- Game Versions
- Smash Wii U
Note: I am editing this guide as of January 14th, 2017. I'm merely adding yet more information and further refining the way in which Ive said things. Enjoy.
Introduction:
People don't like reading boring stuff, especially when its long. Here's a TLDR of How To Ike. (Its still pretty long)
Recommended Controller/Setup:
Setup
The best scheme (I find) is to switch c-stick with attack. I recommend keeping tap jump on, setting a bumper to jump, or using the claw grip.
Ike Data (I recommend everyone give these two things here a good study now and then)
http://kuroganehammer.com/Smash4/Ike
https://smashboards.com/threads/ike-hitbox-visualization.433424/
The All Encompassing Moveset Analysis:
Jab
Ikes jab is rediculous. It does 11 damage, has amazing range for a jab, and reliably links up each of its three hits. It is the fastest move he has, and is good to counter grab-happy approaches. You can also just land the first hit (or first two hits) and immediately follow up with grab. Not true in the slightest, but works as a good mixup. Make it a habit to only poke with the first two hits of jab and then work from there. If they've shielded the first two hits, chances are they'll shield the third which will get you punished, which is easily avoided by pausing slightly after the first two hits to let yourself react to if they've shielded it or not. Incredibly good at edge if your opponent regular getups too much. Covers shielding, counter jabbing, counter grabbing and spotdodging. 3rd hit works pretty well as an anti-air if youre opponent tries to punish jab from the air.
Up Tilt
Ikes up-tilt is also goodish. It does 14 damage, and is the second fastest of all his tilts. This is a very good (kill)option, though there are no set ups into up-tilt that can kill. This move pokes through most platforms on maps like dreamland and battlefield, which is a good anti-landing option. The animation in which Ike preforms up-tilt puts him in a crouch which helps him dodge higher-up attacks, making it very useful against short-range characters who like to jump in your face. Ikes arm is also intangible during the attack. Very good for roll reads, and can somewhat reliably 2-frame standard getup (standard getup has a two frame vulnerability windows where the opponent still cant preform an action)
Forward Tilt
This move does 12.5 damage. It is moderately fast, but also moderately easy to be punished for using it. Be cautious when using this, and remember Ike thrives greatest upon proper spacing. Can't really be used in combos, and can also be angled up and down. The angled up variation works decently against characters who approach with shorthop nair. The angled down variation works very well against characters who dont snap to ledge (cloud, lil mac, ike, kirby etc).
Down Tilt
Very useful move, both on edge and in regular play. Does only 8 damage, but this helps it be easier to combo into at later percents. This is ikes fastest tilt, coming out at around the same amount of time as his grab, but with more reach. Can be used to pop up opponents into the air and be followed up with a fair, but only is true at lowmid-highmid percents. Can be used to 2-frame opponents recovering to the ledge, and at certain percents can lead to guaranteed kills at the edge. One of ikes most valuable attacks, great for racking up damage. One of the best moves you can use at 0%, as dtilt to autocanceled fair is a looping frame trap at low percents.
Dash Attack
Good for covering landing options and will often be your fastest punish option when at a distance. Hitbox is big enough to catch most characters in their shorthop. Does 14 damage, can (sorta) be combo'd with side throw (forward and back) if they miss the tech. Stupidly good for punishing missed techs. Kills at around the 100% mark if you sweetspot it. Cant create or be used in combos, but works very well as a potential followup from fair or bair. Very unsafe, avoid using it too much. Input dash and any direction with the c-stick nearly simultaneously to preform an instant dash attack. Use it at the edge to catch opponents recovering to ledge from above off guard. Fast enough that its non-react-able, so use it to punish opponents you aren't respecting you enough to shield. Save this for higher percents so it can net you a kill.
Smash Attacks in General
Just dont use down smash. Only use up/side smash sparingly/for reads when youre opponent is at high-ish percent and you have a decent lead. Ikes a big boy and he can take a bit of bruising, but you cant give your opponent the ally treatment and get away with it.
Upsmash at ledge is pretty powerful, and can sometimes trick your opponent into picking a silly option. Make sure before you start charging that you'll be facing such that the last hit of usmash will hit ledge. Last hit catches fingers holding onto ledge, first hit doesnt. Upsmash can also be used much the same way that utilt can. At around 60%, if youve noticed your opponent has a habit of airdodging, upthrow > upsmash becomes a true combo.
Fsmash is moreso for hard reads at ledge. Not as good as upsmash, but a lot more powerful. I have managed to two-frame little mac, cloud, and captain falcon with fsmash, so theres that as an option in those mus.
