Luigi
Page 2
Characteristics
-Shield
-Running
-Roll
-Jump
-Flight Path and Falling
Cpu Tendencies
Strategies
-It's Luigi, not Mario
-The power of fire punch
Versus
-Luigi
-Mario
-DK
-Link
-Samus
-Captain Falcon
-Ness
-Yoshi
-Kirby
-Fox
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
Pros/Cons list
Final Verdict
Characteristics
Shield
Buttons: Z or hold R while on the ground.
Description: Luigi has a regular shield like most characters. It looks
like a translucent sphere that shrinks with every hit delivered on to
it. Luigi's shield is of medium size. It's not big like DK's but not
so small like Kirby's.
Running
Buttons: Tap control stick sideways while on the ground.
Description: Luigi runs. Nothing special about this run. Luigi is not
a fast runner, but isn't too slow either.
Rolling
Buttons: Z or hold R + push stick sideways
Description: For both forward and backward roll, Luigi rolls on his
back then gets up on his feet. The rolls are pretty quick.
Jump
Buttons: Tap stick upwards or press any C buttons
Description: Luigi jumps straight up for his first jump, or he will
flip backwards if you push jump and back and the same time. Luigi does
a corkscrew and somersaults at the same time for his second jump if
he move forward or straight up or he sometimes (not all the time) somersaults
backwards several times if he goes backwards while yelling "Ha-Ha!"
Luigi can jump pretty high, especially his first jump.
Flight Path and Falling
Luigi is at the middle of the pack when it comes to flight path. He doesn get sent very high like Samus or Jigglypuff, but he doesn't fly low like Link. Luigi falls relatively slowly when compared to others
Cpu Tendencies
The cpu Luigi will use all the moves available to him. He will use his smashes, throws, air moves, and specials on you. He likes his down smash a lot, so down try rolling into him. Also watch for the headbutt, because it can come out of nowhere and cause your character some extreme pain. If you block his fireballs, he'll just keep fireballing you. Don't try running straight at him when he does this because you'll just get hit a few more times. In the air Luigi will use all of his aerial arsenal to get you. Cpu Luigi also likes to use his tornado move when people get too close. He'll do this on the ground and in the air. Cpu Luigi will use his jump punch to attack you. Usually he'll miss, but sometimes he gets lucky and fire punches you. Sometimes he does this several times during a match, which will piss you off a lot. Believe it or not, cpu Luigi knows how to pull off the drill kick/fire punch combo, so watch out for that as well, even though personally I've never fallen victim to a cpu Luigi's combo. Overall, cpu Luigi is not the best cpu out there because he doesn't have any special strategies that he relies on to make your life harder.
Strategies
It's Luigi, not Mario
Luigi and Mario share many moves in the game. Many people say they are like Ken and Ryu in Street Fighters. The comparison maybe true, but as I remembered it, Ken and Ryu are basically clones of each other. Luigi is not a clone of Mario, even though they are alike in many ways. If you play Luigi like Mario, you'll miss out on the full potential of Luigi. Mario is more of a go in and bash them type of character. Luigi is more of a strategic character where you have to plan the blows carefully. It is easier to play as Mario than Luigi. I know this from personal experience. If I play both Luigi and Mario the same way, Mario will get more KOs usually. The most important part of Luigi's game is his fire punch, which we'll talk about in the next section. The tornado is also an important KO tool unlike Mario's which doesn't do much. Of course, you shouldn't neglect your smashes and air moves. The headbutt is weaker but a lot more reliable than the fire punch for getting kills.
The Power of the Fire Punch
Unless you are a newbie to smash, you probably know that Luigi can do
the fire punch, a move that can cause extensive damage and is extremely
powerful. However, this move is quite difficult to pull off correctly,
but if you want to be a Luigi master, you need to know how and when
to use this move. I'm here to give you some pointers, even though Luigi
is not one of my best characters.
As I have said before, the fire punch only works when Luigi is very
close to an opponent. The most common way to get there is using the
drill kick. It's much easier if Luigi uses the drill kick as he is moving
upwards in the air because the recovery time is much shorter this way.
If Luigi is drilling as he moves downwards (in most cases), you have
to shorten the recovery time by using Z cancel. This is quite hard to
do and even I (who play smash almost everyday for more than a year)
can't do this consistently. You know what they say, practice makes perfect.
