Marth (SSBU)/Side special

==Hitbox visualizations==
Type 	First	Second	Third	Fourth
Up 	 	 	 	
Forward	 	 	 	
Down 	 	 	 	
==Overview==
Dancing Blade can be used as a standard combo ender. It should be avoided in neutral as it is very unsafe on shield, with most opponents having enough time to dash forward and grab before Marth can jump. His safest option if a non-ending hit does hit a shield is to continue using Dancing Blade, delaying hits in hope that the opponent drops their shield. It is Marth's third fastest out-of-shield option, tied with neutral aerial. It is slightly easier to perform than up aerial (second fastest by 1 frame) and doesn't leave him as vulnerable as whiffing his fastest out-of-shield, up special.
The down-angle ender provides the most damage. The side-angle ender sweetspot can KO very early on, being able to KO several characters below 70% at ledge (30-50% earlier than the non-sweetspot hits). The side-angle ender's sweetspot can be hard to hit as it has lower priority than the weaker hits, requiring the attack to be delayed for the highest chance of hitting the sweetspot. Because of various other factors such as rage and directional influence, hitting the sweetspot is inconsistent and it is best to plan around a non-sweetspot hitting instead. Forward tilt is a good, grounded alternative if the side-angle ender's sweetspot is too difficult to land.
The first hit can be used to attack an opponent recovering along the stage, making it a safer alternative to up special (which has the potential to face the wrong way and likely lead to an SD). It also serves as a mixup option, as the tech timing is different than that of an up special along with requiring different reaction timing, potentially resulting in the opponent buffering an air dodge if they've been conditioned to expect up specials. The first hit can also be used to reorient Marth to properly use an aerial or correct his direction to more safely perform an up special.
While recovering, the first hit can be used to slightly halt his downward movement. This can make his recovery slightly less predictable, along with being much safer against opponents that have high-commitment edgeguards or to intercept opponents who go for an offstage KO.
==Hitboxes==
===First hit===
|}
===Second hits===
|}
===Third hits===
|}
===Fourth hits===
|}
==Timing==
===First hit===
Hitboxes 	9-11
Earliest continuable 	12
Continuability window 	2-30
Interruptible (grounded)	40
Interruptible (aerial) 	30
Animation length 	66
!Grounded 
|-
!Aerial 
|-
!Continuability 
===Second hit===
====Upward====
Hitboxes 	4-7
Earliest continuable 	8
Continuability window 	2-29
Interruptible (grounded)	39
Interruptible (aerial) 	41
Animation length 	51
!Grounded 
|-
!Aerial 
|-
!Continuability 
====Forward====
Hitboxes 	5-7
Earliest continuable 	8
Continuability window 	2-29
Interruptible (grounded)	39
Interruptible (aerial) 	41
Animation length 	48
!Grounded 
|-
!Aerial 
|-
!Continuability 
===Third hit===
====Upward====
Hitboxes 	5-7
Earliest continuable 	8
Continuability window 	2-24
Interruptible (grounded)	44
Interruptible (aerial) 	47
Animation length 	51
!Grounded 
|-
!Aerial 
|-
!Continuability 
====Forward====
Hitboxes 	4-6
Earliest continuable 	7
Continuability window 	2-24
Interruptible (grounded)	44
Interruptible (aerial) 	47
Animation length 	53
!Grounded 
|-
!Aerial 
|-
!Continuability 
====Downward====
Hitboxes 	5-7
Earliest continuable 	8
Continuability window 	2-24
Interruptible (grounded)	44
Interruptible (aerial) 	47
Animation length 	53
!Grounded 
|-
!Aerial 
|-
!Continuability 
===Fourth hit===
====Upward====
Hitboxes 	6-10
Interruptible 	45
Animation length	66
====Forward====
Hitboxes 	7-9
Interruptible 	56
Animation length	75
====Downward====
Hits 1-4 	7, 10, 13, 16
Hit 5 	19-21
Interruptible 	75
Animation length	87
==Parameters==
Horizontal speed multiplier on startup	0.5
Added vertical speed in the air 	1.4
==Trivia==
*Despite being a forward-angled attack, the second hit's standard variant is named "SpecialS2Lw" (or "SpecialAirS2Lw" in the case of the aerial version) within the game's files, using the suffix of the downward-angled attacks instead.
Category:Marth (SSBU)
Category:Special moves (SSBU)
Category:Side special moves (SSBU)