Matchup Summary (Win Condition and Game Plan)
The matchup is decided by whether Marth keeps touching Ridley’s large body with walk speed and tipper spacing before Plasma Breath and Ridley’s long limbs force him to move first.
Ridley stretches advantage well with fair, bair, dash attack, and up tilt, and offstage he punishes Marth’s short horizontal recovery very hard, so reckless overshoots and high jumps are dangerous.
At the same time, Ridley’s body is huge and his close-range scrambles are not the fastest, so as the table shows, Jab 1-3, tilts, dash attack, smash attacks, fair, bair, uair, dair, Up B, and Down B are all very punishable by Marth with Up B (5f) or OOS Uair (8f) when they touch shield.
The win condition is to shift Ridley’s swing points with down tilt, fair, and bair in center, then keep edgeguards and ledge traps going by lining fair, bair, and forward tilt up against the large recovery hurtbox.
Full Move Frame Quick Reference
| Opponent Move | Startup | On Shield | Marth OOS Candidate Moves | Barely Missed Moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jab 1 | 4 | -16 |
| |
| Jab 2 | 5 | -18 |
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| Jab 3 | 4 | -25 |
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| Rapid Jab | 4/7/10… | ** | ||
| Rapid Jab Finisher | 4 | -38 |
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| Forward Tilt | 10 | -12/-10 |
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| Up Tilt | 8 | -14/-12 |
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| Down Tilt | 9 | -15/-12 |
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| Dash Attack | 12 | -16 |
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| Forward Smash | 18 | -22 |
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| Up Smash | 12 | -24 |
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| Down Smash | 24 | -22 |
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| Neutral Air | 8 | -8/-7/-9 |
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| Forward Air | 10/13/16 | (-14/-13)/(-13/-13) |
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| Back Air | 10 | -12 |
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| Up Air | 11 | -9/-9 |
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| Down Air | 11 | -27/-27 |
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| Neutral B | 29 | 56/65/73/84/92 | -23 // -1 |
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| Side B (1) | 22 | ** | ||
| Side B (2) | 22 | ** | ||
| Side B (3) | 10/24/28/32… | ** | ||
| Up B | 34/36/37 | -28 |
| |
| Down B | 30 | -29 |
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| Grab | 8 | — | ||
| Dash Grab | 11 | — | ||
| Pivot Grab | 12 | — |
Win Condition Checklist
- Marth should use walking, down tilt, and tipper fair to shift Ridley’s dash attack, fair, and Plasma Breath startup ranges, touch the large body first, and then move into the landing trap.
- After blocking Jab 1-3, Rapid Jab Finisher, tilts, dash attack, smash attacks, fair, bair, uair, dair, Up B, or Down B, Marth should take the guaranteed punish with Up B (5f) or OOS Uair (8f).
- After blocking nair or Plasma Breath, Marth should not swing immediately in place and should instead reset spacing with drift and walk, then place fair or uair on the next landing path to return to tipper control.
- At the ledge, Marth should stack fair, bair, forward tilt, and down tilt onto Ridley’s large Up B hurtbox and normal getup while refusing to overchase past the point of safe recovery.
Actions to Avoid
- Jumping too high just to clear Plasma Breath and getting the landing clipped by uair or fair.
- Holding shield too long at the corner and giving Ridley’s Side B or grab a free carry offstage.
- Chasing too deep for one edgeguard hit and letting bair or Up B reverse the position onto Marth’s weaker recovery.
- Staying in close-range scrambles too long and letting dash attack or forward smash hit the whiff after Marth loses tipper spacing.