Matchup Thread Export Directory
ZERO SUIT SAMUS
DIFFICULTY: EVEN - 50:50
ZERO SUIT SAMUS
DIFFICULTY: EVEN - 50:50
Quick Tips
- Down-smash after down-throw? YES
- Bucket anything? Dsmash (Does 60%, Kills at 0%). Neutral B (Does 33% - 50%, Kills at 45% - 0%).
Videos
- Izzy vs NickRiddle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwRUXbDv1-0
General Matchup
- ZSS’s strengths lie in her massive range on some moves and speed on others. She has actual combo setups thanks to moves like Neutral B and Dsmash paralyzing you. She is very quick on the ground and also mobile in the air. Alot of her long range attacks have priority that even gw can't cut through. You will have a hard time moving through the up b, upsmash, forward smash, and the forward b.
- ZSS doesn’t really have problems with killing even though she has only two real good moves at accomplishing that: Side B and Uair. In particular the Side B is a very powerful kill move when it’s fresh; it has massive range, and the whole move will drag you into the sweetspot. If unused during the battle, the bair is also an incredible kill move. If you get hit by the dsmash at high percents, bairs can hurt a lot.
- ZSS also has access to powerful items at her disposal thanks to her armor parts at the beginning of the game. They can serve to pile on damage or give ZSS another possible kill move.
- Unfortunately for ZSS, her paralyzer setups with Neutral B and Dsmash are nullified by the bucket, which will result in 0-death depending on what was absorbed. This takes away one of her best attributes in setting up true combos.
- ZSS has an incredible combo game that is not to be taken lightly. Dash attack, jabs, upsmash, up air, up b, downsmash, dtilt, all link well together in some way, and there are probably more odd moves that they could throw in there. If you are unexperienced or not careful, you'll see very powerful combos that will have you at kill percents in no time.
- ZSS is a lightweight and will not be able to take much punishment from G&W. To make matters worse for her, she has a tether recovery that can be easily gimped; which puts another huge blow on her survivability.
Basic Strategies
- Don’t approach ZSS in a direct horizontal or vertical line. She’ll have an Fsmash, Side B, grab, or armor pieces waiting for horizontal approaches and Usmash, Up B, and armor pieces against vertical approaches. As powerful and rangy these moves are, they don’t cover diagonals or from below. This is where you want to approach from.
- Turtle dancing diagonally and Nair through platforms all at an angle really help to get around ZSS’s rangy attacks. Don’t forget Up B as well; ZSS has no real good move when you’re below her.
- Her Dair is a stall ’n fall like G&W’s but it is not disjointed, it has less priority, and it has awful cooldown time when she lands. G&W’s Uair completely shuts down ZSS’s Dair and allows you to control the match because again, she is helpless against Uair and has to resort to airdodging/DIing allowing you to force her hand.
- Don't be foreign to the combos that zss has at her disposal. Dash attack can be canceled very quickly into an uptilt which can combo into a lot of aerials from there. Her jab is incredibly difficult to punish as there is very little startup/cooldown to it. Also keep in mind that her grab has a lot of cooldown, yes, but also will distroy bad turtle approaches simply due to range.
- Obviously bucket her neutral B and Dsmash. Being able to annul two amazing setup moves can limit ZSS’s options at racking up damage. Try to bait her into using the projectile when you can at low percents. Her upsmash doesn't do a lot of damage, so the only move you really need to worry about is the forward b. IMO, it is well worth taking the forward b to potentially take her last stock w/o any effort.
- ZSS is a prime target for Dsmash, which kills her very quickly when tippered. She’s also in huge trouble if she gets knocked off the stage by a sourspotted Dsmash because of the angle it sends her at.
- When the match begins, i prefer to just camp on the ledge. The armor pieces will disappear based on how long they sit on the ground, so this will effectively eliminate two of the pieces because she can only hold one at a time. When on the ledge they usually will bounce the piece near the edge, or throw it down at you, which you can up b through. The idea is to take this innate, 1 stock advantage she has away by simply camping at the beginning.
Stages
- Pick stages that have many platforms so you can approach ZSS at different angles and get around her huge-ranged attacks. Battlefield works well because of the platforms, and Rainbow Cruise appears to be a fantastic counterpick like usual. Frigate Orpheon also seems to be a viable counterpick stage as well because of the lack of ledges for ZSS’s tether recovery.
- Avoid linear stages like Final Destination that limit the amount of ways you can approach at. It is also advisable to stay away from stages like Norfair that have many edges for ZSS to latch on to with her tether.
Frame Data
- Neutral B:
- Side B:
- Up B:
- Down B:
- Fsmash: N/A
- Dsmash: 21
- Usmash: N/A
- Ftilt: 6
- Dtilt: 5
- Utilt: 3
- Nair:
- Fair:
- Bair:
- Uair:
- Dair:
- Jab: 1, 2, 3
- Dash Attack: 6
- Standing Grab:
- Dash Grab:
- Pivot Grab:
ZSS Frame Data Thread: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=265245
