Fighting Game Guide

Defense

Spot dodge is a common defensive mechanic. The character stands in place and becomes intangible but not immediately. Intangibility frames start around frame 2 or 3. Once intangibility ends, the rest of Spot Dodge is vulnerable.

Beat spot dodge with multi-hitting attacks, attacks with a lot active frames, or delayed/slow attacks.

Roll is a defensive mechanic that moves the character backwards or forwards and is intangible. It is not immediately intangible, intangibility usually starts on frame 2 or 3. Roll switches sides so it is commonly used to escape the corner and regain center stage. Roll is intangible for the first half and is vulnerable for the second half. There is a lot of endlag for Roll so a failed Roll can get punished.

If you predict a roll, stand where you can punish it. That may mean giving up stage control and standing farther away from your opponent to punish a side-switching roll. Attacks that hit both sides are useful for catching rolls.

Another way to beat roll while keeping pressure is by using jab. If the opponent doesn't roll then jab connects but if the opponent does roll jab whiffs. Jab whiffs very quickly which gives you enough time to punish the roll with another attack.

Shield

Attacks are blocked with a shield. Shield is active immediately but it has endlag and does not disappear immediately. The shield depletes every time an attack is blocked so you don't want to shield too many attacks. If it's possible try to use movement to avoid attacks instead of shielding them. Shield blocks everything so there are no high/low or left/right mixups.

When the shield is completely depleted, the character suffers a guard break and is dizzied. When your opponent's shield is low they may attempt a risky option like a spot dodge, roll, or Up special attack to avoid getting their shield broken. Try to anticipate and punish these options.

Frame data on block is misleading in platform fighters because shielding has endlag and the defender can't immediately act after shieldstun. Shieldstun is the shield equivalent of blockstun. You'll notice that even if you tap and release the shield button as quickly as possible, it takes awhile for the shield to disappear. Usually the only options that can be performed immediately out of shield by canceling shieldstun are jump, grab, Up special attack, roll, and spot dodge. Shield grab is the most common way to punish shielded attacks.

There are no drawbacks to performing an Up special attack immediately out of shield but almost all Up special attacks hit at a vertical angle and don't hit characters on the ground.

You can jump out of shield to move away from your opponent or to attack with an aerial. If your opponent predicts this they can attack again after their initial attack is shielded to hit you out of your jump.

The post-shield mind game looks kind of like this. The defender grabs out of shield to punish the attacker. The attacker spot dodges after their attack is shielded to avoid getting grabbed. The defender predicts this and attacks after shielding to punish the spot dodge. If the attacker predicts this they can attack again after their first attack is shielded to interrupt the defender. And if they do that the defender can grab out of shield to interrupt the attacker.

A way to beat shield grab is using an attack that ends up behind your opponent like a cross-up. Your opponent can't turn around to shied grab.

Im some games the shield can be angled. Angle the shield up to block an aerial sooner and recover earlier. Or when you're on a platform, angle the shield down to block attacks aimed at your toes.

A shield poke is successfully hitting a character while they're shielding. Shield depletes when held and when taking damage. As the shield depletes, it can eventually become smaller than the character. Shield poking is performed by hitting the part of the character that is not protected by the shield. Large characters are sometimes bigger than their shield and can be shield poked without depleting the shield.

You shouldn't always try to punish your opponent's shield. Sometimes just having your attack blocked is a victory for you because you depleted some of your opponent's shield.

Knockback, Combos, and Juggles

The language used to describe combos in platform fighters is different from traditional fighters. There are juggles and combos. A juggle launches the character almost completely vertically high into the air. Everything else that's not a juggle is called a combo. This includes combos that send your opponent flying off their feet and hitting them before they land on the ground. In traditional fighters that would be considered a juggle but in platform fighters it's considered a non-juggle combo. It's a little confusing at first as you will hear things like "this character is easy to juggle but difficult to combo".

Characters suffer knockback when hit and are sent horizontally and vertically away from their opponent. Knockback is determined by the character's damage percentage, weight, gravity, and their opponent's attack. For example, an attack may inflict a lot of horizontal knockback but little vertical knockback.

