How to train a Lucas Amiibo for SSD

By Spike, Regular Contributor

   As you may have noticed, I’ve recently been writing articles for Supper Sudden Death, or SSD. You may also have seen the Mii Gunner guide, outlining one of the strongest contenders in the meta. What you might not know is that there’s a character that hard counters Mii Gunner- and it’s Lucas.

   I have the only Lucas in the Super Sudden Death metagame as of now, and he is currently ranked third in the rankings, just behind the top Mii Gunner and Villager, both of whom are top tiers. For now, the style of Lucas I’m pioneering is unusual, but if SSD catches on and becomes more explored, people will start training amiibo specifically for it, and the “standard” offstage Lucaseses (Lucasi?) will be, no pun intended, upstaged.

   So, what’s the difference between “standard” Vanilla Lucas and SSD Lucas, you may ask? Well, first of all, offstage is not a very good option in SSD! This is a meta that revolves around how quickly an amiibo can land a hit without getting hit, or, alternatively, reflect those hits back to the attacker. Sure, Isabelle and Villager can dabble in down air, but those are exceptions, not the status quo. In SSD, Lucas’s playstyle revolves around his PK Fire, which, unlike Ness’s, launches opponents, and kills instantaneously at 300%. 

   Now, you may wonder, just why should I choose Lucas over top tiers like Snake, or Mii Gunner? The answer is simple- Mii Gunner, Snake, and Ness are good matchups. Mii Gunner is almost an autowin. Lucas is a top contender that preys on other top contenders, and that’s more than enough of a reason to try him.

   To be fair, he’s mostly a meta pick, so I’d strongly advise not sending him if you expect a lot of Isabelles, Villagers, and/or Sonics. In a tournament where Gunners are the catch of the day, he’s gonna go far, kid.

   As for training Lucas, it’s not that difficult. To start off, you want him spamming PK Fire like it’s going out of style. PK Fire is his safe, projectile kill move and you want him to start every match using it like a pyromaniac. You shouldn’t use too many other moves, but here are his other good ones, in order of importance:

   Down special (PSI Magnet) is his second best move. It doesn’t kill, but it stops projectiles and actually heals Lucas while doing it! This is why he has such good matchups against projectile spamming amiibo, and it gives him a really good Snake matchup even if Snake tries a smash attack- it absorbs Snake’s forward and up smashes, which is awesome. Plus, healing puts Lucas temporarily out of range of some attacks KO’ing- a huge advantage in a one-hit meta. You need to teach this to your Lucas, but it isn’t too hard- he should figure it out after getting PK Fire’d for a bit.

   Neutral Air is the only aerial Lucas needs. It’s quick, covers a wide area, and kills instantaneously. Use it on occasion to approach the amiibo, but not too much, or he’ll want to use it instead of PK Fire. 

   The last move you should use is up smash. This should only be used if and when your Lucas decides that hey, aerials are my best option. Hit him with up smash a few times and he’ll stop doing it.

   Lucas is a top tier undoubtedly on par, or maybe even better than Gunner and Snake. He can win a lot of matches by surprise, and he destroys Gunners like they’re made of tinfoil. Made of paper may be more accurate, because all of Lucas’s SSD opponents inevitably burn, as long as you trained him right!

   Until next time, and remember, 

          Never Stop Training.

                          -Spike