Monado Art Ledge Snap
The Monado Art Ledge Snap or MALS is a technique in Smash 4 and Ultimate that allows the user to laglessly get up from their ledge hanging animation, with the added benefit of the Art activation's intangibility. This allows Shulk to both quickly return onto stage as well as avoid certain ledge traps, such as R.O.B's Gyro.
It is performed by cycling to an art prior to grabbing the ledge, dropping from the ledge, and double jumping onto the stage as the Art is activating. The Art's activation pose effectively 'clips' Shulk through the ledge as his hurtbox suddenly changes shape, forcing the game to snap him onto the stage. While difficult to time, this technique provides a much faster get-up option for Shulk compared to simply using a standard get-up from ledge. Aside from avoiding ledge traps, MALS can also be used offensively after a ledge trump to immediately return onto stage, allowing Shulk to perform a strong punish regardless of the opponent's actions.
The timing varies depending on the Monado Art being activated; for example, the window of success for a Monado Jump ledge snap is the largest, while the timing for Monado Smash is much harder to do consistently.
The technique cannot be performed on all stages. Of the legal (or formerly legal) stages of Smash 4, it can be performed on:
- Battlefield, Smashville, Umbra Clock Tower, the last transformation of Castle Siege
- The Ω forms of Battlefield, Umbra Clock Tower, Castle Siege, Midgar, Luigi's Mansion, Jungle Hijinxs, Skyloft, Temple, Halberd, Kalos Pokémon League, Pokémon Stadium 2, Onett, Gamer, Town and City, Boxing Ring, Duck Hunt, Windy Hill Zone, and Suzaku Castle.
MALS was first discovered and explained by GetShulked, and researched on by Paradigm.
