ABOUT: In this article I endeavor to take a comprehensive look at the options available to Super Smash Bros. Melee character for the defensive situations players are often faced with. The three most common of these situations being: in shield, recovering off stage and hanging on the ledge.



DISCLAIMER: This will not be a guide on a character or its match ups. As such I will not be going into detail on the general play-style of a character. During each section I will briefly list the standard options supplied to every character for each defensive situation, but I will only cover the “useful” ones in depth. Feel free to comment and flame me for not considering a certain option useful and provide an argument for why it’s actually amazing. I’d love to hear it. It should also be taken into consideration that the options discussed will be from a singles perspective, as many options gain or lose strength in a doubles setting.

We will be looking at defense through the lens of Falco Lombardi, the avian Fox McCloud clone often cited as being the glass cannon of the high tier characters (though Cloud 9’s Mango has repeatedly said that he feels Marth better fits this description). Many players believe that Falco is potentially the best character in Melee, referencing his arsenal of tools for putting offensive pressure on an opponent. While I agree that Falco is an offensive juggernaut, the host of defensive options he is endowed with contribute in a major way to his efficacy at the top level.

We spawn into the match, our Marth opponent has denied our request for a hand warmer leaving our movement feeling labored and sluggish. Being the shameless forward-smash spammer that he is, the Marth player recognizes our weakness and charges, unleashing a flurry of attacks. Only a few seconds in and we are put into our shield; fearing being served fried, garnished with potatoes and asparagus. So what can we do from this position? What are our options?

A character’s options “out of shield” (OOS) is an under discussed facet that influences their competitive viability. The majority of the cast has seven viable out of shield options: jump, roll, shield grab, spot dodge, wavedash, up-smash, and up-B. While every character has the ability to jump out of shield and proceed to input an aerial attack, the general consensus is that only certain character’s jumps and attacks are quick enough to be considered viable as out of shield options. Let’s take a look at Falco’s options:

Jump: What Falco lacks in flight he makes up for in hops, his full jump OOS is probably the strongest in the game, being the highest grounded jump height of the entire cast. On many stages this can allow Falco to escape to the relative safety of the top platform, positioning him above his opponent (where his down-air is one of the most threatening moves in the game).

Roll: Perhaps a consequence of extensive barrel roll practice, Falco’s roll OOS is fantastic. He possesses the second highest roll distance among the high tiers (Marth being the highest), also being tied for the quickest roll in the game (both forward and back) at 31 total frames, 16 of which he is invulnerable. Rolling has acquired a stigma of being a “bad” option at high level because veteran players are cognizant of when opponents commonly use roll (such as being trapped in the corner). However, if performed unpredictably, the reward of executing a successful roll OOS can be tremendous by gaining a strong positional advantage on an opponent.

Wavedash OOS: Falco’s wavedash length isn’t amazing, and though wavedash length can be one metric used for determining how good a character’s wavedash OOS is, it is not always the most accurate. A more important factor to consider is, what a character can execute after a wavedash OOS that can still successfully punish a hit on shield. Because Falco is armed with the fastest move in the game (shine) miss spacing an attack on his shield can be devastating.

Up-smash OOS: A good option at mid to high percents, especially against floatier characters like Peach or Jigglypuff, as they are easily KO’d off the top blast zone. It is also one of Falco’s most disjointed forward facing hitboxes OOS. However the low damage and knockback of this move make it easy to crouch cancel or counterattack at lower percents.

Aerial attacks: The start up time on three of Falco’s five aerials is phenomenally low, with the hitboxes on his neutral-air and back-air active on frame four, and down-air on frame five. These moves can demolish an opponent who fails to space an attack far enough away or low enough on shield. In many cases, opponents will space an aerial behind a player to avoid getting shield grabbed, but due to the exhaustive mandatory yoga lessons attended by team StarFox, Falco’s far reaching back-air can successfully punish this out of shield.

Falco’s Back-Air hitboxes. Look at that flexion.

Shine: The last out of shield option at Falco’s disposal often outshines all the rest (wink wink). Shine OOS is borderline broken, it is akin to blocking an attack and instantly transforming your shield into a Jurassic Park fence. Active only one measly frame after jumping (if executed frame perfectly) Falco’s shine has the added bonus of comboing into his aforementioned aerials, completely shutting down an opponent’s pressure and at times allowing Falco to initiate his own.

G2| Westballz converts a shine out of shield into a zero → death against Cloud 9 Mang0 at Mayhem.

Though we have thwarted the initial onslaught of attacks from Marth by choosing a strong out of shield option, our movement remains lethargic. After being the victim of an incredibly lucky and completely random forward-smash tipper, we find ourselves off stage, pondering our recovery options.

The majority of the cast has six basic tools for recovery: DI (directional influence), double jump, side-B, up-B, fast fall, and air dodge, with some characters having access to several extra tools and others possessing even fewer.

