- Game Versions
- Smash Wii U
Welcome to my Ganon Guide. Hopefully, anyone planning on playing Ganon can find use in this guide. I'll be going over his Attributes, Moveset, Playstyle, and Future in the Smash 4 metagame.
Attributes:
Ganon's archetype follows that of a typical heavyweight. Slow but powerful attacks. This gives Ganon a great punish game, with most of his attacks killing rather early. However, missing these attacks makes you vulnerable to being punished as well. His strong attacks also hinder his ability to reliably perform combos. His weight also has pros and cons. Being one of the heaviest characters in the game, he can stay alive for a very long time, which in turn lets him use the full extent of the Rage mechanic. But being as heavy as he is leads to him being comboed easily, and having such a huge hurtbox doesn't help him either.
Moveset:
In summary Ganon's moveset, despite being powerful, is plagued by poor frame data. I mean his fastest grounded move, his Jab, comes out on frame 8, which doesn't bode well for the rest of his moves. None of his moves set up for combos reliably also. They either have far too much lag or send at terrible angles, down-throw for example. And in a metagame where you only thrive with good frame data and good follow-ups, Ganon is left behind.There are some positives to his move's though. Like I stated earlier, Ganon has a great punish game. If your opponent makes a mistake and you can capitalize on it, then you're guaranteed either big damage or a free stock depending on percents. He also is one of the best edge-guarders in the game. All of his aerials are either powerful enough to K.O. offstage or can gimp characters with poor recoveries. However, If you miss an offstage edge-guard, you're most likely put in Ganon's worst situation. Recovery. Ganon, in my opinion has the third worst recovery in the game. (Dr. Mario and Little Mac obviously are worse) When you get launched, Ganon's terribly low Air Speed will make your return to the stage painfully slow. And his Up-B ain't getting you anywhere either. Slow, linear, and predictable. And the removal of Grab Armor from Brawl to Smash 4 makes it worse. I haven't even gotten to his other special moves yet! Let me start with Neutral-B...don't use it. It's bad, horrendous startup and ending lag. I guess it's fun at parties. Down-B has its uses. Using it on the ground can catch someone off guard sometimes, but If it's shielded then it's easily punishable. When used in the air, this move can be high-risk high-reward. During the first few frames of the attack, it's a powerful meteor smash. This can be a risky edgeguard because if you use it offstage, there's a high chance of you dying. The later part of the hitbox is a powerful vertical K.O. move, usually killing under 100%. I've already talked about Ganon's terrible Up-B. That leaves Side-B. Side-B is has potential to be one of the best command grabs in the game. The move itself is slow and if missed, is very punishable. But if you get the grab, your opponent is put in a position with few options. (There are guides on this site that show all guaranteed follow-ups on all characters, so I'm not wasting my time putting all them here.) Yeezus this section was long.
Breakdown of Individual Moves:
Standard Attacks -
Jab - Ganon's Neutral Attack is, like I said, his fastest ground attack. Hits on Frame 8, with it being one of the slowest jabs in the game. Slow Startup and Endlag make this move lackluster. It does have pretty high knockback for a jab though, as well as high damage if hit with it's sweetspot. Also is guaranteed after Side-B on some characters.
Dash Attack - Ganon launches this opponent with a shoulder charge. Hits on Frame 10. Hitting with the latter part of the move is more favorable as it sends at a better angle with less knockback, setting up for an U-Air. If the move is whiffed or shielded then it's high ending lag makes the move punishable.
F-Tilt - Ganon kicks the opponent. A little slow but it's range and power somewhat make up for it. Hits on Frame 10. If properly spaced, this move can be rather safe on shield. It also sends at a semi-spike angle, making it a good egdeguarding move if your opponent decides to recover high. Also is guaranteed after Side-B on some characters.
D-Tilt - Similar to F-Tilt, but crouches when he kicks. Sends at a vertical angle with little lag so an aerial can be used afterwards. Also is guaranteed after Side-B on some characters.
U-Tilt - This move...It's bad. The startup of this move is insane. Not only is it Ganon's slowest attack, but it's also the slowest attack in the game. If you magically manage to hit with this move, then the opponent will suffer high damage and knockback. But for whatever reason, Sakurai added a sourspot to this move. When hit with the foot of the attack, the opponent takes half the damage the sweetspot deals. They don't get launched as much either, not even killing some middleweights at 70%. The only place this move has use is on For Glory.