Nair
One of ikes best approach tools, incredibly useful. Allows for aerial approaches that can be followed up with another aerial if you land it, and followed up with safe jabs/dtilts if nair gets shielded. Does 10 damage, which allows for more damaging combos than you'd get from grab. Has a second hitbox, ie a late hitbox. Does only 7 damage but in turn can be followed up with bair, and at higher percents up air. Low landing lag as well. Combos into grab at 0 percent. Is a footstool setup at around 30-40%.
Uair
Useful combo tool kinda. Allows for kill combos in very tight windows with up-air. One of ikes bread and butter combos. Only does 11 damage, but still has very high kill potential. Huge hitbox like 90% of ikes moves, which makes it great for applying platform pressure, ie giving people a hard time when theyre trying to get down on platformed stages like battlefield and dreamland. If you notice your opponent airdodging upthrow combos a lot, upthrow > wait > uair will net you an easy stock.
Fair
Tied for ikes most valuable aerial. Best combo move there is due to its speed and reach both vertically and horizontally. Safe on shield if spaced correctly, making it a very good approach option. Does 13 damage, and combos with literally every combo starting move there is at percents higher than any other aerial. Very viable kill option, and encompasses a huge area with its swing. Good for covering get-up options as well. Good for platform pressure. Can autocancel from shorthop.
Bair
Tied for ikes most valuable aerial. Second highest damaging aerial ike has, 14%, hands down fastest aerial he has, as well as one of his longest reaching ones. Widely considered one of the best back airs in the game. Stupidly useful for both approaching and killing. If a back air is preformed while still hanging from ledge, recovery allows for you to just barely recover. Excels with platform pressure as well. Can autocancel from shorthop. RAR bair to turnaround dtilt is a very good option in general just saying. Can be used to punish airdodges on reaction.
Dair
While the rest of the aerials can combo, dair is the only move in ikes arsenal that can jab-lock, ie force your opponent to do a standard get up if they miss a tech. Ikes up/down throw at around 0% can set up into a mid-air footstool, which is untechable. From there you follow up with a ff dair and they are jab-locked and forced to do a standard get up. This is more advanced however, and very hard to execute. Aside from this dair is a very unsafe, yet very damaging aerial. Dair does 15% and can spike opponents downwards if sweetspotted, but will probably kill your opponent anyways since the sourspot does 15% as well. This can be set up into easily if you ledge trump your opponent and they regrab edge.
Neutral Special
This move has two uses: For when you've shield broken someone, and when you've launched your opponent far off-stage. For the latter, if you do not know, ikes neutral b has a hitbox that extends below the map, allowing you to hit low recovering opponents before they can grab the ledge, essentially a kill confirm, but with only a 5 frame window. Neutral b kills deceptively early, as low as 90% with minuscule charge. Best used against chars with predictable recoveries (corrin, falcon, ganon) etc, but still possible on nearly everyone due to super-armor at certain frames. People also forget that if you dont think you can get them on the way up to the ledge, you can still keep charging the attack. Every getup option is covered if youre spaced properly, even getup roll. Even standard getup can be caught and be punished fatally by neutral b due to how long it lasts (5 frames can easily 2 frame a standard getup). All you need is the timing.
Up Special
Ikes up-b is good, height wise, but sucks in every other way. Can be combo'd with up-throw for a really sicknasty combo at low percents, (and to quite high percents on heavies). This move does not snap to ledge, and it has very little horizontal control. Ikes sword can phase through stages, and can allow ike to recover while hugging against the side of the stage as a slight mix-up, or to catch your opponent off-guard since it can hit people nearly in the center of the stage on FD. Do not spam this on ledge without ever going on stage or else you will eventually fall to your death. This is programmed in to happen. Dont test it. Avoid using up b as much as possible as its his worst/most exploitable recovery option.
Side Special
Exceptional horizontal recovery, terrible vertical. Do not use this move in neutral. By far ikes best recovery option, due to the sheer amount of recovery options available when using it. Will autocancel if released about 2/3 of Ikes fullhop from the ground, however the range it'll do this at is pretty forgiving. Will stop short if your hitbox collides with your opponents hitbox during the move, regardless if it hits, regardless if your opponent is airdodging or shielding. If you collide in mid air there is a short period of time where you can still input things before going into freefall. Avoid using jump before side b'ing to jump during this occasions. Will snap to ledge if you release it while Ikes chest is level with the ledge. Can be used to kill opponents around 120 percent with full charge when recovering if they are standing near the ledge. Release when Ikes waist is level with the ledge so the hitbox can hit an opponent on stage, but Ike wont land on stage. As a general tip, try to land wherever your opponent isn't, which is quite easy to do with side b since landing on the other side of the stage laglessly is entirely an option. Avoid jumping forwards while using it during recovery, as jumping forward while charging it makes it easier for your opponent to edgeguard you. If you need to jump to charge the attack, jump straight up (or even backwards) and then charge.
