Marth vs. Lucario: A Matchup Guide

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Marth and Lucario are both known for having some of the strongest kill moves in the game under certain circumstances. But who does better when the two face off against each other? What strategies can they use? When and where are their kill moves most effective, and how can they go about landing them? These questions and more will be answered today in my Marth vs. Lucario matchup analysis.

But before we get started, feel free to leave any kind of you want. Did I leave some information out? Am I misinformed in some areas? Let me know in a comment or DM. With that being said, let's start with the neutral.

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Table of Contents

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Neutral

Marth Advantage

Marth Disadvantage

Lucario Advantage

Lucario Disadvantage

Overall analysis

Other things to note

Conclusion

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Neutral

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Marth is played defensively at pretty much all times to try to get tippers, and Lucario is played defensively when he has high aura. For a while, Lucario can just take the damage in neutral and be fine. But as the percent rises, he needs to play more carefully and try not to get hit by tippers.

Marth likes to play defensively and make as much space as possible, so it can be difficult for Lucario to beat Marth in the neutral without putting himself at risk. Marth likely will win the neutral more often because of these things.

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Marth Advantage

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If you get Lucario offstage, you’re at a huge advantage, because while Lucario’s recovery is long-distanced, it has really slow startup. Kinda ironic for a move called Extreme Speed, amirite? Because of this, it’s fairly easy to slowly but surely knock him closer and closer to the blast zone with a string of forward airs.

Lucario’s landing isn’t the best, so take advantage by juggling him with up airs. If you land a tipper up air, that can also be the stock. Lucario's vulnerability to juggling also makes him a good matchup for characters like Cloud, which is why ZeRo uses him for the Lucario matchup.

get back on topic.

Try to finish off stocks as soon as possible so Lucario won’t get aura and be able to use it. Tippers are your friend in this matchup. (Well, they’re your friend in any matchup, but) Lucario is a bit heavier than average, so he won't die as early as characters like Sheik and Bayonetta. So don't pull the trigger on that forward smash too soon.

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Marth Disadvantage

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Lucario getting you offstage can be a nightmare, but not because of edgeguarding, but rather, a simple yet effective ledge trap. At the ledge if Lucario has high aura, you’re in big trouble, because he can use Aura Sphere to keep you there. If you use a neutral getup, getup attack, or jump, you’ll get trapped in the sphere’s looping hitboxes. When you’re trapped, Lucario can cancel the Aura Sphere charge with shield, after which he can perform a jump cancelled up smash. This will usually lead to the end of the stock. If you roll, Lucario can release the sphere instead. One option you can try (as long as Lucario isn’t at ridiculously high levels of aura) is drop off the ledge, then immediately double jump and use Dolphin Slash or forward air to knock him away. Then you can get back on stage safely.

Onstage, if Lucario has high aura, you’ll want to reset the neutral and try to play defensively, spacing him out with tippers. If all goes well, you can land a tipper smash attack or aerial for the kill. This takes a lot of pressure off of you, as Lucario is much, much weaker without aura.

If Lucario is comboing you, your fastest escape option is Dolphin Slash. But use this with caution, as you will go into free fall after using it, which Lucario can potentially punish even harder.

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Lucario Advantage

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If Lucario is losing, he’s at an advantage. The more aura he has, the better. Once you get a reasonable amount of aura, start playing ultra-defensively. Try to make Marth make a mistake. Wait for him to overextend and then punish.

When Marth is offstage, you can use Aura Sphere to trap him at the ledge if your aura is high enough. It’s a very effective tactic, and can result in Marth taking a ton of damage or even dying. Keep in mind that there still are ways to get around it. But if Marth doesn't use these options, you can true combo the looping hitboxes of Aura Sphere into an up smash out of shield. Depending on Marth's positioning, you may have to go for a back air, up air, or down air instead.

Lucario doesn't have a meteor smash in his moveset. As a result, it's usually not worth it to go offstage to edgeguard Marth. Instead, stay on stage and get your Aura Sphere charge ready. Below is a video with more information about methods Lucario can use to make his ledge traps more effective and dangerous.

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Lucario Disadvantage

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When offstage against Marth, not only can he edgeguard you into oblivion, but there isn’t much you can do about it because of your slow recovery. If you land on stage with Extreme Speed, you have a ton of ending lag, which can be punished easily. As a result, you'll almost always want to go for the ledge instead.

Although Lucario wants to soak up as much damage as possible, too much can be bad, just like it would be for any character. Marth has a good damage output with his tippers, so before you know it, you're at a kill percent. Pay attention to your damage at all times and adjust your play when necessary. This essentially means to play defensively when you feel like you've been playing recklessly for long enough.

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Overall analysis

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Both characters can seal off stocks at obscenely early percents. However, each character’s kill moves do require certain circumstances to be so powerful that other characters don’t need. Marth needs to land tippers, while Lucario needs to be at high percents in order to have aura. If Marth spaces his moves correctly to not allow Lucario to get in, he’s at a huge advantage. And if Marth keeps up this good spacing and finishes the stock with a tippered kill move, that’s basically the game, since Lucario needs to spend even more time trying to damage himself to get aura, then play defensively to not get killed.

Overall, I do believe Marth wins this matchup, but it’s definitely doable for Lucario. If Lucario is able to stay grounded and keep Marth at a disadvantage while still collecting aura, he can be in a pretty good spot.

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Other things to note

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-Lucario is slightly faster in the air, while Marth is faster on the ground.

-Both characters have counters, but Marth's tends to be more reliable. In any case, you shouldn't be spamming counters because they can be easily read. Use with caution.

-As Lucario's aura rises, Force Palm gets longer ranged and Aura Sphere gets bigger. This, along with his stronger moves, makes his neutral safer with high aura, making him even harder to kill.

-If you couldn't tell, this matchup revolves heavily on defensive play. Marth plays this way to make his moves strong and safe, while Lucario does it to stay alive in order to take advantage of his aura.

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Conclusion

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So there it is. My Marth vs. Lucario matchup guide. If you think I left anything out of this or am misinformed om something, let me know. I'm always looking to improve my blogs in any way I can. Like I said, I want to make more matchup guides in the future, so tell me which characters you wanna see me discuss. This is Matt, g off.