Teach Me How to Ike!

[Maou]

I'm going to smash'n'splash (tournament in IL) this weekend and plan to use Ike for smash 4. I'm mainly entering for fun but it would be nice to not look like a complete scrub. Any tips, useful videos, or anything else would be greatly appreciated!

[Draco]

From an Ike main because I'm insecure with my own masculinity:

He's pretty slow but powerful, so using his faster attacks is a must. His Forward smash is devestating but one of his slowest attacks and very punishable, so try to only use it when you know you can hit with it. His Upsmash is pretty handy because it's faster, still strong, and can hit not only above and in front of you, but behind too. Still punishable though, so try to forgo them in favor of tilts.

I think his FAir is pretty reliable and does good damage too. His DAir is a meteor smash but you can easily kill yourself with it so try not to rely on it. Even if you're not spiking with it, it does good damage.

Down throw can be chained into Aether at low percents, iirc.

I like to use counter a lot because I'm a literal piece of human trash but that's up to you. I think most people like Eruption but I never use it and hardly find it useful. Aether is good as an attack but be careful using it as recovery because you won't be crossing any horizontal distance with it. If you get knocked nearly off the stage but not below the edges, use his Side+B instead of Aether. Make sure to charge it.

I know this is a lot to take in, but do it and be the best damn Ike main you can be! Go get 'em, tiger!

Edited June 9, 2015 by Draco

[Maou]

From an Ike main because I'm insecure with my own masculinity:

He's pretty slow but powerful, so using his faster attacks is a must. His Forward smash is devestating but one of his slowest attacks and very punishable, so try to only use it when you know you can hit with it. His Upsmash is pretty handy because it's faster, still strong, and can hit not only above and in front of you, but behind too. Still punishable though, so try to forgo them in favor of tilts.

I think his FAir is pretty reliable and does good damage too. His DAir is a meteor smash but you can easily kill yourself with it so try not to rely on it. Even if you're not spiking with it, it does good damage.

Down throw can be chained into Aether at low percents, iirc.

I like to use counter a lot because I'm a literal piece of human trash but that's up to you. I think most people like Eruption but I never use it and hardly find it useful. Aether is good as an attack but be careful using it as recovery because you won't be crossing any horizontal distance with it. If you get knocked nearly off the stage but not below the edges, use his Side+B instead of Aether. Make sure to charge it.

I know this is a lot to take in, but do it and be the best damn Ike main you can be! Go get 'em, tiger!

Oh, probably should have mentioned that I played Ike in brawl so I know all the basic stuff. Only played 10 hours of smash 4 when it first came out and my wii u was stolen a couple of months later so I don't know any of the smash 4 metagame stuff for Ike.

Thanks for the tips though, they are a good refresher.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Maou

[Sentacotus]

From what I understand and have read not a whole lot has changed with Ike. He's gotten a few buffs but I think his jab cancel is gone. One big difference from Brawl is that his Aether used to grab the ledge regardless of which side you're facing in SSB4 he has to be facing the ledge to grab it and can only grab it 3 consecutive times before he wont anymore. If you are using customs I'd highly recommend close combat and Aether Wave.

Also if you catch your opponent in Aether while they are trying to recover it will take them down with you much like Bowser's down throw. You will get KO'd first when you do this though.

Edited June 9, 2015 by LordTaco42

[Maou]

From what I understand and have read not a whole lot has changed with Ike. He's gotten a few buffs but I think his jab cancel is gone. One big difference from Brawl is that his Aether used to grab the ledge regardless of which side you're facing in SSB4 he has to be facing the ledge to grab it and can only grab it 3 consecutive times before he wont anymore. If you are using customs I'd highly recommend close combat and Aether Wave.

Also if you catch your opponent in Aether while they are trying to recover it will take them down with you much like Bowser's down throw. You will get KO'd first when you do this though.

Yeah, I have to consider customs since the tournament is using EVO rules. Is close combat the one that goes through the opponent?

And I have a vague memory of an "instant" bair technique that Ike had in brawl, is there something similar in smash 4?

[Ein]

Pick a different character.

Joking aside. Use his jab to poke and test out the waters. He has limited movement and mix up so you have to get creative on your approach especially against faster characters who will probably out maneuver you anyway. Get ready to get gimped while trying to recover. A lot. His recovery is garbage. :x

Generally his ground tilts are quite good as are his air tilts. F-tilt, Up-tilt, F-air, Up-air, and especially his B-air are his best friends. Short hop that stuff.

Don't do the same things over and over especially when approaching. This bares repeating because Ike.

