How to Beat: Olimar

Olimar

Introduction:

Olimar is the 68th-70th heaviest character and the 59th-62nd fastest faller, making him a light floaty. Light floaties are subject to juggling and early deaths, especially vertical. They however are less burdened by recovery (on average), and are less likely to be combo'd, especially at higher percents. Olimar plays a zone game with aspects of baiting and punishing. Instead of a traditional zoner that would stand at the corner of the stage, Olimar excels at the midrange zoning due to his limited range as a zoner. He'll stay out of your area and push you away from him via f-smash and side-b, allowing him to control the pace of the match. He'll toss Pikmin and go for safe options to keep you away and rack percent, but if you overextend, he can pull out 40-60% combos at early percents off an u-smash, depending on Pikmin order. In fact, all of his Pikmin based moves change depending on which Pikmin is currently first in line. These differences are based around:

HP: 1% of damage = 1 HP of damage. Use a move that deals more than the Pikmin's HP, but also don't use the same move too often, as it'll stale and eventually deal less damage, further wasting your time.

Damage and Knockback: All of the Pikmin have a knockback and damage multiplier of varying degrees. Knowing when to avoid Olimar is dependant on knowing which Pikmin is first in line. 

Physical Properties: Some Pikmin are thrown differently than others, some fall faster, some are thrown faster, etc.

Special Properties: Some Pikmin have special properties based on their element/nature.

All of the Pikmin have very different properties, so knowing the differences each has will be hard, so maybe keeping notes on your phone to review before, during, and even after sets is important for the matchup. Staying focused and always paying attention will help you immensely. These differences are:

Red: 

- 6 HP

- 2% per tick when latched on via side-b

- 1.4x damage multiplier and stronger knockback on smashes and aerials

- 0.8x damage multiplier and weaker knockback on throws

- Special fire properties: Has fire based attacks and are immune to fire. This means the Pikmin can't be killed by, for example, Ness PK Fire or Mario/Luigi Fireball. The fire based attacks also do things like activate Link Bombs, including Remote Bomb

Yellow:

- 6 HP

- 2% per tick when latched on via side-b

- Has 50% larger hitbox on smashes and aerials

- When using side-b, throwing arc is more vertical than other Pikmin

- Special electric properties: Has electric based attacks and are immune to electricity. This means the Pikmin are immune to moves like Pikachu/Pichu Thunder Jolt, and can't be shaken off by things like Pikachu n-air and Pichu b-air. Electric attacks increase hitlag, which are the freeze frames you take before you're actually launched (A common misconception is that it increases hitstun, which is the duration that you're unable to move after being hit. It's actually hitlag)

Blue:

- 8 HP

- 2% per tick when latched on via side-b

- 1.7x damage multiplier and much stronger knockback on throws

- Special water properties: Has water based attacks and is immune to water effects. The Blue Pikmin are immune to drowning on stages like the stage Pirate Ship, or moves like Squirtle Waterfall and Greninja Water Shuriken. Water attacks have no effect in this game in competitive play anymore, as drowning-based stages are banned and Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon no longer suffer type weaknesses

White:

- 5 HP

- 4.7% per tick when latched on via side-b

- 0.8x damage multiplier and weaker knockback on smashes and aerials

- When thrown, flies much faster than the other Pikmin horizontally

- Deals "darkness" damage, which has no effect in competitive play. They're not immune to anything either

- Increased grab range

Purple:

- 11 HP

- 6% damage, does not latch. Instead acts as a single hit projectile that runs back to Olimar after being thrown

- 1.6x damage multiplier and much stronger knockback on smashes and aerials

- F-smash and d-smash have shorter range and active hitbox duration (how long the move stays able to hit)

- Reduced grab range

- Falls faster than the other Pikmin when thrown

Knowing what moves of yours have different properties against Olimar's Pikmin is important. Going on autopilot is bad, but it's even worse against a decent Olimar. Always be paying attention to their Pikmin order, especially if you're a character that utilizes fire or electric property moves often.

