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Which character is good against ROB? (for an average player)

JackyT

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
21
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jackyturbo
Hi everyone!

I came to you ROB mains to seek advice. I'm an average player, my main is Captain Falcon, and I got my ass kicked online by just about any ROB who knew what he was doing. They just kept throwing things at me, and i really didnt know what to do with my close combat character.

According to tier rankings, Cap Falcon should have the edge over ROB, but i'm not a tournament player and these rankings don't really apply at my level.

So my question is : at an average level, who is giving your ROB a hard time? Which character would you recommend?

My side question would be, what strategy should i use with Captain Falcon? But maybe i should go ask that in the Cap Falcon section.

Thanks for reading and thanks also for any helpful advice.
 
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Wintropy

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I think this could probably be asked in the general matchup thread. Regardless, I'll let you know what I think.

I'm not an expert by any means, but playing as R.O.B. whenever the mood strikes me, I have a hell of a time against rushdown fighters like Sheik and Zero Suit Samus.

R.O.B. is a big, slow, floaty, unwieldy target and if you can get into his personal space, he's in trouble. Sheik and Zammy also have projectiles, and although Rotor Arm can reflect them in theory, it's difficult to do in practice: Sheik's needles come out too fast to warrant reflecting, and Zammy's Paralyser is slow but can stun if it hits. Sheik's needles are good for pressuring R.O.B. by striking from afar and piercing his defenses by taking advantage of his slow, cumbersome reactions, and if you pressure him into doing Arm Rotor to reflect them, you basically have a few frames to hit him with a n-air or f-air. Likewise, Zammy can stun R.O.B. and have her way with him as she pleases, and R.O.B.'s large hitbox makes him especially vulnerable to the grab -> pummel -> d-throw -> up-b kill combo.

Captain Falcon is a bit trickier in my experience. He has no ranged moves and has to get in close and personal for the kill. R.O.B. will take advantage of this by pressuring you with lasers and gyros, and a good player will be able to read your moves and punish you for them. Approaching from the air can work in principle, though R.O.B.'s u-tilt and u-air will still batter you if you aren't careful. His throws are also dangerous, as d-throw can lead to a nasty u-air combo that can kill at mid-high percentages and his u-throw is one of the strongest in the game.

R.O.B., at his core, is a zoner. He wants to keep you at bay. Rushing in for the kill and trying to beat him up by outspeeding him will only get you so far. R.O.B. relies on reads and punishes and will ensure you can't get anyway near to him. He can soften you up with these zoner moves and then finish you off with a u-smash, f-smash, u-throw or u-air. While he's also slow to run, R.O.B. can pressure you if you give chase by releasing a b-air, a powerful kill move that can be used effectively for chase punishing. If you're recovering as Cap, be wary of R.O.B.'s d-air, which is incredibly slow, but a guaranteed spike if it connects. A savvy R.O.B. will also make maximum of their gyros, pressuring you from afar by launching them as you rush in and dropping them on the stage to deny approaches. He can also play mindgames with them, charging and canceling constantly until you're not expecting it, and then release it to punish you for a whiffed move. Arm Rotor isn't very effective against Cap, as it's slow and has a lot of commitment to it, but if he uses it to pressure you, he can smack you across the stage and send you away from him. He can follow up with an upward laser or even more gyro pressure, so be wary of that. You're seldom more vulnerable than when you're either far away from R.O.B. (he'll zone you 'til you get aggressive and make a stupid mistake) or at mid-range from him (he'll punish you with a smash or grab if you're just close enough to get hit without hitting him).

For detailed insights on the Cap / R.O.B. matchup, either ask the Cap board or troll through the R.O.B. board 'til you find what you're looking for. Add my NNID if you want, we can have matchups and I'll show you what I know and how to improve.

Nice avatar, by the way. I chuckled profusely. ;3
 

Mister Eric

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Sheik messes me up atm. So does Fox.
Sheik because of quickness.
Fox because of quickness and priority.
 

Rajikaru

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
249
projectile characters, especially ones with poor airgame like ROB, are by nature at a disadvantage against rushdown characters like Shiek, ZSS, Fox, potentialy Greninja, etc.

To give a comprehensive list of rushdown characters I could think of, try any of these:

Shiek
ZSS
Diddy Kong
Fox
Captain Falcon
Greninja
Mii Brawler
Mario(?)


Though, good shield grabbing might help the ROB in question. Doesn't help that most rushdown characters have a projectile of their own which is hard to counter without Customs.
 

