| Crownerang | |
|---|---|
 King K. Rool using Crownerang in Ultimate. | |
| User | King K. Rool |
| Universe | Donkey Kong |
| “ | Throws his crown like it's a boomerang. Can't be thrown again until it is picked up. | ” |
| —Description from Ultimate's Move List | ||
Crownerang (クラウンスロー, Crown Throw) is King K. Rool's side special move.
Overview
K. Rool takes his crown off of his head and flings it forward as a projectile. True to its name, the crown acts like a boomerang. Once thrown, the crown can be pocketed, and can also be picked up as an item if K. Rool fails to catch it. Should that happen, K. Rool will be unable to use the attack again until he regains his crown. During the throw, K. Rool is granted armor to moves dealing less than 10%, which is distinct from his character-specific Belly Super Armor.
If the crown is thrown offstage, it will act as a normal item, constantly respawning whenever it crosses a blast zone or disappears over time. If K. Rool touches the crown on the ground, he will perform a short uninterruptible animation of him placing it back on his head (unless he is performing another move, including shielding or rolling). However, there are roughly 30 frames prior to this that K. Rool can pick it up with no lag. Due to this, K. Rool is unable to pick up his own crown like a normal throwing item, as any contact will result in the crown being put back on his head; he can pick up a crown from another K. Rool as a throwing item, however.
Giant Crown Glitch
When K. Rool throws his crown, and the crown touches solid ground while he is in an egg from Yoshi's Egg Lay, the crown will become almost as large as Yoshi himself.[1] The crown will retain its massive size even if an opponent holds and throws it as an item, and it will only revert back to normal size if the K. Rool picks up his own crown. The glitch is functionally similar to previous Egg Lay-related glitches, such as the one which increases the size of Jigglypuff under the effects of the regenerating terrain glitch, and a glitch in Smash 4's Multi-Man Smash that caused giant opponents to turn gargantuan if caught by Egg Lay.
This glitch was removed in 3.0.0.
Origin
This move is based on King K. Rool's main attack from the final boss fight against him in Donkey Kong Country. In the fight, K. Rool would throw his crown to attack the Kongs, usually to conclude a cycle of other attacks, especially later in the fight. True to K. Rool's bumbling nature, this attack also provided the only opening for the Kongs to damage him, as he was completely invincible at all other times.
Techniques
Crown Cancelling
If an uninterruptible animation such as an attack or knockback is in effect while the crown is coming back, K. Rool's head will flash green as the crown appears on his head. This completely skips the 17 frame crown pickup animation, leaving K. Rool less open for punishment. This is referred to as Crown Cancelling by the K. Rool playerbase, and there are many ways to exploit this. For example, by using Crownerang to force shield on the opponent, K. Rool can run in with a dash grab to not only Crown Cancel, but also get a grab off of it. This is extremely potent for making the opponent not shield, and force approaches later in the game. A successful grab can potentially close out a stock if the opponent is at a high percentage. Using up or forward tilt with the tech is also very useful for punishing a rash approach, as a lot of opponents tend to try and jump in when Crownerang is being used.
There is a sub-category of this tech known as Crown Squatting, discovered by Plague von Karma, which involves the crown landing on K. Rool during his jumpsquat.[2] If done on the first frame, there will be no green flash to indicate a successful Crown Cancel. This aids in confirming back aerial kill confirms from a returning crown, or generally increases momentum in the match by saving 17 frames. The most notable application for this is to immediately use Crownerang again, allowing King K. Rool to control the stage in a surprisingly efficient way.[3]
Crown Sliding
Crown Sliding was found by ChaosBlasta[4] and popularized by Phantom Phoenix.[5] If the player does an initial dash (including foxtrot or dash dance) into the crown while the move is active, King K. Rool will "slide" while picking it up.
This is usually used for enabling combos from Crownerang, such as Crown Slide into down smash at 0% or an early up tilt at low to mid percentages. This can also go into Up Smash at Mid%s, potentially killing on stages with low ceilings. If a reverse input (usually done with the c-stick for ease of access) is used, it will reverse the slide, allowing for a sweetspotted forward smash during the combo. It can be charged for a period of time as well, greatly increasing its power. This can also be used for a down tilt aerial hitbox, forward tilt and up tilt on all variants of the slide.
Crown Sliding is also a somewhat useful movement option in niche scenarios, being able to be used as a mixup option for getting around the stage or catching opponents off-guard. The short lag period leaves K. Rool a bit vulnerable however, making its usage debatable when approaching outside of chasing off-stage.
Crown Landing
A tech discovered by Plague von Karma[6][7], Crown Landing enables King K. Rool to significantly reduce - or if frame perfectly, completely erase - his landing lag. This is executed in two ways, referred to as the "No Crown" and "Crown Pickup" variants by the playerbase.