Strengths:

1. Oppressive Neutral and Pace Control

Olimar can heavily pressure you with side-b zoning. He tosses a Pikmin, and if it hits you, it'll stick, dealing damage, with varying effects depending on the Pikmin colour. He plays in the midrange, focusing on racking up damage with f-smash and side-b, and/or baiting and punishing with burst combos of damage through u-smash and Purple Pikmin side-b -> grab, both at early percents. Olimar can also condition very well due to the pressure of side-b in terms of fear of damage or knockback. Staying calm and not panicking while you're taking damage is important to not being preyed upon. Find what option your character has against being latched on that would work on all the Pikmin, and make sure it's safe in order to prevent punishes. Olimar forces you to play his game, playing around his Pikmin, allowing him to control the pace of the match to however he sees fit. 

2. Shifting Playstyle

Olimar can't really play as a true zoner or as a true boxer. By playing fully aggressive, he is now forced to play his opponents game, losing control of the match. He can't play fully defensive either, as he lacks the stage wide range of a turtle character like Villager or Duck Hunt Dog, and would gain nothing from it aside from losing center stage, which Olimar needs due to his bad disadvantage game. Being able to play both aggressive and defensive depending on his lineup makes Olimar very unpredictable to fight. Based on player preference, recognizing the Olimar's lineup when he goes aggressive and their lineup when they go defensive should give you some idea.

3. Fantastic Punish Game

Olimar can do an incredible amount of damage in a very short amount of time. U-smash -> u-smash -> u-air can net 40-50% based on Pikmin order as a basic bnb, and a more complicated combo of side-b -> side-b -> d-throw -> f-air deals 67% minimum with white -> purple > blue lineup. This order may seem specific, but at the start of the match, you can throw away 2 Pikmin and then pluck 2 -> u-air to cycle the blue to get this specific lineup. There are even more combos that reach 70% (however they can be DI'd) with f-smash -> grab. Having access to such high damage bnb's with minimal execution effort makes fighting most competitive Olimars threatening, which only adds to his fear factor in neutral. Most of these setups require conditioning, so not falling prey to shielding everytime he side-b's and staying unpredictable can prevent these setups. Olimar preys on finding your defensive habits and punishing them for high damage.

He's also got incredible kill power/potentail. With a very safe f-smash, he can use the first to clank with moves and then punish the clank with a second f-smash, killing at 93-125% for middleweights (purple to blue), with DI at center FD. In a normal situation, the attack would kill even earlier if it was at the edge, if there were rage, if the DI was improper, or if it was on a lighter enemy. Purple f-smash on Pichu kills at 72%, while blue f-smash on Bowser kills at 152% under the original conditions. Blue u-throw kills at 140% on middleweights, comparable to Mewtwo u-throw. Avoiding f-smash and u-throw is about respecting the low endlag and not letting him read your options by staying unpredictable and adapting before Olimar can adapt himself to your defensive options.

His juggle game is also pretty decent due to disjointed aerials and high kill power with u-air. He is rather floaty, making it more difficult, but it's still very much doable and highly recommended. He can also cover airdodges with f-air, and can rack up even more damage on triplats.

Weaknesses:

1.  Bad Disadvantage State

Olimar's floaty nature and lack of a burst movement option like Pikachu up-b coalesces into a poor disadvantage state. It's hard for him to get out of juggles outside of grabbing ledge, which is hard due to no way of getting there besides floating offstage and up-bing to to it or airdodging to the ledge. Reading the airdodge and preventing him from getting near the ledge in the first place is key, so expect him to go there, but don't count out his other options, including platforms just landing on stage due to poor option coverage on your part. If he tries to directional airdodge left or right, you can just stand there and wait for him, and then dash attack, dash grab -> u-throw, running u-tilt/u-smash -> rejuggle or even running f-smash/kill option.

