User blog:Plasmaster/Villager! Show Me Your Custom Moves!

Hey there Smashers! Welcome to the first entry of the Custom Moves Strategy Guide series, Show Me Your Custom Moves! Plasmaster here.

Today we are going to look at the custom moves of the ever-creepy Villager!



All meme references aside, Villager has some of the more quirky and gimmicky custom moves out of the bunch. I have devised a way to tell you all about each individual custom move and will be using this format in each installment of this series.

We'll tackle the neutral specials first.

Custom Neutral Special 2- Garden

'You can only pocket items in front of you, but it can hit foes and plant flowers on their heads.'

Pros:


 * Plants a flower on the enemy's head, dealing damage over time.


 * Is great for racking up damage.


 * Is the only form of Pocket that deals damage directly.

Cons:


 * Very short range for pocketing items; results in often being unable to pocket a projectile or item and getting hit.

With Garden, Villager definitely needs to be more careful. One of Villager's best assets is his Pocket, and with Garden making this more difficult, you need to be on your toes, making sure that you dodge more items and projectiles than you do attempting to Pocket them. You should not try to pocket something coming from long-range; though you have more time to react, the window for pocketing is very small and you will often not be able to pocket it. The flower planted on opponents is very useful for racking up damage on them before hitting them with a deadly move though.

Custom Neutral Special 3- Pocket Plus

'Stash items and projectiles more easily, but they become slightly less effective.'

Pros:


 * Pocketing range increased, making pocketing VERY easy.

Cons:


 * Items and projectiles that are pocketed don't deal quite as much damage.


 * Some ending lag on the move.

Pocket Plus may have one more downside than it does upsides, but the benefits still outweigh the bad sides of the move. Though the projectiles don't deal quite as much damage, this difference isn't all that noticeable when you take into account that the increased pocketing range is better for Villager's defensive game, keeping him safer from incoming items and projectiles. The ending lag isn't all that much more than the regular Pocket anyway, so Pocket Plus is definitely the more useful of Villager's custom moves.

Side Special Custom 2-Liftoff Lloid

'Fire Lloid forward, but he'll soon shoot up into the air, letting you ride to great heights!'

Pros:


 * Good vertical recovery option.


 * Can damage or at least make opponents hesitant when they are approaching from the air.


 * Good when paired with the Balloon Trip or Balloon High Jump; when recovering low, the Liftoff Lloid can drive edge-guarding opponents inwards to the stage for safe recovery with the Balloon Trip/High Jump

Cons:


 * Removes a horizontal recovery option


 * Leaves Villager falling through the air, helpless, for some time


 * Bad for dealing with grounded opponents

The Liftoff Lloid is a move with strong benefits but also some strong drawbacks. Villager is unable to deal with opponents approaching on the ground very well, but can deal with opponents coming from the air effectively. The Liftoff Lloid can act as a barrier of sorts; once it flies up, airborne opponents will be forced to DI backwards to avoid it, giving Villager a chance to dash in with an attack. Using it when recovering low can be beneficial as it takes Villager very high and the rocket can damage edge-guarding opponents. For another recovery alternative, you can fire the Liftoff Lloid when recovering low and then use the up special to get to the ledge, with Lloid forcing edge-guarding opponents to move away from the edge. (This strategy will not work well with the Extreme Balloon Trip.)

Custom Side Special 3- Pushy Lloid

'Lloid will hit opponents multiple times, pushing them before exploding.'

Pros:


 * Good for carrying opponents away from Villager; possibly off-stage


 * Racks up damage nicely


 * Larger size can block enemy projectiles


 * Very useful when paired with the Timber Counter


 * Deals more damage than Lloid Rocket

Cons:


 * Less horizontal movement if recovering with it.


 * Less range

Pushy Lloid is great for carrying opponents away from Villager, setting up some good combo options or giving Villager some breathing room. It is also useful for carrying opponents off-stage for some meteors or gimps. It deals lots of damage to opponents and can be used defensively as well. Villager should only ride on Pushy Lloid when on-stage. Pushy Lloid has terrible horizontal recovery because it explodes earlier than Lloid Rocket; therefore, Villager should not use it as a recovery option, only as an attack. Pushy Lloid is great when paired up with the Timber Counter move; camping behind the planted sprout so it will trip opponents and then using Pushy Lloid is a good way to keep opponents away while racking on damage; any opponents that try to jump over the sprout can be easily deterred with an up air or up smash, or, by watering the sprout, the tree can slam opponents away as well.

Custom Up Special 2- Extreme Balloon Trip

'Fly using special balloons that don't rise as fast but cause an explosion when they burst.'

Pros:


 * Exploding balloons are good for killing opponents and dealing damage.

