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Edgeguarding
Edge-guarding is the attempt to prevent an off-stage recovering enemy from reaching the stage. Players can achieve this in many ways, and the struggle between an edge-guarder and his enemy leads to many strategies and mindgames.
Edge-guarding strategies
On-stage guarding
The simplest way to edge-guard is to stand at the edge and throw attacks - often a powerful forward smash, down smash or down tilt that can hit even a sweet spotting enemy. While this method of edge-guarding requires the least set-up, it is often thwarted by sweet-spotting or ledge-teching.
Throwing projectiles
In a similar strategy to sitting on stage, a character with projectiles (especially projectiles affected by gravity, like Peach's turnips or Mario's fireballs) can stand by the edge and try to interrupt a faraway, recovering opponent. This strategy is very safe, in that players are very unlikely to be hit while edge-guarding in this fashion, and it can be combined with both edge-hogging and attacking from on-stage.
Off-stage guarding
A risky, but deadly, way of edge-guarding is to jump off-stage and interrupt the opponent in mid-air. The recovering enemy has few options by which he can defend himself, such as using aerial attacks or directing himself away from the edge-guarder. When using this style of edge-guarding, most characters put their own life in jeopardy, being so far off-stage. If, however, the edge-guarder is able to land a powerful aerial attack far off-stage, his enemy will almost certainly die. Even if unsuccessful, the edge-guarder can often edge-hog the recovering opponent anyways.
With most characters, it is best to avoid using the second jump before hitting the opponent. Many characters will not be able to make it back without it.
Edge-hogging
A common way to edge-guard is to edge-hog, or grab the ledge so that the opponent cannot. There are several ways to reach the ledge when standing on-stage. The two most common ways are to face away from the ledge and either short hop or wavedash backwards. Many players, when wavedashing backwards, make the mistake of standing too close to the edge before wavedashing, thereby air dodging off-stage and falling to their death. Note also that with some characters, it is possible to fast-fall the wavedash off the stage and in effect grab the edge sooner.
Usually, an edge-hogger rolls the moment the recovering enemy uses his third jump, gaining invincibility frames and defending himself against damaging up B attacks. Edge-hogging is effective against sweet-spotting, but can be beaten by an enemy that comes fully on-stage in his recovery.
When an enemy lands fully on-stage they are often caught in the lag of their third jump. Edge hopping is often the method to keep them off the stage. This leads you back into the starting position of choosing which edge guarding technique to use, but your opponent has a little more damage making it a little easier to edge guard them.
