Marth (SSBM)/Down aerial

Overview

The hitbox of Marth's dair.

Marth does a forward to backward downward sword slash. When sweetspotted, it sends opponents straight down. In the NTSC versions of Melee, the attack cannot be meteor cancelled, making it a spike. However, this is possible in the PAL versions, so it becomes a meteor smash. It has very low startup lag, but also very high ending lag, which combined with Marth's lackluster recovery, makes it a rather risky move to use too far offstage. However, its long horizontal reach makes it a great tech chase option (for reading rolls), as well as a useful OoS option. The most notorious use of the move is as the finisher to the Ken Combo - a ground jump, forward aerial, double jump, then down aerial. The combo can easily be started with a move such as an up tilt or up throw. Due to its very high effectiveness in the NTSC versions, it can allow a comeback, but it is rather difficult to perform. The ability to meteor cancel the move makes this combo unfortunately less effective in the PAL versions.

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This article or section may require additional technical data. You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Similar moves

• Roy (SSBM)/Down aerial