SSBM/Marth

Overview Combos Matchups Strategy Resources VODs Discord Cookbook

Edit Introduction

Introduction

Marth is a mid range monster. Being rewarded for proper spacing like no other character with his tipper mechanic (where he deals increased damage and knockback when hitting his opponent with the tip of his massive sword), an obscenely large grab range which can convert into touch of death combos, and the best grounded movement option in the game by far in his dash, there's a reason Marth has been a consistent sight at the highest levels of play throughout Melee's history.

When Marth dashes, he leans forward dramatically. This causes a Low ProfileA move or action that greatly shrinks a character's hurtbox, to avoid certain moves that would hit a normal stance otherwise. effect wherein everything besides his ankles instantly move out of the way of any attack or grab that might be coming his way. This, along with by far the best disjoint and grab of any top tier, and the ability to instantly threaten these all in conjunction with each other mid dash, combine to make him feel almost impossible to open up in neutral.

Furthermore, due to his gigantic sword, Marth has an extremely oppressive and difficult to escape advantage state. Being below the other character, or juggling them, is always good in Melee. For Marth, it's checkmate.

However, Marth is nearly as easily juggled as he is potent at keeping you above him. Think of Marth as a porcupine, if you're under him there are no spikes protecting him. There is also the infamous "Marthritis", where if a Marth player misses an edge guard or drops a combo, finishing their opponent's stock will be much harder than you might initially suspect. This is because he doesn't have great stray hit kill moves to throw out to minimize his losses. Finally, tricky movement from his opponents can cause him to misspace, a potential death sentence for a Marth.

In summary, Marth elegantly dances around his opponents, striking from far outside of their range and seeming to remain virtually untouchable in neutral. However, once he's hit or grabbed things can go from bad to worse very quickly.

Strengths

Weaknesses

A Big Sword Big, completely disjointed hitboxes mean that Marth walls out the majority of the cast, and forces everyone else to work around his buttons. Strong Advantage State: Marth can keep someone in the air or in the corner and is able to edgeguard most of the cast very effectively Movement: A low dashdance and long wavedash give Marth phenomenal mix ups in neutral and make him very hard to hit. Grab: Probably the best one in the game. High range and reward, excellent out of ASDI down. What more could you want? Tons Of Hitboxes To Work With: Different properties and angles depending on what part of Marth's sword hits gives him access to a variety of options to punish.

Difficulty At Ledge: A max 4 GALINTShorthand for "Grounded Actionable Ledge Intangibility", which is the number of actionable intangible frames after a ledgedash ledgedash and few invincible options out of it lets characters challenge Marth safely and keep him in the corner. Moderate Weakness To CC: Even spaced Marth’s main neutral tools can be favourably called out with fast movement out of CC or by moving inside of sourspot range. Bad Shield: Marth's normal shield leaves large parts of his hurtbox exposed even at full shield health, making him more susceptible to shield poking than most other characters, and his slow attacks leave him with very few good out of shield options against opponents who respect shieldgrab.

Note: Hitbox Priority is especially relevant to Marth, and his framedata heavily features information on specific hitboxes.

Physics
Weight	87 (16th)
Fall Speed	2.2/Fast 2.5 (6th)
Gravity	0.085 (19th)
Ground Movement
Walk Speed	1.6 (1st)
Initial Dash Speed	1.5 (9th)
Initial Dash Length	15f (2nd)
Run Speed	1.8 (5th)
Traction	0.06 (15th)
Jumping
Jumpsquat	4f (8th)
Jump Height	Full 35.09/Short 13.995/Air 25.188 (7th/12th/15th)
Air Speed	0.9 (12th)
Air Acceleration	0.05 (12th)

Ground Moves

Jab

Slash
Jab (5A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
4	4	21	19	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
4/6	20/30	50/60	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-18/-16
Marth's fastest grounded normal, can be very unsafe on hit on a grounded opponent. Mostly used to EdgeguardThe act of preventing the opponent from safely returning to the stage., catching SpaciesA nickname for the Star Fox characters of SSB (Fox, Falco, Wolf). side-b or denying grabbing ledge from above. Note: Recovery able to be cancelled into Jab2 after 11 frames

