Made for self reference (Lucina) 0:17 Intro, pros and cons 1:10 Objective 1:19 Aerials and their safety on shield, covering OOS options 2:49 Landing aerials into combos 3:03 Nair, OOS, Comboing 3:33 Nair 1 and follow up examples 4:18 Fair and Bair tech situations 4:41 Full hop fair/bair and follow ups 4:56 Dair 5:29 Uair 5:45 Mixing up falling aerials with TGrabs, DB 6:00 Fair and Bair OOS are OP 6:34 Shield Breaker and conditioning and other 7:12 Dancing Blade, 8:20 B Reverse DB 8:37 Dolphin Slash 9:00 Counter 9:08 Jab, 9:20 cool jab reset d tilt to spike example 9:24 Forward Tilt, 9:36 punishing aggresion 9:57 Down Tilt, good aerial follow up, tech situation 10:40 Forward Smash 10:53 Down Smash 11:06 Up Tilt 11:15 Up Smash 11:37 Dash Attack 11:44 Throws, dealing with airdodge from Dthrow, B/Fthrow after 70 ish 12:50 Ledge Trapping
It feels like Marth is super underdeveloped at the moment. However, as we've seen, Marth has some SCARY sour hit combos that Lucina can't pull off. I bet that Marth will slowly come back on the map once characters are optimized more and more.
@@Gradient___ I dunno, he doesn't have that much representation and his matchup his easy to learn if you don't go in depth with him, and the parry meta is developping, making it hard for Marth player to shine in tournaments. I mean there was Leo for Lucina, but Marth has been kind of lef behind, hasn't he ?
@@loocas8434 he was saying this as a joke. I guess he would have stated this with irony or fot a fact if he actually had no idea what he was talking about.
@@loocas8434 Yea but that's only when you miss your mark. If Marth lands a hit he also needs to land the perfectly spaced hitbox to get his best combo or power. Lucina spaces in Neutral while Marth also spaces in his Punish Game.
Thank you so much. I have been waiting for this for a while. An updated Marth tutorial from you is all I could want. Thank you Izaw. Especially for not making this solely on Lucina.
Welcome to my SSBU text character guide! This will be covering Marthcina! The difference between Marth and Lucina lies in the sweetspot mechanc. This is a mechanic which designates part of a hitbox that is the strongest amongst the usually bigger sourspot (which is the weakest part of an attack). Marth’s sword is weaker, unless spaced at the much higher knockback and damaging tip (called “tippers” by ssb fans). Lucina lacks a sweetspot, but makes up for this by having consistent power through her whole blade. She does miss out on tipper confirms, kill confirms, and combos Marth would get at varying low/mid %s with the sourspot and sweetspot mechanics on his blade. NOTE: the ranges of tech chasing %s I mention below were done with rageless Marthcina on Pichu & Bowser to determine the highest and lowest ranges when they start forcing said tech situations. I did Lucas afterward to see a middle-ground (which worked damn well). *Marthcina* is a barely middleweight (the number is exactly 90), speed, yet, powerful zoning character who wants to control areas of the stage by swinging their sword at the opponent’s hurtbox from max range to push them away, get juggle situations, start combos, or ledgetrap. By snagging jumps (full or short) with bair or fair or stuffing out short hops with bair/fair/f-tilt/u-tilt, you can condition the opponent. Once the opponent has been conditioned, they can really lay on the pressure with spaced landing (close to the ground as possible) bairs, fairs, cross-up uair, spaced f-tilt/t-tilt. Add in tomahawk grab (empty jumping into a grab), and jump in side-b mixups/grounded side-b mixups with a rare neutral b and the pressure can get brutal. And if your opponent gets overconfident with shielding the safe, spaced pressure apply the neutral b to break a shield hit once after pretty much any hit connects with a shield. The character has great edgeguarding with good arcing sword aerials and a nasty ledgetrap game that claims many lives. With a slender hurtbox and a REALLY low crouch/dash that makes the character hard to hit when you need to be behind their sword attacks, this makes them very powerful, especially with their disjointed arcing hitboxes. Despite the great things the character brings, they can be very prone to the parry mechanics and whiff punishment. They can have trouble with characters that can out-range them in neutral, rushdown characters that can abuse their mediocre landing (only consisting of counter, air dodge, and landing aerials) and projectiles. 90 weight also makes them vulnerable to some early kill cheese (because the damage in Ultimate is ridiculous). The recovery option is also predictable and linear, so characters that make them use their double jump early off-stage can go crazy against them at times. They also have issues getting off the ledge from being ledgetrapped themselves. *Jab* - Only use on overzealous opponents anxious to punish you after a landing aerials to stuff them out. Only use jab 1 solely to jablock opponents, always transition into jab 2. Lucina’s start making tech situations at 7% (assuming if jab 1 hit and the transition into jab 2 will happen), otherwise jab 2 will create tech situations at 11% as a solo hit. Marth’s non-tipper jab 2 creates tech chasing at 4-10% (assuming jab 1 hit transitioned into jab 2). Tipper jab 2 creates tech chasing at 3-7 % (if this was the only hit). Unsafe on shield and won’t cover full hop. *F-Tilt* - Useful for spacing while on the ground because its safe from max range. Also used to pressure characters on platforms (because the hitbox extends past the platforms on Lylat, Battlefield, and Smashville. Useful as a grounded anti-air to negate jump-ins. Lucina’s f-tilt makes tech situations at 19-33%. Marth’s tipper f-tilt makes tech chases at 0-2%, & non-tippers start at 48-73% *U-tilt* - Great anti-air and combo starter. Stops character from approaching from above and covers platforms. *D-tilt* - Marthcina’s safest grounded poke & their way of controlling the pace of their ledgetrap game to force opponents to choice jump, roll, normal getup etc. Marth’s tipper D-tilt forces tech chase situations starting at 45-70% (with 45% being the lowest and 70% being the highest). His non-tipper forces tech situations at 99-146%. Lucina’s D-tilt starts tech chasing at 69-103%. *Dash Attack* - A risky whiff punisher or option against opponents jumping to the ledge at a angle. Unsafe on shields. *F-smash* - A hard Tech option/Roll/ledge getup punish. And more importantly, Can 2-frame, beat ledgestall. and beat other ledge options (with precise timing if charged). Marth’s tipper f-smash is one of the strongest in the game (Lucina’s is very strong). *U-smash* - A hard punish on opponents you’re below or a normal ledge getup hard punish. Can be used as an OoS with two weak side hitboxes (on the feet) on Marthcina knocking characters into the sword hitbox. Unsafe on shield. *D-smash* - Risky tech option and ledgestall punish. *Nair* - 7 frames of landing lag for both hits. First hit has barely any knockback (not killing with Marth’s tipper until 350%+) which is useful for getting kill confirms with tipper f-tilt as Marth or a f-smash as any of both characters. Used for snagging ledge jumps, pressuring shields (both hits make a mixup between possible hitting once or twice), and shield poking. 