User blog:Plasmaster/Smash Study Hall: Samus

Hey there Smashers! Welcome back to the Super Smash Bros. strategy guide blog series, Smash Study Hall! Smash Study Hall, providing non-spammy strategies since the Link guide. Plasmaster here.

Today we are taking a look at the bounty-hunting heroine, Samus Aran!

Samus has lots of projectiles and tools to use...THE PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE KEEP SPAMMING THEM! Samus is capable of much more than spamming projectiles; she is a bounty hunter, she gets out there and hunts down an enemy, she doesn't hang back and fire projectiles from afar! That being said, Samus does have some moves that can be used at a distance.

Samus's jab is excellent for putting on damage and keeping opponents off of Samus, as well as a good combo tool. Samus' forward tilt is excellent for spacing and for ground combos. Samus' up tilt is useful on the edge and for starting aerial combos because it launches upwards when used on-stage. Samus' down tilt starts aerial combos as well and can also be used for attacking a recovering opponent. Samus' dash attack can combo into aerials at lower percentages.

Samus' smash attacks are all excellent moves; up smash is great for covering Samus from opponents approaching from above and also combos out of down aerial at lower percentages; it is also a viable kill move. Samus' forward smash has good range and spacing and good launch as well which can make it useful as a combo finisher. Down smash is good for covering rolls and attacking prone opponents.

Samus' aerials are all effective moves. Up aerial is excellent for juggling and can combo out of down throw at mid-high percentages and sometime can combo into Screw Attack for extra damage or even a kill off the ceiling. Down aerial is a meteor smash and is also great for attacking enemies from above since it combos into up smash, which is a great kill combo. Back air is a viable kill move and edge-guarding tool because of its high launch; it can combo out of dash attack at mid-high percentages. Neutral aerial is good for aerial coverage since it hits on both sides and can be integrated into combos. Forward aerial is another excellent combo move and can combo into most aerial attacks. Forward air also kills off-stage with the last hit.

Samus has some of the most useful throws in Smash 4. Her up throw combos into up aerial, Screw Attack, forward aerial, Charge Shot, and neutral aerial. Samus' forward throw can combo into a fully charged Charge Shot if the opponent doesn't jump out of the move, however even then Samus can jump upwards and fire the Charge Shot to try and hit them this way. Samus' down throw is among the most useful of her throws; it combos into forward aerial at lower percentages, up aerial and Screw Attack at mid-high percentages, and it combos into Charge Shot at nearly point-blank range if Samus jumps right after throwing the opponent; the Charge Shot gets harder to land on an opponent the higher their damage is, but Samus can jump to bait out an airdodge or reflector, fast fall to the ground, and then fire the Charge Shot to hit the opponent as they land on the ground; if they jump out of the throw, hold onto the Charge Shot and wait for another opportunity. Back throw can combo into Charge Shot as well, as long as the opponent doesn't jump out of it; if they do, you can turn Samus around and jump to fire the Charge Shot at them with greater success.

All of this talk about Charge Shots, and I haven't even covered the move itself! Charge Shot is a very powerful projectile, being one of Samus' best kill moves. The Charge Shot should try to be fully charged up when you use it in order to get maximum damage and knockback from it. The Charge Shot can be used as a projectile to hit opponents from afar, but it should never be used immediately after it is completely charged up; this is often very predictable and an opponent like Fox with a reflector or Ness with PSI Magnet will instantly put up these moves to counter the Charge Shot...which is why holding onto it works so well against these characters. If a Fox holds up their reflector, dash in and attack or grab them; use one of the throw combos to hit them with the Charge Shot so that they will have less time to dodge it or react. If Ness holds out PSI Magnet, punish with a grab or even fire a Missile at him to bait it out only for him to be hit with the projectile since the missile is not energy-based. If an opponent keeps rolling to dodge missiles, throw a Charge Shot out to surprise them; if an opponent keeps jumping over your missiles, continue firing the missiles until they get to a reasonably close distance to Samus; fire out another missile to bait the jump and then jump up with the opponent and fire the Charge Shot at them; this is often a deadly maneuver. Charge Shot can also break shields and punish edge-guarders; if Samus is above the edge and will be able to recover, fire the Charge Shot at the enemy to damage and launch them away from the edge and then recover.

The missiles are excellent for punishing attempts at countering a Charge Shot and baiting out opportunities for a Charge Shot, as I covered in the previous section; however, the Missiles can also be helpful for zoning opponents, dealing some damage, and for harassing an opponent from afar.

Samus' up special is decent in terms of recovery; it is great for killing off the ceiling and as a combo finisher.

Samus' down special, Bomb, has little offensive use because of its small size, though it can be used on the edge to deter opponents from the edge when recovering or cause opponents on the edge to do a ledge roll or ledge hop, which can be easily punished with an aerial and grab or smash attack respectively. They are also excellent for extending recovery, suspending Samus in the air for just a moment and allowing her to move a bit closer to the stage while recovering so that she can use Screw Attack when she gets close enough to the stage. It should be mentioned that the Grapple Beam can tether the edge and help with recovery as well.

Samus could be higher in the tiers if people knew how to use her tools more effectively; I think she ended up being lower because most players just spam her projectiles and don't take time to dive deeper into what she is actually capable of. I think Mr. Sakurai was more correct than we think; Samus can be one of the better characters in Smash 4, if her tools are used in the right place at the right time.

I hope you enjoyed this guide on Samus! I also hope it helped you to improve your Samus game!

If you have any questions please let me know down in the comments. While you're at it, let me know what other characters you'd like to see!

I'm going to try and release at least one SSH each week from here on out, but no promises.

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