Tips to Counter Marth's Grab Game as Fox and Falco
Some tips and tools to help any struggling Spacie main in need when in the hands of Melee's punishing swordsman.
The life of a humble Spacie player can be quite difficult at times. Whether it be the challenge of escaping a down-throw tech chase against Sheik or the frustration that Jigglypuff’s unforgiving up-throw rest brings, escaping the punish games that Melee’s cast of characters dish out is a very daunting task. But out of all the characters that have the potential to humiliate the Starfox challengers off of one neutral win, none are more infamous than Marth and his devastating grab-game. One whiffed or unspaced aerial attack on an opposing Marth can lead to them dishing out massive damage, starting from just one up-throw.
However, as helpless as Fox and Falco might seem in the air against a grounded Marth, one grab from the swordsman doesn’t always mean they’ll always suffer through a humiliating string of re-grabs and up-airs. While it is impossible to completely invalidate the Z button for a competent Marth player, the tips listed below can prove to be very useful for giving any Spacie main a second chance at life if caught in the unfortunate position of being in Marth’s grasp- literally.
Tips on Platforms
The most infamous punish Marth has on Fox and Falco is his brutal chain-grab on Final Destination. Marth’s flurry of up-throws have become synonymous with this stage due to its lack of platforms, preventing the frenzy of re-grabs from stopping. Realistically, not every game of Melee will be played on Final Destination, so platforms still manage integrate themselves into Marth’s deadly punish game, proving their existence to be nearly as threatening as their absence. The two tips listed below, one simple and one complex, can be essential to escaping the fury Marth can dish out on a platform-bound Spacie while sinisterly planted below them.
Shield Angle Down on Platforms
To some, platforms can be seen as Sakurai’s little gift to Fox and Falco mains, as they prevent Marth’s combo game from becoming a seemingly endless repeat of chaingrabs. If a platform is nearby, Fox and Falco are easily able to DI a Marth up-throw towards said floating stretch of land and avoid any chances of the Marth to continue their chaingrab. However, the punish doesn’t necessarily always end there. Most Spacie players are already aware that if Marth manages to get directly under a platform anchored space animal, trouble still remains in the air. A slew of up-airs is to be expected from any Marth in this scenario, many of which have a high percentage of hitting if the Spacie cannot properly defend themselves. Even when shielding, Fox and Falco can easily get poked by Marth’s piercing sword.
What else is there for a Spacie main to do? Well, shielding is not far off from the answer. Many beginner level players tend to forget or not fully utilize one of shielding’s essential properties: the Shield Angle. This can be easily performed by tilting the analog stick in any direction while in shield, resulting in the shield slightly moving to the inputted direction. When applied to the situation described above, it can easily protect any vulnerable Spacie main. How? By shield angling down, the shield can now cover Fox and Falco’s feet hitboxes more thoroughly, preventing an easy shield poke by the Marth.
In between the time Fox or Falco’s shield is scraped and Marth attacks with another up-air, a jump can be buffered, allowing the Spacie to quickly evade danger and attempt to reset back to neutral.
Slide Off Tech
This next tool of evasion is the most complex out of all the tips that have or have yet to be mentioned and will only work if the defending Fox or Falco is on a platform, in a similar situation where Shield DI-ing down is utilized. Interestingly enough, it can work with any character, not just a space animal, but Fox and Falco tend to benefit from it the most and tend to be in the situation where it can be used the most.
While using Shield DI blocks the Marth’s attack and gives the Spacie a chance to escape afterwards, the “Slide Off Tech” allows the participating Fox or Falco to escape AS the Marth hits them. How can it be performed? Well, when Marth up-throws a Spacie on a platform, most of the time it sets up a tech chase scenario, in which Marth will usually follow up with an up-air to cover most of Fox or Falco’s tech options. After being up-thrown on to the platform, if the Spacie tech rolls in a direction that will send them to the very edge of the platform, the conditions to begin the Slide Off will have been met.
As Marth goes to hit the seemingly vulnerable Fox or Falco with an up-air, if the Spacie DIs in the same direction they teched in with the analog stick (this should always be away from the platform), and DI down with the c-stick, the defending Fox or Falco should instantly slide off of the platform, escaping any possibility for the Marth to follow up afterwards. If Fox and Falco are getting hit by Marth at the end of their tech roll animation, down and slightly in DI should be used with the c-stick, instead of just downwards DI.
