King Dedede (SSB4): Difference between revisions

King Dedede is the [[weight|third-heaviest]] character and, like {{SSB4|Ganondorf}}, is the epitome of the archetypical heavyweight: he has a large frame, slow [[walking]] and [[dash]]ing speeds, below average [[traction]], the slowest [[air speed]], one of the slowest [[air acceleration]] values, the second fastest [[falling speed]] and average [[gravity]].

His potent [[punishment]] game also supplements his great endurance. Most of his attacks deal high amounts of damage and can leave opponents vulnerable to more of his attacks. His most useful moves at that include, but are not limited to, down tilt, down smash and his grab game. The former is also very quick for a super heavyweight, and can help him fend off opponents and set up edgeguards. His [[pummel]] is highly damaging, making it good for adding up damage before throwing the opponent. His forward throw can reliably launch opponents off-stage, while his back throw deals very high damage. Lastly, his down throw can combo into up tilt, up smash and any aerial attack bar his down aerial, making it very reliable for damage racking and giving him combos that most fellow heavyweights do not have. He also has a plethora of very powerful moves, including his forward and down smashes, his up, back and down aerials, and [[Jet Hammer]], all of which are capable of KOing easily if they connect. Because of these advantages, he is also one of the characters to benefit the most from [[rage]], as it allows his powerful moves to put the opponent in a disadvantageous situation most of the time, and can allow him to initiate a comeback, which is further complemented by his endurance.

However, King Dedede has numerous weaknesses, to the point where they significantly outweigh his strengths. His most prominent one is his underwhelming frame data, which is among the worst in the game. This makes Dedede prone to punishment, and due to his vulnerability to combos and juggles, he will have to [[read]] his opponents more often than not to safely land a move. However, it should be noted that his moveset is among, if not the overall, weakest of the super heavyweights; very few of his moves are capable of reliably KOing before 80%, with such moves being nearly limited to back aerial, [[Jet Hammer]], and forward smash, all of which are easily telegraphed and highly punishable, despite back aerial being able to [[autocancel]] from a short hop. His fastest moves are incapable of KOing until very high percentages, and his slowest moves are among the most predictable and most punishable in the game, with notable examples being forward smash and up tilt. These factors make said moves being easy to punish before or after they connect. While the fastest of his moves, his down tilt and neutral aerial, come out on frame 6, repeated use of them can render him a predictable opponent.

Another one of King Dedede's most prominent weaknesses is his polarized mobility. All of his attributes work against him, as they give him very slow horizontal movement, hindering his ability to [[approach]] and combat [[spacing]] and [[camping]]. The latter problem is more serious, as he has no useful counters against [[projectiles]], with Dedede's projectile being ineffective and overall unreliable to combat [[camp]]ing altogether. His slow horizontal mobility leaves him vulnerable to getting juggled horizontally, while his very quick vertical mobility also leaves him vulnerable to combos, and he has a hard time escaping from them once he enters enough knockback, with a move that grants super armor, [[Super Dedede Jump]], coming out way too slowly to render him invulnerable to heavy damage once an opponent gets a combo in. In turn, this makes it very simple for other characters with reliable combo games, such as {{SSB4|Luigi}} and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}}, to easily rack up damage on him.

Another flaw King Dedede faces is his [[approach]]. All of his attributes significantly hinder his ability to get close to characters safely, considering the aforementioned factors of the overwhelming start-up and ending lag on his attacks, fairly poor mobility regardless if grounded or in the air, and his noticeable nerfs from game updates, which have all decreased his already poor offensive game. Most notably, his grabs' drastically reduced ranges and the removal of [[chain grab]]bing are collectively considered to be his fatal flaw: they not only hinder his chances to rack up damage efficiently, but also almost completely remove his chances of reliably KOing his opponents or keeping his opponents at bay with his grabs.

His special moveset also faces some issues, as it is riddled with significant drawbacks. Gordo Throw is often considered his best special move, as it can be used for a KO option at high percents, can grant strong stage control if spaced and timed correctly, and can be used as a set-up into many other options if the opponent is sent toward Dedede. It can also aid his edgeguard attempts if the Gordo gets stuck on a wall or edge, allowing him to score a KO. Finally, it can be used to edge trap the opponent, giving them few options to retaliate and get back to safety. However, it has one major flaw, arguably enough to counterbalance all of the Gordo's benefits: it can be [[Reflection|reflected]] by any attack that deals at least 2%, which can limit its otherwise great utility and stage control potential and renders it a risky move, even when used from a safe distance. As a result of this, King Dedede's [[neutral game]] is risky due to being committal.

Super Dedede Jump is an amazing recovery move due to its distance and super armor, but its use is almost limited exclusively to recovering. However, the move's landing induces high shield damage, average [[shieldstun]], and emits stars upon meeting the ground, which can make the move surprisingly difficult to punish, despite the move's high endlag. Inhale can be used to pressure the opponent and possibly score a [[sacrificial KO#Grab-based sacrificial KOs|Dededecide]], but it is telegraphed, laggy, and unsafe due to the removal of grab armor. Lastly, [[Jet Hammer]] is best used only when trying to punish an unsafe get-up attempt or when breaking a shield.

King Dedede benefits a fair bit from his [[Character customization|custom moves]]. Topspin Gordo has consistent power and moves much faster, which allows King Dedede to force the opponent to react with little risk of his Gordo being used against him, due to its high speed. However, it does not last as long, and it removes almost all combos with the Gordo itself, as it cannot be used for traps, and moving the control stick barely changes its trajectory. Bouncing Gordo is considerably weaker, but it lasts much longer, and enables King Dedede to apply stage control and gives him more time to use Gordo combos. The Gordo's trajectory changes greatly when the player tilts the control stick. Rising Dedede covers more vertical distance, maintains the default's super armor, and can even function as an (albeit risky) out of shield option due to its hitbox while ascending. However, it cannot meteor smash, as King Dedede becomes helpless at the apex of its jump, which also makes it less safe, especially if King Dedede tries to land on the stage. Dash Jet Hammer does far less damage, but King Dedede dashes forward when he attacks, enabling it to function as a mindgame tool. It can also function as a viable horizontal recovery option, which can ameliorate his glacial air speed.

All of his other custom moves have very situational advantages and are overshadowed by their disadvantages, with Dedede Storm, Taste Test, and Armored Jet Hammer being the most notorious examples. Dedede Storm has much slower start-up and ending lag than [[Inhale]], removes Dededecide, is a multi-hitting move that cannot connect after 100%, and lacks strong hitboxes, preventing it from KOing even well beyond 200%. Taste Test spits opponents out instantly, preventing Dedede from sending the opponent off-stage, which allows them to exploit his vulnerability. Armored Jet Hammer offers super armor on charge, but causes [[recoil damage]] faster, is drastically weaker to the point where a fully charged blow is weaker than an uncharged hit by the default, and has severe ending lag to the point where one can jump from the top of {{SSB4|Battlefield}} and use it and then be unable to move until Dedede lands on the main platform.

Overall, King Dedede's weaknesses heavily outweigh his strengths. Due to his very sluggish frame data, risky neutral game and poor approach, his optimal playstyle is a defensive combination of zoning as well as baiting and punishing. The prominence of his flaws has also resulted in very low tournament representation and a poor perception despite the decent size of his playerbase, as only {{Sm|ZAKI}}, {{Sm|Big D}}, and {{Sm|El_Bardo}} have managed to achieve significant breakthroughs in top-level play. However, outside of their efforts, Dedede has very poor tournament results.