WFT - “Keep Your Bottom Tucked In”: Useful moves, techniques, tricks and general good practice

[DRU192]

Recently I fell in love with WFT and decided I wanted to make her my main (previously I was was a Megaman main, he is now my secondary). I've heard a lot of people complain about her but I think she has bucket loads of potential once mastered. As a result of this I decided to share some of the things I do to get the most out of her quirky play style. Here is a link to a working document that acts as my personal WFT tech and strategy journal, share the love if you find anything here helpful:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lK3K8p50zStjP2tutEOHUO1h9_JLuPBN8QD-uHsAwdU/edit?usp=sharing

Here is the info from the my first draft (15/12/14):

Wii Fit Trainer - “Keep Your Bottom Tucked In”​

Useful moves, follow ups, techniques, tricks and general good practice: ​

• Pivot jab (1x Attack): This move is quick and causes a knockdown at around 45% which can be followed up with dash attack and aerials if you're lucky. This is a good whiff punish and can lead to nice damage.

• Sun Salutation spot dodge: Not an AT or anything, its just useful if you want to keep you position rather than back dashing or forward dashing out of SS. Simply shield quickly and spot dodge, if you do it fast enough you won’t even see the shield animation. Good for baiting opponents.

• Use of deep breathing: I recommend only using deep breathing when your opponent is at KO percent. This makes sure that when you need it you have access to it as quickly as possible.

• Use dash > pivot Ftilt: KOs vertically (great for midscreen KOs), quick and hard to punish.

• Use dash > Ftilt: KOs horizontally (great for edge KOs), quick and hard to punish.

• Pivot grab: Use this often as it makes WFTs limited grab range more useful.

• Sliding spot dodge: If you spot dodge while running WFT slides forward a little bit while remaining invincible. This is especially useful for getting close for a dash pivot Ftilt punish or pivot grab.

• Off stage header: A great tool against edge guard happy opponents, also give you time to think if you're being heavily rushed down. Also a cheeky trick to catch opponents unawares during sudden death.

• Use your three meteor smashes: Dair, Header and the foot of Fair all cause a meteor smash. Couple this with WFTs excellent off stage recovery and you may get some nice early KOs. Work on setups for these moves to get the most out of them. I quite like sending a sun salutation towards an off stage opponent to get them to recover low then going for a cheeky Dair.

• Start your match with a Sun Salutation: As WFT you want to have a charged Sun Salutation as often as possible, charging as soon as the match starts is great for the following reasons:

1. You start the match with a charged SS, making you deadly right from the get go.
   
   
2. It encourages your opponent to approach you, due to WFT lacking a little in the approach department, having your opponent approach you make your life that little bit easier.
   
   
3. An overly aggressive opponent is easy to punish, SS spot dodge and get some nice damage.

• Up Special causes a stage spike: If you are underneath an opponent off stage and hit them with the startup of up special it can cause a stage spike. A nice technique to catch your opponent unawares for an early KO.

• Off stage Sun Salutation: If you get hit off stage by a move with lots of knock back and you opponent chooses not to pursue you use this opportunity to charge a sun salutation.

(Updated 16/12/14)

(Yellow posts = techniques you guys have shared that I've found useful and added to my repertoire -Thanks guys!)

• Up throw is your go to throw (Thanks GalaxyWaffles): Using up throw gives you the opportunity to rack up some nice damage (11% WFT’s highest damaging throw) and even more if you follow it up with WFT’s great aerials (Uair, Nair and Bair work well), another benefit is that it also gives you time to charge a SS.

• Jab combo follow-ups: The last hit of WFT’s jab combo buries her opponent and restricts them to only being able to recover vertically, use this to your advantage by chasing your opponent into the air with Uair, Fair, Nair or Bair for nice damage, once they think this is your go to punish stop jumping, wait for them air dodge then punish their landing. You also have the option of going for an Usmash for a cheeky KO. Jab combo > dtilt does a big 20%, if your opponent doesn't quick-rise rack up that damage! - Thanks SuaveChaser!

