Super Smash Bros./Fox

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Super Smash Bros.SSB64.png


Introduction

SSB-Fox-Face.gif

Fox appears in SSB as a speedy but weak character. He ranks 2nd due to his speed, which is unmatched in almost every aspect. His attacks tend to have less knockback than other character's; however, this gives him excellent comboing abilities. Like Pikachu, he heavily counters four characters. Fox overall has the best setup of matchups on Hyrule, but does weaker on Dreamland as there is less room to camp and space vs gimp-based characters like Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and Captain Falcon. What separates Fox from Pikachu is Pikachu's recovery and edge-guarding ability.



Normal Move Analysis

Ground attacks

Normal
  • Neutral attack: Two paw jabs, and then a series of kicks. Very fast, easily combos into his other moves. 4% per jabs, 1% per kick. If the A button is pushed rapidly, Fox will continue to stream the kicks.
  • Dash attack: Leaps and kicks. Easily leads into up tilt, followed by whatever combo. Dash attack does 10% damage.
  • Forward tilt: Roundhouse Kick. A fast but somewhat short-ranged move, this move does 9% damage, and is good for spacing or leading into a wall combo.
  • Down tilt: Tail Trip, 12%. Leads into a side smash or neutral attack at low damage percentages. If followed with a smash attack, shine edgeguards are possible.
  • Up tilt: Vertical Kick, 9%. Fox kicks directly upwards, making his extended foot the only hitbox. This makes it a close up move, however, it is extremely useful. It can chain into itself, it is very fast, knocks the foe into the air leading into many air combos, and is the center of most of Fox's combos.
Smash Attacks
  • Side smash: Feet-First Dive. He puts his feet together and jumps forward, feet first. Decent KO power. 17%
  • Down smash: Splits. He does a fast split, which hits on both sides on the same time, and is a great horizontal killer, or set-up for edge-related kills. 14%
  • Up smash: Flip. He does a fast quick flip, with much vertical KO power. 16%
Other Attacks
  • Ledge attack- Gets up and thrusts his feet forward, like his side smash. 4% damage.
  • 100% ledge attack- Slowly rises and flip kicks. 4% damage.
  • Floor attack- Kicks on both sides and returns to his stance. 6% damage.

Aerial Attacks

  • Neutral aerial: Sex kick. Great for KO-ing and edgeguards, comes out quickly and has good range and priority 14%.
  • Forward aerial: Spin Kick. This animation is identical to his side Smash. Fantastic aerial killer. 12% damage.
  • Back aerial: Splits Kick, 12% for either front or back. Great for edgeguarding.
  • Down aerial: Drill Kick, 2% per hit, up to 7 hits. Not a good meteor smash, but if used on a grounded foe, easily chains into up tilt.
  • Up aerial: Flip Kick, 2% 1st hit, 13% second hit. Great vertical killer and juggler.

Throws

  • Forward throw- Throws foe forward with good KO power. 12%.
  • Back throw- Rolls backward and kicks the opponent off him. 15%.

Special Move Analysis

Neutral Special

Blaster: Shoots a pink laser beam that travels slower than a standard Ray Gun shot, does 5-6 damage, and has good knockback for how quick it is. The Blaster has increased fire rate while Fox is airborne allowing Fox to short hop double laser. Fox overall is considered to have the best projectile in SSB due to its hitstun and damage. This is one of the main points for why Fox is a top tier in SSB.

Up Special

Fire Fox: Fox's primary vertical recovery move and can be aimed. Fire Fox covers great distance both vertically and horizontally. However, Fire Fox only hits opponents once, not having many multiple hits during charge-up or after being executed. It is highly likely to return to the ledge of the stage by using Fire Fox to recover, due to its long traveling distance. Fox charges the move without flames around him (and was pulled down by gravity at a reduced rate), and then propelled himself with an explosion, similar to PK Thunder 2. The charging does not inflict damage.

Down Special

Reflector: Also known as "the shine", Fox's Reflector creates a blue hexagonal shield around himself. Fox can keep the Reflector active for as long as he wants, and using it in midair slows his falling speed (this works by reducing his air speed and resetting his downwards acceleration). If he used the Reflector rapidly and repeatedly in midair, Fox can negate all downward momentum and stall in one place in midair. The reflector multiplies a projectile's damage and knockback by 1.5 when reflected. If the projectile is reflected several times, his reflector may break, similar to a shield breaking. The Reflector is often used for shine spikes, which involve using the Reflector's damaging properties to knock recovering enemies downwards. It is also extremely useful against bosses, considering most of their attacks are projectiles.

While in the shine, Fox's falling speed is altered: Fox falls and accelerates more slowly. The slowed falling speed, mixed with the damaging aspect of the Reflector, can prevent Fox being juggled. Fox can also turn in midair when spamming his shine.

Basics

Advanced Strategy

Down tilt/Up tilt/Jab

The down tilt, up tilt, and jab are great ways to start combos. It is very effective (and common) to either perform a Z-canceled drill kick (down aerial) into a down tilt/up tilt/jab or perform a down tilt/up tilt/jab into a drill kick and repeat the combo. If using the down tilt, your SHZed ADA (Short Hopped Z-canceled Aerial Down A) will still be able to combo the opponent until the opponent's percentage is ~40%; you can still chain the down tilt into a full hopped ADA from there until the percentage is ~100%. Also, a up tilt is typically used to chain itself again and again until ~70% in which the opponent can escape (light characters can escape earlier). A jab is typically used at ~90% to send the opponent in the air a short distance and then finish them off with a down smash (at ~90%), up smash (at ~100%), and forward smash (at ~120%).

Off-the-Wall Chaingrabs

Conventional chaingrabbing doesn't exist in SSB due to high knockback of the grabs; however, certain characters can use the wall to repeatedly grab the opponent. Fox can do this very easily to several characters on Hyrule Castle. This tactic involves grabbing when one is slightly left of the structure on the far right side of the stage, bouncing the character off the side of the elevated area, using a short hop Z-canceled down aerial, grabbing, etc.

Short Hop Double Laser

If one's reflexes allow it, one can use Fox's laser twice in a short hop. This is useful for one's approach and counter-approach. Also, unlike in Melee, Fox's lasers stun and do 6% damage, falling down to 5% after repeated use (compared to Melee's 3% down to 1% after repeated use).

Shine Canceling

In SSB, unlike in SSBM, Fox's Shine cannot be jump canceled. Instead, one can cancel the Shine by landing during it (sometimes referred to as land-canceling). This is done by jumping and then using the Shine, but enough altitude must be gained so that the Shine's attack frames come out before landing.

Matchups

Matchups Pikachu Fox Kirby C.Falcon Mario Yoshi DK Ness Puff Luigi Link Samus Total
Fox 3.5 - 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 64.5 Fox
Pikachu Fox Kirby C.Falcon Mario Yoshi DK Ness Puff Luigi Link Samus Total