choknater
Smash Obsessed
1. mix up double jab -> grab and double jab -> dtilt. double jab to grab works on pretty much everyone unless they do something like SDI the 2nd jab and then use a 2-frame nair or something. peach and mk get out sometimes. but if they choose to attack instead of shield after the 2nd jab, a dtilt will hit them. if they block the dtilt, you are spaced so that they can't punish
2. fast fall nairs and sweetspot bairs are legit shield pressure. against characters with slow grabs like olimar and tlink, if you fast fall a nair on their shield perfectly and jab after the landing lag, they can't grab you. the only reason i do this is because nairs seem to reach a little farther than fairs, not only that but autocancel fairs can be shield grabbed if u don't space it right and that's an easy mistake to make with sheik. another point is that (kinda like with melee falco's shield pressure mixup with dair/nair) people memorize the hitstun and lag between autocanceled fair and jabs, so ppl shield grab anyway.
fast fall sweetspot bairs are amazing cuz people cant do anything against it. i usually don't rar these... i usually only turn around if i am already standing in front of someone and do it.
3. when in doubt, roll and needles. sometimes if ur approaches are failing, especially against s-tier characters, u have to take a little time to feel them out. the best way to do this is roll around patiently charging needles and then shoot fully charged ones whenever they touch the ground. it creates a wall for THEM to overcome (especially snake) and it usually makes them resort to aerial approaches. this gives sheik an advantage in the ground game no matter what character you're facing, except maybe rob and olimar. most s-tier characters however don't have any projectiles better than sheik. oh, and don't roll behind people of course. always roll away and only when it's safe
4. use c-stick down to dash attack. i just recently incorporated this as a punishment tool and it's just amazing. you can punish stuff like g&w's smash attacks or even metaknight's fsmash (sometimes... if he doesn't block right away i think.) learn what it punishes and what it doesn't punish. for example just cuz u have a fast attack doesnt mean u can punish snake's spaced ftilt lol, no one can.
the reason u should use cstick is cuz if u try to use A to dash attack, u will stutter step fsmash if u press A too soon. i use c-stick down for pretty much all my dash attacks now. 6 framez people, that's incredibly fast and very high range
5. if you play ic's or ddd, you know how amazing pivot grabs are. sheik's pivot grab is not as good as theirs but still decent. when in doubt against metaknight, just spam pivot grabs and hope that he will run into it with a dash attack or tornado. this is when you're not spaced well to charge needles safely. if u pivot grab, either he runs into it and gets grabbed, or he doesn't follow you and now you're in a good position to charge needles.
6. i mention this a lot but no one seems to get it. autocancel uairs are AMAZING. they are sheik's #1 option for people above her. it forces air dodges and sometimes even gets killed. it's legit pressure beneath people on platforms (though on battlefield, fair is better) but yeah. use it. just watch out for ppl with amazing aerials like rob's nair or gw's dair or something.
ftilt to autocancel uair is a good combo
that's it
reason i'm posting this stuff is cuz it's all completely normal stuff to see in my playstyle now and i impress most people with my sheik when i play them. for those of you questioning how to expand the metagame with sheik since we supposedly know 'everything' about her, there is still room for innovation people. i know Light is very good about that. so ppl step it up! stop digging for new special abilities that sheik has and just focus on tactical stuff.
this type of stuff makes matchups like G&W even and metaknight almost even. i only have trouble with really campy stuff now, like rob/lucario/olimar, which i will soon be able to adapt to. for ic's/pika i just pick zelda, zelda *****
question: i'm starting to use chain a little bit more... um, is there a way to stop mk's glide attack with the chain? mk's are using that to counter my chain and i'm wondering if there is a certain angle you can wiggle to stop it. i'm asking because his glide attack is so reliable that i'm beginning to refrain from using the chain completely, but i don't wanna count it out just yet.
