Marth (SSB4): Difference between revisions

Marth is a character based around the concept of tippers, gaining the most reward for remaining a specific distance away from his opponent. However, compared to his strong showing in the previous two games, he is significantly weaker overall in ''SSB4''.

The fundamental ideas of Marth remain intact. He has above-average movement speed overall and a moveset full of disjointed hitboxes that tend to cover wide arcs, allowing him to fight a step away from danger most of the time; in particular, having the fastest walk speed in the game lets him move quickly without being forced into his dash attack or up smash. Forward tilt, up tilt, and forward aerial are good examples of attacks that cover a lot of ground and keep Marth relatively safe when properly spaced. His up special, Dolphin Slash lets him recover from below and sweetspot the edge quickly, though its path is linear and easy to intercept. Shield Breaker gives Marth a horizontal boost when used in the air, acting as an alternate recovery option or situational edgeguard tool.

However, Marth has also seen a wide range of nerfs that limit his potential. Most importantly, his overall range is much shorter, with altered hitboxes and animations resulting in less range for many attacks, undermining his former advantage. His moveset is also slower in general compared to Brawl, with many of his attacks being given more startup lag, more ending lag, or shorter hitbox duration. With the removal of chaingrabbing, all of Marth's throws have less utility, being too weak for reliable KOs yet too strong for reliable followups. Overall, these changes combine to hinder both his approach and his punishing abilities.

With customs turned on, Marth gains some options to address some of his drawbacks. Dashing Assault lets him punish landings and rolls, create trap situations, and force opponents off stage. Crescent Slash gives Marth more horizontal recovery, but with less vertical recovery; it also grants him a fairly reliable followup from his forward throw and aerials at low percents and can punish air dodge landings. Iai Counter has quicker counter start up (3 frames), increased range, and damage, but it has fewer counter frames. It can also be used situationally to improve Marth's recovery. Even if it does not hit the opponent, the dashing animation allows Marth to avoid attacks safely.