2nd hit can cross-up shields. *Bair* - 10 frames of landing lag. Useful for shield pressure with a fast-fall as close to the ground as possible, or when spaced. Can combo extend, air-to-air and edgeguard. Shorthop version of this can even cover full hop, which is a huge boon. Lucina’s start making tech situations at 12-22%. Marth’s tipper creates tech situations at 9-18%. Non-tipper creates tech situations at 22-37% *Uair* - 8 frames of landing lag. A juggling tool that can cover platforms, ledge jump and lead to numerous other aerials if it connects on an opponents when landing. Can be used to cross-up and pressure shield with a fast-fall because of the hitbox starting in the front of the character. *Dair* - 14 frames of landing lag. Marthcina’s’s only meteor attack that lasts for 1 frame and only spikes directly below in the middle part of the blade (not the tip or base). Starts the untechable meteor at 29-45% on grounded opponents. Useful jumping OoS for small characters. Can 2-frame, even without the spike. Can be used to land and has cross-up potential going for it. *Fair* - 10 frames of landing lag. Safe on shield from max range or when used as close to the ground as possible with a fast-fall. Useful as an air-to-air, stuffs short hops and full hops and is useful for off-stage pressure and ledge jump denial. Can used used in a short hop to cover full hops, which is a huge thing to have. Marth’s non-tipper forces tech situations at 30-47%. Tippers make tech chasing at 18-31%. Lucina’s create tech situations at 23-37%. *Shield Breaker* - a lunging stab capable of breaking a healthy shield after one successful hit from any other attack is used against a shield before it can regen. Can be angled to shield stab and can be charged (doing more % and shield damage the longer its held). Has extreme knockback on full charge and is the main shield break punish. Can be used to punish excessive shielding from opponents. *Dancing Blade* - What is done with this changes at positioning and %. Useful for b-reverse landing mixups and stopping spot dodging. Only use the 3rd forward swing if Marth is at close range using this, and looking to set up a tipper 4th hit. If at low% and close to foes do forward, forward, up, up. At max range do forward, forward, down, forward. *Counter* - Useful for negating projectiles, punishing characters that land with aerials, or hitting opponents with hitboxes on their up-b’s. *Dolphin Slash* - Marthcina’s fastest OoS and primary recovery move. Has intangibilty on startup and kills at high %s. Can be used as a combo breaker (don’t get predictable with it though). Quite annoy to gimp because of unreactable startup and good sword coverage in the front and above the character during the travel to the ledge. *U-throw* - The kill throw. *D-throw* - The combo throw. Opponents can alter the knockback angle with DI, but aerials will connect at low% and mixuups happen at mid%. *B-throw* - Positional advantage throw. *F-throw* - Positional advantage throw. All of the character’s throws are really good because they force you to defend against Marthcina’s sword attacks in some way. I hope this helps people. Enjoy this little guide :)
Have you joined the Neo Altea discord? It's a discord for Marth players and this guide is a really great layout for those wanting to get into Marth. Here is the link to the Neo Altea discord: discord.gg/yTQDcBt Here is the link to the Marcina discord as well, as both are great hubbubs of info for these characters: discord.gg/HTF9nVP
I'm really glad you actually went into the specifics of Lucina's moves. People tend to just write her off as braindead and not bother fully discussing how she works. I've picked a whole lot to practice here, especially that Dancing Blade stuff. Thanks man!
Amazing! This is an actual guide. Not just a “this is this characters moveset bs”. Do Ridley next please! Nobody makes videos on him and I really want to use him at his full potential.
I love Marth. It's just something about how he manages to elegantly and patiently space his opponents that I can't get enough of. In my opinion, he's more fun to watch and play as than Lucina.
He aint gonna be top tier, these Marth showcases ignore the dozens of failed attempts and inconsistencies that are Marth combos because no matter how many times you practice these tipper setups, half the time they will result in no tips. This also doesn't get into issues of reliability, falling nair is not reliable as Marth is kind of floaty, and landing D-air is way too predicable. What makes Lucina good is her ability to just reliably out neutral and edgeguard with her reach, speed and consistent power, which is difficult for Marth to accomplish with his harder-to-connect sweetspots as his sourspots don't cut it.
@@mrkisukes Forced aerial drift is what makes his tippers inconsistent. For whatever reason C Stick in Ultimate makes you drift slightly when you use it for an aerial. Other than that, his sour spots are what need to be slightly buffed, so that he doesn't get punished for hitting a move.
Top Anime yeah. i mean, i get that he's suppose to focus on spacing and get a better reward for spacing, but in my opinion it's kinda dumb for his sourspots to be unsafe on hit especially with how inconsistent his tippers are (even when spaced well)
During this quarantine, me and my brothers have all been getting really into playing smash. I honestly found that Lucina was really enjoyable to play as she had tons of capability to get better and a high skill ceiling. I’m almost completely new to smash before the quarantine and this video really help fledge out what kinda of moves I can do to increase my skill. Thanks a ton, I’ll be rewatching this way too many times to practice these things.
