Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

The Duck Hunt stage is a popular counterpick stage in Super Smash Bros for Wii U, being popular for characters who like a little more room to breathe, as well as those who like killing off the top of the stage, thanks to the tree located on the left side. In his latest video, My Smash Corner takes a closer look at this counterpick, analyzing how the ducks that fly across the stage can impact the stage layout, as well as showing the exact locations where the dog will appear during the course of a fight.

The dog will appear in between the bush and the tree, with its location depending on where players hit the ducks that spawn in the background. If players hit the ducks when they are flying outside the area between the tree and the bush, the dog will spawn as close to the duck as possible without leaving this area in the middle of stage. By keeping track of where the last duck was hit, players can use the rising dog to get kills off the top and even extend combos. My Smash Corner even details the spawn timer on the little patch of grass that randomly appears on stage. It stays up for 10 seconds, before disappearing for 11 seconds and then reappearing. This means that this patch of grass can appear up to 17 times in a 6 minute match, should players go for the time out.

While this analysis is quite extensive, My Smash Corner does miss out on how Duck Hunt (and its Omega variation) gets rid of the Z-axis, flattening players and affecting the properties of certain moves like Charizard’s forward tilt and R.O.B’s neutral B. For more details on the Z-axis and what happens on stages without it, you can check out ESAM’s video on the topic right here.

Sources: My Smash Corner, ESAM

 

The bane of many who step foot into For Glory on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Link’s heavy use of projectiles and powerful sword strikes can give beginners a lot of grief when they start playing Smash in a competitive capacity. Luckily, TSM|ZeRo is here to help players best the Hero of Time in his new ‘How to Beat’ series, a guide for those starting out in the world of Smash 4 who may be struggling with certain characters.

The main thing ZeRo notes in this short guide is to exploit the massive cooldown Link has on many of his moves, like his grab, his dash attack and the majority of his smashes. Moves like his down air leave him open for a good while, so use these high cooldown moves as your opportunity to strike back. A lot of the tips, like powershielding Link’s arrows while approaching, will be pretty obvious for veteran players but keep in mind that this series is designed for beginners, so don’t be surprised if you hear advice which may seem second nature.

ZeRo previously covered how to defeat Little Mac in the first ‘How to Beat’ video, so expect another For Glory favorite like Falcon or Sonic to be next on the list in this beginner video series.

Source: ZeRo

 

Last weekend saw Smashers from around the world descend on Ontario for the warmup wargames for the upcoming summer of Smash. Get On My Level 2016 acted as the pacesetter for the rest of the summer and it looks like Smash will be travelling at 100 miles a minute, based on the matches seen across the weekend. Melee, Smash 4 and even Brawl had their moments of hype, with the two days leaving everyone ravenous for the tournaments to come. Here are some of the key storylines and moments which punctuated these wars in the north.

The Lion Enters the Den

GOML was the first tournament outside of Mexico for one SmashFactor’s MKLeo and what a debut it was. Going uncontested until Winner’s Semis, Leo took down False, Kid Goggles and even Team Liquid’s Nairo in a convincing 3-1 set. It took Canada’s own Ally to stop Leo’s rampage, forcing him off his main of Meta Knight and making him switch to Marth, in order to counter Ally’s Mario. While the counterpick did allow Leo to take at least one game, he was plunged into the loser’s bracket to potentially face LowLandLions’ Mr R or TSM ZeRo. Fans were lucky to get the match which many thought would be in Grand Finals, with ZeRo finally getting a chance to take on Leo and prove that he was still the king. Games 1 and 2 were an absolute stomp, Leo being run ragged by ZeRo’s Diddy and making Leo switch off Meta Knight yet again to try to take down the world’s number 1 with Cloud. Games 3-4 were a reversal, with Leo getting some amazing f-smash and limit side b reads to take ZeRo to game 5 in the closest game of the tournament to that point. Game 5 was a last stock, last hit situation with both players neck and neck for the majority of the match but the plot armor continued to hold. ZeRo eventually felled Leo and proceeded on to fight housemate THEFAD|Larry Lurr in Losers’ Finals. While he may not have won the day, to get 5^th at one of the most stacked majors in Smash 4 history in your first foray outside of your home country, is quite the achievement. No doubt this loss has lit a fire under Leo and he’ll be back to take 1^st next time.

Regicide

When two kings face off, there are guaranteed to be fireworks. After a shaky start to the tournament, almost losing to LoF Blue in Top 96 pools, ZeRo was not looking in top form for the rest of GOML. Meanwhile, EchoFox’s Mew2King had a hell of a run up to top 32, not losing a single game and looking on form to take the whole tournament with his Cloud. However, in Winners’ Quarters, the king of the Mews and the king of Smash 4 would clash in a battle that had the audience at GOML screaming in delight. M2K had almost felled ZeRo at PAX Arena, going all the way to game 5. Mew2King didn’t even let ZeRo on the board, defeating him with a clean 3-0 and sending the crowd absolutely wild. Even with ZeRo’s finger injury and absence from tournaments in recent months, this victory cements Mew2King as the best Cloud in the world for sure. However, fortunes would soon change as after a close 3-2 loss to Larry Lurr (which finished with a Melee-esque double shine), Mew2King would then lose to Nairo 3-1 and end his tournament run on a bit of a whimper. ZeRo on the other hand, gained a second wind off of his loss, going on to outplace Mew2King and get 2^nd place.

