Sheik’s best asset in her gameplay is how well she can Edge Guard every opponent from floaties, such as Peach and Jiggly Puff, to fast fallers like Fox and Falco, and everything in between. Once an opponent is offstage, a good Sheik will never let them back on. The reason why Sheik is so good at Edge Guarding is due to her quick aerials that have tons of knockback and minimal lag. Sheik also has great Edge Guards on stage with her long range and powerful setups which lead to more aerials. This guide will teach you how to Edge Guard opponents both off and on the stage as well as each move’s strength and weakness for Edge Guarding so you can win more games.

Common Edge Guard options off stage from most common to least.

Back Air: Sheik’s Back Air has a long hitbox which sweet spots at the end of her foot. Normally, when Sheik runs off to Edge Guard, she first needs to turn around on the ground before jumping or use reverse needle-cancel to turn around. She then needs to time her Back Air to where the opponent will be as they use their recovery. Most of the time the opponent will be unable to make it back. A variation that Sheik players use if unsure or late to Edge Guard is to grab the ledge, and then as the opponent tries to recover, rise up from the ledge with invincibility and throw out a Back Air when the opponent comes within the vicinity. The risk of using Back Air is accidentally hitting the sour spot and possibly giving the opponent a chance to live. The below set of images show a Sheik holding onto the ledge for invincibility. When Fox comes in to recover, Sheik is able to drop from the ledge and then hit Fox with a Back Air while still having ledge invincibility.

To combat Sheik’s Back Air, opponents will most likely try to stall for as long as possible so that Sheik will throw out a Back Air prematurely or recover as fast as they can before Sheik can throw out the move. To beat this, Sheiks need to be patient and pay attention to the opponent’s movement in the air before using a Back Air. Most opponents will want to drift into Sheik’s Back Air because it gives them an opportunity to possibly live. To avoid letting the opponent back on stage, practice spacing and always hitting the sweet spot of Back Air when Edge Guarding.

Neutral Air: Sheik’s Neutral Air is mainly used to hit opponents near the stage or very low under the stage to where any other aerial cannot hit them. This is used to softly hit the opponent to gimp them and this option can both be fast fallen and dropped regularly because the long-lasting hitbox will linger. Using Neutral Air after holding onto the ledge is popular among Sheik players because it has a big hitbox and unlike Back Air, the sweet spot to Neutral Air comes out on the first few frames, which allow Sheik to hit the opponent with a strong move and have the ledge invincibility to protect herself. Another way to use Neutral Air to Edge Guard is to instant short hop Neutral Air or rising Neutral Air. This way of Edge Guarding is popular against Fox and Falco. How these two tricks work is when Sheik throws an opponent off the edge, she can then gimp the opponent early or into further Edge Guarding. The reason this works is that if opponents try to instantly go to the ledge or use their jump to get on the stage, the Neutral Air can take away the opponent’s jump. The below images show an example of what will happen between a Sheik’s instant short hop Neutral Air against a Fox using his Illusion to recover back to the ledge.

To combat Neutral Air regularly, opponents need to drift past the Neutral Air and get back to the stage or wait until the Neutral Air is over. Sheik lacks air mobility when she uses Neutral Air so waiting out the attack is the best option. To fight against invincible Neutral Air on the ledge, opponents must not go to the ledge and recover high. Sheik can combat this by holding onto the ledge for longer, and beating this requires hitting her when her ledge invincibility runs out. There is no best option for this because this is generally a mix-up. Finally, combatting Instant Short Hop Neutral Air and Rising Neutral Air is a 50/50. When playing against Instant Short hop, stall for as long as possible off stage, and then to use your recovery when the Instant Short Hop Neutral Air is over. However, Sheiks can beat this by doing Rising Neutral Air. The way to combat Rising Neutral Air is to throw out a preemptive attack while using your jump or to drift outwards towards the blast zone and then use your recovery. Sheiks play against this by using Instant Short Hop Neutral Air. There is no guaranteed way to avoid death or further Edge Guarding, but these are the options used to try and live more often.