Lucina guide When opponent shields jump attack quick fall shield or jump attack past them shield and punish Landing aerials combo into a ground attack at low percents and combo into an aerial attack at high percents Neutral air is the fastest out of shield option Jumping into neutral air with a quick fall combos into: a grab at low percentage, more neutral airs at low percents, forward airs? At mid percentages, blade dance at high percentages for kills. Used for edge guarding no fast fall) and should space backwards after use Landing forward air combos into: back air blade dance, back air forward smash at lowish percentages. If they jump: full hop forward air back air otw down and quick jump forward air again afterwards, or full hop forward air and otw down forward air again. Can full hop forward air and double jump short hop forward air. Forward air stops most aerial out of shield option with a short hop. Can be used to edge guard. Down air is good option for short fighters out of shield. It combos into an up air, an up tilt, a forward smash and a double jump up air? Up air is good for juggling opponents and punishing them when above you. When landing combos into up tilt at low percents and at mid to high percent leads to back air or up air. Can down tilt to slightly damage shield jump and on the way down fully charge up shield break to break shield Dancing blade is best for punishing whiffs. Us forward forward up up for it and if at max range use forward forward down forward
The level of detail with which these videos are explained is unique and always so beautiful to watch, no matter how many guides I've watched or how much time I've spent figuring out on my own some of the things, this series always comes on top and there is always something new to learn from them, really thankful for it! Greetings from Ecuador.
Something I find quite useful is: Short hop side b (1) > landing nair > up tilt/jump up b/f smash/f tilt/whatever you want. Its really good for combos and killing
This is a great tutorial these are always great to look at for if you're trying to find weaknesses of this character or how to use them. Best of both worlds you put alot of work into these and I love you for that great job Izaw :) Can you do CHROY next?
Total inverse from the Smash 4 video in terms of presentation. Smash 4 mostly featured Marth for demonstration. Ultimate however predominantly features Lucina.
The great thing about these videos is that even though I don’t play these characters I learn so much about the match up and the game in general. Great video I can’t wait for the next one. (Praying for art of Lucas)
I started watching at Art of Link. The info was very thorough and convinced me to stick around. Soon I subbed and clicked that bell! These explanatory tutorials are my reasons!! Love you and you're content, Izaw
@@impact2933 yeah, go in practice mode, both down angled and up angled deal more damage. Super important with Marty as shield breaker angled up with tipper does more knockback than tipper f smash fully charged. You can get really gross kills at like 40-50% near the ledge
Hey y'all I just wanted to put in an update about this little piece of Shield Breaker trivia. I've been trying to recreate it and so far I've only had success with DK and D3. Maybe it's because their heads are huge. Bowser seems to have no effect either. But that should no less deter you from trying it out on Training mode :) Hope you found this little piece of trivia fun. Maybe it's also just a mechanic overall that headshots are stronger.
Really diggin' this one! I really prefer Marth over Lucina and fully expected to just ignore her segments, but the video was just too entertaining not to see all of it. Sidebar: I'm hoping an "Art of Roy(and probably Chrom)" is somewhere in the works. I've played Marth since Melee and run him good, but Roy is just so darn fun in Ultimate. It'd be great to see more into what a competent Roy does and why!
uɐƃǝᴉꞞ uoʌ ǝpnɐlϽ Marth is trash now. I’m honestly thinking about dropping him for Lucina, he’s literally inconsistent and does not fit in with the mechanics of Ultimate. First game he was ever placed a Low tier.
Link : single character, has his own "art of" video plus videos about how to use the remote bomb Marth and Lucina : two different characters who do not work the same due to Marth's sweetspot on the tip of his sword, only one 15-minute video for both
Thanks for making this! Of all of the "how to play Marth/Lucina" videos, you are the only one that mentions dancing blade being one of the best punishes for when an opponent fails to connect an attack on the ground. I also didn't know about the dancing blade combos you mentioned, so I'll be sure to check them out. One thing I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mention was using odd rhythms with dancing blade as a good mix up, because you even did it in your game play footage sometimes.
Sooooooo thorough. Damn, I’m not sure if there is a detail you missed! I thought I knew these characters pretty well but I challenged my ego and ended up learning so much.
I remember watching your Smash 4 Marth guide. It honestly really helped me reset my way of thinking compared to Melee and Brawl. After having gotten back into Melee (5 months before Smash Ult. Reveal), I completely forgot how to use Marth. Even after playing Ultimate frequently, I felt like I was missing something. I won’t lie, I refused to use a guide because I wanted to rely on myself, but as that went on, I got tired of it. I couldn’t take time to lab things myself, I have work after all, lol. So thank you twice for teaching me and reteaching, as well as others with your hard work. Maybe I can pick up more characters with your help, since it was definitely needed. 😄👍🏼
You can actually beat shield when hanging on ledge by double jumping in with a timed shield breaker. The hitbox will activate the moment when you touch the stage and you won't go above the stage at any point either, if done correctly. It's a mix-up sure, but can be quite devastating if it hits after the opponent has been standing with the shield active waiting for your option.
Rare but still possible interaction is Shulk's shield art which does increase his shield strength. A fully charged sourspot marth shieldbreaker will not break it if it's at full strength just a note
@@memeburgler187 the major problem is Marth himself, his sour spots aren't as strong for any flowing sour spots into tippers. Tipper hitboxes are even more slim compared to s4. Db is inconsistent. Struggles killing. The character is very strong but the cons are almost even with pros. Which isn't good.
Great video, Izlaw. I really appreciate the way you explain how the character works and go into great detail about their mechanics while giving tips rather than just providing a guide and telling your viewer what to do without ever telling them why. This is quality content. Keep it up!
As a main Math player since melee this was really good, but I would like to add 3 things. 1. Another very safe and reliable way to recover from a ledge guarded is to drop yourself just a bit and up B towards the ledge. This allows for the recovery to knock back opponents giving you the ability to get back on with enough distance. 2. Or you can play it risky and go right into a counter from hanging on the ledge. This is also a risky but rewarding way to counter the enemy if you have noticed they recover by hitting instead of jumping/rolling. 3. I find the best combo to surprise players is always forward, up, forward, down. The knock back 4 is lessen because of the up beforehand and the fastness of the 4 gives maximum reach especially when launching target off stage at lower hp.
I've been watching you since you ran sets with Mike Haze in Brawl (Sheik vs C. Falcon). Thanks for continuing to put out quality work; it helps the mindgame aspect of play.
Izaw, please, for the love of God don’t stop making these videos. I had 1 person in elite smash before your videos, I know have 13. Now I’m trying to pick up Lucina and Marth. You’ve helped me learn so much and your content is just great. This is my favorite fighting of all time. Thanks broski
Also something not mentioned that could be nice to know, shield breaker deals more damage if it hits the head hurtbox of a character. Not more knockback or shield damage but just 1.5x more percent
Brilliant tutorial mate. This and your other guides have really helped me get a better grasp on the basics of the game and improved how I play the game, keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you sir for creating the strategy video about Lucina and Marth It was really good I have to watch him more than once so that I can implement all the strategies into my game
Wow dude! That was awesome. SO much jam-packed info. Was not expecting so many usage bases to be covered. Thoroughly strong work. Much appreciated. Subbed.