Aerial Attacks -
N-Air - Kicks the opponent twice. Pretty fast, with the first hit coming out on Frame 7. The first hit always leads into the second at low to mid percents, as well as the second hit being able to K.O. Very good onstage because of little landing lag and offstage because of it's speed, power, range, and long duration.
F-Air - Ganon swings his fist in an arc in front of him. Moderately high startup with it hitting on Frame 14. This move has a pretty big hitbox, covering a lot of what's in front of him and above and below some of him. When sweetspotted, this move has huge damage and knockback. Though it's high endlag makes it punishable.
U-Air - Ganon flip kicks around him. This move is Ganon's fastest attack with it hitting on Frame 6. The move has a hitbox all around Ganon and lasts quite long, making it a great edgeguarding move. Good OoS option due to it's low lag, damage, and knockback. The move also auto-cancels out of short hop. In my opinion, it's his best move.
B-Air - Ganon swings his fist behind him. A little slow hitting on Frame 10. Very high knockback and damage make this move pretty good. This move also auto-cancels out of a short hop. However, its hitbox being on the small side and it not lasting very long make it hard to hit grounded opponents at times.
D-Air - The move of legends. Ganon powerfully stomps below him. His slowest aerial hitting on Frame 16. It's high knockback scaling and ability to end stocks at 0% make it the most powerful meteor smash in the game. The hitbox on this move is huge, covering pretty much Ganon's entire body. However it's landing lag is abysmal so not a smart choice when used in the neutral. But if landed onstage, it can possibly lead into an U-Smash.
Smash Attacks -
F-Smash - Ganon elbows his opponent. Very high startup coming out on Frame 21. If you hit with it, your opponent will suffer high damage and knockback with it being able to kill most middleweights under 60% near the ledge. But it's speed and lack of range make this move often whiffed or shielded.
U-Smash - Ganon kicks his leg up. Has the same startup as F-Smash, hitting on Frame 21. But this move oddly has little ending lag, well compared to some of his other attacks. Because of this, this attack is hard to punish when shielded. Little horizontal range and decent vertical range kind of hold it back though. High knockback as well.
D-Smash - Ganon slowly kicks in front of then behind him. Comes out on Frame 15. The first kick almost always sends the opponent into the second hit. (Good DI can prevent this) Although it's Ganon's weakest Smash attack, it's still powerful, K.Oing most of the cast at high percents. It's high lag makes this move easily punishable.
Grabs - All of his grabs are painfully slow (Standing Grab comes out Frame 7) and have terrible range. These traits don't make up for his throws either.
F-Throw - Ganon punches his opponent away from him. Doesn't K.O. until very high percents. On the bright side, it's one of the highest damaging F-Throws in the game with it dealing 13%.
D-Throw - Ganon slams his opponent into the ground. This move sends at a slightly bad angle with not a whole lot of hitstun. If Ganon moved faster, then this throw would be great. But because of Ganon's slow movement and attacks, the only follow-ups you can use are Dash Attack and N-Air/U-Air if their DI is bad.
B-Throw - Ganon kicks his foe behind him. Like F-Throw, it doesn't kill but it's much more apparent here.
U-Throw - Ganon punches his opponent above him. High base knockback makes this move unable to set up for anything. It does have okay damage though.
Special Moves -
Neutral B: Warlock Punch - Ganon winds up and releases a devastating punch. Ganon's second slowest attack with it coming out on Frame 70. This attack has ridiculous damage and knockback. And when reversed it gets even stronger, being able to K.O. the entire roster at 0% with Rage (In exchange for even more startup, Reversed hits on Frame 80). There's no way you'll ever hit with this move in a serious match. Too much startup lag for anyone with eyes to be hit by. The move also has a ton of end lag, making the move far too risky to use. It does have Super Armor for almost the entire move but still, good luck hitting someone with this. I guess the move is good in Free-For-All's where everything is filled with chaos. Again this move also has use in For Glory.