Go into training mode and practice. Start by using DK since he's the
biggest target available. After a while you can move down to smaller
characters like Kirby. On the real battlefield, if you get Luigi to
drill kick someone, evaluate Luigi's position in relation to the target
quickly (and I mean it). If you think Luigi is not close enough, bail
out by using Luigi's aerial kicks to send the opponent away from yourself
or if on the ground, quickly send them away using any move.
The best time to use the fire punch is when an opponent (doesn matter
who, really) is between 40-90% in damage. This is a range that is considered
as moderate damage for most characters and players still think that
their characters can take a few more hits without dying. Go prove them
wrong by KOing them at like 50%. There's really no point using the punch
on someone with low damage since it won't kill, so it's not worth the
effort. If someone is at high damage (over 90%), it's easier to just
smash or air kick or even tornado their rear ends then spending the
time to try and pull off a fire punch, which might not even work.
Luigi vs...
Luigi
This is a mirror match. The two opponents have the same attributes and moves. This is purely a test of who is the better Luigi and also who is more lucky. You can't really do much if lava from Samus' stage always rises at inconvienient times.
Mario
Even though I emphasized the differences between Mario and Luigi, they are still very close to each other. Luigi doesn't have any overwhelming advantage against Mario, and vice versa. This is another situation where the better and luckier player will win.
Donkey Kong
DK is a lot more powerful than Luigi, but he's also a lot slower. Most
of DK's power moves are pretty slow and you should be able to dodge
them and counter attack. You should avoid his smashes and especially
the giant punch, which will KO almost anyone at about 60%. Beware of
DK's back throw, because unlike his other power moves, this one is pretty
fast and no less powerful. Most people aren't stupid enought to do the
kamikaze thing with DK's forward throw, but you never know. You shouldn't
be too concerned about DK spiking Luigi down since Luigi has a high
priority vertical recovery move in his jump punch. Just make Luigi fall
down a bit faster and jump for the edge.
Because DK is so heavy and therefore hard to launch off the stage, you
should raise his damage up, namely by using Luigi's fireballs, which
DK can't counter since he has no projectiles. After DK has sustained
significant damage, hit him off the stage and fireball when he tries
to come back. Chances are that Luigi's fireball will screw DK's recovery
some of the time. You can also use Luigi's headbutt to star finish DK
when he has loads of damage. DK also is an easy victims for the drill
kick/fire punch combo since he's so big, so use it when you see fit.
Anyways there aren't too many good DK players out there, so you don't
really need to worry about DK. Of course, I'm one of those people who
actually is good with DK, so don't dismiss any DK as a big slow lugging
idiot.
Link
Link is another powerhouse like DK. You, as Luigi, will want to avoid Link's powerful sword attacks, especially his down and forward smash, spin slash, and forward and down air attacks. The boomerang is annoying too, but Luigi can counter with his fireballs. When Link is above Luigi, don't try to headbutt Link because his downward sword stab has a lot of priority and getting poked in the head isn't fun. If Link tries the down A, dodge it and hit Link while he's recovering. Another opportunity is if Link tries to grab Luigi with his hookshot. Dodge the hookshot and you got Luigi a free fire punch. Since Link is quite heavy and hard to kill outright, it'll take more work to star finish him. It's much easier to kill link over the sides since Link falls fast and is bad at jumping back. Throw a few fireballs at him for good measure. Overall, Link isn't too hard to beat if you play cheap, ex. keep throwing like mad and edge guard. Just don't get sliced and diced by his Master Sword and Luigi should be alright. If Luigi gets sent off the stage sideways, then he's kind of screwed since Link is one of the best edge guarders out there, with two projectiles and his powerful arcing forward smash waiting for Luigi. Just try to make for the edge when you are trying to jump back with Luigi.