Counter Slash
Jab 2 (5AA)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
4	5	20	18	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
4/6	20/30	50/60	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-18/-16
Follow up for Jab 1. Note: Recovery able to be cancelled into Jab 1 after 10 frames

Dash Attack

Raid Chop
d.A

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
12	4	35	25	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
11/9/13	70/35/70	55/60/55	110/361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./110	slash	-21/-18
A long-ranged, laggy, lunging dash attack with niche applications in neutral and punish. Because Marth lunges forward so far horizontally, the move can be used to catch opponents' landings, and can be used mid-combo to follow-up on opponents who attempt to DI or drift away from Marth. Additionally, it sometimes sees use as an extremely high-risk callout against an opponent's dashback. However, its long recovery essentially makes it death on whiff, on shield, or on crouch cancel, meaning it should really only be used in punish scenarios where it is certain to connect.

fTilt

Sharp Edge
fTilt (t.6A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
7	4	26	26	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
9/13	30/60	70	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-22/-19
An infrequently-used but situationally-useful tilt. fTilt covers roughly the same amount of space in front of Marth as fSmash while being significantly safer on shield when properly-spaced, making it effective at keeping slower characters cornered. Additionally, the tipper hitbox can kill at higher percents, and the upward sweeping motion of the move allows it to cover ledge during its first few active frames. That being said, the move is still usually quite unsafe to whiff and has little utility in neutral due to its slow IASA.

uTilt

Anti-Air Slash
uTilt (t.8A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
6	7	35	27	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
early: 9/9/8/12 clean: 10/9/9/13	early: 40/40/40/50 clean: 40/30/30/50	early: 120/118/116/100 clean: 120/118/116/100	early: 110/361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./110 clean: 85/361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./85	slash	-19 to -14
A fast and versatile move with several different useful hitboxes, uTilt can be used as a launcher, a combo move, and a kill move on different characters at different percentages. It can also be used to counteract slideoff DI. The knockback angle sends the opponent behind Marth, meaning the move will send the opponent straight upward if they attempt to DI away. As such, Marth can mix up the opponent's DI quite easily by simply changing the direction he is facing before performing the move.

dTilt

Low Stab
dTilt (t.2A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
7	3	40	11	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
9/8/8/10	40/25/20/50	40	30	slash	-7/-6
One of Marth's most powerful neutral tools, acting as a very safe poke due to its large hitbox and very fast IASA in conjunction with Marth's excellent dashback making it very difficult to punish without a hard callout, even on crouch cancel. Also a useful edgeguarding tool as its low hitbox goes below the stage and can prevent many characters from grabbing ledge without precise movement and can prevent some characters from grabbing ledge outright.

fSmash

Dragon Killer
fSmash (s.4/6A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
10	4	37	35	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
14/20	60/80	70	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-29/-26
Tippered fSmash is Marth's most powerful kill move. Fast, massive, excellent killing power, can be comboed into consistently, and creates a massively advantageous edgeguard scenario even if it doesn't kill outright. To compensate, it is very laggy and leaves Marth wide open to being punished on whiff.

uSmash

Justice Sword
Who in the fuck is Thundercats
uSmash (s.8A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
13	4	39	30	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
8/15/18	0/30/60	0/80/80	70/90/90	normal/slash/slash	-27/-22
Slower, laggier, and barely stronger than uTilt with a much worse hitbox, uSmash is almost never used. The hitbox doesn't even reach the end of Marth's sword. This move is mainly used as a flashy combo-ender and has little utility otherwise. Note: id0/1 have 100 set kb

dSmash

Whirlwind Blade
dSmash (s.2A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
hit 1: 5 hit 2: 20	hit 1: 3 hit 2: 3	43	40	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
hit 1: 11/11/11/16 hit 2: 11/11/11/16	hit 1: 70/20/16/70 hit 2: 70/30/15/70	hit 1: 72/100/100/100 hit 2: 72/100/100/100	hit 1: 75/361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./70 hit 2: 75/361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./75	slash	Hit 1:-50/-46 Hit 2: -35/-31
Very powerful and fast kill move, but difficult to space and very punishable on hit if not tippered or if whiffed due to its extremely long duration. Because the tipper hitbox is one of the strongest vertical kill moves in the game, it is often Marth's best rest punish, and also sees occasional use in niche tech chase setups. Otherwise, it is mostly relegated to showing off.