Falco is generally considered as having one of the worst overall recoveries of the top tier characters, earning the offstage reputation as a pathetic flightless bird. Commentators frequently allude to his short up-B length relative to his counterpart Fox, compounded by the fact that it has no initial hit-box. I believe Falco’s recovery is not nearly as abysmal as is often stated, and it is only because Fox’s recovery options are so insanely good, that Falco’s seem poor by comparison. In reality, Falco has a variety of strong tools for recovery and his options are only truly limited when he is below the stage without his double jump.

DI: Though not necessarily a recovery “option” it is imperative to mention DI, as it has a tremendous impact on executing a successful recovery. While having “good” DI (that is ending up above the plane of the stage from an attack that sent you horizontally) is important for recovering with any character, it is even more critical with Falco. This stems from the fact that being above the stage as Falco gives a player access to many more of his recovery options. When an attack is met with poor DI, it often forces a player to instantly burn their double jump in an attempt to achieve enough height to either up-B or side-B. Because the destination of these two options, when executed below the stage, is easily predictable, they are in turn easy to edge guard. Good DI transforms the utility of these moves, drastically increasing the amount of options an opponent is forced to cover.

This gif illustrates the importance of DI when recovering, note how the Young Link who input upwards DI is closer to the stage, and will have an easier time recovering. Credit to djloreddit’s Better Know A Match-Up.

Double Jump: An overlooked asset of a character’s recovery is its double jump (aerial jump) height. Falco has the highest double jump of the top tiers and the fifth best overall. Because his double jump is so high, Falco can utilize it to get above the stage, where his recovery has many more mix-ups. This high double jump can also allow a Falco player to simply jump to sweet spot the ledge (sometimes delayed with a shine stall), where other characters may be fated to use a secondary recovery option. Retaining a double jump offstage is by far the most important factor for successfully recovering with Falco, because along with DI, double jump is the only other tool Falco has for getting level with, or above the plane of the stage.

Side-B: The all powerful Phantasm (sometimes called “Illusion”) comes equipped with an incredibly aggravating meteor smash and four distances. Side-B has quite a low start up, with the initial movement occurring on the 17th frame (¼ of a second). It is difficult for an opponent to cover Phantasm on reaction, as a Falco can shorten above the plane of the ledge and then drift downwards, making it ambiguous whether they intend on going for the ledge or the stage.

The four distances of side-B. Credit to djloreddit’s BKAM.

Due to it’s horizontal trajectory, Phantasm is one of the easiest moves with which to sweet spot the ledge, as well as to edge cancel on platforms (removing its landing lag entirely). An added utility of this move is its use after wall teching; because it comes out so quickly, a player can side-B to the ledge after teching, before the lag of the opponent’s move has even ended. It is important to note that if Falco cannot reach the plane of the ledge or above, due to bad DI or no double jump, this move becomes as useless as a third party controller.

Up-B: Falco’s up-B, “Firebird” is undeniably worse than its Fox equivalent, “Firefox”, though this does not make it a poor recovery option. Firebird still benefits from many of the same principles as its Fox analogue. The innumerable (actually around 350) angles to choose from when above the stage, grant a player a built-in bundle of mix-ups. The “wall riding” mechanic allows Falco to sweet spot the ledge from below and provides an opportunity to wall tech (which as mentioned above is potent in conjunction with side-B). The low landing lag of only six frames after reaching the ground is one of the best in the game for a recovery move. Sadly, if Falco is forced to up-B below the stage without access to riding the wall, the low range and predictable trajectory make Firebird simple to edge-guard.

Cloud 9’s Mango executing a wall tech side-B after using Firebird against FOX MVG | Mew2King at Smash Summit.

Fast fall: Falco is armed with the top fast fall speed in the game (tied with Captain Falcon), which can assist him in quickly migrating to the ledge or the stage. Because a player can fast fall while helpless (the state after completion of an up-B or air dodge), it equips Falco with a strong secondary mixup. Fastfalling can throw off an opponent’s timing but, following the same pattern, is only useful when Falco is above the stage.

Air dodge: Due to the speed of both Falco’s regular fall and fast fall, a well timed air dodge can be hard for an adversary to punish. A player can air-dodge above the stage and then rapidly fall to the ledge, before an opponent can react. Air dodge is also a great option when hit off stage by a weak attack or at low percent, where Falco remains very close to the stage, as a player can quickly air dodge back onto the level without needing to employ another recovery option.

Though we were taken aback by the lucky and undeserved tipper that sent us flying off stage, our impressive reactions allowed us to DI it well and, utilizing our recovery options, we made our way safely to the almighty ledge.

Quite often hanging on the ledge can feel a lot like this:

An opponent holding all of the stage, with a herd of stampeding antelope below, ready to trample you without remorse. However, players such as FOX MVG| Mew2King have shown that the ledge is not necessarily a weak position to be in. This is in large part due to the 30 frames (½ of a second) of invulnerability gained after grabbing the ledge, coupled with the unpredictably that being on the ledge affords a player. The standard options supplied to every character on the ledge are as follows: ledge stand, ledge roll, ledge jump, ledge attack and ledge hop.