Down Special
Personally I never use this, but it has its uses occaisonally. Do not spam ever. A mediocre counter in comparison to most counters, but nevertheless still works as one. Due to its momentum canceling properties, if timed correctly one can immediately use it out of the jump get up option, for an instant ledge get up counter whatever its called, which can be a good mix-up.
Side Throw (Forward/Back throw are exactly the same, just reversed directions)
Not the most optimal option at low percents, as its only follow up is dash attack if your opponent misses their tech. Due to its launch angle, at high percents at ledge it will force most characters to recover low if they're thrown off-stage, which can be exploited with neutral b. Aim to throw opponents offstage so they end up barely off stage. Follow up with a dash attack at the edge of the stage as it is generally safe to do so in this situation. High reward if they try to jump back on stage, low risk if they try anything else since follow ups would be hard from there. Best option Ike has as a set up into neutral b edgeguard situations (this means very good option at high percents.)
Up/Down Throw:
Super duper amazing moves. Mainly use upthrow, since its a frame trap at 0 percent with upthrow > slightest of slight pause > autocanceled SH fair. If they airdodge, follow up with dtilt > shorthop fair, which is a looping frame trap and if they get hit by the fair, try to follow up with dash attack. If they jump to avoid the dash attack, punish their landing with either another dash attack or some other **** you think of. If you play your cards right, you should be able to consistently be able to get 0-40% strings from grab. Upthrow/downthrow combo into footstool at 0 percent on about half the cast. Each combos with literally every aerial, however upair combos at higher percents. Leads to kill confirms on about 90% of the cast without rage. Down throw can be used as a kill throw at very high percents, ~160%.
Combos:
Heres a list of some good Ike combos. This isn't the extent of what there is, but the easiest/most rewarding to execute combos in Ikes arsenal.
Up Throw + Fair
20 damage, can be DI'd out of if they DI in, however this can be remedied if you jump backwards a bit, however that leaves open DI'ing away, but chances are that wont make you miss it till much higher percents, at which just following DI on reaction is fully plausible. Works from 0 to around 120 on most chars without rage, but that range becomes severely lowered when rage is in the mix. At low percents can act as a frame trap on fast-fallers (If they try to jump out they'll be hit, if they airdodge they'll be forced to land to which you can regrab).
Up Throw + Bair
21 damage, can cover both DI options at low percents, but its probably just easier to swap between bair and fair depending on DI. Stops working around 50-70%
Up Throw + Uair
18 damage, optimal if you jump forwards slightly as the first hit of the hitbox comes out directly above Ike. Small windows for kill-combos on most characters, but is heavily affected by rage, attack staling etc, so it is generally unreliable when not done on a platform. Works till about 60%. upthrow + fair generally better.
Up Throw + Nair
17 damage, most reliable combo at early percents since you cannot DI out of it. Stops connecting around the same time as uair.
Up Throw + Up Special
26 damage or lower. Best reserved for heavyweights/fastfallers. % at which it connects varies greatly from weight.
Down Throw + Fair
20 damage, can't be DI'd out of, and has more hitstun than up throw + fair making it more reliable at low percents. Stops working at around 30-40%
Down Throw + Bair
21 damage, same as up throw + bair, but DI is more predictable with downthrow, and theres more hitstun, making it easier to land.
Nair + Down Throw + Footstool + Dair + Nair + Footstool + Dair + Bair
71 damage. Incredibly hard to execute, works on about 40% of the cast.
Nair + Jab/Grab
Varies. Works mainly at low percents on fat/fast fallers. May not be true but still works a good deal of the time.
Nair + Fair
23 damage. Works from 40% till around 80%. Becomes a frame trap (like upthrow + fair) at mid percents if you buffer fair properly (explained further under Recommended Techniques).
Nair + Utilt
24 damage. Works at around 0-20%
Late Nair + Bair
21 damage. Works at mid-high percents. Can kill on edge at around 100%
Late Nair + Uair
18 damage. Works at high percents. Can kill at around 100%
D-tilt + Fair
21 damage. Works from 40% till around 90%. Will kill at high percents on edge (so throw out d-tilts on edge a lot)
Recommended Techniques:
Claw Grip
I will vouch for this till the day I die. Index finger on Y button (X button if Wii Classic Controller Pro), middle finger on Z, thumb on c-stick, A and B.
If you are newer to the game, search up what a RAR is, and buffered attack is.
General Gameplan:
In the neutral, I usually approach from the air. His aerials such as fair, bair and nair are great for opening up your opponent and helping you win neutral since all three are safe if spaced properly.
If youre facing a character that can easily overwhelm Ike, his aerials can work wonders to help control the pace of the match. Ike excels as well in grounded scuffles, as his fast options are all ground based and rather long reaching.