Aerial Moves

nAir

Double Slash
nAir (j.5A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
hit 1: 6 hit 2: 15	hit 1: 2 hit 2: 7	29	29	15 L-cancelled: 7	<6 24>
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
hit 1: 4/4 hit 2: 10	hit 1: 30/30 hit 2: 50/50	hit 1: 40/40 hit 2: 80/80	hit 1: 100/90 hit 2: 361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	hit 1: slash/normal hit 2: slash/normal	-2
Marth's nAir is an excellent and safe neutral tool due to its large, powerful hitboxes and its early autocancel window. Although it has a slight deadzone in front of Marth above where his sword is, it has excellent horizontal range and is his most active aerial, allowing him to effectively stuff out most aerial approaches and oppress most characters in the mid-range. In addition to leniently covering approaches, it also works as an approach tool with proper fastfall timing and spacing. Can occasionally be used out of shield, though the weak first hit can allow for a savvy opponent to hard punish with a read.

fAir

Aerial Swipe
un-fAir
fAir (j.6A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
4	4	27	23	15 L-cancelled: 7	<1 26>
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
10/9/13	30/20/42	70	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./67	slash	-3/0
Marth's fAir is arguably his best and most versatile move, being excellent for comboing and edgeguarding and invaluable in neutral due to its good framedata, excellent hitbox, and low landing lag. Although it is less active than nAir, fAir covers a huge area in front of, somewhat above, and slightly below Marth, and recovers so quickly that Marth can perform two of them in one shorthop. This means that, with proper spacing and timing, it can be used both aggressively to smother and oppress opponents as well as defensively to stuff out aerial approaches. Along with its versatility in neutral, it is also one of the most important moves in Marth's punish game. Both the tipper and non-tipper hitboxes can extend combos, with the non-tipper hitboxes being especially useful for comboing into stronger finishers - it is used to set up Marth's infamous Ken combo, along with being one of his best moves to confirm into tipper fSmash and reverse Dolphin Slash. Additionally, it is one of the main reasons why Marth is among the best edgeguarders in the game, as its long range, speed, and (weak-hit) knockback angle make it extremely effective at securing kills offstage.

bAir

About Face
bAir (j.4A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
7	5	29	24	24 L-cancelled: 12	<1 31>
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
10/9/9/13	30/25/10/30	70	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-7/-6
Used in edgeguards to guarantee a launch further offstage, often from ledge. Reverse hit is a stylish extender. Interestingly, it is one of two aerials in the game that will turn the user around in the air (the other being Roy's bAir). As such, Marth players sometimes use it to turn around in the air to face the ledge while edgeguarding.

uAir

Luna Slash
uAir (j.8A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
5	4	38	38	15 L-cancelled: 7	<5 26>
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
10/9/9/13	30/20/18/40	70	80/80/80/90	slash/slash/slash/normal	-3/0
Stellar move for juggling, low landing recovery can allow for covering multiple options at once if done late and a massive rising hitbox covers more horizontal space than one might expect. Can work for up close shield pressure due to its low landing lag and high shield stun. Additionally, the weak hit serves as one of Marth's best confirms into tipper fSmash at higher percents. Incredible tool when techchasing all but the floatiest characters on platforms, especially past the slide-off percent range, or in combination with uTilt/t.8a to catch slide-off attempts.

dAir

Half Moon
dAir (j.2A)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
6	4	51	51	15 L-cancelled: 7	<6 47>
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
10/9/13	30/20/42	70	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./67	slash	-10
dAir is an excellent combo ender, being powerful, fast, and a SpikeAn attack that sends down at an angle outside of the meteor smash range, and thus cannot be meteor cancelled.. It also has niche use as an out of shield option as it is fast and has special knockback properties, but if whiffed it is very unsafe due to its long duration.

