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Little Mac

Jab1 (-12), Jab2 (-12) & Jab3 (-19):
NAir (Frame 7)

Rapid Jab Finisher (-25):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
DSmash (Frame 20)

FTilt (-17):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
(Can be spaced out)

UTilt (-18):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

DTilt (-14):
NAir (Frame 7)
(Can be spaced out)

Dash Attack (-16):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)

FSmash (-16 Neutral & Up, -13 Down):
NAir (Frame 7)
Grab (Frame 16)
(This move has good pushback)

USmash (-23):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)
DSmash (Frame 20)

DSmash (-23/-16):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)

NAir (-8):
NAir (Frame 7)

FAir (-10):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

BAir (-13):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

UAir (-10):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

DAir (-15):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

Straight Lunge (-34 Uncharged, -19 Partial, -82 Charged):
FSmash (Frame 26)
(The full charge can be punished with a fully charged Smash Attack)

K.O. Punch:
Unblockable

Jolt Haymaker (-36):
FSmash (Frame 26)
(Can cross up shield)

Rising Uppercut (--):
--

Slip Counter (--):
--

• Neutral Moves: Jab, Tilts, Grab, Dash Attack, Jolt Haymaker.

• Kill Moves: K.O. Punch, FTilt, Rising Uppercut, Jolt Haymaker, Straight Lunge, Smash Attacks.

• Kill Confirms: DTilt > Rising Uppercut/K.O. Punch, UTilt > Rising Uppercut.

• There is a common misconception that Little Mac does not gain from platforms. In truth, Little Mac gains waveland pressure, platform tech chase setups, and stronger advantage in covering landings. Platforms are helpful to Little Mac, and a lack of platforms can hurt (which is why Kalos is good vs him).

• Little Mac loses K.O. Punch when sent into tumble after the move has been available for 4 seconds. There is no time limit to the move. K.O. Punch ignores shield.

• One small application is that Pummels can be used to wait out this 4 second grace period before throwing Little Mac.

• Little Mac positioning K.O. Punch means his rising full hop now has pressure. Use low-committal options to attempt tumbling him (Bomb already in hand, ZAir, DTilt, Jab, Fire Arrow from afar). Use platforms and fast falls to mix up height. K.O. Punch can reach platforms reliably.

• Little Mac can utilize waveland to land on platforms quickly, allowing him to platform pressure and K.O. Punch quickly.

• Little Mac’s attributes add up to him being one of the fastest characters on the ground in the game, in addition to his run letting him low-profile, alongside a list of fast moves with high reward: Jab (Frame 1), FTilt (Frame 4 and kills), UTilt (Frame 4 and has kill confirms), DTilt (Frame 3, has combos, spaced shield pressure), Dash Attack (Frame 7 burst option that's strong at mid-range, kills, combos, can cross up), etc.

• However, his shield safety does not compare to this. Thus, Little Mac is a hyper bait and punish type of character. His moves and speed have great potential to leave the opponent guessing and anticipating something.

• Because of this, Little Mac isn’t going to be throwing out moves. Instead, he’ll dip in and out of close quarters combat and the deadzone. Little Mac will mix in empty movement to force this positional pressure.

• Remember to keep a clear and calm focus when playing against Little Mac. He is looking for flustered anticipation to exploit.

• What separates Little Mac’s “network” of bait and punish compared to the likes of Greninja is that Mac does not have strong rising aerial pressure, meaning his landing aerial pressure in the “network” gives time to the opponent to adjust.

• This means his network is more limited, despite strength in options. Since Mac’s rising pressure is limited, you have more time to react to his landing pressure.

• An exception to this flaw in the “network” is his mix-ups from full hop landing NAir. It requires a well-landed NAir, but he has mix-ups upon landing in his Frame 1 Jab, Grab, spotdodge, shield, and Tilts.

• To make up for his lack of options in the air for his network, but also harping on his speed, Little Mac will intermittently wait. He will threaten an option and do nothing, punishing the button pressed. This is effective, since Little Mac’s speed and frame data give him a lengthy burst range.

• Straight Lunge is a defensive option for Little Mac, due to its Frame 1 heavy armor. It can tank up to 9.6% in a single hit. Charged Fire Arrow, Tilts, NAir, DAir, and Dash Attack can break through it. Be wary of staling making NAir too weak to break the armor. Straight Lunge clanks with projectiles, but blows up on contact with Bomb.

• Straight Lunge retains its heavy armor in the air, meaning it can anti-air at short hop height at Frame 4.

• RSL (Red Straight Lunge) is denoted by when Straight Lunge turns red (at around 80 Frames of charge). It clanks projectiles and kills reliably. It perfectly sets up for tech chases at low %s.

• Little Mac’s moves on shield mostly aren’t safe directly, and require spacing to be safe. His DTilt most notably benefits from spacing on shield.

• Spacing moves on shield is important in this MU. Little Mac’s Rising Uppercut out of shield is Frame 3 with kill potential, but has low horizonal range. DTilt, FAir, and Jab2 can outrange it. Practice the spacing in training (note that the circle in these images is the hit registering on shield).

