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King K. Rool

Jab1 (-16), Jab2 (-20) & Jab3 (-21):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)

FTilt (-18):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)
(Can be spaced out)

UTilt (-21):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

DTilt (-17):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)

Dash Attack (-38):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

FSmash (-29):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

USmash (-42):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

DSmash (-29):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)
(This move does a lot of shield damage)

NAir (-4):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

FAir (-5):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

BAir (-7):
NAir (Frame 7)
(Can be spaced)

UAir (-8):
NAir (Frame 7)
(This move cannot hit you on ground level)

DAir (-9):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

Blunderbuss (-25 Initial, -4 Reshot):
Unpunishable
(Projectile usage, the vacuum is also a command grab, and the reshot is safe on shield)

Crownerang (-26):
Unpunishable
(Projectile usage)

Propellerpack (--):
--

Gut Check (--):
--

• Neutral Moves: Aerials, Jab, Dash Attack, Tilts, Crownerang, Blunderbuss.

• Kill Moves: UTilt, FTilt, Blunderbuss vacuum, Smash Attacks, DAir, FAir, BAir, UAir, Dash Attack.

• Kill Confirms: DTilt bury, DThrow bury, Crownerang > UAir.

• King K. Rool has no safe grounded normals, and a Frame 8 Grab.

• He does, however, outspace Young Link in close quarters combat.

• The focus of this MU is zoning/racking up damage with projectiles, and poking at King K. Rool’s shield safely. Play low-risk, so that there’s enough time to avoid projectiles/hitboxes.

• This means Boomerang should be used mostly for reads in neutral, since its investment is high and reward is inconsistent.

• Belly Armor is essentially super armor on a LOT of King K. Rool’s moves, which means you lose trades with them. Moves with Belly Armor include: NAir, DAir UAir, Dash Attack, USmash, DSmash, and FTilt.

• Belly Armor is important to King K. Rool in all states of the game, as the armor allows him to whiff punish/overshoot while beating the option of a direct attack. As such, stuffing out King K. Rool is inconsistent, and aggressive options in disadvantage are covered by safe pressure from him.

• Crownerang is one of King K. Rool’s main neutral tools. It’s launch angle sends toward him, which sets up for kill confirms. It has a sending and returning hitbox.

• Although the Crownerang can only be thrown in one direction, King K. Rool players will mix up Crownerang’s height and timing.

• More importantly, it has super (not Belly) armor activation on Frame 6, which lasts until frame 62 (super armor until FAF). This super armor lets King K. Rool punish projectiles while throwing out Crownerang.

• This means King K. Rool will use Crownerang as a projectile that armors through other projectiles, especially with Wavebounce, to add extra safety. This does mean it can be baited, though.

• However, Crownerang is completely reactable (27 Frame startup + travel time) and can be clanked with NAir.

• Young Link can break Crownerang armor with an early hard toss Boomerang, and short hop DAir, though taking staling into account. It will only work a few times.

• Crownerang in both neutral and King K. Rool’s advantage state creates 50/50 situations/situations like a projectile approach. Shielding is beat by Grab, jumping is beat by FAir/Blunderbuss, etc.

• King K. Rool’s Blunderbuss is a slow-moving, high knockback projectile. It can be used for projectile approaches, and be combo’d into.

• With proper spacing on shield pressure, King K. Rool struggles to get out of shield. His best option is a Frame 10 NAir out of shield, which works as a get-off-me, but is slow at doing so. The same is also true for Young Link in this MU, though. King K. Rool has safe aerial pressure (mainly in NAir) and has mix-ups upon landing in Jab, UTilt, and Grab.

• ZAir is the safest way to poke King K. Rool at grounded/short hop height, but he can Crownerang armor through it. It’s best used as a mix-up/read tool.

Boxing

(How do I escape this situation?):

• King K. Rool uses Crownerang to condition jumps in the corner to avoid it/after getting hit by crown. He can punish these jumps out of the corner reliably with FAir and NAir.

• Blunderbuss fired in the air functions like our Boomerang, in that it takes up airspace for a certain amount of time. It clanks with Fire Arrow. Its kill potential is high for a projectile.

• Belly Armor beats out aggressive options, so whiff punish and catch landings on aerials.

• King K. Rool’s shield pressure in the corner is very strong, with NAir/FAir being safe, and his fast ground moves, such as Jab and UTilt. With safe moves on shield, the counterplay is to mix up the option chosen after the safe move.

• King K. Rool’s FTilt has Belly Armor, and has more range than his other moves. Be wary of this mix-up when near him/shield pressuring him.

Platform Pressure

(What tools do they have? How can we escape this pressure?):

• King K. Rool’s platform pressure tools include: NAir, UTilt, Grab, FAir, UAir, Crownerang, and Blunderbuss.

• The area that King K.Rool can pressure will change depending on his positional pressure. i.e when he is far away, he will take time to approach or use Crownerang, and up close, he can pressure with NAir, UAir, and FAir more reliably.

• Move away or shield pressure King K. Rool when he is up close, and move to the ground/react to his option when he is farther away.

Landing

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

• King K. Rool has head intangibility during his UAir, which makes it an uncontestable kill move.

• King K. Rool's projectiles linger in the air, allowing him to cover landings from afar. Crownerang can be clanked with NAir.

• King K. Rool can frame trap and catch landings well between Tilts, Grabs, NAir, etc.

