Marth and Lucina
are very simple, clean,
and heavily fundamental-based. These elegant zoners are overall balanced
when it comes to speed and power and are very dependent on
precision and spacing. Their biggest weakness is
the parry system. They also struggle to land,
as well as they might have a hard time against
anyone with more range than them
and projectiles. The tip of Marth’s sword is much more powerful
than the rest of the sword, while Lucina’s is balanced
throughout the sword, which can make her a bit more
reliable overall. However,
having better accuracy with Marth
will grant you much bigger rewards as his sweet spots (or “tippers”) have
much more power than Lucina’s sword. Marth can also use his sour spots to
true combo into things Lucina wouldn’t be able to pull off. She is, however,
a bit more beginner-friendly
than Marth, as she teaches you the game
in a very clean way. Their objective is to completely zone out
the opponent from the middle stage, juggle them at low percents,
get them offstage at higher percents,
and edgeguard. They can easily and quickly cover any area
in front, behind, above, and below. All of their aerials work the same
against shield. They can buffer an aerial or land it. If you buffer an aerial against shield,
it won’t be safe, no matter how you space it
most of the time, as after it gets blocked,
you’ll still be airborne and can easily
get punished out of shield. The buffered aerials are much more for
anti-airing and edgeguarding. If you land an aerial, however,
as low as possible against shield,
it’ll always be safe. If you space it,
you’re able to shield right after
to punish quick aerials out of shield, thus the shield can be used
as a bait. Or, just do a landed aerial
into a quick aerial to stuff out slow or low-ranged
out-of-shield options. This can obviously also be potentially done
with a grounded follow-up. If you don’t space the aerial
but still end up landing it very low, it’ll still be good pressure
as their shield grab attempt can be spotdodged, full hopped out of,
or Dolphin Slashed— up air being the safest option
to land with. These options will still lose to
a quick aerial, up smash, or up special out of shield,
however. And so, you can shield as a mix-up to
bait these out and punish them. You can also land the aerial towards them
to cross them up and mix them up and will make shielding
after the cross-up pressure safer
since you don’t risk getting grabbed. You can still buffer an aerial
towards an opponent and end up crossing up,
but it’s still punishable. And so,
if you’re going to pressure with
something like a neutral air, it’s best to slightly delay the aerial
as you jump so you end up
landing with it to make it safer. Landing aerials aren’t only good
against shield, but they also give you a bigger reward
if hit, since they’ll combo into
another grounded move at low percents or combo into an aerial at high percents
to potentially kill
or set up for an edgeguard. Neutral air is their fastest aerial
out of shield and will allow Marth to kill at high percents
if tippered. Jumping in with it at low to mid-percents
will allow you to start a combo. At low to mid-percents,
it’ll allow Marth to score a kill. If you land with the first hit
of neutral air,
it’ll combo into anything. Lucina’s forward air and back air
will start launching opponents for a tech situation
from ~30% till ~50–60%. Marth’s sweet spot will start forcing
a tech situation slightly earlier but will start launching them too far away
much earlier, while his sour spots will start forcing a
tech situation from 40% to ~90%. You can also full hop forward air or back air
to directly punish full hops and then either land with another one
while spacing it or cross up to pressure the ground. You are also able to short hop forward air
and double jump forward air
before you land or Dancing Blade before you land. Down air is decent as an out-of-shield option
to punish low profiling right under you. It’ll only spike on Frame 11, and the hitbox
is placed in the middle of the sword. Landing with this hitbox will allow you
to combo. And for Marth,
it can lead into forward smash
if landed, as well. Buffering an up air can be good for
punishing opponents above you
and juggling. If landed,
it’ll lead into up tilt, and at mid- to high percents,
it’ll lead into back air or up air. Marth is able to connect his sour spot
into sweet spots as well for a kill. Now, as good as landed aerials are
against shield, they will start to become easily punishable
with parries, however,
as soon as they are predicable, thus forcing a more creative playstyle
where you also need to start
finding tomahawk grabs, Dancing Blades, and clever dash dances. Besides edgeguarding and ledge trapping,
they have two more very significant strengths. The first is that
their forward air and back air out of shield doesn’t only punish opponents
in front really quickly, but it also anti-airs them
if they short hop, as well as most full hops. This is important to remember,
as releasing shield to find a punish is not only slow
but ineffective against full hops. This is a HUGE privilege, as most characters have to
full hop out of shield with an aerial
to punish a full hop, while Lucina’s and Marth’s will just beat out
three options automatically. Their second strength is the Shield Breaker,