Samus
Samus is quite different from the likes of Mario and DK. She's more of a calculating type that prefers a ranged fight rather than close combat. Well, deny her the advantage of her charge shot by keeping the fight close. Luigi's smashes are more powerful than hers and Luigi has a faster grab. Try to trick Samus into use her grab. If you succeed in avoiding the beam, you get a free hit. Things to watch out for are of course Samus' charge shot, her forward smash which is quite fast, the ever so annoying screw attack and her aerial back kick. The charge shot and aerial back kick will send Luigi flying very far and you don't want that to happen. Samus is an avid spiker so make Luigi come back from below if you can. Try not to be directly above Samus because she'll probably screw attack Luigi. Screw attack has insane priority and none of Luigi's moves will go through it. And also do not run straight at Samus (that goes almost for every character, but especially Samu) because she'll probably peg Luigi with a charge shot. Anyways, keep the fight close, build her damage up, then finish her off with a power move. Samus isn't too heavy so it isn't too difficult to kill her with Luigi's power moves. She does tend to come back from hard hits so edge guarding is a must to keep her off the stage. Of course, Luigi can just use the headbutt or fire punch and kill her outright.
Captain Falcon
Falcon is another powerhouse character and he can run really fast. However,
most of this KO moves leaves him open for a long time, especially the
falcon punch. Of course, experienced Falcon players will seldom use
that move, but you still need to watch out for it. The punch will send
Luigi pretty damned far if you don't watch Falcon carefully. Luigi needs
to beware of the fire kick smash, which comes out faster than you think
and is pretty powerful. The falcon kick can also come out of nowhere
to hit you, but there's considerable recovery time for the kick, so
if Luigi dodges it, then he can counter attack. Falcon excels in the
air, so it's better for Luigi to keep it on the ground. The up A juggle
is especially annoying and is quite powerful. Falcon is capable of spiking
but he's not a very good at send downs because of his poor jumping,
but you be aware of his ability nonetheless.
Like Link, Falcon is hard to KO outright because his weight but is easy
to hitting him off the sides of the stage due to his poor recovery capabilities.
When Edge guarding Falcon, watch out for the falcon dive recovery move
that can deal 20% of damage and send Luigi flying away. Luigi has a
better grab than Falcon so feel free to turn it into a throwing contest.
Of course, these are just advices based on the character's attributes.
The most important thing that determines who wins is still the skill
of the players.
Ness
Ness players either suck very badly or are very very annoying. The basic
Ness prinicple is to hit you out with a smash or a throw, then come
out and spike you down with the powerful step kick. Or they can keep
using the step kick to step you down onto the floor, then drop down
to pop you back up, and repeat until your damage gets too high. Ness
is also good at juggling, so Luigi should avoid that too. The PK fire
can also cause headaches. When coming back against Ness, you better
cross your fingers and aim for the edge. Ness' down smash yo-yo is a
potent edge guarding tool and also coming back by floating will surely
get the attention of Ness' foot in the form of a step kick send down.
My advice is to use fireballs at close range. If Ness tries to absorb
them, then Luigi can run and throw Ness when he's recovery from the
PK shield. Ness has very powerful throws so Luigi should avoid those
as well, but it's easier said then done. Basically Luigi has nothing
on Ness so in order to win, you have to dodge a lot and out hit Ness
to win. Good thing Ness is quite light, so it wouldn't be too hard to
kill him with Luigi's power hits. Edge guarding Ness isn't easy because
of his powerful PK cannonball comeback move. You should make Luigi wait
around the edge and hit Ness back out when he is still trying to land
on the ground after the comeback move. Nesses can be real easy to beat
(they tend to self destruct a lot, especially on certain stages) or
they can be quite a challenge under the control of skilled Ness players.
Yoshi
Yoshi is quite different from any other characters out there, and beating him requires a different strategy. Anyways as Luigi, you have the advantage of the fast grab over Yoshi, so chuck him whenever you get a chance. Even so Yoshi is pretty heavy, he is quite easy to kill. Get his damage up then knock him off the stage. When he tries to jump back with his second jump and he's starting to fall downwards, jump out and kick him back out. Since Yoshi has no third jump, he's basically screwed. Do not try to hit Yoshi during the rising part of the jump because Luigi's kick is not strong enough to cancel out the jump's momentum and Yoshi could in fact spike Luigi down with his tomahawk headbutt in mid air. You don't want to get smashed by Yoshi, especially the up smash which is the most powerful smash attack for sending people over the side boundaries. Good Yoshi players will combo with the flurry kick (air down A) withe the up smash and that could do some tremendous damage. The ground pound is dangerous as well but it is easy to avoid and its slow recovery gives Luigi the chance to hit back. Luigi shouldn't be too worried about Yoshi spiking him down if you always aim for the edge with the jump punch. Some Yoshi players will try to egg you over the side. If you get turned into an egg near the edge, use the analog stick to control where the egg lands and mash the buttons to get out faster.
