How to Beat: Pikachu

Pikachu

Introduction:

Pikachu is a lightweight character with above average fall speed. While he has the ability to camp due to high speed, above-average disadvantaged state, and a great projectile in Thunder Jolt (TJolt), most people play aggressive, largely in part due to ESAM and his playstyle influencing the meta so heavily. They'll often TJolt to cover their approach and condition defensive options and punish hard, as Pikachu can typically take stray hits and convert them into offstage situations for edgeguards, which he excels at, or even kills in the right hands.

Strengths:

1. Next to No Disadvantaged State

Pikachu's above-average speed in all but one department allow him to maneuver on-stage at his whim. High jump height, good fall speed, and great ground speed are all useful, but he does have one caveat. Mediocre airspeed. This is essentially rendered moot, however, as Pikachu's up-b is an incredible tool for air travel, giving him access to any angle, and it having a hitbox allows him to reverse the situation and put his opponent in disadvantage. Realistically, the only way to punish Pikachu is to hard read his up-b angle and where he likes to end up, which can be tricky as he can easily up-b in an infinite amount of ways (hyperbolic). Skull Bash is also a great way for Pika to cover distance while in the air, as the speed at which it travels is faster than most, especially if you commit to an option while he side-b's away. Don't do anything to committal, and Skull Bash is easy to punish if you can predict it, even react to it if you're not in the middle of something.

Summary:

- Read his u-air angles and where he likes to u-air in certain positions
- Either swat him out of up-b if you can read it, or shield to play it safe
- Read Skull Bash or even react if your character is fast enough, then it's easy to punish

2. Nearly Unedgeguardable

Not only does Pikachu have a ton of mixups based on angles of his up-b, he can't even be 2-framed if they angle it correctly, and at other times, he'll only be vulnerable for a single frame during his ledgegrab. Coupled with the fact that he can also refresh invincibility You either have to catch him in the decently quick startup, read the angle, or just focus on ledgetrapping him.

Summary:

- Focus on ledgetrapping or reading him when he wants to up-b and attacking him during the startup- - If Pika recoveries from straight below, 2-framing is more likely/possible at all

3. Small Stature + Pancaking

Pikachu's small stature, short crouch, and unique ability to "Pancake" gives him much more survivability than others of his weight class, and even above. Not only can he crouch and even stand up against rising aerials, his pancaking lets him dodge most grounded moves, made infamous by this photo of Pikachu dodging a Roy jab.

Pancaking applies to all his aerials after landing with them, with f-air and b-air ducking the lowest, and u-air being less noticeable. If they land with a f-air or b-air on shield, you're gonna need a good option that can punish it. Find out what your character can do OOS that can punish it. Some characters like G&W and Lucina are great at this with up-b OOS, but some characters like Greninja and Joker aren't so lucky. Experiment with your character, and don't be afraid to evade and just reset neutral! If you're someone like ZSS who can't really land rising aerials on smaller characters, practice landing mixups to force shield and get grabs, or punish Pika's OOS options.

Summary:

- Try to find what works OOS on pancaking/crouching Pikachu based on your character

- G&W and Lucina do well with up-b OOS

- In general, if you wanna punish whiff'd aerials, use low moves like d-tilts

- For characters like Greninja/Joker/ZSS OOS, either evade out of neutral, or fake an attack to force shield -> grab/call out their OOS option.

4. Combos At Nearly Any %

At early percents, Pikachu will be looking for n-air dragdowns in the form of u-tilt, grab, and stray landing n-airs in neutral. Grabs are usually the main way, and if you're a fastfaller, u-tilt will work for a while. You can SDI behind Pikachu n-air dragdowns, making it harder for him to continue them, but it's still guaranteed. 

In neutral, u-air is a fantastic tool for combo'ing, as it'll lead into DI mixup Thunder kills, such as d-throw -> u-air or reverse u-air to mix up DI -> Thunder, as well as u-air giving access to u-air bridges, but that mainly comes from d-throw. If you're a floaty character like Peach, you can escape u-air bridges, unless there are platforms nearby. In general avoid grab, sitting in shield is an easy way of getting punished, so don't be afraid of resetting to neutral. You can stay on platforms to avoid grab, but make sure to shield u-airs. 

At mid-high percents, he can d-throw -> d-air if they don't DI or DI out, or mix it up with d-throw -> u-air -> Thunder if you DI the d-throw in. He can further mix it up if you DI in and then DI the u-air out, since he can just RAR the u-air and mix up your DI even further. As usual, avoid grabs with attacks/spotdodges/aerial combat, u-air will now start killing if he combos it into a Thunder, and at higher percents, u-throw -> Thunder becomes a DI dependent kill confirm (And then d-throw is a DI mixup + even higher percents). Not a lot of players can consistently land it on all DI's, but it's good to know anyway.

 B-air is a great OOS option and combo tool. A single b-air usually translates into multiple b-airs, which can't be SDI'd out of, and then lead into either a straight up kill or edgeguard situation, which Pikachu excels at. On shield, be careful of crossing up, as u-air or b-air OOS leads into considerable combos, while landing in front leads to grabs. If you cross up, shield when you're behind Pikachu, and in front, spotdodge, roll away, or jump while drifting away, anyway you can avoid grab, and make sure to mix it up.

Summary:

Early %: N-air dragdowns via grab, u-tilt, and stray n-air. Attacks generally beat grab, don't sit in shield. Shield -> u-tilt, but watch out for grab mixups. Stray n-air can be challenged by higher range attacks. You can SDI behind N-air to make the combo harder, but not impossible.

Early - Mid %: U-air can lead into more u-airs, Thunder, or if he hits you with weak u-air, it can lead to un-DI-able u-air bridges, that can set up kills, if not kills, edgeguards. Some floaty characters like Peach fall out of u-air bridges, but not with platform stages. Avoid grab with attacks, spotdodges, rolls, etc. Mix it up, u-air bridges work around 30-40% depending on character. If you stay in the air too much though, they can just shark you with u-air and go from there, so stay mobile, and shield on platforms.

Mid - High%: D-throw -> d-air works on no DI and DI out, but if you DI in, he can u-air -> Thunder. If you somehow react/predict the u-air and DI it correctly, he can further mix you up with RAR u-air -> Thunder. U-air in general will work into Thunder, and eventually at higher percents, u-throw -> Thunder becomes a DI dependent kill confirm. (With d-throw -> Thunder as a mixup and works at higher %)

- Avoid grab and mix up defensive options like attacking, spotdodging, jumping, rolling, at pretty much every percent

- Shield on platforms to prevent u-air sharks

- SDI and DI properly as usual

- Pikachu's B-air OOS is a great way to set up edgeguards, so seldom cross him up

- Floaty characters or characters with strong combo breaking potential, such as Snake with his frame 1 Grenades,  or G&W with his floaty nature + combo breaking up-b.

5.  TJolt Approaches

Pikachu is able to spam TJolt to cover his approaches. This can force options such as shield, letting him grab, force you into the air, letting him grab, and etc. Countering this depends on Pika's location. If he's close to the TJolt, you can hit the TJolt and Pika at the same time, depending on your character, and you can even fake it, jumping over the TJolt and making him want to shield, stopping the approach. If he's further away, you have some leeway. Some characters can quickly hit the TJolt and reset, such as Peach float cancel b-air. The best way to counteract this though is to find what he wants. If you shield his TJolt, he will 100% be gunning for grabs, so try to attack OOS/spotdodge/avoid the grab as you see fit. If you jump, get ready to airdodge, jump away further to maybe a platform, or jump to the platform and shield, etc. Knowing what the Pikachu wants you to do will help you prepare.

Summary:

- Know what he wants

- eg. 1: If you repeatedly shield his TJolt, he's gonna start gunning for TJolt -> grab, so be ready to attack or evade

- eg. 2: If you repeatedly jump to platforms, get ready for him to start u-airing, so shield on platforms.

- Some characters can also hit Pikachu and the TJolt, but if you fake an attack, you can dodge the TJolt and make him wanna shield, dropping the approach altogether.

6. Edgeguarding Game

Pikachu's D-air was already a fantastic edgeguarding tool in previous games, but now that it has been given a spiking hitbox, Pikachu is in contention for the best edgeguarding game in Ultimate. He can convert stray hits, especially b-air, into offstage setups at crazy early percents with multiple b-airs, and then use b-air/f-air to edgeguard and send them to low angles, use d-air for spiking and even using the later hitbox to send them horizontally, and of course, Thunder. Thunder not only allows Pikachu to go low and then cover high recoveries, he can use it to catch jumps with not only the spiking hitbox, but with the secondary shockwave for airdodge reads. It can also be confirmed into via u-air. Recovering vs. Pikachu is a daunting task, and mostly is character based and your ability to mix up your recovery, as he can seemingly cover every option. Don't be afraid to challenge b-air with your stronger and more high range aerials, and don't think you're safe if you're near the ledge and he's below you if you manage to evade him, as he can still Thunderspike, so preserve your airdodge and make sure to DI towards the stage and possibly be ready to tech.

Summary: 

-Mostly character dependent, and it's highly suggested to not play certain characters because of edgeguarding.

- If Pikachu lands a b-air onstage, he can convert it into an edgeguard and kill extremely easily vs. people like Ganondorf

- Mix up high vs. low recovery, make sure to preserve your airdodge when above the stage in case he Thunders you

Weaknesses:

1. Weight

Pikachu's weight is incredibly low, sharing the position with Olimar and Kirby as the 68th lightest characters in the game. Utilize and practice kill confirms vs. optimal DI to ensure Pikachu's stocks are erased as quickly as possible, to avoid any further % or stocks taken of your own. This lack of weight is also a half strength, as he isn't too fastfally, means he can escape early combos, so it's good to have those on lock.

