How to avoid Fox's Fair>Footstool guide (or at least decreasing the chances of getting hit by it)
[RiP] S-Critical - June 8, 2017I did this for a few guys in Corrin discord, but since the guide came out a little longer than expected, I thought I'd share it here for everyone who hates getting cheesed by Fox.
Fox has below average air speed, meaning that the range he has to actually hit someone with Fair offstage is limited. He cannot go that deep, and he always has to use upB to get back onto the stage. If I were to make some kind of region, it would look something like this:
(not meant to be pixel perfect, but gives you a general idea on where Fox can and cannot start to do Fair>Footstool)
If you are outside of this region, unless Fox plans to suicide stock, he cannot START the fair>footstool without killing himself. Your goal here is to make sure that, if you are offstage, that you get away from these regions, ESPECIALLY the blue region, because that is where it most liekly happens (In the amber region, Fox has to do a jump, and you can easily react to him doing a commitment like that).
Obviously, we won't always be able to avoid not being in the blue zone (i.e. we are coming back from being launched, but we are above the stage as we drift inwards), so here are some tips to not get cheesed.
1. A very common thing for Fox players to do is to use dash attack or utilt at the ledge and bait an airdodge within the blue region. If you end up buffering an airdodge, and you are above the stage, you end up being vulnerable to attacks once you fall to about the height of the ledge, leading to a free Fair>Footstool for them.
Here is an example of this: https://gfycat.com/GrimLegitimateBooby
What you SHOULD be doing is buffering an attack or jumping away (I'd recommend the first option, though. Not having a jump can limit your recovery options). For example, Corrin has nice disjoints, so if the Fox tries to Fair>Footstool, he'll just get hit with a Fair from Corrin instead (make it safer from moving away from the ledge so you are moving further away from the ledge).
2. Recover low. As you can see in the image, Fox cannot start to do Fair>Footstool too low, otherwise he will kill himself. That almost completely get's rid of the opportunity for him to do it, and you can (almost) safely recover.
3. Recovering vertically can make it quite awkward for Fox to actually land Fair, to the point where a RAR Fair>Footstool would be the only option, and it is still hard to do. Doing this nearer to a slant or wall can make it almost impossible for Fox to do without doing a RAR Fair>Footstool, which requires him to jump backwards or grab the ledge and let go.
4. Be careful about your invincibility at the ledge. If it disappears, Fox can gimp you with RAR Fair>Footstool. If you know he might try to go for it, try to upB above the ledge by doing a beefy upB (if your character has a hitbox on their upB).
Unfortunately, it does not always completely get rid of the chances of Fox getting Fair>Footstool on you. Some people with recoveries are still vulnerable to it (I explain in the paragraph below, and how to avoid it still), and Fox does have true setups into Fair>Footstool, such as AC Bair>Fair>Footstool at the ledge.
For those without any hitboxes on their recoveries, it is quite easy for him to get it and end your stock (difficulty depends on the character). For those without disjointed hitboxes, he can still potentially trade with your attack and semi-spike you, which may end your stock. In this case, you want to mix up your recovery angles or timing in order to throw off Fox's timing and positioning of Fair. If you manage to do this, you may be able to recover first and turn the tables against Fox and start edgeuarding and potentially gimping him for being too greedy.
Hope this helps! Now go and make a combo video out of my character~
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