Yoshi Vs. Ice Climbers matchup

[Jim Jam Flim Flam]

Sorry if this is in a matchup guide or another thread, but I couldn't find it. If it is, feel free to redirect me.
So, I main Pikachu, and recently I have been thinking about picking up Yoshi for dealing with ICs. I try to play all pikachu, and it works out ok, but when I go against ICs I just feel like I can't do much. In my free time I play a lot of Yoshi, and I'm not half bad with him (well, compared to my Pikachu). I know the general stuff, parrying, djc aerials, eggstalls. But I have heard that Yoshi actually has a decent matchup against the ICs. Most people say it's kinda even or slightly in ICs favor, but some say it's in Yoshi's favor. Any way you say it, it's a better matchup than Pika vs ICs. If you don't know, Pika gets completely slaughtered by ICs.
So, what do you think about the Yoshi vs ICs matchup? I know Yoshi is a very different and nuanced character, and he's usually not good to use as a counterpick character, but I am already familiar with the tech skill, and I would rather play Yoshi than Fox or Falcon, as I enjoy him much more.

 

[Sashimi]

Yoshi isn't considered to be a hard counter to ICs, but he doesn't do poorly against them and has a few luxuries that other characters would love to have against ICs. In my opinion, the matchup could be slightly Yoshi favoured or even, but whatever it is, it's not enough to make it a significant problem for either character. Whoever is playing better will win.

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Some of the things Yoshi does well:

Separating the Ice Cimbers - Down Tilt knocks them over at 0, gives Yoshi most or all of the stage, and sets up a frame advantage. This can be used to safely start an Egg Lay, which is safe no matter which climber you grab. If you grab Nana, you she doesn't mash out and you will get a few seconds to fight Popo, which Yoshi is very comfortable doing. If you grab Popo, you will have a chance to get an attack on Nana, but it is possible for Popo to mash out pretty quickly and you will not have time to waste. No matter which climber you grab, the move grants invincibility for Yoshi for 24 frames right up until the end of the move, and Yoshi will be actionable as soon as his invincibility is over. This means you can't be punished on hit by whichever climber you didn't grab. Other moves which are good for separating the climbers are Fair, Nair, or Dsmash when you can safely get it.

Gimping Nana - Once you get the climbers separated, Nana is a joke to KO. Down Tilt carries her across the stage, and she will not tech the move, so you can run cancel Down Tilt again until she is offstage. The move is not very laggy, so you can defend yourself from Popo if you need to. Once you get Nana offstage, let her double jump and then Fair for the KO. Because of Yoshi's double jump armour, going offstage is not dangerous. Popo can't set up an edgeguard from your offstage Nana gimp (unless you are at high %, of course).

Comboing - Yoshi's DJC allows him to switch targets quickly and keep the climbers in the air. After you build a bit of %, ending the combo with a Nair in between the climbers will send them flying away from each other.

Switching playstyles - Yoshi's ground game is enough to fight the ICs on even footing, but his platform movement also lets him get away and stay away when things go wrong. You can fish for stuff from the platforms and stay relatively safe by using good movement and shield dropping when necessary. In my opinion this is more limited, but having the option to jump away, slow the match down and think really helps you adapt your ground game, which is where you get the real good stuff in this matchup.

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Some things ICs do well:

Wall Yoshi out - desynced stuff can be a bit of a pain, especially Ice Block or Blizzard which are difficult to punish when desynced and help ICs establish firm control of the ground. They can't keep this stuff going forever, because it's not an unbeatable strategy, but it does work well when Yoshi is trying to hard to get in. Slowing things down really helps you to find the holes in the ICs desync walls.

Beating parrying - when the Ice Climbers are together, don't bother to parry. Synced Nana is always 6 frames behind Popo and will automatically beat any parry you might get against Popo. When Popo is on his own, parry away!

Grab followups - Wobbling is the obvious example, but Popo has a chaingrab on Yoshi as well. It doesn't last too long but be aware that Popo's grab is dangerous on its own. When the Climbers are separated, it gives Nana time to find her way over and start a wobble.

