Super Smash Brothers Brawl got you down? Do you try and try, but just can’t compete with even the worst of your friends? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Behold! A plethora of Brawl tips that will help Veterans and Newcomers alike!

I’ll be sharing some of my own tips (with help from June) for three “technical” characters (only two really, and then my favorite character of the bunch) and then links to more in-depth strategies.

And watch out, because the videos have character spoilers.

Before we get into the specific characters, let’s talk about the basics.

Terms

— Attack - Your basic attacks like punches and kicks. Sometimes referred to as “A Attacks” because that’s the button you press on the Gamecube controller to use them.
— Special - Your character’s special attacks. Each character has four special attacks: neutral, side, up, and down. These are used by pressing the special attack button (B on Gamecube controllers) by itself or with one of the directions.
— Smash - Just a basic smash attack. It’s done by “smashing” the analog stick (or d-pad for Wiimotes) up, down, left, or right and pressing the attack button. Main way of knocking people of the screen.
— Meteor Smash - An aerial attack (usually down + attack) that knocks the character down instead of to the side or up. Not all characters have one.
— Juggling - Knocking an opponent in the air, and keep hitting him back up so he doesn’t touch the ground.

General Tips

— A lot of Smash players used a technique called “Wavedashing” in Melee, but since Wavedashing isn’t possible in Brawl, you are just going to have to learn to dodge properly by holding the shield button and pressing a direction.
— Don’t overuse moves, especially special attacks. Not because it’s annoying or aggravating, but because it’s not a good strategy.
— Being above an opponent is generally a disadvantage. Try staying below your opponent as much as possible. There are some cases where being above can be an advantage, like with Kirby’s Rock attack (down + special) or Link’s aerial down attack.

Snake

Special Moves
—Neutral- Grenade - A timed grenade with a five second fuse. You can hold on to it by keeping the special button held down and time your throws.
— Side - Nikita - A rocket that you control after you shoot it. You can make it drop by pressing the shield button.
— Up - Cypher - A reconnaissance camera that Snake uses as his triple jump. This triple jump doesn’t have a set height like the others in the game. The faster you are going up when you use it, the higher you can fly.
— Down - C4 - Plants C4 on the ground. Can be used in mid air (the C4 will fall to the ground), and you press down + special to detonate it.

Fighting Strategies
— Constantly shoot things with Snake. It’ll keep your opponent constantly worrying about other things besides you.
— The grenades are fairly useful, but you really have to practice and get used to the fuse length before they are worth anything.
— The best course of action for Snake is not to run away necessarily, but to let the opponents come to you. You want them in close, but not hand-to-hand close.
— Draw opponents in by shooting the Nikita at them. In long range situations, Snake has the advantage over most other characters, so this will make them come in close.
— When they are in close, you want to use the Mortar (smash up) to keep them at bay. If there are explosives flying around in the air, opponents will be more cautious which gives you the upper hand.
— Snake’s running attack (the roll) is incredibly useful to grab items, or to lead into either a trip (down + attack) or a Mortar.
— Whenever using the Nikita, you can press the shield button to drop the missile straight down. Keep this in mind, because it increases the Nikita’s effectiveness a lot. Dodging a missile isn’t hard, but you can trick opponents by shooting a Nikita above their heads, then pressing the shield button to drop it on their heads.
— Neither mines (smash down) nor C4 (down + special) are very useful, especially in one to one fights. I would recommend using mines sparingly, as you may tend to forget where they are as much as your opponent. C4 is more useful, but not when spammed. Lay down a mine and save it, don’t try and lay down mines and blow them up right then because it doesn’t work. Laying down a mine on the edge is also useful for keeping people off the level when they try to get back on.
— Snake’s CQC (his grab) is useful because he can knock people out with it. Grab an opponent and press down and if you’re quick, you’ll be able to get the opponent in a combo.
— Snake only has one real smash: his rocket launcher (left/right smash) which is extremely powerful. It is, however, extremely slow to start up, which makes it incredibly easy to dodge. Another move to use sparingly, and only when you know that you have a good shot.
— Since Snake’s only smash is hard to get off, you can use Mortars or Nikitas and his roll to knock people off the screen.

Level Strategies
— Snake has no real weakness when it comes to levels, although he is better on the larger levels.
— One thing to keep in mind is that cypher is difficult to control, so it’s easy to get stuck under platforms. So move out of the way of platforms if you are under them before using.