Subsequently, the Spacie is able to immediately punish the Marth (if they’re fast enough) or reset to neutral before Marth can throw out another move. The reason this is possible is because the instant after the Spacie performs the Slide Off, they are able to act even before the opposing Marth’s up-air animation is complete. The clip below shows a full demonstration of the aforementioned scenario in action:
However, this tool cannot be used forever. When Fox or Falco is around the 60% mark or higher, they will always be popped up from Marth’s up-air, and unable to slide off of the platform. Otherwise, the Slide Off Tech can shift the tide of battle in the blink of an eye and is an exceedingly useful tool for any Spacie main sick of dealing with Marth’s up-air platform tech chases.
Chain Grab Counters
A lot of the time, getting chain-grabbed as Fox or Falco seems like an utterly hopeless situation. If the Marth happens to be good enough, sometimes it is hopeless. Basically all techniques and strategies that a Spacie can use to escape tend to fall into the mix-up category, essentially meaning they aren’t guaranteed to work. So inevitably, when trying to escape a chain-grab, a good Spacie main will to try and make it as hard as possible for the Marth to continue the string. For many beginner and mid-level Marth mains, a tough technique to consistently pull off is pivot grabbing. Naturally, forcing a Marth to constantly pull one off can be quite an effective way to throw a wrench in their grand plan to achieve a satisfying 0 to death combo. These next two tips force Marth to pivot grab, and if fully executed, result in very different situations.
Slight DI
Fox and Falco have a myriad of different DI options when getting continuously tossed up in the air by Marth; left, right, everything in between, and even no DI at all. All options are valid in one way or another, but some are easier for the Marth to react to than others. A great way of making it harder for Marth to continue the earlier stages of the chain-grab requires utilizing Slight DI (specifically, slightly tilting the analog stick behind the Marth).
Up until Fox or Falco reaches about 30% is when this kind of DI forces a pivot grab. Afterwards, the Marth can simply up-tilt. Alternatively, at around 26-30%, Fox or Falco can not DI at all, and Marth will have to pivot grab to continue the chain-grab. If one of these DI options causes Marth to fail their attempted pivot grab, Fox or Falco can smoothly tech roll away to safety after hitting the ground or jump away before they touch the ground. The timing and direction Marth has to pivot grab after Slight DI all differ slightly depending on the direction Marth is in, so healthily mixing up all types of DI to change their direction is recommended to make it as annoying as possible for the Marth to continue their seemingly endless cycle of pain.
Shine Out
This next technique has a smaller performance window than utilizing slight DI, but if pulled off successfully, can reap greater benefits. If Fox or Falco will end up in about the 16-30% window after being up-thrown by Marth, and don’t DI at all, they have a chance to shine before getting re-grabbed, hitting the Marth in the process. This only works if the Marth fails to pivot re-grab right after the up-throw, and the Fox or Falco should be mashing down-b immediately after being up-thrown to get the shine out as soon as possible.
If the Marth misses their pivot grab, and Fox or Falco’s shine manages to hit them, what happens next is specific for each Spacie. If a Fox lands a shine, they should attempt to reset to neutral as quick as possible, since it is very unlikely for them to get a follow up after the shine knocks Marth away. For a Falco, since their shine will send Marth up, they could decide to either reset to neutral or use the opening to start a combo. Either way, if pulled off, managing to shine Marth out of his up-throw will always put Fox or Falco in a more advantageous position than they were previously in.
Early % DI Behind (Falco Only)
This tip is more of a bonus, since it only works with half of the space animals. Falco, when up-thrown by Marth below 10%, can escape a re-grab by DI-ing behind the Marth. Marth is completely unable to continue the chaingrab against Falco under these conditions.
However, this doesn’t mean that Falco is completely safe from danger when grabbed under 10%. If Marth anticipates Falco to DI behind, he can forward-throw Falco and get a re-grab, stacking up the couple of percentage they need to start up the chain-grab safely. Falco should always consider this when being grabbed below 10%, because there is a way to counter the mixup. If Falco reads the Marth going for a forward-throw instead of an up-throw, they can DI down and away with both the analog stick and the c-stick to avoid a re-grab. Once the Marth has shown what they tend to attempt in that situation, whether it be the up-throw or the forward-throw, it should become clear which DI option the Falco can safely utilize.
At the end of the day, none of these techs revolutionize the Marth matchup but can poke some holes in the swordsman’s devastating punish game. Like a situational tool in any matchup, these tips are purely situational, but might give the troubled Fox or Falco the edge they need to thwart Marth’s strongest suit. Not knowing one of these tools might just be the difference of losing a stock, a game, or even a set.
(Shoutouts to tauKhan, SSBM Tutorials, and The Crimson Blur for providing information about these tips on SmashBoards and YouTube.)
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