Ikes defensive options are basically all his grounded options, jab, dtilt, ftilt. These are all good options in their own respective way and are not to be forgotten.
Ikes offensive options are basically all of his aerial options, fair, bair (especially bair) and nair.
At 0% your biggest goal as Ike is to either land a grab or a dtilt. Either of these options produce the most followups. Dtilt is a frametrap when used with a buffered fair ie dtilt > fair (if they airdodge fair) > dtilt > fair (if they airdodge) > dtilt, and upthrow fair is leads into the same. I believe this is a strategy all Ikes should implement.
Past 40%, nair, dtilt and upthrow are your best combo options. Use fair, bair and nair to help open up your opponent, and work from there.
When fighting any player keep an eye out for any habits. Here are some key spots to look for any habits.
Combos: Occasionally intentionally whiff an upthrow > fair combo just barely, and see what they do to try to escape. If they airdodge, at high percents go for an airdodge read with uair by slightly delaying the uair. If they jump, work to hassle their landing with dash attacks and uair. If they throw out attacks, space yourself so that attack wont hit but yours will.
Ledge: A lot of ikes more powerful moves tend to launch sideways. Ie fair and bair and ftilt, which means a lot of the time you will be at the ledge. Ike has the tools to deal with literally every get up option effectively. Always make sure to stand at the golden distance (maximum jab1 range) from where your opponent will be when they standard getup. Standing consistently at one distance tends to give your opponent a tendency to consistently pick one option. I could go on for ages about the intricacies of ledge guarding with ike (like if you want I can send you a PM on what I believe is optimal ledgeguarding with Ike but this is a tl;dr guide and its long enough as is), but just keep these things in mind. If they standard getup, jab covers nearly every option they'll pick after if youre using jab correctly. Fair covers jump getup, and bair covers jump getup > airdodge (remember bair can be used to punish airdodges on reaction). If youre standing at the right distance, you can punish roll getup on reaction. Always shield when you see your opponent move while on ledge to avoid getting possibly getup attacked. Dtilt/ftilt is great if they ledge release > jump > aerial.
When Approaching: Landing with well spaced aerials will often make your opponent begin to shield on habit when they see you jump towards them. Borderline spam of bair (which I recommend honestly) will also condition your opponent to shield when your back is facing them. If you notice your opponent using this option often, tomahawk grabs are always a good counter. Also I sorta recommend conditioning your opponent to shield with dash attacks, as this helps open them up to dashgrabs.
Due to ikes large hitboxes he thrives in maps like battlefield, dreamland and miiverse. Moves like bair, fair, uair, up smash and u-tilt all cover wide swathes of platforms. Since Ike is relatively slow he can have trouble applying pressure, but platforms can act as a sort of loophole for Ike.
Ike can struggle to kill at higher percents as his combos tend to stop working when they'd start killing. For on stage opponents, Ike has a myriad of options to pick from to kill his opponent (the majority of his regular moves are kill moves). At edge, at around 90% d-tilt -> fair will net you a kill. For off stage opponents, Neutral B is good for opponents with predictable recoveries. Intercepting recoveries with hitboxes with counter is good for less predictable recoveries. For chars with recoveries too fast/dangerous to be reliably hit by either of these, an off stage bair stagespike usually does the trick.
If youre still struggling to kill, once youre opponent reaches about 160%, down throw will kill, and will kill much lower on top of platforms.
Movement:
Its important to master Ikes movement. Ikes foxtrot is one of the best in the game, in that it essentially is an extended dash dance. When within midrange of your opponent, its never a bad idea to simply foxtrot towards and away from them, or a simple retreating foxtrot when they approach is also a very strong option. Incorporate into this good RAR control, and short hops and maybe just a little dash dancing and perfect pivoting and you can say youve got good movement with Ike. If you want a good example, carefully watch basically any set Ryo plays.
Overview:
Practice spacing and timing your bairs. It is your best tool for applying pressure, approaching/poking, killing, spacing, especially when preformed correctly.
Nair, D-tilt and Up/Down Throw are godly combo-starters.
Fair is the king of combo follow-ups.
Dair can jablock, but its quite difficult. Practice will pay off.
Jab is good because of how fast it is, I use it personally quite a lot.
Ike can struggle with killing at times, but generally if you spam bair enough you'll get a kill.
Platforms are ikes best friend due to his huge freakin sword and its ability to cover it entirely
Side-b is preferable over up-b when recovering due to how many more options you have to land with it, though up-b is still good.
Both recovery options are exploitable and theres generally nothing you can do about it.
Neutral b can net easy kills against your opponent, and theres generally nothing they can do about it.
Use the claw grip.
Thanks for reading this guide. I hope this has satisfied your Ike learning needs, and has prepared you to play Ike in a timely manner. Please leave any critique or comments/questions where ever they go. If there is any terminology that could be defined, or anything needed to be clarified, let me know and I'll do something probably to fix this.