[Sentacotus]

Yeah, I have to consider customs since the tournament is using EVO rules. Is close combat the one that goes through the opponent?

And I have a vague memory of an "instant" bair technique that Ike had in brawl, is there something similar in smash 4?

Yes Close Combat goes through the opponent like Fox Illusion. Far less punishable than his default and helps with recovery. back air is still very fast and I recommend using it despite having a weird hitbox since people will likely press you and its a good counter for overly aggressive types. Also if you are using customs might as well equip Furious Eruption for the bigger hitbox if nothing else makes it a more viable edge guard.

Overall, I try to play defensively with Ike let people come to you. Use grabs to set things up and bait through out the match. Projectile characters are going to be the main problem which is why I recommend equipping Aether Wave. For the counters use whatever suits you best I like the default enough because his counter is slow to begin (smash counter is even slower) with and I like getting damage out of it (paralyzing counter doesn't last long enough to land smashes really).

Edited June 9, 2015 by LordTaco42

[Maou]

Yes Close Combat goes through the opponent like Fox Illusion. Far less punishable than his default and helps with recovery. back air is still very fast and I recommend using it despite having a weird hitbox since people will likely press you and its a good counter for overly aggressive types. Also if you are using customs might as well equip Furious Eruption for the bigger hitbox if nothing else makes it a more viable edge guard.

Overall, I try to play defensively with Ike let people come to you. Use grabs to set things up and bait through out the match. Projectile characters are going to be the main problem which is why I recommend equipping Aether Wave. For the counters use whatever suits you best I like the default enough because his counter is slow to begin (smash counter is even slower) with and I like getting damage out of it (paralyzing counter doesn't last long enough to land smashes really).

Yeah, I played defensively back in brawl. Mostly used nair to keep a hitbox out for people to run in to and tilts for ranged pokes.

Does Ike have any kill grabs? If not, which is his most useful grab?

[Maou]

Pick a different character.

Joking aside. Use his jab to poke and test out the waters. He has limited movement and mix up so you have to get creative on your approach especially against faster characters who will probably out maneuver you anyway. Get ready to get gimped while trying to recover. A lot. His recovery is garbage. :x

Generally his ground tilts are quite good as are his air tilts. F-tilt, Up-tilt, F-air, Up-air, and especially his B-air are his best friends. Short hop that stuff.

Don't do the same things over and over especially when approaching. This bares repeating because Ike.

Yeah, Ike isn't that great but he's the only character I'm comfortable with. Thanks for the tips!

Edit: whoops, double post. srry

Edited June 9, 2015 by Maou

[Draco]

Usually Down Grab for most characters. It can be chained into Aether iirc. EDIT: Actually, Up throw can be chained into Aether at higher percents than DThrow. Go for that.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Draco

[S_Cero]

His neutral air is good. Abuse the crap out of it. I probably would've also gone to this tourney if it didn't cost bloody $50 to get into both melee's and PM's tournaments.

[Carmine Sword]

Down Throw also chains into Nair and Fair in addition to Aether at low percentages.

Eruption can be used for edgeguarding, but besides that I wouldn't use it much due to the large amount of end lag.

[Knife]

Play me on WiFi if you really want to learn instead of hearing all this theory crafting.

[Pixelman]

counter and piss everyone off

EDIT: then start strafing everywhere

Edited June 9, 2015 by PixelmanFE

[KirbySuperStar]

My tips are:

-Abuse his jab combo

-Quickdraw isn't very helpful as an attack

-Although you can quickdraw then jab as most opponents will use a move too slow

to punish (be wary of perfect shields, rolls, and grabs)

-Forward smash is probably better than eruption for edge guarding

-Aether will often catch opponents when their jumping from the ledge

-Don't be afraid to jump off to kill them with a dair or fair

I mained Ike a while back but that all the tips I've got :P

[Maou]

Play me on WiFi if you really want to learn instead of hearing all this theory crafting.

Would love to but I don't have a Wii U anymore. :(

[DeadGame]

Obviously the most important thing of all time first:

Ike's stylish Jab-Cancel:

Tap A (wait for punch and let go of A)

Hold A, wait for the kick to miss and

quickly let go of A

Hold A again, wait for kick etc.

Use it wisely, haha.