Summary:

- Perfect combos and kill confirms against optimal DI/SDI

2. Range

Pika does have decent range, it's just that there are a few characters that can both match his frame data and outrange him. These include Ness, Lucas, Mario, G&W, and Yoshi. 

In short, Pika is good. Really fuckin' good. Both of his major weaknesses aren't even that bad, as weight is a double-edged-sword. If you're heavy, you live longer but get combo'd harder, and if you're light, you die earlier but don't get combo'd hard, and Pika's range is honestly pretty fine, it's just that there are characters with disjoints/better range but also the frame data to match Pika's.

Playing Against Pikachu in Neutral:

Though Pikachu can be played campy, it's more common to see an aggressive rushdown Pikachu, almost playing a similar style to Melee Falco, where he controls the stage and conditions defensive options with a quick effective projectile. In neutral, he'll TJolt approach and go for either a grab if you shield/spotdodge/roll, which he can follow you/read you, and u-tilt/n-air dragdown if you jump out. Knowing what he wants and preparing and mixing it up is key to avoid TJolts. If you shield, a lot, he'll go in for grabs, so attack OOS. If you spotdodge/roll, do it every once in a while, very sparingly. If you're jumping, try to get to a platform and shield quickly. A few characters can deal with TJolt well however. You can attack or reflect/absorb the TJolt, and in some cases hit both TJolt and Pika. Young Link for example can quickly z-air TJolt and stay safe, Peach can potentially f-air both TJolt and Pika, while also faking the f-air with Float and punishing shield/his OOS option, and Ness, G&W, and Mario can Magnet/Bucket/Cape. Find out what works with your character, but if you do the same thing over and over, you'll just get punished over and over.

Summary:

- Know what he's looking for based on your own defensive option and try to predict

- If you've been shielding a lot, he'll probably go for grab, so attack/spotdodge/jump away
- If you've been jumping out a lot, try to get to a platform and shield, etc.
- Depending on character, you can absorb/reflect TJolt quickly, you can safely hit the TJolt and make it disappear, or you can attack both Pika and TJolt, or at least threaten to hit Pika, forcing a shield.

Punishing Pikachu

Pikachu has a really solid OOS game in the form of b-air and n-air, but there is a single exception. When approaching forward, if you're able to space in front of him, his fastest defensive option, n-air, won't be able to reach you, allowing you to shield or swat him in the air in time. F-air is frame 11, meaning it'd take 14 frames for him to just f-air in place, plus a few to reach you if you space it, so the only characters that can really challenge him on shield are ones with long range and low landing lag attacks. It also helps if the move hits hard, such as Ness b-air, which is -5 on shield, pushes Pika back far enough to avoid grab, and is fast enough to let him avoid f-air OOS. 

In terms of comboing, Pika has a frame 3 n-air, which is pretty good for combo breaking and will confirm into other moves of his own. He's also got a frame 2 airdodge, the fastest a character's can be. Pikachu is light, really light, though while he does have decently fast fall speed, he gets sent pretty far, which kills a lot of Ultimate combos at mid percents. Aside from getting your combos and kill confirms down perfectly, accounting for DI and SDI, there's not much you can really do that's specific to Pikachu. Of course you can read airdodges and n-air, but that really applies to every character.

Juggling Pikachu? Forget about it, his up-b lets him escape disadvantage to the point where outside of an incredibly hard read, he has no disadvantaged state. You can potentially fake an attack and quickly land and try to read his up-b landing, but that's it.

Same goes for edgeguarding. With the vast amount of mixups he can do, your best bet will be to hit him during the startup of up-b, which is frame 15. Good, but not too crazy, and can be reacted to if you're fast enough, but not by the average person, and you'll already have to be offstage. Read his up-b angles. 2-framing is also tough, as he can hit specific angles to not be able to get 2-framed, but in some cases he'll miss it. This however is not very reliable, as he may hit the 1-frame window where he gets 1 extra invincibility frames instead of 2, Aside from human error, not much you can do. Ledgetrapping is overall your best bet at killing him offstage. Outside of basic stuff, he can up-b from the ledge to reset invincibility, so if you think he'll do that, you can catch it mid-air, as it's not invincible fully. Up-b from the ledge can also be shielded, so make note of that.

Summary:

- Don't get close to his shield or even cross him up, as n-air and b-air OOS are insanely good
- Instead, hit the front with a long ranged and safe move, if you can, as f-air is slow and n-air/grab don't have the range should you push him back
- Perfect combos and kill confirms against Pikachu, as you probably won't be able to edgeguard him without a hard read on his up-b angles, and he can avoid being 2-framed entirely.
- Ledgetrapping is your best bet, make sure to shield his up-b from the ledge or straight up punish it.

Recommended Matchups

1. Ness

Ness is a known counter-pick of Pikachu, even in the Smash 4 days. Some of Pikachu's biggest strengths are his combo game, Pancaking, and TJolt approaching, while his biggest weakness is inarguably his range. Ness is light and floaty, making him tough to combo, he's short, meaning he's not only able to grab OOS Pikachu while pancaking, he can n-air OOS, and TJolting gets severely hampered by Magnet, which will absorb TJolt, put out a hitbox, and has low enough endlag to let him hit Pikachu if Pika isn't close enough to be hit by Magnet. Another part of Magnet is that Ness can stall his momentum for a while and stay in the air long enough to find an opening to land, as Pika finds a lot of his kills through u-air -> Thunder sharking.

In the neutral, Magnet will take care of TJolt, and if you hold Magnet, you can hit Pika and interrupt his approach a bit. You can also quickly turn off Magnet and then SH n-air, or even use Magnet in the air, giving you access to n-air without needing to jump, making it 3 frames faster. U-air is especially good at catching Pika if he tries to TJolt and then jump over you to land with n-air or d-air. N-air OOS and grab are both able to catch Pikachu if he pancakes ontop of you, and your f-air and u-air outrange all of Pika's aerials, making your air-to-air combat much better than his.

When you're getting b-air'd, try not to lose your double jump, as he will eventually take you offstage, and a Ness without a double jump is leagues worse than a majority of the characters in his tier. If you're getting juggled, stall with Magnet to find an opening to land. Pika can edgeguard you, but if he misses, he can lose his stock very very early, due to PK Thunder 2 and Pikachu's lightweight status. Pikachu's main ways of edgeguarding Ness are TJolt snipes and Skull Bash, so don't up-b too early. Sometimes double jump + airdodging works fine. If you read a TJolt, you can quickly Magnet to both stall momentum and heal. Watch out for d-air and f-tilt when airdodging to the ledge. Ledgetrapping rules generally apply, but note that your f-air has a ton of active frames meaning you can cover the ledge, as Pikachu does still have a hitbox while flying, and you may be able to catch him out. Ness has a very strong aerial game, so don't be afraid of going offstage, as you can challenge his aerials hard, but definitely know what you're doing first. You can use d-smash (u-smash too, but d-smash is just strictly better, since u-smash sends upwards if you launch it/hold it too long, which they can tech) to keep your Yo-yo offstage and catch low recoveries before Pikachu even grabs the ledge.

Summary:

- SH Magnet TJolt, challenge/wall out his aerials with your own
- N-air and grab OOS work even on pancaking Pika
- Preserve your double jump-don't try to use it to combo break
- Cover the ledge with f-air, and don't be afraid to go offstage but know what you're doing first.
- Magnet while in disadvantage can stall your momentum.
- PK Thunder 2 is hugely committal for recovering, stick to double jump and airdodge mixups, with Magnet to stall momentum and to challenge his aerials with your own if he edgeguards with them

Good Ness Players:

Gackt: The highest ranked Ness player in the world, known for his strong PK Thunder mindgames and mixups. He's got wins over pretty much everyone in Japan, but also people like Cosmos and VoiD.

BestNess: Top Ness player with wins over Marss, Light, VoiD, and more!

Awestin: A top Ness player, most notable for his numerous bouts with Lima and MVD at the Shockwave tournament series, and notably has a win over ESAM.




2. G&W

G&W in attributes, is a lot similar to Ness. A fellow Pika counter since Smash 4, G&W has good range in most of his moves such as b-air, n-air, u-air, and all his smash attacks (which have such little endlag, they're essentially tilts), he's floaty and light, making it hard for Pika to truly combo him, it's insanely hard to juggle him due to his invincible up-b and Key, his d-air, which can challenge Pika u-air hard. He also neutralizes pancaking by being able to grab him or up-b OOS, which can easily cover the crossup. G&W  is also alongside Ness as being the few characters to actually benefit when neutralizing TJolt, as G&W has access to Bucket, giving him another way to kill Pikachu, meaning he doesn't have to edgeguard him, which he can still do well due to his disjoints, good recovery, and phenomenal ledgetrapping. G&W is also able to pressure Pikachu in disadvantage with u-air, and then being able to still be grounded to catch his up-b.

In the neutral, Bucket can easily catch TJolts, and if Pika tries to punish, G&W is actually intangible while successfully absorbing. Otherwise, b-air walls are great for hitting Pikachu in a reckless approach. If he manages to get in, you can up-b OOS, hitting a Pancaking Pikachu in front or even behind you. You can also grab. To anti-air, you can u-air or even u-smash. Pikachu's biggest threat to G&W in neutral is d-tilt, as it's actually very safe against G&W when spaced, however you can challenge this and outrange it with d-smash.

When recovering, he'll mostly try to d-air from afar, as if he's close, he may end up getting up-b'd and possibly have to tech on the stage side. However, landing d-air spike can be hard, so most Pikas may opt for f-tilt 2-framing, which isn't too reliable. On the other side, G&W can b-air to either cover the ledge or to even go offstage and edgeguard, while also being a ledgetrapping god in general. Juggling Pikachu is usually impossible for most characters. G&W however is able to pressure Pikachu with u-air, while still being near the ground to punish up-b, especially with Key. On the other hand, he's able to escape Pika pretty well with Key and up-b.