Introduction:
People don't like reading boring stuff, especially when its long. Here's a TLDR of How To Ike. (Its still pretty long)
Recommended Controller/Setup:
Setup
The best scheme (I find) is to switch c-stick with attack. I recommend keeping tap jump on, setting a bumper to jump, or using the claw grip.
Ike Data (I recommend everyone give these two things here a good study now and then)
http://kuroganehammer.com/Smash4/Ike
https://smashboards.com/threads/ike-hitbox-visualization.433424/
The All Encompassing Moveset Analysis:
Jab
Ikes jab is rediculous. It does 11 damage, has amazing range for a jab, and reliably links up each of its three hits. It is the fastest move he has, and is good to counter grab-happy approaches. You can also just land the first hit (or first two hits) and immediately follow up with grab. Not true in the slightest, but works as a good mixup. Make it a habit to only poke with the first two hits of jab and then work from there. If they've shielded the first two hits, chances are they'll shield the third which will get you punished, which is easily avoided by pausing slightly after the first two hits to let yourself react to if they've shielded it or not. Incredibly good at edge if your opponent regular getups too much. Covers shielding, counter jabbing, counter grabbing and spotdodging. 3rd hit works pretty well as an anti-air if youre opponent tries to punish jab from the air.
Up Tilt
Ikes up-tilt is also goodish. It does 14 damage, and is the second fastest of all his tilts. This is a very good (kill)option, though there are no set ups into up-tilt that can kill. This move pokes through most platforms on maps like dreamland and battlefield, which is a good anti-landing option. The animation in which Ike preforms up-tilt puts him in a crouch which helps him dodge higher-up attacks, making it very useful against short-range characters who like to jump in your face. Ikes arm is also intangible during the attack. Very good for roll reads, and can somewhat reliably 2-frame standard getup (standard getup has a two frame vulnerability windows where the opponent still cant preform an action)
Forward Tilt
This move does 12.5 damage. It is moderately fast, but also moderately easy to be punished for using it. Be cautious when using this, and remember Ike thrives greatest upon proper spacing. Can't really be used in combos, and can also be angled up and down. The angled up variation works decently against characters who approach with shorthop nair. The angled down variation works very well against characters who dont snap to ledge (cloud, lil mac, ike, kirby etc).
Down Tilt
Very useful move, both on edge and in regular play. Does only 8 damage, but this helps it be easier to combo into at later percents. This is ikes fastest tilt, coming out at around the same amount of time as his grab, but with more reach. Can be used to pop up opponents into the air and be followed up with a fair, but only is true at lowmid-highmid percents. Can be used to 2-frame opponents recovering to the ledge, and at certain percents can lead to guaranteed kills at the edge. One of ikes most valuable attacks, great for racking up damage. One of the best moves you can use at 0%, as dtilt to autocanceled fair is a looping frame trap at low percents.
Dash Attack
Good for covering landing options and will often be your fastest punish option when at a distance. Hitbox is big enough to catch most characters in their shorthop. Does 14 damage, can (sorta) be combo'd with side throw (forward and back) if they miss the tech. Stupidly good for punishing missed techs. Kills at around the 100% mark if you sweetspot it. Cant create or be used in combos, but works very well as a potential followup from fair or bair. Very unsafe, avoid using it too much. Input dash and any direction with the c-stick nearly simultaneously to preform an instant dash attack. Use it at the edge to catch opponents recovering to ledge from above off guard. Fast enough that its non-react-able, so use it to punish opponents you aren't respecting you enough to shield. Save this for higher percents so it can net you a kill.
Smash Attacks in General
Just dont use down smash. Only use up/side smash sparingly/for reads when youre opponent is at high-ish percent and you have a decent lead. Ikes a big boy and he can take a bit of bruising, but you cant give your opponent the ally treatment and get away with it.
Upsmash at ledge is pretty powerful, and can sometimes trick your opponent into picking a silly option. Make sure before you start charging that you'll be facing such that the last hit of usmash will hit ledge. Last hit catches fingers holding onto ledge, first hit doesnt. Upsmash can also be used much the same way that utilt can. At around 60%, if youve noticed your opponent has a habit of airdodging, upthrow > upsmash becomes a true combo.
Fsmash is moreso for hard reads at ledge. Not as good as upsmash, but a lot more powerful. I have managed to two-frame little mac, cloud, and captain falcon with fsmash, so theres that as an option in those mus.
Nair
One of ikes best approach tools, incredibly useful. Allows for aerial approaches that can be followed up with another aerial if you land it, and followed up with safe jabs/dtilts if nair gets shielded. Does 10 damage, which allows for more damaging combos than you'd get from grab. Has a second hitbox, ie a late hitbox. Does only 7 damage but in turn can be followed up with bair, and at higher percents up air. Low landing lag as well. Combos into grab at 0 percent. Is a footstool setup at around 30-40%.