• Making full hop Header safer: Due to it’s landing lag Header can be a bit of a risky move to throw out if you’re facing a quick character. To make this move a bit safer I found the following technique quite useful. After a fullhop Header hold backwards, this allows you to drift backwards putting a nice bit of distance between you and an opponent who wants to dash attack punish you. I also like to throw out an uncharged SS or Nair while drifting backwards to minimise landing lag and maybe catch an opponent by surprise.

• Make good use of WFT’s crouch (Thanks GalaxyWaffles): I tested this out against a FOX who wanted to spam me with laser. The resulting surprise of him finding his strategy useless caused him to lose the will to live lol (see: http://youtu.be/fJJ-1TY1y68). Crouch is an essential technique in this match up. I’m curious to test this out against ZSS as well.

• Edgeguarding with Ftilt: If you are facing an opponent that likes to attack recover from the ledge, simply shield and punish with pivot Ftilt. Because this move hits from both sides they are either going to get launched upwards (KO’d at high %) or launched back across the stage. If they get wise to this and decide to roll-recover back dash and throw out another Ftilt.

• Using Header to ledge drop (Thanks Complete_Dweeb): If you use header near enough to the ledge you can quickly ledge drop (use back instead of down) and fire off a sneaky header, it's a great technique for catching your opponent by surprise. Finally got around to mastering this and it's a really useful technique!

(Updated 22/12/14)

• Turnaround-B Sun Salutations (Thanks xx99): Adding Turnaround-B Sun Salutations to your mix-up game is a great way to keep your opponent on their toes and score some damage. Turnaround-Bs can be performed by "Flicking the control stick in the direction you want to turn, let it return to neutral, and press B immediately afterward." - xx99! For more info: http://smashboards.com/threads/turnaround-bs-b-reverses-and-wavebounces-know-the-difference.334389/

• Sun Salutation into instant roll: This is a basic yet criminally overlooked technique that has proven quite useful in my mix-up and movement game. If you perform a SS in the air you have the option to roll forwards or backwards the instant you land. The mix-ups this allows is fantastic. One example is that you can run in one direction jump and SS then roll behind your opponent and attack, it's also great for baiting your opponents laggy moves. This technique is hard to read because of the following options you have upon landing and is great against aggressive opponents:Land normally and Shield

1. 1. Roll behind your opponent
   2. Roll forwards just out of attack range
   3. Pivot Sun Salutation shot (to catch them by surprise)
   4. Quickly shield then spot dodge

• Half charged SSs are your friend: One mistake I made early on was putting too much emphasis on having a fully charged SS on me at all times. The result of this is that my play-style became very predictable. I decided to switch things up and use half charged SSs and feel they are a better tool on the lead up to KO percents for the following reasons:

1. 1. They are much faster to charge (meaning better pressure, less likely to be punished)
   2. You have access to air "Sun Salutation Instant Roll" (as it only works while charging an SS)
   3. You don't lose that much damage (around 4%)
   4. You can transition into a fully charged SS (at KO%s much more easily and safely)
   5. It confuses your opponent (They will be waiting for a full SS)
   6. You're less likely to be KO'd by a reflected SS (this has happened more times than I'd like to admit lol)

(Updated: 2/1/15)

• Deep Breathing Air Dodge Cancel (Thanks Salad Bowl!): As we established earlier mixups are the key to getting the upper hand with WFT and DBADC is definitely one way to achieve this. This technique involves using Deep Breathing whilst in the air to affect your momentum. If you use this well you can bait your opponent to use laggy attacks that you can punish. Definitely a useful mixup tool.

Hope this info proves useful. As this may be the WFT we have for the duration of Smash 4's life (Sakurai says no more patches) let's make the most of her and build her meta!

 

[PurpleWeeaboo]

Nice to see somebody recognize the potential her recovery can do offensively.

Hoops along with her Dsmash are the best gimping tools.