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You're already aware that there are easier counters to Ice Climbers, but since you said you're not interested in those characters, Yoshi certainly isn't the worst pick you could make. In my opinion, Yoshi also doesn't suffer the problem of having to "play lame" in this matchup. Where many people feel like they have to camp the ICs matchup or be extremely careful to the point that the game is no longer enjoyable, Yoshi has a bit of freedom and gets to do some fun stuff.

 

[Jim Jam Flim Flam]

Yoshi isn't considered to be a hard counter to ICs, but he doesn't do poorly against them and has a few luxuries that other characters would love to have against ICs. In my opinion, the matchup could be slightly Yoshi favoured or even, but whatever it is, it's not enough to make it a significant problem for either character. Whoever is playing better will win.

---

Some of the things Yoshi does well:

Separating the Ice Cimbers - Down Tilt knocks them over at 0, gives Yoshi most or all of the stage, and sets up a frame advantage. This can be used to safely start an Egg Lay, which is safe no matter which climber you grab. If you grab Nana, you she doesn't mash out and you will get a few seconds to fight Popo, which Yoshi is very comfortable doing. If you grab Popo, you will have a chance to get an attack on Nana, but it is possible for Popo to mash out pretty quickly and you will not have time to waste. No matter which climber you grab, the move grants invincibility for Yoshi for 24 frames right up until the end of the move, and Yoshi will be actionable as soon as his invincibility is over. This means you can't be punished on hit by whichever climber you didn't grab. Other moves which are good for separating the climbers are Fair, Nair, or Dsmash when you can safely get it.

Gimping Nana - Once you get the climbers separated, Nana is a joke to KO. Down Tilt carries her across the stage, and she will not tech the move, so you can run cancel Down Tilt again until she is offstage. The move is not very laggy, so you can defend yourself from Popo if you need to. Once you get Nana offstage, let her double jump and then Fair for the KO. Because of Yoshi's double jump armour, going offstage is not dangerous. Popo can't set up an edgeguard from your offstage Nana gimp (unless you are at high %, of course).

Comboing - Yoshi's DJC allows him to switch targets quickly and keep the climbers in the air. After you build a bit of %, ending the combo with a Nair in between the climbers will send them flying away from each other.

Switching playstyles - Yoshi's ground game is enough to fight the ICs on even footing, but his platform movement also lets him get away and stay away when things go wrong. You can fish for stuff from the platforms and stay relatively safe by using good movement and shield dropping when necessary. In my opinion this is more limited, but having the option to jump away, slow the match down and think really helps you adapt your ground game, which is where you get the real good stuff in this matchup.

---

Some things ICs do well:

Wall Yoshi out - desynced stuff can be a bit of a pain, especially Ice Block or Blizzard which are difficult to punish when desynced and help ICs establish firm control of the ground. They can't keep this stuff going forever, because it's not an unbeatable strategy, but it does work well when Yoshi is trying to hard to get in. Slowing things down really helps you to find the holes in the ICs desync walls.

Beating parrying - when the Ice Climbers are together, don't bother to parry. Synced Nana is always 6 frames behind Popo and will automatically beat any parry you might get against Popo. When Popo is on his own, parry away!

Grab followups - Wobbling is the obvious example, but Popo has a chaingrab on Yoshi as well. It doesn't last too long but be aware that Popo's grab is dangerous on its own. When the Climbers are separated, it gives Nana time to find her way over and start a wobble.

---

You're already aware that there are easier counters to Ice Climbers, but since you said you're not interested in those characters, Yoshi certainly isn't the worst pick you could make. In my opinion, Yoshi also doesn't suffer the problem of having to "play lame" in this matchup. Where many people feel like they have to camp the ICs matchup or be extremely careful to the point that the game is no longer enjoyable, Yoshi has a bit of freedom and gets to do some fun stuff.

Thanks for all the info man, I will definitely look into the matchup and see how my Yoshi does against my local ICs player. I just love playing Yoshi, but if I have to, I can play Fox, so I'll find a way. Once I get some more Yoshi practice I might post some stuff in the Yoshi boards.
Again, I really appreciate the info, I couldn't seem to find it anywhere. Best of luck to you