• Fire Arrows force Little Mac to mix up when he dashes. Use it to catch his dashback and dash ins. Fire Arrow will either condition jump or shield dash. Use shield pressure to further condition jump, in which case, full hop rising is his best choice- his weakest link in the “network.”

• Because Little Mac doesn’t use jumps traditionally like most fighters, Boomerang’s effective neutral use is more limited. Little Mac can cover ground quickly, and shield dash through it on reaction. It’s not a common option in neutral.

• Bomb is noteworthy in this MU due to how it passively changes Little Mac’s bait and punish gameplay in the moment. Holding the Bomb itself is a mix-up, and gets around his various clank options. If Mac is using empty movement/intermittent waiting, Bomb is an investment that punishes passive play. Bomb plays an integral part in this MU.

• Little Mac can angle his FSmash. His up-angled FSmash is a strong DI check (DI out is correct), and his down-angled FSmash does a hefty amount of shield damage.

Boxing

(How do I escape this situation?):

• Little Mac’s advantage state at low-mid %s harps a lot on-tech chasing, and some platform tech chases.

• Little Mac’s tech chase moves include: down-angled FSmash, FTilt, DSmash, Straight Lunge, FAir (at mid-late %s).

• DI up is a strong tool in avoiding tech chases. It gives more time to buffer an option (NAir/ZAir usually). By buffering an option, the tumble animation ends.

• Although Little Mac’s shield pressure is limited, his shield damage is strong. This means that shielding isn’t a cover-all option. Up-angled FSmash nearly pops a full shield.

• Little Mac can not reliably cover jump in the corner/out of shield due to his lack of rising options (Jolt Haymaker being one of his few options), and often times this means he’ll be forced to trap landings.

• Although jumping in and of itself is really strong vs Little Mac to escape disadvantage, landing is still somewhat of an issue due to quick moves/armor. Landing aggressively on Little Mac can work for shield pressure, but can also backfire due to armor.

• Despite this, landing disadvantage gives more options to Young Link than corner pressure disadvantage, due to Little Mac’s lack of rising pressure.

Landing

(How do they cover it? What are my best options?):

• Because Little Mac doesn’t have true consistent rising pressure, he HAS to opt for trapping landings. This is not a lost cause, though. Little Mac still has sizable reward off of trapping landings with DThrow platform tech chases, or Tilts and Smash Attacks to combo/kill.

• Landing on platforms is similar to landing on the ground vs Little Mac. This is because wavelanding allows him to get on platforms quickly, and instantly grants him good spacing on shield.

• Mix up landing positions and options upon landing. Shielding is not necessarily the go-to answer, due to the shield damage Little Mac can accumulate.

• Be wary of the super armor on Little Mac’s Smash Attacks when landing aggressively with NAir/DAir.

Platform Pressure:

• Mac’s USmash hits through platforms.

• Wavelands are commonplace in Little Mac’s platform pressure. Because of his speed and fast normals, he can effectively use wavelands to rush onto platforms and pressure the opponent on ledge.

• Little Mac’s DThrow sets up for platform tech chases. On a missed tech, Little Mac can Jab lock with DAir and kill with USmash/K.O. Punch. For catching tech options, he can use waveland > DTilt.

• Little Mac’s Jolt Haymaker, as a burst option, also hits platforms. It can be used from a distance, and can reach higher plats with a jump.

Offstage

(How Do I Escape This Position And What Do I Look Out For?):

• Although Little Mac’s DAir spike is weak, it can be enough in certain situations. Save double jump if possible.

• Little Mac can use Slip Counter to punish ASA.

• Mix-in and mix up tether usage to delinearize recovery attempts.

Ledge:

• Little Mac can use DTilt and DSmash to 2-frame/hit ledge.

• DTilt at ledge will connect with Jolt Haymaker for a wider range of percents than on the ground; DTilt > FTilt or K.O. Punch is also an option.

• Little Mac’s Straight Lunge can cover all grounded options except for ledge jump, however, he can cancel Straight Lunge. This means Little Mac can bait ledge jump using Straight Lunge as a visual cue, and punish with Rising Uppercut/USmash/etc.

• From roughly roll distance, Little Mac can use Jolt Haymaker while snapping ledge. The exact spacing is extremely specific, and requires some moves to be used. Refer to the video about the tech linked in resources.

• A Jolt Haymaker that snaps ledge can hit ledge, 2-frame, catch recoveries, and covers all ledge options except for roll, but is timing based.

Juggling/Boxing:

• Corner pressuring Little Mac is more linear, due to his lack of rising pressure. Because of his quick burst potential, Fire Arrow and Boomerang can be costly investments. While Little Mac lacks the vertical prowess of Greninja or Fox, corner pressure is similar to those MUs where it is more normals and footsies-based.

• Footsies-based in the sense of bait and punish. Little Mac is already limited heavily in his options, so use baits to punish common grounded options.

• Little Mac’s corner gameplay won’t involve many full hops, but wavelands onto platforms, shield-dashing, and intermittent waiting.

• Since Little Mac is mostly limited to the ground, ZAir doubles as effective corner pressure and shield dashing pressure.