Some other things:

-Neutral-Air and Forward-Air auto cancel

-Down-Tilt makes for good follow-ups with Forward-Air/ Up-Air

-Aether's final hit has a meteor effect (can result in Ikecide when facing away from the stage since Ike unfortunately can't grab the ledge backwards anymore)

-Ike's down-throw can be followed up with air attacks

-Use counter, eruption, Up-Smash for edge guarding

-Ike's Down-Air is pretty risky off-stage and it's meteor is fairly hard to hit

-Pivot-tilts make for good surprise attacks, Side-Tilt is pretty good altogether

-Down-Smash is his fastest Smash concerning the initial hit, can hit enemies rolling behind you.

But the most important thing to do when playing Ike (this time for real): Don't be too aggressive. Ike's not the fastest character so you need to punish and not be punishable.

(This was posted before Ike's epic buffathon.)

Edited September 8, 2015 by Ragnar

[euklyd]

first of all: the most important thing to remember is to aetherspike suicide as much as you possibly can :^)

you can even drag people along with you!

don't play a whole lot of ike but notable changes I can think of would be that his dtilt was sped up a lot, and combos into aerials super well (but no longer spikes), and iirc his fair was sped up a lot as well. I think nair combos better? dtilt being amazing is worth reiterating

probably worth checking out smashboards' ike strategy thread

note that the thread talks about VI (vector influence) instead of DI, that was halfway patched out in favor of traditional DI

in this game, for survival DI, hold towards the stage to survive vs. horizontal knockback (directly towards, no angling involved). vertical survival DI is unchanged (hold perpendicularly to the knockback). there are a lot of people still unaware of this.

as far as customs go...

- furious eruption (neutral b) is a straight upgrade (stronger and better range, but hurts you slightly). tempest has a rage-inducing windbox that is hilarious for edgeguarding, if you're into that.

- close combat (side b) is as well (goes straight through enemies without stopping, but weaker)

- (up b) aether wave is a super unsafe projectile and imo generally not worth it, and aether drive has a tendency to get you caught under stages a lot when recovering.

- (down b) as far as I've heard, counter customs are essentially up to personal preference

smashboards has a thread on ike's customs that's worth checking out

if you don't have a wii u anymore tho, I'd probably avoid using radically different customs if you don't have a chance to practice without them

if you're looking for videos to watch, I'd search for Ryo's (= Ryuga) Ike (he also played in Brawl)
post on smashboards with links to matches from his most recent tournament (on sunday)
the first post in that thread has a bunch of ryuga vids from the 3DS days (notable thing I remember is that you can shark with (standard) aether from really far under stages and you'll get snapped to the ledge anyways

for reference, the best Ike player we have on SF is probably Jedi?

-Aether's final hit has a meteor effect (can result in Ikecide when facing away from the stage since Ike unfortunately can't grab the ledge backwards anymore)

pretty sure that the last hit (when he hits the ground) has diagonal knockback, and you get the meteor by ledge-canceling it (hard, since you can't grab backwards) or aetherciding?

pedit: just checked; the landing hit is 60° knockback; additionally, the meteor is on aerial opponents only

[DeadGame]

edit: just checked; the landing hit is 60° knockback; additionally, the meteor is on aerial opponents only

Yes. About ledge-canceling aether, that's of course the optimal way of spiking your opponent, but as I said, you have to face the stage for that since Ike can't grab the ledge backwards anymore.

(Btw, "Aetherciding" sounds way cooler, I must admit.)

[euklyd]

is it even possible to reliably ledge-cancel aether and still meteor your opponent?

[DeadGame]

is it even possible to reliably ledge-cancel aether and still meteor your opponent?

Well, once you figure out the sweet spot to grab the ledge, I think the hardest part is timing it right to hit your opponent. Reliable in theory but requires reading.

[Booton]

-Neutral-Air and Forward-Air auto cancel

Nair does not auto cancel, it would be even more amazing if it did though and is a buff I think Ike needs. Fair and bair are Ike's auto cancels.

is it even possible to reliably ledge-cancel aether and still meteor your opponent?

You have to pull back away from the ledge so that Ike just barely grabs it, I get spikes with Aether quite frequently this way. If you're not good at judging that distance, the best way to ease into learning the correct spacing is to Aether at a distance where Ike will just barely grab the stage as you're moving forward. This can result in a spike against greedy players who are heading off stage in an attempt stage spike or gimp Ike. Thus using Aether earlier and from the correct distance can catch them and send them to their doom. Ideally you want to try to hit them so they are hit by or get caught in the spinning part of Ragnell before/as Ike jumps, once they're caught you just space the move correctly so that you'll just barely grab the stage.

Here are some tips I can offer as an Ike main:

- Jab 1 and 2 are really good. You can also mix it up with jab 1 into dtilt or dash grab.

- Ike has a good grab game, as such, pivot grabs can be very useful.

