User blog:Plasmaster/Mega Man! Show Me Your Custom Moves!

Hey there Smashers! Welcome to the second entry of the Super Smash Bros. Custom Moves Strategy Guide, Show Me Your Custom Moves! Plasmaster here.

As a little celebration of the first Show Me Your Custom Moves coming out just yesterday, I thought I'd do a two-day series special just for you guys. I worked about four hours of research on this guide, so I hope you enjoy!

In today's Show Me Your Custom Moves, we will be taking a look at the metallic Super Fighting Robot, MEGA MAN!!



Mega Man's Custom Moves are unique from custom moves of other characters because they are all quite different from each other rather than a light and fast variation and a heavy yet slow variation. Let's get right into his move analyses.

Custom Neutral Special 2- Hyper Bomb

'Bomb Man's weapon. Throw bombs in an arc that explode on contact with an opponent.'

Pros:


 * Arcing trajectory


 * Good for dealing with airborne opponents.


 * Thrown in eight different directions.

Cons:


 * Hard to hit with


 * The move has starting lag


 * Bounces off if the opponent perfect-shields.

The Hyper Bomb is a move that can be kind of unpredictable due to its arcing trajectory, forcing your opponents to be wary. Due to the arc, it can keep airborne opponents at bay. It can be thrown in eight different directions, just like the Metal Blade. Throwing it backwards while your opponents are coming up behind you is a good way to surprise them. When thrown straight up, it falls right back down to Mega Man; this can keep opponents from going over Mega Man from above. When thrown down, the bomb actually bounces off the ground, spins in the air for a moment, and then explodes. This could provide some close-range attacks with this move and possible defensive options, however, these can be hard to pull off and require good timing because of the moves starting lag. Opponents on the ground will be otherwise hard to hit unless they are standing at the bomb's landing point, and few opponents will simply stand there to be hit. If they do stand there, they could perfect shield, which causes the bomb to glance off of them.

Custom Neutral Special 3- Shadow Blade

'Shadow Mans spinning blade. It flies a set distance and returns to you.'

Pros:


 * Hits multiple times


 * Thrown in eight different directions


 * Edge-guarding option

Cons:


 * Short range


 * Below average damage


 * Does not stick in the ground when thrown down

The Shadow Blade works like a boomerang, returning to Mega Man after reaching a set distance. This distance is quite short, so the move is best used at a pretty close range. The move hits both on the way out and back, so opponents are hit multiple times if caught in it. The hit on the way back will knock opponents slightly towards Mega Man, so there may be some combo options available like Shadow Blade to down tilt or neutral attack, followed by a dash attack or two. If Mega Man is standing on an edge and throws the Shadow Blade down, it will travel down below the ledge a set distance and then back up to Mega Man; this can be used as a method of edge-guarding if timed correctly. Oh yeah, and it can be thrown in eight directions, just like Metal Blade. However, the move doesn't deal very much damage.

Custom Side Special 2- Ice Slasher

'Ice Man's weapon. Fire an ice projectile that will freeze enemies upon contact.'

Pros:


 * Opponents hit by it are launched skywards


 * Possible aerial combo setups


 * Ceiling kills (at high percentages)


 * Freezes opponents

Cons:


 * Below-average range


 * Not much damage


 * Freezing doesn't last very long at all, even at high percentages

Ice Slasher...it is a move that has some strong positives and negatives to it. It launches enemies into the air when they are hit by it and freezes them, giving Mega Man a chance for some aerial combos and attacks without any interruption on the frosty foe's part. At high percentages, it can kill off the ceiling when the opponents are launched. However, it has sub-par range, so you'll have to space yourself strategically to ensure the move will even hit; the projectile itself doesn't deal much damage and the freezing effect just doesn't last very long at all, probably just over a second tops, and that is at 150%. no less.

Custom Side Special 3- Danger Wrap

'Burst Man's weapon. Fire an explosive projectile that arcs steeply upward.'

Pros:


 * Combo options


 * Can deal with aerial opponents


 * Great vertical range


 * Works in some situations for edge-guarding


 * Can grant stage control on stages with platforms like Battlefield

Cons:


 * Little horizontal range


 * Grounded opponents are hard to hit with it

The Danger Wrap is a move with some strong pluses that outweigh the negative aspects of it. The move has nearly no horizontal range, but phenomenal vertical range; this vertical range is good for keeping opponents approaching from above out of Mega Man's hair--er, helmet...edge-guarding! If an opponent is trying to recover high, the Danger Wrap can make them regret the attempt altogether. All of these opponents are in the air; Danger Wrap is not very useful against opponents that are planted firmly to the ground--cough*Little Mac*cough. The Danger Wrap can give Mega Man stage control on a stage like Battlefield, since opponents standing on above platforms are easy targets with this move equipped. The move also has impressive kill power, finishing off Sonic the Hedgehog at 80%. A good combo with Danger Wrap at lower percentages is down throw to Danger Wrap.

