Mario vs Snake

For Mario, Snake has a lot of projectiles that'll get in your way. His grenades, C4, and Nikita, and very hard to avoid. Use your normal neutral tools like his grab, d-tilt, u-tilt, and short hop nairs. Nair is Mario's quickest and usually best OoS (Out of Shield) option. Snake is somewhat heavy and has a longer hurtbox. It's easier to connect Mario's up-air strings on him. There is no need to use side-b, as most of his projectiles can't be reflected efficiently anyway. Just short-hop or full-hop over them and under them. Neutral is a pretty great place for Snake so keep your distance with fireballs then approach with a nair or back air.

As Mario, getting up from ledge against Snake is very difficult. Snake can ledge trap very easily. His up-smash covers every option except roll, so he is pretty scary. All he needs to do is plant a C4 at roll getup then wait for your invincibility run out to u-smash. So if your at ledge, your in a bad situation. The best option for Mario honestly to choose an option quickly, before Snake can set up his traps. Unless he sets them up before you get to ledge. I feel like reacting before he thinks your going to move is the best idea. It's basically mind-games. Try to neutral getup then immediately jab, if Snake doesn't expect this option, his u-smash will be canceled, or whiffed. Try quick options to nair or jab to catch Snake off-guard.

For Mario, recovering against Snake is always difficult. Snake can go really far off-stage, because of his infinite recovery, so Snake could go deep under the map. Snake could also setup C4 on Mario before he was hit off-stage, and set that up into a back-air or a forward-air. Snake could go off- stage, and try to hit a fair spike or a stage-spike, or he could barrage you with C4 and grenades, and only come down once he gets a confirm. Both of these options are really good for Snake, and usually very safe. However, the safest option for Snake is to use his Nikita, and just home in on Mario. It's a option Snake will probably be using all the time because of my reasons, the biggest one being it requires no commitment. So when Snake does this while your off-stage, he's probably looking for a stage spike or confirm. As soon as you see this, recover ASAP. You could hit it with your up-B for it to become inactive, or go around it. Whatever our choice is, make sure it's unpredictable and fast

As Mario, being juggled by Snake is very likely to happen. Snake up-air is really good and could send you far upwards and is a great juggling tool. When being juggled, Snake doesn't always have to up-air. Snakes Nikita is a great tool, and hits opponents upwards. The best option is usually to fast-fall nair, but it could be good to fast-fall into the ground then air-dodge downwards. You could follow the downwards air-dodge with a tech-roll away, or tech-roll in. Just be careful, as neutral tech isn't always safe, nor are the rolls. So mix it up with DI, fake-outs, fast-falls, and nairs to get back into neutral.

For Mario, ledge trapping is always difficult. Mario is the really bad at ledge trapping, he doesn't have much moves that covers multiple options. His down-smash covers 2 options, so does his up-smash. And that's about it. It's usually best to go for a hard read, then quickly return to neutral. Holding shield in-between the roll getup and neutral getup is a also a really good option. Then play reaction and punish whatever option Snake chooses. Choose one of those, but remember the options Snake chooses and the options Snake chooses to counter play your options, to then go for a punish.

As a Mario main, Snake's recovery gives a lot of height, but is slow and could be edgeguraded. During his up-b, Snake has super-armor, but a small part of his doesn't. If you want to edge guard him, aim for the upper part of his up-b. Mario back-air and neutral-air are fast and really good to throw out to aim. Even if you miss, you still do damage on him. Snake can cancel his up-b at any time, with any move, and can mash down-b for a short period of time to regain his recovery. If his recovery were to run out, or if he was to cancel it, back-airing him and providing constant pressure is definitely the way to go. Be wary of Snake and try to make the most of this off-stage moment, where he struggles.

As Mario, juggling is key to winning most battles and is why he does so well against heavies. Snake, although having a load of projectiles, is still a relatively big and heavy character. This allows Mario's up-air strings to flow a lot better and kill with up-b or forward-air more often. Keeping Snake off the ground is great as well, his off-stage and midair presence is below average, so up-air strings are usually what you need to get Snake to higher percents and even kill. This is one - if not the - best tool Mario has and is a great part of his meta-game.

For Mario, Battlefield and Pokemon Stadium 2 are really good choices, as they allow Mario up-air strings to be used more efficiently. Mario's combos also flow a lot better with platforms in mind, so use stages like Battlefield, Pokemon Stadium 2, and Smashville to your advantage. For a counter-pick, Unova or Kalos Pokemon League, are good stages with walls that Mario can take advantage of and platforms that can extend his combos. So play safe and only go in when there is an opening.