Uair
Useful combo tool kinda. Allows for kill combos in very tight windows with up-air. One of ikes bread and butter combos. Only does 11 damage, but still has very high kill potential. Huge hitbox like 90% of ikes moves, which makes it great for applying platform pressure, ie giving people a hard time when theyre trying to get down on platformed stages like battlefield and dreamland. If you notice your opponent airdodging upthrow combos a lot, upthrow > wait > uair will net you an easy stock.
Fair
Tied for ikes most valuable aerial. Best combo move there is due to its speed and reach both vertically and horizontally. Safe on shield if spaced correctly, making it a very good approach option. Does 13 damage, and combos with literally every combo starting move there is at percents higher than any other aerial. Very viable kill option, and encompasses a huge area with its swing. Good for covering get-up options as well. Good for platform pressure. Can autocancel from shorthop.
Bair
Tied for ikes most valuable aerial. Second highest damaging aerial ike has, 14%, hands down fastest aerial he has, as well as one of his longest reaching ones. Widely considered one of the best back airs in the game. Stupidly useful for both approaching and killing. If a back air is preformed while still hanging from ledge, recovery allows for you to just barely recover. Excels with platform pressure as well. Can autocancel from shorthop. RAR bair to turnaround dtilt is a very good option in general just saying. Can be used to punish airdodges on reaction.
Dair
While the rest of the aerials can combo, dair is the only move in ikes arsenal that can jab-lock, ie force your opponent to do a standard get up if they miss a tech. Ikes up/down throw at around 0% can set up into a mid-air footstool, which is untechable. From there you follow up with a ff dair and they are jab-locked and forced to do a standard get up. This is more advanced however, and very hard to execute. Aside from this dair is a very unsafe, yet very damaging aerial. Dair does 15% and can spike opponents downwards if sweetspotted, but will probably kill your opponent anyways since the sourspot does 15% as well. This can be set up into easily if you ledge trump your opponent and they regrab edge.
Neutral Special
This move has two uses: For when you've shield broken someone, and when you've launched your opponent far off-stage. For the latter, if you do not know, ikes neutral b has a hitbox that extends below the map, allowing you to hit low recovering opponents before they can grab the ledge, essentially a kill confirm, but with only a 5 frame window. Neutral b kills deceptively early, as low as 90% with minuscule charge. Best used against chars with predictable recoveries (corrin, falcon, ganon) etc, but still possible on nearly everyone due to super-armor at certain frames. People also forget that if you dont think you can get them on the way up to the ledge, you can still keep charging the attack. Every getup option is covered if youre spaced properly, even getup roll. Even standard getup can be caught and be punished fatally by neutral b due to how long it lasts (5 frames can easily 2 frame a standard getup). All you need is the timing.
Up Special
Ikes up-b is good, height wise, but sucks in every other way. Can be combo'd with up-throw for a really sicknasty combo at low percents, (and to quite high percents on heavies). This move does not snap to ledge, and it has very little horizontal control. Ikes sword can phase through stages, and can allow ike to recover while hugging against the side of the stage as a slight mix-up, or to catch your opponent off-guard since it can hit people nearly in the center of the stage on FD. Do not spam this on ledge without ever going on stage or else you will eventually fall to your death. This is programmed in to happen. Dont test it. Avoid using up b as much as possible as its his worst/most exploitable recovery option.
Side Special
Exceptional horizontal recovery, terrible vertical. Do not use this move in neutral. By far ikes best recovery option, due to the sheer amount of recovery options available when using it. Will autocancel if released about 2/3 of Ikes fullhop from the ground, however the range it'll do this at is pretty forgiving. Will stop short if your hitbox collides with your opponents hitbox during the move, regardless if it hits, regardless if your opponent is airdodging or shielding. If you collide in mid air there is a short period of time where you can still input things before going into freefall. Avoid using jump before side b'ing to jump during this occasions. Will snap to ledge if you release it while Ikes chest is level with the ledge. Can be used to kill opponents around 120 percent with full charge when recovering if they are standing near the ledge. Release when Ikes waist is level with the ledge so the hitbox can hit an opponent on stage, but Ike wont land on stage. As a general tip, try to land wherever your opponent isn't, which is quite easy to do with side b since landing on the other side of the stage laglessly is entirely an option. Avoid jumping forwards while using it during recovery, as jumping forward while charging it makes it easier for your opponent to edgeguard you. If you need to jump to charge the attack, jump straight up (or even backwards) and then charge.
