Wolf
Introduction:
Wolf is the 45th/48th heaviest character in the game, making him a midweight. Midweights have really no extreme when it comes to dying early or being combo food, but also don't have the benefit of getting out of combos easier or surviving well over 180%. He is however, a fast-faller, tied for 11th-16th fastest in the game. This means he can be combo'd easier, but it also means he can use multiple aerials faster, land better than otherwise, and survive vertical kills just a bit better. Wolf is a heavily versatile character with a ton of safe options that lets him play the neutral game very well as a defensive zoner or an aggressive mix-up fighter.
Strengths:
1. Safe Moves:
Wolf boasts some of the safest moves in the game. His landing lag is very low, n-air/f-air/b-air/u-air/d-air being 9/10/15/10/19. The 15 and 19 might seem high, but d-air will rarely be used on the ground and b-air autocancels on SH. In fact, all of his aerials autocancel on SH. His FAF is also crazy good. FAF in essence is the first frame he is able to act, First Actionable Frame. Wolf's f-smash is safe on shield and sometimes can bait opponents when whiffing, with having a FAF of 42, allowing him to jab, d-tilt, or f-tilt to cover OOS options. Punishing Wolf is all about not shielding everything. Shield can be a very useful way of preventing his long f-air strings and d-smash kills, but it can also prevent you from learning other ways to punish, and he might end up baiting you. Making use of dashback instead of shield will either reset neutral or allow you to punish if he's still in the air, depending on your character of course. If he lands with an aerial, odds are it was autocancelled. If you dashed back and he already landed, punishing can be dangerous. He can f-tilt to cover his landing, or even d-smash, as it's the fastest smash attack he has. If he's just landed, you can shield his f-tilt or d-smash into n-air or whatever OOS option that you have is the fastest. Shield grabbing is risky, as grabs are just flat out worse in this game than the others. If you get f-smashed on shield, punishing it will be the exact same as approaching him. Unless you've got a sword/disjoint or a fast projectile, it's unlikely you'll be punishing f-smash. Reset neutral or bait whatever he throws out after the f-smash if he panics. Odds are it'll be f-tilt, which has great range, can anti-air, and is also safe on shield after f-smash due to the shield pushback. I'd recommend dropping shield after the f-smash -> dashback -> dash attack.
2. God Tier Neutral Game/Blaster:
Wolf has one of the best neutral games in Ultimate. His Blaster forces approaches, conditions shield, has low lag for such a long range projectile, high knockback/hitstun for a projectile, has a get-off-me hitbox at the gun, and is actually a good edge-guarding tool to force recoveries below the stage, a la Melee Falco laser. It's also a ledge mixup, double jump Blaster from the ledge can hit the opponent with the base, creating distance and putting them at disadvantage. However, it can be punished pretty easily if they expect it, so use it very sparingly. Blaster itself can be punished by characters with great air mobility like Wario, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, and Peach. Characters without good air movement can parry the Blaster, but parrying can be inconsistent without a ton of practice. Some characters have good options against Blaster such as reflectors like Fox/Falco/Wolf shine, Wario/Kirby/Dedede eat/swallow, Ness and Lucas can absorb it, and smaller characters like Jigglypuff, Pikachu, and Pichu can crawl and/or crouch under the laser. Aside from Blaster, all of his aerials can be used in neutral to keep your opponent away. If he aerials to snuff your approach, it's best to just stop once you see him jump, and then dashback out of his range and run in for a SH aerial, dash grab, or dash attack. Spaced f-air, tipper b-air, and strong/clean hit of n-air -> drift back are all safe on shield, so if he drifts forward to try and catch your dashback, you can shield, so f-air is no longer spaced, b-air is no longer tipper, and his n-air will no longer be drift back, and you can b-air or in some cases drift back u-air him OOS as he is now behind you. F-air is also hard to whiff punish if he fast falls it, but attacking while he's jumping, anticipating the late f-air, beats it. His smash attacks are also great for defense. D-smash has a ton of range, so dashback d-smash can hit you, even without turnaround, charging u-smash makes Wolf go low to the ground, meaning he can dodge things like Pikachu f-air or Fox RAR b-air, and f-smash can bait approaches due to low FAF -> dashback f-tilt. D-smash can only hit mid-low on the ground, so if you expect that, go for an aerial option directly above Wolf and d-air him. U-smash has very good range above, so if he knows you're going for that aerial option, u-smash will catch you. If you can't predict if it's either, waiting them out -> dash grab/dash attack is optimal. F-smash on the other hand preys on these wait outs. Honestly if you see an f-smash, it's better to just let it whiff and wait to see what he does next, unless he just barely misses. Out of all of these though, f-tilt is probably his best defensive tool. Fast, long range, can anti-air, and is safe on shield when spaced, and can still whiff punish you due to very low FAF relative to it's range. Beating Wolf's f-tilt boils down to having a sword, projectile, or if you parry it. You could also shield it up close, but that will rarely happen due to dashback f-tilt.
