Santi
Smash Lord
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2006
- Messages
- 1,931
We all know it can be easy to rack up some damage with Toon, but sometimes when it comes to killing your opponent things can get tough. Some opponents can read when you switch your play and go into a different mode where you want the kill.
Against good players this issue can be frustrating. Especially when they go defensive and punish your kill attempts. You then will find yourself in no longer a close match but one where your now behind and quickly getting damage added to your stock.
Even against players that just sit in their shield it can get frustrating. You could go and just grab them except the grab is telegraphed and easy to see coming plus the lag on it is pathetic and even if your grab connects...what you going to do? Ha pummel them to a pulp?
No.
I made this thread so other users can help out with this. The pioneers with TL. The people playing with Toon day in and day out and gaining knowledge. You know who you are. Let's help out other users and at the same time maybe learn something new for our game.
So anyone want to share some kill setups you have?
Ofcourse they will be situational (We all know that) but the time will come where you'll be in that situation and need that kill.
I'll go first and share something I do against people I know that are just sitting in their shield waiting for me.
Grab a bomb, throw at their shield, the bomb will bounce up off their shield, now in the same jump do a Zair, when it auto cancels quickly dash to their shield and space a running up smash.
When I say space I mean on the far end of the sheild so when your done with the smash you will be on the other side of them. They think they can punish you but if timed right, the bomb on the other side will fall at their feet and you can skimper away

The zair isn't neccesary but it helps poke their sheild down a little bit. And if you want to be even safer then just space a safe nair after the zair and that will hit if their shield is already low from holding it a while.
Anywayyyyss...
Any other users have methods of killing they like to do?
Contribute.
USEFUL SETUPS/ATTACKS AND OTHER INFO
LEVELS
GREAT WORDS OF WISDOM
Against good players this issue can be frustrating. Especially when they go defensive and punish your kill attempts. You then will find yourself in no longer a close match but one where your now behind and quickly getting damage added to your stock.
Even against players that just sit in their shield it can get frustrating. You could go and just grab them except the grab is telegraphed and easy to see coming plus the lag on it is pathetic and even if your grab connects...what you going to do? Ha pummel them to a pulp?
No.
I made this thread so other users can help out with this. The pioneers with TL. The people playing with Toon day in and day out and gaining knowledge. You know who you are. Let's help out other users and at the same time maybe learn something new for our game.
So anyone want to share some kill setups you have?
Ofcourse they will be situational (We all know that) but the time will come where you'll be in that situation and need that kill.
I'll go first and share something I do against people I know that are just sitting in their shield waiting for me.
Grab a bomb, throw at their shield, the bomb will bounce up off their shield, now in the same jump do a Zair, when it auto cancels quickly dash to their shield and space a running up smash.
When I say space I mean on the far end of the sheild so when your done with the smash you will be on the other side of them. They think they can punish you but if timed right, the bomb on the other side will fall at their feet and you can skimper away
The zair isn't neccesary but it helps poke their sheild down a little bit. And if you want to be even safer then just space a safe nair after the zair and that will hit if their shield is already low from holding it a while.
Anywayyyyss...
Any other users have methods of killing they like to do?
Contribute.
USEFUL SETUPS/ATTACKS AND OTHER INFO
The stun time for the returning boomerang is perfect for a Usmash. You just need to be able to predict when it comes flying back at the opponent in front of you. The boomerang won't give you lag upon returning to you if your doing anything else.
Continuous ranged D-tilts works pretty good on shields. And their low knock back is a good setup.
Also, get behind them, throw a boomerang off screen,get back in front of the guy, Jab combo, and they usually don't see the return boomerang coming. And its sorta like a safety out of your jab combo as they cant grab you. This means that when your ABOUT to catch the boomerang, you can just grab,charge a smash attach, whatever.(as the person above me stated, perfect for setting up Hyphen) (SH Zair works too)
Eh, I kinda go with the flow on some combos. I don't really think them through. That being said, I only know that I consciously do a few combos.
SH Hookshot to Nair to Fsmash/Ftilt/jab is a staple of my gameplan with Toon Link. The first one can kill decently if you're near the edge when you do it.
From around 85%, a airdodge canceled Hookshot to a bomb (yes, get the bomb out before you Hookshot) to hyphen smash works to kill MK at Final Destination.
Spacing is peculiar. It is best if the Hookshot hits from the middle of its length so that your bomb throw immediately after doesn't hurt you too, and give you enough time to hyphen smash away from the low stun time he has.