 

[CoolPalMitch]

I've found that WFT's Nair can actually combo into itself 3 times if the opponent is at the right percentage (it varies with each character). Basically, do a Fast Fall Nair, and if both hits connect, jump, then Nair again, then double jump, then Nair again. If done right, this can do 42% (48% with Deep Breathing!), so I think this could be considered useful by some.

 

[crisspy727]

I've found that WFT's Nair can actually combo into itself 3 times if the opponent is at the right percentage (it varies with each character). Basically, do a Fast Fall Nair, and if both hits connect, jump, then Nair again, then double jump, then Nair again. If done right, this can do 42% (48% with Deep Breathing!), so I think this could be considered useful by some.

Welp that's already been figured out =O.

 

[CoolPalMitch]

Welp that's already been figured out =O.

Well, I hadn't seen anyone else bring it up before, so I thought as far as I knew it was undiscovered. :/

 

[crisspy727]

Well, I hadn't seen anyone else bring it up before, so I thought as far as I knew it was undiscovered. :/

I think it was brought up in the general forum like way back then but it's cool.Nair is just a great combo starter even with a early FFNair for both hit's or even a later FFNair just to get the first hitbox.

 

[SuaveChaser]

I like to use her down tilt after landing the jab combo. Great info and post.

 

[GalaxyWaffles]

*INCOMING*

If you didn't already know you can speed up Header. By quickly pressing through you'll speed up the animation making Wii Fit hit the ball much faster. This also helps with trying to pull of a spike with Header since you can speed up the move.

• Up-throw is her most damaging throw (if I'm not mistaken) while it may seem useless it allows you to tack on a good amount of % and pull off fully charged SS & a deep breathing
• DB stalling is real and is a legit thing to do when off stage or trying to return to the ledge/stage
• CRAWL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND, DON'T FORGET IT !! The amount of moves she can crawl and duck under is actually hilarious. It also becomes a staple in certain match-ups (ex: WFT vs Fox or ZSS)
• SS does have a push effect when charging.. you can try to gimp characters using it..

 

[DRU192]

*INCOMING*

If you didn't already know you can speed up Header. By quickly pressing through you'll speed up the animation making Wii Fit hit the ball much faster. This also helps with trying to pull of a spike with Header since you can speed up the move.

• Up-throw is her most damaging throw (if I'm not mistaken) while it may seem useless it allows you to tack on a good amount of % and pull off fully charged SS & a deep breathing
• DB stalling is real and is a legit thing to do when off stage or trying to return to the ledge/stage
• CRAWL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND, DON'T FORGET IT !! The amount of moves she can crawl and duck under is actually hilarious. It also becomes a staple in certain match-ups (ex: WFT vs Fox or ZSS)
• SS does have a push effect when charging.. you can try to gimp characters using it..

• "CRAWL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND, DON'T FORGET IT !! The amount of moves she can crawl and duck under is actually hilarious. It also becomes a staple in certain match-ups (ex: WFT vs Fox or ZSS)"

• *adds to my list! Tested this out against a Fox player in a warm up match today with a pretty funny result, check das! http://youtu.be/fJJ-1TY1y68

 

[DRU192]

I've found that WFT's Nair can actually combo into itself 3 times if the opponent is at the right percentage (it varies with each character). Basically, do a Fast Fall Nair, and if both hits connect, jump, then Nair again, then double jump, then Nair again. If done right, this can do 42% (48% with Deep Breathing!), so I think this could be considered useful by some.

I've heard a lot about the combo potential of Nair (Crisspy's vids are fantastic) but I'm still working on using it effectively in my matches. As soon as I figure out how to use it efficiently in my personal play-style I'll add it to the list but thanks for sharing.

 

[Salad Bowl]

Oh there's also Deep Breathing Air Dodge Cancel

This is done by using deep breathing in the air then air dodging. It makes you freeze for a second like a melee air dodge but you don't fall into freefall. This can mess up your opponents timing when they try to hit you in the air, or trying to stop you from falling to the stage.