Offensively, Wolf also has a ton of options. Now Wolf is better played defensively, but offensively, he plays similar. Blaster conditions you to shield or jump, which is where Wolf wants you to be. If you shield his Blaster, he'll grab, if you jump, he'll go for f-air or u-air, or even side-b if you're at a high enough percent. Against this, you can dashback his Blaster, but if you're not center stage, the Blaster can chase you down all the way to the ledge, meaning you'll be offstage and at disadvantage. When jumping the laser, you can retreat to platforms, but being above him puts you again at a disadvantaged state where he can u-air and f-air you, both high range options. The solution I've been using is to SH over the laser and then reversal. Some characters cannot SH over the laser due to low jump height, so those characters are more restricted to ground-based punishes, such as parrying laser or other options there characters may have, such as Lucas using PSI Magnet to absorb it, or Kirby and Jigglypuff, both being able to crouch underneath lasers.
Outside of shield conditioning with Blaster, Wolf's approach game is a very mix-up heavy whiff punishing aggro. He uses low lag moves to whiff on purpose, force a retaliation, and then capitalize. with fast moves like f-tilt, d-tilt, and d-smash. Jab and u-tilt can also punish, but they have low horizontal range. He can cross up with n-air and dash attack and punishing your whiff shieldgrab/OOS option. He can also safely f-air or b-air to hit your shield with their tipper hitboxes, but if he misses the tip, you can punish both of them. Dashback is also a godsend, as you can punish him if he's autocancelling as he descends, and even if he fast falls, as both are punishable unless they tipper your shield, especially b-air with it's 15 frames of landing lag. Against cross-up n-airs and dash attacks, you'll want to find a character that can hit both sides out of shield. Moves like Lucina d-air, Ike n-air, Shulk n-air, or a character with good enough aerial drift that can use a long-lasting move OOS and then drift into you with it. These include Yoshi d-air, Wario n-air, Jigglypuff n-air and d-air, and Peach d-air.
Good reaction time and self control is the cornerstone of fighting Wolf in the neutral. He's got a ton of mixup options with cross up n-air and dash attack, strong whiff punishes due to deceptively low FAF moves -> fast long range options, one of the best projectiles in the game, and incredibly safe aerials when spaced. Attack his rising aerials after their hitboxes and OOS punish his un-autocancelled fast fall aerials.
3. Amazing Ledgetrapping
Wolf's ledgetrapping compensates his lackluster edgeguarding. His low angled f-tilt can 2 frame, his d-smash can hit you below the ledge before you can even get 2-framed, and his ability to fake whiffs and then punish translates here as well. There's not much you can do when getting 2-framed or killed before you grab the ledge, and if you recover high, he can b-air, d-smash, f-smash, or even side-b, so mix up your airdodges and recovery when recovering high. Characters that can recover high and avoid Wolf are Snake, Yoshi (who can also use eggs to contest Wolf at the ledge and then get back on), and Pikachu/Pichu who can recover high and then grab the ledge, get back on stage/platform, or even hit Wolf and reverse the situation with up-b. The other way to avoid a 2-frame is to recover from above the ledge, which bypasses the animation. The only characters able to do this would be spacies and teleport recoveries. However, Wolf can still catch you out before the teleport/spacies up-b.
Wolf can also cover a ton of options with his aerials. He can fake an u-air whiff and then land with n-air, f-air/f-tilt, a grab, or b-air to cover getup attack, double jump from ledge, getup shield, or roll in. Faking the u-air whiff can also cover any tournament winners. Staying unpredictable helps a ton against his ledgetrapping, and even staying on the ledge and waiting for him to land instead is underrated. However, if he goes for an f-tilt, he'll catch you staying on the ledge. You could pick a character like Yoshi, who can egg Wolf while on the ledge and then double jump n-air, f-air, or d-air. Wolf can also whiff a fadeback n-air into f-tilt to pretty much cover the entire ledge. Much like neutral, self control is key to recovering back from the ledge.
4. Consistently Strong Punish Game
Wolf's punish game is consistently strong. He can combo the entire cast with f-air strings at early percents, his d-throw sets up for jab resets, tech chases, and even confirms into dash attack at 30-40%. His juggle game is incredible. His u-air is almost like a sword, it's fast, low lag, and Wolf's a fast faller, allowing him to repeatedly land -> u-air. F-air also confirms into a ton of stuff at mid percents , like RAR b-air, side-b, and u-smash if they DI down. Your best bet against his combo game is DI away, and avoiding his juggles is just like any other. Airdodge mixups, double jump mixups, stage striking triplats, picking characters with strong landing like Fox or counters to bait the u-air like Shulk and Ike.