Forward Air: is mainly used as a combo finisher but can be used to Edge Guard. A more optimal way to Edge Guard is to use Neutral Air or Back Air because they have more range than Forward Air, but Forward Air is used with Sheiks fail to turn around or to try and secure a kill on the opponent early. The most used way to Edge Guard using Forward Air is to use the reverse hitbox. By using the reverse hitbox, the high knockback of the move will launch the opponent back off further than Back Air or Neutral Air can. The con to this is that it requires precision and timing. The reverse hitbox is to mainly cover opponents who recover on stage and are either too slow to put up their shield or to hit opponents before they touch the ground. Sheiks opt for this when they are uncomfortable using Neutral Air or Back Air, or when both moves take too much time to use when hanging onto the ledge meaning that the opponent has slipped by Sheik’s initial Edge Guard. The below images show Sheik doing a runoff Forward Air to intercept Falco’s recovery.

The way to combat Forward Air while getting Edge Guarded is to hit Sheik while recovering, aim the recovery move away from Sheik, stall for as long as possible so Sheik is forced to stay on the stage, or time your air dodge if you are close enough to the stage. Forward Air for Edge Guarding is uncommon, so players are often killed earlier than normal. To generally beat Forward Air, is to practice recovering against Sheik’s Neutral Air and Back Air because these two options are vastly better than Forward Air. Recovering from these two moves will instantly help to recover from Forward Air because Forward Air is just a worse move to Edge Guard compared to the other options. Typically, when a Sheik needs to use Forward Air against an opponent that just got on stage, the easiest way to beat it is to use Shield or hold down to tech on the ground. Most often, Sheik hits the opponent towards the center of the stage. In the air, while recovering, drift back and forth to make it harder for Sheik to hit with Forward Air.

Up Air: Up Air is not good because it’s too risky. Against other characters like Captain Falcon who has a fantastic Down Air, Up Air has more variance to cause harm to Sheik. The main option used for Up Air is to catch Falco or Fox going towards the stage using their Side B. Then once Sheik catches them, it sets up fantastically for Forward Air. Up Air is difficult to land for Edge Guarding and almost always doesn’t kill. Use this move against people recovering high above the stage or when you are confident that it will kill such as against Jiggly Puff and Peach. Even if it might kill people like Captain Falcon and Falco, their Down Airs have high priority and may kill Sheik. The reason to use Up Air is against those who have bad Down Airs and to catch Fox and Falco coming to the stage with Side B, however combating these recovery options is easier by instead using Forward Air, Back Air, and Neutral Air. The below image shows Sheik intercepting Fox’s Illusion. 

To combat Up Air, recover low to the ledge, or ride against the stage and get to the ledge. This is an easy move to combat against, and if you do die from this, you are already at a high percentage.

If Sheik cannot make an off stage Edge Guard in time or feels uncomfortable Edge Guarding, an alternative can be an on stage Edge Guard.

On Stage Edge Guards from most common to least common

Down Smash: is used to hit opponents recovering on stage or those who miss the ledge. An example of someone missing the ledge is a Marth whose head is above the ledge or Fox and Falco whose head is above the ledge. It has high knockback which will either kill the opponent or set up into another Edge Guard situation. Down Smash by the ledge requires timing, but with its multiple hitboxes it is able to catch opponents off guard which can lead to further Edge Guard opportunities. In the below image, Captain Falcon gets hit by Down Smash because he is unable to sweet spot to the ledge.

The way to combat Down Smash by the ledge is to recover and sweet spot the ledge. If opponents do not mess up they come to the stage for free. If the opponent doesn’t feel comfortable recovering and sweet spotting the ledge then they can recover high above Sheik because Down Smash has moderate ending lag.