I really don't know how to kill with Toon Link sometimes. At worst, I usually spam hyphen smashes when I get them really high. It's a great pressure tool. >_>
What i do a lot is when they short hop i jump and throw the boomerang downward making it bounce on the floor and hitting the opponent, when all that is happening i quickly jump again and F-smash them. Works great for me even against good players
Bomb->Fair. Its easy and effective.
But all it REALLY takes for me to get a kill is for the other guy to grab the edge. Sooo many options... Dair being my favorite. =P
Umm...Hmm....what else.....
Uhh.....Zair->First hit in jab combo-> SH Nair works well.
I actually find it so hard to kill with Toon Link early that I end up racking up enough damage on my opponent that U-tilt will kill them... It's actually not too bad because I don't have to change my mindset or gameplay that radically to use U-tilt. It's quick and fairly spammable. The downside is that they have to be at a pretty high percentage.
"Tricking" your opponent into airdodging a bomb and then tracking your U-air where their invincibility frames run out will usually kill them. This isn't easy to do, but it is something.
It's usually mindgame'd smashes.
I also like to go for edgeguards against some characters with nair, fair and even bair stage spike.
One of my favorite kill moves is when I jump over them, bomb-drop/throw a bomb down at them and then wait for them to pop up and hit them with a uair. Sometimes doesn't work due to spacing and DI, but I get alot of kills this way.
However, it can be easier to land on those with blind spots below them (leik, Marth, since his Dair is no longer beastly because L-canceling don't exist in my Brawl). Simply put them into the air via Utilt, Usmash, U or D throw, or from then DI-ing up from a bomb or whatever. Then force an airdodge by using a Bair, or if you've conditioned them to airdodge near you because you're offensive in the air, they'll usually airdodge by instinct.
From there, you can predict their DI movements and follow it with Uair since it's a lingering hitbox.
It of course doesn't work as well on MK since he has like no blindspots, or Wario because he has godly aerial movement and a very good Dair.
Utilt comes out faster than Usmash, and it's KO potential is relatively the same. It actually kills roughly 6-8% later than Usmash on Final Destination with isn't much of a difference for a tilt to smash ratio.
Fair is a great killing move but hard to land. To Yukiwarashi, projectiles can help kill easily. A Boomerang to the face puts your opponents at the perfect height for a fair, I remember a Toon Link that got me with it everytime, it's unexpected since you just tasted boomerang. Also, a bomb thrown down to a fair works too.
hmmm.... this is actually quite reliable to me.... if they shielding.... i short hop and throw a bomb at them... i zair to catch the bomb and at the same time knocking them back with zair..... i run backwards do a jump cancelled throw at them cuz they usually not expecting that and lower their shield.... when it hits... i finish it off with a fair
-Miso
I usually just go from a bomb->Dair->Uair, or bomb->boomerang->double arrow->Uair/Fair for the ones that won't go down.
If someones grabbing onto an edge dash attack usually makes the opponent use their second jump, so i just SH dair. You don't even have to go off the edge. It's a "safe" tactic.
I noticed another "combo" I do.
SH throw the Boomerang either straight or angled downward so it hits the ground and bounces up past the opponent.
Now if timed correctly, you can SH Zair immediately alongside the returning Boomerang, then run up and Hyphen Smash.
A very situational tactic, but it can work, I guess.
A tactic I use is deceit and distraction.
SH, throw the boomerang downwards, throw a bomb/arrow. The other person usually focuses so much on an air dodge they leave themselves completely open to a hyphen smash.
Only really works at 150%+ plus though, and doesn't work at all if they opponent rolls back. But then, dealing damage with TL is easy peasy. It's staying alive long enough that's the real problem.
Alright, guys after some thinking and talking to Santi a bit I decide to try to figure out some good set ups to kill with this kid. I think I got something for you fellow TL mains. After some thinking and testing with set ups I finally got something!
Run Up, Jump, Space Bomb Throw Down Right in Front of Your Opponent, Cross Over During Jump, Fair
OR
Run Up, Jump, Space Bomb Throw Down Right in Front of Your Opponent, Cross Over During Jump, Uair
You can also combo with the Dair, but I'm working with what I think is more practical.
For the sake of making things simple, I'm call going to call the "space bomb throw down" SBTD.
Trial and Error
I test the SBTD on a few characters in Training Mode. So these percentages are assuming the following.
- Opponent is right in the center of Final Destination.
- Undiminished moves.
- Improper DI on the opponent's part.
