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A '''guard break''' is a set of techniques in all three [[Super Smash Bros. (universe)|''Super Smash Bros.'' games]] which counters an [[edgeguard]]. As edge guarding strategies have evolved and generalized from personal style, guard breaking strategies have developed in response. For technical reasons, if the grounded player is allowing the airborne player to [[recover]] (i.e there is no guard) then logically there is no break. A recovery that does not take place close to an [[edge]] is also not considered a break, even if a guard is in place (i.e {{SSBB|Pit}}’s [[Wings of Icarus]] floating beyond a guard and landing, while effective and preferable to a break, is not considered a break).
'''Edge-guard breaking''' is a set of techniques in the ''{{b|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' games which counters [[edge-guard]]ing. As edge-guarding strategies have evolved and generalized from personal style, edge-guard breaking strategies have developed in response.


==General strategies==
==General edge-guard breaking==
While breaks and guards are [[character]] and [[stage]] specific, there are some general strategies against certain types of guard.
While specific edge-guards and breaks are [[character]] and [[stage]] specific, there are some general strategies against certain types of edge-guarding.


===Spike guard===
===Offstage edge-guard===
A character with a potent [[spike]] will often try and get a low [[damage]] [[KO]] on a guard centered around a spike, especially if the character lacks other good guards, such as [[Donkey Kong]]. This is broken by avoiding being under the guarder, but if that is not the case, it is important to disrupt the oncoming spike with an [[up aerial]]. Dodging to avoid a spike guard can break the guard, but is not always advisable because mistiming will result in the spike landing. Additionally, the positioning of the dodge in relation to the edge could put the guarded in a position where recovery is impossible if mistimed.
An offstage edge-guard is a risky but oftentimes effective method. It involves the edge-guarder leaving the stage to attack with an aerial to KO, [[gimp]], or keep the recoverer from making it back to the stage. This can be broken by just staying out of the edge-guarder's reach, though this of course isn't always feasible. A timely air dodge can break the edge-guard, but is not always advisable because mistiming will result in the opponent's aerial landing anyway. Additionally, the positioning of the dodge in relation to the edge could put the recoverer in a position where recovery is impossible if mistimed. Recovering characters can also attempt to break an offstage edge-guard by just counter-attacking with a move that comes out before or has better reach than the opponent's attack (such as with a Donkey Kong attempting to meteor smash with his [[down aerial]], a recovering [[Ganondorf]] could counter-attack with his [[up aerial]], which will hit Donkey Kong first unless he initiated his down aerial a considerable amount of time before Ganondorf initiated his up aerial).


===Grab guard===
===Grab edge-guard===
Characters with strong side (and even up) [[throw]]s will try to guard by grabbing the guarded on the approach. This can be broken by dodging at the critical time, [[Sweet spot (ledge)|sweet-spotting]] the edge, or swift timing of a [[forward aerial]]. Be aware that a grab guard is not restricted to the approach, unlike other guards, and so a grab guard can be continued if both characters are still positioned near the edge even after a break was successful. To preclude a continuation of the guard, it is advisable to grab the opponent first.
Characters with strong [[throw]]s that throw the opponent in a horizontal direction, can try to edge-guard by grabbing a recovering character as they approach the stage, or if the opponent suffers from the [[grab release glitch]], will try to grab them during their recovery move to inflict the glitch. This can be simply broken by dodging at the critical time, [[Sweet spot (ledge)|sweet-spotting]] the ledge, or swift timing of an appropriate aerial attack. A grab edge-guard is not necessarily restricted to the opponent being offstage, unlike other edge-guards, so a grab edge-guard can be continued if both characters are still positioned near the edge even after a break was successful (where the edge-guarder can grab the opponent, and throw them offstage again).


===Smash guard===
===Smash edge-guard===
A very basic and common guard. It is the preparation of a [[smash attack]] upon recovery, which may be charged. It can be broken with an aerial attack, a dodge or a sweet-spot on the edge. It does not prevent the recovery, but attempts to use the positioning of the guarded to send them off again. Often, this guard is meant as a KO move because of the positioning, and the break should be executed with care at higher damage. Generally, it is not attempted at low damage unless it is intended to be accompanied with another guard, such as a spike guard, or as a [[edgeguarding#deterrence|deterrence]] mechanism. Generally, in co-op matches, one player can edgehog while the other charges a smash attack, so a character like [[Fox]] or {{SSBB|Lucario}} would be edgehogged or hit by a smash attack.
A very basic and common edge-guard, the edge-guarder simply stands by the ledge, and then attacks with a smash attack as the recoverer nears, sometimes charging the smash before the recoverer is in range. Proper sweet-spotting of the ledge will nearly always break this, as smash attacks don't have the reach to hit low enough below the ledge and hit the opponent before they can sweet-spot the ledge. Counter-attacking is also feasible, though can be especially risky and non-advisable if the edge-guarder's smash attack has significant reach. Often, this edge-guard is meant as a KO move because of the positioning leaving it easy to break, and as such, is generally not attempted at low damage unless it is intended to be accompanied with another edge-guard, or as a [[edgeguarding#deterrence|deterrence]] mechanism.