You can do tricky things with this AT like jumping at your opponent then DB air dodge canceling back so they might be stuck in ending lag after they try to punish.

There's so many potential air mixups with this.

 

[DRU192]

Oh there's also Deep Breathing Air Dodge Cancel

This is done by using deep breathing in the air then air dodging. It makes you freeze for a second like a melee air dodge but you don't fall into freefall. This can mess up your opponents timing when they try to hit you in the air, or trying to stop you from falling to the stage.

You can do tricky things with this AT like jumping at your opponent then DB air dodge canceling back so they might be stuck in ending lag after they try to punish.

There's so many potential air mixups with this.

Stuff like this makes me glad I started this thread, can't wait to hit the lab when I get home from work and try this out. Thanks for sharing bro.

 

[SpScarecrow]

I actually start a match with Deep Breathing to build percent early and net an early KO for an advantage. Also if KO'd use the invincibility to either get a free fully charged Sun Salutation or a free Deep Breathing. I find that the 2nd hit of her up is the hit that gimps. Crossup sh fair is great shield pressure as the back hit does more shield damage. Roll cancel grab works wonders for extra range.

 

[CoolPalMitch]

• Using Header to ledge drop (Work in progress): If you use header near enough to the ledge you can quickly ledge drop. I’m currently looking for practical applications for this. I’ll keep you posted with any cool developments.

this just made me think of something. Slow drop from the ledge (hold away from the ledge, not down) and immediately double tap Side B. This will cause the ball to launch horizontally back onto the stage, catching anyone hoping to edgeguard completely off guard. This makes for a less predictable and much less punishable ledge attack than simply attacking while on the ledge. I hope no one's already discovered this too! (I'd like to feel like I'm actually contributing something here -.-)

 

[DRU192]

this just made me think of something. Slow drop from the ledge (hold away from the ledge, not down) and immediately double tap Side B. This will cause the ball to launch horizontally back onto the stage, catching anyone hoping to edgeguard completely off guard. This makes for a less predictable and much less punishable ledge attack than simply attacking while on the ledge. I hope no one's already discovered this too! (I'd like to feel like I'm actually contributing something here -.-)

I think this has already been discovered but I've never been able do it properly the way others have recommended, your way sounds nice and simple so I'll definitely be trying it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SpScarecrow]

Can we talk about how perfect pivoting might help her game? If anything ftilt got much better

 

[CoolPalMitch]

Perfect pivoting might help some people with the range issues people have with their F-Smash, just pivot towards your opponent and flick the C-Stick (assuming you're using it for Smashes). It helps way more than Stutter Step

 

[DRU192]

Can we talk about how perfect pivoting might help her game? If anything ftilt got much better

Definitely, I'm still struggling to understand how perfect pivot works, so a nice simple explanation would be much appreciated. Also if someone more knowledgeable than I could explain how to roll grab and its benefits against roll > pivot grab then that would be great as well.

 

[Salad Bowl]

I bet yall that it's gonna get patched anyways so what's even the point

They took it out of brael because they didn't want there to be a huge skill gap from players and they wanted to level the playing field. I don't see it being around for long

 

[DRU192]

I bet yall that it's gonna get patched anyways so what's even the point

They took it out of brael because they didn't want there to be a huge skill gap from players and they wanted to level the playing field. I don't see it being around for long

See this is one of the issues I have with basing my entire gameplan around ATs, I think my time is better spent building up my fundamentals and exploring aspects of WFTs moveset that wont get patched. Still interested in perfect pivot at a surface level though.

 

[SuaveChaser]

Perfect pivoiting looks useful but then i kinda feel it is a waste of effort it isn't as useful as Wavedash so i don't want to invest learning. I rather just become a better WFT main overall. If it does help with Fsmash i will learn it.