To execute the No Crown Variant, the player must input Crownerang when the Crown isn't on K. Rool's head 45-35 frames before landing. This will have K. Rool land a few frames before the "No Crown" animation ends (which lasts 36 frames), converting into his landing lag in an unnatural way. If done perfectly, this will leave K. Rool with either 1 frame of landing lag (rather than 6 from the hard landing), or snap him into his idle animation. Thus, it is possible to land and then immediately perform another action.
To execute the Crown Pickup Variant, the player must collect the Crown 35 frames before landing. This will almost always leave the player with 1 or 0 frames of landing lag, being much more generous - albeit situational - than the No Crown Variant. The biggest benefit of this is being able to use Crownerang immediately after landing, enabling a lot of horizontal pressure reminiscent of Crown Squatting. This enables a lot of pressure around Battlefield's platforms, as they provide a very safe way of executing this tech.
Crown Bouncing
Crown Bouncing, discovered by DkDavy,[8], is also very notable.[9] It is essentially an aerial dash dance, requiring a reverse input on the control stick when jumping into the crown. It is similar to a B reverse, thus carrying some initial momentum during the "bounce". This is best used with platforms, but can be used on the ground in the same manner. By trying to Crown Slide again during the input sequence, it can also cause K. Rool to B Reverse the animation, increasing utility significantly through the wavebounce-like effects.
Crown Bouncing is also used during recovery in circumstances where it is possible, as it adds another bit of horizontal distance that can be great if the requirements are met. This is because there is only 17 frames of lag performing this, which in edgeguard situations is more difficult to intercept than on land. This also allows for buffer options to be performed through the Crown Pickup animation, enabling Propellerpack to be used at the first possible frame. While opportunities are few and far between, there is no question that Crown Bouncing is an important aspect of recovery when it's possible.
Crown Bouncing can also interact with Crown Pickup Crown Landing in niche circumstances, although the momentum typically makes it difficult to do consistently. It is a very good approach option when a player sets up their situations perfectly, however, as opponents will typically shield and be forced to take a grab. As a result, in situations where it works, this can be a very good play to consider.
Crownless Bounce
This tech makes use of King K. Rool's "No Crown" animation. Through executing a Short or Full Hop with Side Special, it's possible to execute different jumps. Crownless Bounces are very, very powerful when combined with Crown Landing. It actually turns them into incredible movement options! The pivot jump can allow for some very useful platform control, as K. Rool will land at the perfect time for his landing lag to cancel on Battlefield's side platforms Due to the utility of this maneuver, it's been dubbed Crownless Bouncing.
It is also possible to Crown Bounce via C-Stick Macro Specials[10] while not having the crown at all (thus using the crown pickup animation). This is known as a C-Stick Macro Crownless Bounce. This allows for a wavebounce or pivot jump depending on the inputs; the traditional input causes the pivot jump, while inputting two forward or backward inputs instead of the traditional way causes the wavebounce to occur. While the pivot jump is a movement mixup at best (most notably for back aerial meteor smashes), the wavebounce is notable for how far it sends K. Rool back. This aids him in zoning, being able to follow up with a wavebounce into Blunderbuss after throwing the crown out.
However, Crownless Bouncing on its own comes with risks. The "No Crown" animation lasts 36 Frames: there is a lot of lag to this when it's executed. Thus, Crown Landing must be executed correctly whenever it is being performed, or there is a very real risk of being punished. While options can be buffered through it, it's not necessarily helpful when an opponent is on the offense. This means that the technique on its own is limited to slower matchups or situations where opponents can't stop him.
Crownless Bouncing allows for great use of up tilt to anti-air, or control the top platform if the Pivot Jump is used. The wavebounce allows for many funky approach or retreat options, such as the aforementioned Blunderbuss zoning. It can also allow for approaches with neutral attack, instant dash attack (forward + forward on c-stick), or the previously mentioned up tilt. It can also function as a tomahawk option, allowing for interesting reads and plays.
The Short Hop variant of Crownless Bouncing has been used along with a thrown Crownerang to quickly collect it, and then proceed to continue moving due to it triggering a Crown Pickup Crown Landing. This almost always triggers 0 landing lag, and the Crown Pickup allows for buffer strategies as well. Thanks to this, K. Rool gets another movement setup that is surprisingly quick and very applicable in certain matchups. This adds a new layer of options out of the attack, such as the aforementioned Jab or Grab. There are also very good shield cross-ups here, especially when used with Pivot Grabs.
Gallery
Crownerang as shown by a Skill Preview in Ultimate.
References
- ^ https://twitter.com/alen3822/status/1084196771385958400
- ^ https://twitter.com/PlagueVonKarma/status/1088472225806802949?s=19
- ^ https://twitter.com/PZLRquackattack/status/1088491768356708352
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTk-MyKTXKA
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8n-UOeLZRM
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6IP103t-U
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1KR2l_7-7k
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu56fQKvLfw&feature=youtu.be
- ^ https://youtu.be/XeAHbNzFpbM
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gbZJn8CHMk