Special Moves

Shield Breaker

Shield Breaker
nB (5[B])
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
16-137	6	24	24	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
7/12/17/22/27/28	30/34/40	100	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash/burn	-23/-21
Holding B charges the move, increasing damage and changing properties upon a full charge. Charging the move also increases knockback and shield damage depending on how long it has been charged. Although its startup is unremarkable compared to Marth's other moves even when uncharged, its deceptively long range gives it utility as an edgeguarding tool offstage. The charged version also sees occasional use as an option to cover opponents attempting to land onstage while recovering.

Dancing Blade

Dancing Blade 1
sideB (4/6B)
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
6	3	22	22	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
4	55	25	85/96/80/76	slash	-19
First part of Marth's rekka, also used to confirm into t.8a/uTilt for kills on floaties but very punishable if crouch cancelled. It is also an essential component to Marth's recovery, with repeated uses in the air allowing him to slow his descent while moving forward towards the stage. Below is a list of properties important to keep in mind while using Dancing Blade 1 to recover: Using Dancing Blade in the air: Reduces Marth's horizontal velocity by a factor of x0.8 Reduces Marth's gravity to 0.06 for the duration of the move Reduces Marth's max fall speed to -1.5 for the duration of the move Reduces marth's air friction to 0.0025 for the duration of the move The first use of Dancing Blade 1 in the air will slightly propel Marth upwards with a vertical velocity of 1. Subsequent uses of Dancing Blade 1 will merely slow Marth's descent by making his vertical velocity 0. Marth must land normally onstage in order to reset the aerial momentum properties of Dancing Blade 1. In other words, he must land onstage without using an aerial or special attack for his next use of Dancing Blade 1 to propel him upwards (this can be accomplished by wavedashing, wavelanding, or jumping onstage without performing a move). An essential component of Marth's recovery is mixing up when and where you use your first and second instances of Dancing Blade 1. Because Marth is vulnerable for 19 frames after using Dancing Blade 1, it is commonly advised to avoid using the move predictably while close to the stage, as this essentially gives your opponent a free edgeguard. The properties of Dancing Blade 1 allow Marth to recover from somewhat far away assuming he has enough height, but mixing up the timing of your double jump, Dancing Blade 1 usage, and up-B are vital to mastering Marth's recovery. Note: Cancellable into Dancing Blade 2 frames 7-25.

Dancing Blade 2 (Forward)
Dancing Blade 1 > 6B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
14	3	25	25	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
5	16	100	105/80/70/50	slash	-22
Note: Cancellable into Dancing Blade 3 frames 16-32

Dancing Blade 2 (Up)
Dancing Blade 1 > 8B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
12	4	26	26	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
5	20/60/70/85	40	90/90/85/79	slash	-24
Sometimes can be useful against opponents who crouch cancelled Dancing Blade 1 if they don't expect you to perform a followup, but is still susceptible to crouch cancelling itself. Note: Cancellable into Dancing Blade 3 frames 16-31

Dancing Blade 3 (Forward)
Dancing Blade 2 > 6B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
11	4	32	32	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
10	0	160	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-29
Although relatively unsafe and telegraphed, this variant of Dancing Blade 3 is a surprisingly strong horizontal kill move. It sees niche usage as a finisher against opponents caught by either of the first two hits of Dancing Blade, or as a chump-check at high percents against players who don't respect the range or variable timing of the move. However, its long recovery (as well as the long recovery of all variants of Dancing Blade 4) means that it is extremely unsafe on shield or on whiff. No matter how funny or goofy it is when it works, throwing out Dancing Blade carelessly to fish for this will almost definitely get you killed. Note: Cancellable into Dancing Blade 4 frames 15-36

Dancing Blade 3 (Up)
Dancing Blade 2 > 8B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
13	5	23	23	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
6	60	60	80	slash	-29
Note: Cancellable into Dancing Blade 4 frames 17-37

