Marth (SSBU)/Up special

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Marth Up Special Hitbox Visualizations.
Grounded	Aerial

Overview

Although relatively situational, Dolphin Slash is a highly rewarding move with a strong surprise factor if timed intelligently. The move's active hitboxes start on frame 5 where they hit the strongest and end on frame 10 where they are more disjointed but hit much weaker. With its considerable disjoint, speed (faster than a grab), kill potential, and its frames of invincibility (frames 4-5 on the ground, 1-5 in the air), it is also Marth's best out of shield moves although it is his riskiest. The move's biggest drawback is how punishable it is when whiffed. The slow falling speed of the descent as well as the move's landing lag often spell death against a competent player. Therefore, a common strategy for Marth players is to strike to stages such as Battlefield, which have a top platform to which Marth can escape.

As a recovery option, Dolphin Slash is considered subpar. Its speed makes it difficult to hit Marth out of without ledge invincibility and has a disjointed hitbox above Marth's head which can hit through the stage and punish people standing near the ledge. However the move doesn't travel far horizontally at all and although it can be angled, the extra horizontal distanced gained often isn't enough.

As an edgeguarding option, Dolphin Slash can be used to punish opponents who ride the wall towards the ledge by testing their ability to stage spike. This is preferable to using a move such as forward air or back air for stage spiking, since Marth will almost always be at the ledge by the time the opponent is actionable after the stage tech, and can subsequently be hit by another back air. On the other hand, the player ProtoBanham opts to use a Dolphin Slash faced away from the ledge to try and swat opponents away, since Dolphin Slash essentially only requires a reaction and not a careful hitbox placement (given the nature of its large hitbox). However, please be advised that when Marth uses Dolphin Slash facing away from the ledge, Marth must be extremely close to the ledge in order to not lose a stock.

Hitboxes

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Sound	Hit bits	Hit part
Clean hit
2	0	0	11.0%	0	Standard	70	74	0	4.0	top	0.0	8.0	8.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
3	0	0	11.0%	0	Standard	70	74	0	4.0	top	0.0	8.0	4.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
Late hit
2	0	0	11.0%	0	Standard	70	74	0	4.0	top	0.0	8.0	8.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
3	0	0	11.0%	0	Standard	70	74	0	4.0	top	0.0	8.0	4.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
0	0	0	7.0%	0	Standard	20	90	0	5.0	sword1	0.0	0.0	4.5	0.9×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
1	0	0	7.0%	0	Standard	20	90	0	5.0	sword1	0.0	0.0	-1.5	0.9×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
Ŀatest hit
0	0	0	7.0%	0	Standard	20	90	0	5.0	sword1	0.0	0.0	4.5	0.9×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All
1	0	0	7.0%	0	Standard	20	90	0	5.0	sword1	0.0	0.0	-1.5	0.9×	1.0×	0%	Slash	All	All