Wolf's biggest strength is his neutral game, able to bait opponents panic options exceptionally well. Self control and being unpredictable is how you beat a Wolf, though easier said than done. He does however, lack in a few areas.
Weaknesses:
1. Mediocre Recovery
Wolf doesn't necessarily have a bad recovery. Side-b can kill if you improperly edgeguard, it's fast, and can be angled. Up-b can also kill horizontally and has a decent hitbox. The problem lies in distance and predictability, especially with his fast fall nature. Relative to the top tiers, Wolf has a terrible recovery when comparing him to the likes of Peach, Pikachu/Pichu, Lucina, and Inkling. Characters with counters or very long range moves offstage are able to beat side-b and up-b if timed, such as Palutena counter and n-air (beats out side-b), Shulk d-air, and Ivysaur d-air. You can even hit him before he uses the move if you can predict it, as side-b and up-b take 19 and 18 frames as startup, respectively. If you 2-frame him, odds are it'll be at a low angle, where he'll double jump side-b 90% of the time, to which you can punish. Due to his lackluster recovery, he also has a...
2. Mediocre Offstage Game
Again, Wolf is by no means a terrible edgeguarder. N-air and b-air cover a ton of space offstage, are both incredible for killing, and can really catch people off guard as they expect a more 2-framing/ledgetrapping type of Wolf. D-air is also a solid spike. It's just that without a good recovery, he's not able to make use of these tools. Often times he won't be able to even double jump offstage, meaning you have to make the simple jump count. You won't need to in certain situations, but it's a great risk when you can instead practice/go for 2-framing and your ledgetrapping game. Offstage, expect a n-air or b-air, and definitely don't count it out, but realise that he's probably going to be ledgetrapping you, so you should definitely focus more so on that in the matchup, and what tools your character has against that.
3. Combo Food
Wolf is very combo-able. He's a fast faller, one of the fastest, he's got a tall hurtbox, and he isn't very light. He's near the middle, so he's still vulnerable to combos, but he's also vulnerable to combos that knock him far off the edge/even kill due to his weight, and then abusing his lackluster recovery to seal the stock quicker than you would a heavier character, or preventing the combo like you would a lighter character. Optimizing punishes against Wolf specifically is very important. The quicker and more efficient you take his stocks, the less neutral you have to play, which is his strongest suit.
Playing Against Wolf in the Neutral
Neutral is an area where Wolf can't be beat. Figuratively speaking of course. Wolf's most effective gameplan is to play a defensive zoner, using Blaster and forcing your approach, only to then punish your option with his long range moves like f-air and f-tilt. Getting in close without aggravating Wolf is tricky, but you want to play close to the midrange area, staying close enough to where you can punish Blaster, but far enough to stay inconspicuous. Especially if you're a fast character, some characters can SH the laser and punish. These include Sheik, Pichu, Pikachu, and Cloud. Making sure not to whiff is pivotal, as whiff punishing is Wolf's specialty in the neutral. Dashback is one of Wolf's favourite evasion options. Dashback f-tilt, f-smash, dash attack, f-air, and b-air are all common, and all are either safe on shield if he spaces his dashback properly, or are able to cross you up (dash attack). Allowing him to poke your shield does nothing for you, so staying mobile and not falling prey to his bait tactics allows you to punish Wolf and take that inch you need to get him offstage for a kill. Using your own projectiles to condition Wolf to shine or shield is optimal if you play as a zoner, as it leaves him open for a dash grab, or if he jumps, it leaves him open to an anti-air or a trade that could knock him offstage, provided he's at mid-high percents.
If the Wolf is more aggressive, he'd be preferring to condition you instead. Using Blaster to cover the area in front of him, he'll be safely poking at your shield from a distance, ready to dashback, spotdodge, or simply outspace you with his low lag and long range forward facing moves. Shield grabbing is risky in Ultimate, and is a death sentence against Wolf. Spaced f-tilt, f-smash, and f-air are all safe on shield, pushing you back a considerable distance. Shield grabbing just makes it worse. If you're able to parry, you'll beat his approaches solidly. However, it's incredibly risky, as if he lands that move, it could mean a 2-frame and the stock. A more safe option would be dashback -> punish. If he does a late fast fall f-air, which is hard to punish on shield, he'll be open early on, so if his f-airs have been late, punish OOS early. Early f-air however is safe entirely. Dashback -> dash attack, a long range tilt, or a projectile will make work of early f-air.