Summary:

- Bucket absorbs TJolt, and gives him invincibility upon success, neutralizing Pika approaches.
- B-air can also wall out Pika need be.
- If he lands on you, up-b OOS will hit him anywhere, even while Pancaking, and you can even grab. - If you wanna punish him landing on you recklessly, u-smash is a great anti-air.
- D-smash if he d-tilts, as it outranges.
- B-air to cover the ledge and even offstage edgeguard
- U-air to pressure him in disadvantage, and use Key to punish and combine it with up-b to escape disadvantage.

Best G&W Players:

Maister: The G&W main and #6 in the world. Has a ton of sets you can watch online and streams pretty regularly!

3. Mario

Mario is a character who pretty much has no huge flaws, aside from range, but if he's able to outmaneuver or outrange a character, he can very much win matchups. Against Pikachu, his main tools will be b-air and Cape. B-air outranges everything on Pikachu's arsenal, has long range and is -2 on shield, making it safe for most options Pika has if spaced correctly. B-air can also be used to deal with TJolt and kill Pikachu at higher percents, while also being good for comboing, since Mario can combo nearly the whole cast regardless of weight or even fall speed. A concern Mario may have and that may make this an even matchup is Pika's parry -> f-tilt your b-air. However, this requires them to react and drop shield, which is impossible on a 6 frame move. They can predict it though, which is why you can empty land with your back towards them and u-smash as a mixup.

In the neutral, both the late and early n-air can beat out TJolt, meaning you can use it as an approach option vs. Pika using TJolt and staying close. You can also Cape TJolt to use it as a taste of their own medicine. On Pika's shield, up-b, n-air, and grab OOS all work due to similar heights, and Mario's b-air is a good walling attack that is safe on shield. U-smash also works as an anti-air, while your own Fireballs are great for covering approaches of your own.

Mario has a decent disadvantage against a lot of characters, not typically swordies like Shulk but still solid with n-air, Cape stalling, and b-reverse Fireball to shift momentum. You can quickly Cape just before you clash with a Pika u-air, and then quickly fastfall n-air. Mario doesn't really have the tools to chase Pika in the air, so stay grounded and maybe feint an attack and quickly land to punish. You can also hard read Thunder in both disadvantaged state and while getting edgeguarded with Cape to have Thunder hit Pika instead. Speaking of Cape while edgeguarding, though the hitbox is small, if you hit Pikachu with Cape, it can get you an f-smash, FLUDD, or f-air spike. FLUDD can also make Quick Attack recoveries harder, as they push Pikachu back should you be able to hit him with it. Dash attack is great at 2-framing, although Pikachu can evade that possibly, unless he's recovering from straight below.

Summary: 

- N-air in neutral beats out TJolt, you can also Cape.
- B-air outranges Pikachu, use it to wall, beat TJolt, poke shield when spaced right, and kill off ledgetrapping
- He can parry your b-air, mix it up with empty land -> U-smash if he does (he has to drop shield)
- Cape TJolt or Fireball to cover your own approach
- U-smash anti-air, since it has invincibility
- Cape stall, b-reverse Fireball to shift momentum
- Can Cape Thunder while above Pikachu (unreactable, you have to read it)
- FLUDD Quick Attack
- Dash Attack 2-frame

Best Mario Players!:

Dark Wizzy: Highest ranked Mario in the world, highest ranked Twitter game. Wins over Tweek, Light, Dabuz, ESAM, and Cosmos

ANTi: Top tier US Mario with placings like 2nd at Dreamhack Dallas 2019 and 5th at GENESIS: BLACK

Prodigy: A literal Prodigy and one of the best Marios in the world. Wins over MKLeo, Myran, Nicko, Cosmos, and Dark Wizzy

Stage Select:

Pikachu does well on every stage in the game, but sometimes, especially in certain matchups, he can favor certain stages over others. Battlefield can be tricky, as the platforms mess up early combos and  don't allow him to Thunder past platforms, and platforms also give his opponents an escape vs. TJolt. Every other stage, Pikachu can do very good on most, it's just triplats that seem to give Pikachu trouble. PS2 can also be tricky, but is a lot better for Pikachu. PS2 however is very good for Mario in the matchup. FD and Kalos are easily his best stages. The open space gives him access to so many combos, as pretty much the opposites of Battlefield. No platforms means less escape vs. TJolt, Thunder will pretty much always work, and no platforms to mess up your combos.

Summary:

FD and Kalos > PS2 (Mario) > Triplats. Most other stages are personal preference.

Full Summary:

- Floaty characters can escape his combos hard

- Use low angle moves for dealing with pancaking, or just pick a short character

- Reflect/absorb TJolt

- Don't cross him up on shield unless you wanna eat 30 back airs

- If you space moves on shield in front of him, f-air is frame 11, while n-air can't reach

- Find out what he wants when he's TJolt approaching

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Changelog: 

June. 02/2020 - Added Skull Bash notes in Disadvantaged State and Ness matchup

How to Beat: Sonic

Sonic

Introduction:

Sonic is a lightweight fast-faller with varying playstyles. Sonic can be used as an aggressive rushdown, manipulating his speed to overwhelm opponents into risky defensive options that he can punish, or more commonly, utilizing his speed to avoid interactions and punish risky offensive options. 

Strengths:

1. Unreactable Burst:

Due to having the highest ground speed in the game, it can be impossible to react to his speed. The average human reaction speed is noted to be roughly 16 FPS in a 60 FPS game, meaning the first 16 frames of his dash is most likely unreactable. This allows him to play a strong midrange game, where players are unaware of his next pattern and have to guess or read him rather than be able to react. This can often force opponents into the corner, or be the approacher, which can be tricky due to...

2. Incredible Speed All Around:

Sonic not only sports the greatest running speed, he has the 7th highest walk speed, 12th fastest airspeed, the highest traction, giving him the ability to stop and switch direction the fastest, and the 29th fastest fall speed, allowing him to land quickly and avoid juggles. All around this gives him an insane set of mobility stats that makes it tricky to catch him unless you know his patterns which he can escape from quickly with d-air that causes him to descend, and up-b which shoots him into the air. 

Summary:

- A character who can either keep up with Sonic or keep him away with low committal options is best
- Sonic's airdrift is very good, so watch where he drifts after using an aerial and punish
- It's well-advised to pick someone with a good b-air OOS, as if they cross up, you can catch them

Weaknesses:

1. Range:

Sonic can have trouble with spacing aside from maybe b-air and f-smash. All of his other moves lose out hard to swords and projectiles. He can however fake an approach and cause you to use a laggier and high ranged move, so keep it quick and simple. Jabs and f-tilts are okay, but it's character dependent. 

2. Poor Unique Approach Options:

Sonic is wildly unsafe on shield. N-air at best is -5 and it's upclose, meaning you can't even space outside of OOS options, f-air is -14 and b-air is -10. This ends up forcing him to go for grabs, which aren't too bad, but can be read. He's got a strong mixup game, so catching a Sonic's players approaching patterns is incredibly useful. Because his aerials do so poorly on shield, go aggressive and then when you expect him to maybe n-air OOS or f-air in retaliation, shield and watch where they drift, punish if you can. Dashback or even crouch should be able to beat rising RAR b-air from the Sonic, depending on character. D-tilt is however a decent poking tool. While it isn't safe on shield, the pushback can bait players that spam OOS options without thinking. Against that, dash attack is a solid option OOS if your character has enough burst speed. Some good characters with strong OOS options, especially behind, are Roy/Chrom and Pikachu.

Summary:

- Outrange Sonic with a sword, and have patience
- Sonic's approach options aren't that great, so you could potentially approach with shield, and punish afterwards
- Watch his aerial drift when hitting your shield, and take note:
   Which aerial did he use? Did he crossup or no? Does he cross up with f-air/n-air/b-air? What moves beat out his f-air? Why did he n-air my shield? etc.

Playing Against Sonic in the Neutral

Sonic can struggle hard vs. characters with options that are fast and outrange him. Find what works best on your character, but some stuff he can struggle against are: Roy n-air, Mega Man pellets, and Young Link n-air/f-air. If you can force an approach via projectiles, he'll approach depending on your reaction to his approach, since all his aerials are unsafe on shield. If you dashback expecting an aerial, he may follow you for a dash attack or dash grab, so drifting back with a safe attack can wall him out long enough for you to react to his actual approach. Sonic is mainly a bait and punish character with few actual approach options, or arguably even none, so mix up your defensive options and most importantly, be patient. What you wanna do most of the time is forcing an approach and reading his option. Homing Attack is a good answer to this, especially if you mindlessly spam projectiles without purpose, and can catch a lot of players out without them realizing.

Summary:

- Force an approach and read his approaching habits
- A good Sonic won't battle you with aerials, due to low range and low safety, but instead read your fear/panic options and punish. Be patient
- The best characters to force an approach are: Wolf and Pikachu
- Sonic however can Homing Attack to get around this, so don't mindlessly spam. Zone with purpose

Punishing Sonic

Sonic can be punished hard on shield, depending on the moves. Oftentimes with aerials, he'll cross you up, so watch his drift, and even try to catch patterns based on what moves he likes to cross up with. A character with a good b-air OOS can catch this, and he may cross up more against characters who struggle OOS, especially behind. Sonic's f-smash has incredible range and windup, so punish with caution. He can even angle it up, meaning landing from above without a disjoint is tricky. If your character is fast enough and doesn't have access to a disjoint, try getting over and behind him a bit, and landing with b-air or n-air. He can be hard to juggle, especially since he can up-b out of disadvantage and then d-air, which ends up being lagless if far enough. His aerial drift is also above average, so it's mostly reading his d-air, up-b, and airdodge habits. Homing Attack is also a tricky way to punish in disadvantage, as it can stall him and make you whiff, letting him attack. 

