by: saniK
Hello, my name is saniK and I have the #1 vanilla Mr. Game & Watch amiibo on Amiibots. I have spent a long time training Mr. Game & Watch and a few other amiibo using experimental methods.
Doc note: The Moonwalk Method is very controversial. I do not recommend using fringe methods like this unless you have a deep understanding of byte-by-byte behavior in amiibo.
AI Issues
Mr. Game & Watch does not have many AI issues.
Mr. Game & Watch will almost always do his Neutral Special, Chef, at ledge. While Neutral Special can be good it can leave him wide open a lot of the time. You can try to prevent this by teaching the amiibo to edgeguard, which I have never been able to do. The amiibo can very rarely self-destruct by doing a move offstage after he uses Up Special. Like other amiibo, the Mr. Game & Watch amiibo doesn’t know how to properly punish buried opponents.
Overall Playstyle
The main goal of your Mr. Game & Watch amiibo is to make sure he gets hit the least amount as possible. Now, there are many effective ways to accomplish that, but I will try to teach you the strategy I used. There are many ways to train this amiibo and I recommend you experiment with different strategies. The end goal for the Mr. Game & Watch amiibo is for him to space his moves and juggle the opponent relentlessly without throwing too many random moves out. Each move has its purpose as something you should avoid or something you should know. I will go over every single move here.
Moves to Use
Forward Tilt: Forward Tilt is an amazing move – its quick, has decent range and can kill, especially by the ledge. Due to its single hit, it can be parried easily. You don’t want Mr. Game & Watch to spam this, so throw it in your training every so often.
Up Smash: Up Smash is an amazing move. It kills, sets up for juggling really well, and can combo. However, this move is very slow and very short range and can be parried very easily. I’d only spam this move when juggling your amiibo in training.
Forward Smash: Forward Smash is also an amazing move. It is very powerful with long range. However, it can be parried easily. This is a very good move to teach your amiibo but always space it properly. Mr. Game & Watch trying to hit the up-close sour spot of Forward Smash removes all this move’s utility.
Down Smash: Down Smash is a very good move despite amiibo not knowing how to punish buried opponents properly. The sour spot can kill; however, it sends at a very nasty angle. When Mr. Game & Watch buries with this move, he can either hit another Down Smash, follow up with a Neutral Air, or he can do another Smash Attack to kill. He can also just charge a Smash Attack for too long. This move can be parried. I’d recommend using this move.
Grab: One-third to one-half of your moves in training should be Grab. Grab beats parrying, it’s super quick, and it sets up for juggles. Mr. Game & Watch needs to use Grab. Mostly use Down Throw after grabbing.
Neutral Air: Neutral Air is a decent landing option and one of the main juggle tools for the Mr. Game & Watch amiibo. He will sometimes not hit the final launcher for Neutral Air as which is bad. This move is a must.
Up Air: Up Air is another main juggling tool for Mr. Game & Watch. This move isn’t a landing option but has more vertical range and you don’t have to worry about this move not connecting. This move is a must.
Down Air: A very good landing option but he will start spamming it on the ground if you use it too much. Use this move sometimes when landing.
Moves to Avoid
Jab: Jab is an extremely quick move and a multi-hit. It can be a good “get off me tool” but it doesn’t have the best range and there are better options. While I’d say Jab 1 into Grab would be an amazing option that would make him much better as an amiibo, unfortunately he does many moves randomly out Jab 1, some of which leaves Mr. Game & Watch helpless. I would steer clear of using Jab.
Up Tilt: Up Tilt has very short range, and leaves Mr. Game & Watch wide open. Although he can combo off of it, avoid this move at all costs. He will also do this move out of Jab 1, Parry, and Shield even when it won’t hit.
Down Tilt: Down Tilt is just a worse Forward Tilt in every way. It also only hits grounded opponents. Mr. Game & Watch will very rarely automatically use this move out of Jab 1, Parry, and Shield. Avoid this move.
Forward Air: If the bomb explodes it can kill but it can be destroyed easily. This move’s bomb doesn’t explode from a certain height as Mr. Game & Watch loves dropping it from that height. Avoid this move.