Cons:


 * Not only do they not rise as fast, but they don't rise very high either; atrocious vertical recovery.


 * Less recovery distance if used in succession.

The cons outweigh the pros for the Extreme Balloon Trip. While they have good kill power backing them up, that won't help you much when you find yourself trying to recover to the stage. Using this move on-stage is the only viable way to use them. They have poor vertical recovery and when used too many times in a row the distance Villager can go when using the move is decreased. If you insist on going out in style, you should pair this move with the Liftoff Lloid to be safe.

Custom Up Special 3- Balloon High Jump

'Rise to an incredible height. Any opponents you hit will take damage.'

Pros:


 * Deals damage


 * Impressive vertical recovery height

Cons:


 * Very little horizontal influence

The Balloon High Jump is a great move for vertical recovery, but you can only put a little bit of horizontal influence into the move, meaning your horizontal recovery will suffer. The move deals some damage while you go up, so edge-guarders beware! If you want to use this move, pair it with Lloid Rocket to give you some horizontal recovery options.

Custom Down Special 2- Timber Counter

'A fresh sprout trips opponents, and the fully grown tree fights back if attacked!'

Pros:


 * The sprout trips opponents, allowing for combo options and punishes


 * The tree will damage opponents that attack it


 * The sprout when paired with Pushy Lloid is fantastic for camping


 * The watering can has pushboxes that can keep opponents off the edge.

Cons:


 * The sprout can be easily avoided by jumping over it.


 * The tree's distinct flashing red color will often allow opponents to know 'Donut hit the tree.'

The Timber Counter is great for setting up combos and punishments. The sprout's tripping ability will allow Villager to get off a good hit or combo. The tree will damage opponents that hit it, and though the opponent will avoid hitting it due to this, that only means the tree will remain an obstacle to them and will let Villager keep his axe longer for some killing moves. The sprout is good for camping and the tree is good for keeping opponents away from the tree, letting Villager hold onto his most deadly weapon. As I said before, the Timber Counter is phenomenal when paired with Pushy Lloid.

Custom Down Special 3- Super Timber

'Slower but stronger. Use lots of water to grow a huge tree. The axe has high launching power.'

Pros:


 * The tree deals more damage when chopped down and when sprouting up.


 * The watering can pours more water, which in turn provides bigger and long-lasting pushboxes for edge-guarding


 * The axe has high launching power


 * Bigger tree provides greater defense and cover for Villager.

Cons:


 * Slower process, leaves Villager vulnerable, especially when planting the sprout

The Super Timber is a useful custom special as well. The watering can's pushboxes are larger and better for edge-guarding. The tree deals lots of damage when it is first sprouting up and when falling down; shields stand no chance against it. The tree is tougher and so will take more damage to destroy, giving Villager great protection. Using Pocket Plus will let Villager pocket enemy projectiles while still standing safely behind the tree. The sprout-planting leaves Villager the most vulnerable when he is using the move, so one must be careful when doing this. The axe is an even better kill move than ever as well.

Now, there are all of your custom moves, laid out in all their glory! Now, it is time for the OPTIMAL CUSTOM SMASH. The Optimal Custom Smash is what I have concluded from all of this research is the best custom set available for Villager. You may have a different opinion on what set you think is the best; remember, if it works for you, use it!

Custom Neutral Special: Pocket Plus- The increased pocketing range grants Villager better defense, and even if the pocketed things aren't as damaging, they'll still put on some damage.

Custom Side Special: Pushy Lloid- Though lacking horizontal recovery, the move deals more damage than the other two moves, is great for spacing and stage control, and the Timber Counter-Pushy Lloid combination is an effective strategy. Can you guess what the Down Special is?

Custom Up Special: Balloon Trip- For the up special, stick with the default. Even though it doesn't deal any damage, Balloon Trip is good for both horizontal and vertical recovery, two things that each of the custom specials were either completely lacking in or had one of the options missing.

Custom Down Special- Timber Counter- The Timber Counter is astounding for stage control, combos, punishes, and of course, the Timber Counter-Pushy Lloid combination. The move can also keep the axe in Villager's hands for longer since the opponent will be unlikely to even think of attacking the tree directly. Even if they do try to destroy it from afar with projectiles, Pocket Plus can easily take care of any of those.

OPTIMAL CUSTOM SMASH

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I hope you enjoyed the first entry of Show Me Your Custom Moves! I put a lot of time and effort into research and writing this post, so I hope that you not only enjoyed it, but found it useful as well. If you have an opinion of your own on the Optimal Custom Smash, please let me know down in the comments. While you're at it, tell me what character you want me to analyze next.

It would also be a big help if you told me whether or not you liked the format of the post with the Pros and Cons and Strategic Summary. I put like five hours into this post alone so your feedback is greatly appreciated.

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