Dancing Blade 3 (Down)
Dancing Blade 2 > 2B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
15	4	32	32	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
12	50	100	270	slash	-24
A strong meteor smash with a surprising amount of pushback on shield. Despite this, it is still extremely unsafe on whiff and usually unsafe on shield, and has little utility outside of being occasionally used as a swaggy edgeguard. Note: Cancellable into Dancing Blade 4 frames 18-34

Dancing Blade 4 (Forward)
Dancing Blade 3 > 6B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
23	4	24	24	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
14	15	120	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-19
If your opponent somehow dropped their controller, failed to DI out of any of the preceding hits of Dancing Blade, and gets hit by this, they'll probably explode. A strong horizontal kill move that is way too unsafe to be practical in most scenarios.

Dancing Blade 4 (Up)
Dancing Blade 3 > 8B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
20	6	25	25	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
10	40	140	80	slash	-20
A decently strong vertical kill move that, like the 6 version of Dancing Blade 4, is probable death on whiff or on shield most of the time. However, if your opponent does let you get this off, the surprisingly high vertical range could catch them through platforms or even out of their fullhop. You should never try to do that on purpose, though, because Marth has about a dozen other moves that serve as safer and more practical anti-airs or platform pokes.

Dancing Blade 4 (Down)
Dancing Blade 3 > 2B
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
13,19,25,31,37	3,3,3,3,2	22	22	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
3,3,3,3,5	2,2,2,2,20	40,40,40,40,130	80,80,80,80,361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-19
Probably the most practical of the three Dancing Blade 4 variations. If you use any variation of Dancing Blade 3 onstage and your opponent shields it, finishing with Dancing Blade 4-2 results in shield pokes somewhat often depending on their spacing, which may occasionally save you from being punished. Additionally, this variation has the most horizontal range and deals the most damage. If you mix up the timing of your Dancing Blade strikes, the range and high number of active frames may catch your opponent trying to whiff punish too early. Otherwise, you really shouldn't be trying to use this on purpose, as it is still very unsafe.

Dolphin Slash

Dolphin Slash
upB (8B)
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
5	6	-	-	32	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
Clean: 13/10 Late: 7/7/6	Clean: 80/60 Late: 20	Clean: 70 Late: 90	Clean: 361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./74 Late: 361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit./74/74	Clean: slash Late: slash/slash/normal	Clean: -82 Late: -53
A very fast and fairly powerful move with full intangibility on frame 5 but struggles to break Amsah techs. Can be angled and reversed, and can grab ledge from frame 22. Its strong horizontal knockback makes it one of Marth's best combo finishers when tipper dAir and tipper fSmash aren't available, and it can kill at disgustingly low percents when used as a DI mixup. It is also Marth's fastest option out-of-shield, and can be somewhat safe even if whiffed if he is able to land on a high platform (such as the top platforms of Battlefield and Dreamland). Otherwise, whiffing it onstage is usually a death sentence as it leaves Marth in lots of lag and with no airjump if he is unable to land.

Counter

Counter
downB (2B)
(AIR OK)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
Counter: 5 Hitbox: 3	Counter: 25 Hitbox: 7	Counter: 31 Hitbox: 27	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
7	90	35	361Sakurai Angle, grounded hit sends at 0° under 32 KB, 44° above 32.1 KB; and always sends at 45° on aerial hit.	slash	-
Because of its relatively large activation window and filthy knockback angle, Counter serves as a strong edgeguarding tool against spacies and a few other characters with long-lasting hitboxes on their recoveries. It is notoriously difficult to sweetspot around, and the hit of the counter itself is very awkward to tech. However, it is not without faults; the grounded version of Counter has deadzones both in the front and back (the larger being in the front) where Marth can get hit. As a result, some Marth players opt to do a reverse instant aerial counter, which lacks these deadzones and extends the activation hitbox below the ledge. It also sees niche usage as a landing mixup and an option off of the ledge, as these are two areas where Marth is particularly weak. In these scenarios, Counter can catch an overzealous opponent attempting to hit Marth right away. However, if it gets baited out, the move is so laggy that the opponent basically gets whatever punish they want. Use Counter in these scenarios with discretion. Interestingly, if Marth has shielded at any point during the current stock and an opponent activates Counter with a grounded move while Marth is facing left, the Invisible Ceiling Glitch (ICG) will be active until the opponent lands. This allows for an incredibly niche technique known as the Swordsman Spike. If Marth hits the opponent again with any attack while they are in the air after being hit by Counter, they will be sent downward as a result of the ICG.

