SSBM/Marth

Introduction

Marth is the fifth best character in the game under Shiek, Falco, Fox and now Jugglypuff. Marth has a slight disadvantage to Sheik at higher levels of play(3-5) but get raped by her at the scrub-mid level. Marth has an even matchup with Falco and has a slight advantage over Fox with (6-4) matchup.

Marth currently ranks 5th place on the tier list due to his excellent overall speed, disjointed range, priority, power when tipped attacks are landed (particularly his f-smash and dair), juggle/combo ability (including the notorious Ken Combo), edge-guard ability, metagame, and match-ups. On the downside, he lacks a projectile (although his f-smash can break most projectiles, and his high mobility can usually compensate), and he has an easily edge-guarded recovery (although several characters also have this problem).

"A" Moves Analysis

Note that all of Marth's attacks (save his grabs and Counter) have a sweetspot at the tip of his blade. Because of this, the term "tipper" refers to the sweetspotted version of the attack.

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Swings upward, back and forth, with the first hit resembling his up-tilt. Can be chained continuously. If Marth is wearing a Bunny Hood, this attack can be chained twice as fast.
• Dash attack - A quick upward diagonal slash with medium lag with extremely high priority. 10% base, 13% tip
• Strong side - A fast forward sword swipe, much like the dash attack with less lag and a higher angle.
• Strong up - Swings his sword in a large arc above his head, front to back. Good for setting up a Ken Combo. Non-tipped is a good KO move. Looks like the first hit of his neutral attack, though aims a bit higher. It also bears resemblance to his forward tilt. 9% base. 12% tip
• Strong down - A quick crouching sword poke. Good for ground edge guard because it semi-spikes and usually it makes the opponent waste their midair jump while Marth can then edge guard. 9% base. 10% tip

Smash

• Side smash - Rotates body counter-clockwise with a strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground, similar to the animation of his neutral special. Very fast and long ranged. The tip is on top knockback.
• Up smash - A powerful upward thrust.
• Down smash - Sweeps his sword on the ground toward the front then toward the back. If tipped it sends opponents upward with high vertical knockback, star KOing opponents at high percentage, and its one of the strongest down smash in the game. If hit at the base, it sends opponents with low horizontal knockback, but it can still KO at high percentage.

Other

• Ledge attack - Flips onto ledge with a quick downward diagonal slash from left to right. 6% base. 8% tip.
• 100% ledge attack - Quick, low, horizontal slash with medium lag. Less range than normal ledge attack. 10% base and tip.
• Floor attack (from back) - Quick stab to the left followed by horizontal slash to the right. 6% base and tip.
• Floor attack (from stomach) - Sweeps the tip of his sword on the ground front to back. Less range than floor attack from back. 6% base and tip.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Two horizontal slashes around himself. Both hits connect easily, can follow up into each other.
• Forward aerial - Forward vertical slash (up to down). This attack sends opponents upward if tipped.
• Back aerial - Bottom to top sword slash behind him.
• Up aerial - A forward to back upward sword slash. Hit from close is as powerful as the tip but from medium distance is still weak.
• Down aerial - A forward to back downward sword slash. A great spike when tipped.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel - repeatedly knees opponent 2% damage.
• Forward throw - Grabs and pushes forward, tripping with the leg. 4% damage.
• Down throw - Hooks arm and drags to the floor sending the opponent backward. Set ups tipper forward smash at low percentages. 5% damage.
• Back throw - Pulls and extends leg simultaneously. 4% damage.
• Up throw - Powerful upward throw with one arm, though does not kill until damages higher than 150%. 4% damage.

"B" Moves List

B-This is used to break down a shield, edgeguard or when a Fair or Dair is inapplicable. Use carefully though because of the lag after the move.

6B-Known as the Dancing Blades. Holding the control stick down while performing it will lead to different effects.

2B-A counter attack move while Marth shines. If the opponent attacks during this duration, a counterattack starts. Don't spam this move as it is highly punishable.

UpB- Dolphin Slash

Strategies

Match-ups

Serious Advantage Match-ups

Zelda, Mew2, Yoshi, Ness, G&W

Advantage Match-ups

Peach, IC, Doc, Mario, Samus, Pikachu, Mario, Luigi, DK, Link, Y.LInk, Roy

Fair Match-ups

Fox, Falco, C.Falcon, Ganon

Disadvantage Match-ups

Puff, Sheik

Serious Disadvantage Match-ups

None