tl;dr summary:
HOW TO **** WITH SHEIK EVEN MORE:
1. DOUBLE JAB -> GRAB/DTILT MIXUP
2. FAST FALL NAIRS/BAIRS AS SHIELD PRESSURE (not autocanceled)
3. ROLL AND NEEDLES ALL DAI
4. C-STICK DOWN TO DASH ATTACK
5. PIVOT GRAB ALL DAI
6. AUTOCANCEL UAIR
oh, and if you are not doing this already:
7. RUN AWAY -> B-REVERSE FULLY CHARGED NEEDLES
2. fast fall nairs and sweetspot bairs are legit shield pressure. against characters with slow grabs like olimar and tlink, if you fast fall a nair on their shield perfectly and jab after the landing lag, they can't grab you. the only reason i do this is because nairs seem to reach a little farther than fairs, not only that but autocancel fairs can be shield grabbed if u don't space it right and that's an easy mistake to make with sheik. another point is that (kinda like with melee falco's shield pressure mixup with dair/nair) people memorize the hitstun and lag between autocanceled fair and jabs, so ppl shield grab anyway.
fast fall sweetspot bairs are amazing cuz people cant do anything against it. i usually don't rar these... i usually only turn around if i am already standing in front of someone and do it.
3. when in doubt, roll and needles. sometimes if ur approaches are failing, especially against s-tier characters, u have to take a little time to feel them out. the best way to do this is roll around patiently charging needles and then shoot fully charged ones whenever they touch the ground. it creates a wall for THEM to overcome (especially snake) and it usually makes them resort to aerial approaches. this gives sheik an advantage in the ground game no matter what character you're facing, except maybe rob and olimar. most s-tier characters however don't have any projectiles better than sheik. oh, and don't roll behind people of course. always roll away and only when it's safe
4. use c-stick down to dash attack. i just recently incorporated this as a punishment tool and it's just amazing. you can punish stuff like g&w's smash attacks or even metaknight's fsmash (sometimes... if he doesn't block right away i think.) learn what it punishes and what it doesn't punish. for example just cuz u have a fast attack doesnt mean u can punish snake's spaced ftilt lol, no one can.
the reason u should use cstick is cuz if u try to use A to dash attack, u will stutter step fsmash if u press A too soon. i use c-stick down for pretty much all my dash attacks now. 6 framez people, that's incredibly fast and very high range
5. if you play ic's or ddd, you know how amazing pivot grabs are. sheik's pivot grab is not as good as theirs but still decent. when in doubt against metaknight, just spam pivot grabs and hope that he will run into it with a dash attack or tornado. this is when you're not spaced well to charge needles safely. if u pivot grab, either he runs into it and gets grabbed, or he doesn't follow you and now you're in a good position to charge needles.
6. i mention this a lot but no one seems to get it. autocancel uairs are AMAZING. they are sheik's #1 option for people above her. it forces air dodges and sometimes even gets killed. it's legit pressure beneath people on platforms (though on battlefield, fair is better) but yeah. use it. just watch out for ppl with amazing aerials like rob's nair or gw's dair or something.
ftilt to autocancel uair is a good combo
that's it
reason i'm posting this stuff is cuz it's all completely normal stuff to see in my playstyle now and i impress most people with my sheik when i play them. for those of you questioning how to expand the metagame with sheik since we supposedly know 'everything' about her, there is still room for innovation people. i know Light is very good about that. so ppl step it up! stop digging for new special abilities that sheik has and just focus on tactical stuff.
this type of stuff makes matchups like G&W even and metaknight almost even. i only have trouble with really campy stuff now, like rob/lucario/olimar, which i will soon be able to adapt to. for ic's/pika i just pick zelda, zelda *****
question: i'm starting to use chain a little bit more... um, is there a way to stop mk's glide attack with the chain? mk's are using that to counter my chain and i'm wondering if there is a certain angle you can wiggle to stop it. i'm asking because his glide attack is so reliable that i'm beginning to refrain from using the chain completely, but i don't wanna count it out just yet.
tl;dr summary:
HOW TO **** WITH SHEIK EVEN MORE:
1. DOUBLE JAB -> GRAB/DTILT MIXUP
2. FAST FALL NAIRS/BAIRS AS SHIELD PRESSURE (not autocanceled)
3. ROLL AND NEEDLES ALL DAI
4. C-STICK DOWN TO DASH ATTACK
5. PIVOT GRAB ALL DAI
6. AUTOCANCEL UAIR
oh, and if you are not doing this already:
7. RUN AWAY -> B-REVERSE FULLY CHARGED NEEDLES
retract it quickly though, snake can get through it with dash attack/dacus.