Summary:

- Punish him OOS, expect crossups
- F-smash is moderately safe, but has huge range and it's charging/windup pulls him back hard. He can even angle it up as an anti-air
- Read up-b/d-air and airdodge habits, and he can Homing Attack and stall his momentum, causing you to whiff and letting him punish

Recommended Matchups:

1. Roy

Roy's range, speed, and OOS options encapsulate Sonic's weaknesses best. He outranges Sonic on nearly every front, with f-air, n-air, b-air, and his ground normals such as jab, f-tilt, and d-tilt. While they aren't strong all around his blade, they do stop Sonic in his tracks, and make up for it in speed. He can n-air spam to create a wall, cover his landings with jab, and keep up with Sonic to a good degree. He can also juggle well with his fastfall speed, as he can avoid Homing Attack. He can also hard punish moves like b-air and f-smash with his Counter. And very important, his OOS game is amazing. his n-air is frame 6, meaning it punishes all of his aerials except for landing n-air, which can be shielded. However, n-air OOS can be drifted back, so it ends up being spaced, making it -6 on shield and too far for a grab OOS. It can even be swapped with a straight up grab to read Sonic's shield. If Sonic tries to drift across the shield for a cross up, Roy can n-air as usual, but his b-air is insanely strong, and can punish Sonic for crossing up. Roy can't necessarily force approaches, but he sure can do it himself. If Sonic spindashes, it loses pretty hard to shield and is a pretty committal option, so it'll mostly be used to punish. If he uses it in neutral, he can either let it loose, or jump. Jumping allows him to waveland, d-air or reset neutral, so it's a 50/50 really. You can either hit him straight up, which may be jumped out of/jump + attack/airdodge, or you can bait the jump and hit him with an aerial. However if you're close enough, a f-air should cover both options

Roy's can pressure shields well, as when spaced and landing, it'll keep him away from Sonic's OOS options, and once he does get in, he can combo Sonic for major damage and kill him very early, especially due to Sonic's lightweight status. Roy can call out OOS options and punish them hard. For spotdodges, he has side-b, which when in the sweetspot, is infamous for being stronger than Limit Cross Slash. All of Sonic's OOS options in terms of aerials just get outranged/shielded -> punished, and his other ones such as f-tilt are pretty slow, as he has to drop shield -> frame 8 f-tilt. (As the first hit at frame 6 won't hit really anyone) Juggling Sonic consists of reading his options and u-air. If Sonic tries to get a whiff on you with Homing Attack, you can quickly land with your high fall speed and shield, especially on triplat stages. You can also bait airdodges hard near the ground. If they try to airdodge your jab -> b-air, you can jab-> f-smash depending on where they airdodged. The same goes for catching landings with fastfall u-air. If they airdodge, try to react and catch them. (Your u-air has 8 frames of landing lag). 

Summary:

- Roy outranges, can match Sonic's speed, and has great OOS range.
- He can b-air OOS for crossups, n-air OOS for Sonic's landing n-air and driftback, or even just grab if the Sonic does landing n-air -> shield
- He can also hard punish Sonic's better moves like f-smash and b-air with Counter
- Once Roy gets in, he gets it in. His combo game is nearly unmatched across swordies and even other brawlers, and can explode Sonic through hard reads while pressuring shield, such as side-b, f-smash, and jab -> b-air
- Juggle Sonic, react to Homing Attack by landing -> shielding (best on triplats)
- Punish airdodges after jabbing, as they expect b-air.

Best Roys: 

Kola: The WiFi twin-god of Georgia alongside Wrath, is the premier Roy main to watch and study. He has insane wins both offline and online, such as against Marss, Dabuz, and Wrath. (all offline)

Goblin: The OG Roy main since Smash 4, Goblin has arguably the best results as Roy, taking sets over Tweek, Samsora, and MuteAce.

2. Pikachu

Pikachu is again, a hyper mobile character that can not only keep up well with Sonic, catch him OOS, but can outcamp him. TJolt is able to catch him grounded and even on platforms, but especially on the ground, where Sonic moves the fastest. TJolt forces him into the air or into shield, which Pikachu punishes well with a shield of his own or with sharking u-air, as Sonic has no viable downward hitbox. Homing Attack can also be outmaneuvered, and Pika isn't really in danger of it while juggling due to Thunder. When poking his shield, Sonic loses hard to Pikachu's pancaking, making his moves pseudo-safe on shield. Against shield, b-air OOS and f-air/n-air OOS should catch him depending on drift.

A big part of this matchup is the edgeguarding. What you wanna look out for is his 2-framing downward angle f-smash, and ledgetrapping b-airs. Mix up your timing and use QA to get onto platforms, behind Sonic while he may be winding up f-smash or possibly this trick, which allows Pika to be un2frameable. If you recover from below and he already starts charging f-smash, you can Thunder from below and hit him, and then recover quickly. On the ledge, general stuff applies, just watch out for b-air. Edgeguarding Sonic can be done mainly with d-air, as it should beat out his Spring Jump. You can also catch Spring Jump with a Thunder. Challenge him offstage when you can, especially with f-air, as it will beat out moves of his moves aside from b-air.

Summary:

- Camp him and force approaches with TJolt, watch for Homing Attack
- Punish his shield and use pancaking to juke n-air, f-air, etc. on shield
- Shark him with u-air and watch for d-air
- You should be able to juke his edgeguarding with up-b, just don't get predictable
- Recovering from below should keep you safe from most options, and if he stays at the ledge to 2-frame, you can clip him with Thunder
- He mostly 2-frames with f-smash and then ledgetraps with b-air
- Utilize this to protect from 2-frames. Challenge him offstage when you can, catch his Spring Jump with Thunder.

Pikachu's to Watch

ESAM: The Pikachu, undoubtedly the best since Brawl, and his youtube channel has a ton of Pika-related information.

3. Mega Man

Mega Man is a huge wall for a lot of characters. While Roy was about hyper aggression and making them explode, Pikachu was a kind of middle ground between camping Sonic and baiting shields, Mega Man is 100% brick wall. He easily forces approaches with side-b, down-b, pellets, and neutral-b. On shield, he can punish all around with f-air and his strong b-air, and can wall out Sonic's dash and interrupt Spin Dash with pellets. When juggling Sonic, Mega Man stays entirely safe with u-air. Using his side-b will either guarantee an approach or a shield upon landing it, and if you use pellets to keep him out, he'll have to shield to prevent damage. Practice your DI/SDI, as Sonic will try to maximize his openings on you to prevent more neutral exchanges, and keep your defense mixup heavy, as Sonic will find openings and exploit them. Your biggest weaknesses are disadvantage and the offstage game. Your best get off me options will be Leaf Shield and Rush, however Rush will only limit your options later on, so consider it a last resort. Mixup your airdodges heavy, as Sonic can punish hard with f-smash. D-air can be used to stall and keep Sonic off of you, but if he shields it, there's not much else you can do.

Against Spring Jump, d-air should beat it solidly, so they may Spring Jump further away from the ledge and airdodge to it, so if you're near the ledge, try to read the airdodge or even intercept the Spring Jump with f-air and b-air. A lot of his moves can be beat out by your aerials, so challenge him offstage when you can.

Summary:

- Wall him out, force approaches, b-air/f-air OOS. Pellet vs. Spin Dash
- Juggle with u-air
- Make sure to practice SDI/DI'ing in general and vs. Sonic, he'll try to maximize dmg vs. you per opening
-  Leaf Shield/Rush can be used to get out of/reset disadvantage, but it's by far your biggest weakness. Fundamentals of airdodge mixups will get you out of it.
- D-air his Spring Jump, intercept and challenge him whenever you can, as your f-air and b-air will beat out most of his moves aside from maybe his own b-air.

Best MM players:

kameme: Previously known as kamemushi, kameme is a top tier Japanese player, and known as the best Mega Man in the world.

Stage Select

Sonic's best stages are Kalos and T&C for defensive play, while his weakest are largely matchup dependent. BF and Smashville aren't too great, as Roy does well on those stages, while Kalos and FD are better for Pika, as he can camp Sonic and has a ton of space for his combos such as n-air loops and u-air bridges, which won't be hampered by platforms. Kalos and T&C however are great stages for Mega Man, giving him a ton of room to camp and defend against Sonic.

Full Summary:

- Watch for his aerial drift on shield, punish with a good b-air or f-air

- Either camp him out hard like Mega Man or make him explode like Roy

- Intercept his recovery, challenge his aerials

- F-smash has insane range, 2-frames, and the windup protects him while he charges

- Above all else, outrange him

- Pick big stage to camp him, small stage to rush him down

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Changelog: 

June. 02/2020 - Updated Summary into Notes form

How to Beat: Joker

Disclaimer:

I'm trying something new with adding Summary to every section that quickly summarizes for repeat viewings. Let me know what you guys think about it in the comments please! Feedback is important for improving this guide series!

Joker

Introduction:

Joker is a mid-weight semi-floaty, playing a tricky sort of style that changes based on whether or not he has Arsene. He's best played as a bait-and-punish without Arsene, preferring not to risk anything and go for safe punishes that come from reactions rather than risky reads, and with Arsene, he's best played as a rushdown, in order to maximize his Rebellion Gauge and not waste any time. Play more aggressively when he is without Arsene, and play defensive/zoning or even camp him out (especially on the angel platform) when he does have Arsene.

Strengths:

1. Combo Game

Joker's got a very solid combo game due to his multi hit moves such as first hit of f-air and u-air platform loops and his weak moves in terms of knockback means it can be hard to kill, but it also means that combo'ing is a lot easier, especially with his incredible ground speed. Avoid platforms/shield on platforms to avoid u-air loops, and DI away during combos, but mainly during d-throw. Knowing what moves the Joker likes to start combos with is great for defence, but can be difficult due to his many options, such as f-air 1 (shield), grab/delayed grab (attack), and running spaced tilt (dashback -> punish)

Summary: 

Jokers combo starters are d-throw, landing f-air, and d-tilt. Always make sure to DI away, and shield on the platform to avoid u-air.

