Marth

Smash Attacks

SIDE SMASH

Marth swings his sword over his head and down in front of him, sending opponents diagonally away. Hitting with the tip of the sword deals 18% damage.

DOWN SMASH

A low sword attack first in front of and then behind Marth. Hitting with the tip of the sword deals 17% damage and sends opponents diagonally away.

UP SMASH

Marth thrusts his sword upward. Hitting with the tip of the sword deals 17% damage in a single hit and launches opponents vertically.

Basic Attacks

Standing Attack

Marth can slash up to two times with his sword.

Forward Tilt

Marth swings his sword diagonally in front of him.

Up Tilt

Marth uses a backhand upward sword swing that pops opponents up.

Down Tilt

A crouching low sword stab.

Dash Attack

Marth slides and swipes his sword horizontally at anyone in front of him.

Edge Attack

Marth returns to the stage and attacks at your opponent’s shins with his sword.

Air Attacks

Neutral Air Attack

Two horizontal sword slashes that can combo. Works well when advancing or retreating in the air.

Up Air Attack

Marth does a backflip as he swings his sword upward.

Down Air Attack

Marth swings his sword in an arc below him. This attack also has a meteor effect.

Forward Air Attack

A downward strike of the sword directly in front of Marth. Hitting early against a grounded opponent can bounce that opponent off the ground!

Back Air Attack

Marth turns around in the air and swings his sword in an upward arc in front of him.

Special Attacks

Shield Breaker (Neutral Special)

Marth thrusts forward with his sword to stab his opponent. You can charge this up to do a lot more damage! If it’s charged up to full, you can break some shields in a single hit!

Dancing Blade (Side Special)

Marth performs a multi-hit sword combo as you repeatedly hit the Special button. Pressing Up or Down will also change the attacks you see from this combo. Red indicates medium, blue indicates high, and green indicates low. Blue knocks up higher and red knocks back farther.

Dolphin Slash (Up Special)

This upward strike is primarily in front of Marth. It’s his main recovery tool and deals the most damage when the attack begins.

Counter (Down Special)

Marth lifts his sword to counter his opponent’s attacks. The amount of damage returned in the counterstrike depends on the strength of the strike being countered. Countering a Smash attack can KO an opponent.

Final Smash

Critical Hit

Marth dashes incredibly far across the screen to deliver a critical blow to the first opponent he runs into. Any enemies caught nearby will also be hit. This move has enough knockback to take out the heaviest opponents, even at 0%! You can cancel this attack by hitting any attack button. This can be useful to stop yourself from flying too far off-stage and save you from a self-destruct.

Strategy

Marth is a lightweight swordsman who must get in on his opponent and force an up-close fight. He has above-average ground speed and decent mobility in the air. Thanks to the range of his sword, up-close fighting is usually in his favor. The biggest challenge in using Marth is learning to hit with just the tip of his sword to maximize damage and knockback potential. All of his attacks are improved by hitting with the tip! Use short hop Forward and Neutral Air to pressure opponents and poke with Side Tilt and Down Tilt. When opponents are pressured by your offense and are trying to shield a lot, this is the time to use throws. Against projectile-heavy characters, focus on shielding, dodging, and rolling to make your way in.

Marth’s Shield Breaker can deal significant amounts of damage if fully charged, and as its name implies, it can even completely break weaker shields in a single full charge! If you happen to break a shield, either fully charge another Shield Breaker as an attack or follow up with a charged Side Smash that will hit at the tip. Dancing Blade is a multi-hit attack you can use to keep your opponents on their toes or to choose how you want to launch an opponent. Ending with Forward sends opponents horizontally while ending with Up can get you a KO at high percentages. More important, because Dancing Blade counts as multiple hits, it’s a good way to refresh your stronger KO options! Dolphin Slash is extremely fast and high for an attack, but it leaves you in a fall state. You have some invincibility at the start of this move, though, so it’s particularly useful to beat out incoming attacks. This is much better used in a one-on-one situation where landing the attack won’t leave you vulnerable to other opponents during your fall state. Marth’s Counter starts up quickly and returns more damage than it originally received, so look to counter larger, slower attacks!

When using Marth’s Smash attacks for KOs, Side Smash is your best bet, as it does the most damage even without hitting the tip. From the air, finish with Forward Air and Neutral Air for KOs or Down Air for meteor smashes. KOing heavier characters may be difficult, so maximize your edge-guarding potential. Try to meet opponents off-stage with Neutral Air or Forward Air and Counter if they attack their way back to the stage. Using Down Tilt at the edge can also be very annoying for opponents returning to the stage.

Recovery

Marth’s recovery tools are fairly straightforward. His primary recovery tool is Dolphin Slash. This reaches extremely high, but you have to aim it accurately to reach the edge, plus it leaves you in a fall state. For horizontal recovery, Marth really doesn’t have a good fast option, though uncharged Shield Breakers do move him slightly forward. A fully charged Shield Breaker in the air launches you horizontally, though it takes a while to charge up. If knocked away very high, follow up a fully charged Shield Breaker with Dolphin Slash for best results! Finally, to stall in the air a little, use the first hit of Dancing Blade.