What will I learn from this?

On this guide I will show you from the Basic stuff ICs can execute to the Advanced wacky stylish stuff you can execute,Here are the contents of this guide.(This guide was made for people who know the smash terms such as DI,Nair,Fair,Pivoting,CC,etc)

I. ICs Pros and Cons

II. How to use ICs

III. How do I beat my opponent with ICs

IV. Fundamentals

V. Teamwork

VI. Movement

VII. Recovery

VIII. Grabs

IX. Desyncs

X. Edgeguarding ​

XI. Stages

XII. Neutral Stages

XIII. Counter Pick Stages ​

XIV. Final Notes

+Excellent grab game

+Many kills moves versus opponent at high percent

+Great combo game when you have both climbers alive

+Falling speed does not make them a easy combo character

+Great recovery with both climbers alive

+Great wavedash movement

+Being able to make the Nana do another move at almost any time turning situations in a 2v1

-Low grab range

-Low attack range

-Nana AI is not great recovering,dodging or following you when you get thrown away

-Losing Nana makes your character more vulnerable to easy kills

-Low speed most attacks

ICs have a powerful teamwork game, when they are synced they have double hitboxes,double damage(If both attacks hit) Better recovery so you want to keep Nana alive as long as possible. One thing ICs can do is Desync, in which makes thems cover more options and extend your approach options.

Since ICs have a big problem approaching you have to study your opponent approach options to use them as your advantage, the biggest strength they have is getting that grab and converting it into tons of damage.Unlike most characters that have a great speed or great grab range ICs lack those things, they have poor shield pressure so rushing down with them will not always be the best options, ICs neutral is all about baiting your opponent in approaching you and once you get the change you punish them to get that grab.

V.

Teamwork

The first thing you need to do is adapt to the character, when you use the ICs you must remember you are in control of two characters with one being always desynced for 6 frames behind you which gives them a power to get out of grabs and combos early with the addition to be able to extend their combos to the max.



VI.

Movement

Movement is one of the most important a character must have on this game,since ICs have one of the best Wavedashes on the game,making them a threat even at long distances. One thing you should take note in is always move in different ways to mix up your movement so your opponent does not know whats coming next. Here is a short list of things you can implement into your ICs neutral:



Wavedash on all possible ways:

Use you aerials from platforms:

Dashdancing,Pivoting and Foxtrotting

Separate Nana

Recovery

Don't try to get on stage alone:

Go for the ledge:

Spoiler EXAMPLE

Use different heights with Side-B:

Spoiler EXAMPLE

Grabs

Mix up your regrab game:

Spoiler EXAMPLE

Use other alternatives vs fastfallers:

Handoffs:

Nana stop midgrab:

Finishing the string:

Spoiler EXAMPLE

VIX. Desyncs

Melee Desyncs

Rolling and spotdodging

Dashdancing and Pivot desyncs

New Desyncs

Autosnapping to ledge with Up-B Desync

Cstick on shield Desync

Spoiler EXAMPLE

X. Edgeguarding

Spoiler EXAMPLE

(On stage, On platforms, Ledgedash,Out of shield,sliding off platforms or off stage,etc)If you caught your opponent with a surprise aerial while falling for example off a platform to punish your opponent. You can use the aerial before touching the ground or when you can mix up your timing and use it earlier to screw with your opponent's timing and convert into a punish.:Making a well spaced Dashdance can become a opportunity for a big punish which you can get out off a Foxtrot too,Using pivots can Desync your characters, I will talk about that in another section.:Try to make the both climbers separate for a bit to cover as much space as you can, just remember to don't isolate Nana for too long.When you have both climbers your chances or dying by a gimp are pretty minimal as long as you follow the next tips:If Nana is close to you get in the range so you can do a Side-B or an Up-B to recover with her(Remember when Nana is in hitstun you need to resync her with a quick aerial like Uair)ICs let themselves vulnerable when they recover on stage, unless your opponent is holding the ledge, try to get as close as you can and use your Up-B to auto snap to the ledge, if he is grabbing the ledge you can still use your Side-B to hit him or force him to go on stage.With all this in mind some character got the tools to stop you from getting to the ledge(Sheik's needles and such)Side-B is a great move to recover when you don't have the resources to use your Up-B, just remember going to high is dangerous because the falling speed of ICs is not that great(Remember if Nana gets hit, Popo will fall to his death, so take care while fighting a character with projectiles that have hitstun such a Falco's Lasers)ICs have a bad grab range, but once you get a grab you can unleash ton of damage between the opponent and the climbers, but remember to spice it up to deal extra damage, like this examples:If you are in will to get some extra damage when your opponent is at low percents you can chain up air into regrab on some characters until 40-60 percent, and when you want more depth chain grabs you can do F-Throw into a sweetspoted Fair which will throw them on the ground and can be a tech chase situation, remember they can still SDI out of the normal D-throw>Dair, so try to mix it up so your opponent cant exit the string so easily.Other moves that can link to more grabs:Footstool,Nana jumping Down B (If they dont SDI),Side B,Nair,Neutral B.When fast fallers are at low Percent and there no platforms close to them, try doing D-Throw>Up smash>Regrab or even U-Throw to a regrab, this is great if you are willing to mix up your grab game and give some damage in exchange Works until 50-55 Percent.When Nana is 30 Frames close to the ledge (Almost a Back roll from the ledge) she will do a F-Throw instead of a U-Throw(When she is not close to a ledge).So you do a D-Throw once you make Nana regrab(The timing depends on the weight of the character you are doing the throw on) you need to WALK and get another grab(The timing or F throw is ALWAYS the same), if you try to do a dash grab or a JC dash grab you will slide to the end of the ledge and will not be able to get more handoffs.On 3.6 the ability to do mid stage Brawl handoffs has been removed, but making nana stop on the middle of a grab is still in the game, this happens when nana is out of your range, she will stop completely in the grab, once you get close she will do a throw depending on where she is(Mid stage up throw, close to a ledge back or forward throw) as of now we have not found a way to control her throws.Once you think its enough you should convert a grab into a kill, one of your best options are charging a smash attack as Nana to have extra power and mix up DI(release fsmash at the start of down throw,peek of up throw,release of back throw to hit them the opposite direction).But If you want to get creative there are ways to get a kill at lower Percents, for example getting handoffs and let Nana release>Start running>Jump and do a sweetspotted Fair and they will be sent down to the blast zone(Fair is still a Meteor) that is a little example to a million ways you can mix up your way to kill your opponent.This is the moment you can unleash the teamwork power ICs have.: When you roll or spotdodge you can buffer the action Nana will do next(you don't need to hold it like in melee) just by pressing it in the middle of the roll/spotdodge, the most common ones are Down B and Neutral B but you can make her hold a smash attack, do a jump and then you can do a tilt/smash attack so she does an aerial and the list will go on and on, it's all up to your imagination.: When you do a dash dance 2 times (Foward>Backwards>Foward) Nana will be in a state where she can do any sort of special attack, and when you do a pivot smash attack,Jab or any kind of pivot, Nana will do a Dash attack instead of the pivot, with this you can pop them up and follow with any move that comes to your mind.:When you autosnap to the ledge with your Up-B Nana can do an action and make Popo stay on the ledge or do another action, for instanse wait until you see Popo being dragged in and press the attack button so Nana does a Ledge attack, this can come in handy if they are waiting for you on the ledge and you want to throw a surprise attack.: When you are on your shield and you flick the Cstick up Nana will do a Up Smash as you jump, you can also wavedash out of it to keep them desynced or you can try to go for a follow up if Nana gets the Up Smash to hit. If you roll and buffer the next roll to the opposite direction with the Cstick Nana will do a grab as you roll again.When you edgeguard as ICs there are many ways to make it so your opponents is forced to go onstageMake Nana stage on stage and Popo grab the ledge: If you desync a move that doesn't makes Nana fall from the ledge(Smash attacks,Up B,etc) then wavedash back so Popo grabs the ledge and hold the opposite direction the ledge is Nana will keep walking while you hold the ledge, if someone tries to grab the ledge you can simply press the shield button really fast to roll and make Nana do a smash attack with the Cstick to send them off stage again. Even with this you can still do the traditional go off stage and try to do a gimp for just in case your opponent is using a character with a recovery that doesn't brings them to helpless animation.