Wolf's got an insane neutral game, I'd say the best in Ultimate. It's all about conditioning and baiting you until you pull out an unsafe approach or retaliation, to where he'll punish and deal a ton of damage.
Punishing Wolf:
Practicing your punish game against Wolf himself is vital. Due to his intense neutral game, limiting the amount of neutral interactions you have per game will make it much easier on you. Practice follow-ups and different ways to get him off-stage, and then practice edgeguarding his side-b. Maybe get a friend who plays Wolf to help you practice edgeguarding him, and also helping your friend recover as well. Getting the punish game down to a science helps in nearly every Smash game, and especially against someone with such an oppressive neutral. Characters with exceptional edgeguarding and/or combo game are Peach, Inkling, and Lucina.
Recommended Matchups:
The top 3 characters I'd recommend picking vs. Wolf are:
1. Pichu
Probably Wolf's worst matchup, Pichu is an incredibly agile fighter, able to dart around the stage and capitalize off a slight mistake, where he then combos them in a multitude of options. Pichu's speed allows him to utilize dashback and capitalize hard, especially since his grab followups are insanely good at the early percents. His approach against Wolf is good too, with him being able to both SH over lasers and crawl underneath them, he can also fire his own projectile, which will cover his advances. Due to his speed, he can punish Blaster with n-air if he's close enough, while f-air and d-air will trade with Wolf's anti-airs. Use Thunder Jolt to cover Wolf's dashback f-tilt and then dash grab. If he rolls or dashes back, he gets hit by the TJ. If he shields, he'll get grabbed. If he rolls in, he won't be active for 29 frames, allowing you to punish with b-air. Not letting Wolf control the pace of the match and staying actively in his zone while avoiding his moves is key to playing the matchup.
Pichu's got a deep combo game, which is further accentuated by Wolf's large hurtbox, fast falling speed, and decent weight. Optimizing and seeing how the pros punish Wolf is key, especially learning different combos at different percents is important for the matchup, and Pichu in general. Moves like d-tilt and u-tilt are amazing for comboing into themselves and then transitioning into u-air, b-air dragdowns, and down-b for kills or spikes. The first few hits of b-air can confirm into u-smash, and TJ can confirm into f-smash if hit. At around 10%, d-tilt -> u-tilt -> u-air -> b-air will net you about 40% as a basic bread and butter combo, which is just surface level stuff. For killing, Pichu's b-air dragdowns can confirm into u-smash, Pichu run off u-air can confirm into down-b offstage at early percents, getting a free spike that'll kill Wolf due to poor vertical recovery. Edgeguarding Wolf boils down to TJ to stop side-b during start up/having it cling to the stage and stop his up-b, d-airing him offstage which sends him either straight down as a spike or at a low angle downwards, making it harder to recovery, or covering his high recovery option with down-b.
Recovering against Wolf is tricky, as you don't have a hitbox on your up-b like Pikachu, so 2-framing is near risk free for Wolf. If you're sent high, use TJ to hit him at the ledge to either prevent 2-framing or land and punish him.
Some Pichu players to study:
VoiD: Former best Sheik in Smash 4, now top 5 in the world with Pichu. Has the best combo game with Pichu hands down, and arguably in Ultimate right now. He's always been known for one to optimize the punish game, since Sheik and now with Pichu. Watching his sets with Wolf players will give you a ton of insight on combo possibilities and how to punish Wolf Blaster.
Captain L: Former Pikachu in Smash 4 now a dual main of Pichu and Pikachu. Solid placings at DPotG, Genesis, and BoBC. Well known for labbing both characters and theory crafting their punish games.
2. Shulk
As a swordie, a long range one at that, Shulk is able to punish Wolf's fake whiffs from a distance as well as being able to adapt to the different kinds of Wolf's due to Monado Arts allowing him to approach and evade Wolf's aggressive mixups.
In the neutral game, Shulk should be trying to gain center stage. A Wolf at the ledge is one step closer to a Wolf offstage. Shulk's aerials and Speed Art movement should be able to push Wolf to the ledge based on fear factor and the threat of n-air/f-air alone. He'll most likely be forcing an approach with Blaster, so SH over them to punish the lag with f-air or n-air. If you combine this with Smash Art, you'll be able to push him off the stage, depending on % and distance of course, but if you have center stage, it should be enough. If you land the n-air punish on Blaster, you can push him off even further with moves like f-tilt at lower percents, and f-air at higher percents. Staying grounded is important, as Wolf can catch you in the air with his rising aerials, all lagless, and Shulk's only option aside from airdodges and jumps like every other character is up-b, which is frame 10, so avoiding that situation in the first place is best. If you're not fast enough/too far and you jump over his laser, he'll either rising f-air or rising n-air, so using your own f-air or n-air early enough to catch his jump and still punish Blaster if he doesn't jump is key, as if you whiff it, he'll fast fall f-air and then combo you. Conversely, if you know he's going to rising aerial you, you can instead drift back on your landing after the SH and punish his f-air with u-tilts, u-smash, or even Air Slash.