2. Edgeguarding

Joker has some fantastic edgeguarding tools in the form of n-air and d-air for low-angled gimps, and his neutral-b while firing downwards gimps nearly any non-teleport recovery. He can't go very deep, but his tools allow him to cover the area close to the ledge, especially with his b-air having good range and Gun. Picking a character that can recover quickly from the deep or can survive gimps is effective, such as Villager (as he can keep recovering by being hit with Joker's weaker moves), or Snake, who actually prefers to recover high, and outside of u-air, Joker can't really contest Snake up there without Arsene.

Summary:

Joker excels at punishing low recoveries, so opt for Snake or Villager to recover higher and avoid his gun, or a teleport recovery. Without Arsene, he really isn't too much of a threat when recovering high.

3. Versatile Kit

His kit is incredibly versatile, as his quick speed, "counter", and solid projectile allows him to play safe and even camp people out until Arsene arrives. He can also rushdown with his n-air and b-air, as both are safe on shield when spaced properly (-5), and because his grab is so threatening, it creates an extra mixup option. He can deal with rushdown via his quick dashback and side-b and can deal with zoners with his counter that builds up to Arsene. Against a campy Joker, being able to predict side-b early can get you a punish, as well as knowing when they like to jump, as well as overshooting your aerials to prevent dashbacks. If he counters, charge a full smash attack, as it lasts longer. Most people opt for a grab, but a charged smash attack is optimal, just make sure to react if he drops his counter early. Against an aggressive Joker, respect and avoid his dash attack, but note his grab game. His f-air 1 is an amazing combo tool, but it loses to shield pretty hard. 

Summary:

Identify how the Joker plays with and without Arsene, predict his side-b and punish with full-hop, when he's using his counter, fully charge a smash attack and wait for the counter to run out or if he drops it early, and n-air and b-air spaced are safe on shield.

4. Arsene

Last but definitely not least, Arsene. Arsene is by and large Joker's biggest strength, as it makes almost all of his moves stronger/enhanced. It negates most of his weaknesses and boosts all of his strengths. His combo game takes a huge bonus in terms of damage and knockback, as well as giving him access to kill confirms, such as d-air -> u-smash, f-air 1 -> u-air/u-smash -> u-smash if u-air, and many more. He doesn't have access to any true confirms off of throw, however his juggle game is insanely good with Arsene on, and he can punish airdodges exceptionally well due to the strength of u-air with Arsene. At the ledge, always DI away his d-throw, as it can lead into a d-throw -> d-air with Arsene out at mid percents if you DI inwards. His edgeguarding also increases, due to the general strength of moves, his better recovery, and his Gun shooting more often. His side-b is also solid to poke offstage and burn resources. Picking a character like Villager or even Snake may not cut it, as the downtime they have while recovering allows them to eat an Arsene b-air or even d-air, often resulting in a kill at mid percents. Pikachu or a teleporter are solid options to avoid him completely offstage. His overall kit is stronger now, as his counter now acts as an anti-zone and anti-rushdown, due to it being a mix of a counter and a reflector, and his projectile has more range and deals more damage, making his zoning even stronger. His aggression however is where Arsene really shines. With stronger moves, he creates an incredible amount of pressure, making moves like f-air and d-air almost a death sentence to be hit by, forcing shields and allowing Joker free grabs to toss you offstage or go for airdodge reads off of d-throw. You should still wait out Joker counters, but maybe opt for a grab or if you can, empty-hop -> charged smash to read the counter. The best way to beat Arsene is to avoid him. Arsene Joker is the best character in the game, however, he's on a time limit, that gets further reduced as you hit him, so play safe and camp if you can while taking pot shots, and if you die, wait out Arsene on the angel platform (respawn platform) to waste their time further. Joker and his opponent often swap playstyles, where Joker often plays safe against an aggressor attempting to take advantage of his Arseneless state, while Arsene Joker makes the most of his time by playing full aggro, going for a stock, while the opponent waits out Arsene's timer. Learn how to camp with your character to the fullest, and if your character is able, stall offstage. Pikachu excels at this, due to his quick speed, small size, multi-hit moves in b-air, f-air, and n-air, (the longer moves take, the more time you waste), and his high agility and offstage presence in his Thunder stalls and Quick Attack.

Summary:

- His combo starters remain the same, but much more potent.
- Continue to DI away, airdodge his b-airs offstage, and still pick a character who can avoid Gun, such as Pikachu, Snake, or someone with a teleport
- Play defensive and downright camp Joker out. Use your character's tools to move around and even go under the stage if possible, and make sure to stay on the respawn platform (the Angel Platform) for as long as you can.
- Consider Joker's playstyle with and without Arsene and adapt.

Weaknesses:

1. Sometimes Can't Kill

Without Arsene, Joker has a very tough time killing, usually relegating himself to smash attacks for killing or Gun gimps, which is why he prefers to play defensive and rack up % for easier Arsene based kills. While Joker is low on his Rebel's Gauge, playing aggressively and racking up Arsene at early percents means when Arsene runs out (and hopefully you haven't died), Joker will have trouble closing out the stock, giving you time to rack up percent or even kill him instead.

Summary:

Arseneless Joker can't kill. Try to force Arsene when you're at very early percents, so Joker will be left to kill you while Arsene recharges.

2. Trouble with Small Characters

A lot of Joker's moves, especially his aerials (namely, f-air) cannot hit crouching characters such as Snake, Pika/Pichu, and Greninja. Due to this, he'll usually opt for landing aerials and d-tilt, which can all be shielded, and his other options can be ducked, such as grab and f-air. Making use of your crouch is not a common option thought about, so consider it on your favourite character, and what counterpick you can use to combat Joker's aerials.

Summary:

Pick a small character with a really low good crouch, shield the rest of his options, be careful of a grab mixup.

3. Poor OOS Options

Joker's fastest OOS option is u-air, which will mostly whiff, especially on small or even mid-sized characters. Outside of that, he has f-air OOS, which is frame 7. Pressure his shield with spaced aerials or very low lag moves -> grab or dashback to punish a f-air OOS if your move is on the slower side.

Summary:

- He only has f-air OOS, can u-air OOS if you're a big character
- Low lag/spaced move -> grab or dodge the f-air OOS -> punish

Playing Against Joker in the Neutral

Joker:

Most of the time, Joker's neutral will be a bait and punish style. Play aggressive. He will usually go for b-air walls and aim to get f-air 1 and a grab. Rising b-air has trouble against small characters such as Pichu or Inkling and Greninja while dashing, so they may go for landing b-air or even a n-air/d-air. Using the aforementioned characters is very strong, as they're quick enough to bait out his defensive option, and then go for the hit. If the Joker is using rising b-air, wait it out, and then run in and attack. Landing b-airs require an early strike, and a n-air or d-air don't have a lot of range, so attempt to outrange it or apply the same principles to b-air. His f-air 1 and grab mixups are tough to deal with, but it's worth noting he has to do landing f-air to get f-air 1, so if he jumps near you/your shield, it's better to OOS to quickly hit him before he f-air 1's or empty hop -> grabs you. However, he can instead f-air normally, which you can then punish right after, but by default they will usually go for f-air 1. His side-b is also a great defensive tool, but can be shielded with ease. If your character has good range, such as Shulk, you may be able to hop over the side-b and punish with a f-air, which can be more devastating with Smash Art. His u-tilt functions as a solid anti-air, which can lead to u-airs at early percents, so incorporate empty hops to bait it out and dash away or even shield it, as there's plenty amount of downtime for you to punish. Staying under Joker is vital in the neutral, as his up-b can grab you in mid-air and his u-air can trap you on the platforms. Joker's Gun is a pretty strong tool for poking, as well as Rainstorm being viable in a full hop, able to poke down and force a shield, as well as cancel into moves such as b-air. When he uses Rainstorm, see if you can move tot he sides and hit im with f-air or b-air. And finally, if the Joker busts out his counter, charge a smash attack.

Arsene:

Now that Arsene is out, Joker will be playing much more aggressively. His stronger moves create a ton of pressure, which can allow him to get free grabs or smash attacks, should you shield, counter, or spotdodge. Evading with speed and stalling is a powerful technique against Arsene. Using your character's options offstage to stall time makes a ton of difference, especially if you wait on the Angel Platform the entire way through. An obscure technique when fighting Arsene (which is even stronger since Joker will usually be at high percents with Arsene) is to grab him and keep pummelling. This not only stalls time, it deals extra damage, and slightly reduces Arsene time by hitting him. Arsene's punish game is incredible, and it definitely affects the neutral. Throughout the entire game, note the player's favourite approach option as Arsene, as they often don't need many opportunities to take the stock. N-air becomes a great option in the air for keeping opponents off of you, d-air becomes a combo starter, and b-air becomes an even stronger wall, as it gains an intense amount of kill power. His options remain the same yet stronger, and it's much more optimal to avoid it rather than contest it and risk getting d-air -> f-smashed.

