Matchup Summary (Win Condition and Game Plan)
Lucas can halt Piranha Plant’s advance with fair, Zair, forward tilt, and down tilt, then stretch advantage with PK Fire and landing traps, so Plant walks into Lucas’s best spacing if he jumps in at the same height from mid range.
However, Lucas’s close-range shield punish and scramble reversal are not especially strong, and his grab is 12f, so Plant does better by parking Ptooie above Lucas, stopping the jump first, and using walk-and-shield to create one close-range win before escorting him to ledge.
The frame table also shows dash attack, forward smash, up smash, down smash, down air, side B, and up B (2) are punishable by grab, OOS uair, OOS fair, OOS nair, up smash, or up B, so Plant is more consistent when he cashes out only on Lucas’s heavy commitments instead of forcing ambitious whiff punishes on spaced fair or Zair.
KOs are more reliable when Plant does not rush center-stage scraps, but instead layers Poison Breath at ledge and branches between Ptooie, fair, and up smash to cover tether recovery and higher PK Thunder 2, cutting off the long advantage cycles Lucas wants.
Full Move Frame Quick Reference
| Opponent Move | Startup | On Shield | Piranha Plant OOS Candidate Moves | Barely Missed Moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jab 1 | 2 | -13 |
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| Jab 2 | 3 | -13 |
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| Jab 3 | 6 | -19 |
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| Forward Tilt | 7 | -10/-8 |
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| Up Tilt | 4/7 | -18 |
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| Down Tilt | 3 | -6 |
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| Dash Attack | 13 | -15/-12 |
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| Forward Smash | 14 | -21 |
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| Up Smash | 28/30 | -54 |
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| Down Smash | 20/29/39 | -12 |
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| Neutral Air | 7…/26 | -10/-9 |
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| Forward Air | 9 | -3/-2 |
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| Back Air | 15 | -5/-4/-6 |
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| Up Air | 7 | -3 |
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| Down Air | 10/18/26/34 | -14/-13 |
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| Z Air | 9 | -2 |
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| Neutral B | 40-92 | -14 to -5 |
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| Side B | 21 | -24 |
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| Up B (1) | 20 | — | ||
| Up B (2) | 1/4/6/8/10/12/14/17/20/23/26/29 | -21 |
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| Down B | 19 (7 is start of absorb) | +0 |
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| Grab | 12 | — | ||
| Dash Grab | 14 | — | ||
| Pivot Grab | 15 | — |
Win Condition Checklist
- Do not contest mid-range at the same height. Use walk-and-shield plus Ptooie to stop jump, Zair, and pre-placed fair first, then take space afterward.
- Once you get in, exploit Lucas’s 12f grab and weaker scramble defense by choosing grab, nair, and up smash over panic reads, then send him back out to the ledge again.
- After blocking dash attack, forward smash, up smash, down smash, down air, side B, or up B (2), take the punish with grab, OOS uair, OOS fair, OOS nair, up smash, or up B instead of letting his heavy buttons reset the pace cheaply.
- At ledge, use Poison Breath to dirty neutral getup space and tether waiting space, then place Ptooie high enough to cover both ledge jump and the head exposure on PK Thunder 2.
- Prefer holding stage over chasing too deep. Keep clipping repeat tether attempts, ledge options, and landings so Lucas never gets back to his landing-trap flow.
Actions to Avoid
- Do not swing OOS at the tip of fair or Zair every time and hand Lucas his preferred mid-range back when the punish does not reach.
- Do not float Ptooie predictably from long range and turn it into a cue for forward smash reflection or a low dash-in.
- Do not chase too far offstage and lose your own recovery route to PK Freeze, back air, or a PK Thunder reversal.
- Do not rush for the kill in center stage with Long-Stem Strike or big smash swings and give Lucas another down tilt, fair, or grab route into landing pressure.