Speaking of Air Slash, it's your best OOS option. It's the fastest, it has good range, but it can be punished just like any other up-b OOS. It's pretty strong on the 2nd hit, which is almost always guaranteed. Frame 10 is still pretty bad, so staying in shield isn't good for Shulk. Dashbacks are good, but not so much with Shulk as his f-tilt and f-smash aren't very fast and have no followups. Against rising aerials, shield works. Against fast fall aerials, recognizing them and punishing them with u-tilt is your best option, as it's range makes it a godlike anti-air. Fadeback SH fast fall f-air will protect you from Wolf approaches, either hitting him or just keeping you out of range. You however lose stage control, and regaining it can be tough against a mixup/pressure character like Wolf. Reganing stage control is dependent on getting out of the corner, something Shulk can struggle with. Your best options for getting out of the corner are dependent on how close Wolf is. If he's in the center stage, Speed Art can help you switch the roles, mixing up your movement and faking approaches with his newfound speed can reverse the situation and allow you to regain control. If he's closer and actively trying to open you up, you can Jump Art out of the situation and try to land somewhere else, as Jump Art lets you land faster, along with Speed. N-air is your best landing option-it hits below you, has nearly no landing lag (6 frames!), and if you have Buster on, can be used on shield along with d-smash to break some shields.
On the other hand, Shulk has some of the best cornering games. His long range aerials and threat of edgeguarding make it hard for Wolf to try and contest him, and Buster and Smash are two very scary threats that can make people nervous. Speed Art is also great, as it lets you dart around and allow you to whiff punish hasty defensive options like shield grab or rising aerials. Shulk's high range and coverage allows him to cover a ton of defensive options, and in doing so, makes him a great ledgetrapper.
Comboing Wolf with Shulk is again something that must be practiced. Shulk's combos are usually either very basic with things like n-air and u-tilt strings or incredibly intricate, utilizing Dial Storage and switching Arts quickly for maximum results. Punishing Wolf is less about getting a hit for a combo and more so getting him offstage. Shulk's edgeguard game is top notch, both offstage and onstage. His Smash Art f-air can kill Wolf, but at mid percents it will usually just knock him far away enough that he can't recover, and d-air offstage has a ton of range. In general, run-off f-air covers a ton of space, especially the diagonal area that Wolf's side-b covers. If you predict side-b, run-off f-air as soon as Wolf dips below the stage. 2-framing options are d-tilt and SH fast fall f-air. He's got a few other niche options like Air Slash and f-smash, but they leave Shulk vulnerable, making them too risky. There is a technique with n-air for 2-framing where you run off, fast fall, jump back on stage, and n-air. When ledgetrapping at early percents, you wanna be shielding, but not too long or their getup attack will poke/break shield. The only thing you can really react to is neutral getup and roll. For those, grab the getup and reverse Air Slash OOS. If you can read it, use f-air to catch their jump from ledge. You can however stand further away from the ledge, out of getup attack range, giving you more options to punish. Getup can be punished now with d-tit, f-tilt, and dash grab, and roll can be punished with turnaround grab or turnaround f-tilt. At higher percents your ledgetrapping becomes deadly. By being in Smash Art, you can threaten a ton of options with death. Grab -> f-throw in Smash Art will kill Wolf at around 110%, Smash Air Slash will kill at around Wolf 80% at the ledge. Smash art d-smash while out of getup attack range will cover neutral get-up and roll if reacted fast enough, killing at around 80-85%. Full hop n-air while facing away from ledge can be used to cover jump, baiting a neutral getup, and using the back end of the hitbox to punish that. It's low lag also allows you to punish rolls upon landing.
Good Shulk Players Worth Checking Out:
Nicko: One of the top Shulk players in both Smash 4 and Ultimate, known for his strong defense and reads, he is arguably the face of Shulk in competitive play.
Kome: Top Smash 4 and Ultimate Shulk, considered the best in Smash 4. A more offensive style of Shulk.
Darkwolf: Top Shulk player with good placings at a major level. Not as active as the others, but still one worth checking out.