Kirby
Kirby is the cheapest character of all and in the hands of a skilled
player can be quite a challenge for any opponent. Kirby can out run,
out grab and out smash Luigi. Kirby's most dangerous weapon is his forward
smash lunge kick, which happens to be the most powerful forward smash
in the game and is quick and combos very nicely. Kirby's running combo
consisting of lunge kicks and tackles are very effective and hard to
escape if your damage is low. Do not get trapped between Kirby and a
wall, because Kirby will bounce Luigi against the wall like a pinball
or trap him there with his infinite combo. Kirby can also spike very
well and the lunge kick is a good edge guard so comebacks will be difficult.
Kirby's air moves are also formidable with an array of power moves and
drill kicks. The stone also hurts a lot, but you should be able to dodge
it if you pay attention and get Luigi to hit back when Kirby transforms
back.
To win agains Kirby, Luigi needs to roll a lot, get behind Kirby, and
get some hits in. Kirby is quite light so Luigi's smashes (especially
the headbutt) should make short work of Kirby. The fire punch works
too if you can pull it off. Use Luigi's fireballs against Kirby and
don't let him steal Luigi's power. Beating a skilled Kirby is not easy
with any character.
Fox
Fox is fast and nimble, and he juggles real well. Don't try to be above Fox because his juggle kick and up smash are very powerful and will kill Luigi quite easily. Fox also has his annoying blaster that he likes to peg people with. Avoid getting hit by the blaster and never run straight at Fox because he'll peg you like crazy. Luigi's fireballs can't do much since Fox can reflect them, but you can use them at close range when Fox can't react fast enough. There isn't any special trick to beat Fox. If you got more skill than the Fox player then you'll win. Luigi should be able to out smash Fox so use that to your advantage.
Pikachu
Pikachu is pretty fast and nimble also, but he doesn't juggle like Fox. Pikachu players like to throw a lot and for good reason. Pikachu has one of the fastest grabs in the game and has a very strong back throw. Pikachu is also good in the air with his electric drills and kicks. As Luigi, you should try and keep the fight on the ground where Luigi's smashes have an advantage. Pikachu's forward smash is great for edge guarding, but too slow for hand to hand combat, so make him pay by dodging the hit and then pay him back with a power move. Pikachu is pretty light, which means it's easy to star finish him using Luigi's headbutt, fire punch or tornado. Pikachu will usually recover from attempts to knock him out of the stage sideways, unless of course you send him over the boundary outright. Use Luigi's fireballs against Pikachu because his thunder jolt is a much slower move. Try to avoid being straight above Pikachu because he'll probably thunder you, which is not good news for Luigi.
Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff is an easy opponent unless the player is extremely skilled. Jiggly is basically a weakened and lightened version of Kirby with less jumping ability. Jigglypuff is simply too light to do much. He'll get killed at absurdly low percentages, especially if Luigi lands his fire punch. The two things you should watch out for against Jiggly is the up smash, which isn't any weaker than Luigi's headbutt and the drill kick/rest combo which can kill at really low damages. If Jiggly tries to drill kick Luigi when he's on the ground, teach Jiggly a lesson and give him the old headbutt, or you can dodge and counter attack. Jiggly also has a pretty good back throw, and the pound move can become annoying over time. Anyways, Jiggly shouldn't be too hard for a good Luigi player. Any of Luigi's power moves will send the pokemon flying.
Pros and Cons List
Pros:
-good jumper
-well rounded with a short game and a long (well, not very long) game
with the fireball
-got some very powerful moves in his arsenal
Cons:
-can't combo very well
-bad running attack
-fire punch hard to do
Final Verdict
Luigi is a lot like Mario but plays quite differently. He is not a beginner's character and will take lots of practice to master his power moves. Personally, I don't really like to use Luigi since it's harder to use him than some other characters.
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