Ledge roll: Roll from the ledge is a useful edge hogging tool after knocking an opponent far enough away that they cannot make it back on stage. The game reads a player as being on the ledge for the duration of the ledge roll animation. As a defensive option, ledge roll is best used as a mix-up. Unlike Falco’s roll out of shield, his ledge roll (both over and under %100) is much slower and easier to react to. However, like rolling out of shield, when executed successfully, ledge roll puts Falco into the incredibly favorable position of center stage.

Ledge attack: Ledge attack, like ledge roll, has application as an edge hogging tool. Defensively, Falco’s under %100 ledge attack is actually quite a good mixup. It is the 3rd furthest reaching in the game, which can surprise opponents who believe they are safely out of range, though the move has low knockback so it is easily crouch canceled. Falco’s over %100 ledge attack is very slow and does not have nearly the same range, making it a poor choice off the ledge.

Ledge hop: I want to preface the options below as they all occur after a ledge hop. Whilst sounding similar, ledge hop differs drastically from a ledge jump (also referred to as the “Tournament Winner”). A ledge hop is performed by pressing back or down on the analog stick (causing Falco to let go of the ledge) and then inputting an aerial jump (double jump). Due to Falco’s incredible double jump, his options out of a ledge hop are superb. It is important to consider that letting go of the ledge affords a player only one jump. This means that if a player is hit out of any of the ledge hop options, they will be off stage without a jump, which, as previously discussed, is almost certain death for our wingless friend.

Ledge hop double laser (LHDL): If Mufasa had this option available to him when Scar had him pinned on the ledge there may not have been a Lion King movie. Ledge hop double laser is a crazy powerful option, covering an absurd amount of horizontal space. A Falco player can control the height of the lasers by varying either the timing of their jump or the B button press. When fired low enough, the lasers can shield poke an enemy’s’ feet or high enough, they can hit a player camping the platform above the ledge. Because the lasers are staggered (one after another) an opponent is forced to hold their shield for longer, providing more time for Falco to follow up. LHDL is probably Falco’s strongest ledge option, which makes it is easy to predict. A veteran opponent will anticipate this option and prepare a countermeasure, so it is vital to use it sparingly, or when it is guaranteed to go unpunished.

Ledge hop aerial: Similarly to their prowess out of shield, Falco’s aerials off the ledge are potent options, with up-air and forward-air gaining added utility that they did not have OOS. Ledge hop up-air can be used to cover an opponent camping above the ledge on the side platform and forward-air has the farthest reaching forward hitbox in Falco’s arsenal (besides laser). Admittedly, the forward facing hitboxes on all of Falco’s aerials are relatively short, so if a player becomes predictable with throwing them out off the ledge, wavedash back can hard counter them.

Ledge hop side-B: Ledge hop side-B is a quick way to travel from the ledge to center stage. Due to Phantasm’s low start up time, an opponent may not react quickly enough to throw out an intercepting hitbox, or get their shield up. If they do manage to avoid the side-B, the high ending lag on the move means Falco can still be punished. A strong mix-up with this move is ledge hop side-B edge cancel. This can be performed (on certain stages) by ledge hopping backwards, becoming level with the side platform and then inputting side-B. If timed correctly, this will edge cancel the side-B, removing all of the move’s landing lag.

G2|Westballz uses ledge hop side-B edge cancel to clutch out a set vs. Selfless | Lucky at The Big House 5.

Ledge dash: Falco has a very solid ledge dash (also known as ledge hop waveland). He is equipped with the ability to invincible ledge dash (wavelanding while retaining the ledge invincibility) into both shine and up-tilt, which are powerful low start up moves. Owing to his double jump height, Falco can also ledge dash onto the side platform on both Yoshi’s Story and Battlefield, causing him to quickly maneuver to center stage, at times leapfrogging the edge guarding opponent.

Firebird ledge stall: One of the best ledge stalling mechanics in the game, Firebird ledge stall is a reliable way to give a Falco player more time to consider a secondary ledge option, or for an opponent to move into a punishable position. It is performed in a similar manner to a ledge hop, by pressing away from the ledge on the analogue stick and then immediately inputting up-B. A Falco in Firebird animation can grab the ledge as early as the 16th frame, giving a decent frame window to stall with constant invincibility. Ledge stalling is also a great tactic if a Falco player is on low shield health, as shields rejuvenates when on the ledge.

Final Thoughts:

After forcing our way from the ledge onto the stage, we finally have our Marth opponent on the back-foot and proceed to solidly four stock him, win the tournament and go on to land countless lucrative sponsors and endorsements. All of this because we understood the breadth of tools at our disposal. Melee is a game about limiting and covering an opponent’s options. In many ways, a character’s viability at the top level is not expressed in the raw power of the options they posses but in the quantity of options available to them in a given situation. Characters with less tools are more predictable and therefore easier to shut down. In this article I hope to have shown that Falco has a myriad of strong tools for use in common defensive situations and it is the constant threat of all them that makes a seasoned Falco player such a daunting opponent.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Follow me on Twitter @hoofgaming to stay updated with my latest blog and meme postings.

Bibliography:

djloreddits, BKAM: https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/wiki/bkam

Mew2Kings Melee Information List: http://clashtournaments.com/mew2kings-melee-information-and-discoveries/