Good stuff. Just one critique: Nair seems to be more prevalent in neutral. That’s not to say that Fair shouldn’t be used, but it seems to be more efficient as an aggressive tool and occasionally a means to send someone away for using a grounded option. However, when it comes to neutral, Nair is just the better tool. Super safe, essentially the DTilt of the sky. Conditions shield better, is safer, and in Marth’s case it has big kill potential. Fair seems to be what you use to antiair or threaten, or mix up landing and box around a little.
Damn, I didn't know Marth had all these neat kill set ups and high percent tech chase opportunities. Very interesting considering Lucina's most people's pick.
@@tototats16 same here. I feel like Marth needs more representation. And by that I mean by really good players cause about 90% of the people trying to evolve his meta are just really bad. Not like I'm any better by that is subject to change
Your tutorials are the BEST! They’re so in depth, and cover so many things. Combos are probably the most important thing that other SmashTubers don’t cover.
I really love Lucina's play over Marth's. I figured her Shield Break recovery in Sm4sh to be a lot more effective at getting you across the stage. Still, it's nice to pick up some new tips here and there, keep up the good work.
Many people view Lucina as a "literal clone" of Marth with nothing different, whoever there is clearly different play style and technique when you go in depth. I really appreciate it that you don't view Lucina as a "100% Marth Clone" and I am also glad that you didn't ignore Marth entirely because Lucina is higher Tier.
Awesome vid, really look for tech chases with these characters you can fuck up casuals really easy >:D They are fast so when your opponent has enough percent and you get a hit in, follow it up and go for a jab reset or forward/down smash
You really detailed the key differences between them. Based on how people talk about them I could have sworn Marth was just worse Lucina, but Marth has access to a bunch of combos and scenarios that Lucina doesn’t. They’re actually pretty different for Echos!
Whenever I watch your tutorial you not only make the characters look and feel good but also you make me want to play that character. I can't thank you enough for your tutorial.
Want a session? Go here: metafy.gg/@izaw/schedule with the code Pokemon15 to get 10% off
Join my discord and DM discord.gg/wrQbmMf
I was
Made for self reference (Lucina)
0:17 Intro, pros and cons
1:10 Objective
1:19 Aerials and their safety on shield, covering OOS options
2:49 Landing aerials into combos
3:03 Nair, OOS, Comboing
3:33 Nair 1 and follow up examples
4:18 Fair and Bair tech situations
4:41 Full hop fair/bair and follow ups
4:56 Dair
5:29 Uair
5:45 Mixing up falling aerials with TGrabs, DB
6:00 Fair and Bair OOS are OP
6:34 Shield Breaker and conditioning and other
7:12 Dancing Blade, 8:20 B Reverse DB
8:37 Dolphin Slash
9:00 Counter
9:08 Jab, 9:20 cool jab reset d tilt to spike example
9:24 Forward Tilt, 9:36 punishing aggresion
9:57 Down Tilt, good aerial follow up, tech situation
10:40 Forward Smash
10:53 Down Smash
11:06 Up Tilt
11:15 Up Smash
11:37 Dash Attack
11:44 Throws, dealing with airdodge from Dthrow, B/Fthrow after 70 ish
12:50 Ledge Trapping
Thanks! Extremely helpful!
MAN
THANK
YOU
Your a God
Ooh, helpful.
You're legend
So glad you didn't just ignore marth for the combos
It feels like Marth is super underdeveloped at the moment. However, as we've seen, Marth has some SCARY sour hit combos that Lucina can't pull off. I bet that Marth will slowly come back on the map once characters are optimized more and more.
@@Gradient___ I dunno, he doesn't have that much representation and his matchup his easy to learn if you don't go in depth with him, and the parry meta is developping, making it hard for Marth player to shine in tournaments. I mean there was Leo for Lucina, but Marth has been kind of lef behind, hasn't he ?
@@unitet-6906 MKLeo picked up white Marth again for awhile, and it was siiiiick. However, he's feeling much more at home with Yoker these days.😕
@@Gradient___ He will get there. Late-meta, but he will.
Gradient what does it mean to be optimized?
As a Marth main, I'm glad you didn't ignore him since more people prefer Lucina instead. This was a good tutorial! Thanks!
Agreed. I'm a Marth main too.
Same
Marth Gang!!
Yes
I remember last video, he ignored lucina. So yeah he improved
Lucina: press the a button
Marth: SPACING INTENSIFIES
You need to space with Lucina too though. If you don't you're still getting punished
@@loocas8434 he was joking dude. Every good Marth player knows that Lucina is not that simple.
JM how do you know he’s good LMAO
@@loocas8434 he was saying this as a joke. I guess he would have stated this with irony or fot a fact if he actually had no idea what he was talking about.
@@loocas8434 Yea but that's only when you miss your mark. If Marth lands a hit he also needs to land the perfectly spaced hitbox to get his best combo or power. Lucina spaces in Neutral while Marth also spaces in his Punish Game.
This is kind of nostalgic to the original Smash 4 tutorial
This guide is absolutely amazing. Most people don't go too in-depth due to Lucina being perceived as easy but I am learning so much.
True true.
Nothing wrong with playing an easy character.
@@sheeloesreallycool she’s not really that easy to play at a high level. Sure the mechanics are simple but in context they have difficulties
Marth's definitely the most satisfying to play when landing those tippers with those sound effects
And seeing the enemy Wii Fit Trainer teleport off the screen at 60 percent
Yes I strongly agree.
Hearing that "PSSHHHH" from Marth's f-smash tipper gives me eargasm
oh yeah thats why i play him
same with roy and chrom
Thank you so much. I have been waiting for this for a while. An updated Marth tutorial from you is all I could want. Thank you Izaw. Especially for not making this solely on Lucina.
I love how your videos aren't just guides.. they're literally art. The way you put your videos together is so clean and satisfying to watch
Agreed
I also agree
BIG agreed
OMEGA agreed
GIGANTIC Agreed
I love these tutorials, keep it up
aids
I love how simple and beautiful their specials are.
