What are Roy's strengths compared to Marth?

[Skweejji]

As the title says

 

[lolazerz]

d-tilt. Can kill sooner. Better chant. Teh Ph1r3. That's really all that he has that Marth doesn't as for both of their strengths. Chain throws and comboing. That's all I could think of at least

 

[SebastianPhoton]

he has better b moves and a better upsmash and hes a fastfaller

 

[Link24a]

Dtilt, b, side b, down b sometimes, up b for recovery???

And @ lolazerz no he can't kill earlier

 

[lolazerz]

He can kill a little earlier with f-smash but ya overall not really

 

[Link24a]

Marth's fsmash has more knockback growth and actually has setups

 

[Spak]

D-Tilt is better for combining than Maths, but he doesn't have the Toothpick because of the KB. Also, he doesn't really have much to combo into. He can't be waveshined because he's knocked down whenever shined, his counter kills Spacies recoveries, and he can't be Marth Killer'd because his Up-B is multi-hit. Marth's Up-B is still better because it covers more distance though. Also, U-Smash is better.

Marth has more kill setups, edgeguarding options, MUCH better hitstun (Roy's low hitstun is the reason he can't combo), Smash attacks, and the nature of Marth's sweetspots means that he has a lot more range, meaning that you can have much safer spacing. Also, all the moves that I didn't list Roy having an advantage with Marth has an advantage in (with the exception of grab being the same, Uairs being pretty close, and DB and DED being pretty close).

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Roy's counter comes out really late (like frame 8) and doesn't stay out very long, making it harder to hit than Marth's. He does have the best rest punish in the game, however. It's not Flare Blade; you only have 20-ish frames to react and start charging. His Reverse Blazer kills Jiggs at 0%, depending on how high the ceiling is (just barely works on FD).

 

[1000g2g3g4g800999]

Roy's Flare Blade has higher base knockback and growth than Shield Breaker, Blazer can OHKO lighter floaty characters on smaller stages and put faster falling characters into tech-chase positions. Usmash OoS is a much better option, he's a (marginally) smaller target, Dsmash does 21 percent on the first hit alone (lol). Best dtilt in the game, Marth killer protection and more horizontal mobility on Blazer (they can still just jump over the sword when you sweetspot). DED has a meteor, Fully charged Flare Blade is an OHKO if the opponent's shield somehow breaks, counter is a lot stronger, and Roy just looks way cooler.

 

[Link24a]

Roy's Flare Blade has higher base knockback and growth than Shield Breaker, Blazer can OHKO lighter floaty characters on smaller stages and put faster falling characters into tech-chase positions. Usmash OoS is a much better option, he's a (marginally) smaller target, Dsmash does 21 percent on the first hit alone (lol). Best dtilt in the game, Marth killer protection and more horizontal mobility on Blazer (they can still just jump over the sword when you sweetspot). DED has a meteor, Fully charged Flare Blade is an OHKO if the opponent's shield somehow breaks, counter is a lot stronger, and Roy just looks way cooler.

Blazer on fast fallers is a bad idea because there's so much lag on falling back down and Marth's dancing blade has a meteor too

 

[Spak]

Roy's Flare Blade has higher base knockback and growth than Shield Breaker, Blazer can OHKO lighter floaty characters on smaller stages and put faster falling characters into tech-chase positions. Usmash OoS is a much better option, he's a (marginally) smaller target, Dsmash does 21 percent on the first hit alone (lol). Best dtilt in the game, Marth killer protection and more horizontal mobility on Blazer (they can still just jump over the sword when you sweetspot). DED has a meteor, Fully charged Flare Blade is an OHKO if the opponent's shield somehow breaks, counter is a lot stronger, and Roy just looks way cooler.

Flare Blade takes a lot longer than Shield Breaker to fully charge (which is why it is largely irrelevant), Jiggs is pretty much the only person you would have an opportunity to OHKO because you would get punished super hard for missing or hitting more than just the first hitbox, Usmash OoS is very rarely used (they have to be super close to you and it's an easy punish if they manage to avoid the first couple hitboxes), Marth's D-Smash doesn't do that much less (a difference of 5%), Marth's D-Tilt is one of the most valuable edge-guarding tools in the game (and he has other tools to combo with), I'll re-emphasize that Roy's recovery doesn't cover nearly as much distance (making Marth's more useful in general), the DED Meteor is very weak and is usually only used for style, you're opponent's shield has a lot more problems than a broken shield if they allowed Roy to shield pressure them that much, counter isn't out for nearly as long and comes out later, and I agree with the last one.

 

[1000g2g3g4g800999]

Blazer on fast fallers is a bad idea because there's so much lag on falling back down and Marth's dancing blade has a meteor too

When I say "fast fallers" I don't mean spacies per say. If they techroll or you land at least 10 frames before them, it works. Not saying it's actually good lol.
@ Spak The first thing is referring to the move uncharged, it has 40 base knockback and 110 scaling compared to 30 and 100 from Marth. Usmash OoS isn't good with either, I'm just saying Roy's version is superior. I agree about Marth's dtilt, but Roy's allows a followup if you want to move the opponent away or go for damage, and if they DI away so that it's hard to follow up, you get positioning anyway. The reason I mention meteors has to do with properties regarding knockback when someone hits a surface, and it's at least a way to force someone back to the ground, though you don't have to do it (and because it's fun when you land it). I used the word "stronger" instead of better because counter is a side-grade (like a lot of things between the two, but he's mostly downgraded).

 

[NIFOFD]

D-Tilt is better for combining than Maths, but he doesn't have the Toothpick because of the KB. Also, he doesn't really have much to combo into. He can't be waveshined because he's knocked down whenever shined, his counter kills Spacies recoveries, and he can't be Marth Killer'd because his Up-B is multi-hit. Marth's Up-B is still better because it covers more distance though. Also, U-Smash is better.

Marth has more kill setups, edgeguarding options, MUCH better hitstun (Roy's low hitstun is the reason he can't combo), Smash attacks, and the nature of Marth's sweetspots means that he has a lot more range, meaning that you can have much safer spacing. Also, all the moves that I didn't list Roy having an advantage with Marth has an advantage in (with the exception of grab being the same, Uairs being pretty close, and DB and DED being pretty close).

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Roy's counter comes out really late (like frame 8) and doesn't stay out very long, making it harder to hit than Marth's. He does have the best rest punish in the game, however. It's not Flare Blade; you only have 20-ish frames to react and start charging. His Reverse Blazer kills Jiggs at 0%, depending on how high the ceiling is (just barely works on FD).

Just wanna point out that UP-B doesn't kill Jiggs on FD if they DI correctly. Only kills for sure on Yoshi's and Pokemon, plus certain platforms on other maps. Also wanna point out that flare blade on shield break won't even work if your opponent mashes (unless you are going to release it before the full charge). Not that Roy will ever break a shield in melee, but whatever.

On a completely different note, Roy's faster falling speed can be an advantage in certain situations, but it's usually a bad thing. Just thought it'd be worth mentioning even if it is a double edged sword (haha get it!?)