Marth (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Marth maintains well above-average KO potential in addition to his speed and maneuverability, with his sweet spotted attacks boasting impressive damage and knockback. His [[forward tilt]] is one of his most reliable tools on the ground, possessing a good range and a sweetspot that is easy to hit with, especially above Marth. It is good for closing out stocks as it can KO as early as 95% near the edge while remaining relatively safe. His [[down tilt]] is a safe poking tool when spaced and sets up a tech chase situation starting at 60%, and his [[up tilt]] covers a relatively wide area around Marth himself and of among the strongest of its kind in the game. His aerials also possess high damage and knockback when sweetspotted, combined with his aerial maneuverability, grant him a respectable air game. When tippered, his forward smash can KO before 40% next to the ledge while uncharged, making it one of the most deceptively powerful forward smashes in the game. The meteor smash of his down aerial, while requiring exact timing and spacing to connect, can not only gimp recoveries but also bounce opponents off the ground in such a way that it can immediately chain into tippered attacks such as forward and up smash at medium percentages, and aerials at higher percentages. His tipper mechanic benefits greatly from stages with low platforms such as {{SSBU|Battlefield}}, allowing Marth to tipper with much more ease against opponents using forward tilt, up tilt, and especially his forward smash by covering said platforms with mostly the tipper areas of said attacks. Higher platforms follow a similar pattern except with his aerials, most notably up aerial. In essence, all it takes is a single correct move at the correct time for Marth to cut an opponent's stock short suddenly and very early.

While Marth's tipper has great KO power, the larger hitboxes of his sourspots provide benefits as well; thanks to their lower damage and knockback, they allow him to effectively [[combo]] into attacks one after another at a wider range of percentages. Most commonly, short hop sourspotted neutral aerial when used repeatedly allows Marth to carry an opponent across the stage at low percentages and rack up damage, and up tilt sets up into aerial-based combos and juggles if it connects late. His neutral aerial's first hit also acts as an effective combo starter and extender when sourspotted and landed as close to the ground as possible, as well as his up aerial. He also benefits from being one of the few characters in the game who can outright [[KO]] through effective play of his [[neutral]] and [[spacing]] game; essentially, while Marth's neutral reward is not as rewarding or damaging as some characters, Marth has the ability to win neutral exchanges with relative ease and safety, as well as having consistent set-ups and follow-ups.

Marth's special moveset provides interesting options as well; his [[neutral special]], the aptly named [[Shield Breaker]], deals very high [[shield damage]], even when uncharged, and is useful for covering rolls and landings. Its best used while descending from the air when the opponent is most likely to expect a simple aerial and shield accordingly, and can even be used off-stage to challenge opponents that shield next to the edge intending to cover Marth's ledge recovery options. [[Dancing Blade]] is a four-hit [[combo]] that can be used to punish sidesteps and rolls, as well as effectively rack up damage. The final upward hit immediately puts the opponent into a disadvantaged state, and the final downward hits deal high damage. The final neutral hit can serve as an effective KOing option at higher percents, but if it successfully tippers, it can KO as early as 70% at the ledge with no rage. More situationally, the first hit of Dancing Blade by itself can be used as a knowledge check on opponents: although it cannot truly combo into anything other than the rest of the move, if an opponent is not prepared to escape after getting hit by the near-instant strike, it can be used extend strings in the air, be followed up with the first hit of neutral aerial, and assist in gimping recoveries by interrupting unprepared opponents off-stage. However, those who are aware of the gap after the hit can escape with relative ease, so its use is not recommended at higher level. [[Dolphin Slash]] has quick [[startup]], provides slight intangibility during its startup frames, is relatively strong when it first comes out and has high [[knockback scaling]]. These attributes make it an excellent out-of-shield option and combo breaker, whilst also giving him an easy and reliable combo finisher and KO option. It is also Marth's primary method of [[recovery]], as its speed can make it difficult to intercept, and it can stage [[spike]] reckless edge guarders. Lastly, [[Counter]] provides him with the capability to reverse attacks with 1.2× the damage, KOing if the attack was strong enough; it can also be used against opponents with slow and easily predictable recoveries.

Despite his strengths, Marth has some notable weaknesses. The most severe of these is his extreme reliance on tippers and spacing ability, which gives him a subpar up-close game at higher percents, and makes it more difficult for Marth to KO and threaten faster/smaller characters, such as {{SSBU|Pikachu}}, {{SSBU|Olimar}} and {{SSBU|Fox}}, who rapidly pass in and out of Marth's 'Goldilocks zone' of tippers when engaging him at close range. The low [[shieldstun]] and [[hitstun]] generated by non-tippered moves make it possible for opponents to act out quicker than he can, causing Marth to struggle against shields if his attacks are improperly spaced, and [[Shield Breaker]] is highly punishable if predicted. His [[tipper]] mechanic can equally disadvantage him when attempting to KO, as his attacks do not generate much [[knockback]] if not spaced properly, making his KO potential very inconsistent without proper spacing and understanding of his effect ranges (most notably with [[forward smash]], [[forward tilt]], and aerials). Lastly, his [[edgeguarding]] ability, though strong, is flawed, both due to the need for tippers to definitively gimp recoveries and the moderately high [[ending lag]] on his aerials. As a result, Marth is reliant on being in a certain distance for his moves to be safe while retaining the neutral. Additionally, unlike in past iterations, Marth can have a fairly difficult time consistently landing his tipper sweetspots to begin with as a result of the faster engine and alterations to his hitboxes that made his tipper smaller. His ability to KO effectively other than a raw tipper in [[Neutral_game|neutral]] exists in rare and difficult setups that are heavily affected by individual character [[Hitbox|hurtboxes]], player [[Directional_influence|DI]], and Marth's own [[rage]], that eventually disappear once his opponent reaches an especially high percentage, leaving him very little choice but to 'fish' for an aforementioned raw tipper, a sourspotted smash attack, any of his specials, or an edgeguard scenario; this phenomenon is referred to by the community as "Marthritis".