The 'Shroom:Issue XLIV/Brawl Tactics

Brawl Tactics by

Hello, Brawlers! Hope your November’s been good so far!

This month I will be discussing Marth, Prince of Altea!

Marth is a medium sized swordsman with fair speed and power. He’s a little on the light side, but he is very agile and his attacks are very fast.

Shield Breaker is Marth’s Standard Special. Like fellow swordsman Ike, Marth can charge up this move to increase its power. He won’t completely break the enemy’s shield, but he will lower its power a considerable amount. Since this is a charge move, you should either plan to use it quickly without charging or put Marth in a position where he can charge and then strike.

Dancing Blade is Marth’s Side Special. This attack is quite useful, because you can get in multiple strikes to do a good amount of damage to your opponents. You should try to get close to your opponents to use this move, since if they get away, you won’t be able to keep attacking them.

Dolphin Slash is Marth’s up special. This, in my opinion, is one of the fastest recovery moves in the game, so you should use it carefully. Marth can get a lot of distance back when he uses this move, and when not used as a recovery move, it can do a lot of damage. But be careful when using it on moving stages or near the edge of a stage – Marth isn’t able to move very far from side to side, so make sure you’ve got something close by to grab on to.

Counter is Marth’s Down Special. This move is also shared by Ike. Like other counters, this move is tricky to use if you haven’t mastered it yet. I’m not very good at using this move, but I try my best. You have to be aware of your opponent’s attacks at all times in order to make this move work to your advantage. It's better to make sure that there’s no one behind you, either.

Critical Hit is Marth’s Final Smash. This is a hard one to master, as you’ve got to have good aim or else it might result in a KO for Marth. If you use this move on a stage that doesn’t have any walls on the sides, you have to do it further away from edges, because Marth will charge right off the edge of the stage if you don’t hit your opponent. It’s tricky to hit your opponent, too, because you have to hit in a straight line. If you do hit, however, it usually results in a KO, so practice hard and be careful!

That’s it for this month, Brawlers! Happy dueling with Marth!