- Empty hops into grabs can be useful against opponents who spend a lot of time trying to shield grab you.

- Just like pivot grabs, pivot ftilts can be quite useful as well and can even KO.

- Dthrow combos into aether, nair, fair, uair and bair at low percents, dependent on character's weight and your rage. (dthrow to Aether does not work on really floaty characters such as Mewtwo and Jigglypuff. Oddly enough it also does not work on Lucina, despite working on Marth.)

- Uthrow combos into uair, bair, fair and nair at mid-high percents.

- Nair can lead into fair, uair and bair.

- Dtilt leads into several things and is a great tool.

- Usmash, utilt, ftilt, bair and off stage fair are your safest KO moves. Dthrow can kill at very high percents. Eruption is great KO option against a lot of low recoveries, generallly you want to charge eruption just enough so that the hitbox extends far enough down to catch them before they can cling to the ledge. There is also a 1 frame of vulnerability upon grabbing the ledge, this can catch teleporting recoveries off guard. I'd recommend learning the timing for punishing recoveries with Eruption.

- When it comes to edge guarding, Ike has several tools at his disposal. Eruption and dair against low recoveries. Walk off bair for stage spikes. Ledge trump bair as a surprise. Walk off can fairs work against a few characters. Counter is also an option against some characters, it is fairly effective against Luigi's cyclone.

- Learn the height in which you can use quickdraw and receive no landing lag, this is a powerful tool when recovering on stages with platforms and can sometimes save you from juggles as well. Outside of that, the only real offensive use I've found for it is to punish people who are charging smash attacks or stuck in end lag. If it's a tight window and quick draw is your only option to punish, it's better to get some damage than none.

I hope some of these tips help.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Booton

[KirbySuperStar]

Yes it's possible I've done it before.

Edit: didn't see that other people answered since they gave better answers please delete this post

Edited June 10, 2015 by KirbySuperStar

[Jedi]

I'm going to smash'n'splash (tournament in IL) this weekend and plan to use Ike for smash 4. I'm mainly entering for fun but it would be nice to not look like a complete scrub. Any tips, useful videos, or anything else would be greatly appreciated!

First off, learn to not just attack unsafely on an opponents shield, Ike's safest option on shields is well, his grabs. Which don't do too much but can be used to set things up. He can't punish shields all that well, sadly so just bait enemies out or grab em.

Ike is at his best in mid-air as his nair is quite fast and wide sweeping, use this with short hopping to get the most out of it, its one of your better approaches.

Ike's jab is one of his best strings, simply because its fast, it cancels a few things and it does ok damage, sadly it got nerfed from its brawl iteration.

LEARN. TO. TILT. REALLY. WELL, Ike's smashes baring Usmash are pretty situation, his tilts are his bread and butter, learn proper spacing with how lengthy his sword is, capitalize on it, dtilt launches opponents into the air, and gives you the ability to go into Ike's best zone, the air.

Uair has a startup which you can use as a read, if you can read an airdodge and they think you are doing something else go for it, Fair is pretty fast and can Ko decently. Just don't go TOO far off stage, dair is pretty strong, but situational.

Ike's specials, Eurption has a REALLY REALLY BIG HITBOX, use it sparingly as it leaves you open, but once in awhile, throw it. Because almost no one realizes how big the hitbox is,

Aether, situational use out of maybe dthrow if the opponent is heavy enough/doesn't know how to DI at low %'s, great for vertical recovery and can be used to hit people from under the stage. Just don't try to do it too many times in a row.

Quickdraw's main use is as a recovery. I don't really use it for much else.

Counter only if you can read your opponent and if something else wouldn't be a better punish (also a good GET AWAY FROM ME move).

Learn Ike's move speed, learn his reach. These are two things you NEED to understand to play Ike at the competitive level. Also short hops, if you can't short hop i'd advise trying to learn how to do that. It helps alot.

Ike's main weakness is projectiles, and the faster characters, but reading them can lend some quick KO's as the speedier characters tend to be the lighter ones.

Projectiles, just try to approach carefully. Liberal use of nair, his jab and maybe counter to cancel them out depending on the situation.

Also my favorite Ike combo is probably, nair to utilt to aerial of my choice.

Booton's post is really good look at it :P

Is your tournament using customs?

Edited June 10, 2015 by Jedi

[Anacybele]

Ooh, this is a nice topic for someone like me that's still learning to Ike as well. There's no way in hell I'd never NOT main him, I love him way too much. lol

I see a lot of great tips already too, and I'm going to try to use them next time I play. :)