Dancing blade looks simple, but there are so many options for it
This guide: indepth and well explained
Most players online: **Fair Fair Fair Fair Fair**
Fair and balanced
At least cloud got nerfed.
lol
You used music from the new Fire Emblem album that came out a couple months ago. As a Fire Emblem fan, you clearly know what you're doing.
Welcome to my SSBU text character guide! This will be covering Marthcina!
The difference between Marth and Lucina lies in the sweetspot mechanc. This is a mechanic which designates part of a hitbox that is the strongest amongst the usually bigger sourspot (which is the weakest part of an attack). Marth’s sword is weaker, unless spaced at the much higher knockback and damaging tip (called “tippers” by ssb fans). Lucina lacks a sweetspot, but makes up for this by having consistent power through her whole blade. She does miss out on tipper confirms, kill confirms, and combos Marth would get at varying low/mid %s with the sourspot and sweetspot mechanics on his blade.
NOTE: the ranges of tech chasing %s I mention below were done with rageless Marthcina on Pichu & Bowser to determine the highest and lowest ranges when they start forcing said tech situations. I did Lucas afterward to see a middle-ground (which worked damn well).
*Marthcina* is a barely middleweight (the number is exactly 90), speed, yet, powerful zoning character who wants to control areas of the stage by swinging their sword at the opponent’s hurtbox from max range to push them away, get juggle situations, start combos, or ledgetrap. By snagging jumps (full or short) with bair or fair or stuffing out short hops with bair/fair/f-tilt/u-tilt, you can condition the opponent. Once the opponent has been conditioned, they can really lay on the pressure with spaced landing (close to the ground as possible) bairs, fairs, cross-up uair, spaced f-tilt/t-tilt. Add in tomahawk grab (empty jumping into a grab), and jump in side-b mixups/grounded side-b mixups with a rare neutral b and the pressure can get brutal. And if your opponent gets overconfident with shielding the safe, spaced pressure apply the neutral b to break a shield hit once after pretty much any hit connects with a shield. The character has great edgeguarding with good arcing sword aerials and a nasty ledgetrap game that claims many lives. With a slender hurtbox and a REALLY low crouch/dash that makes the character hard to hit when you need to be behind their sword attacks, this makes them very powerful, especially with their disjointed arcing hitboxes.
Despite the great things the character brings, they can be very prone to the parry mechanics and whiff punishment. They can have trouble with characters that can out-range them in neutral, rushdown characters that can abuse their mediocre landing (only consisting of counter, air dodge, and landing aerials) and projectiles. 90 weight also makes them vulnerable to some early kill cheese (because the damage in Ultimate is ridiculous). The recovery option is also predictable and linear, so characters that make them use their double jump early off-stage can go crazy against them at times. They also have issues getting off the ledge from being ledgetrapped themselves.
*Jab* - Only use on overzealous opponents anxious to punish you after a landing aerials to stuff them out. Only use jab 1 solely to jablock opponents, always transition into jab 2. Lucina’s start making tech situations at 7% (assuming if jab 1 hit and the transition into jab 2 will happen), otherwise jab 2 will create tech situations at 11% as a solo hit. Marth’s non-tipper jab 2 creates tech chasing at 4-10% (assuming jab 1 hit transitioned into jab 2). Tipper jab 2 creates tech chasing at 3-7 % (if this was the only hit). Unsafe on shield and won’t cover full hop.
*F-Tilt* - Useful for spacing while on the ground because its safe from max range. Also used to pressure characters on platforms (because the hitbox extends past the platforms on Lylat, Battlefield, and Smashville. Useful as a grounded anti-air to negate jump-ins. Lucina’s f-tilt makes tech situations at 19-33%. Marth’s tipper f-tilt makes tech chases at 0-2%, & non-tippers start at 48-73%
*U-tilt* - Great anti-air and combo starter. Stops character from approaching from above and covers platforms.
*D-tilt* - Marthcina’s safest grounded poke & their way of controlling the pace of their ledgetrap game to force opponents to choice jump, roll, normal getup etc. Marth’s tipper D-tilt forces tech chase situations starting at 45-70% (with 45% being the lowest and 70% being the highest). His non-tipper forces tech situations at 99-146%. Lucina’s D-tilt starts tech chasing at 69-103%.
*Dash Attack* - A risky whiff punisher or option against opponents jumping to the ledge at a angle. Unsafe on shields.
*F-smash* - A hard Tech option/Roll/ledge getup punish. And more importantly, Can 2-frame, beat ledgestall. and beat other ledge options (with precise timing if charged). Marth’s tipper f-smash is one of the strongest in the game (Lucina’s is very strong).
*U-smash* - A hard punish on opponents you’re below or a normal ledge getup hard punish. Can be used as an OoS with two weak side hitboxes (on the feet) on Marthcina knocking characters into the sword hitbox. Unsafe on shield.
*D-smash* - Risky tech option and ledgestall punish.
*Nair* - 7 frames of landing lag for both hits. First hit has barely any knockback (not killing with Marth’s tipper until 350%+) which is useful for getting kill confirms with tipper f-tilt as Marth or a f-smash as any of both characters. Used for snagging ledge jumps, pressuring shields (both hits make a mixup between possible hitting once or twice), and shield poking. 2nd hit can cross-up shields.
*Bair* - 10 frames of landing lag. Useful for shield pressure with a fast-fall as close to the ground as possible, or when spaced. Can combo extend, air-to-air and edgeguard. Shorthop version of this can even cover full hop, which is a huge boon. Lucina’s start making tech situations at 12-22%. Marth’s tipper creates tech situations at 9-18%. Non-tipper creates tech situations at 22-37%
*Uair* - 8 frames of landing lag. A juggling tool that can cover platforms, ledge jump and lead to numerous other aerials if it connects on an opponents when landing. Can be used to cross-up and pressure shield with a fast-fall because of the hitbox starting in the front of the character.
*Dair* - 14 frames of landing lag. Marthcina’s’s only meteor attack that lasts for 1 frame and only spikes directly below in the middle part of the blade (not the tip or base). Starts the untechable meteor at 29-45% on grounded opponents. Useful jumping OoS for small characters. Can 2-frame, even without the spike. Can be used to land and has cross-up potential going for it.
