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Advice Who is a Good Secondary for Dealing with Rush Down Characters?

Milk Eye

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Hello, I am new to Smashboards, and want to get into high level play. I main Cloud since I dropped my Smash 4 main, Ike, when I found that I prefer his playstyle more. I've been looking here and there for Cloud's matchup spread. I notice that a lot of these characters are rush down or aggressive characters. So I was wondering what characters I could Secondary to help with this. The reason that I don't say this is asking for a Cloud secondary is that more characters struggle with these types of character so it'd be benificial for all people looking for this type of secondary to see. Thanks for your responses.
 
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Diddy Kong

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You drop Ike in Ultimate? But you played him in Smash 4? And now you prefer Cloud? Seems like you got things backward... Ike is amazing now, and much better than he ever was. Pick him up again.

Also, there's no real character that "beats" rushdown characters completely. That'd be unbalanced. I don't have a lot of problems with them as Diddy. But I guess if he isn't your pick, Palutena also works. She's amazing in this game.
 

LightLV

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IMO? The easiest time i have beating rushdown characters on this game is when i'm using heavies.

lightweights die extremely fast on this game.
 
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Milk Eye

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You drop Ike in Ultimate? But you played him in Smash 4? And now you prefer Cloud? Seems like you got things backward... Ike is amazing now, and much better than he ever was. Pick him up again.

Also, there's no real character that "beats" rushdown characters completely. That'd be unbalanced. I don't have a lot of problems with them as Diddy. But I guess if he isn't your pick, Palutena also works. She's amazing in this game.
Thanks for the advice. By "beat" I meant has a favorable match up sorry if that wasn't clear. I'll check out those characters for secondary.
 

Milk Eye

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IMO? The easiest time i have beating rushdown characters on this game is when i'm using heavies.

lightweights die extremely fast on this game.
Thank you for the advice I really appreciate it.
 

Sean²

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I feel like the man you want is Olimar.
 

MG_3989

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Ness can work but he’s essentially a rushdown character himself when you’re playing him aggressively (and you should be). The difference with Ness is he has more defensive and zoning options than a typical rushdown character so he tends to do well against them. The best way to beat a playstyle is to learn how to play it
 
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Crystanium

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If anything, Ike tends to come off as more like Cloud from SSB4. No doubt, Cloud is still good in SSBU, but I just got finished playing against an Ike about 30 minutes ago to warm him up for a tournament he's attending today. I'd say he's pretty solid. His recovery still gives him trouble, at least against Samus, but then again, Cloud is kind of in the same boat. If you wish to deal with a character who rushes you down, you might want to use a character who equally rushes down characters. I don't know how Cloud would have a difficult time against speedy characters.
 

DavemanCozy

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Cloud has pretty good matchups in this game, I mean yeah he got nerfed but he's still threatening to play against. You should be doing fine with him still.

Ike is a lot better in this game too, so try picking him up again. His new u-air is so much better than the helicopter sword (not as flashy but definitely better), and the nerfs to shield all favor his pressure game. His matchup spread is equally great, and his buffs make his previously terrible matchups against characters like Fox a lot more bearable.
 

Diddy Kong

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Indeed pick up Ike again. He’s amazing now.

Also I’ve been thinking, and maybe Wolf is a character you’d enjoy. His blaster is hard to deal with for rush down characters. They gotta adapt to it a lot. And this makes fighting them potentially less frustrating?
 

ATH_

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My personal choices are Inkling/Lucina to handle rushdown. Inkling's bombs can catch aggressive plays and pressure your opponent into moving predictably. Having a character with moves that come out quickly and other "catch-all" moves is a big deal, like Lucina's side-special.

Pichu's mainly who I have trouble with, and I agree that honestly the best strategy against such a tiny and fast character is probably to play another tiny and fast character, hence Inkling. Zoning is extra difficult on Pichu without projectile pressure.
 

Mooer

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I agree with ATH_
Whether you stay with Cloud or move back to Ike, I'd suggest picking up a faster character as a secondary if you're having trouble with rushdowns. At Genesis MKLeo mostly played Ike but used Lucina against faster characters like Pichu. I think if you're already using a sword character, then Lucina is a good choice.
 

WomenRespecter64

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Feb 10, 2019
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If you want to stop people from getting in your face all the time, try using either a fast character, like sonic or little mac, or a spacer, like falco or samus. Using someone with a counter really helps with aggressive characters, like marth or lucario. I'm not saying these are the best characters, just listing some examples.

I would recommend a projectile character though, because your secondary character should be somewhat of an opposite of your main. Your secondary should have what your main lacks.
 

ivean999

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Jan 22, 2019
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In fighting games in general, the theory goes: Rushdown beats Spacing, Spacing beats Grapplers, and Grapplers beat Rushdown. Heavies are usually your best answer here.
 

Venclaire

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Heavies or just stick it out with Cloud honestly. He can more than hold his own against rushdown. Barring like, Greninja and Pichu though.
 

Justin Allen Goldschmidt

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Play Pokemon Trainer and try all three Pokemon against rushdown characters to see which is working best for you, then take into account which archetype each Pokemon falls into, then choose another character of that archetype and try it out. Or, if you think my idea is stupid, I'd go with Palutena.
 

BEASTMASTERTOAD

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I have a good bit of success with Dark Samus when it comes to rushdown characters. Her morph ball bombs make it easy to slow up their tempo so they aren’t always immediately charging in for a hit. Missiles (not Super Missiles) work wonders as well for disrupting their flowchart, giving you counter attack opportunities or follow-ups if it hits.
 

Joqu73

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Apr 14, 2019
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Hello, I am new to Smashboards, and want to get into high level play. I main Cloud since I dropped my Smash 4 main, Ike, when I found that I prefer his playstyle more. I've been looking here and there for Cloud's matchup spread. I notice that a lot of these characters are rush down or aggressive characters. So I was wondering what characters I could Secondary to help with this. The reason that I don't say this is asking for a Cloud secondary is that more characters struggle with these types of character so it'd be benificial for all people looking for this type of secondary to see. Thanks for your responses.
Whenever I deal with rushdown characters I either like to play super rush down as well, with like Pichu or diddy or I play a zoning character that can camp like the Belmonts.
 
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