Forward Tilt: is used against opponents who get too close to the ledge or to the stage. Forward Tilt has a massive hitbox and a smaller knockback than Down Tilt, so Sheik is able to follow up with Forward Air a lot easier than Down Tilt. Use this move against those who come close to the ledge. This sets up nicely into Forward Air for a kill or further Edge Guarding. The below set of images show Sheik covering the ledge with Forward Tilt against Fox’s recovery. Once Fox is hit, Sheik is able to follow up with a Forward Air to complete the Edge Guard.

To combat against Forward Tilt, recover below the stage and sweet spot the ledge. Another way to beat it is to time your recovery to the ledge so that you would bait out the Forward Tilt. Otherwise, recover high on top of platforms or to center stage. Forward Tilt covers a circular like area at and near the ledge, so to combat this, recover low and to the ledge, or high and towards the stage.

Down Tilt: is used the same way as Down Smash, however, is more useful against opponents recovering below the stage, trying to grab the ledge, and away from the stage. This move is useful because Down Tilt pops up the opponent to then get hit by a Forward Air. Down Tilt is a low-risk move but because it requires more timing than Down Smash and Forward Tilt, I put it below both. This move sounds better than what it actually is. It has its uses but you’ll see other options more used. The below set of images show Sheik intercepting Marth’s recovery with Down Tilt and when Marth gets hit with Sheik’s Down Tilt, it pops him up which then lets Sheik complete the Edge Guard with a follow-up Forward Air.

To combat Down Tilt, recover high, sweet spot the edge, or to Di away from Sheik as to not get hit by Forward Air. Down Tilt does not cover people riding along the stage to sweet spot the ledge, so this is an option that would usually let people back. Furthermore, since it covers the same options as Down Smash, opponents can use the same tricks to get past Down Tilt as well as Down Smash. Finally, if at a high percent, opponents are able to Di away from Sheik so that they can get another chance to recover because Sheik may be unable to reach them with her Forward Air. It has a higher knockback than Forward Tilt so it is easier to escape the follow-up Forward Air from Sheik.

Honorable mentions to Edge Guarding are Down Air and Side-B also called Chain. They are mainly for style points and require precise predictions to land and kill properly. A very Honorable mention to Edge Guarding is Sheik’s Needles. Since Sheik is able to use it either in the air or on the ground, I couldn’t put it into one place. It is a very optimal Edge Guard technique because it is very safe. Sheiks can throw Needles without the risk of getting hit by anyone’s recovery, and if they land Sheik is able to follow that up. If Sheik misses her Needles, she is still near the stage to have stage control. The below images show Down Air and Chain being used to gimp opponents. 

Needles: are used to snipe opponents from far away or below the stage. It is very useful because it can gimp opponents like Falco and Fox, lead into follow up Edge Guards like against Jiggly Puff and Peach, and be annoying to recover against because of its low knockback such as against Falcon and Marth. Sheik is able to use Needles in the air as well as on the ground. This covers a vast amount of options and allows for extended Edge Guarding. The below images show Sheik throwing out Needles to gimp opponents. Both the aerial version and grounded version do the same thing, they both gimp or extend Edge Guard opportunities. Deciding which Needles to throw will depend on where the opponent recovers.

To combat Needles, recover as high as possible. Needles can only cover straight in front of Sheik while on the ground, and at a forty-five-degree angle when Sheik throws it in the air. So, if opponents are able to recover high, then Sheik cannot possibly Edge Guard them with Needles. If opponents are trying to recover below stage or to the ledge against Needles, good luck because there is no good counterplay unless the Sheik messes up. So, to get the best chance of living, mix up the timing of your mix up according to how many Needles Sheik has stored up.

To play against Down Air, either hit Sheik or just stay away. To play against Chain, Smash DI toward or away from the stage, then use a recovery move to get by the Chain.

These are all the moves used to Edge Guard opponents both off and on the stage. All of these have strengths and weaknesses, so by mixing up all these Edge Guards in your game, you as a Sheik player will be almost unstoppable. Happy Smashing!!!