===[[Projectile]] guard===
Other ground attacks and certain special moves can be used in an identical edge-guarding manner, though few such attacks are as or more effective than forward and down smashes. The same general strategy to breaking a smash edge-guard apply with non-smash ground attacks as well.
Characters with strong and directed projectiles such as Pit, [[Zelda]], and [[Samus]] can use their projectiles to begin a guard as soon as the opponent is positioned far from the edge. Particularly against Zelda’s [[Din's Fire]], a break is very difficult. This is one of the few guards where positioning of the guard may be distanced from the ledge, making it more difficult to execute a successful break. Perfect dodging followed by a strong aerial or very careful sweet-spotting is required to break this guard. This can also be performed with items, or using items themselves as projectiles, but with substantially less efficacy and the break is identical.


===[[Edge-hog]]ging===
===[[Projectile]] edge-guard===
In order to put an opponent away for good, players will oftentimes grab the edge themselves in order to preclude sweet-spotting. The good thing about this guard is that the guarder cannot attack. At the other side, the guarded cannot sweet-spot, and generally a guarder will not do this until the third jump has been executed, or unless the guarder is sure that the only possible recovery is with the ledge. Generally, the guarded is in serious trouble. The only possible break is the use of a projectile or any [[attack]] at the perfect time, just after the [[invincibility frame]]s have ceased, to hit the opponent and seize the ledge.
Characters with strong and/or directed projectiles, such as Pit and [[Samus]], can use their projectiles to begin a edge-guard as soon as the opponent is sent offstage. Unlike with other edge-guarding, the edge-guarder can be far away from the recoverer, giving the recoverer less options to break the edge-guard. Usually, a projectile edge-guard can be broken by maneuvering out of the trajectory of the opponent's projectiles and then sweet-spotting the ledge. While projectiles can be nearly impossible to dodge at times, very few projectiles have high enough knockback to put the recoverer in danger or outright KO (and those that do require considerable charging beforehand barring Samus' Smash [[Missile]]s). As such, projectile edge-guarding itself is usually not dangerous itself, and often times is only meant to tack on some extra damage to then be mixed in with other edge-guards.


===Off-stage guard===
[[Item]]s, when available, can also be used for edge-guarding, where the same general strategy above applies, except items are usually much more dangerous than the projectiles characters possess, and many of them can outright KO or prevent recovery by themselves.
An off-stage guard is a risky but oftentimes effective method. It involves the guarder leaving the stage to attack with a powerful aerial to complete the KO. This is a fairly straightforward guard to break, which is to attack first and attack harder. Beware of the guarder employing edge-hogging if his off-stage guard fails, however. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]]'', jumping on the guarders head is a very effective way of ending the guard, and if the guarded themself employs an edge-hog, then it could be fatal to the guarder.
 
===[[Edge hog]]ging===
[[File:Edgehog-Brawl.png|200px|thumb|Here, Lucario edgehogs a CPU Lucario attempting to recover with [[ExtremeSpeed]].]]
Often times, to ensure a recoverer can't recover or to force them into a bad position, an edge-guarder will grab the ledge and prevent the recoverer from grabbing it, which when precisely done will ensure certain death for the recoverer. While edge hogging can be potentially especially potent, it is usually simple to break, by the recoverer just simply mixing up how they recover. The recoverer can simply recover high and onto the stage so that they don't need to use the ledge (though if their recovery move has significant [[ending lag]], it could allow the edge-guarder to hop up from the ledge and capitalise on the recoverer's vulnerability). For another simple way to break edge hogging, the recoverer can delay their recovery enough to cause the edge hogger's ledge invincibility to wear off, and then exploit the hitboxes in their recovery move to hit the edge hogger off the ledge (which in some cases, can result in [[stage spiking]] the edge hogger). This is no longer the case in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', as any character can steal away the edge from characters already holding on to it, causing the previous edge grabber to be pushed out of it.


