In Super Smash Brothers Melee, Fox is not only the current best character but also the most common or popular to be played. Especially in the more recent years, players of all levels have been switching to Fox due to his amazing toolkit and incredible matchup spread. Besides just having overall great matchups, one of the key benefits to playing Fox is how good he is against floaty characters like Puff and Peach. As more players start playing Fox, more and more Fox dittos are going to become common.

We talked with Joey “Lucky” Aldama about some aspects of the Fox ditto and get his opinions on how he plays the match-up! Here is a guide for playing as Fox against Fox, the theoretically most common rising matchup in SSBM. The topics here will cover a couple neutral game tips, some punish game tips, and some other players to take things from going forward.

Overview

Before asking Lucky about any specific situations or questions, he was asked if he ever went into a match with a specific gameplan, either for the Fox ditto or a particular player.

Lucky: “In general, I am starting to look at most match-ups very similar. Rule number one with Fox dittos, and almost any other match-up, is don't get grabbed. Other than that I think I wing it most of the time in that match-up as long as I can avoid being grabbed. I am truly aware and cautious of being grabbed with a Fox player I respect. The reason being is that most good Fox players will really have a polished and flow chart-style punish game. Overall though the very best players seem to treat even a player you may think less of like a top-tier opponent. So I suggest respecting everyone as if they were someone that could zero-to-death you with a single grab.”

Neutral Game Tips

The Fox ditto is widely regarded as “the most versatile match-up in the game,” and this is due to the sheer amount of options both characters have. Fox has a lot of options that lead to potential follow-ups, and using grab leads to the most guaranteed damage/combos. Getting a grab in the neutral is relatively safe in the ditto, as yours comes out quick and can be used to punish unsafe aerials (timing or spacing-wise), whiffed moves, or possibly used when chasing/overshooting your movement. While Fox’s grab not only leads to the most guaranteed combos in the ditto, you can also bait your opponent into trying to punish your grab if you miss. Two strong strategies to use when your grab whiffs are to:

Dashback, the most common option to avoid getting punished for your grab. When you miss your grab, already planning on dashing back to avoid your opponent’s punish is a good go-to option. If you expect your opponent to punish a missed grab, you can dash away and punish their decision, if they’re unprepared for your dashback.

Shine, the slightly riskier option, but you can actually shine after whiffing a grab. Shine is an incredible move, so deciding to use it when you’re not sure what you can do isn’t the worst idea. Shine’s hitbox is also deceptively large, using it can beat improperly spaced aerials or grabs by the opposing Fox. This strategy is used best as a back-up plan, as it can be tricky to use the shine defensively if you’re not too confident in what you’re doing/your opponent is prepared for you to do a move after your grab.

If you’re struggling in the Fox ditto, and if you’re noticing you're either: a) getting hits in the neutral but not taking them far enough, or b), not knowing what option to use when reacting to your opponent’s decision and punishing them, is to focus on getting grabs and polishing up your follow-ups from grabs. Grabs at lower percents can be followed up by chain-grabs, up-smashes, or up-tilts for some of the best follow ups, which will all lead to further damage/moves after using. Grabs at higher percents can lead to up-throw -> up-airs, or up-throw -> back-airs, as well as an up-throw -> up-smash if they don’t jump or DI your throw properly. The benefit here is that grab is a safer move to use in the neutral than just a raw up-smash, as your grab will have less landing lag and can come out faster, and beat your opponent’s shield if they put it up in time.

Baits in The Neutral

In Fox dittos, a staple bait to use is undershooting aerials (Either after using aerials you either overshot or didn’t use any aerial drift with) into baiting your opponent to miss their punish. When Lucky was asked about what baits he likes to make use of, Lucky replied with:

Lucky: “I think the best bait that any ‘player’ should make use of is undershooting an aerial attack in neutral. A lot of players tend to want to attack an opponent with an aerial instead of using it for a bait or for holding space. The idea of undershooting is a little hard to explain without a visual explanation but it's pretty much deciding to not attack where your opponent is standing. What you want to do is attack a character space or even two spaces in front of your opponent."

"As a Fox player you pretty much get destroyed by grabs at any percentage and by most top-tier characters in the game. The main way Fox players get grabbed is by being ‘dash dance grabbed.’ This only happens because Fox players want to attack their opponent but an opponent isn't going to sit there and let you attack them for free. They are going to dash away from that space you are attacking and then dash back in for a free grab. Now if you did what I said and attacked a character space or two away from where they were standing, you end up baiting their grab. Since that extra character space means the opponent has to run back in a couple extra steps, it gives you enough time to dash back yourself, essentially letting you punish their grab attempt.”

Using undershot aerials is a super strong strategy to punish your opponent’s whiffed punish. In the Fox ditto, a good aerial to undershoot is Fox’s down-air, or ‘drill.’ Fox’s drill can’t be effectively crouch-cancelled, due to it having multiple hitboxes, so it is a pretty safe move to undershoot with. If the opposing Fox runs into your undershot drill, meaning they expected you to undershoot a move or hold your position, and you can follow up with a grab or shine, even up-tilts at lower percents. It is important to remember that Fox’s drill can be SDI’d, so be careful and take note if your opponent is SDI’ing your drills.

Dealing with Approaches

If you notice your opponent is rushing it or being highly aggressive, Fox has some really good anti-approach options if you’re getting run down. When getting chased on the ground, using up-tilt in place can be an incredible option for catching an aggressive opponent off guard. If they aren’t expecting you to use up-tilt, you can follow-up with another up-tilt or aerial depending on how they DI. Just don’t forget if you’re in your dash to either pivot or shield-stop, or if you’re running to hold down before up-tilting to cancel your run.

