player doesnt mean he suxs.

 

[mimic_king]

I change my mind a lot. as of now, he is mid, which means he shouldn't be used against pro top tier characters. he can still beat a pro high tier character with much practice. have you seen Gimpyfish?

 

[gantrain05]

I change my mind a lot. as of now, he is mid, which means he shouldn't be used against pro top tier characters. he can still beat a pro high tier character with much practice. have you seen Gimpyfish?

except gimpyfish plays shiek in brawl >.> and yes, bowser can do just fine against pro top/high tiers, with the exception of maybe DDD, but he does well enough against the rest of them.

 

[mimic_king]

he can do fine against pros, but the reason i didn't say that is because it is very hard. most beginners wont be able to do it. if i said that, then a brawl rookie would get the idea that bowser is amazing. he is good, but not amazing. it takes time to get amazing with him, and a rookie might not know that.

a rookie would come here to get brawl advice, so we are supposed to make sure he/she gets that.

but the point is, he CAN do well against pros. it takes a lot of practice though, and he doesn't stand a chance against MK or Snake.

 

[Nitrix]

mimic king, how the hell can you say bowser is mid tier and high tier after stating that bowser shouldnt be used against pros. tiers are created with a characters pro level metagame among other things. the point is u keep babbling about bowser being garbage against pros then u start meatriding when everyone states hes mid or high. stick to ur statements kid. and yeah bowser is ridiculously underrated. ppl need to play a good bowser before they speak. just because you pick him up for two seconds and get destroyed by a decent player doesnt mean he suxs.

I think Mimic King is saying that Bowser is alot like Diddy and Peach. People that aren't used to facing them will be in for a very nasty suprise. However, when you face them a couple of times you learn how to gimp Bowser, throw Diddy's bananas and Smash-DI peach's down-air. As people adapt to your style it becomes much more difficult for these characters to win This can be a barrier for people who learn to depend on their characters lack of popularity. Bowser is a wicked character if you're not used to his style, but once you learn his tricks then the matchup isn't so nasty. Thus, Bowser is a pocket-character.

 

[gantrain05]

I think Mimic King is saying that Bowser is alot like Diddy and Peach. People that aren't used to facing them will be in for a very nasty suprise. However, when you face them a couple of times you learn how to gimp Bowser, throw Diddy's bananas and Smash-DI peach's down-air. As people adapt to your style it becomes much more difficult for these characters to win This can be a barrier for people who learn to depend on their characters lack of popularity. Bowser is a wicked character if your not used to his style, but once you learn his tricks then the matchup isn't so nasty. Thus, Bowser is a pocket-character.

oh, you can't smash DI out of peach's Dair if the peach is smart...... only if she's hitting you with the very very tip of her feet you can.....it really doesn't matter if you know the matchup against peach, she will always surprise you

 

[M15t3R E]

Bowser is probably quite underrated. He certainly isn't bad at edgeguarding.

 

[Hylian]

This has been here long enough.

 

[mimic_king]

I think Mimic King is saying that Bowser is alot like Diddy and Peach. People that aren't used to facing them will be in for a very nasty suprise. However, when you face them a couple of times you learn how to gimp Bowser, throw Diddy's bananas and Smash-DI peach's down-air. As people adapt to your style it becomes much more difficult for these characters to win This can be a barrier for people who learn to depend on their characters lack of popularity. Bowser is a wicked character if you're not used to his style, but once you learn his tricks then the matchup isn't so nasty. Thus, Bowser is a pocket-character.

uh.....yeah. that's what I said all right.