Summary:

Joker

- Bait and punish neutral

- B-air walls, f-air 1/landing f-air, and grab

- Pick a low height character or one who is low when dashing(Pichu or Inkling/Greninja)

- Strike rising b-air after, strike landing b-air early

- F-air 1 is always landing

- Shield side-b or jump over and attack (requires range)

- U-tilt is a solid anti-air but pretty lag on or off shield

- Stay under Joker to avoid up-b and u-air on platforms

- If he counters, smash attack

Arsene

- Aggro neutral

- All previous options are now 10x

- Don't shield/spotdodge as often

- Evade with speed/stalling instead

- Use offstage options to stall time

- Wait on the respawn platform for as long as you can

- If you get a grab, mash pummel to stall time -> throw

Punishing Joker

Joker:

Juggling Joker is all about reading Rainstorm. Rainstorm basically renders any juggle moot, if done improperly. Rainstorm hits all below it, so it is more beneficial to stay mobile and pressure Joker while moving side to side with the use of platforms or a character with solid enough air-speed, such as Wario. This may force a Rainstorm, to which you can hit Joker on the side, often killing earlier. Edgeguarding Joker is more about distance. Gimping him and getting him further from the ledge, though it may seem obvious, is optimal. Because of its nature as a tether recovery, if Joker is not in range of the ledge, he will go absolutely nowhere, so forcing an airdodge offstage by dropping from the ledge -> b-air can often take the stock. Keep him away from the ledge. At the ledge, Joker can double jump side-b, or any of his other basic options. This loses to shield, and can even be punished if you read it with a quick d-air or other spiking move.

Arsene:

Rainstorm becomes stronger, but the principle still applies. Hit from the side. Gimping him does however become a bit harder, it is also a bit easier. Without access to the tether, his recovery is much more telegraphed, and will now lose to longer range spikes, such as Ivysaur d-air. It has slight invincibility at the beginning, so spike it midway through rather than going for gimp at startup. At the ledge, his options become much stronger in terms of knockback, and side-b has more range, meaning Joker can fire it from a distance and be safer from d-air counterattacks. Just shield it and move on, or if you can read it, run offstage and wait for it -> double jump -> d-air.

Summary:

Joker

- When juggling, hit him from the sides and pressure with horizontal speeds (either on platforms or with good airspeeds)

- Force airdodges with high pressure edgeguarding and to keep him further from ledge as much as possible

- He can side-b from ledge, so if you read it, go for a spike

Arsene

- Rainstorm punishes harder, principle still applies

- Gimp him at the later part of his up-b.

- Joker can side-b from further away, but a read can still get you a spike

Recommended Matchups:

1. Pichu

Pichu's small stature and unrelenting aggression takes advantage of 2 of Joker's weaknesses, his fragility against small characters, and his poor OOS game. Pichu is able to naturally dodge his moves at times (especially when crouching), and can pressure his shield and avoid his OOS options in u-air (frame 5) and f-air (frame 7).

In the neutral game, Pichu's TJolt can make Joker's strong dashbacks negligible as well as punishing his b-air walls, as the move will continue and hit him, forcing a shield, which already puts Joker in a bad position. Use TJolt to cover your aggression and pressure his shield while staying low. Using spaced d-tilt is a great shield poke tool, as Joker can only jump out of his shield to escape it, meaning he has no good offensive option OOS, and jumping away only puts him into the corner. Against side-b, you can quickly hop over it and get a grab or a n-air due to your speed and small hurtbox. When Arsene is out, your high maneuverability, up-b, side-b, and down-b can help evade and stall offstage, as well as go under the stage to stall time even further. Coupled that with your frailty, it is 100% the correct choice to get the hell away from Arsene Joker. Unless he barely whiffs a smash attack, it's not very safe to try to whiff punish him. Side-b has more range now, but that means being closer to him makes you safe from side-b, due to the 45 degree angle it is sent.

B-air and f-air are not too strong of aerials to punish Rainstorm on their own. However, making use of b-air dragdowns can net you a free u-smash or grab -> Thunder. Edgeguarding is making use of dragdowns and d-airs to keep him away from the ledge and stall him away, while ledgetrapping is making use of TJolt and d-tilt to poke at him and force an option while still remaining unpunishable yourself. You can run off f-air if he side-b's. While under Arsene, read his trajectory and be there with a d-air.

Summary:

- Pichu is small and fast, letting him avoid a lot of Joker's moves (f-air, u-air, and b-air)
- Use TJolt and pressure shield with low lag moves that keep you low to the ground
- His best OOS option is to jump away or n-air, which is frame 12
- Hop over his side-b -> grab. If side-b is improperly timed, it can straight up go right over you
- Use your specials to keep Arsene away and to evade/stall offstage
- Use b-air dragdowns to punish Rainstorm
- Force airdodges or push him from ledge with dragdowns and d-airs
- Ledgetrap with TJolt to force an option or put him in an edgeguard situation below the ledge
- Read Arsene up-b trajectory and d-air him (midway/at the end of up-b)

Best Pichu Mains:

VoiD: Though in a bit of a character crisis, VoiD is one of the best Pichu mains to ever play Ultimate, and has done a ton for the meta, which is exemplified by his top tier placings and wins. His content featuring Pichu videos and for many other characters are here.

NAKAT: VoiD's former fellow CLG member, NAKAT is currently the strongest active Pichu player, ranking as the 26th best Ultimate player in the world, according to the PGRU. His guide to Pichu and Pikachu can be found here.

2. Pikachu

A frequent member of the Recommended Matchups club, Pikachu is also a strong pick against Joker. Much like his fellow rat, Pichu, Pikachu's small stature, relatively safe disadvantaged state, and quick moves/ground speed makes it hard for Joker to punish Pikachu. On the other hand, Pikachu can punish Joker well, mainly due to his already incredible combo game, and his strong edgeguarding that Joker can have trouble consistently getting around.

In the neutral, Pikachu can standardly TJolt, as well as punish any committal options Joker may throw out, such as repeated use of Gun. Most options can be punished with a QA to get Joker into disadvantaged. You can approach with f-air, but getting a grab at 0% makes the matchup very scary for Joker. Getting a b-air towards offstage is also a great position for Pikachu to set up more b-airs to set up an edgeguard, which Pikachu excels at already. Should Joker whip out Arsene, Pikachu is more than well equipped to avoid him. QA, side-b,Thunder stalling, and general movement speed allows Pikachu to go under the stage, over it, through Joker with QA, and stall offstage, long enough for Arsene to run out. The unreactable nature of QA also allows Pikachu to mixup and attack Joker instead.

Edgeguarding consists of standard Pikachu setups. Joker will almost always go under the stage/slightly away from under, with or without Arsene. You can purposefully let him grab onto the stage, only for you to get an easy descending dragdown/d-air, as he will be unable to move. Joker has few unique ledge options, all of which can be hit with Pikachu f-smash or d-air. Standard fundamentals of reading helps with juggling Joker, especially if he uses Rebel's Guard, as you have time for him to land and punish. If he has Arsene and counters, you just have to u-air to repeat the juggle. At higher percents, however, you could try fastfall drag down n-air -> U-smash to punish the Arsene counter. For Rebel's Guard however, just charge an u-smash while he lands, or if you can vertically space it, Thunder.

Summary:

- Pikachu is small and fast, making him hard to hit
- TJolt approaches, punish Gun with QA
- Go for grabs at low percents, unless they know to actively avoid it. Punish spotdodges/rolls/jumps accordingly
- QA, Side-b, Thunder stall, run away, all viable tools vs. Arsene. QA to hit Joker as a mixup
- He will always recover low or airdodge to ledge
- Let him tether grab ledge to punish him, as you can cover a ton of space while hes in the animation
- F-smash/d-air to cover unique ledge options, otherwise standard punishes (grab neutral getup, shield ledge attack, etc.)
- Rebel's Guard -> charged smash
- Arsene counter -> n-air dragdown -> u-smash or just u-air

Top Pikachu Mains:

ESAM: The classic. The GOAT of Pikachu since Brawl. His resume is extensive and is a great resource for all things Pikachu.



3. Mega Man

Mega Man is a sort of sleeper counterpick for the biggest top tiers right now. MM solidly does well against the top cast, but can struggle with raw rushdown characters. Joker is not one of those characters. He can be, he just doesn't have the tools to do it as well as someone like Fox or Pichu. Spamming lemons from a midrange distance is able to restrict Joker's movement, especially if the MM can get a bead on Joker's neutral patterns, such as where they like to go when hit by a pellet, very similar to how top level Melee Falco's use lasers to pressure, control space, and read reactions, MM excels at restricting his opponent and study their reactions to the pressure.

In the neutral, zoning and studying your opponent is key. Spam lemons to keep Joker out, and see where they like to go when hit by a pellet. Do they jump away? Do they shield? Do they roll, jump towards, retreat to platforms, the ledge. Knowing their patterns is key to any matchup, but Mega Man's lemons allow him to see their reactions to constant pressure. Keeping Joker out also can frustrate and cause them to slip, allowing you to get reads off of continued lemon pressure, mainly through b-air, or even the occasional u-tilt if you read a grounded option.

When Joker's offstage, b-air covers a ton of space with a good amount of frames out, while d-air can cover a ton of vertical space when Joker tether grabs. B-air is your main offstage tool. At the ledge, rising f-air, b-air, and n-air are all safe options to punish jumping from the ledge, or to fake to bait a grounded option. Most grounded options can easily be punished with an u-tilt, or even an f-throw/b-throw to reset and get an edgeguard, if they're at low percents. If you can time and space it right, a d-smash can cover a roll and a neutral getup, and may clank with a getup attack, however it's got a ton of lag. Leaf Shield, however, is probably your strongest ledgetrapping tool. It's incredibly active and covers a ton of area, as well as being an incredible 2 frame option. Juggling Joker is making use of your u-air projectile, and when he's closer to the ground, try to read an airdodge or counter with an u-tilt. Spamming of u-air can be used to fill Rebel's Guard, so don't be so hasty to spam it, so make sure to fake them out a few times.

Summary:

- Pellet in neutral
- Learn their reactions to them getting hit by/their shield getting hit by pellet
- Punish repeated patterns with b-air or u-tilt for grounded punishes
- B-air and f-air are strong offstage (ton of range), and d-air for low Joker up-b's
- Leaf Shield 2-frames and covers a ton of space for ledgetrapping
- Juggle but don't spam, as they may charge Rebel's Guard
- Bait airdodges and counters and punish with u-tilt when close to the ground

Best Mega Men:

kameme: As of now the strongest Mega Man main, and a top level Japanese threat.