JackyT

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Dec 11, 2014
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jackyturbo
Thanks a lot guys! i'm surprised to see rushdown characters are advantaged vs projectile characters, wow i really must've missed something so far...
I was expecting recommendations like the villager or perhaps ness, but yeah I'll definitely try fox and sheik next time. Or i'll try a smarter use of cap falcon maybe...

Thanks especially for your detailed message, Wintropy, i'll get in touch with you in a few days to see if you have time for a game
(i'm outta town at the moment)! You pretty much describe all the things i fell for : rushing in blindly, getting pressured from far away when i was trying to defend, falling for the gyros game, getting grabbed when i wasn't expecting it..... and yeah i got a taste of that d-air spike, too. At the end, i got aggressive, and threw blind falcon kicks which were swiftly punished. Looking forward to practive with you man : )
 

Wintropy

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Winterwhite
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Thanks a lot guys! i'm surprised to see rushdown characters are advantaged vs projectile characters, wow i really must've missed something so far...
I was expecting recommendations like the villager or perhaps ness, but yeah I'll definitely try fox and sheik next time. Or i'll try a smarter use of cap falcon maybe...

Thanks especially for your detailed message, Wintropy, i'll get in touch with you in a few days to see if you have time for a game
(i'm outta town at the moment)! You pretty much describe all the things i fell for : rushing in blindly, getting pressured from far away when i was trying to defend, falling for the gyros game, getting grabbed when i wasn't expecting it..... and yeah i got a taste of that d-air spike, too. At the end, i got aggressive, and threw blind falcon kicks which were swiftly punished. Looking forward to practive with you man : )
Just remember that practice makes perfect, so long as you understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. Getting beaten is part of improving.

Definitely check out the respective characters' boards, though, and ask for matchup advice and games if people are willing. You'll improve much more quickly and efficiently by combining a knowledge of theory with experiential application of skills.
 

Mister Eric

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^

And if you're like me, it might take you quite a while to start figuring out what you're doing wrong, making it harder to learn.
Everything takes time and everyone learns at a diff pace. As time goes on, that pace improves.
 

BlueXenon

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Definitely Mario from my experience. Mario's cape is decent in this mu and he easily out-speeds Rob. Throw out many quick safe attacks while also being aware of your spacing and Rob will have a hard time. When Rob is in the air, don't worry about his mix ups, which aren't even that good, Rob must land eventually. With patience, you can punish Rob's landing options most of the time. Rob has terrible ledge options and you should be reactive when he's on the ledge rather than trying to get a hard read. Use fireballs to add pressure and limit his ledge/landing options.
Mario is capable of edge guarding Rob but you need to fully understand Rob's recovery, mix ups, and player habits in order to safely commit to an edge guard attempt. If you go for a stage spike, don't stop there, make sure to throw out another move in case Rob techs the stage.
 
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B_Bech

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Stick to your guns. Captain Falcon is decent against ROB. Learning to power shield the laser and gyro will be a huge boon to you. Up B is slow and can be spiked with your Dair. Learn some air combos because Falcons can do those on me all day. Honestly, playing online has lag and projectile spam is much harder to punish with rushdown than it is offline. If you really can't seem to learn the MU with your main, switch to Fox. The reflector will take you far.
 

Mister_Backflip

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Jan 23, 2015
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R.O.B. has major problems dealing with any fast character that can close the distance and stay in. ONce someone is in, it can be hard for R.O.B. to create space and re-establish stage control. Characters that can reflect projectiles back aren't a HUGE deal, since a short hop laser that is angled down will always miss R.O.B. if it gets reflected back at him. His gyro can be hit by a reflect, and then works against you, but that just means you have to be a little more careful about when to throw your gyro. Two characters that I believe are R.O.B's worst matchups would be G&W and Villager. G&W because his bucket will catch all your lasers, and a fully charged laser gives G&W a 2 charged bucket. Villager can pocket your gyro and continue to pull it out and repocket it, effectively keeping R.O.B. from shooting another gyro until he takes a stock from villager.
 
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B_Bech

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Game and Watch isn't much of a threat, frankly he just doesn't have the tools to fight ROBs options and he's as light as a feather. His anti projectile is way better on paper.

Also, I have no issues with villager personally. I've said it before, if your whole game is the gyro ... You're doing it wrong. Half of villagers moves can be reflected and he's not great up close. ROB can punish villagers recovery as well.

You're underestimating ROB. Projectiles are important, but they don't define his game.
 

ninrok

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Sheik messes me up atm. So does Fox.
Sheik because of quickness.
Fox because of quickness and priority.
This is good to have confirmed for me. I lose hard to Fox nearly everytime I play one, and fast characters in general feel like a nightmare - especially Sheik.
 
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