Jab grab

This article or section may require a cleanup. The editor who added this tag believes this page should be cleaned up for the following reason: section titles too long and seem too tangent-y, article might be better as part of jab cancel You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Jab Grab (abbreviated "JG") is a Character-specific technique performed by Pikachu, Mario, and Fox (see notes) by abusing shield stun by combing a jab against an opponent's shield into a grab. It is done by jabbing, directly hitting down to prevent a second jab, and then either grabbing or dash-grabbing instantly. The jab cancel must be done fast enough so that when done, the opponent is unable to go out of their shield in time and prevent the grab. It is a simple form of shield pressure. Mario is the easiest to do this technique with followed by Fox and then Pikachu. Interestingly, Level 8-9 computers occasionally use this technique as well, especially Mario. This technique is highly useful in competitive play and it is one of the main reasons why certain characters are in certain tier lists as not having this technique highly limits shield pressuring.

How other characters' out-of-shield options affect the usefulness of this technique

• This technique has to be inputted with perfect timing against Pikachu or Pikachu can up special out of this technique otherwise due to invincibility frames.
• Similar to Pikachu, it is also quite hard to do this technique vs. Samus as Samus can also use up special out of shield very quickly.
• It is somewhat hard vs. Jigglypuff due to the smaller shield as the dash timing has to be more precise though it is definitely easier than vs. Samus or Pikachu.
• It is the easiest to do vs Donkey Kong due to his slow OoS options followed by Link, Yoshi, and Captain Falcon for similar reasons.

Why certain characters cannot use this technique and how they set up grabs instead

• Captain Falcon has potential to use this technique as well due to a slower jab cancel and less shield stun but it is not true shield pressure but rather a mindgame. It is a common technique in Falcon dittos however and vs. DK/Link users for the reasons listed above. It is impossible vs a Pikachu or Samus however for the reasons listed above. Captain Falcon sets up grabs otherwise with aerials, commonly with back aerial, down aerial, and neutral aerial.
• The same idea applies to Jigglypuff, Luigi, Kirby, and Ness, but it is much less common due to their slow jabs and movement speed. These characters set up grabs instead with DJC aerial (Ness,) neutral aerial (Jigglypuff/Kirby) and down air (all four.)
• Link has easily enough shield pressure to use this technique but the grab is too slow. Instead, Link users set up grabs using aerials; especially forward aerial and dair; or bombs/boomerangs.
• Oppositely, DK has the best and quickest grab in the game but cannot use this technique due to having the slowest jab in the game. DK instead sets up grabs with Ground pound, down air, neutral air, back air, and with Grab-releases.
• Yoshi and Samus cannot do this technique efficiently at all as they have incredibly slow grabs and bad jabs. This is commonly noted as one of the other main reasons why Yoshi is at the top of Low Tier and why Samus is stuck at the Bottom of the tier list. Instead, Yoshi can setup grabs with DJCs while Samus can set up grabs with fully charged Charge Shots.

Notes

• Due to a glitchy grab-box, Fox occasionally has difficulty using this technique.