Down Special
Personally I never use this, but it has its uses occaisonally. Do not spam ever. A mediocre counter in comparison to most counters, but nevertheless still works as one. Due to its momentum canceling properties, if timed correctly one can immediately use it out of the jump get up option, for an instant ledge get up counter whatever its called, which can be a good mix-up.
Side Throw (Forward/Back throw are exactly the same, just reversed directions)
Not the most optimal option at low percents, as its only follow up is dash attack if your opponent misses their tech. Due to its launch angle, at high percents at ledge it will force most characters to recover low if they're thrown off-stage, which can be exploited with neutral b. Aim to throw opponents offstage so they end up barely off stage. Follow up with a dash attack at the edge of the stage as it is generally safe to do so in this situation. High reward if they try to jump back on stage, low risk if they try anything else since follow ups would be hard from there. Best option Ike has as a set up into neutral b edgeguard situations (this means very good option at high percents.)
Up/Down Throw:
Super duper amazing moves. Mainly use upthrow, since its a frame trap at 0 percent with upthrow > slightest of slight pause > autocanceled SH fair. If they airdodge, follow up with dtilt > shorthop fair, which is a looping frame trap and if they get hit by the fair, try to follow up with dash attack. If they jump to avoid the dash attack, punish their landing with either another dash attack or some other **** you think of. If you play your cards right, you should be able to consistently be able to get 0-40% strings from grab. Upthrow/downthrow combo into footstool at 0 percent on about half the cast. Each combos with literally every aerial, however upair combos at higher percents. Leads to kill confirms on about 90% of the cast without rage. Down throw can be used as a kill throw at very high percents, ~160%.
Combos:
Heres a list of some good Ike combos. This isn't the extent of what there is, but the easiest/most rewarding to execute combos in Ikes arsenal.
Up Throw + Fair
20 damage, can be DI'd out of if they DI in, however this can be remedied if you jump backwards a bit, however that leaves open DI'ing away, but chances are that wont make you miss it till much higher percents, at which just following DI on reaction is fully plausible. Works from 0 to around 120 on most chars without rage, but that range becomes severely lowered when rage is in the mix. At low percents can act as a frame trap on fast-fallers (If they try to jump out they'll be hit, if they airdodge they'll be forced to land to which you can regrab).
Up Throw + Bair
21 damage, can cover both DI options at low percents, but its probably just easier to swap between bair and fair depending on DI. Stops working around 50-70%
Up Throw + Uair
18 damage, optimal if you jump forwards slightly as the first hit of the hitbox comes out directly above Ike. Small windows for kill-combos on most characters, but is heavily affected by rage, attack staling etc, so it is generally unreliable when not done on a platform. Works till about 60%. upthrow + fair generally better.
Up Throw + Nair
17 damage, most reliable combo at early percents since you cannot DI out of it. Stops connecting around the same time as uair.
Up Throw + Up Special
26 damage or lower. Best reserved for heavyweights/fastfallers. % at which it connects varies greatly from weight.
Down Throw + Fair
20 damage, can't be DI'd out of, and has more hitstun than up throw + fair making it more reliable at low percents. Stops working at around 30-40%
Down Throw + Bair
21 damage, same as up throw + bair, but DI is more predictable with downthrow, and theres more hitstun, making it easier to land.
Nair + Down Throw + Footstool + Dair + Nair + Footstool + Dair + Bair
71 damage. Incredibly hard to execute, works on about 40% of the cast.
Nair + Jab/Grab
Varies. Works mainly at low percents on fat/fast fallers. May not be true but still works a good deal of the time.
Nair + Fair
23 damage. Works from 40% till around 80%. Becomes a frame trap (like upthrow + fair) at mid percents if you buffer fair properly (explained further under Recommended Techniques).
Nair + Utilt
24 damage. Works at around 0-20%
Late Nair + Bair
21 damage. Works at mid-high percents. Can kill on edge at around 100%
Late Nair + Uair
18 damage. Works at high percents. Can kill at around 100%
D-tilt + Fair
21 damage. Works from 40% till around 90%. Will kill at high percents on edge (so throw out d-tilts on edge a lot)
Recommended Techniques:
Claw Grip
I will vouch for this till the day I die. Index finger on Y button (X button if Wii Classic Controller Pro), middle finger on Z, thumb on c-stick, A and B.
If you are newer to the game, search up what a RAR is, and buffered attack is.
General Gameplan:
In the neutral, I usually approach from the air. His aerials such as fair, bair and nair are great for opening up your opponent and helping you win neutral since all three are safe if spaced properly.
If youre facing a character that can easily overwhelm Ike, his aerials can work wonders to help control the pace of the match. Ike excels as well in grounded scuffles, as his fast options are all ground based and rather long reaching.
Ikes defensive options are basically all his grounded options, jab, dtilt, ftilt. These are all good options in their own respective way and are not to be forgotten.
