Why Should I do this? (SH Air Dodge -> FFFC)

[DiNoahsaur]

I'm sure we've all watched plenty of amazing peach Players, but one of the stands out to me. He has a very particular playstyle--which frankly, has been giving top players (i.e. Zero, M2k, Ryo, Vinnie, etc.) a run for their money.

I'm taking about Umeki.

More Specifically though, he does a particular thing--that SlayerZ and EoE do every now and then--but it is most characteristic of Umeki in my opinion (based on available YouTube Videos).

Check out these two matches as examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj0LJyiwcnw (Ryo, Ike; vs. Umeki, Peach at Genesis 3)
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A26SS5PjgyY (Vinnie, Sheik; vs Umeki, Peach over.. ?Wifi?)

Umeki often does the following moveset (usually in the Neutral.. but sometimes not)
Short Hop + Air Dodge -> Float Cancel into Fast Fall

I'm wondering, what does Umeki (and in effect, Peach) gain by doing this?

Some thoughts I have:
----Maybe, the dodge allows for a defensive or offensive mix-up, (because peach can follow-up her SH-Air Dodge with Aerials pretty easily)
----Maybe, the movement is just confusing and will cause the opponent to react in improper ways
----Maybe, the movement is to hold a certain position while being able to approach somewhat safely--and the FFFC at the end is just a necessary movement to allow peach to get to the ground unpredictably/quickly?

Some Questions I feel are unanswered (at least, to me):
-----There must be more to this than meets the eye:
------------Possible, it sets up an advantageous position for Peach, if so... what?
----Does it eliminate, or limit, many approach options from your opponents? if so... which ones?

I'm really curious! I've been kind of nonsensically employing this into my playstyle... but--I suppose I never really was able to figure out why Umeki does it in the first place.

Any opinions, tips, or help would be greatly appreciated!


TL:DR; SH+Air Dodge into FFFC, why?

 

[C4RDIN4L]

it can either punish anyone who over commits with an aerial or avoid/catch projectiles and since peach can act out of it relatively quickly it's pretty low commitment. you can't just spam it obviously but it's a great option, as if they're not expecting it or don't space properly they're not going to punish you for it.

 

[Awesomecakes]

JEEZ I should be more active.

I started picking this tech up for myself when I watched Umeki vs Choco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMnMRpsT7_U

Basically, as C4RDIN4L said, its used to punish aerials. Vs zero suit he does use it a little bit more, it can also be used as an alternative to rolls, that allows for better spacing for potential punishes. Its good for avoiding the teather grab, which can catch spotdodges and rolls as well.

I think SlayerZ prefers Back air, as an air-air as it is more of a direct hit, but the reason you'd use airdodge instead is when you don't have the position to hit directly with the Back air (it may be to slow to challenge the aerial or they might be coming in from above more etc..) It is also not really as big of a commitment as Bair in certain situations if you know your options out of airdodge.

You can:
-Nair immediately after dodging as a punish
-Double jump to get away
-Double jump-float (umeki's preferred option) which allows you to avoid landing traps by going back down to the ground after or it can get you potential Dair pressure
-Toad - risky, and a kinda silly option, but if they try to punish you for airdodging and are a bit too slow you can toad to counter the hit. it can stall you in the air a little bit which sometimes confuses people (I use this a little bit more than I should =)


I like the ZSS video as an example because you can clearly see the gameplan being used by umeki. ZSS gets a LOT of Nairs, its a great combo starter and is safe on shield. This means ZSSs are going to be constantly jumping in the air. Umeki knows this and is able to read when Choco is gonna jump, and then he jumps after him to challenge his Nairs, and get his own pressure started when choco goes for the Nair and Zair.

THE LIMITATION on sh airdodge is that it can be read and there is ending lag. If you just jump-airdodge at someone without a plan, you'll get up smashed or worse. What makes umeki's sh-airdodge so good is that he almost always does it after the opponent jumps, and knows whether he should press the situation after the airdodge, or just reset and go back down to the ground.