Fair Version Kills Pit at 122%
Uair Version Kills Pit at 128%
Fair Version Kills Snake at 138%
Uair Version Kills Snake at 124%
Fair Version Kills MK at 116%
Uair Version Kills MK at 109%
** Note that this is the percentage that the character is at before any damage from the set up.
Training With an Attacking Computer
I trained with the computer to see how well this trick works. Unfortunately the computer is very active so it's hard to work with mind games with it. For example, I can't run up and SBTD because the computer would almost always jump forward and attack or walk back all of a sudden. A human player would consider the factor that you might throw the bomb forward or do something tricky so the mind games of this test for offense is nonexistent.
Defensively, you can learn to jump out of your shield after shielding an attack and SBTD do an aerial. Works fairly well. Again the computer does some stuff I doubt a human player would do to mess this tactic up.
Bair and Nair works well with at low percentages. Uair is very hard to land while Fair is much more dependable and effective.
Again this is the computer so there is no mind games in this test.
What to hear some good news about this? Here's some!
- It's a combo. That's right if you connect with the bomb it guarantees that the Fair or Uair will not be escaped!
- The timing on it is actually just slightly forgiving. When I say that I mean you have a small time frame to recognize and see if your bomb connected before you decide to execute the Fair or Uair. It happens very fast, though.
When Should You Use Fair to Uair?
It's pretty obvious that Uair is the more reliable kill move. It kills at lower percents and the ceiling is a constant factor after all. However, it's only covers a small area and very hard to land with all the movements and DI.
Fair, however, is more reliable since it has a wider range of attack. Also Fair is a bit safer because unlike the Uair you can finish the animation in a jump so you can jump again for safety when you see that the bomb was blocked. Though everything will happen very fast so you must have a keen eye.
Things to Learn and Consider
Learn the timing of when to throw the bomb downwards. If you do SBTD during a short hop too soon you're actually going to hit yourself with the peak of the explosion. You really want to wait a split second after your jump or perhaps it's easier to say wait until you're at a the "short hop peak" before you throw it down.
Learn the range of the bomb's explosion. This set up requires you to hit your opponent with the "front" side of the bomb's explosion so that your opponent's DI has minimal effect on how where they fly and push them into the cross over, aerial. If your throw too close to your opponent, the explosion will trigger and hit you when you try to cross over.
I found that since this is more of a guess and looking for an opportunity set up. Using a full jump is typically better than a short hop.
Final Words
I actually found this very recently so I can't say how well this will apply in actual human matches yet. I'll be playing my friend a lot tomorrow and let you guys know how well/often this set up works. I'll also probably add some other tactics to help make this set up more unpredicable.
LEVELS
Just for the record, I checked all standard levels that allow you to abuse the strong knockback on Tink's down smash.
Halberd: Limited use because the slopes point inward, but it's still available to give you some space when necessary.
Castle Siege: One inward slope on the first part of the stage, can be used to throw enemies off the left side, but it's not as good as other places.
Corneria: Instant kill of the front or back of the ship, usable almost everywhere else for spacing due to excessive slanted ground.
Lylat Cruise: Useful for throwoffs on either side, depending on the way the stage is tilted at the time.
Yoshi's Island (Brawl): The very sides of the stage are sloped, allowing for knockoffs and perhaps kills if the enemy has shoddy recovery.
Pictochat: Again, the sides can be used like in Yoshi's.
Are there any I forgot? I think it's safe to say that Corneria and Great Sea are both good Tink counterpicks...
In amendment to my last post, there is slanted ground fit for dsmash abuse in all three levels of Castle Siege. The first level isn't that useful, but the second level's sloping upper platforms can give instant kills, and the third level's sloped center can be used to throw an enemy off for gimping. Another counterpick?
Other than Corneria and Yoshi's Island Brawl, Delfino has several places for you to do it. The sandy beach part is great since the Dsmash sends them into the water, giving you the opportunity to gimp. The top of the building with a walk-off to the left and an edge with no hanging ledge to the right is great too. Camp at the right, Dsmash when they get close and they can die from like 6%.
On stages with water, grab and throw them into the water (or anything that'll put them in the water) and D-air the crap out of them. Obviously very situational, but I've found it to be pretty effective if you can get them in the water. If you miss, swim so that you're right up on them and SH-dair over and over til they die.
On stages with uneven surfaces, like the tips of Coneria, can get you really low percentage kills with the first hit of the D-smash. On the left side of Corneria, only hitting with the first hit will instantly kill almost all the characters (I'm not sure who it won't kill actually). I'm not that certain on the right side, but it can probably lead to gimps against characters with mediocre recoveries. Yoshi's Island has similar uneven surfaces to go for the gimps.
Again, these are mostly situational, but I find that if you utilize what the stage gives you, you can open up a few more opportunities to kill your opponent.
GREAT WORDS OF WISDOM
Santi, you win