which basically breaks any shield
that’s slightly damaged. This means that the opponent can only block
one single grounded move or aerial. If they try shielding another one too quickly,
it can be broken. And so, because of this,
they condition forth a ton of rolls or jumps
to take advantage of throughout the game. It’s actually their longest ranged move. It can be angled upwards and downwards. It becomes stronger and will deal
slightly more shield damage
as you charge it. It can also be charged offstage to
potentially help you recover, and it can be B-reversed
to help you land. Marth’s Shield Breaker has a sweet spot
that will kill earlier if connected. Dancing Blade is your main way of
whiff punishing
and mixing up your aggression. It’s also used to punish spotdodges. Swinging forward four times, however,
is NOT how you used this move, mostly because the third forward swing
has the most amount of knockback,
excluding the fourth hit. And so, the only time to ever use
the third forward swing is when Marth is in close range
and looking to set up for a tipper fourth hit. Otherwise, you’ll find that the opponent
keeps getting out of the combo. Instead at low percents,
if you are really close to the opponent, you’ll want to do
Forward-Forward-Up-Up, mostly because it’s way more effective
to set up for a juggle than it is launching the opponent
away from you. If you’re spaced at max range,
you’ll want to do
Forward-Forward-Down-Forward. Otherwise, there’s chance that
the last upward swing might miss. At higher percents,
if you are really close to the opponent, you’ll want to do
Forward-Forward-Down-Forward. And, if you’re at max range,
you’ll want to do
Forward-Up-Down-Forward. Finishing it off with the downward swing
deals the most amount of damage but won’t set up into anything, unlike
launching them upwards— unless the character you are facing
is too hard to juggle.
Then, you can do downwards. In the air,
it can be B-reversed to help you land even easier,
since it’s faster than Shield Breaker. You can also B-reverse it
as you ledge jump by basically pressing
ledge jump and Dancing Blade
towards the blast zone and quickly reversing it,
giving you way more mix-up options, especially since you’ll still have
your double jump left. Dolphin Slash is a quick, safe,
and good recovery, which can even be used offstage
as an edgeguarding or gimping tool. It’s their fastest out-of-shield option and
can start killing at high percents. Because it has intangibility at the
very start of the move, it can also become a really good
combo breaker,
unless it’s predictable. Counter is most effective when you use it
to edgeguard recoveries with active hitboxes or to punish opponents that try to land
with a powerful aerial. Jab is only meant for
safely punishing opponents
releasing shield against shield pressure. Keep in mind, though, that the jab
will not cover jumps out of shield, as well as it’s very punishable
against shield. Otherwise, it’s used to reset opponents
with the first swing. Forward tilt can be used as a follow-up
after a landed aerial
to stuff out any aggressive options. It won’t cover
full hop out of shield, however. It’s safe against shield if spaced. It’s also good on its own to punish
aggressive approaches, just like using forward smash or back air.
You can also pivot cancel it as a burst option. Hitting the forward tilt as Lucina
at low percents
can force a tech situation. Marth’s sweet spot will start forcing a tech
even earlier but stops at mid-percents, while his sour spots can set up
for a tech situation at high percents
and potentially set up for a kill. Down tilt is their safest grounded move. It’s simply used for poking and pressuring
from a distance, to carefully observe your opponent’s
choices out of shield so that you can learn how to
punish them, accordingly. It’s also a good follow-up
after an aerial, as it’ll give them a low profile and
allow them to dodge
certain out-of-shield options. At mid-percents, Marth’s sweet spots
will start launching opponents
for a tech situation, and at high percents,
the sour spot starts doing the same. Lucina’s will start launching them
into a tech situation at mid-high percents. Before that,
you’ll have to make a read on what the opponent will do
after they’ve gotten pushed back. If you dash back and hold the Control Stick
down and slightly behind you
and press A, you’ll be able to do an immediate
dashback down tilt. Lucina’s forward smash is very strong, and Marth’s is one of the strongest punishes
in the game, with tipper. It’s punishable against shield, however. Down smash can be a quick and strong option
out of a perfect shield. It’s also really good after a down tilt
to punish a missed tech, and if they roll in,
you’ll catch it as well. Otherwise, it is only used to try
punishing a ledge stall. Up tilt is mainly used as an anti-air
and juggling tool. Once you connect it at low percents,
you can full hop up air, hit opponents double jumping,
and put them in an even worse spot. Up smash is a strong killing move
that can be used as a hard commitment
against rolls in. It can also be used as an out-of-shield option
to cover your surroundings since they have a hitbox around their feet
that push the opponent up into the sword hit. Other than that,
it can be used as a hard commitment
against certain full hops and ledge jumps.