In the neutral game, Shulk should be trying to gain center stage. A Wolf at the ledge is one step closer to a Wolf offstage. Shulk's aerials and Speed Art movement should be able to push Wolf to the ledge based on fear factor and the threat of n-air/f-air alone. He'll most likely be forcing an approach with Blaster, so SH over them to punish the lag with f-air or n-air. If you combine this with Smash Art, you'll be able to push him off the stage, depending on % and distance of course, but if you have center stage, it should be enough. If you land the n-air punish on Blaster, you can push him off even further with moves like f-tilt at lower percents, and f-air at higher percents. Staying grounded is important, as Wolf can catch you in the air with his rising aerials, all lagless, and Shulk's only option aside from airdodges and jumps like every other character is up-b, which is frame 10, so avoiding that situation in the first place is best. If you're not fast enough/too far and you jump over his laser, he'll either rising f-air or rising n-air, so using your own f-air or n-air early enough to catch his jump and still punish Blaster if he doesn't jump is key, as if you whiff it, he'll fast fall f-air and then combo you. Conversely, if you know he's going to rising aerial you, you can instead drift back on your landing after the SH and punish his f-air with u-tilts, u-smash, or even Air Slash.
Speaking of Air Slash, it's your best OOS option. It's the fastest, it has good range, but it can be punished just like any other up-b OOS. It's pretty strong on the 2nd hit, which is almost always guaranteed. Frame 10 is still pretty bad, so staying in shield isn't good for Shulk. Dashbacks are good, but not so much with Shulk as his f-tilt and f-smash aren't very fast and have no followups. Against rising aerials, shield works. Against fast fall aerials, recognizing them and punishing them with u-tilt is your best option, as it's range makes it a godlike anti-air. Fadeback SH fast fall f-air will protect you from Wolf approaches, either hitting him or just keeping you out of range. You however lose stage control, and regaining it can be tough against a mixup/pressure character like Wolf. Reganing stage control is dependent on getting out of the corner, something Shulk can struggle with. Your best options for getting out of the corner are dependent on how close Wolf is. If he's in the center stage, Speed Art can help you switch the roles, mixing up your movement and faking approaches with his newfound speed can reverse the situation and allow you to regain control. If he's closer and actively trying to open you up, you can Jump Art out of the situation and try to land somewhere else, as Jump Art lets you land faster, along with Speed. N-air is your best landing option-it hits below you, has nearly no landing lag (6 frames!), and if you have Buster on, can be used on shield along with d-smash to break some shields.
On the other hand, Shulk has some of the best cornering games. His long range aerials and threat of edgeguarding make it hard for Wolf to try and contest him, and Buster and Smash are two very scary threats that can make people nervous. Speed Art is also great, as it lets you dart around and allow you to whiff punish hasty defensive options like shield grab or rising aerials. Shulk's high range and coverage allows him to cover a ton of defensive options, and in doing so, makes him a great ledgetrapper.
Comboing Wolf with Shulk is again something that must be practiced. Shulk's combos are usually either very basic with things like n-air and u-tilt strings or incredibly intricate, utilizing Dial Storage and switching Arts quickly for maximum results. Punishing Wolf is less about getting a hit for a combo and more so getting him offstage. Shulk's edgeguard game is top notch, both offstage and onstage. His Smash Art f-air can kill Wolf, but at mid percents it will usually just knock him far away enough that he can't recover, and d-air offstage has a ton of range. In general, run-off f-air covers a ton of space, especially the diagonal area that Wolf's side-b covers. If you predict side-b, run-off f-air as soon as Wolf dips below the stage. 2-framing options are d-tilt and SH fast fall f-air. He's got a few other niche options like Air Slash and f-smash, but they leave Shulk vulnerable, making them too risky. There is a technique with n-air for 2-framing where you run off, fast fall, jump back on stage, and n-air. When ledgetrapping at early percents, you wanna be shielding, but not too long or their getup attack will poke/break shield. The only thing you can really react to is neutral getup and roll. For those, grab the getup and reverse Air Slash OOS. If you can read it, use f-air to catch their jump from ledge. You can however stand further away from the ledge, out of getup attack range, giving you more options to punish. Getup can be punished now with d-tit, f-tilt, and dash grab, and roll can be punished with turnaround grab or turnaround f-tilt. At higher percents your ledgetrapping becomes deadly. By being in Smash Art, you can threaten a ton of options with death. Grab -> f-throw in Smash Art will kill Wolf at around 110%, Smash Air Slash will kill at around Wolf 80% at the ledge. Smash art d-smash while out of getup attack range will cover neutral get-up and roll if reacted fast enough, killing at around 80-85%. Full hop n-air while facing away from ledge can be used to cover jump, baiting a neutral getup, and using the back end of the hitbox to punish that. It's low lag also allows you to punish rolls upon landing.
Good Shulk Players Worth Checking Out:
Nicko: One of the top Shulk players in both Smash 4 and Ultimate, known for his strong defense and reads, he is arguably the face of Shulk in competitive play.
Kome: Top Smash 4 and Ultimate Shulk, considered the best in Smash 4. A more offensive style of Shulk.