Ikes offensive options are basically all of his aerial options, fair, bair (especially bair) and nair.
At 0% your biggest goal as Ike is to either land a grab or a dtilt. Either of these options produce the most followups. Dtilt is a frametrap when used with a buffered fair ie dtilt > fair (if they airdodge fair) > dtilt > fair (if they airdodge) > dtilt, and upthrow fair is leads into the same. I believe this is a strategy all Ikes should implement.
Past 40%, nair, dtilt and upthrow are your best combo options. Use fair, bair and nair to help open up your opponent, and work from there.
When fighting any player keep an eye out for any habits. Here are some key spots to look for any habits.
Combos: Occasionally intentionally whiff an upthrow > fair combo just barely, and see what they do to try to escape. If they airdodge, at high percents go for an airdodge read with uair by slightly delaying the uair. If they jump, work to hassle their landing with dash attacks and uair. If they throw out attacks, space yourself so that attack wont hit but yours will.
Ledge: A lot of ikes more powerful moves tend to launch sideways. Ie fair and bair and ftilt, which means a lot of the time you will be at the ledge. Ike has the tools to deal with literally every get up option effectively. Always make sure to stand at the golden distance (maximum jab1 range) from where your opponent will be when they standard getup. Standing consistently at one distance tends to give your opponent a tendency to consistently pick one option. I could go on for ages about the intricacies of ledge guarding with ike (like if you want I can send you a PM on what I believe is optimal ledgeguarding with Ike but this is a tl;dr guide and its long enough as is), but just keep these things in mind. If they standard getup, jab covers nearly every option they'll pick after if youre using jab correctly. Fair covers jump getup, and bair covers jump getup > airdodge (remember bair can be used to punish airdodges on reaction). If youre standing at the right distance, you can punish roll getup on reaction. Always shield when you see your opponent move while on ledge to avoid getting possibly getup attacked. Dtilt/ftilt is great if they ledge release > jump > aerial.
When Approaching: Landing with well spaced aerials will often make your opponent begin to shield on habit when they see you jump towards them. Borderline spam of bair (which I recommend honestly) will also condition your opponent to shield when your back is facing them. If you notice your opponent using this option often, tomahawk grabs are always a good counter. Also I sorta recommend conditioning your opponent to shield with dash attacks, as this helps open them up to dashgrabs.
Due to ikes large hitboxes he thrives in maps like battlefield, dreamland and miiverse. Moves like bair, fair, uair, up smash and u-tilt all cover wide swathes of platforms. Since Ike is relatively slow he can have trouble applying pressure, but platforms can act as a sort of loophole for Ike.
Ike can struggle to kill at higher percents as his combos tend to stop working when they'd start killing. For on stage opponents, Ike has a myriad of options to pick from to kill his opponent (the majority of his regular moves are kill moves). At edge, at around 90% d-tilt -> fair will net you a kill. For off stage opponents, Neutral B is good for opponents with predictable recoveries. Intercepting recoveries with hitboxes with counter is good for less predictable recoveries. For chars with recoveries too fast/dangerous to be reliably hit by either of these, an off stage bair stagespike usually does the trick.
If youre still struggling to kill, once youre opponent reaches about 160%, down throw will kill, and will kill much lower on top of platforms.
Movement:
Its important to master Ikes movement. Ikes foxtrot is one of the best in the game, in that it essentially is an extended dash dance. When within midrange of your opponent, its never a bad idea to simply foxtrot towards and away from them, or a simple retreating foxtrot when they approach is also a very strong option. Incorporate into this good RAR control, and short hops and maybe just a little dash dancing and perfect pivoting and you can say youve got good movement with Ike. If you want a good example, carefully watch basically any set Ryo plays.
Overview:
Practice spacing and timing your bairs. It is your best tool for applying pressure, approaching/poking, killing, spacing, especially when preformed correctly.
Nair, D-tilt and Up/Down Throw are godly combo-starters.
Fair is the king of combo follow-ups.
Dair can jablock, but its quite difficult. Practice will pay off.
Jab is good because of how fast it is, I use it personally quite a lot.
Ike can struggle with killing at times, but generally if you spam bair enough you'll get a kill.
Platforms are ikes best friend due to his huge freakin sword and its ability to cover it entirely
Side-b is preferable over up-b when recovering due to how many more options you have to land with it, though up-b is still good.
Both recovery options are exploitable and theres generally nothing you can do about it.
Neutral b can net easy kills against your opponent, and theres generally nothing they can do about it.
Use the claw grip.
Thanks for reading this guide. I hope this has satisfied your Ike learning needs, and has prepared you to play Ike in a timely manner. Please leave any critique or comments/questions where ever they go. If there is any terminology that could be defined, or anything needed to be clarified, let me know and I'll do something probably to fix this.