Side-B: Flame Choke - Ganon dashes forward, grabs his opponent and slams them straight into the ground. Grabox is active on Frame 16 when grounded and 19 when in the air. On the ground this move sets up for a wide variety of moves. The Grounded variant can be teched, so to put this move to it's full uses you'll have to read the options your opponent goes for. High startup and endlag make the move risky though. The Aerial variant can be used as a suicidal move. If used in the air, Ganon will send himself and his opponent plummeting towards the ground. If offstage then you can grab the opponent and send them with you to the bottom blast zone, guaranteeing a free stock. Also, the opponent always dies before Ganon does, so this can easily win a match for you. However, camping at ledge won't make your opponent approach you. Aerial Flame Choke provides very little horizontal distance and Ganon has no real protection when using it. All it takes is one good edgeguard to make using this move regrettable.
Up-B: Dark Dive - Ganon rockets himself upward. If an opponent is in range then he'll grab them, shock them, then throw them. Grabox becomes active on Frame 14. Already went over this move. Slow, unreliable, and bad.
Down-B: Wizard's Foot - Ganon propells himself forward with a kick. Both Grounded and Aerial hit on Frame 16. Again, I already went over it. Has it's moments but leaning more towards the bad side for me.
Playstyle:
Unfortunately, Ganon is put in a bad postition compared to the rest of the cast. Ganon has tons of trouble approaching due to this terrible ground and air speed. He also has no way to deal with projectiles, outside of jumping and shielding them. He can try to get through and attack, but his horrendous startup on most of his moves makes this difficult. The range he gets on some of his moves helps but if he's too slow to act then one can just go right through his attacks. Ganon also himself doesn't have a projectile and can't alleviate any pressure put on him. Characters like Villager and Toon Link can simply just wall him out, and characters like Shiek and Fox can outmaneuver him. Because of this, Ganon has to wait for player mistakes and sometimes even the force the opponent to make mistakes. Then when the opponent's open he can go for a punish. Too bad if he misses the punish, then he'll get punished. Ganon also relies heavily on reads just to get some damage. The best example of this is his Grounded Flame Choke where you have to read the option and capitalize on it.
Ganon's Future:
Sadly, Ganon's playstyle brings him little representation in tourneys. His reliance on player mistakes and hard reads puts him in less of a favor than someone like Mario or Sheik. With no one playing Ganon in high level tournaments, let alone winning with him, he doesn't have much going for him in the future. That could change though.
And that's my Ganon Guide....I don't know how to end this so....uhhhhh,
The End!
Attributes:
Ganon's archetype follows that of a typical heavyweight. Slow but powerful attacks. This gives Ganon a great punish game, with most of his attacks killing rather early. However, missing these attacks makes you vulnerable to being punished as well. His strong attacks also hinder his ability to reliably perform combos. His weight also has pros and cons. Being one of the heaviest characters in the game, he can stay alive for a very long time, which in turn lets him use the full extent of the Rage mechanic. But being as heavy as he is leads to him being comboed easily, and having such a huge hurtbox doesn't help him either.
Moveset:
In summary Ganon's moveset, despite being powerful, is plagued by poor frame data. I mean his fastest grounded move, his Jab, comes out on frame 8, which doesn't bode well for the rest of his moves. None of his moves set up for combos reliably also. They either have far too much lag or send at terrible angles, down-throw for example. And in a metagame where you only thrive with good frame data and good follow-ups, Ganon is left behind.There are some positives to his move's though. Like I stated earlier, Ganon has a great punish game. If your opponent makes a mistake and you can capitalize on it, then you're guaranteed either big damage or a free stock depending on percents. He also is one of the best edge-guarders in the game. All of his aerials are either powerful enough to K.O. offstage or can gimp characters with poor recoveries. However, If you miss an offstage edge-guard, you're most likely put in Ganon's worst situation. Recovery. Ganon, in my opinion has the third worst recovery in the game. (Dr. Mario and Little Mac obviously are worse) When you get launched, Ganon's terribly low Air Speed will make your return to the stage painfully slow. And his Up-B ain't getting you anywhere either. Slow, linear, and predictable. And the removal of Grab Armor from Brawl to Smash 4 makes it worse. I haven't even gotten to his other special moves yet! Let me start with Neutral-B...don't use it. It's bad, horrendous startup and ending lag. I guess it's fun at parties. Down-B has its uses. Using it on the ground can catch someone off guard sometimes, but If it's shielded then it's easily punishable. When used in the air, this move can be high-risk high-reward. During the first few frames of the attack, it's a powerful meteor smash. This can be a risky edgeguard because if you use it offstage, there's a high chance of you dying. The later part of the hitbox is a powerful vertical K.O. move, usually killing under 100%. I've already talked about Ganon's terrible Up-B. That leaves Side-B. Side-B is has potential to be one of the best command grabs in the game. The move itself is slow and if missed, is very punishable. But if you get the grab, your opponent is put in a position with few options. (There are guides on this site that show all guaranteed follow-ups on all characters, so I'm not wasting my time putting all them here.) Yeezus this section was long.
