Neutral

Spoiler: Quick character example Duck Hunt has good neutral tools, since he can actually win footsies reasonably often against a lot of the cast with his combination of projectiles. However, he has low neutral threat due to the fact that any individual hit probably won't seal a stock, so his tools threaten the opponent less. Bayonetta is almost the opposite - while she has really good neutral tools, their power is VASTLY enhanced by the fact that you're afraid to get hit even once. And if you're afraid of getting hit by one move, she is now free to hit you with another. As a result, Bayonetta is allowed to play a neutral far beyond what her tools alone would allow her to.

Ftilt: Kirby's ftilt is almost the same length as Marth's sword. Which means if he can tipper you, you can ftilt. Naturally, you do not want to be in this range (because we don't like dying at 2%), but if you're trying to stuff an advance, your frame 5 ftilt is a pretty safe way to do so. If you can perfect pivot, you get an upgraded neutral tool, since now you can extend your reach further than Kirby naturally would. This is best for gaining a positional advantage, so you can put more pressure on your opponent (or put more space between you).

Kirby's ftilt is almost the same length as Marth's sword. Which means if he can tipper you, you can ftilt. Naturally, you do not want to be in this range (because we don't like dying at 2%), but if you're trying to stuff an advance, your frame 5 ftilt is a pretty safe way to do so. Crouch/Dtilt: I'm putting these together because they serve a similar purpose - just one for defense, and the other as a passive offense. Knowing what you can and cannot crouch is crucial for Kirby's spacing game, sure. So for example, you can crouch: Cloud jabs Marcina grab/jab Roy's grab So on (here's a full list of things Kirby can crouch)

I'm putting these together because they serve a similar purpose - just one for defense, and the other as a passive offense. Knowing what you can and cannot crouch is crucial for Kirby's spacing game, sure. So for example, you can crouch: The reason why crouching is important is because it can negate a neutral tool. By taking away the option for an opponent to use one tool, you make them rely on others more heavily. This is especially good for grabs, since they're a critical part of a good ground game. So now, if a character wants to get a grab, they're required to bait you into shield - and that requires a little more effort than just going for the grab.

This is different than spotdodge or dashing backwards for a couple of reasons. The first is that Kirby's dtilt keeps him at his lowest point while crouching (and it's very safe). This adds yet another element to think about - do I have to dash in and powershield? Can I bait them into shield so I can grab? So on. The second difference is that crouching has less lag than spotdodging or moving backwards. As a result, you can do it on reaction, you can telegraph it to bait another option, and so on - all with relatively little commitment.

Finally, it can also force opponents who want to be in the air a lot to hit Kirby with landing aerials. In some cases, these are safer on shield. But in others, it can force them to endure quite a bit of endlag - which then becomes punishable. Then there's the other side, where in order to properly land with an aerial, you may need to stall in the air for a bit - giving Kirby clues to your next action.

Advantage

1) You get the opportunity to win neutral more by influencing your opponent's actions with fear from the start of the game.

2) You get to force the opponent to approach you more often by creating a large gap between you.

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Disadvantage

Closing Thoughts

I've noticed that a lot of Kirby players tend to struggle against characters with swords, so I wanted to make a quick guide/reference sheet to help out. Swords are often considered to be an auto-win for the opponent, but that's not quite true. While Kirby does lose to a lot of ranged characters, it's usually a specific type of range that poses a threat. I'll explain as we go.The area where disjoints pose the greatest issue is neutral. This is obviously unfortunate, since a powerful neutral leads to consistency. But one thing I've noticed is that people often mix up what I'll call "neutral tools" and "neutral threat." For me,is basically how all the abilities of a character work together to help them win neutral and gain some sort of advantage (percent, positional, stock, etc.). The strength of your advantage & your disadvantage contribute to this.are thethat help you to win footsies - like Sheik needles, Marth dtilt, jab, etc.Okay, so what does that have to do with Kirby? Kirby's issues versus disjoints in neutral tend to stem from his lack of neutral tools. He's stubby and he's slow - which is a very poor combination. He does have a few tools that are underrated, though:Those are Kirby's best ranged options versus disjointed characters, though if you know how to perfect pivot, you can again extend these tools a little further (pp utilt, for example). In addition, bair is a solid burst option at frame 10 (frame 4 jumpsquat + frame 6 bair), but. I italicized that part since Kirby is a grounded character in this game - pretty much the exact opposite of Jigglypuff.Many people may be wondering why I didn't address Kirby's weakness to camping in the last section. That's because Kirby's advantage state is the big equalizer for characters that aren't like... Cloud or Corrin (but it still helps to know what to do against them).I mentioned earlier that neutral threat comes from the danger of your tools, and thus it allows you to further take your tools beyond what they'd normally do. This is where Kirby's advantage stage comes into play. It's critical to know how to get the strongest punishes possible as Kirby, because that makes people fear your tools a little bit more. If, for example, a Marth player knows that you get 33% by pummeling them once, then doing bthrow, uair, bair, they're going to play around your grab more carefully. From there, you might be able to use more shield/crouch, because they'll want to keep you out with attacks/grabs.If an Ike player knows that one whiffed grab (because of crouch or otherwise) might lead to a 0-death punish from uair/utilt strings, then they're going to try to grab less - which allows you to play using a lot of shielding. So on.The long and short of it is - if you can maximize what you get out of a punish, that gives you two major bonuses:If you cannot maximize your punishes, Kirby cannot catch up to his opponents nor force the situations he needs in order to win neutral. Here's a fantastic guide to Kirby's combos by Phan7om, so you can take some inspiration:>> Kirby Combo Tutorial <