If he goes offstage, his only way of surviving is if you have poor edgeguarding, or if hes able to mix up his movement. He can steer left to right and rise and dip, as well as quickly attacking out of his up-b, giving him better control than other characters with similar recoveries. Getting him early is important, but committing too hard lets him recover for free and allowing him to regain advantage and control the game. Staying close to the ledge but still dipping down allows you to control space but also regain you double jump if need be. It mostly depends on character choice, but not committing is important. He's also got a poor ledge game due to a lack of burst movement speed. Getting good at ledgetrapping is important as well.

2. Large Hurtbox

Olimar's hurtbox is deceptively large. After a recent patch, patch 3.1.0, Olimar was nerfed, giving him a larger invisible hurtbox. Due to this, his shield rarely works without having to tilt it. If Olimar does shield, it's possible to hit and even kill him if you aim for the top of his head, however it can still work regardless. Good moves to hit this are Cloud's b-air or moves that can be tilted upwards.

Playing Against Olimar in the Neutral

If you've ever played against a Melee Falco, you're probably more experienced against this type of playstyle. Olimar plays in the midrange, throwing in side-b's that pressure you to shield, to which he punishes. If you dashback or jump, he'll throw more side-b's. Again, like Melee Falco, getting hit may be better than shielding. If you get hit, dispose of the Pikmin, and then try again, You can also just get hit by the Pikmin and keep pushing advantage, since he'll probably be in the air, you can punish him with running u-tilt. The essence of Olimar's neutral is to not panic, to pay attention to his lineup, and to not be predictable in your options. Find what options your character has in getting rid of Pikmin the fastest, to punish side-b, and OOS options to counteract grab and such. Olimar is probably the only person who can contest Wolf for title of best neutral.

Punishing Olimar

Being so light and floaty, combos can be hard to pull off. They definitely do exist for most characters, it's just that they're more limited than if Olimar was someone like Fox. Practice bnb's and optimized combos on Olimar, but definitely focus on juggles and practicing your read game in order to keep him there. Getting him offstage is also very important, as that's when he's at his weakest. Being able to constantly push him off the stage is vital to the matchup, as well as punishing him when he is actually off. Practice your character's edgeguarding to the limit, including option coverage during ledgetraps and not committing/overextending when offstage, as you want to limit the amount of times you play neutral against Olimar, similar to Wolf. The more opportunities to play neutral, the more opportunities he has to find out your habits.

Recommended Matchups: 

1. Chrom

Chrom is an incredibly fast character with a ton of range and damage to boot. His speed allows him to avoid side-b much easier than others, as well as getting rid of the Pikmin is just using your aerials, all of which except d-air have 10 or fewer frames of landing lag, with n-air at 9, f-air and u-air at 8, and b-air at 10. Chrom is able to rushdown Olimar and overwhelm him with speed, range, and the threat of an f-tilt/f-smash at high percents for the kill. Chrom's speed and range also help him punish side-b, as there is no real knockback, allowing him to take the damage and keep pushing through Olimar, hopefully to get him offstage, to where he'll either edgeguard with a f-air/n-air close to the ledge or even further if he saves his double jump. 

In the neutral, just rushing down Olimar's defensive options and zoning is a very viable strategy, but don't do so if he has a purple Pikmin in his 1st or 2nd lineup, as that's the only one with knockback. If it is, try to bait it out with fake approaches and then kill it asap. Most of your safer moves don't kill purple in one hit, so try and combo them together, but don't commit too hard. Otherwise, if it's a non-purple that either latched onto you or was whiffed, swiftly jab it off of you or d-tilt it if you want to kill a whiffed Pikmin, and then back off. When approaching, try to either push him offstage into a d-air or to the ledge where you can ledgetrap him, or maybe knock him up with u-throw, u-tilt, or fast fall u-air. 