Canada Defends the House

Who came in first I hear you ask? Well, none other than hometown hero Ally who had been on a roll even before Smash 4 singles top 8. Having won both Brawl singles and Smash 4 doubles, Ally was on pace to take the whole tournament. After convincing 3-1 victories against Leo and Larry Lurr, Losers’ Bracket ZeRo was the only thing standing in between Ally and finally taking a major in Smash 4. The battle was hard fought, going to a game 5 situation where ZeRo was looking ready to reset the bracket. Ally must have eaten a 1-up mushroom or something, as Mario won the day, finishing game 5 with a trademark up smash to send ZeRo into 2^nd place and his 2^nd ever loss in Smash 4’s history. Ally’s win finally means a major under Mario’s cap and to do it on home soil, that’s just the icing on the cake.

N0ne Elbows His Way Into The History Books

Moving over to Melee, there was another breakout performance from a Canadian player with n0ne’s electrifying performance with both Ganondorf and Falcon. Taking out CLG|PewPewU’s rarely seen Fox and sending HugS to the Shadow Realm with Ganondorf, n0ne had the pleasure of fighting Mew2King, a player who had not been eliminated by a Falcon since MLG Anaheim back in 2006. N0ne played like a man possessed, with knees flying all over the place and eventually finishing M2K off with a forward smash which had the whole of Canada behind it. To say the venue got rowdy would be an understatement, the place practically exploded when n0ne won, with the entire Canadian faction coming to congratulate their boy. N0ne then went on to face Norwalk’s own Lucky and while that set was almost equal in nerve shredding as the last, Lucky took the set and progressed onto Loser’s Quarters. Even though he’d lost, the venue erupted in a chant for n0ne, after providing two of the most exciting sets of Melee in this year.

Summer Mango Awakes

It must be something in the air or a switch must flip in the back of his head, as Cloud 9’s Mango seems to triple in power whenever he takes a trip to the Losers’ Bracket. After losing to TempoStorm’s Westballz in a set as sloppy as a jar of pasta sauce, Mango would have to take a long walk through Losers’, facing off against COG|Wizzrobe, Winterfox|Shroomed before arriving at rank number 1, Alliance’s own Armada. Much like in Smash 4, this set would be something you’d expect in Grand Finals, let alone Losers’ Quarterfinals. Switching between Fox, Falco and even Falcon in game 2, Mango triumphed over Armada, eliminating him at 5^th place and sending Mango on to fight best friend Lucky for the 4^th place spot. Switching back to Falco, Mango made quick work of his friend from Norwalk, before facing Hungrybox in a runback of DreamHack Austin. Whatever adjustment Mango had made to his playstyle clearly worked a second time, defeating Team Liquid’s resident Puff player 3-1 to furious ‘USA!’ and ‘Mango!’ chants from the Canadian crowd. The final opponent lay in wait, ready to slay the 4^th god in attendance at GOML.

The Godslayer Returns

This man was none other than TSM Red Bull’s Leffen, who was looking to finally get himself out there after his disappointing performance at EGLX a few weeks earlier. Luckily, there were no Samus players to block his way, as the Leffen slayer Duck had to drop out from GOML due to a case of food poisoning. Without that mental block in the way, Leffen proceeded to lay waste to the bracket, charging through the 4 Gods in attendance and making his way to Grand Finals to play against Mango. Despite the powerup from the Losers’ Bracket, Leffen took the tournament and signaled his return to Melee after a long period of absence and dodgy play. This summer could finally be Leffen’s.

The next super major looks to be CEO 2016 near the end of June, with plenty of smaller tournaments for players to warm up and rejig their playstyles ahead of the gauntlet of CEO, WTFox, Evo and Shine 2016. GOML is a tough act to follow, but if the next 4 big tournaments are anywhere near as hype as GOML was, we’re in for the greatest summer of Smash yet.

Sources: smash.gg

In his ongoing video series to detail combos and tricks with characters both popular and underused, MySmashCorner has released a new guide, going through some of the advanced techniques which are unique to the amphibian shinobi, Greninja. In order to produce this guide, MySmashCorner collaborated with none other than Dennis “iStudying” Kwarteng, arguably the world’s best Greninja, to catalogue some of the special tricks that this ninja frog can pull off.

This short combo guide includes options like basic up tilt strings, falling up air extensions, uses of his Water Shuriken and Hydro Pump and even some very special Substitute conversions, if you are able to angle your counter correctly to continue your attack. The main showpiece of this guide is Greninja’s footstool combos, which are some of the most flashy in the whole of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Along with the tried and true neutral air to footstool lock, MySmashCorner outlines some other possible footstool setups, like using back air to lock an opponent in place, if they manage to DI correctly following the initial footstool to avoid a down air.

Check out the guide below for all the details about this stealthy Pokémon and make sure to watch iStudying’s own YouTube channel for more high level Greninja gameplay.

Source: MySmashCorner