Darkwolf: Top Shulk player with good placings at a major level. Not as active as the others, but still one worth checking out.
3. Pikachu
Another electric rat to make it in here, Pikachu is very similar to Pichu in terms of core aspects. Certainly not similar in ability to play, but the ideas are there. Where on one hand, Pichu is able to break through Wolf's defensive zoning and edgeguard him or even straight up kill him, Pikachu is able to do the same, but also has the option to play defensively with Thunder Jolt. Pichu isn't able to play as defensive with Thunder Jolt due to self-damage, reducing his ability to spam. Pikachu is able to break through Wolf's defenses just as easily, however the reward is not as high. He also has more options in terms of game plan, he's got just as good edgeguarding, and has better recovery overall due to Quick Attack being able to hit Wolf, giving him a level of threat greater than Pichu.
While Pichu is autoset to be an aggressive combo fiend, Pikachu has a variety of options. When playing defensive, full hop Thunder Jolt and making use of Thunder Jolt off platforms allows you to dodge Wolf's horizontal Blaster while still shooting Thunder Jolts directly at him due to the nature of the move. If he goes on the platform, you're able to shark him with u-air as an approach or even full hop TJ that would land onto his platform. If you really want to force the approach you can keep using TJ as long as you want, as there is no self-damage. However, using TJ aggressively will get you stocks much faster and easier. Using TJ to cover yourself will force a defensive option before you're close enough to be punished. If he jumps, u-air, if he shields, grab, if he reflects, SH n-air/f-air/b-air -> combo/edgeguard. Predicting his option is important, so even resetting neutral just to see how he would react and then repeating can be a viable option as well. If the Wolf does approach, dashback pivot f-smash can punish his attacks, but if you whiff, he'll either grab or f-air, so be careful using such a laggy move. You can instead dashback and then drift in with n-air -> u-tilt into your combos. Again, self control is important to not being punished by Wolf, but in being so small, it can be hard for him to hit you, so don't stand still too often. Your up-b is also great for recovering and avoiding 2-framing as you can sometimes hit Wolf himself if he messes up d-smash at the ledge and then punish him. Recovering from above with QA can prevent 2-frames but it can also get you back-aired. Consider it an option but not the end-all-be-all for avoiding edgeguards. QA is also an option for getting off the ledge as you can mix up distances, location, and hit Wolf with it.
Comboing Wolf should again be down to a science, especially for someone like Pikachu who can struggle to kill. Optimize Pikachu combos, mostly n-air dragdowns and u-air strings. Learning how to cover low options with d-air and high recoveries with down-b is also very important for Pikachu edgeguarding. Against side-b and such, TJ is your best bet, as you lack the range to contest his side-b without being there before the startup, which you can punish very well as all your moves except u-air and the last hit of n-air can kill him through edgeguard. Up-b is also very large for Pikachu's size to contest, so avoiding it and punishing it is the best option. D-airing him when he goes for up-b under the stage is a good option, but on flat wall stages or if he clings to the wall, TJ can reach him due to it's properties and edgeguard risk-free. 9 times out of 10, edgeguarding will get you the kill offstage, and that's what you should be optimizing. That 1 out of 10 is still a possibility however, so when ledgetrapping, you can cover getup attack and roll by waiting at the stage and then quickly pivot f-smash, as it's got a ton of range, especially when getup attack extends Wolf's hurtbox. You can also spam jab at the ledge to cover regular getup but also if they take too long/regrab the ledge and their invincibility runs out, forcing an edgeguard situation. Pivot f-smash can also cover getup but it's hard to time as they can shield it before it connects.
The Best Pikachu Players to Watch:
ESAM: An incredibly passionate Pikachu player since Brawl. He provides a ton of content on how to play Pikachu, making the transition much easier. He's also been the best Pikachu player since Brawl with very strong secondaries. His aggressive nature makes studying fun to watch and promotes a high edgeguarding and Thunder Jolt using style of Pikachu, one that fares against Wolf well.
Captain L: A Pichu/Pikachu main, however he prefers using Pichu against Wolf, so there's not much to study for the particular matchup, it's still good to watch if you want to play Pikachu/translate those skills into the Wolf matchup.
Another electric rat to make it in here, Pikachu is very similar to Pichu in terms of core aspects. Certainly not similar in ability to play, but the ideas are there. Where on one hand, Pichu is able to break through Wolf's defensive zoning and edgeguard him or even straight up kill him, Pikachu is able to do the same, but also has the option to play defensively with Thunder Jolt. Pichu isn't able to play as defensive with Thunder Jolt due to self-damage, reducing his ability to spam. Pikachu is able to break through Wolf's defenses just as easily, however the reward is not as high. He also has more options in terms of game plan, he's got just as good edgeguarding, and has better recovery overall due to Quick Attack being able to hit Wolf, giving him a level of threat greater than Pichu.