Chrom has an exceptional juggling game due to his speed and huge u-air range. He's also a fast faller, meaning if Olimar airdodges, Chrom can land and u-tilt, or if it's directional, land and then f-air or grab -> u-throw to reset the juggle situation. Chrom has also got an exceptional ledgetrapping game. Most of his moves are low lag like jab, f-tilt, d-tilt, and f-air, and all of them either kill (f-tilt and f-air), confirm into a kill (jab -> b-air works at upper mid %), or put them at a low angle returning to the stage. Most of these moves can also 2-frame well, mainly jab, f-tilt, and d-tilt. F-smash is a great punish tool after using these to cover options. Edgeguarding, Chrom is on the lower side, but don't discount it that much. He's still got great range and kill power offstage, making for a great surprise RAR b-air, a n-air, or a f-air. However, be ready to tech the wall if you dip below the stage, as Olimar can f-air you if you don't time your aerials/whiff them.

Good Chrom Players:

Tweek: No longer mains Chrom, but his sets are still good to watch for excellent Chrom play. Considered #2 for Smash 4 and Ultimate, with multiple wins at majors and top 8's at supermajors. His list of wins is incredible.

Mr. R: Former top Smash 4 Sheik. Currently without a true main, however has used Chrom the most, using him to take sets off ZD, ESAM, and Larry Lurr.

Shoyo James: Current best Chrom main. High placings at many tournaments and incredibly solid wins against VoiD, ESAM, and MuteAce.

2. Zelda

"Zelda???" I hear you ask. "How could a mid tier beat a top tier?" Well, Zelda's zoning and turtling allows her to outcamp Olimar very well. Her down-b has very good mixup timings that allow her to kill Pikmin and can catch Olimar doing SH side-b, sometimes even at the same time. Her propensity to zoning is great, but what makes the matchup difficult for Olimar is her skill at anti-zoning him. Her Nayru's Love acts as a reflector and an anti-Pikmin tool. It has decently low lag for a reflector, and it deals 11% when it hits something close to her, like a Pikmin. Coincidentally, she also does enough damage to kill all the Pikmin, as the highest HP of a latched Pikmin is 8, from blue, and it can reflect Olimar's smash attacks, as they count as projectiles. Her teleport is also a good move to close the distance, as it's pretty fast, it has a great hitbox for punishing side-b, and puts Olimar above her.

In the neutral, using side-b and down-b to either keep Pikmin away or to hit Olimar is your strongest option. If he gets closer to try and punish your moves, you can instantly close the gap with teleport to catch him off guard (of course don't always go for it), you can jump over him and land with moves like n-air, d-air, or even f-air/b-air, or you can run up grab to u-throw -> u-air and/or then start a juggle situation. Nayru's Love is a great defensive tool due to the solid damage if Olimar is close enough, and that it can kill multiple Pikmin at once. F-throwing him offstage can also set up an edgeguard situation.

Punishing Olimar is pretty safe for Zelda. Against his f-smash, you can spotdodge -> up-b at later percents for the up-b ladder kill or you can neutral b his f-smash to reflect it back. In an edgeguard situation, you just want to be using down-b to cover his horizontal options and using side-b to hit him above the stage should he go for a high recovery, or to hit him below the stage to keep him away and rack percent. Finish his stock with a f-air/b-air or even a d-air if he up-b's from below the stage. Juggling Olimar can be tricky, especially since Zelda is so prone to juggling herself. Fast fall u-air is your best bet to juggling, mixed with u-tilt to cover airdodge landings. She does however have pretty good ledgetrapping, as down-b covers a ton of grounded options as well as side-b covering jump from the ledge. She can also make hard reads with her teleport that will kill early off the side, they're just very risky, unless you can edge cancel them consistently. Killing Olimar boils down to punishing f-smash with spotdodge up-b or reflecting with neutral b, landing a f-air or b-air, juggling with u-air, or b-throw, which kills very early, especially at the sides of the stage.

Creating option coverages with side-b and down-b in neutral allows you to push Olimar further and further offstage, with both moves also sending him upwards to start juggle situations. Not being afraid to outcamp Olimar will help you succeed against him.