Lucina’s up smash is generally stronger; however, Marth’s sweet spot is way stronger. Dash attack is a risky option
[in order] to try whiff punishing, especially since it loses to shield. It can also be used to deny
double jumps very close to the ledge. All of their throws are really good,
mostly because it gets even harder to get through their sword
once you a thrown in a bad position. Down throw is going to be your main throw
at low percents to ~30/40% mainly because it combos into
a full hop up air if they
don’t DI [up] or DI away from 0–60% and back air
if they don’t DI behind you from 0–10%. And so,
you’ll want to DI behind them every time
to avoid the aerial. However, you can still get punished
for trying to escape. The higher the percent gets,
the more strict these combos get, meaning the might be able to air dodge,
which is still something that you can punish. They can also double jump, but
it’ll always be hit by the up air or back air, meaning it’s unsafe to double jump out of
until they get above 20%,
if DI’d behind them, since losing your double jump here
will only put you in a way worse disadvantage. Above that percentage,
you’ll want to forward throw or back throw
to set up for an edgeguard, which every character can struggle against. Up throw is only meant for
killing the opponent at really high percents. Ledge trapping is where Marth and Lucina shine. It all starts with being in range
for down tilt to pressure the ledge stall, as you can now safely threaten with
down tilt or forward smash to have the opponent press an option
either as soon as possible or at the very end of their invincibility. This makes you the dictator of when
they press a ledge option and will help you in reacting to
their options. The down tilt in itself can punish
double jumps as well
with some luck or good timing, and if it hits, it will mostly likely
lead into an edgeguard
that leads into a kill, meaning some characters are limited
to using only ledge attack, regular get-up, or ledge roll, which can all be
reacted to with a grab or spaced out. Ledge jump is something that you can punish
straight above you or behind you easily, as well as you can directly cover it with
a preemptive forward tilt, a greedy forward smash, but most importantly
a short hop delayed neutral air that is very slightly microspaced backwards
for extra safety. This neutral air should not be fastfallen
so that it lasts for as long as possible, allowing Lucina to
set up more edgeguards and Marth to
score kills against ledge jumps, regular get-ups, get-up attacks,
and even double jumps back in. Rolls are the only option you need to react to
by fastfalling and covering right behind you. Forward air could, of course,
be used instead of neutral air in some cases, as it comes out faster but
lasts for less frames. Even if they happen to shield the aerial
after regular get-up, because you’ve
slightly microspaced yourself back
during the aerial, the opponent is in an equally bad spot
as hanging at the ledge. Once spaced correctly, you limit the opponent
to immediately full hop out of shield, roll, or try punishing out of shield, which you can shield and
punish yourself. Holding shield and stalling can result
in a shield break. And so, no matter what,
a spaced aerial against cornered opponents
will always cause stress, as well as hitting an aerial sets up
for an edgeguard. This also means that their worst position is
when they are cornered and pressured
or at the ledge, as they don’t really have that many great ways
of getting back to stage. Except for regular get-up,
rolls, or ledge attacks, they’re able to ledge jump forward air
and cover the ground and the air, but if they hit a shield,
they’ll get punished. They’re also able to double jump in
with an immediate aerial to hit opponents, which also loses to shield.
To beat a shield, they’ll need to
double jump in with a delayed aerial
and cross up a shield. It’s a bit risky, however,
since if they get hit out of shield
before the delayed aerial hits the shield, they’ll be offstage without a double jump
and susceptible to
being edgeguarded and killed. Thank you guys for watching! These videos take a lot of hard work
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