Breakdown of Individual Moves:
Standard Attacks -
Jab - Ganon's Neutral Attack is, like I said, his fastest ground attack. Hits on Frame 8, with it being one of the slowest jabs in the game. Slow Startup and Endlag make this move lackluster. It does have pretty high knockback for a jab though, as well as high damage if hit with it's sweetspot. Also is guaranteed after Side-B on some characters.
Dash Attack - Ganon launches this opponent with a shoulder charge. Hits on Frame 10. Hitting with the latter part of the move is more favorable as it sends at a better angle with less knockback, setting up for an U-Air. If the move is whiffed or shielded then it's high ending lag makes the move punishable.
F-Tilt - Ganon kicks the opponent. A little slow but it's range and power somewhat make up for it. Hits on Frame 10. If properly spaced, this move can be rather safe on shield. It also sends at a semi-spike angle, making it a good egdeguarding move if your opponent decides to recover high. Also is guaranteed after Side-B on some characters.
D-Tilt - Similar to F-Tilt, but crouches when he kicks. Sends at a vertical angle with little lag so an aerial can be used afterwards. Also is guaranteed after Side-B on some characters.
U-Tilt - This move...It's bad. The startup of this move is insane. Not only is it Ganon's slowest attack, but it's also the slowest attack in the game. If you magically manage to hit with this move, then the opponent will suffer high damage and knockback. But for whatever reason, Sakurai added a sourspot to this move. When hit with the foot of the attack, the opponent takes half the damage the sweetspot deals. They don't get launched as much either, not even killing some middleweights at 70%. The only place this move has use is on For Glory.
Aerial Attacks -
N-Air - Kicks the opponent twice. Pretty fast, with the first hit coming out on Frame 7. The first hit always leads into the second at low to mid percents, as well as the second hit being able to K.O. Very good onstage because of little landing lag and offstage because of it's speed, power, range, and long duration.
F-Air - Ganon swings his fist in an arc in front of him. Moderately high startup with it hitting on Frame 14. This move has a pretty big hitbox, covering a lot of what's in front of him and above and below some of him. When sweetspotted, this move has huge damage and knockback. Though it's high endlag makes it punishable.
U-Air - Ganon flip kicks around him. This move is Ganon's fastest attack with it hitting on Frame 6. The move has a hitbox all around Ganon and lasts quite long, making it a great edgeguarding move. Good OoS option due to it's low lag, damage, and knockback. The move also auto-cancels out of short hop. In my opinion, it's his best move.
B-Air - Ganon swings his fist behind him. A little slow hitting on Frame 10. Very high knockback and damage make this move pretty good. This move also auto-cancels out of a short hop. However, its hitbox being on the small side and it not lasting very long make it hard to hit grounded opponents at times.
D-Air - The move of legends. Ganon powerfully stomps below him. His slowest aerial hitting on Frame 16. It's high knockback scaling and ability to end stocks at 0% make it the most powerful meteor smash in the game. The hitbox on this move is huge, covering pretty much Ganon's entire body. However it's landing lag is abysmal so not a smart choice when used in the neutral. But if landed onstage, it can possibly lead into an U-Smash.
Smash Attacks -
F-Smash - Ganon elbows his opponent. Very high startup coming out on Frame 21. If you hit with it, your opponent will suffer high damage and knockback with it being able to kill most middleweights under 60% near the ledge. But it's speed and lack of range make this move often whiffed or shielded.
U-Smash - Ganon kicks his leg up. Has the same startup as F-Smash, hitting on Frame 21. But this move oddly has little ending lag, well compared to some of his other attacks. Because of this, this attack is hard to punish when shielded. Little horizontal range and decent vertical range kind of hold it back though. High knockback as well.