Zelda Player(s) to Study:

ven: A Zelda die-hard since Brawl, he's been known to be the best Zelda ever since. Maintaining high local PR ranks, he's been able to take sets off of very good players like ESAM and Megafox and place well, despite his character's poor standings in the metagame.

Meru: A Peach main with a very strong Zelda secondary, the best one in Europe.

3. Peach

Peach in this matchup is all about getting in. Olimar wins the neutral game in theory, due to large disjoints he never had before, especially with Yellow Pikmin. However, Peach wins in the punish aspect due to her raw damage and ability to repeatedly pressure Olimar. Turnips help very much in getting in and to push your advantage state.

In the neutral, Peach has to get in through this massive wall that Olimar can put out. Your best bet in approaching is to waste his yellows with turnips or fake approaches, utilizing float to halt your movement and then go in after a whiffed move. Your best chance of getting in is if he doesn't have yellow Pikmin, so watch out for the lineup. Purple is also a very dangerous one, as it can trade very well, especially if he's got 2 in a row. Mixing up vertical/horizontal approaches saves you from purple u-smash/f-smash. D-tilt will kill all Pikmin except blue, but it's your fastest option by far. If you see a blue that was whiffed, you can f-air and drift back, or quickly clean n-air.

Punishing Olimar can be tough if they're experienced. Normally you would d-tilt -> n-air -> d-tilt -> n-air, however, Olimar can use down-b, his Whistle, to gain super armor to tank and punish the 2nd n-air. The damage still goes through, you just have to reset neutral, so be very careful at higher percents where a whistle'd n-air can get you killed. Mix up your n-airs during the sequence with d-air for multihits that would punish his whistle. Edgeguarding is Peach's forte. She's able to solidly take stocks against Olimar with this, and it's probably her best bet. Ledgetrapping is of course, ledgetrapping. Olimar has very few options out of the ledge due to lack of mobility so Peach can definitely take advantage of that. Juggling can however be tricky. Peach has got great aerial movement, and u-air is a great tool, it's that her landing lag is so slow that she can drop the juggle very easily, and Olimar's whistle can break through u-air, despite it being a multihit.

It can be tricky to get in, but if you can, Peach can do very well against Olimar. Practice edgeguarding against him to solidly take stocks with consistency.

Good Peach/Daisy Players to Watch:

Samsora: Easily the best Peach. Top level results with multiple top 8's at supermajors and wins over MK Leo, Tweek, Dabuz, VoiD, and Nairo.

Captain Zack: 2nd best Peach in the world. Top level results and has wins over Nairo, Salem, and Ally.

MuteAce: Wins aren't as good as Captain Zack, but still are incredible. Has beaten Zackray, ZeRo, and Dath.

Meru: Best European Peach with high results in his region and wins over cyve, Nicko, and Big D.

Umeki: Highly technical Japanese Peach. Very good wins in Japan, but has not made any big waves in NA yet. Still very solid placings at US majors and has good placings in Japan and wins over Choco, KEN, Nietono, and RAIN.

Stage Select:

Smaller stages are good against Olimar if the opponent is able to pressure and approach very quickly/well and/or are really good on stages like Battlefield. However, he can still do very well on the stage without much trouble, so most of the stage picks will be based on how good your character is on that stage in the matchup. He does however do very well on Kalos.

Summary:

- Very similar to Wolf matchup

• Stay unpredictable, don't get conditioned
• Limit neutral interactions
• Punish as efficiently as you can

- Focus/pay attention to lineup

- Do not autopilot ever

- Use move that kills latched Pikmin fastest/safest

- Practice edgeguarding

- GLHF

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Changelog:

Apr. 20/2019 - Added notes to White Pikmin

Apr. 22/2019 - Added Chrom pro player

Jul. 3/2019 - Added Weakness - Large Hurtbox

May. 29/2020 - Updated Twitter Handle