The Star Fox - Advanced Fox Tutorial

This guide is up to date as of January 28th, 2015. it may not be applicable to further versions(assuming there is an update).

Table of Contents(use ctrl-f)
[intr] - Introduction
[prcn] - Why you should play as fox/pros/cons
[atk] - Attacks
[cmbs] - Combos
[ttat] - Techniques, Tips, and Tricks
[strg] - Strategy
[cncl] - Conclusion (also some info on how to beat fox)

I. Introduction [intr]
Hey hey- this is my first guide for smash, but not my first guide. I'll try to keep this easy to understand, but also in depth and useful. This guide is mainly for players who already have a solid understanding of smash and fox, but really anybody can learn from this guide.

so a little about myself, I've played smash for... 6 years, and I've been to numerous competitions. In melee I played as falco, and in brawl I played as falco. I took up fox in this game because from the start I liked how he plays, and I love the space animals.

Terms to know:
-Fair - forward air
-Nair - neutral air, also known as standard air
-Bair - back air
-Uair - up air
-FThrow -forward throw
-UThrow - up throw
-DThrow - down throw
-BThrow - back throw
-gimp - to block someones recovery by intercepting them off stage
-short hop - quickly tapping the jump button in order to use aerial attacks on ground foes
-combo - I use this word lightly, these are not the same as true combos. a series of attacks
-true combo - a combo that cannot be escaped under any circumstances
-DI - directional influence, the direction you point the analog stick in various situations
-prone - when hit by some attacks, and theres a failed tech, the opponent lands on their back and is open to hits
-tech - pressing an attack button before landing on the ground after being hit, preventing the character from ending in prone on the ground.

If there are any other words you are not familiar with, I recommend you look at the smash dictionary on these forums, its very useful for those unfamiliar with smash jargon blah blah.

II. Why you should play as fox/pros/cons [prcn]

Before you learn this character, it's crucial to know that you will NOT be getting easy KOs with fox. You will have to work very hard to get your KOs, and you will need to devote a lot of time to learn how to use him. He is not like many high-tier characters where you just spit out the same combos over and over again and get easy KOs. However, if you do devote the time, it will be worth it.

Pros:
-Maneuverability... Fox has one of the fastest run speeds and most versatile recoveries in the game
-KO Potential.... Fox can reliably KO at around 80-90% with easy to land moves
-Combo Potential... He can combo opponents at 0% up to 50% in a matter of seconds, and then further combos for more damage.

Cons:
-Bad Match-ups....Fox DOES NOT do well against floaty characters, and his combos can mostly be avoided with proper DI
-Getting KOs... although he has reliable kill moves, a clever opponent knows how to avoid them. his kill combos do not work after a certain percent which makes it very difficult to KO an opponent with 125%+ damage
-Learning Curve.... Fox is very hard to learn how to play as

III. Attacks [atk]
You will find that many great characters have one or two excellent moves, and the whole strategy is about utilizing and exploiting those as efficiently as possible. Fox is simply nothing like that. He has no one move that is particularly amazing. However, he has many many good attacks that all need to be kept in mind. None of the strategies I will discuss will be central around one move.

The Moves-
Format:
move [damage%] - description

Standard:
jab[2%] - a quick jab, nothing amazing
jab x2[2%, 1%] - two quick jabs, excellent for set ups
jab x3 [2%, 1%, .5%--, 2%] - absolutely awful, the worst multi hit, fox's worst attack. never use it
FTilt [6%] - good for combos, use it at around 60% to force opponent into prone
DTilt [7%-8%] - Same as FTilt, except better for combos.
UTilt [9%] - One of Fox's best moves, excellent for combos and set ups. use often
Dash Attack [4%-6%] - good for combos and set ups, but dash USmash is often better
Get up [7%] - decent, I prefer using the side B for edge recovery though

Smashes:
Up Smash [16%-22%] - Main kill move, be careful though, it has a lot of downtime
Side smash [14%-19%] - decent kill move and combo tool
Down smash [14%-19%] - has nice launch angle, but only really used to punish rolls

Aerials:
Nair [9%] - excellent, safe move that's good for spacing. use with short hops often
Dair [1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 3%] - combo tool, very easy to land. can be used to frame trap opponents who jump to edge recover.
Fair [2%, 1%, .5%, .5%, 3%] - Nice for combos and stopping recoveries
Bair [13%] - hard to land, but decent for kills. I don't use this as often as some
Uair [5%, 11%] - good combo finisher, great KO move at around 115%, EXCELLENT DAMAGE(16% total, damn!)