Extra Links

— The Ultimate Snake Compendium
— Tons of other Snake Info

Olimar

Special Moves
— Neutral - Pick Pikmin - Pick Pikmin from the ground. This move is crucial for Olimar, because a lot of his attacks won’t do any damage without them. You can have six Pikmin behind you at a time.
— Side - Throw Pikmin - Throws a Pikmin on the the opponent. The Pikmin hurts the opponent as long as it clings on. Different Pikmin have different effects.
— Up - Pikmin Whip - A grappling hook style triple jump. You have to make sure to be near a ledge to use it. It can also be used as an attack.
— Down - Gather - Gathers your Pikmin together. Also moves the front Pikmin to the back of the line, so it’s good to use for tactical fighting.

Fighting Strategies
— Olimar can only use certain attacks with no Pikmin: Directional attacks (on the ground), the neutral attack (no direction pressed) in air, and finally, the running attack.
— The different colored Pikmin have different abilities:

—Red - does fire damage.
—White - does dark damage. Does 6 (or 4 sometimes) damage per “bite” instead of the regular 2 for the Pikmin Throw.
—Blue - does “normal” damage.
—Yellow - does electric damage.
—Purple - the fat Pikmin. Works like a regular projectile (just hurts the enemy on contact instead of “biting” them) with the Pikmin Throw and doesn’t fly as far and knocks characters up with side smashes.

— The Pikmin Throw is not very useful by itself, but in combination with a regular attacks, you can do a ton of damage in a short period of time. If you don’t combine it with regular attacks, then your opponents can easily shake of Pikmin.
— The Pikmin Throw gets weaker as the opponent goes up in damage, so it can be used really effectively earlier on in a battle but once your opponent gets a high percentage then it’s not nearly as good.
— His regular attacks are super fast and surprisingly powerful. His meteor smash (down + attack in the air) is good for being as fast as it is, but it has low priority so it can be countered easily.
— His smashes are also fast, have really long reach (except with purple Pikmin), and are decently powerful.
— The main thing you need to do with Olimar is avoid being above the opponent. Olimar is light, floaty, and his aerial attacks have low priority which makes him an easy target for juggling.

Level Strategies
— When playing flat stages like Final Destination, be sure and never get yourself in a position where your opponent can juggle you. Whenever you are jumping around, always be wary of what’s under you and if someone is there, then just try to get back on the platform using a dodge without being hit.
— When playing on stages with multiple levels, avoid being on a level above your opponent. Try to stay below him or on the same level as him at all times.

Extra Links
— The Pikmin Combo Thread
— Tons more Pikmin info

Luigi

Special Moves
— Neutral - Fireball - Shoots a fireball that goes straight. A weak and essentially useless attack.
— Side - Weedgie Torpedo - Shoots Weedgie horizontally. A good move for getting back on the stage, especially since you can use it more than once. It’s far less useful in combat, except when it occasionally “misfires” which increases the damage and speed by a lot.
— Up - Uppercut - An uppercut triple jump that leaves you very exposed after you use it. The Weedgie Torpedo is generally more useful for getting back on the stage. However, if you hit someone spot on with the Uppercut, it blasts them in the air with the power of a smash attack.
— Down - Weedgie Tornado - A spinning attack. Hard to hit people with effectively, but good for juggling when you do.

Fighting Strategies
— Luigi is one of those, easy to use, tough to master type characters. He isn’t as difficult to use correctly as the Snake or Olimar, but few people discover the awesomeness of Luigi.
— When trying to master Luigi, the first thing you need to do is embracing the slidiness. Luigi slides around on the ground like no other, which may seem like a disadvantage. However, learn how to use it, and it becomes your opponent’s worst enemy.
— The main weak point of Luigi is his terrible running attack (flurry of punches). It’s weak, long, and you usually miss your opponent with it.
— Luigi makes up for this weak point with his slidiness. Running towards an opponent, charging an up smash, and sliding into your opponent to use it is probably the most crucial thing you need to learn with Luigi. Master this, and you’re golden.
— His aerial up and down attacks are some of the best in the game thanks to their power and quickness. His aerial up is good because it has high priority (so it’s harder to counter) and his aerial down is good because it’s a powerful kick.
— Like Olimar, he is light and floaty so you need to watch out for enemies under you. His aerial down attack helps out, but it’s better just to stay on the same level as your opponent.

Level Strategies
— Luigi is good on pretty much all levels. His Weedgie Torpedo can generally get him back on any stage.

Extra Links
— Tons of Luigi info, mostly just saying how awesome he is

These strategies are the ones that I use when I play. There may be other ones or better ones, but for players having trouble using any of these characters, these should help a bit. You can look at the extra links for much more advanced information more for the hardcore tournament players.

So before you go back to playing Brawl, let me just reiterate: the most important thing when playing Smash, even more important than having fun, is not spamming specials. I have seen many people do this, and they always lose. So go have fun and try out some of these strategies!