• Little Mac’s NAir allows him to escape tumble in 15 Frames, meaning it’ll be a commonly used option to escape tumble.

• Little Mac can use Straight Lunge as a landing tool, which works best at a horizontal plane, since UAir beats the armor.

• Little Mac’s fast fall is tied for the 3rd fastest in the game, which makes his fast fall airdodge more viable in escaping pressure. It also means that despite his fast airspeed, Mac does not have much horizontal freedom in landing.

Offstage:

• When edgeguarding Little Mac, keep in mind that his Jolt Haymaker has one (and only one) use. After being hit and sent back again, he can’t use the move again until he lands.

• A common recovery near the ledge is to Jolt Haymaker near the ledge when knocked lightly offstage.

• Boomerang offstage resets Little Mac’s air speed, which can lead into stronger edgeguard situations.

• Boomerang sets up for punishes on Jolt Haymaker close to the ledge. This is because when Boomerang clanks the move, it stops Little Mac in place for 20 Frames, effectively ending the move’s hitbox. Then, a followup NAir can punish Little Mac.

• Little Mac can get around this by going lower. Punish this with runoff NAir.

• FAir beats out Little Mac’s Jolt Haymaker, but NAir does not.

• Respect Little Mac’s Slip Counter when edgeguarding. He will use this option to beat out aerials. Slip Counter is a timing-based mix-up, so delay aerials/switch aerials used.

• Little Mac forces 50/50s with these two tools. Will he use Slip Counter, or Joly Haymaker? Add in timing mix-ups as well.

• Use Bombs when Little Mac is sent far offstage. It’ll blow up on contact with Joly Haymaker OR it force Little Mac to go around them, creating edgeguard opportunities with NAir/FAir/ASA.

• BThrow can be used to set up edgeguard scenarios with NAir, FAir, and Boomerang. Edgeguarding off of BThrow can lead to stocks with proper conditioning.

• K.O. Punch can not snap ledge. Little Mac using it means he wants to recover high.

• A Little Mac jumping/double jump from ledge could use Jolt Haymaker, Straight Lunge, Slip Counter, or K.O. Punch (double jump > land on stage > K.O. Punch).

• Little Mac can’t put rising aerials from a ledge jump to good use, so he will likely use his specials from ledge jump.

• Straight Lunge is the most notable of these, which can be used to clank with Boomerang.

• Use stage control to ledgetrap, but use more positional pressure, as Little Mac can clank projectiles with Straight Lunge. This does mean Straight Lunge can be baited, however.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits

Most Reliable Move: All

Animation Info: N/A

Note: Normal, FTilt reaches farthest.

• FD DTilt > ASA %s: 105, 95

• FD FThrow Ledge %s: 170, 142

• FD Milkshake %s: 96-137, 87-115

• Little Mac Kill Throws: None

• Little Mac’s Jab3 crosses up shield when done behind Young Link.

• Correct combo DI is usually up on DTilt/tech chases, and away/in for platform tech chases.

• Little Mac falls out of Young Link's BAir more often on average than most characters.

• If Little Mac hits DTilt at the very tip, DI out + airdodge to avoid the Jolt Haymaker followup.

• Battlefield:
  Indifferent. Battlefield provides intermittent platform camping and large zones to gimp Little Mac with, but landing is tricky due to how he can pressure platforms.

• Final Destination:
  Indifferent. This stage exaggerates each character’s advantage states in the MU. With no platforms, it places more importance on footsies in advantage state.

• Smashville:
  Terrible. The platform here is more limiting than anything. The stage is already small, and Little Mac can reach the platform with moves like USmash and Jolt Haymaker. This stage forces Young Link to ledge more often, as well.

• Town & City:
  Indifferent. This stage generally has large open space, which can mean it will help Little Mac’s advantage. Side blastzones can mean early kills for Little Mac as well.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Terrible. Similar reasons as SV. Little Mac can pressure all of the platforms consistently, giving no safe space to land. Little Mac can force close quarters combat more often here.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Great. This stage gives Young Link good airspace, and platforms to land on/go between the two. Similar to Kalos in that it gives more options to Young Link in disadvantage and neutral.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Great. Large zones increase Little Mac’s struggles with recovering to ledge. It also gives a lot of airspace, which Little Mac can’t utilize, giving Young Link more options in disadvantage and neutral.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Indifferent. This is a triplat stage, but the platforms are more spaced out compared to BF, which leaves the larger airspace in the center that Little Mac struggles to hit. He still benefits from triplats immensely, though.

• Hivesteel’s Young Link vs Little Mac VOD Playlist: Little Mac vs Young Link

• Hivesteel’s Little Mac vs Young Link VOD Notes: Little Mac vs YL notes

• K.O. Punch Percents: KO Punch kill percents by Mac Nation

• (Little Mac DTilt > Rising Uppercut): The Dempsey Tilt - Smash Ultimate Little Mac Tech

• Maccord Stage Slideshow: Little Mac Stage Slideshow

• Maccord Move Analysis: All-Encompassing Mac Document by Ashura

• Little Mac Ledgemaker Tech: Ledgemaker - Little Mac Advanced Tech - Super Smash Bros Ultimate