Specials:
standard [1%-3%] - good at a distance to apply pressure. not that great for damage
side [3%] - nice for recovery, does not put into helpless. rarely use for offense
up [8%-28%] - last resort for recovery, deals a lot of damage though. still hard to land
down [2%] - ill talk more about this in the advanced technique section

Grabs: (note: he has some of the worst grabs in the game)
up throw [8%] - crap, don't use it
down throw [9%] - good for combos, but requires a failed tech
forward throw [7%] - same as down throw
back throw [8%] - also crap.
I only use his throws to get opponents of the stage, and for a few good combos

IV. Combos [cmbs]
Fox has many combos, but his are a bit more complicated than most. Depending on your opponent's DI, you will have to decide which combos to use /as/ you use the combo. This is what makes him such a complicated character, and his lack of true combos only makes this problem worse.

Format:
attack -> next attack [percent it works at].... description (requires tech/DI or blank)
you can tell when they failed a tech if they land on their back

SO LETS GET STARTED~
Dash attack -> UTilt [0%-25%] ..... his most stereotypical combo, most people will predict this

UTilt -> UTilt [10%-45%] .... also very common, but still very useful. keep in mind that each UTilt deals 9% damage(unless they're infront of you, then its 6%). so that's a lot of damage fast. do not use too many times, or else they will punish the greedy UTilt with an aerial. This combo KICKS ASS when your opponent loses their jump

UTilt -> jab x2 -> Grab ->FThrow ->dash attack/USmash [30%-45%].... this is a fun combo because you can combine the other combos to make this. you can also continue the Dash attack -> UTilt after this and repeat it, but it requires your opponent to fail their tech after the FThrow. even so, I prefer to end this combo with the USmash because of the damage. (requires tech after FThrow)

UTilt -> USmash [0%-45%]... the most common finisher for UTilt combos, use when the jab combo above wouldn't work because of position.

Dair -> UTilt [0%-50%]... I see this combo used far too many times, in situations that they really shouldn't. this combo is overrated IMO. only use it if you're going to land with your opponent behind you and you have no better options. DO NOT attempt to use this combo unless you are forced into that situation, this means do not intentionally try to land this combo from the start. it is a bad idea and the Dair has too much landing lag for it to be worth it.

UTilt -> Fair/Uair [45%+]... this is the combo to use when you're opponent has too much damage for anymore UTilt combos.

DThrow -> Fair -> Uair/Fair [0%-30%]... another stereotypical fox combo, deals a lot of damage though. (requires DI read after first Fair)

FThrow -> dash attack/USmash [40%-70%]... this one is heavily dependent on your opponents DI, and the higher their damage is, the less likely you will be able to follow up with the USmash. (requires tech)

Dair -> USmash [80%-110%]... This is your main KO combo, and I recommend you master it. in order for this to work, you need to first short hop, then use the Dair. DO NOT use the Dair immediately after you jump, or they will get knocked too far back. Wait half a second and then use it at the top of the jump. if you do it correctly, your opponent will get knocked back and land in prone REGARDLESS of their DI, but they can still tech(it's really hard to though). then follow with a dashed USmash for the KO. once your opponent goes over 110% and this combo doesn't work anymore, it becomes very complicated to kill them. I try to use this after reading a roll dodge or some smash attacks, but if they fail a smash attack, it might be easier to just go for the dashed USmash. (requires tech)

Nair -> USmash [100%+]... this is your second option when the above combo doesn't work. this works at all percents above 100% or so but its a lot harder to land than the above combo. Make sure not to hit them right away with the Nair, let it go a bit old first so that there's less knockback (forcing them into prone). (requires tech)

DTilt -> dash attack [30%-50%]... a decent combo, but very situational. it can be hard to land the DTilt. (requires tech)

DTilt -> grab [0%-30%]... you have to catch your opponent off guard for this to work. this is the same as the above combo except there is no tech involved, so it can be easily countered.

FThrow/DThrow/BThrow -> standard B [0%+]... this is just a fallback combo if your opponent avoids with DI or if you're forced to throw them off the stage. use a shorthop before the blaster.

V. Techniques, Tips, and Tricks [ttat]

Shine Drifting - I found this technique fairly quickly and have seen it in many tournaments. I don't know the official name, so im just calling this technique shine drifting. Basically it works by using the down B (shine) immediately after regaining control after being in knockback. This makes fox drift in the air slightly up. When you first learn this, it seems really useless. The drift is a rather small distance, but it is more useful than many realize. When someone is trying to combo you into the air, they score the combo by guessing where you will be and aiming for that area. using the shine drift not only allows you to dodge out of the air, but it also delays your fall back to the ground. You can avoid most aerial attacks with this tech and I recommend you keep it in mind often.