Marss: Though normally a ZSS main, Marss took a set off MKLeo at Mainstage 2019 by switching to a Mega Man secondary.

Stage Select:

Joker's best stage is PS2, and he does okay on every other stage, preferring to pick based on his opponent's bad stages rather than having a good one himself, as well as based on personal preference.

Summary:
To summarize:

- Low profile his moves

- Stall Arsene

- He recovers low

- Move side to side when juggling

- His ledge options (aside from standard ones) are punished with d-air/f-smash

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Follow me on twitter! https://twitter.com/jkoga6

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Changelog: 

Oct. 19/2019 - Added Stage Select
May: 29/2020 - Changed Twitter handle

How to Beat: Palutena

Introduction:

Palutena is a mid-weight and semi-floaty. This combination usually leads to a sort of balance where the character is not able to take advantage of the extremes, yet is not punished by them too hard. Palutena may be in the middle, but she does lean towards the floatier and lighter side, meaning she does die off the top earlier, but her weight supplements that. She also can be combo'd a bit harder than lighter characters, but her floatiness prevents combos at later percents. She's also got a tall hurtbox, meaning she is easier to actually get the first hit on.

Strengths:

1. Footsies

Palutena has an incredible footsies game. Footsies is essentially a midrange game where you are neither rushdown or zoning. Instead, you play close to your opponent, poking with strong aerials and/or ground moves, hoping to get in and out to find a chink in their armor. Essentially a bait and punish style that focuses on more aggression. Palutena's aerials have low landing lag and she's got one of the fastest ground speeds, allowing her to dart in and out while also having strong and quick aerials to punish the opponent. Playing the footsies game against Palutena can be very difficult, as her aerials can be hard to punish. Her fall speed however, being semi-floaty, is her weakness in this aspect. Noting her aerial habits is important. Did she f-air or b-air in this situation? Was it a rising f-air? When does she rising f-air? When does she landing f-air? All of these are important. If she does more rising f-airs in a certain situation, force that situation and punish it. Rising aerials have downtime afterwards, so time it based on your character's ability to get in and punish. Faster characters should charge in once the move comes out, while slower characters should go earlier, once she jumps, as she'll most likely buffer the move if it's rising. If it's a landing f-air, there will be downtime before she can react to your punish, so charge in early, especially since f-air and b-air come out so late at frame 9 and 8, respectively. She can also make use of her insane ground speed as well. Dashback -> dash attack is a common punish, so overextending your attacks can make all the difference. This is barebones fundamentals for footsies. If you have the time and are interested to go deeper, I recommend you read sonichurricane's the Footsies Handbook.

2. Advantage State

Palutena's advantage state is one of her best factors. When above her, her run speed allows her to cover ground quickly, making it hard to escape u-airs or dash attack. Couple that with her u-smash, she can mix you up from very long ranges if she reads the airdodge, usually resulting in a kill. Her Auto Reticle and Explosive Flame are both good for pushing advantage as well. When offstage, AR can catch your jump and position you further down offstage, limiting your options in terms of recovery. EF also burns resources such as air-dodge and jumps, reducing the opponent's options. Her edgeguarding is one of the best, with a counter, her aforementioned b-moves, strong and disjointed aerials, and her strong 2-framing with d-tilt. N-airs lingering hitbox can also be a pain to deal with, as it can cover the ledge and hits/beats out moves like Wolf side-b and Pikachu up-b.

3. Safety and Consistency

Palutena is a very safe character. Her aerials have low lag, she can quickly run out of situations, she's hard to edgeguard with her teleport recovery, she has both a counter and a reflector. She's also very consistent, as most of her combos will work on all of the cast, and her skill floor is higher than most. Not to say she's an easy character, she's just easier to get at a playable level with. However, by avoiding her n-air, you can avoid a ton of basic bread n butters that the lower level Palutena's use. Also having your 2-framing down to a science is most likely your only shot at consistently edgeguarding Palutena. If she spams aerials, it's likely they're all rising, so rush at her once the move comes out, as f-air and b-air don't have a lot of active frames. If they're landing, strike early.

4. High Damage Combos

Palutena's main combo starters are f-air, n-air, u-air, and d-throw. Avoiding f-air is about the footsies game. Predicting rising vs. landing is important to bypassing f-air walls. To avoid u-air, practicing your landing game can help avoid juggles and prevent her from pushing her advantage state. Avoiding d-throw is about avoiding grabs. If the Palutena is a grabber, start using your quickest moves or even spotdodge -> attack to punish. N-air is one of Palutena's best get off me options and one of her only OOS options. She'll most likely use this OOS if you land on her shield, so be careful when approaching her. If she approaches with n-air, you'd need to be wary of her crossup, as a poor OOS option just means more n-airs. B-air OOS for most characters will catch Palutena while she's crossing up your shield, and if your character has long enough range, just n-air OOS can catch both the crossup and the land in front. Bigger disjoints can help, so having a sword can make the matchup a bit easier, or even just knowing your longest range moves can go a long way

Weaknesses

1. Poor Get Off Me and OOS Options

Get off me options are essentially what they sound like. They're moves that get your opponent off you, usually due to speed, range in a radius, and knockback. These get off me options are usually used OOS, as that's usually when you need an opponent off of you. While in shield, it'll almost always be n-air OOS to try to turn the tables on you. Proper spacing, pressure using speed, and using your safe moves to bait her out of shield can net you a free punish. Characters that are good at this are Wolf and Fox. Her other get off me option is less close range. If you try pressuring her up close, she can dash-attack, as it's a very fast move. However, it's very punishable on shield, so predicting it is important. Shielding will cover both of her get off me options, however, this can lead right into a grab, so shield -> long range aerial is a safe play.

2. Poor Ground Game

Palutena is a pretty bad ground game. All of her tilts last a long time and can be easily punished, her jab is slow, and her specials are meant for longer ranges than up close, and so, she can really struggle against small and rushdown heavy characters, such as Fox and Pichu. Her only good ground move is dash attack, which still has a ton of lag, so it's likely Palutena will be taking to the air for her aerials. Her short hop is fairly high, so having a smaller character means that her aerials may whiff, especially since some characters duck low when running, such as Inkling.

3. Small Characters

Palutena's aerials are very forward facing, and due to her SH height and fall speed, she often misses her aerials or small/crouching opponents, so she may often opt for landing aerials in a matchup, making it easier to predict. If you're playing a small character, go for early attacks to punish this, and if she hits you right back, play low and wait for her aerials instead. Switch between both playstyles and adapt.

Playing Against Palutena in the Neutral

Palutena plays similarly to Melee Marth. Long range with quick aerials, but a punishable downtime before or after their swing. When approaching, look out for her aerial timings for any patterns. Repeated rising aerials means to punish after the move, so rush in at different times depending on your character's speed. Faster characters should run in once the move is actually out, while slower characters may want to run once the animation starts. It's all variant based on character speed and how close you play against her in the neutral, but this all comes with experience with the character. Against a landing aerial user, rush in as soon as you see her jump with faster characters, but if you're slow, you have to predict the jump, or use your longest range move. Most of Ultimate's cast is fast enough to punish as soon as she starts to jump, however, due to most characters either being simply fast in the air/ground, have long limbs/swords, or have projectiles to put hit Palutena as she rises, messing up their rhythm and catching them off guard. Also be careful of dashbacks, as Palutena is a very fast ground character, and dashback -> dash attack is a strong and effective whiff punish. Overshoot your attacks if you get hit by this. Against her shield, her only options really are n-air, so baiting it out with proper spacing on her shield is important, as there is a lot of downtime after n-air.

Punishing Palutena

Juggling Palutena can be very tricky. Her fall speed is moderate, but it's her teleport that makes it tricky, as she can instantly port to the other side of the stage with decently low end-lag. Predicting this does however get you a free punish, so if she up-b's while you're juggling her, expect it again. When she's higher up, she'll usually teleport down, if she's closer to the ground, she'll teleport to the other side. A center stage Palutena will either teleport to the sides or not at all. If there are platforms, she can teleport straight up while at center, and when descending, she can edgecancel them, which can be very hard to punish, but can be hard to execute in high pressure scenarios. If your u-air/juggling tool doesn't have much range, or you become predictable, she can quickly fast-fall n-air, which allows her to get a grab or combo with more n-airs. If you can bait out fast-fall n-air, however, it's a free punish due to the downtime. When edgeguarding Palutena, it boils down to where she'll teleport. If you cover the ledge and attempt 2-framing, she'll teleport higher, especially if there are platforms. Most Palutena's will go low however, so you could try to 2-frame, or you could predict when she teleports and catch her before she can, if you're fast enough at least. At the ledge, her best options (aside from the standard getup, roll, getup attack, etc.) are teleport from ledge (either to the platform or back onto the ledge as a mixup), or n-air from ledge, a high reward play. Shielding at the ledge protects you from the n-air, but if she teleports to the platform, you won't be able to punish. Ledgetrapping can be very character dependent, however.

Recommended Matchups

1. Pikachu

Palutena's weakness against fast and close-range fighters really shines in the matchup against Pikachu. Pikachu's ability to pressure shields with spaced f-airs and TJolt approaches, force shields with his strong punish game off a TJolt landing or a fast-fall n-air, and to punish shields with his insane early grab game and u-throw/d-throw Thunder kill confirm gives him one of the best aggressive games in Ultimate. Couple that with his relatively small hurtbox and Palutena's high reaching aerials, and you've got a great character against Palutena.

In the neutral, Palutena doesn't have a very strong approach game. She's more of a bait and punish, so adopting that strategy as Pikachu is a great way to play the matchup. Pikachu's safe aerials in f-air and b-air, strong ground game with d-tilt and jab, and his small hurtbox grant him a stronger neutral in the matchup. TJolt approaches as well as spaced f-air are your good options in neutral, and always be on the lookout for a d-throw -> n-air loop, as well as practicing your combos to optimize damage.