 

[SpScarecrow]

I only use fsmash for reads. The back of the hit usually hits people who are at the end of a roll. Can we talk about how good Dsmash is against the kirby matchup? I played a kirby yesterday and was frustrated that ftilt whiffed alot. I had to rely on nair bair and shield grab. Nair can easily stuff Down B on its startup. But Dsmash works wonder on constant rolling. (I hate using the word spam because i feel like people use it because they dont know how to deal with a certain tactic)

 

[SuaveChaser]

I only use fsmash for reads. The back of the hit usually hits people who are at the end of a roll. Can we talk about how good Dsmash is against the kirby matchup? I played a kirby yesterday and was frustrated that ftilt whiffed alot. I had to rely on nair bair and shield grab. Nair can easily stuff Down B on its startup. But Dsmash works wonder on constant rolling. (I hate using the word spam because i feel like people use it because they dont know how to deal with a certain tactic)

Down Smash is does work pretty well on short characters in general i try to use it to punish rolls it doesn't work for me somtimes. I like using down tilt as well.

 

[Kith]

I find that I'm using the back hitbox of the first jab a to punish dash attacks that I side step. If they're by the edge, the angle they fly sets them up nicely for stomps/gimps (especially if they're Little Mac). Otherwise, if they don't tech, they hit the floor and you can follow up with a dash attack or Sun Salutation.

 

[DRU192]

I find that I'm using the back hitbox of the first jab a to punish dash attacks that I side step. If they're by the edge, the angle they fly sets them up nicely for stomps/gimps (especially if they're Little Mac). Otherwise, if they don't tech, they hit the floor and you can follow up with a dash attack or Sun Salutation.

1xJab is an awesome tool, the knockback it gives is fantastic. One of my go to moves for sure.

 

[Tylendal]

I'm having trouble trying to do a SHFF N-Air. If I try to Fast Fall before I N-Air, I hit the ground too quickly. If I try to Fast Fall after I N-Air, I either N-Air too high to hit the opponent, or, if I wait, I hit the ground before I can even try to Fast Fall.
I know roughly how it's supposed to work in principle, but I'm not sure just in what order I'm supposed to string everything together. I keep seeing all these great tips and combos involving a SHFF N-Air, but I can't quite pull them off.

 

[SpScarecrow]

I'm having trouble trying to do a SHFF N-Air. If I try to Fast Fall before I N-Air, I hit the ground too quickly. If I try to Fast Fall after I N-Air, I either N-Air too high to hit the opponent, or, if I wait, I hit the ground before I can even try to Fast Fall.
I know roughly how it's supposed to work in principle, but I'm not sure just in what order I'm supposed to string everything together. I keep seeing all these great tips and combos involving a SHFF N-Air, but I can't quite pull them off.

I tend to jump and nair as i cross up or do it as im rising then i fast fall hitting with the 2nd hit. Ive seen crisopy do it then slide up smash. But i have a hard time getting the slide up smash.

 

[DRU192]

Here's something I just found (not sure if it's common knowledge) that I'll definitely be adding to my repertoire. If you perform a Bair really close to the ground you can still hit with it but the recovery lag is drastically reduced. This makes dash > short hop > airdodge > crossup Bair a potentially devastating ground approach option. Air-dodge is useful for two reasons 1) it allows you to approach with invincibility and 2) it really helps with timing your Bair. Pretty excited by this

 

[DRU192]

I think this has already been discovered but I've never been able do it properly the way others have recommended, your way sounds nice and simple so I'll definitely be trying it. Thanks for sharing.

Just spent some time in training mode and I've mastered your method of doing the quick ledge header. Holding back instead of down (what I was doing) really helped. Thanks bro!

 

[xx99]

Here's something I just found (not sure if it's common knowledge) that I'll definitely be adding to my repertoire. If you perform a Bair really close to the ground you can still hit with it but the recovery lag is drastically reduced. This makes dash > short hop > airdodge > crossup Bair a potentially devastating ground approach option. Air-dodge is useful for two reasons 1) it allows you to approach with invincibility and 2) it really helps with timing your Bair. Pretty excited by this

I'm a big fan of throwing out low b-airs (particularly when the opponent is at kill percentages). Your method is perfectly viable, but you should also learn RAR b-air as a mix-up option. You can approach from the front so you don't have to worry about crossing your opponent (it's easier to space) plus you can throw it out immediately after you leave the ground (so it's faster and easier to get lower).