Back Air: Has long range and can deal decent knockback. The landing hit can set up for juggling. I’d recommend not using this move.
Neutral Special: Mr. Game & Watch almost always uses this move at ledge and it leaves him open. If you use this move, he won’t do it to attack the opponent but will instead use it more by the ledge. Avoid this move at all costs.
Side Special: This move’s main problem is its slowness and short range. It can yield good results a lot of the time and the especially powerful 9 can kill at very low percents. The 1 does a good amount of damage to Mr. Game & Watch which is not good because of how light he is. Landing 2 leaves him wide open. He sometimes does this move out of Down Throw automatically which is good. I’d recommend not using this move.
Up Special: He will never try to hit the beginning hit of the move. If you teach the Mr. Game & Watch amiibo to use Up Special he will try to hit opponents with it when recovering which is really good. He will also use Up Special instead of juggling if you teach him this move. I would avoid this move.
Down Special: Do not worry about this move; Mr. Game & Watch won’t use the reflector part of the move, but he will try to absorb anything he can. He uses this move smartly too. Using this move does not affect the amiibo.
How to Train the Mr. Game & Watch Amiibo in Smash Ultimate
Remember to apply any spirits before you train the amiibo. You might want to give Mr. Game & Watch more Defense than Attack when giving him a primary spirit due to his light weight. The less damage you take increases survivability.
I’d recommend 7 or 10 stock matches on a flat stage with no platforms or hazards. I’d recommend using a lot of the Moonwalk Method while training. If you don’t know what that is here is a guide:
Mirror match your amiibo and use the moves you want the amiibo to use but remember not to jump a lot. After you are done with that match, I’d recommend turning the stocks down to 5 to 7 and doing Ladder Method to teach Mr. Game & Watch Up Air and Neutral Air. If you don’t know what Ladder Method is, here is a guide:
https://youtu.be/tUo3MFHn2bw?si=FCAwn_Bubf3TIf1d
Now after that you can do two things: keep fighting your amiibo until you are happy with it then you turn Learn off and level it up to 50, or you can do what I did and use SSST Method. An explanation on what SSST is and how to do it is here:
https://amiibodoctor.com/2023/07/05/what-is-ssst-amiibo-training-and-how-to-do-it/
While we aren’t using SSST for doing anything fancy with item values we are using it to make our Mr. Game & Watch amiibo use his moves smarter than how he would normally use them. I don’t know why but, in my experience with SSST, amiibo tend to use their moves smarter similarly to how a level 9 CPU would use them. But, with amiibo we can choose what moves we want them to use. Remember, SSST and amiibo training in general is very random, so no two times training with SSST will yield the same exact results. Before you start doing SSST I’d recommend backing up your amiibo bin file, so you don’t have to retain his moves and aerials. When you decided to start using SSST, I’d recommend training until Mr. Game & Watch is at level 43 or more. For the custom stages I’d recommend using the custom stage “SSSTAmiiboFM100:”
Unless you notice a lot of rolling and dodging, I’d recommend switching it up to the custom stage “SSSTAmiiboStamin:”
Once the amiibo is at level 43 I’d recommend turning Learn off and seeing how it plays. If you are fine with how it turned out, then keep Learn off and level it up to 50. If your amiibo dodges too much, then turn Learn on and go into Slow Smash on a 5-stock match and punish every roll and spot dodge until it stops dodging to your likeness. If your amiibo is not using a move you want then turn Learn back on and go into a 3 to 1 stock match and train the move you want it to use a few times and win the match. Do that until your amiibo uses the move you want at the frequency you want.
Why It Works
Mr. Game & Watch has some amazing moves for amiibo and a brutal juggling game. While he can be a difficult amiibo to train, using custom stages and focusing on weird exploits can train the amiibo to use his moves in a great way.
Theorycrafting and Pushing the Amiibo Further
If we can find a way to make Mr. Game & Watch only use the beginning part of Up Special, he would have an extremely safe and fast option to put other amiibo in a juggling situation. If we can find a way to make the Mr. Game & Watch amiibo camp effectively using Neutral Special, he would be extremely hard to touch for other amiibo.
Amiibo Doctor 