Zero Suit Samus Strategy

[Ørion]

Hello, I'm fairly new to competitive super smash bros. but have been playing the series since its first iteration. I wanted to write about zamus's moves and some tactics primarily so I can get feedback from other people. Hopefully, this will inadvertently help some newer players learn how to play. Please feel free to comment, compliment, criticize, scorn, or anything else to this information.

MOVES:

Neutral A: A fairly basic jab with weak damage.

up tilt: Good for knocking opponents in the air and can lead to nice aerial combos.

Side tilt: Not spectacular, fairly low damage, not really much special.

Down tilt: Much like up tilt in that it can be used to hit opponents in the air and start combos that can rack up damage.

Up Smash: Good damage and range, good for keeping opponents in the air

Down Smash: Paralyzer, its odd that this move is a smash. Nice stun, but short range.

Side Smash: Eh. Not great damage or knock-back. I would use side special over this. One advantage, however, is that this can go behind you which helps if you're not sure how your opponent is going to land.

Up Aerial: Fantastic, nice high knock-back, easy to juggle, and it is quite possible to KO with a combination of these.

Side Aerial: Pretty good, can be used to keep opponents from the ledge and KO them.

Back Aerial: Decent damage for one kick, about as much as both side aerial kicks and good knockback.

Down Aerial: Decent damage, high speed, but easily results in self-KOs because once started, you cannot get out of it. I do not recommend using in the air near the edge of the stage.

Neutral Aerial: Decent damage, low knock-back.

Neutral Special: I love this attack. The paralyzer works great in combinations. I have found that you can stun your opponent then go in for a grab, spike them down so the go back in the air and then juggle them with Up aerial. One complaint is that it has short range for a projectile and you cannot hold on to the charge I.E. it automatically fires after about a second.

Up Special: Good for combos, decent damage. My favorite thing is that this can go through objects. For example, in Spear Pillar, you can go to the bottom edge, jump and use this to hit the opponent when he/she is not expecting it. Sometimes you can combo it before they can get to higher ground.

Down Special: A nice jump that is good for moving around quickly and recovering. While in this jump, press any button to turn it into a kick that can spike nicely if you hit the opponent right.

Side Special: Great attack, good damage and knock-back, nice range. One problem is that it has a deadspot that can mess up your game and allow the opponent to get the upper hand.

Throw: Nice range, but can't be used at close range. The Down throw seems particularly good for setting up aerial combos.

Recovery: Two jumps, the Down Special flip and a tether recovery, I would rate her recovery better than average. A note is that you can tether recovery with either the Up Special or the Side Specials

VARIOUS TACTICS:

*You can make good combinations utilizing her good aerial game, which can quickly rack up damage and possibly KO your opponent.

*The neutral B can be used in nice combinations. I tend to use the grab with it. One nice not is that if you miss the shot, your opponent will be focusing on that and I find that I can dash up and grab them while their avoiding the shot anyway.

*Suit Parts, I had to mention these. Gives you a great advantage at the start of a match. I tend to immediately fire two, trying to get them to hit the opponent, bounce off and fall of the map so that your opponent can't use them, and then save my lastt one for later. These can also be used well if your opponent is trying to get back to the edge. With a well aimed shot you can push them back further from the edge.

IN CONCLUSION:

Zero suit samus works well with quick players who use fast combinations to quickly rack up damage on their opponents. The combinations also stop your opponent from damaging you because, unfortanetely, Zamus is very light and easily KOd.

USEFUL LINKS:

Frame Data on Zamus, thanks to DeliciousCake for putting this on the Forum

The best youtube tutorial on changing to zamus I've seen

 

[fransisco4]

U are lacking an aerial move(i think).

 

[ph00tbag]

You're underrating ftilt and Dsmash, IMO. First of all, ftilt can force your opponent to trip at different percents depending on how you angle it, and straight and upwards angling make it force trips at damages upwards of fifty on grounded opponents. This leads directly into dsmash, which can combo into itself at high percentages, as well as grabs and other things. Down angled ftilt also has pretty good range and knockback.

Dsmash, as I already mentioned, can combo into itself, and it has stun properties that make it different from Paralyzer. In particular, at higher percent, low knockback moves become unable to interrupt the stun, meaning you can throw in jabs before your next move. You can also throw in another dsmash without losing the stun at higher percents. Finally, dsmash actually has fairly ridiculous range when you really look at it. It's range is almost as good as dtilt, really.

 

[Ørion]

U are lacking an aerial move(i think).

You're right, I completely forgot about back aerial, I'll add that.

You're underrating ftilt and Dsmash, IMO. First of all, ftilt can force your opponent to trip at different percents depending on how you angle it, and straight and upwards angling make it force trips at damages upwards of fifty on grounded opponents. This leads directly into dsmash, which can combo into itself at high percentages, as well as grabs and other things. Down angled ftilt also has pretty good range and knockback.

Dsmash, as I already mentioned, can combo into itself, and it has stun properties that make it different from Paralyzer. In particular, at higher percent, low knockback moves become unable to interrupt the stun, meaning you can throw in jabs before your next move. You can also throw in another dsmash without losing the stun at higher percents. Finally, dsmash actually has fairly ridiculous range when you really look at it. It's range is almost as good as dtilt, really.

I probably should have mentioned the tripping factor with the ftilt, but I dont like to use this move with the expectation that it will trip because it's a risk. The dsmash has very good range for what it is, but my point was that it does not have near the range as the paralyzer gun. I tend not to use dsmash to combo to another dsmash, as this is harder to use for later aerial combos than using a paralyzer-downthrow. It is probably a good idea, though, to use a dsmash at closer range because the stun lasts longer than the paralyzer stun.

I appreciate your input, I'm gunna go test some of this out