 

[GalaxyWaffles]

Her Utilt does have it's uses..

 

[DRU192]

• Air pivot Sun Salutation: If you want to quickly fire off a sun salutation in the opposite direction you’re facing while maintaining momentum, perform a Nair or Air Dodge then quickly press SS and then the direction you want to fire in. WFT should then instantly turn around and fire her SS. I can definitely see this being a useful tool when you're being chased.

 

[DRU192]

• Sun Salutation into instant roll: This is a basic yet criminally overlooked technique that has proven quite useful in my mix-up and movement game. If you perform a SS in the air you have the option to roll forwards or backwards the instant you land. The mix-ups this allows is fantastic. One example is that you can run in one direction jump and SS then roll behind your opponent and attack, it's also great for baiting your opponents laggy moves. This technique is hard to read because of the following options you have upon landing and is great against aggressive opponents:

1. 1. Land normally and Shield
   2. Roll behind your opponent
   3. Roll forwards just out of attack range
   4. Pivot Sun Salutation shot (to catch them by surprise)
   5. Quickly shield then spot dodge

• Half charged SSs are your friend: One mistake I made early on was putting too much emphasis on having a fully charged SS on me at all times. The result of this is that my play-style became very predictable. I decided to switch things up and use half charged SSs and feel they are a better tool on the lead up to KO percents for the following reasons:

1. 1. They are much faster to charge (meaning better pressure)
   2. You have access to air "Sun Salutation instant roll" (as it only works while charging an SS)
   3. You don't lose that much damage (around 4%)
   4. You can transition into a fully charged SS (at KO%s much more easily and safely)
   5. It confuses your opponent (They will be waiting for a full SS)
   6. You're less likely to be KO'd by a reflected SS (this has happened more times than I'd like to admit lol)

Applying both of these techniques to my play-style has really helped make my WFT more of a threat. If you're not using them already, I hope they help you as well.

 

[DRU192]

Her Utilt does have it's uses..

Care to spill some interesting applications?

 

[SpScarecrow]

Care to spill some interesting applications?

Decent anti air. Can combo into itself. Comes out fast with low lag. The hitbox could be better though. Utilt into nair. Uptilt Uptilt at like 20%.

 

[Kith]

I use U-tilt a lot, usually after nair at low percents. Not sure if it's a true combo though, but it seems like it

 

[GalaxyWaffles]

Decent anti air. Can combo into itself. Comes out fast with low lag. The hitbox could be better though. Utilt into nair. Uptilt Uptilt at like 20%.

Couldn't have said it better myself haha

 

[SuaveChaser]

I love WFT's up smash.

 

[GTZ]

I love WFT's up smash.

I picked up playing as her yesterday. I was bored with normal bunch of mains, so I started using her and I am pleasantly surprised. She is fun, challenging, and very satisfying to win with. I ave actualled played some of the harder matchups against some pretty skilled players online (Zero Suit and Diddy Kong being the tougher matchups) and have had great success. C.Falcon gives me some trouble too due to WFT's cool down periods. She can be very punishable, but if you know proper spacing she is a very very, I repeat, VERY viable contender for competitive play.

I like the fact not many people (at least that I have faced at this point) have a lot of experience fighting her.

I would love to continue my practice with her to see what I can come up with for pointers. I will be uploading a video from 1v1 for glory on wii u at some point during the holiday break. Stay tuned.

-- oh and as for the above statement, I too love her USmash, as well as her aerial u smash. Her Fsmash though, that kill power is real

 

[BJN39]

So l discovered WFT' FAir has like, the earliest auto-cancel imaginable. It can AC after frame 25. Frame 25. That's like, super early for aerials, especially considering most AC windows were worsened in the transition to SSB4.

Also, almost all the rest of her aerials have great AC windows as well. Especially UAir, which is comparable to FAir.