*Fair* - 10 frames of landing lag. Safe on shield from max range or when used as close to the ground as possible with a fast-fall. Useful as an air-to-air, stuffs short hops and full hops and is useful for off-stage pressure and ledge jump denial. Can used used in a short hop to cover full hops, which is a huge thing to have. Marth’s non-tipper forces tech situations at 30-47%. Tippers make tech chasing at 18-31%. Lucina’s create tech situations at 23-37%.
*Shield Breaker* - a lunging stab capable of breaking a healthy shield after one successful hit from any other attack is used against a shield before it can regen. Can be angled to shield stab and can be charged (doing more % and shield damage the longer its held). Has extreme knockback on full charge and is the main shield break punish. Can be used to punish excessive shielding from opponents.
*Dancing Blade* - What is done with this changes at positioning and %. Useful for b-reverse landing mixups and stopping spot dodging. Only use the 3rd forward swing if Marth is at close range using this, and looking to set up a tipper 4th hit. If at low% and close to foes do forward, forward, up, up. At max range do forward, forward, down, forward.
*Counter* - Useful for negating projectiles, punishing characters that land with aerials, or hitting opponents with hitboxes on their up-b’s.
*Dolphin Slash* - Marthcina’s fastest OoS and primary recovery move. Has intangibilty on startup and kills at high %s. Can be used as a combo breaker (don’t get predictable with it though). Quite annoy to gimp because of unreactable startup and good sword coverage in the front and above the character during the travel to the ledge.
*U-throw* - The kill throw.
*D-throw* - The combo throw. Opponents can alter the knockback angle with DI, but aerials will connect at low% and mixuups happen at mid%.
*B-throw* - Positional advantage throw.
*F-throw* - Positional advantage throw.
All of the character’s throws are really good because they force you to defend against Marthcina’s sword attacks in some way.
I hope this helps people. Enjoy this little guide :)
you should put this on smashboards
Have you joined the Neo Altea discord? It's a discord for Marth players and this guide is a really great layout for those wanting to get into Marth.
Here is the link to the Neo Altea discord:
discord.gg/yTQDcBt
Here is the link to the Marcina discord as well, as both are great hubbubs of info for these characters:
discord.gg/HTF9nVP
Marth Player giving you mad props for using the Fire Emblem Premium Arrange music here.
Very well done guide, Izaw.
I'm really glad you actually went into the specifics of Lucina's moves. People tend to just write her off as braindead and not bother fully discussing how she works. I've picked a whole lot to practice here, especially that Dancing Blade stuff. Thanks man!
Amazing! This is an actual guide. Not just a “this is this characters moveset bs”. Do Ridley next please! Nobody makes videos on him and I really want to use him at his full potential.
I love Marth. It's just something about how he manages to elegantly and patiently space his opponents that I can't get enough of. In my opinion, he's more fun to watch and play as than Lucina.
My favorite smash series, combined with my favorite smash ultimate characters, thank you izaw 🖤
agreed
Now that I think about it.
Marth is basically Classic mode.
While Lucina is Casual mode.
FyrFlyr Pretty much
Marth Mains let's make him top tier again, he has a lot of potential. And thanks Izaw for giving me even more hope in that character
I feel like Marth start up frames slow af now so i just switched to Lucina and i have hope now...
@@daking7861 They have the exact same frame data though...
He aint gonna be top tier, these Marth showcases ignore the dozens of failed attempts and inconsistencies that are Marth combos because no matter how many times you practice these tipper setups, half the time they will result in no tips. This also doesn't get into issues of reliability, falling nair is not reliable as Marth is kind of floaty, and landing D-air is way too predicable.
What makes Lucina good is her ability to just reliably out neutral and edgeguard with her reach, speed and consistent power, which is difficult for Marth to accomplish with his harder-to-connect sweetspots as his sourspots don't cut it.
@@mrkisukes Forced aerial drift is what makes his tippers inconsistent. For whatever reason C Stick in Ultimate makes you drift slightly when you use it for an aerial. Other than that, his sour spots are what need to be slightly buffed, so that he doesn't get punished for hitting a move.
Top Anime yeah. i mean, i get that he's suppose to focus on spacing and get a better reward for spacing, but in my opinion it's kinda dumb for his sourspots to be unsafe on hit especially with how inconsistent his tippers are (even when spaced well)
so that's all that mkleo sees when he's playing, but without the slow motion
This might be the best Marth play I have seen in Ultimate, this is really incredible IzawSmash.
During this quarantine, me and my brothers have all been getting really into playing smash. I honestly found that Lucina was really enjoyable to play as she had tons of capability to get better and a high skill ceiling. I’m almost completely new to smash before the quarantine and this video really help fledge out what kinda of moves I can do to increase my skill. Thanks a ton, I’ll be rewatching this way too many times to practice these things.
He has a whole training episode…
Lucina guide
When opponent shields jump attack quick fall shield or jump attack past them shield and punish
Landing aerials combo into a ground attack at low percents and combo into an aerial attack at high percents
Neutral air is the fastest out of shield option
Jumping into neutral air with a quick fall combos into: a grab at low percentage, more neutral airs at low percents, forward airs? At mid percentages, blade dance at high percentages for kills. Used for edge guarding no fast fall) and should space backwards after use
Landing forward air combos into: back air blade dance, back air forward smash at lowish percentages. If they jump: full hop forward air back air otw down and quick jump forward air again afterwards, or full hop forward air and otw down forward air again. Can full hop forward air and double jump short hop forward air. Forward air stops most aerial out of shield option with a short hop. Can be used to edge guard.
Down air is good option for short fighters out of shield. It combos into an up air, an up tilt, a forward smash and a double jump up air?
Up air is good for juggling opponents and punishing them when above you. When landing combos into up tilt at low percents and at mid to high percent leads to back air or up air.
Can down tilt to slightly damage shield jump and on the way down fully charge up shield break to break shield
Dancing blade is best for punishing whiffs. Us forward forward up up for it and if at max range use forward forward down forward
The level of detail with which these videos are explained is unique and always so beautiful to watch, no matter how many guides I've watched or how much time I've spent figuring out on my own some of the things, this series always comes on top and there is always something new to learn from them, really thankful for it! Greetings from Ecuador.
I really love how every video has it's own "art style" fitting the character.
I really wish that we could get one of these on robin.
zanvoy robin mains rise up
Mad respect for all low tier mains
Me too.
