Ike

Smash Attacks

SIDE SMASH

Ike slams down his huge sword with this overhead downward strike directly in front of him. Sends opponents diagonally upward.

DOWN SMASH

Ike strikes low in front of and then behind him.

UP SMASH

Ike swings his sword in arc over his head, starting in front of him and ending on the ground behind him.

Basic Attacks

Standing Attack

This jab series starts with a punch, then an advancing kick, and concludes with a downward sword strike. You can delay each hit.

Forward Tilt

A far-reaching horizontal sword slash. This can be aimed up or down.

Up Tilt

Ike lifts his sword horizontally over his head and jumps upward. Pops your opponent up vertically.

Down Tilt

A long-range one-armed sword sweep.

Dash Attack

Ike swings his sword upward directly in front of him as he slides forward.

Edge Attack

Ike pulls himself back up to the stage and swings his sword horizontally with one arm.

Air Attacks

Neutral Air Attack

Ike swings his sword downward and around his body, starting in front him.

Up Air Attack

Ike whirls his huge sword above his head in one big spin.

Down Air Attack

Ike flings his sword downward between his legs. This attack can meteor smash.

Forward Air Attack

This overhead downward strike is similar to Marth’s except it’s larger, slower, and heavier.

Back Air Attack

Ike whips his sword behind him while turning to face that direction.

Special Attacks

Eruption (Neutral Special)

A fiery strike with Ike’s sword into the ground. This can be charged to deal more damage, but at full charge, the blast will hurt Ike as well.

Quick Draw (Side Special)

Ike lunges at his opponent with a sword slash. Charge this up for increased range and damage. You enter a fall state after using this in the air, so stay over the stage!

Aether (Up Special)

Ike throws his sword up, leaps to grab it, and swings it on his way back down. Ike will not flinch from damage while the sword is going up. Hitting opponents on the way down causes a meteor attack. Make sure you’re over solid ground before using this or you’ll plummet to your demise!

Counter (Down Special)

Ike counters incoming attacks with his sword before retaliating with a counterstrike. The counterstrike’s damage depends on the opponent’s attack strength.

Final Smash

Great Aether

Similar to his Aether attack, Ike uses Great Aether to swing his sword upward, catching all nearby opponents. Whoever is caught is sent up into the air, where Ike joins them with his sword and boots before bringing them all back down with a powerful sword slam. Any opponents below can be hit by this last downward attack as well. The Great Aether does about 50% damage on all opponents caught in it and has average KO potential.

Strategy

Ike wields a huge two-handed sword, and he’s known to swing it with one arm! He’s incredibly powerful with lots of range, but his weakness is his mobility and attack speed. His above-average weight helps balance his slow attack speed by keeping him in the fight, but he still has trouble against faster or projectile-heavy opponents. Ike’s jab series can be useful for keeping up with faster opponents, though, so use it when fighting up close. When opponents start getting to high percentages, Ike becomes notably deadly, as many of his attacks can KO them. His Side Tilt and Up Tilt do as much damage as a lot of other characters’ Smash attacks! For Smash attacks, Side Smash and Up Smash are your best bets. And even though Down Smash covers both sides, Up Smash does the same thing with higher damage, making it the better option against players who like to roll.

There are three phases to Ike’s Eruption attack. Ike’s body begins to flash rapidly in the second phase, indicating the move has increased range and damage. In the third phase, damage and range are the same as in the second phase, but the tip of Ike’s sword will glow, and the attack will damage Ike. Additionally, Ike has some super armor during Eruption. To close distances quickly, Quick Draw is one of Ike’s best tools, though it has a lot of recovery, and it doesn’t do much damage uncharged. Still, if the opportunity presents itself, Quick Draw is worth going for. Aether is Ike’s most fun tool to use in groups of opponents and also his main recovery tool. It has super armor, so even though you take damage, the move continues through the attacks. You can be KO’d if in the air, so this isn’t foolproof. When it does work, you deal a lot of damage on everyone around Ike. Counter can be used even when you aren’t facing the opponent and can be useful when edge-guarding or being pressured. Ike’s Counter starts up a little slowly but has a big counter window and a high minimum amount of damage.

Though Ike’s aerials are slower than other characters’, the range of his sword makes them incredibly deadly. For KOs, Forward Air and Back Air are your best options, while Down Air is best used for its meteor smashes. Overall, pick and choose your spots to attack with Ike carefully. Going in recklessly can certainly deal a lot of damage, but this is very risky because of the long recovery Ike has after attacking with his sword. You can mitigate this by fighting up close using his jab string, Side Tilt, and throws.

Recovery

For recovery, Ike has two main options. First, he has Quick Draw for his horizontal recovery, but this leaves him in a fall state. For vertical recovery, Ike has Aether, but you have to land on the stage or edge with this or you will self-destruct. You can control this a bit to the left or right on the way up. Be sure you’re facing the right way! Another interesting thing to note about Aether is you can do it from far under a stage like Final Destination, but it still sends Ike to the edge to grab on! If you’re high up on your way back to the stage, you can Counter to slow your fall a little before using Aether to get back to the edge.