• Land away from him, or shield pressure him.

Offstage

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

• King K. Rool’s Crownerang sends up, and Blunderbuss sends out. Blunderbuss is good at denying airspace at a certain altitude, and forces the opponent to move around it.

• Belly Armor means that King K. Rool’s aerials (NAir, FAir, DAir) will beat out aerials and projectiles. Focus on moving around him.

• Mix up tether timing to avoid being stuffed by King K. Rool’s NAir interrupting the tether.

Ledge:

• King K. Rool’s DTilt and DThrow both bury, which set up for kill confirms.

• Aggressive options off ledge like ledge jump NAir and double jump FAir are stuffed by options with Belly Armor.

• Blunderbuss allows King K. Rool to inhale with his gun after the shot has been fired. This inhale lasts for a few seconds, but it isn’t permanent. Stall it out, move around it, or hit King K. Rool.

• Mix up positions and timing, get behind King K. Rool and mix up aggressive option timing. He's going to space his pressure outside of Young Link’s range.

Juggling/Boxing:

• Boomerang in advantage state with hit advantage is beaten by King K. Rool's Crownerang for the armor. Thus, Boomerang in advantage isn’t always the best. In some situations, though, this opportunity can be taken to establish good positional pressure.

• Juggling King K. Rool directly is risky, due to Belly Armor on DAir and NAir. UAir can outspace them, but challenging from the sides is not a safe or consistent option. Aim to challenge from below or catch landings.

• King K. Rool can cover horizontal space while landing with Crownerang, which also allows for B-Reverse and Wavebounce drift mix-ups. Crownerang is still reactable, though. King K. Rool’s aggressive landing tools are best at punishing mashing.

• King K. Rool’s escape options from the corner work in a similar principle. With Belly Armor (NAir, FTilt, DA, etc.) and Crownerang armor, King K. Rool can punish mashing/aggressiveness well. He can also use fast ground moves (Jab, UTilt).

• The main flaw in King K. Rool’s onstage disadvantage is that all of his options are either reactable or unsafe. King K. Rool punishes mashing well, but reserved and consistent advantage states are strong against him.

Offstage:

• King K. Rool’s Propellerpack from below travels a long distance, and has a hitbox directly above it throughout the move. Bomb thrown down from above bounces off of the propeller hitbox.

• Punishes on King K. Rool’s Propellerpack from below include: DAir, B-Reverse Fire Arrow > ASA, and BAir/FAir from the side.

• King K. Rool will mix up the positioning at which he recovers low (outward vs hugging the stage).

• Be wary of King K. Rool using Crownerang as he descends, so that he can use his Propellerpack safely.

• Belly Armor means that K.Rool’s aggressive options can beat out Young Link's aggressive options. Ledge jump NAir/DAir are hard to aggressively punish.

• Crownerang armor as well, on double jump from ledge + Crownerang.

• Use the space near the ledge as a bait once conditioned.

• Staying back vs King K. Rool at ledge is preferable, since King K. Rool has strong close up options due to of his armor. React and adjust accordingly.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits, specific

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Doesn’t hit

Most Reliable Move: DSmash

Animation Info: DTilt only hits when King K. Rool is in his head rise animation.

Note: Normal difficulty, DSmash is easy to hit.

• FD DTilt > ASA %s: 143, 133

• FD FThrow @ Ledge %s: 217, 191

• FD Milkshake %s: 127-191, 115-164

• King K. Rool Kill Throws: BThrow, DThrow setups (buries)

• King K. Rool’s Grab is Frame 8.

• Belly Armor regenerates at a rate of roughly 0.8% per second.

• King K. Rool’s Dash Attack doesn’t cover his entire body.

• Battlefield:
  Indifferent. Triplats have benefits and drawbacks in this MU. They offer respite from Crownerang and grounded pressure, but make landing harder, and force Young Link to ledge more. Overall, platforms provide more than they take away in the MU.

• Final Destination:
  Terrible. A lack of platforms exaggerate disadvantage, especially vs Crownerang. Awkward landing situations are forced, and close quarters combat is more prevalent. Strong first ban recommendation.

• Smashville:
  Terrible. Similar to FD in that Crownerang is extremely oppressive, and that the platform is unsafe to be on.

• Town & City:
  Good. Good space and intermittent platforms. The stage is workable to Young Link’s strong points in the MU. Be wary of edgeguards/gimps with the large zone to ledge width.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Great. Slants mess with Crown’s effectiveness, while helping Fire Arrow. The space is workable and condensed, giving Young Link more pressure in close quarters combat. Advantage is exaggerated for both characters, but this stage is a strong pick nonetheless.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Great. This stage provides space and platforms to deal with projectiles, an easy-to-recover ledge, and DAir tech chases. The layout is very friendly in allowing mix-ups/abusing openings.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Good. This stage brings more ground space, more airspace, and side platforms. Although the space is strong, Crownerang does have increased pressure, due to the stage being flat. The choice between Kalos and Town is up to preference.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Indifferent. Same reasons as BF.

• Colinies vs Kople: MSM Online 21 - Colinies (Young Link) Vs Kople (K.Rool) Losers Finals - Smash Ultimate

• Hivesteel’s Young Link VS King K. Rool VOD Playlist: K Rool vs Young Link

• KRoolcord Resources: Lost World: King K. Rool Lab Repository

• KRoolcord Belly Armor Page: King K. Rool Belly Armor Kompendium