The 'Shroom:Issue XXI/Brawl Tactics

Brawl Tactics by

"Hello gentlemens it is D-" *thump*

OK, so this is Dom here, with my first Shroom section - and it's a new idea, which is cool.

So, each month I'll cover a character (or 2 if I get time) from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, giving advice about how to use them, stuff about their moves, strategies, stages that suit them, counters, etc. Now, I'm certainly not a world-champion in terms of my skill at Brawl, but of course it's easy to give advice than to demonstrate it in action. Therefore I hope this guide will help... sort of.

This issue I will give strategies for the following characters:

- Zelda - Dimentio - Count Bleck - Tim T. Workexperienskid

Unfortunately, all but the first option were scrapped during the planning phase of Brawl, so the other 3 never appeared. Now, you might be wondering why I choose Zelda for this first issue of my pathetic section. Well, my best character is Zelda (and I also main Pikachu and Toon Link), and I seem to specialize in using light characters.

Zelda
She is one of the rarely used characters, but she deserves to be much more popular. People just don't know how to use her. Now, I'd say her best asset is her Side Special move - Din's Fire. It is very potent once you learn to control it well. You hold down B (assuming you're doing the common Nunchuk + Remote controls) and direct with the control stick of course. As soon as you want the mystical fireball to explode, release B. B is for 'boom'. It is worth noting that it does more damage the further it travels before detonating. However, there is a range limit as you'll soon find out. OK, so just say you're against Bowser, Meta Knight and Link. Bowser is big and slow, making him a good target for Din's Fire. It is good to deal out an endless barrage of this move, but preferably not so much as to be accused of 'spamming' moves. If Bowser somehow gets close (an experienced player will probably use shield-dodges to get closer to you), you can abuse the awesome Standard Special move, Nayru's Love. It will spin nearby opponents away and damage them. I haven't mentioned the other awesome thing about Zelda - her deadly smash attacks. When an opponent is predictably going to come near to you (or is falling from high up), quickly charge up power and release. It should be noted that even on the ground, using an Up smash gives you a very good chance of KOing the opponent by launching them offscreen. This is helped by the unique property of Zelda's smashes - the magic energy from her hands traps the foe within range while causing severe damage, and then launches them away. Most smashes just repel the foe instantly, doing less damage. Now, just say Bowser is gone for good after that blow. Now, Meta Knight is a serious threat to Zelda's battling style. He is very swift, has good aerial moves, and can cause damage very quickly. Therefore, don't try and abuse Din's Fire against him or any other particularly fast character. (Captain Falcon, Sonic, Pikachu, Toon Link, etc) But wait, Zelda isn't helpless against such foes. While her best magic attack is rendered almost useless (although when they're trying to recover off the sides, or falling from up high, you can probably get them), she still has Nayru's Love to put them off getting close all the time. Meta Knight has no projectile attacks, so he has to get close. Therefore, start charging up a smash with good timing, and release as soon as he's within range. If you randomly switch between smashes and Nayru's Love, you'll become very unpredictable and hard to attack. Which is good. Now, Zelda has 2 other Special moves of course. Her Down Special transforms her into Sheik. Since Sheik is entirely different, she will be covered in another issue. Zelda's Up Special is her only recovery move, and unfortunately it's one of the least effective ones. Although it makes her teleport, it happens too slowly to be used as an escape from close combat. So, don't try and use it when you can simply use Nayru's Love to gain some personal space. So, Zelda is versatile as she can counter both fast and slow opponents. Of course it is harder to remember and implement these strategies when fighting more than one foe in a free-for-all Brawl, but at least it gives you a better chance than if you were to just button mash or use random attacks that don't suit your character's battle style.

Whuzzat? Link? Oh yeah, so I chose him as an opponent example since he isn't particularly slow or swift, and he is a fairly balanced character. Like Mario. (but seriously, who uses that overweight plumber which this Wiki is dedicated to... anyone?) OK, so this guy who is usually busy trying to save Zelda is trying to kill you. What to do? Well, he's actually quite large in comparison to many of the characters, as he is tall and... well, he's obviously bigger than Pikachu and the Ice Climbers, etc. So, you have a reasonable chance of successfully blasting him with Din's Fire to prevent him getting close. One of the most evil tricks with this attack is that if you're playing on a stage with midair platforms above a main platform, you can get into a good position: If the foe is on a higher platform, send a blast of Din's Fire at them from below. (remember, it's a good idea to practice controlling this move before you choose Zelda for a battle... you should do it in Training mode or something) So, assuming you get them, they will be launched upwards, and by then you could be launching another DF at them before they even land. So basically you can juggle them in the air. But of course this will easily be disrupted in any battle of more than 2 players. So, a slightly easier strategy would be to do Din's Fire to knock him around just once, then very quickly rush in close to him and do a deadly smash attack.

Now, if you're not convinced by now that Zelda is awesome in Brawl (and in general...), you can ask me anything you don't get about this strategy info and I'll try to make it clearer.

So yeah, that's my first 'Shroom section. If you have any feedback, say so on my talk page. I'd also like to know which character to cover in the next issue.