Possibly one of the most underrated moves in Super Smash Bros. Melee is Sheik’s neutral B, needles. Sheik players today minimally use needles which is a factor that separates the top Sheik players and the low to mid-level ones. In this guide, I will be breaking down what needles are, what they should be used for, and what is gained when using needles.

What Are Needles: Sheik’s neutral B is Needles. It is a projectile that can be thrown at an opponent and will do a small amount of damage and knockback or charged to then hit multiple times to do more damage and knockback. Needles can be charged both on the ground and in midair. If Sheik throws her needles downwards onto the stage, the hurt boxes of those needles will linger for a short period of time and can be interacted with by the opponent’s attacks. The below images show the different kinds of throws and charges that can be done. Furthermore, the very bottom images show needles lingering for a short period of time with their hurtboxes still intact, and what they look like when they disappear.

What Needles Should Be Used For: Sheik’s needles have different strengths depending on what you are doing. Pressure, limiting movement, edge guarding, and repositioning are the four most common and effective ways to use needles.

Pressure: Sheik can put pressure on the opponent in different ways. However, needles have different variations of pressure built into them. Pressure can be achieved with needles by simply charging them. If a Sheik is charging her needles, the opponent will be pressured into doing something because they don’t want to get hit with a set of fully stacked needles, nor do they want to give Sheik more edge guarding power. The opponent will most likely approach Sheik to try and cancel Sheik's charge or will retreat to platforms giving Sheik stage control. A set of fully stacked needles can do 16-18% damage depending on how far the opponent is from Sheik, so the opponent doesn’t want to get hit by it at any cost in neutral. By holding onto a fully charged stack of needles, it gives the Sheik a Samus-like pressure when she fully charges her Charge Shot. But, like a Samus charge shot, it's slow to charge, come out, and travel. But even worse is that Sheik would be in throwing lag which would allow the opponent to punish Sheik easily.

Opponents will play differently such as being in shield or playing more defensively to try to avoid the needle damage. This can be used in Sheik’s advantage because it allows Sheik to move more freely and restricts the opponent. It is difficult to demonstrate a player’s different playstyle around this pressure. However, if you watch full games with either fully charged needles or a fully charged Charge Shot, then you can observe the different approaches people have.

Limiting movement: One of the best ways to limit the character’s ground movements as Sheik is with needles. When throwing aerial needles, if it hits the opponent, it will stop the opponent dead in their tracks because the opponent will either be in hit stun or shield stun. Afterward, Sheik can then follow up with a dash attack, grab, or an aerial. Characters are able to act out defensively after being hit by aerial needles which means that after getting hit, they can then buffer a roll or a spot dodge. Furthermore, they can punish Sheik really hard if the opponent hops over the needles and hits her with an aerial which would lead into a combo.

To beat this as Sheik, simply be a little more patient to see what the opponent is doing and then act accordingly to their defensive options. An example of acting according to an opponent is to throw a needle while the opponent is crouch canceling from a medium distance away and then dashing up to grab them, or to charge your needles while opponents are a long distance away and only charging. Sheik’s grounded version of needles do well against character’s movement especially if they crouch cancel, one of Sheik's biggest weaknesses as a character. By throwing out needles on the ground, it acts like a pseudo-Falco laser and stops the opponent. It will either stop their dashing with the hit stun, cause them to be in shield, or to take free damage because they are crouching and waiting for a dash attack. This is more unsafe than Falco’s laser because the opponent can simply charge towards Sheik afterward for a free punish or jump over her needles and punish during her lag.

The only way this is safe is if Sheik has a fully charged stack of needles and is a medium to long distance away. This gives her ample time for her throwing animation to be over and to put up a shield, throw out an attack, or dash away. Even still, it is a mixup and if the opponent knows this option, they can immediately hit Sheik when she approaches for a follow-up. Furthermore, the more needles Sheik has the more lag she has in her throwing end lag. In the below images, Sheik is able to get Fox to stop dash dancing by aerial needling him which gives Sheik a lot more attack options because Fox is stuck in shield. It would allow for a grab, another bait to wait for Fox’s shield drop, or possibly a shield poke if Fox doesn’t move. However, Fox has an option to hit Shiek because he has the time to throw out a move such as a jab, up-smash, and shine.