While Pichu is autoset to be an aggressive combo fiend, Pikachu has a variety of options. When playing defensive, full hop Thunder Jolt and making use of Thunder Jolt off platforms allows you to dodge Wolf's horizontal Blaster while still shooting Thunder Jolts directly at him due to the nature of the move. If he goes on the platform, you're able to shark him with u-air as an approach or even full hop TJ that would land onto his platform. If you really want to force the approach you can keep using TJ as long as you want, as there is no self-damage. However, using TJ aggressively will get you stocks much faster and easier. Using TJ to cover yourself will force a defensive option before you're close enough to be punished. If he jumps, u-air, if he shields, grab, if he reflects, SH n-air/f-air/b-air -> combo/edgeguard. Predicting his option is important, so even resetting neutral just to see how he would react and then repeating can be a viable option as well. If the Wolf does approach, dashback pivot f-smash can punish his attacks, but if you whiff, he'll either grab or f-air, so be careful using such a laggy move. You can instead dashback and then drift in with n-air -> u-tilt into your combos. Again, self control is important to not being punished by Wolf, but in being so small, it can be hard for him to hit you, so don't stand still too often. Your up-b is also great for recovering and avoiding 2-framing as you can sometimes hit Wolf himself if he messes up d-smash at the ledge and then punish him. Recovering from above with QA can prevent 2-frames but it can also get you back-aired. Consider it an option but not the end-all-be-all for avoiding edgeguards. QA is also an option for getting off the ledge as you can mix up distances, location, and hit Wolf with it.
Comboing Wolf should again be down to a science, especially for someone like Pikachu who can struggle to kill. Optimize Pikachu combos, mostly n-air dragdowns and u-air strings. Learning how to cover low options with d-air and high recoveries with down-b is also very important for Pikachu edgeguarding. Against side-b and such, TJ is your best bet, as you lack the range to contest his side-b without being there before the startup, which you can punish very well as all your moves except u-air and the last hit of n-air can kill him through edgeguard. Up-b is also very large for Pikachu's size to contest, so avoiding it and punishing it is the best option. D-airing him when he goes for up-b under the stage is a good option, but on flat wall stages or if he clings to the wall, TJ can reach him due to it's properties and edgeguard risk-free. 9 times out of 10, edgeguarding will get you the kill offstage, and that's what you should be optimizing. That 1 out of 10 is still a possibility however, so when ledgetrapping, you can cover getup attack and roll by waiting at the stage and then quickly pivot f-smash, as it's got a ton of range, especially when getup attack extends Wolf's hurtbox. You can also spam jab at the ledge to cover regular getup but also if they take too long/regrab the ledge and their invincibility runs out, forcing an edgeguard situation. Pivot f-smash can also cover getup but it's hard to time as they can shield it before it connects.
The Best Pikachu Players to Watch:
ESAM: An incredibly passionate Pikachu player since Brawl. He provides a ton of content on how to play Pikachu, making the transition much easier. He's also been the best Pikachu player since Brawl with very strong secondaries. His aggressive nature makes studying fun to watch and promotes a high edgeguarding and Thunder Jolt using style of Pikachu, one that fares against Wolf well.
Captain L: A Pichu/Pikachu main, however he prefers using Pichu against Wolf, so there's not much to study for the particular matchup, it's still good to watch if you want to play Pikachu/translate those skills into the Wolf matchup.
Stage Select:
Wolf does not really struggle on any stage. A defensive Wolf who can camp and zone out an opponent will fair well on FD and Kalos, and against people who can be juggled well, triplats. Pick whichever stage you're most comfortable in/your character does best in.
Summary:
- Pick someone who's able to avoid lasers and punish Blaster (swordie or fast character)
- Make every punish count, practice combos, edgeguard setups, and edgeguard, to limit neutral exchanges
- His edgeguarding is reliant on 2-framing or n-air, b-air, and d-air offstage-must have double jump to survive offstage
- Practice self-control. Some moves are hard to be/cant be whiff punished. These are: landing f-air, landing n-air, f-smash on shield, tipper f-air and b-air on shield, landing n-air on shield, and tipper f-tilt on shield. Even then, whiff punishing requires you to be fast or have a disjoint.
- Edgeguard
- Edgeguard
- GLHF
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Changelog:
Apr. 17/2019 - Fixed title formatting
Apr. 17/2019 - Fixed title formatting
Apr. 23/2019 - Fixed some text formatting
May. 29/2020 - Updated Twitter handle
May. 29/2020 - Updated Twitter handle
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