Grabs & Throws

Grab

Grab
Grab (Z)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
7	2	23	23	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
The best grab in the game due to its massive hitbox and Marth's excellent throws

Dash Grab

Dash Grab
d.Grab (d.Z)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
10	2	29	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Not usually worth using due to its inferior speed and recovery when compared to jump cancel Grab.

Pummel

Pummel
g.A

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
-	-	-	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
3	-	-	-	normal	-

fThrow

Bounce
fThrow (g.6)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
-	-	-	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
4	70	45	50	normal	-
Excellent throw against FloatiesCharacters that do not fall fast (everyone except Fox, Falco, and Captain Falcon, who are known as the "fastfallers") and sets up reaction tech chases against fastfallers.

bThrow

Throw Away
bThrow (g.4)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
-	-	-	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
4	70	60	117	normal	-
Sends at a worse angle for setting up an edgeguard, but can combo into a stronger move like fTilt or fSmash if a spacie misses their DI in the corner, or bAir on midfallers at mid-high percents.

uThrow

Emblem Toss
uThrow (g.8)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
-	-	-	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
4	60	130	93	normal	-
Invaluable for marth's punish game, especially against spacies where it's used to chaingrab and is an excellent combo starter. Also sets up platform techchases.

dThrow

Slam
dThrow (g.2)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
-	-	-	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
5	65	50	135	normal	-
Mostly used to throw offstage and set up techchase scenarios in the corner. Usually preferable to bThrow due to its superior framedata and launch angle.

Universal Mechanics

Spotdodge

Spotdodge
2L/R

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
2	17	10	10	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Roll Forwards

Roll Forwards
6L/R

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
4	16	17	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Roll Backwards

Roll Backwards
4L/R

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
4	20	13	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Tech-in-Place

Tech-in-Place
5L/R

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	20	7	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Forwards Tech Roll

Forwards Tech Roll
6L/R

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	20	21	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Distance: 15.2

Backwards Tech Roll

Backwards Tech Roll
4L/R

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	20	21	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Distance: 15.2

Neutral Getup (Back)

Neutral Getup (Back)
L/8 (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	22	8	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Getup Attack (back)

Getup Attack (back)
A (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
20,30	4,2	18	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Getup Roll Forwards (back)

Getup Roll Forwards (back)
6 (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
6	14	18	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Distance: 12.2

Getup Roll Backwards (back)

Getup Roll Backwards (back)
4 (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	19	16	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Distance: 10

Neutral Getup (stomach)

Neutral Getup (stomach)
L/8 (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	22	8	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Getup Attack (stomach)

Getup Attack (stomach)
A (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
22,27	2,2	21	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-

Getup Roll Forwards (stomach)

Getup Roll Forwards (stomach)
6 (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	19	16	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Distance: 11.4

Getup Roll Backwards (stomach)

Getup Roll Backwards (stomach)
4 (when knocked down)

First Active	Active	Recovery	IASA	Landing Lag	Autocancel
1	19	16	-	-	-
Damage	Base Knockback	Knockback Growth	Angle	Effect	On Shield
-	-	-	-	-	-
Distance: 11.4

Notable Players

Zain

Comfortably the best active Marth and in contention for #1 player in the world currently. Famous for his mastery of the Marth-Fox matchup in which he remained unbeaten from June 2019 until Mang0 finally beat him in July 2021 at Summit 11

• vods.co
  
• Twitch

KoDoRiN

Marth #2, with a considerably different playstyle to Zain.

• vods.co
  
• Twitch

Colors