The more damaged a character is, the more knockback they sustain. Attacks that don't start combos at low damage percentages may start combos at high damage percentages because the opponent is in hitstun longer. And attacks that start combos at low damage percentages may no longer start combos at high damage percentages because the opponent is knocked too far away. Knowing your options at different damage percentages is very important.

At lower damage percentages, it's better to use light attacks, aerials, and combos. Then at higher damage percentages you can start using more heavy attacks and juggles as the risk/reward becomes better. You should be using attacks that give you combos, pressure, okizeme, or edgeguarding opportunities. Using heavy attacks at lower damage percentages knocks your opponent far away from you without giving you a combo or okizeme opportunity.

Characters start flying at high damage percentages after getting hit. After a certain percentage, the character is sent into a blast line and dies before given an opportunity to recover back on stage. This percentage is called the kill percentage and the attack/combo that reliably kills the character at this percentage is called a kill confirm or KO setup. A common kill confirm is hitting a character with light attack to start a combo then killing with a heavy attack or aerial.

Different characters have kill confirms on them at different percentages. Don't get too predictable, don't always go for a kill confirm when your opponent is at the kill percentage. That's predictable and your opponent will know which attacks to avoid. Instead you can continue to damage your opponent and raising their damage percentage higher to create kill confirms with more attacks. Being predictable is the worst thing you can be in a fighting game.

Base knockback is the minimum amount of knockback an attack inflicts. Knockback scaling increases knockback the more damaged the character is. An attack with high base knockback can cause characters to go flying even at low damage percentages. Attacks with high knockback scaling are great for killing characters when they're at high damage percentages. Attacks with fixed knockback always inflict the same amount of knockback.

Falling speed is the speed at which a character descends in the air. A character with a fast falling speed is called a fast faller and a character with a slow falling speed is called a floaty. Falling speed affects how a character is launched. Fast fallers are not launched as high vertically. Fast fallers are more likely to die to horizontal KOs and floaties are more likely to die to vertical KOs.

Floaties, characters with slow falling speed, are more vulnerable to juggles because they are launched higher and spend more time in the air before they land on the ground. Air dodging downwards to land on the ground is a common option players use while getting juggled but this option is less reliable for floaty characters as they are higher into the air. They are more difficult to combo on the ground because they can fall out and away during combos. And recovering off-stage is easier for floaties because they have more time to recover.

Fast fallers can escape juggles easier as they are in the air for a shorter amount of time because they land earlier. They are easier to combo on the ground because they stay closer to the opponent during a combo. And recovering off-stage is more difficult for fast fallers as they fall faster (obviously) and have less time to recover.

Offensively, floaties can perform multiple air actions in a single jump before landing. Fast fallers land quicker so they can perform an aerial then land and recover sooner. Fast fallers have better SHFFL combos.

Weight influences knockback. The heavier a character is, the more knockback is resisted. The heaviest characters in a game are called heavyweights, the lightest characters are lightweights, and the characters between are middleweights. Weight classes are determined by the community and are not official. Knockback and hitstun are connected as the more knockback an attack inflicts the more hitstun it inflicts. Heavyweights incur less hitstun than lighter characters at the same damage percentage and can avoid combos until higher percentages.

Just because a character is floaty doesn't mean they are light or small. And just because a character is heavy doesn't mean they are big or a fast faller. These characteristics are independent of each other. For example, there are light characters that are fast fallers. This type of character suffers more knockback from attacks but can escape ground combos because they land on the ground sooner. When they're launched, they're not launched as high because of their fast falling speed but they are in hitstun longer because of their low weight.

Gravity is another component that affects combos. Gravity is not as important as knockback, weight, or falling speed. Many games do not even have different gravity for characters so don't worry about it too much. Gravity is how soon the character reaches their maximum falling speed. The higher the gravity, the sooner the character reaches their maximum falling speed. This affects how quickly the character stops accelerating during a juggle.

After accumulating a certain amount of damage, characters start tumbling after getting hit. This is shown by smoke fuming out of a character. When a tumbling characters lands on the ground they are knocked down. During tumble you don't have complete control of your fall and you need to air dodge, jump, or attack to get out of it and land without being knocked down. This is why you see players attack after taking a combo.