Edge Guarding: One of the safest ways that Sheiks are able to edge guard is with needles. If Sheik cannot get to the ledge quickly enough, is not confident in edge guarding, or simply doesn’t want to go out, then throwing needles to try and gimp the opponent is the safest way to edge guard. Needles cover horizontally from the stage and cover about a 45-degree angle below the stage. Needles cannot cover high recoveries and cannot cover directly below the stage. This means that opponents can simply recover high, ride the wall, air dodge, or sweet spot the ledge to effectively combat being edge guarded by needles. The more needles the Sheik player has, the easier it is to gimp the opponent. Even though opponents are able to Smash DI towards the stage, the increased hit stun will easily set Sheik up for an edge guard.

Furthermore, throwing a fully charged stack of needles at an opponent recovering below the stage is much easier because instead of one needle possibly missing, you technically have a bigger range to try and hit the opponent. It is widely accepted that edge guarding a Samus is extremely difficult because of her grapple, bomb stalls, and priority up B, or Screw Attack. But, In the below picture, Sheik is able to edge guard Samus with ease because Sheik doesn’t need to worry about getting hit at all from Samus’ recovery. Furthermore, Sheik is able to follow up the extended edge guard with an aerial.

Repositioning: Sheik’s needles can be canceled in midair which allows her to turn around. This allows her to then let her grab the ledge, throw out a back air, or jumped out of to get to a higher platform. Usually, this falls under edge guarding, however, repositioning is used for both pressure and edge guarding so it is its own category. Sheiks are able to cancel needles in midair into an attack to throw off an opponent. Sheiks can also needle turn around to throw out a back air to Edge Guard or wall the opponent out.

Finally, Sheik can be able to needle cancel double jump to sweet spot the ledge to recover, jump to a higher platform to get to a safer spot or delay her landing on the ground to then mix up the opponent and punish them. Sheiks are able to needle cancel on the ground but she won’t get a lot of repositioning out of it, most of the time Sheik would only be fast enough to buffer a roll, put up a shield, or buffer a spot dodge. In the below images, Sheik is able to needle cancel turn around back air to reposition and edge guard Fox.

What Is Gained From Needling: Sheik’s needles help the player gain stage control from pressure, they allow Sheik to dictate the pace of the match by allowing her to control neutral, and they help round out the opponent’s stocks with fast and safe edge guarding. Sheik puts pressure on the opponent from charging needles and holding onto a full stack, making opponents do things they usually would not. This is similar to a Samus holding and charging her Charge Shot. Sheik dictates the neutral with her needles by throwing them to make the opponent stop moving. If characters stop moving in Melee, then they are combo food and are basically dead. Not moving will allow the opponent to follow up, combo, and do whatever they want with you. This is similar to Falco and how he wins neutral by stopping your movement with his lasers. This is offset because Sheik's needles have a longer endlag compared to her other moves that can be punishable by faster characters and it is situational because of the restrictive angles that Shiek is able to throw needles in.

Lastly, Sheik gains another tool to use in edge guarding which allows her to be safer but is susceptible to let the opponent back on the stage. If Sheik gets clipped by a recovery move while going out to edge guard, the opponent can then reverse her edge guard into theirs. By using needles, Sheik gains another tool to use if unsure or late to edge guarding the opponent. Furthermore, Sheik’s needles are able to reposition Sheik to dictate the pace of the match. This means that needles let Sheik continue to move and make the opponent not move, allowing Sheik to do whatever they want which will let her win the game.

Conclusion: Needles need to be used more. Needles help Sheik win neutral, allow her to bypass her weaker approach options; as compared to other top tiers by making opponents come to her, and further her strengths in Edge Guarding. Needles aren’t used more because they are slow to come out and the more needles Sheik has extends that lag in which it is thrown out, however, the benefits, I believe, outweigh the drawbacks. Needles have a weakness of being slow and punishable but I encourage players to look for spots to charge needles even just partially. I hope this guide will allow more experimentation and implementation of needles by more Sheik players. Finally, always remember to have fun smashing!!!

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