==[[Sacrificial KO]] "break"==
==[[Sacrificial KO]] "break"==
If the player is using a character that has a useful Sacrificial KO, that can be used in lieu of a true guard break. Under this scenario, the guarded would assume that the risk of them being successfully edgegarded is too great to merit any effort towards the break. Instead, the player simply tries to drag the opponent off the stage with them. This is most easily done with [[Ganondorf (SSBB)|Ganondorf]], [[Kirby (SSBB)|Kirby]], or [[King Dedede (SSBB)|King Dedede]], although it can also be done with [[Bowser (SSBB)|Bowser]] and (in the case of an off-stage guard) [[Diddy Kong (SSBB)|Diddy Kong]]. For obvious reasons, this should not be used when the player has only one [[stock] left and the opponent has more than one.
If the recoverer is using a character that has an effective sacrificial KO move, that can be used in lieu of a true edge-guard break. Under this scenario, the recoverer would assume that the risk of them being successfully edge-guarded is too great to merit any effort towards the break. Instead, the recoverer simply tries to drag the edge-guarder off the stage with them. This is most easily done with {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, {{SSBB|Kirby}}, and {{SSBB|King Dedede}}, although it can also be done with {{SSBB|Bowser}} and (in the case of an offstage edge-guard) {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}. For obvious reasons, this should not be used when the recoverer has only one [[stock]] left while the edge-guarder has more than one. A similar strategy can be employed by characters with rise-then-fall recoveries, such as Kirby, [[Ike]], [[Cloud]] or [[Chrom]]. They can intercept the edgeguarder with their up special and drag them down, often resulting in an unavoidable KO. If they are near enough to the ledge, it is possible that the recoverer could snap to the edge while the edgeguarder is meteor smashed, resulting in a successful reversal.
 
==Common complex guards and their breaks==
 
===[[Marth]] guard===
Marth is an exceptional edge guarder, possessing a good spike, smash, grab, and off-stage guard. Mostly, however, squaring off against a Marth guard involves the use of Marth’s [[down tilt]], where he thrusts his sword forward, [[tipper|tipping]] the guarded and knocking them back. The best way to break this guard, if the player cannot land above or behind him, is to save the recovery until they have passed below Marth and then use it. If successfully executed, it will knock Marth back some and allow the player to grab the ledge.  However, because Marth’s down tilt is an intrinsic [[crouch cancel]], he may still be able to attack the player. Marth often combines this with a [[counter]], [[edgeguarding#deterrence|deterrence]], [[mindgames]], or other guards.
 
===[[PK Fire]] guard===
This is generally limited to [[Ness]] because of the property of his [[PK Fire]] to trap an opponent. When the guarded is hit with PK Fire over the edge, it carries him downward in a trap, and generally prevents any jumping until the fire is extinguished.  In certain stages, such as [[Jungle Japes]], this guard can be fatal, and also sets Ness up for a spike. To break this guard, a good dodge is generally recommended, or a counter should the guarded have such a move in his moveset. It is advisable to take advantage of the limited range of the move, and if the guarded is trapped by the PK Fire, swiftness of any remaining jumps to a sweet-spot is required.
 
===Din's Fire guard===
Possibly the second hardest guard in the game to break, facing down a Din’s Fire guard can be a pain. Generally, the Zelda player will begin spamming Din’s Fire the moment the guarded is exposed over the edge. Perfect timing of dodges is required, and care upon the approach is a necessity, as Zelda’s up aerial, up smash, forward smash, [[forward throw]], [[down smash]] and [[dash attack]] can all return the guarded to his previous predicament, with more Din’s Fires sure to follow. The Zelda player will often explode the Din’s Fire at variable intervals to confuse the dodge timing, taking advantage of the large blast radius of the move. This is as much a [[mindgame]] as a physical requirement to break the guard. Sweet-spotting is likely the best way to approach, as the invincibility frames on rolling up and hanging on the ledge prevent Zelda from continuing the guard. Disrupting her Din’s Fire with a projectile, if possible, is also a useful tactic for breaking this guard. Some attacks and reflectors that protect against Din's Fire are also viable options.
 
