Yoshi's grab: Yes or no?

[nicalobe]

Hey, I've been working on my yoshi for several months now, and I'm understanding when to use everything at their certain times. The one thing I still can't figure out though is whether or not to use Yoshi's grab, and if yes, when? When I play with my friends, I try to use the shield grab, which usually takes too long and causes me to be wide open for some punishment. Please help!

 

[Bullfrog]

I don't know the details on WHEN, but if you grab, use the dash grab. It's faster, but you just have to space differently, since it can go through your opponent.

 

[MetalLuigi1209]

I usually grab when I dodge my opponents attack, wavedash behind them, and catch them offguard. Doing this near a ledge can get in some possible good KO's.

 

[technomancer]

Grab should be used sparingly. Here are some good times to use it:

When an oppoent is landing from an aerial
When an opponent is teching or rolling
When an opponent missed a laggy attack
Following up on a situation where they will likely shield (like after a combo or a quick hit)

Like Bullfrog said, the Dash grab is ftw.

Edit: MetalLuigi- you must be crazy fast.

 

[Hal-Yur-Azn-Pal]

I usually shiled grab after I land a fair and the opponent doesnt tech away. Then as they're getting up I put up my shield then press A.

 

[goateeguy]

Honestly, the only reason i ever use Yoshi is to taunt people by sticking my tongue out at them, which is what the grab is lol.

 

[Shiri]

The only reason I grab with Yoshi is to destroy heavies and fastfallers with 25-70% combos.

 

[Bullfrog]

The only reason I grab with Yoshi is to destroy heavies and fastfallers with 25-70% combos.

That's a pretty good reason. >_>

 

[Shiri]

Have you ever grabbed Bowser out of his recovery? It's pretty cool.

I've done it to DK a few times, but it was totally by accident. You need almost flawless spacing to grab DK's aerial Up+B. Why am I talking about grabbing moves you'd never want to grab? I have no idea!

Anyway, to address the purpose of this thread, yes, you should grab with Yoshi, just like you should grab with every character. I can't think of a single character in the game that doesn't have either a good throw or a viable combo/KO option after a throw.

Yoshi's combos are best started off with grabs because the throws you'll be using (up and down) render the enemy at an almost perfect height, no matter their constitution or percentage. The very least you'll be able to do is an Egg Toss or an up aerial and even these options are a free ~10% (not counting what those moves can lead into on most characters at most percents). Shieldgrabbing is best against dash attacks (Samus, sometimes Peach if they don't space it, definitely Sheik, and Marth if you can time it right). You can also shieldgrab wakeup attacks quite well as long as you know which direction the character will strike first.

You really shouldn't be shieldgrabbing aerials too much. If anything, roll away, lightshield the aerial (I've been lightshielding so much more now, it's amazing), or maybe drop the shield and jab. You can even supershield or just keep the shield up.

Uh...dash grabbing is good, provided you learn approximately how to space it. Grabbing characters out of the air is nice, but that provides more than its fair share of risk. This is most easily done against Fox/Falco/Falcon at ~110%. You can up tilt and then grab them before they can recover, provided you have an idea of which way they'll DI. You can also try some timing tricks with standing grab. Since most characters have a rather quick standing grab, you can bait a dodge from your opponent that is anticipating a standing grab (but who is too used to the timings of grabs from other characters) and standing grab during their dodge to catch them while they're vulnerable.

I could go on and on, but I'll wait for some input from others before I drop my usual page-long posts. =_=

 

[rmusgrave]

I like your page long posts Shiri.

You mentioned uptilt -> grab at 110% on fast fallers? Why not uptilt to smash? I can't think of a time when a throw would be more effective.

 

[nicalobe]

Thanks for the advice. I've always been a fan of grabbing for everyone, and now I might have a better chance with Yoshi

 

[Shiri]

One big reason I like to grab more.

Especially on heavies and Falco/Falcon, a smash isn't always a guaranteed KO. I prefer to grab, chew for an extra 4-10%, then throw to neutral kick for the win. It's granted me more success against Falco than up tilt to a smash ever has, so I like it more.

 

[rmusgrave]

If this Falcon/Falco is a sparring partner, teach them to DI the down throw. Then that won't work anymore, and you'll have to rely on chasing the DI if you're gonna do that. Or you could just smash.

Good players try to DI it, and it is definitely possible to punish the DI. It's an important skill against the fast fallers.

 

[Shiri]

Grrrr, I've been checkmated again! I'll get you yet Bringer! :_:

 

[wuthefwasthat]

life isn't fair. people like bringer always win

 

[cavesonic13]

FUMI grabs

 

[LinkGadra]

I can't really use Yoshi's normal grabs effectively, so I stick with the Egg Lay. It's a little faster than a standard grab and can be done in the air, which is good against shieldgrabbers.