Dancing Blade (Japanese: Marvelous Combination - マーベラスコンビネーション, Maberasukonbineshon) is Marth's Side Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It's a unique special move, as it consists of four different attacks chained together; a variety of combos can be performed depending on one's tilt on the joystick for each attack. This makes it one of exceptionally few attacks in the series which relies on this type of input - most attacks require only one direction. It is, however, common in other fighting games.
Overview
General
The options on the tilts lead to 18 possible combinations, as there is always the standard attack, followed by the second, third, and fourth attack. The second attack has two options and the third and fourth have three.
Melee
In Melee, the first attack is often used to gain horizontal recovery. Also, Marth glows a color as he uses his attacks. They are Blue for Up, Red for Neutral and Green for Down. It was quite unlikely that Marth would have to use all four attacks, since both the third and fourth strikes had much higher knockback than the first and second.
This attack is basically the same as Roy's Double-Edge Dance. However, unlike the latter, Marth's strikes increase in damage, while the damage of Roy's decreases.
Brawl
Dancing Blade has seen quite a few changes since Melee. First of all, the timing no longer matters, so it can be performed easily. If the first hit connects, it is nearly impossible to escape the rest of the combo when the timing is fast enough. The final can either be 2 kill moves at high percentages (up and forward) or a quick damage racker (down). The third hit is still a meteor smash, but only if not sweetspotted. However, the move aids Marth's recovery less than the previous game. The knockback on the third strike is decreased, allowing for better combos. Unlike Melee, where Marth would glow, the attacks simply change the motion trail of his sword.
Forward Strikes
Marth slashes over his head,
Upward Strikes
Downward Strikes
| Marth's Special Moves | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melee | Brawl | 3DS/Wii U | Ultimate | |
| Standard Special | Shield Breaker | |||
| Side Special | Dancing Blade | |||
| Up Special | Dolphin Slash | |||
| Down Special | Counter | |||
| Final Smash | — | Critical Hit | ||
Trivia
- By repeatedly using the first attack of Dancing Blade, Marth can rise into the air during a Tiny, Light Special Brawl or in the Flying transformation of Pokémon Stadium 2.
- Falling off a conveyor belt while using any the first, any of the third or the forward version of the fourth attack gives Marth great horizontal acceleration. The attack that makes him fastest is the up version of the third attack. Note that this works not only for Marth but is most noticeable with him.
- This move is considered to be one of, if not, the best move in Brawl on Smashboards.