Custom Up Special 2- Tornado Hold

'Tengu Man's weapon. A tornado-blowing fan sends you hurtling skyward to damage enemies.'

Pros:


 * Deals damage


 * Mega Man can attack out of it

Cons:


 * Slow


 * Terrible recovery distance

Tornado Hold is atrocious in terms of recovery. You don't get much height out of it, and though it is the only variation of his up special that directly deals damage, it isn't all that much. I don't know about you, but I'd take better recovery over a measly five percent any day.

Custom Up Special 3- Beat

'Summon the bird-type robot Beat to carry you through the air.'

Pros:


 * Higher vertical recovery

Cons:


 * Slow


 * Little horizontal movement


 * Mega Man can't attack out of it


 * Helpless state

Despite all of the negatives, Beat is probably the best of Mega Man's up specials. Beat allows Mega Man to recover lower than Rush Coil and Tornado Hold do, and though it doesn't have much horizontal movement in it, the distance you can travel horizontally with it is actually more than that of Rush Coil and Tornado Hold. The move is slow, but this doesn't matter too awful much considering it only functions as a recovery, not an attack. Mega Man is unable to attack out of the move and is left helpless after the move is over, but when recovering low you will most likely go for the edge anyway, so the helpless state won't even go into effect.

Custom Down Special 2- Skull Barrier

'Skull Man's weapon. A rotating barrier of skulls that reflects enemy projectiles.'

Pros:


 * Reflects projectiles


 * Pushboxes

Cons:


 * Little range


 * Less damage than Leaf Shield


 * Cannot use up special while it is up

The Skull Barrier has pushboxes while it spins around Mega Man, short-ranged as they may be. The move does not deal damage until actually thrown. While it surrounds Mega Man, it will reflect projectiles, providing Mega Man with both a defensive and offensive move. It has very little range when thrown, though throwing it won't do much damage anyway, so it is actually better to hold onto it until it vanishes. Keep in mind that Mega Man can't use any of his up special variations when the Skull Barrier is up, so don't use it if you are trying to get back to the stage.

Custom Down Special 3- Plant Barrier

'Plant Man's weapon. The deadly petals provide great protection but don't travel far when fired.'

Pros:


 * More damage than Leaf Shield


 * Will block larger projectiles

Cons:


 * Slow


 * Cannot use up special while it is up


 * Little range

The Plant Barrier deals one whole percent more than Leaf Shield does...yay? The better use of Plant Barrier is the defense; it will block larger projectiles like a fully charged Sun Salutation. Blocking them effectively requires good timing though, because it takes a moment for the barrier to activate and the barrier vanishes the fastest of all the down special variations. Due to this short time spent on the stage, the Plant Barrier has very short range, which is why it won't deal that much more damage; it vanishes before the fourth petal can hit the enemy. Also, like the other variations, Mega Man can't use his up special. Fortunately, the Plant Barrier lasts for so little time that you might be able to recover in time if you use it off stage.

Now it is time for the OPTIMAL CUSTOM SMASH. The Optimal Custom Smash is the combination of custom moves for Mega Man that work the best when in a set together taking into account the conclusions I have made from the research I have done. If you have a custom set of your own that differs from this one but works for you, by all means, use that one.

Custom Neutral Special: Metal Blade- Shadow Blade's short range and Hyper Bomb's iffy hit ratio makes them difficult to use in battle. Metal Blade can edge-guard just as well and can deal with both grounded and airborne opponents, but with more range behind it.

Custom Side Special: Danger Wrap- Danger Wrap's combo potential, the fact it is a kill move, and its ability to deal with aerial opponents are all very useful; with Danger Wrap equipped, you can even leave Metal Blade to deal with grounded opponents if you so choose.

Custom Up Special: Beat- Beat's increased vertical recovery height allows Mega Man to recover lower, a great positive when compared to the lack of damage it has.

Custom Down Special: Skull Barrier- Even though Skull Barrier deals less damage when thrown, the reflecting properties of the move give Mega Man good defensive and offensive options.

OPTIMAL CUSTOM SMASH

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I hope you enjoyed this installment of Show Me Your Custom Moves! I also hope that this guide was helpful to you and your future custom battles. If you have an Optimal Custom Smash of your own, please let me know down in the comments. While you're at it, let me know what characters you want to see next. I will be making the Pac-Man one next.

Also, please tell me if you like the format of the post; tell me what you liked or didn't like; it is all very much appreciated as it helps me to improve and bring better content to you guys!

Until next time, keep on smashing and leave it to Heropon!