D-Smash - Ganon slowly kicks in front of then behind him. Comes out on Frame 15. The first kick almost always sends the opponent into the second hit. (Good DI can prevent this) Although it's Ganon's weakest Smash attack, it's still powerful, K.Oing most of the cast at high percents. It's high lag makes this move easily punishable.
Grabs - All of his grabs are painfully slow (Standing Grab comes out Frame 7) and have terrible range. These traits don't make up for his throws either.
F-Throw - Ganon punches his opponent away from him. Doesn't K.O. until very high percents. On the bright side, it's one of the highest damaging F-Throws in the game with it dealing 13%.
D-Throw - Ganon slams his opponent into the ground. This move sends at a slightly bad angle with not a whole lot of hitstun. If Ganon moved faster, then this throw would be great. But because of Ganon's slow movement and attacks, the only follow-ups you can use are Dash Attack and N-Air/U-Air if their DI is bad.
B-Throw - Ganon kicks his foe behind him. Like F-Throw, it doesn't kill but it's much more apparent here.
U-Throw - Ganon punches his opponent above him. High base knockback makes this move unable to set up for anything. It does have okay damage though.
Special Moves -
Neutral B: Warlock Punch - Ganon winds up and releases a devastating punch. Ganon's second slowest attack with it coming out on Frame 70. This attack has ridiculous damage and knockback. And when reversed it gets even stronger, being able to K.O. the entire roster at 0% with Rage (In exchange for even more startup, Reversed hits on Frame 80). There's no way you'll ever hit with this move in a serious match. Too much startup lag for anyone with eyes to be hit by. The move also has a ton of end lag, making the move far too risky to use. It does have Super Armor for almost the entire move but still, good luck hitting someone with this. I guess the move is good in Free-For-All's where everything is filled with chaos. Again this move also has use in For Glory.
Side-B: Flame Choke - Ganon dashes forward, grabs his opponent and slams them straight into the ground. Grabox is active on Frame 16 when grounded and 19 when in the air. On the ground this move sets up for a wide variety of moves. The Grounded variant can be teched, so to put this move to it's full uses you'll have to read the options your opponent goes for. High startup and endlag make the move risky though. The Aerial variant can be used as a suicidal move. If used in the air, Ganon will send himself and his opponent plummeting towards the ground. If offstage then you can grab the opponent and send them with you to the bottom blast zone, guaranteeing a free stock. Also, the opponent always dies before Ganon does, so this can easily win a match for you. However, camping at ledge won't make your opponent approach you. Aerial Flame Choke provides very little horizontal distance and Ganon has no real protection when using it. All it takes is one good edgeguard to make using this move regrettable.
Up-B: Dark Dive - Ganon rockets himself upward. If an opponent is in range then he'll grab them, shock them, then throw them. Grabox becomes active on Frame 14. Already went over this move. Slow, unreliable, and bad.
Down-B: Wizard's Foot - Ganon propells himself forward with a kick. Both Grounded and Aerial hit on Frame 16. Again, I already went over it. Has it's moments but leaning more towards the bad side for me.
Playstyle:
Unfortunately, Ganon is put in a bad postition compared to the rest of the cast. Ganon has tons of trouble approaching due to this terrible ground and air speed. He also has no way to deal with projectiles, outside of jumping and shielding them. He can try to get through and attack, but his horrendous startup on most of his moves makes this difficult. The range he gets on some of his moves helps but if he's too slow to act then one can just go right through his attacks. Ganon also himself doesn't have a projectile and can't alleviate any pressure put on him. Characters like Villager and Toon Link can simply just wall him out, and characters like Shiek and Fox can outmaneuver him. Because of this, Ganon has to wait for player mistakes and sometimes even the force the opponent to make mistakes. Then when the opponent's open he can go for a punish. Too bad if he misses the punish, then he'll get punished. Ganon also relies heavily on reads just to get some damage. The best example of this is his Grounded Flame Choke where you have to read the option and capitalize on it.
Ganon's Future:
Sadly, Ganon's playstyle brings him little representation in tourneys. His reliance on player mistakes and hard reads puts him in less of a favor than someone like Mario or Sheik. With no one playing Ganon in high level tournaments, let alone winning with him, he doesn't have much going for him in the future. That could change though.
And that's my Ganon Guide....I don't know how to end this so....uhhhhh,
The End!