I wish I could get into robin, but they just don't feel right to me
Reece Coder except for the ones that just main a low tier for an excuse to complain all the time
Something I find quite useful is:
Short hop side b (1) > landing nair > up tilt/jump up b/f smash/f tilt/whatever you want.
Its really good for combos and killing
I don't know what they put in that tipper sound effect but GODDAMN that's so satisfying
This is a great tutorial these are always great to look at for if you're trying to find weaknesses of this character or how to use them. Best of both worlds you put alot of work into these and I love you for that great job Izaw :)
Can you do CHROY next?
PLEASE do not combine them.🙄
Now everybody mains Lucinda and Martha. Thx for the great vid
Lucinda and Martha?
:o
Total inverse from the Smash 4 video in terms of presentation.
Smash 4 mostly featured Marth for demonstration. Ultimate however predominantly features Lucina.
Same as Ultimate.🤷🏽♂️
@@JonahDeroy hmm?
@@wlt3585 I'm going to go ahead and say I was really sleepy for that comment, because I cannot figure out what I intended to mean there. My bad.
The great thing about these videos is that even though I don’t play these characters I learn so much about the match up and the game in general. Great video I can’t wait for the next one.
(Praying for art of Lucas)
I started watching at Art of Link. The info was very thorough and convinced me to stick around. Soon I subbed and clicked that bell! These explanatory tutorials are my reasons!! Love you and you're content, Izaw
Aw yeah! I main Samus but love Lucina for helping me prove I don't need projectiles to win.
Just decided yesterday to pick up Lucina as a secondary, nice timing!
Was actually considering that too
Nevermind I'm a Banjo-Kazooie main now
Fun fact: If you angle Shield Breaker upwards and towards your opponents head, it'll deal slightly more damage.
Ryden Soko For Real!?
@@impact2933 yeah, go in practice mode, both down angled and up angled deal more damage. Super important with Marty as shield breaker angled up with tipper does more knockback than tipper f smash fully charged. You can get really gross kills at like 40-50% near the ledge
Hey y'all I just wanted to put in an update about this little piece of Shield Breaker trivia. I've been trying to recreate it and so far I've only had success with DK and D3. Maybe it's because their heads are huge. Bowser seems to have no effect either.
But that should no less deter you from trying it out on Training mode :) Hope you found this little piece of trivia fun.
Maybe it's also just a mechanic overall that headshots are stronger.
D-tilt to Tipper f-smash with Marth is *almost true* from 0 - 9%.
2:57 really wish I could rar like this ;A; you did it so fast
you got it now? :D
These tutorials determine when I main a character their so good! Keep it up
Marth - Needs a skilled player to space and keep distance.
Lucina - JUST F-AIR BRO
Really diggin' this one!
I really prefer Marth over Lucina and fully expected to just ignore her segments, but the video was just too entertaining not to see all of it.
Sidebar:
I'm hoping an "Art of Roy(and probably Chrom)" is somewhere in the works. I've played Marth since Melee and run him good, but Roy is just so darn fun in Ultimate. It'd be great to see more into what a competent Roy does and why!
Dude, every time you make these types of videos you make me want to switch my main to whatever character tutorial I'm watching haha. Keep it up!
oh my god marths techchasing potential is enormous. why is nobody doing it hahah
Cuz everyone is using Lucina now :(
Because not alot people know how to actually play Marth. Everyone is basicly Lucina now because she is easier.
uɐƃǝᴉꞞ uoʌ ǝpnɐlϽ Marth is trash now. I’m honestly thinking about dropping him for Lucina, he’s literally inconsistent and does not fit in with the mechanics of Ultimate. First game he was ever placed a Low tier.
@@NoName-zh1jz literally no one agrees with you on anything other than marths inconsistency.
@@tomcruise7481 Please stop being biased and admit he's trash lmao
I hope you do a new ZSS guide! She is so much different in this game and you make the best guides by FAR. Thanks for the content; we appreciate it!!
STAWBs Orio has some incredible ZSS guides.
This is the best SSBU Lucina & Marth video!!👌🏻
This was an excellent tutorial, keep up the good work.
(Now I'm just waiting for Art of Piranha Plant)
Link : single character, has his own "art of" video plus videos about how to use the remote bomb
Marth and Lucina : two different characters who do not work the same due to Marth's sweetspot on the tip of his sword, only one 15-minute video for both
Thanks for making this! Of all of the "how to play Marth/Lucina" videos, you are the only one that mentions dancing blade being one of the best punishes for when an opponent fails to connect an attack on the ground. I also didn't know about the dancing blade combos you mentioned, so I'll be sure to check them out. One thing I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mention was using odd rhythms with dancing blade as a good mix up, because you even did it in your game play footage sometimes.
Out of any character I have played, Marth feels beautifully fluid and extremely fun to play, he just takes skill more than most characters.
I like how this is the best guide series on youtube
This greatly helps me and I'm glad you decided to focus on Marth too because I prefer him.
Very happy you included Marth since him and Lucina play pretty different despite having the same moves.
Sooooooo thorough. Damn, I’m not sure if there is a detail you missed! I thought I knew these characters pretty well but I challenged my ego and ended up learning so much.
I remember watching your Smash 4 Marth guide. It honestly really helped me reset my way of thinking compared to Melee and Brawl.
After having gotten back into Melee (5 months before Smash Ult. Reveal), I completely forgot how to use Marth. Even after playing Ultimate frequently, I felt like I was missing something.
I won’t lie, I refused to use a guide because I wanted to rely on myself, but as that went on, I got tired of it. I couldn’t take time to lab things myself, I have work after all, lol.
So thank you twice for teaching me and reteaching, as well as others with your hard work.
Maybe I can pick up more characters with your help, since it was definitely needed.
😄👍🏼
You can actually beat shield when hanging on ledge by double jumping in with a timed shield breaker. The hitbox will activate the moment when you touch the stage and you won't go above the stage at any point either, if done correctly. It's a mix-up sure, but can be quite devastating if it hits after the opponent has been standing with the shield active waiting for your option.
This video is two years old, I'm just starting to try out Lucina, and this is absolutely perfect information. Beautiful! Thanks!
My secondary finally gets their art of episode
Hopefully this will really advance my abilities with them!
