by: JMoney
Hello everyone, my name is Justin (or JMoney in the tourney scene) and King K. Rool is my one true love in amiibo. As a King K. Rool main myself, the Kremling Kommander was the first amiibo I ever bought, and I have done more labbing with him than any other amiibo. I have trained multiple successful King K. Rool amiibo in my time training, such as:
Louis XIV, with a 36.17 rating on Amiibots at the time of writing and a tournament win under his belt,
Georgie, not currently on Amiibots but who has multiple top 8 finishes on his resume including a 3rd place in Amiibo Doctor’s Top Tier Only Tour,
And The George, my best King K. Rool to date, with multiple top 8 finishes in U and S-tier tours, peaked as the #2 rated Croc on Amiibots with a 38.42 rating at the time and a current #4 ranking with a 37.10 rating.
In this guide, my goal is to teach you how to train your own successful King K. Rool and explain some of the nuances of his move set that make him formidable in different matchups.
AI Issues
The King K. Rool amiibo has relatively few AI issues; however, he does still have issues with his Down Throw. While his AI was patched to follow up Down Throw with other moves such as Dash attack and Forward Tilt, he still primary follows the bury with Forward Smash. While at higher percents bury to Forward Smash is a good kill confirm, at anything under about 140% the Forward Smash will whiff, exposing King K. Rool to punishment.
Lower-level King K. Rool AI will also use its Up Special onstage and won’t always recover properly. Luckily, this usually isn’t an issue when the AI is fully leveled up.
Overall Playstyle
King K. Rool operates best while staying grounded and working around his greatest tool – his belly armor. Belly armor combined with his devastating Smash attacks and the do-everything Blunderbuss makes him an opponent truly worthy of S-tier.
How to Train the King K. Rool Amiibo in Smash Ultimate
Before I break down King K. Rool’s move set, I want to highlight the three areas in which I believe separate average King K. Rools from the true kings.
- Offstage Play vs. Ledge-Trapping
- Blunderbuss Usage
- Aggression vs. Defense
Offstage Play vs. Ledge-Trapping
King K. Rool’s has an excellent recovery and two aerials capable of spiking that on paper portray him as a natural fit for an aggressive offstage approach. In my experience, King K. Rool’s aerials land very inconsistently offstage and rarely is he able to take early stocks with this approach. Ledge-trapping with Blunderbuss is the superior option as it is safer, racks up damage more reliably, and gives King K. Rool a powerful tool in some of his worst matchups. For example, Terry’s and Kazuya’s recoveries often take them past the ledge – leading them right into the suck gun of death.
Blunderbuss Usage
Blunderbuss usage is the area that I have experimented the most with over my various King K. Rool iterations. In my experience, this move has been critical in helping King K. Rool in matchups where the opponent has a strong horizontal attack game such as Min Min, Captain Falcon, and to some extent, Incineroar. The slow-moving projectile gives Min Min fits as she approaches and can even block Incineroar’s Alolan Whip if the spacing is right. In addition, the suction hit box of the move practically invalidates Captain Falcon’s Down Special. This move does, however, have a long start up and high end lag which can leave King K. Rool as combo food for characters like Terry and Kazuya.
Proper Blunderbuss training is essential in creating a highly effective King K. Rool. One can, however, definitely overdo this move while training, making it a constant balancing act. Much of my trial-and-error training King K. Rool revolves around getting this move right. For those into bin file data, I recommend a Neutral Special sweet spot of 10-20.
Aggression vs. Defense
While this is not necessarily specific to King K. Rool alone, in my opinion, the most successful and consistent King K. Rool amiibo are more defensive than aggressive. The ideal King K. Rool holds shield, parries, and slowly advances rather than dash forward into attacks and throw out moves at every opportunity.
Moves to Use
With the more philosophical training points out of the way, let’s cover King K. Rool’s essential moves and why they work.
Forward Tilt: This meaty clap is one of King K. Rool’s most important moves. It’s quick, coming out frame 12, kills earlier than you’d expect, and most importantly has armor starting at frame 5 which makes it a safe, reliable damage racker. When angled upward, it can also work as an anti-air and hit opponents on platforms. Use Forward Tilt early and often.
Dash attack: Another excellent armored move and arguably the best Dash attack in the amiibo meta game. This should be your primary gap closer in the mid-range. Also works as a decent kill option.
Down Smash: The King’s most powerful kill option and another move utilizing belly armor. Use Down Smash near the ledge and as a roll catch to steal stocks.
Up Smash: This should be your primary option when beneath an opponent as it hits like a truck and the King K. Rool AI tends to use it very well.
Forward Smash: The first unarmored move on this list. This move has incredible kill power, but it is a riskier option than Forward Tilt and is used in the same range. Use in a 3:1 ratio with Forward Tilt.
Side Special (Crown Throw): An excellent projectile that has a little armor to boot. Side Special is best used in mid-range at a distance where Dash attack won’t quite connect.
Neutral Special (Blunderbuss): This move frankly, as the kids say, slaps. While this should be your chief ledge trapping option, it is also important that you use it in moderate amounts onstage (I covered the specific nuances why above).
Aerials: Neutral Air should be your primary landing option as King K. Rool can combo it into Dash attack or Forward Tilt. Down Air should be mixed in as a landing option as well because King K. Rool is capable of landing Down Air into Up Smash. Up Air is a good anti air option as long as your amiibo doesn’t become too jumpy. Back Air and Forward Air are okay to mix in, but not essential.
Grabs: We already discussed King K. Rool’s nasty Down Throw habit; however, I do think a very small amount of grabbing is actually good for King K. Rool. Back Throw can kill very early at the ledge. Up Throw does 20% worth of damage and at the right percentage, Down Throw can be a guaranteed kill confirm. Be very cautious not to overdo grabs and avoid teaching Down Throw as the King K. Rool AI will use it anyway but do incorporate them.
Moves to Avoid
Up Tilt: Use Up Smash instead.
Down Tilt: The bury is great, the range is bad.
Down Special (Gut Check): Amiibo just can’t counter correctly.
Why It Works
King K. Rool has all the makings of a true amiibo king: he is heavier than everyone but Bowser, he has armor on almost all his move set, he has more than enough kill-power on top of two annoying projectiles, and he has an excellent ledge-trapping game.
I hope this guide inspires you to train your own Kremling Kommander worthy of taking on the toughest amiibo out there. As always, huge thank you to Doc for asking me to contribute my little bit of knowledge to you all.
As always, train hard and be good.
-Justin
Amiibo Doctor 