Weekly Character Discussion: Olimar

[Umby]

Hope BT doesn't mind this, but I need collective opinions if I want to get this write-up correct. Besides, it's actually been a week since the last discussion.

First off, no spamming. This is a thread for intelligent discussion.

Now then, what do you all think about the Sonic vs Olimar matchup?

I'd like to bring up a key issue that Olimar's Pikmin throw becomes just about useless in this matchup, as just about all of Sonic's attacks get rid of all Pikmin attatched to him. This considerably cuts down the rate of damage Olimar piles up on Sonic from my point of view.

 

[ROOOOY!]

Tilts are good for spacing, being Sonic's attacks that have the most range, use them a lot.
Getting Olimar offstage is a must, with an easily gimpable recovery most of your kills will come from there.

I don't have much experience of this match up though.

 

[Blapius]

- Ground approaches are often going to be ill-fated, as most Olimars lean on their insane (shield) grab range. Try getting Olimar up in the air and you ought to fare better.

- If you do get some of those obnoxious Pikmin stuck to you, a quick Nair should take care of business. In that respect, Nair also makes for a decent approach to Olimar.

- When edge-guarding against Olimar, remember that if you stay hogging too long, his Up-B does have the ability stage spike you. Go for a nice sweetspotted Dair or Bair for horizontal knockback, instead.

- In general, horizontal knockback moves are your friend. Moves such as chained Fairs, DSmashes, RAR'd Bairs, and--everyone's favorite--the Sonic Boom, are your friends in this match.

- A shield-to-spotdogde dash cancel followed by a DSmash accomplishes two of your main goals: avoiding the shield grab and inflicting some horizontal knockback.

- Everyone loves laying a surprise spring under a respawning Olimar, thus preventing him from pulling up any replacement Pikmin and making him vulnerable in the air. Probably never going to work twice on the same person, but hey, it's worth a shot.

 

[Umby]

Actually a spring might not be bad after the first few times. Even if Olimar avoids it, he'll probably double jump to do so, and that could set up nicely for juggling.

 

[Tenki]

Learn about Olimar's pikmin:
- Blue have amazing grab range (longest of all of them), and possibly good throwing power [just know that blue = grab for the most part]
- Yellow are as annoying as Pikachu - gives the priority issue, being electric.
- Red seem to be rather standard, I think. Didn't check what's special about this aside from elemental properties (doesn't apply to Sonic).
- White have weak knockback and are rather frail, but are most dangerous in Pikmin-throw (bites about 5% each!)
- Purple have the strongest knockback/trajectory of all the Pikmin, but are balanced by their crappy range. If Olimar goes for a grab with this, you can avoid it pretty easily since it has much less range.

So take advantage of this knowledge and know when you should bait a pikmin and when you can attack them. For the most part, ignore pikmin latches unless he either:
a) gets 2+ on you
b) gets a white one on you.

- For some reason, landing behind Olimar = Olimar uses dsmash. D-smash>grab seems to be pretty common, so it's most likely safer to be behind Olimar and not be dumb and land behind > roll through him ;__;

- Olimar likes to kill with Usmash `.`



Blapius:
-...Sonic Boom? ;__; you're not referring to that corny song, so... what is that? F-smash? :l


-Actually (it's turning into a bad habit), I put springs under EVERY character I fight, and usually one of the following will happen (vs Olimar)

[Lay spring>D-air before Olimar respawns]:
-Olimar falls into spring and loses invincibility frames.
-Olimar floats away from spring, I chase and plant a new spring under him.
-Olimar double jumps and floats away from spring (no more invincibility).
-[] Olimar does one of the above and uses N-air.
-[] Miss

Standard edgeguarding procedures:
Bad Olimar: Tries to tether from under the stage
- Stand a fair distance from the edge [make him feel safe]
- Olimar positions for a tether grab from under the stage
A) You run, FF off the edge and immediately do: B-air (stage spike), F-air (he will DI toward the stage and get stage spiked, or escape, which allows you to dj-footstool)
B) Drop a spring so it knocks him toward the stage when he pulls back up
C) Ledgehog

However, good Olimars will tether at horizontal (and possibly, downward) angles, or just DI upwards to avoid the tether situation altogether.

 

[Napilopez]

Just please dont use spin dash as a constant approach. You will be grabbed so easily. GOd olimar has the most annoying grab ever. Unless you're the olimar of course.

 

[TwinkleToes]

It's kinda hard for me to tell when Olimar is trying to grab. I basically have to focus on it which is annoying as crap; so, I almost never get to punish the damn thing. That's a huge problem I have with trying to mind-game Olimar too much at close range. I end up getting confused with all the pikmin running around and make a mistake that gets me punished.

Pushing your edge game is kind of important in this match-up, and I would definitely say that the stages with really far off blast-lines are hugely in your favor.

 

[Blapius]

Blapius:
-...Sonic Boom? ;__; you're not referring to that corny song, so... what is that? F-smash? :l

FSmash, indeed!

The Sonic community deserves a lamer class of nicknames, and I'm gonna give it to 'em.

 

[Umby]

Joker quote parodies. I see what you did there.

 

[TwinkleToes]

^I don't think that's what he was actually doing lol...
Plus, those annoy the shit out of me so shame on you for bringing that up :/

 

[Greenstreet]

Tilts are good for spacing, being Sonic's attacks that have the most range, use them a lot.
Getting Olimar offstage is a must, with an easily gimpable recovery most of your kills will come from there.

I don't have much experience of this match up though.

strong option. just watch out for his smashes. coz they technically stay out a while he can use em against ur dash attack well.. so no spamming that move (thank goodness)

 

[ROOOOY!]

Obviously the main problem in this match up is approaching Olimar, considering he has ridiculous range on most of his attacks. Spin Dash cancel a fair bit and see how the opponent reacts. If they do a Down Smash or another punishable movement, its not hard to punish with a dash attack or a running grab if you're fast enough. Basically, you need to psyche Olimar out. This is always a long fight for me, because the majority of it is picking the right moment to move in, and pressuring the opponent into mistakes.
Pikmin Throw's not really a problem for Sonic because he's capable of getting rid of them easily, which is good because it's Olimar's main method of damage racking on most characters. Personally, if it's just one on you (except if it's white) I wouldn't bother removing it, it's just going to disrupt the momentum of your approach. If you get more than one Pikmin on you, I'd probably run up to him and Nair him. That's a nice 11% and getting rid of the annoyances. If that respect, I think we've found a use for a short-hopped Nair as an approach. :O
Approaching from directly above him is a no go. Utilt and Up Smash are two of Olimar's better moves, and they come out dead fast so don't think you can outspeed him with that Dair >_<
Once you're 'inside' his defences so to speak, Olimar has a pretty hard time getting Sonic off him. This is the point where you NEED to get him offstage. This'll be where you'll get the majority of your kills on him, edgeguard aggressively.
Another option I guess is to go for a ceiling kill, which is feasible because Olimar's light weight. Sonic's Uair (second hit) outranges Olimar's Dair