As a Lucina main I found this video very helpful and i learn at least a few new things about how I should use this character in neutral.
I remember you have the best series to master smash bros characters since smash 4. Thanks a lot!
Dude, very good tutorial. I began playing with Lucina to get the basics down and these were some very crucial, mind the pun, tips.
You honestly make the best tutorials for smash when it comes to characters
Rare but still possible interaction is Shulk's shield art which does increase his shield strength. A fully charged sourspot marth shieldbreaker will not break it if it's at full strength just a note
Making Marth look mighty good. Maybe a top player will take the time to optimize him.
I believe, that if mastered, marth will become better than lucina
@@memeburgler187 the major problem is Marth himself,
his sour spots aren't as strong for any flowing sour spots into tippers.
Tipper hitboxes are even more slim compared to s4.
Db is inconsistent.
Struggles killing.
The character is very strong but the cons are almost even with pros. Which isn't good.
@@kuuja4345 by, "mastered" I mean consistently landing tippers, also marth can kill with fair off the level but lucina has a hard time doing that
@@memeburgler187 there is no "consistently landing tippers"....even an idle animation affects our tippers. An IDLE ANIMATION!!
Fuck you Turtle King
Great video, Izlaw. I really appreciate the way you explain how the character works and go into great detail about their mechanics while giving tips rather than just providing a guide and telling your viewer what to do without ever telling them why. This is quality content. Keep it up!
Well done and super informative. Thank you for Marth bits!
As a main Math player since melee this was really good, but I would like to add 3 things.
1. Another very safe and reliable way to recover from a ledge guarded is to drop yourself just a bit and up B towards the ledge. This allows for the recovery to knock back opponents giving you the ability to get back on with enough distance.
2. Or you can play it risky and go right into a counter from hanging on the ledge. This is also a risky but rewarding way to counter the enemy if you have noticed they recover by hitting instead of jumping/rolling.
3. I find the best combo to surprise players is always forward, up, forward, down. The knock back 4 is lessen because of the up beforehand and the fastness of the 4 gives maximum reach especially when launching target off stage at lower hp.
If you hang on the latch you can also push away from the latch and fullhop neutral b to break the Opponents shield
There is nothing more satisfying than parrying a shield breaker
I've been watching you since you ran sets with Mike Haze in Brawl (Sheik vs C. Falcon). Thanks for continuing to put out quality work; it helps the mindgame aspect of play.
Amazing as ever, and covering one of my mains, too!
Now all I need is an eventual Roy(/Chrom) guide and my life will be forever complete.
Just forgot tue shield breaker when recovering on ledge if your opponent shield, still risky but very rewarding if they stall to long
Izaw, please, for the love of God don’t stop making these videos. I had 1 person in elite smash before your videos, I know have 13. Now I’m trying to pick up Lucina and Marth. You’ve helped me learn so much and your content is just great. This is my favorite fighting of all time. Thanks broski
You’re explanation for aerials on shield were explained perfectly, helped me so much
Marth and Lucina: *exist*
Mario: *intense sweating*
Also something not mentioned that could be nice to know, shield breaker deals more damage if it hits the head hurtbox of a character. Not more knockback or shield damage but just 1.5x more percent
Brilliant tutorial mate. This and your other guides have really helped me get a better grasp on the basics of the game and improved how I play the game, keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you sir for creating the strategy video about Lucina and Marth It was really good I have to watch him more than once so that I can implement all the strategies into my game
Wow. This is the best detailed and high quality yet still beginner enough guide u have ever seen. Good work my dude.
Lucina felt like she had some Roy in there too, Seemed like a mixture of Marth and Roy
This is very helpful, know I can improve my game with Lucina.
Wow dude! That was awesome. SO much jam-packed info. Was not expecting so many usage bases to be covered. Thoroughly strong work. Much appreciated. Subbed.
Good stuff. Just one critique: Nair seems to be more prevalent in neutral. That’s not to say that Fair shouldn’t be used, but it seems to be more efficient as an aggressive tool and occasionally a means to send someone away for using a grounded option. However, when it comes to neutral, Nair is just the better tool. Super safe, essentially the DTilt of the sky. Conditions shield better, is safer, and in Marth’s case it has big kill potential. Fair seems to be what you use to antiair or threaten, or mix up landing and box around a little.
Damn, I didn't know Marth had all these neat kill set ups and high percent tech chase opportunities. Very interesting considering Lucina's most people's pick.
I guess those people can’t hit with the tipper and are more comfortable with Lucina. I prefer Marth because he’s more reliable for me.
@@tototats16 same here. I feel like Marth needs more representation. And by that I mean by really good players cause about 90% of the people trying to evolve his meta are just really bad. Not like I'm any better by that is subject to change
Marth is like a rapier. Lucina is like a broadsword.
Your tutorials are the BEST! They’re so in depth, and cover so many things. Combos are probably the most important thing that other SmashTubers don’t cover.
RIP Marth and Lucina Smash 4 Jab 1…. That move would combo into anything you wanted.
I really love Lucina's play over Marth's. I figured her Shield Break recovery in Sm4sh to be a lot more effective at getting you across the stage. Still, it's nice to pick up some new tips here and there, keep up the good work.
Many people view Lucina as a "literal clone" of Marth with nothing different, whoever there is clearly different play style and technique when you go in depth. I really appreciate it that you don't view Lucina as a "100% Marth Clone" and I am also glad that you didn't ignore Marth entirely because Lucina is higher Tier.
I love how professional these are!
first video i saw...
HOLY SHIT THAT INTRO IS DOPE
Awesome vid, really look for tech chases with these characters you can fuck up casuals really easy >:D They are fast so when your opponent has enough percent and you get a hit in, follow it up and go for a jab reset or forward/down smash
I love your tutorials izaw, they truly are helpful to a lot of people
You really detailed the key differences between them. Based on how people talk about them I could have sworn Marth was just worse Lucina, but Marth has access to a bunch of combos and scenarios that Lucina doesn’t. They’re actually pretty different for Echos!
Thanks for the vod! Its awesome to see the Discord's Marcina Mains get credit!
I wanna practise these marth combos now. Great stuff!
That ledge trap scenario is nasty, I'll have to start using that
Whenever I watch your tutorial you not only make the characters look and feel good but also you make me want to play that character. I can't thank you enough for your tutorial.