Mr. Game and Watch could be, in my opinion, the next meta in PM. The way his aerials work and how his ground game is extremely versatile makes him an underrated character. Here are a couple steps on how to use him efficiently and effectively.
1. Pressure:
His neutral-B is a good start in the pressure. All you do is short hop, mash B, and repeat. It will auto cancel the neutral B, so you can repeat the pressure faster. The pancakes will fly all over and will make the other person back off and rethink strategy. Another way of putting the pressure is his Bair. All you do is shorthop, Bair, z-cancel and repeat. Either the opponent will try and poke out of shield or it will, actually, shield break. Once you give at least 50% damage, you chase with regular jumps and then your choice of aerials. The aerial attacks are your best friend. Don't be afraid to use them in a critical moment or as a combo starter, especially his Uair. His Uair can really rack up damage, if the opponent doesn't DI correctly. If that happens, G&W's Dair is an effective aerial. Not only does it stop a combo, but if you hit them at a certain spot, it acts as a meteor hit.
2. The Ground Game:
G&W has a variety of tilts and smash comboes that can take stocks pretty quickly, if you know how to control his sporadic movement. For starters, a jab into either a Dtilt or grab will get a combo going. Another way of using his sporadic movement is the DashDance maneuver. He is a small character, so he can go back and forth generally faster than most characters would. A way to use his speed effectively is to DD a few times and surprise them with either an aerial or a quick Bair. His Dtilt is a killer when it comes to stopping a combo. Not only does it, well, stop a combo, it also gives you a chance to start one and punish. If you are willing to risk it for the bisket, you can go for his side B. Extremely high risk, but if manipulated correctly, an even bigger reward. I ALWAYS feel amazing after hitting at least one 9 in a game, but again, high risk. His 8 is a surprisingly good number, because if you hit them in the air, you can meteor freeze them in a blink of an eye. It goes VERY fast, if you hit them at the right angle and part of the hammer. His 4 and 6 are game ending numbers as well. Once connected, it sends them at an almost perfect horizontal line and is pretty difficult to recover from, if you decide to follow up with something that will guarantee a stock. His smashes have ridiculous power, but as a drawback, take a while to use. Especially his Upsmash. Probably his strongest attack, but the build up takes half a second, so you have to use it, ONLY if you see an opening. The last thing about his ground game is the jab. His jab can really screw over your opponent, up to the point of a stock. If they decide to start a combo, a quick jab can stop their momentum and a chance for you to punish. His bucket is an effective special, but it can only work for energy based attacks, like a fireball or a plasma shot.If up against a Pikachu or a Lucario, the bucket is strongly recommended to use. To use the bucket, just time it when they use an energy based attack. Their specials can rack up the damage. And I mean HUGE damage. i.e. pikachu's thunder can fill up the bucket quickly and dish out 50% damage.
3. Recovery:
G&W has an insane recovery with ridiculous vertical reach. If at a position where you are near blastzone, you can use the bucket for a horizontal gain. Depending how close you are to the blastzone is how many times you should use your bucket in air. G&W has a pretty good chance of stopping his momentum in air, if you either DI or the attack wasn't strong enough to take a stock. G&W can survive up to 130% damage and after that, you have to DI like a pro to live.
In conclusion, Mr. Game and Watch is a character not to be taken lightly. He can really be the next meta, if people gave him a chance and if I'm wrong, then oh well. I will continue to use him and eventually be the next player to take big tournies and make a name for G&W.
1. Pressure:
His neutral-B is a good start in the pressure. All you do is short hop, mash B, and repeat. It will auto cancel the neutral B, so you can repeat the pressure faster. The pancakes will fly all over and will make the other person back off and rethink strategy. Another way of putting the pressure is his Bair. All you do is shorthop, Bair, z-cancel and repeat. Either the opponent will try and poke out of shield or it will, actually, shield break. Once you give at least 50% damage, you chase with regular jumps and then your choice of aerials. The aerial attacks are your best friend. Don't be afraid to use them in a critical moment or as a combo starter, especially his Uair. His Uair can really rack up damage, if the opponent doesn't DI correctly. If that happens, G&W's Dair is an effective aerial. Not only does it stop a combo, but if you hit them at a certain spot, it acts as a meteor hit.
2. The Ground Game:
G&W has a variety of tilts and smash comboes that can take stocks pretty quickly, if you know how to control his sporadic movement. For starters, a jab into either a Dtilt or grab will get a combo going. Another way of using his sporadic movement is the DashDance maneuver. He is a small character, so he can go back and forth generally faster than most characters would. A way to use his speed effectively is to DD a few times and surprise them with either an aerial or a quick Bair. His Dtilt is a killer when it comes to stopping a combo. Not only does it, well, stop a combo, it also gives you a chance to start one and punish. If you are willing to risk it for the bisket, you can go for his side B. Extremely high risk, but if manipulated correctly, an even bigger reward. I ALWAYS feel amazing after hitting at least one 9 in a game, but again, high risk. His 8 is a surprisingly good number, because if you hit them in the air, you can meteor freeze them in a blink of an eye. It goes VERY fast, if you hit them at the right angle and part of the hammer. His 4 and 6 are game ending numbers as well. Once connected, it sends them at an almost perfect horizontal line and is pretty difficult to recover from, if you decide to follow up with something that will guarantee a stock. His smashes have ridiculous power, but as a drawback, take a while to use. Especially his Upsmash. Probably his strongest attack, but the build up takes half a second, so you have to use it, ONLY if you see an opening. The last thing about his ground game is the jab. His jab can really screw over your opponent, up to the point of a stock. If they decide to start a combo, a quick jab can stop their momentum and a chance for you to punish. His bucket is an effective special, but it can only work for energy based attacks, like a fireball or a plasma shot.If up against a Pikachu or a Lucario, the bucket is strongly recommended to use. To use the bucket, just time it when they use an energy based attack. Their specials can rack up the damage. And I mean HUGE damage. i.e. pikachu's thunder can fill up the bucket quickly and dish out 50% damage.
3. Recovery:
G&W has an insane recovery with ridiculous vertical reach. If at a position where you are near blastzone, you can use the bucket for a horizontal gain. Depending how close you are to the blastzone is how many times you should use your bucket in air. G&W has a pretty good chance of stopping his momentum in air, if you either DI or the attack wasn't strong enough to take a stock. G&W can survive up to 130% damage and after that, you have to DI like a pro to live.
In conclusion, Mr. Game and Watch is a character not to be taken lightly. He can really be the next meta, if people gave him a chance and if I'm wrong, then oh well. I will continue to use him and eventually be the next player to take big tournies and make a name for G&W.