===[[Falco]] guard===
Falco has a number of unique moves that combine for a unique edge guard. Falco will repeatedly fire [[Blaster (Falco)|his blaster]] to let the guarded opponent [[flinch]] on their jumps, and then on the approach use the [[reflector]] throw, which, at certain percentages, is swiftly followed by a spike. Because of the irritating blaster, this guard can be difficult to break. Reflecting or countering can occasionally be useful as the ledge is approached, but generally the break revolves around the ‘uppercut’ strategy discussed to break the Marth Guard. Fortunately, Falco’s blaster puts the player in decent position to use this, allowing the guarded to pass below the ledge (stay out of range of the reflector throw) and then quickly use a recovery move to knock Falco back and sweet-spot the ledge. Needless to say, failure of timing on the recovery move will result in a KO, but a properly executed Falco Guard always results in death. Watch out for the spike on the approach, and also be wary that a prepared Falco can hit the player with the reflector throw during the recovery, setting the player up for a KO.
 
===Wall of Pain===
{{main|Wall of Pain}}
Breaking the Wall of Pain should never be taken for granted, as if it is executed perfectly, the guarded will get KOed. The only way to break the Wall of Pain is to perform an aerial attack before the guarder (repeatedly), and as this requires the executor of the Wall to actually make a mistake, it must immediately be capitalized on. Jumping on the head of the executer is a must should the opportunity arise, and should generally be treated exactly as a standard off-stage guard break, because no better strategies exist. Breaking the Wall of Pain is not possible with all characters, and is made easier with a character with a good recovery and high [[priority]] aerials that come out quickly.
 
===Fire guard===
Executable by [[Bowser]] and {{SSBB|Charizard}}, this guard is simple but can be effective. It involves the use of Charizard and Bowser’s neutral special move, which traps an opponent over the ledge and interrupts jumps. To break this guard, do not use the ‘uppercut’ technique discussed above. Instead, attempt an aerial approach from above or, if the guarded must approach from below to recover, attempt to use a projectile to interrupt the attack, or a recovery move while level with the guarder.
 
===Pit guard===
A standard Pit guard consists of [[Palutena's Arrow]], [[Angel Ring]], and offstage edgeguarding. Just like in the Marth and Falco guards, going below and sweetspotting the edge is the best technique.


===[[Mario]] guard===
A guard consisting of combinations of the [[Cape Glide]], [[F.L.U.D.D.]], [[Fireball]]s, and quick chainable areials. Mario's guarding revolves quite a bit on the cape to reverse the momentum of recovering opponents, but the Cape Glide can also be used to quickly guard with aerials. Mario's guard also largely involves the F.L.U.D.D.; the F.L.U.D.D. is used mostly as a momentum killer, but it can also be used to setup attacks, most notably the cape. Additionally, Mario can use fireballs, both for the purpose of disrupting recoveries and directly setting up additional guards. Mario can also use his quick aerials in succession with each other, while also retaining a powerful meteor smash. Defending against Mario's guarding is difficult due to the great versatility of his edgeguarding options, but characters who can recover very high, such as {{SSBB|R.O.B.}}, are fairly safe; unlike Marth, Falco, and Pit, it is not always best to recover from under the stage since Mario's Cape Glide can intercept most recoveries that attempt to recover from below.
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Latest revision as of 09:40, April 12, 2023

Edge-guard breaking is a set of techniques in the Super Smash Bros. games which counters edge-guarding. As edge-guarding strategies have evolved and generalized from personal style, edge-guard breaking strategies have developed in response.

General edge-guard breaking[edit]

While specific edge-guards and breaks are character and stage specific, there are some general strategies against certain types of edge-guarding.

Offstage edge-guard[edit]

An offstage edge-guard is a risky but oftentimes effective method. It involves the edge-guarder leaving the stage to attack with an aerial to KO, gimp, or keep the recoverer from making it back to the stage. This can be broken by just staying out of the edge-guarder's reach, though this of course isn't always feasible. A timely air dodge can break the edge-guard, but is not always advisable because mistiming will result in the opponent's aerial landing anyway. Additionally, the positioning of the dodge in relation to the edge could put the recoverer in a position where recovery is impossible if mistimed. Recovering characters can also attempt to break an offstage edge-guard by just counter-attacking with a move that comes out before or has better reach than the opponent's attack (such as with a Donkey Kong attempting to meteor smash with his down aerial, a recovering Ganondorf could counter-attack with his up aerial, which will hit Donkey Kong first unless he initiated his down aerial a considerable amount of time before Ganondorf initiated his up aerial).