Shine cancelling - OH MY GAWD ITS IN SMASH 4... well no not really. at least not like it was in melee. anyways you can cancel out of a shine with any move if and only if the shine has been hit by a projectile. this isn't that useful... I've only actually used it once

Shine stalling - the shine slows down your recovery while falling, you can surprise an opponent and avoid their attack by using this while attempting vertical recovery. Don't spam this or it will get predictable. you can also let go of an edge, immediately use the shine, then jump back and grab the edge to bait them into making your edge recovery easier.

Short hopping - you should know this one. use it often to stay above their attacks as fox has excellent jump abilities.

if you read this far, I commend you.

tomahawk - hehe I love this trick. basically you shorthop to bait a shield, then fast fall and grab them. this is an easy way to get grabs off. I recommend you set a habit of making them think you'll use an aerial then punish their read. Tomahawking works especially well with fox because of how quickly he falls.

Fox really doesn't have a lot of techniques...

VI. Strategy [strg]
Ah here we get to the fun part of the guide, the important stuff.

So I've given you the tools, your attacks and combos, but now you need to know how to use them.

The first thing to have is a solid defense, abuse Fox's amazing maneuverability. jump around a lot, run along the ground, just always be moving. This is when you want to start using mind games.
Bait your opponent. jump above them then use your second hop directly over them and get away, move around more. try to lure them into making a move; then punish it with one of the combos above. my combo of choice is the Dash attack -> UTilt, I would make it your priority to land this one first, unless you're against a floaty character.
Like all competitive gameplay, its most important to have proper reads. most of fox is simply predicting your opponent's decisions and punishing them.
NEVER open with a dash attack. you should not engage your opponent unless they are being particularly campy. fox is a character of response. wait for your opponent to make a mistake, then make them regret that mistake. you should not rush blindly at your opponent and throw out a dash attack combo.
Once you have beaten your opponent up to around 80%, begin your KO strategy. It should become a priority to land a shorthop Dair into USmash. this KO combo is how I get most my kills and I recommend you use it a lot. If at all possible, do not let your opponents damage go over 130%, because it then gets hard to KO them.
If you are having trouble landing combos, you can try throwing them off stage and using fox's aerials to gimp them or just tack on damage. I usually use the Nair or Bair off stage to gimp/stage spike. After their damage gets over 130% you can still KO them with Uair and the smash attacks, but its harder to land the smashes.

When edge recovering, either recover from below the stage with the up B, or from the side using the side B. do not land on top of the stage with either recovery. once you grab an edge. you can jump back and use the side B to surprise opponents. if they are camping next to the edge, use the Fair to knock them back and surprise them.

Fox is a really quick faller, so vertical recovery shouldn't be an issue. just throw in a shine stall now and then to make it easy if you have to. you can also bait them to use a ground attack while vertical recovering, then use the shine above them to avoid it, and drop down for the punish.

Once you have mastered everything this guide has, its just about improving reads. Then you're a master fox player!

VII. Match-ups
Mario - Not a particularly challenging MU, the only problem is that he doesn't have any moves that are easy to punish. Try to juggle him a bit and get UTilt combos.

Luigi - This is a really difficult one. He is very floaty and slippery, making him hard to combo and grab. Also He can also break out of UTilt combos with his Nair really easily.

Bowser - One of the easiest match-ups, you can smack the crap out of him with all your combos

Peach - Because of Fox's fast falling speed and maneuverability this shouldn't be a difficult fight. Bait peach into using her laggy specials and then punish them.

Rosalina x Luma - Difficult, Rosa is very floaty. But she is also very big, try to get around her stage control options and block her predictable recovery.

(I'll keep adding more MUs when i have time)


Conclusion [cncl]
well I guess this is the end ; - ;

OH, HOW TO BEAT FOX---
proper DI, and a floaty character. that's all you gotta know.

I don't really have much to say, thanks for reading if you did haha, I'll gladly play against any of you online. I'm not the best but I have many hundred 1v1 for glories.. You'll still wreck me though xD good luck!

USEFUL LINKS(I didn't make these):
smash dictionary: http://smashboards.com/threoads/the-smash-dictionary.374538/
Intermediate fox guide: http://smashboards.com/guides/a-tail-to-be-told-intermediate-guide-to-fox.201/