Another powerful option to use is Fox’s back-air, a move with great range and priority. Here were Lucky’s thoughts on back-air;

Lucky: “Fox's back-air is probably my favorite attack for the character, so I use it a lot in neutral to stop opponents' approaches or control space, usually by doing dash back shield stop back-airs or similar options. If my opponent is actually being aggressive then I will usually step up to the challenge and become more aggressive myself. Granted, I really think most people define aggressive play in this era of Melee much differently from myself.”

Using back-air in place is a relatively safe decision for stopping approaching opponents. The main things to be careful of are just using it too often as it is still a punishable move with the correct timing. The other thing to be careful of when using back-air this way is if your opponent was approaching and then used a running shield. Running shield would allow them to safely block the attack, and either shine, neutral-air, or wavedash forward out of shield and punish your back-air. These are also good options to think about when you notice your opponent is stuffing you out with these types of back-airs. This can also be applied to most match-ups, not just Fox dittos.

Punish Game

The punish game in Fox dittos can have crazy variance due to the amount of different options and combo trees that Fox has. He has chaingrabs that can be hit from 0%-60/80% (Depending on DI’s, your dashbacks, and port priority), good up-throw follow-ups at all percents such as up-tilts at lower percents (probably the 10-60% range) and up-smashes at percents 0-80%. These trees should be your bread and butter follow-ups off of throws. Most can be repeated until out of the percent range, and at that point you can use back-airs to either knock your opponent off-stage or up-airs to juggle them on-stage for further damage.

While these options are usually the most common and tend to be the best options, Fox has a lot of leeway when deciding what move to follow up with. He does have the ability to do some crazy follow-ups and DI mix-ups, it’s just up to you to decide whether you want to go for a mix-up that might net you stage positioning or the value gained from your opponent’s incorrect DI. While the above options work and tend to lead to the most damage/easier follow-ups, you can do pretty much any move off of an up-throw, within reason. You can decide to go for something unorthodox like up-throw -> neutral-air/back-air to take advantage of your opponent thinking you would do an upwards-sending move. These moves don’t usually lead to follow-ups as they can send your opponent too far away, but if they are DI’ing/holding towards you can sometimes get a second aerial hit in if you’re fast enough.

Platforms

One of the more fun and creative aspects about Fox’s punish game in the ditto comes from how the player chooses to use platforms. Platforms in SSBM are one of the more unique aspects about the game and using them to extend your punish game is an incredible asset to have. When asked about his platform usage, here's what Lucky had to say:

Lucky: “Fox is pretty much the fastest character in the game and especially on platforms. Now that we have consistent shield dropping methods in the form of UCF or shield drop notches he is even faster on them. So the platforms are just a tool you can use in any match-up with Fox since he can use them so well. To keep it specific for the Fox ditto though, you can really optimize your punish game with platform tech-chasing up-airs. I wouldn't say I do anything specific with platforms though. To me they are just an extra tool for movement or for pushing my punish game in areas that would be impossible without them.”

Using Fox’s up-air to platform tech-chase Fox is easily the best option to pick. When below platforms, up-throwing the opponent Fox onto a platform on lower percents can lead to an up-air tech-chase on the platform. The trick here is to learn how your opponent likes to tech, as well as practicing your movement after your up-throw lag. You want to be able to move and react to their decision/how they want to tech. A good thing to take note of is that at the lowest percents, up-throwing a Fox onto a platform can commonly lead to a missed tech on the platform, so you can usually cover a missed tech with up-air, and if they tech-in-place you can shine or grab, if they roll either direction you want to tech-chase with a grab. You should get into the habit at lower percents of using up-air like this and reacting to your opponent’s decision. This way, if you miss your initial up-air you can still follow up on reaction. It is definitely worth noting that it is still possible to just react to your opponent’s tech option with up-air if you wait. If you’re interested in improving this aspect of your game, focus on practicing moving out of your “wait-state,” particularly dashing backwards into your up-air tech-chases.

Concluding Points

Overall a lot of the Fox ditto comes down to a couple points that Lucky summed up:

For the neutral game when it comes to not just Fox dittos but all match-ups in SSBM,

Lucky: “I think the theme of today has been that as a Fox player, you absolutely do not want to get grabbed. I have no problem saying this over and over since I can’t stress it enough. Do not get grabbed in this era of Melee!”

When looking at your punish game, think about combo extenders rather than combo finishers at lower percents. Remember that an up-smash after an up-throw will net you more damage and the opportunity for a follow-up at low percents, but otherwise always be aware of your opponent’s percents when making move decisions;

Lucky: “If I had to guess I would say players don't pay attention to the opponent's percentage, which leads to them trying to extend combos for too long or ending them too early with a move that won't let them extend the combo. When watching professional players, try to pay attention to what move they are using to start a combo or extend a combo while paying attention to the percentage of the opponent. A basic example of this would be Fox dittos: if you up-throw an opponent Fox and they don't DI at around 40%, you want to up-tilt. A lot of Fox players will go for an up-smash in this situation because it's more damage. However, the up-smash pretty much ends the combo and then you are back in neutral with your opponent, whereas if you up-tilt you can keep the combo going based on your opponent’s DI with different options.”

When looking to improve either your overall play or a niche aspect of it, be humble about your own level and take what you can from other Fox players, and always be willing to learn and accept what you can.

Lucky: “Honestly I look at most top Fox players these days and can really respect what they do better than me. Being able to do that I'm able to take away little things that can make me better as a player myself. The EU style punish game, DruggedFox's option coverage and even something like disciplined decision making by Sfat.”