Grab edge-guard[edit]

Characters with strong throws that throw the opponent in a horizontal direction, can try to edge-guard by grabbing a recovering character as they approach the stage, or if the opponent suffers from the grab release glitch, will try to grab them during their recovery move to inflict the glitch. This can be simply broken by dodging at the critical time, sweet-spotting the ledge, or swift timing of an appropriate aerial attack. A grab edge-guard is not necessarily restricted to the opponent being offstage, unlike other edge-guards, so a grab edge-guard can be continued if both characters are still positioned near the edge even after a break was successful (where the edge-guarder can grab the opponent, and throw them offstage again).

Smash edge-guard[edit]

A very basic and common edge-guard, the edge-guarder simply stands by the ledge, and then attacks with a smash attack as the recoverer nears, sometimes charging the smash before the recoverer is in range. Proper sweet-spotting of the ledge will nearly always break this, as smash attacks don't have the reach to hit low enough below the ledge and hit the opponent before they can sweet-spot the ledge. Counter-attacking is also feasible, though can be especially risky and non-advisable if the edge-guarder's smash attack has significant reach. Often, this edge-guard is meant as a KO move because of the positioning leaving it easy to break, and as such, is generally not attempted at low damage unless it is intended to be accompanied with another edge-guard, or as a deterrence mechanism.

Other ground attacks and certain special moves can be used in an identical edge-guarding manner, though few such attacks are as or more effective than forward and down smashes. The same general strategy to breaking a smash edge-guard apply with non-smash ground attacks as well.

Projectile edge-guard[edit]

Characters with strong and/or directed projectiles, such as Pit and Samus, can use their projectiles to begin a edge-guard as soon as the opponent is sent offstage. Unlike with other edge-guarding, the edge-guarder can be far away from the recoverer, giving the recoverer less options to break the edge-guard. Usually, a projectile edge-guard can be broken by maneuvering out of the trajectory of the opponent's projectiles and then sweet-spotting the ledge. While projectiles can be nearly impossible to dodge at times, very few projectiles have high enough knockback to put the recoverer in danger or outright KO (and those that do require considerable charging beforehand barring Samus' Smash Missiles). As such, projectile edge-guarding itself is usually not dangerous itself, and often times is only meant to tack on some extra damage to then be mixed in with other edge-guards.

Items, when available, can also be used for edge-guarding, where the same general strategy above applies, except items are usually much more dangerous than the projectiles characters possess, and many of them can outright KO or prevent recovery by themselves.

Edge hogging[edit]

An image of a Lucario edgehogging an edge that a CPU Lucario attempts to sweetspot.
Here, Lucario edgehogs a CPU Lucario attempting to recover with ExtremeSpeed.

Often times, to ensure a recoverer can't recover or to force them into a bad position, an edge-guarder will grab the ledge and prevent the recoverer from grabbing it, which when precisely done will ensure certain death for the recoverer. While edge hogging can be potentially especially potent, it is usually simple to break, by the recoverer just simply mixing up how they recover. The recoverer can simply recover high and onto the stage so that they don't need to use the ledge (though if their recovery move has significant ending lag, it could allow the edge-guarder to hop up from the ledge and capitalise on the recoverer's vulnerability). For another simple way to break edge hogging, the recoverer can delay their recovery enough to cause the edge hogger's ledge invincibility to wear off, and then exploit the hitboxes in their recovery move to hit the edge hogger off the ledge (which in some cases, can result in stage spiking the edge hogger). This is no longer the case in Super Smash Bros. 4, as any character can steal away the edge from characters already holding on to it, causing the previous edge grabber to be pushed out of it.

Sacrificial KO "break"[edit]

If the recoverer is using a character that has an effective sacrificial KO move, that can be used in lieu of a true edge-guard break. Under this scenario, the recoverer would assume that the risk of them being successfully edge-guarded is too great to merit any effort towards the break. Instead, the recoverer simply tries to drag the edge-guarder off the stage with them. This is most easily done with Ganondorf, Kirby, and King Dedede, although it can also be done with Bowser and (in the case of an offstage edge-guard) Diddy Kong. For obvious reasons, this should not be used when the recoverer has only one stock left while the edge-guarder has more than one. A similar strategy can be employed by characters with rise-then-fall recoveries, such as Kirby, Ike, Cloud or Chrom. They can intercept the edgeguarder with their up special and drag them down, often resulting in an unavoidable KO. If they are near enough to the ledge, it is possible that the recoverer could snap to the edge while the edgeguarder is meteor smashed, resulting in a successful reversal.

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