Don't be predictable when recovering from a juggle or combo. Recovering to the center of the stage is the optimal option but your opponent knows that as it's very predictable. Vary up where you recover after a combo. You can even recover off-stage and grab the ledge to be unpredictable. Vary up your timing as well. Try not to only recover as soon as possible or as late as possible.

Directional Influence

During knockback, the character's trajectory can be altered by holding a direction. This is called directional influence (DI). How to DI depends on the game. In most games you hold a direction during hitstun and your character moves that way during knockback. Check how it's done in your game because it's different for every game. When a player says "DI up-left" they are not necessarily saying to hold the up-left direction, they are saying hold the direction that causes your character to DI up-left.

Here is a defender DIing in response to an attack. They don't DI, then they DI to the left, then DI to the right.

DI has two main uses: escaping combos and surviving when knocked off the stage.

After getting hit by an attack, you can DI away to create distance to keep your opponent from pressuring you. After getting hit by a combo starter, you can DI up and away to fall out of ground combos. After getting hit by a knockdown attack, you can DI away to create distance and deny your opponent okizeme.

DIing is part prediction and part reaction. If you know your opponent's attacks you can try to predict what they're going to do and DI properly. For example, if you're near the edge, your opponent will probably use an attack that sends you off-stage so DI in towards the stage. If you're in the middle of the screen at a low damage percentage, your opponent will probably use an attack with low knockback to combo you so DI up and away from them to escape the combo.

The attacker can predict the defender's DI and adjust their attacks to punish it. This is called a DI mixup. For example, the defender may DI in because they expect the attacker to use an attack with high knockback that knocks them off-stage. The attacker can take advantage of this by using an attack with low knockback that gets a combo if the opponent DIs in.

There is a common misconception that DI alters the distance of knockback. DI alters the trajectory of knockback but the distance stays the same. Changing the trajectory allows you to avoid blast lines and survive. If you're getting knocked into the top blast line, DI to the nearest top corner. If you're getting knocked into a side blast line, DI up so that you get more time to recover back onto the stage.

Before each match, the players agree on which stage they will play their first game. Afterwards the loser gets to choose the stage. The stages have different dimensions and may or may not have soft platforms. Choose the stage that benefits your character both for offensive reasons like killing your opponent and defensive reasons like recovering back on stage. If you play a floaty character that's susceptible to vertical KOs, you may choose a stage with a taller top blast line to help you survive. If you play a character with an attack that inflicts amazing horizontal knockback, you may choose a stage with wider side blast lines because your opponent may struggle to kill with horizontal KOs while you won't.

Okizeme

After a knockdown, the defender can wakeup immediately or after a delay. They can wakeup in place, roll to a side, or perform a getup attack. Getup attack is a predetermined attack that is unsafe on block and whiff. Recovering immediately from a knockdown is called ukemi.

Wakeup rolls are the same as regular rolls. They are intangible at first then become vulnerable at the end. Anticipating and punishing rolls is a vital part of okizeme. To punish rolls you need to position yourself where your opponent will be after the roll. That means retreating away from your opponent to catch a side-switching roll or overshooting to catch a retreating roll.

If the defender doesn't recover after a knockdown, they can be hit on-the-ground (OTG). The most common attack to OTG with is a jab. This is called jab lock. Most attacks can be used to hit OTG but jab is preferred because it has short endlag, little knockback, and is safe to whiff in case your opponent does to recover.

Edgeguarding

Edgeguarding begins once a character is knocked off-stage. Edgeguarding is the attempt to prevent your opponent from recovering back onto the stage. Gimping is killing your opponent when they're not at a kill percentage by edgeguarding them. One of the most exciting parts of platform fighters is that every edgeguarding opportunity is potentially a kill opportunity. You can kill your opponent when they're at a low damage percentage if you can perfectly predict their recovery. An important thing to remember is that if you're going to go off-stage to edgeguard, make sure you can get back on stage.

Don't feel that you have to kill your opponent every time they're off-stage. You can use the opportunity to rack up more damage or for stage positioning. You don't need to take any big risks because you have the advantage but if you want to take that risk you certainly can.

The double jump, or mid-air jump, is your most valuable tool for recovering back on-stage. You only get one double jump per jump so use it wisely. In most games, getting hit out of a jump restores all your air actions except the double jump. Try not to always use your double jump as soon as possible.

