Marth killer
The Marth killer is an advanced technique in Super Smash Bros. Melee used when edgeguarding certain characters with linear recoveries, most notably Marth (hence its name). It is performed by lightshielding and angling the shield away from the stage. Upon the shield being hit by the recovering character's up special, the shielding character may slide off the stage and instantly grab the edge before the recovering character can, resulting in an instant edgehog.
The reason the Marth killer works is that players can ASDI during shieldstun.[1] Therefore, contrarily to popular belief, it doesn't matter which part of one's shield Marth's sword hits, as the shielding player will perform a Marth killer nonetheless.
The common counter-strategy to a Marth killer is for the victim to recover higher than the ledge instead of aiming for the sweetspot. While it is easy to punish Marth, or the other potential victims of this technique during their landing lag after their recovery move, it is generally a bad idea to let them touch the ground, since this gives them back their double jumps, and in Marth's case, it gives his side special (Dancing Blade) the ability to air stall again. Recovering opponents can also potentially ASDI down which reduces the player's odds of getting a KO. Thus, while doing a Marth killer every time can set up for a free hit, this would still be less rewarding than choosing a riskier option that would actually result in Marth's death, such as a shine spike.
Here is a list of the characters against whom one can perform a Marth killer.
- Link (Spin Attack)
- Peach (Peach Parasol)
- Marth (Dolphin Slash)
- Roy (Blazer)
- Young Link (Spin Attack)
- Luigi (Luigi Cyclone) (Fireball)
