The Beginner’s Guide to Training the King Dedede Amiibo in Smash Ultimate

by: JMoney

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Hello everyone, my name is Justin (or JMoney in the tourney scene) and my King Dedede was the second amiibo I ever got (after my one true love and the real king – King K. Rool). At the time of writing, my King Dedede amiibo, Weezy III, has a 75%-win rate on Amiibots as well as multiple top 8 tournament placements and a Major victory under his belt.

AI Issues

King Dedede has a relatively smart amiibo AI, but he does have one notable issue. The biggest and most critical flaw to avoid with your King Dedede amiibo has to do with Up Special. If you use Up Special onstage even once, your King Dedede can start to use it frequently and often at very inopportune times. Likewise, if your King Dedede amiibo happens to connect with the landing portion of his Up Special, it will instantly become his favorite attack – not good. If either of these things happen in a match it is best to just restart that match.

Beyond that, King Dedede does have a tendency to become jumpy very quickly and he can spam certain attacks to no end. But those issues can be mostly avoided with proper training, which we are about to cover.

Overall Playstyle

The King Dedede amiibo can be competent with a wide range of playstyles, and I have tried a lot of them in my labbing – from wild, offstage play focused to very defensive, campy archetypes. In this guide, however, I will be covering how I trained Weezy III and the method I believe will produce the most consistently effective King Dedede amiibo.

Overall, King Dedede should utilize his impressive zoning tools, namely Forward Tilt and Side Special (Gordo). These attacks rack up damage by keeping opponents at arm’s length, taking advantage of his impressive Grab combo game, and securing early kills with big-hitting attacks like Up Smash or with Gordo gimps at the ledge.

How to Train the King Dedede Amiibo

The best way to train King Dedede (or any amiibo) is by mirror matching – or playing that same character yourself, otherwise it will affect the way the amiibo interprets its own move set.

Forward Tilt is going to be the bread and butter of any successful King Dedede amiibo. It has excellent range and decent knockback, does solid damage, and most notably is a long-lasting multi-hit move. Multi-hit moves are incredible in the current amiibo meta as high level amiibo are taught to parry absolutely everything. Forward Tilt then serves as way to punish those parries and rack up damage.

Side Special (Gordo) is another one of King Dedede’s best moves when used in the right circumstances. It should be used as the primary edge guarding tool whenever the opponent is offstage as it does wonders at gimping opponents and securing early kills. In addition, this move should also be used when opponents are outside of melee range but still within what I call “projectile” distance. This method works because Gordo has the effect of causing opponent amiibo AI to jump, putting them in a vulnerable position. Weezy III will occasionally hit the slow bouncing version of Gordo at his opponents and then walk behind it, using it as cover.

One final note on Gordo, yes, opponents can hit the Gordo back at King Dedede, damaging him in the process. In my experience, however, the damage Gordo does to opponents and the way that it messes with the AI is more than worth it. King Dedede is a big boy; he can take it.

Up Smash should be King Dedede’s most frequently used Smash attack as it swings in a wide arc around his body, is decently fast, and kills early. In my experience, when King Dedede isn’t trained to use Up Smash he can struggle to secure kills onstage – especially against heavy weights like Bowser and King K. Rool. Utilize this move as the primary option for catching landings.

Down Tilt is a very underrated tool in King Dedede’s toolbox. It is his fastest attack option, coming out on frame six, does more damage than you think, and sends amiibo at a wicked angle either to send them offstage or serve as a great “get off me” option. Use this move a decent amount, especially as a follow-up to parrying an attack.

Up Tilt is another decent move – fast, coming out at frame seven, and killing earlier than you would expect. The King Dedede amiibo can also do some impressive follow ups off of Up Tilt. There are some issues with Up Tilt, however. First, the King Dedede amiibo AI is already programmed to use this move a good amount and overuse can lead your amiibo to spam this relentlessly. Second, King Dedede thinks the hitbox on this attack is much larger than it actually is, causing him to whiff with it a decent amount. Finally, Up Smash is just better and a more reliable option for securing kills. Still use Up Tilt, just less than Up Smash. With Weezy III, I tried to stick with a 90%/10% Up Smash to Up Tilt ratio.

Dash attack is a fantastic feast or famine kill option that Weezy III has had a lot of success with. It is very slow and if the opponent parries it then King Dedede will surely get punished for using it; however, when this move connects it hits like a truck and I have seen it kill Bowser as early as 65% at the ledge. Don’t sleep on Dash attack, just don’t overdo it.

Quick side note: although Dash attack is a good move to use, don’t have your King Dedede amiibo running all over the place to use it. This move works best in a tech-chase scenario such as immediately following up a Forward Tilt. You still want King Dedede to walk most of the time, but quick bursts of speed can be utilized effectively.

Down Smash is another decent option that should implemented sparingly, especially near the ledge to catch rolling opponents.

As far as Aerials go, the only one King Dedede should really avoid is Down Air due to its long windup – King Dedede can be trained to go for offstage spikes with Down Air, but he is very inconsistent at landing them and I do not recommend it.

Up Air is by far King Dedede’s best aerial move, and it should be used following Grab to rack up huge damage.

Forward Air can be utilized to pressure opponents on platforms as well as for a landing option.

Neutral Air is best utilized as a landing option and not as a tool in neutral as it can cause King Dedede to become too jumpy.

Finally, King Dedede has some built in Grab combos that the AI executes very well and can rack up huge damage. These combos include:

Down Throw > Forward Air
Down Throw > Up Air
Down Throw > Back Air
Up Throw > Up Air

In regard to Forward Smash, I wouldn’t bother with it. Although it can kill early if it connects, the wind up is enormous, it is easily parried, and King Dedede will already use it occasionally at the ledge even when the Forward Smash value is at zero.

Jet hammer (Down Special) can do big damage when charged but the King Dedede amiibo won’t use it properly. It’s best to avoid this move too.

Why It Works

The King Dedede amiibo has an arsenal of heavy hitting moves, multi-hit options, and edge guarding tools that make him a nightmare for any opponent to face. In addition, his super heavyweight status gives him the ability to go blow for blow with the entire roster.

My King Dedede amiibo, Weezy III, tends to be much more aggressive than other successful King Dededes (his offensive value is 100 for those who are into bin data). I have found, however, that a King Dedede who is constantly moving forward behind a wall of Forward Tilts and Gordos can be a formidable opponent.

That wraps up my King Dedede guide. Good luck in your training journey. I want to give a big thank you to Doc for allowing me to contribute my little bit of knowledge to you all.  

Train hard and be good.

-Justin