Juggling Palutena can be hard, as Pikachu's u-air will never kill in a serious match. Where Pikachu excels is catching her mixups with moves like u-smash, Thunder, Quick Attack, and TJolt. U-smash can catch her airdodges, spotdodges, and be used in teleport reads, Thunder can clip her off the top, QA can be used to follow her teleport on read or even reaction, and TJolt can be used to apply pressure, should she teleport away. Edgeguarding Palutena can be rough, even for a character like Pikachu, as teleport recoveries are nearly unedgeguardable. If she goes high, hit her with Thunder or follow her with f-air/b-air to send her back offstage or even an u-smash on stages like FD and Kalos. If she goes low, 2-frame with low-angle f-tilt, TJolt, d-air, or a b-air/n-air at the ledge. Ledgetrap with TJolt and f-air to catch out teleport, use shield to cover n-air, and then up-b, aerial, or even turnaround rising TJolt punish teleport (if she's on a platform). Up-b is a good option with decent reward, as it can be used OOS, and can reach platforms or center stage while still popping up Palutena.

Best Pikachu Mains:

ESAM: ESAM is THE Pikachu. He not only pushes the meta via optimized combos, he's a content creator with full confidence in his ability and his character, making him the best resource for Pika knowledge. His results and wins have resulted in his 16th placing on the Spring 2019 PG Rankings.

2. Pokemon Trainer

Pokemon Trainer is a tough matchup for Palutena mainly due to Squirtle. Squirtle's strong combo game on most of the cast, small stature, and quick speed make him almost a pseudo Pikachu. He's able to rushdown and avoid Palutena's rising aerials, allowing him to almost guarantee a landing aerial and therefore a punish. He's also able to edgeguard Palutena decently, with low angled f-tilt and even Waterfall being able to 2-frame. If she doesn't go for the ledge, Water Gun can push her offstage. However, you shouldn't count out the others. Ivysaur has a powerful spike that makes 2-framing easier and kill earlier, as well as a strong u-air to kill Palutena in juggle situations. Coupled that with a ton of kill confirms at 70%, where Squirtle's combo game tips off, and Charizard's powerful last resort options in side-b, u-smash OOS, and his throws, give you one versatile option for any matchup.

In the neutral as Squirtle, around early percents, you wanna go for your combo starters in f-air, d-air, d-throw, and late dash attack. Palutena will whiff her rising aerials or go for landing aerials, so getting in early but not too early avoids both options and forces n-air or dashback. If you're able to get in early, f-air is a quick, frame 5 move that can hit Palutena before she uses her own moves or beat out n-air. The only trouble would be dashback, which even then may be too slow due to Squirtle's fall speed and f-air's 6 frames of landing lag. If Palutena starts reaching 60-70%, it may be more beneficial to switch to Ivysaur. Ivysaur's neutral greatly uses Razor Leaf, which can be reflected, so use it more defensively for zoning. Razor Leaf can confirm into a ton of options in f-air, Grab can net you a kill as well with d-throw -> n-air -> FF -> Vine Whip. Charizard's neutral is based on conditioning your opponent. You can pressure their shield with empty-hops mixed with a grab -> kill throw or even a side-b finisher if she n-airs OOS. If she's approaching, u-smash can help OOS or as an anti-air, and Charizard's speed is still fast for a heavy, making his dashback very effective against a dashattack.

Punishing Palutena is best via Ivysaur. His juggle game is incredible, as u-air and Vine Whip are long range moves with devastating kill power. U-air also sends Ivysaur back to the ground, allowing him to cover options much faster. U-smash reads kill Palutena very early, and Razor Leaf can cover directional airdodges. However, Squirtle still has a very strong early punish game, so preferably use him first. His juggling game is however the weakest, so switch to Ivysaur in those situations quickly. Charizard's u-air and u-smash are decent moves that can juggle, along with his quick fall speed and ground speed, allow him to cover a ton of distance during mixups. Offstage, Ivysaur d-air can 2-frame and kill very early, as well as f-smash being a strong tool for ledgetrapping, as it has deceivingly long range and pulls Ivysaur back, allowing him to dodge getup attack. Squirtle can also 2-frame with low-angled f-tilt, as well as Water Gun to cover above-ground options. Charizard's neutral-B can be used to cover the ledge, but Palutena's teleport can avoid it. D-air is a strong option, but will hardly ever hit due to teleport. Using tipper b-air and side-b at the ledge can kill very early however, so basic fundamentals in ledgetrapping is useful as Charizard, especially due to how scary his basic options can be, in the form of tipper b-air and grab -> u-throw/b-throw (for roll from ledge).

Pokemon Trainer Mains to Study:

Tweek: Tweek's odd ability to pick up any character and dominate has no exceptions, including his Pokemon Trainer, who recently won him a tournament over fellow PT expert Wishes at Spectrum #100. As expected from the #2 ranked player in the world (as well as being regarded as the best skill wise from other top players), he's capable of dominating with pretty much any character. Tweek is well-known for being arguably the best Squirtle as of right now, however Tweek is the best option to watch due to his decision making.

Puppeh, Pandarian, and Wishes: All 3 are very strong Pokemon Trainers to watch. Watching Tweek is good for decision making, but watching these three's VODs are important for learning matchups, due to their higher experience compared to Tweek.

3. Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong's incredible ability to apply pressure on the ground and punish poor defensive options make him either beat or at the very least go even with Palutena. His Banana forces a defensive option just by holding it, even moreso at high percents, and a lot of his moves have low lag that can be used on the ground or in a shorthop, such as d-tilt and b-air. 

In the neutral, having a Banana out applies a ton of pressure to the opponent, especially at kill percents, so make sure to be comfortable with Banana and itemplay in general. Use Banana to punish landings, airdodges, or spotdodges, or even in an empty hop, similar to a tomahawk. It's also decently used in the air, as it can stall the opponent long enough for you to reach them, as they'll be stuck in hitstun for a second. B-air is a solid walling option, as you can spam it, being able to use it twice in one shorthop. F-air has more range, however is a bit slower, and popgun being used at the midrange can force a shield and still let you approach. However, if Palutena reads the popgun, she can quickly dashattack. Side-b is a great burst option when punishing moves like dash attack, however, and can even be used on shield due to it's command grab properties, as well as an attack. Empty hops with Banana are definitely scary as well, so I recommend implementing that into your play. Diddy should play a pressure game with Banana, and even defensive at times, so against Palutena, play close in the midrange when you have Banana, but maybe pull back and use popgun/spawn a Banana from far away. Diddy excels at punishing Palutena's footsies style. Against rising aerials, Banana her as she's landing (you may need to SH banana), or even Banana her landing into whatever punish you want. Against landing aerials, you need to predict it as she jumps, so Banana as soon as she jumps. This ability to punish the aerials from far away while also being fast on the ground gives Diddy a big advantage in the neutral.

Some good punishes after Banana are d-throw -> double b-air, dash attack -> f-air, or even smash attack after Banana. F-smash is usually better than u-smash, so long as you're either center stage/f-smashing them towards the side of the stage you're closer to, while u-smash is better on platforms or if you're gonna be f-smashing them towards the blastzone while you're on the other side of the stage. However, f-smashing allows you to set up edgeguards, so on more fast-fally characters, maybe opt for the f-smash or even a b-throw. Being comfortable with punishes from Banana is key to being able to pressure Palutena, as if she's not scared of your punishes, your neutral crumbles. Learning the Diddy Kong platform infinite can be helpful in securing stocks, but is very tough to get consistently, so make sure to practice it when you can, and to go for it during friendlies to help you notice when you should go for it and what situations occur where this infinite is applicable. Diddy's biggest form of ledgetrapping involves placing the Banana at the ledge, which covers regular getup and getup attack. Their remaining options are double jump from the ledge, jump from the ledge, and roll from ledge. Against double jump from the ledge, sometimes they'll try to grab the Banana, so if they do that, it may be a good idea next time to place the Banana a little further back, but you can also usually punish them while they're focused on the Banana such as with a shieldgrab. Against jump from ledge, f-air sends them right back, and against roll from ledge, b-throw sends them back. Palutena can have difficulty at the ledge, as her semi-floaty nature makes double jump from the ledge more predictable, and her mid-weight status can get her killed by an f-smash if she does regular getup or getup attack on a Banana. Diddy can even 2-frame by throwing Banana at the ledge, allowing him to get a pretty easy d-air.

Diddy Kong Mains to Study:

Dakpo: Probably the most well-known Diddy, Dakpo is well known for his use of the infinite in tournament, as well as his 50 minute in-depth guide to Diddy Kong as a whole. An incredible resource on learning the matchup as Diddy and the character himself.

ZeRo: The GOAT of Smash 4 has not been to a tournament in a bit, focusing on streaming. That said, his Diddy was and is still a force to be reckoned with, with a heavy defensive and pressure based game, very similar to a Street Fighter player. Often times he'll have opponents cornered their entire stocks, and with this playstyle earned him the title of the best Smash 4 player 4 years in a row, with countless tournament wins. He also recently released a guide to Diddy Kong, which is again a great resource.

Stage Select:

FD is probably Palutena's worst stage, as she loses a lot of platform extensions on her combos with n-air and u-air, and loses some of her teleport cancel options. The rest of her stages should be okay, with Battlefield being her best due to the exact opposite of FD, and possibly even PS1/PS2.

Summary:

To summarize:

- Take note of rising/landing aerials

- Get good at ledgetrapping and 2-framing consistently

- Pressure her to force a whiffed n-air OOS

- Pick a fast character and small character

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- Karo 

Follow me on twitter! https://twitter.com/jkoga6

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Changelog:

May. 29/2020 - Changed Twitter handle