When recovering back on stage you can recover from above the ledge, below the ledge, or roughly equal to the ledge. Recovering above the ledge is safer for the defender but they are easier to hit and the attacker can take less risks to edgeguard them. Recovering below the ledge is more dangerous as the defender is closer to the bottom blast line but they are able to avoid some of the attacker's attacks and the attacker may be forced to go off-stage to edgeguard the defender. Recovering roughly equal to the edge is effective but the most predictable option.

A drawback to recovering low to the stage is that it leaves you vulnerable to stage spikes. A stage spike happens when a character is knocked into the stage from the side. They bounce off the stage and are sent downward and/or away. Depending on the game, you may be able to ukemi during a stage spike.

A spike is an attack that knocks the opponent at an angle that is straight down. There aren't a lot of true spikes in Super Smash Bros but there are a lot semi-spikes. Semi-spikes send characters at an angle that is downward but not completely straight down. Spikes and semi-spikes are very useful for edgeguarding because they send the character towards the bottom blast line which either kills or puts the character in a very disadvantageous position.

Air dodge can be used to recover back on-stage while avoiding attacks. After actions like air dodging or using an Up special attack, the character is in a helpless state until they land on the ground. While helpless, the character can't perform any actions except for grabbing the ledge. This makes Up special attacks risky because even on hit the character is helpless and vulnerable until they land.

The Ledge

The ledge can be grabbed in some games to help a defender recover back on stage. The ledge allows the defender to recover from lower and farther away from the stage. The ledge sweet spot is the farthest distance a character can grab the ledge. The farther the sweet spot is, the easier it is for the defender to recover back on stage. You have to be facing the ledge to grab it (can't be facing backwards) and you usually can't grab it during the attacking part of an attack.

It's very common to grab the ledge after an Up special attack. With most Up special attacks, the first half is intangible then loses intangibility and becomes vulnerable during the second half then the character grabs the ledge after the attack ends. You have to be touching the ledge immediately after the endlag of your attack ends to grab it.

This means that the Up special attack has to be performed low to the stage so you don't fly past the ledge and land on stage vulnerable in endlag. It also means you have to perform the Up special attack from predictable positions to grab the ledge. When you're edgeguarding, learn where your opponent has to be to grab the ledge from their special attack and hit them before they can start the attack.

Characters temporarily gain intangibility as they grab the ledge. In most games, the character only gains intangibility the first time they grab the ledge and have to return to the stage before regaining intangibility frames. In a few games the character can continually grab the ledge to regain intangibility without returning on-stage. This is called planking.

Characters grab the ledge differently. Most characters hang below the ledge so they can avoid a lot of attacks from their opponent. However, this character's head is above the ledge when they hang so they can get hit by more attacks.

Edgehogging is grabbing the ledge to prevent your opponent from grabbing it and using the intangiblity frames to avoid attacks. Edgehogging is difficult to time because if you perform it too early or too late you can get hit by your opponent's recovery attack after your intangibility runs out. Some Up special attacks do not have a hitbox and will not hit edgehoggers. Edgehogging is especially effective against these characters. Edgehogging only exists in games where a player can't grab a ledge that's already occupied.

Ledge trumping is a mechanic in some games that allows a player to grab the ledge when it's already occupied by an opponent. Ledge trumping sends the opponent off the ledge and into the air. Ledge trumping was introduced as a defensive answer to edgehogging. However, ledge trumping can be used offensively for edgeguarding and ledgetrapping because the attacker can jump off-stage and ledge trump the defender as they're trying to recover.

Ledgetrapping is pressure against a defender hanging onto the ledge. The defender has a limited amount of options to return onto the stage and the attacker can anticipate these options with ledgetrapping. A common ledgetrap is to stand at a position where the attacker can punish a ledge roll and then shield. If the defender rolls, they're getting punished. If the defender getup attacks, it's getting shielded and punished. If the defender jumps, the attacker can react to it. Ledgetrapping covers many options but not all the options.
Another common ledgetrap is available to characters with long range attacks. Stand outside the range of the defender's ledge recovery options and whiff punish them all.