Smoker

## Introduction

Smoker's dream in One Piece is to catch the Straw Hats but is bipolar on if he should let them go or catch them. He honestly should have been fired a long time ago.

Smoker's game plan is pressure. Lots of it. He has two really fast ranged attacks that you'll have to respect at all times in the match. His kit has some high blockstun and pushblock so getting a punish on him can be pretty hard. He becomes really hard to deal with if he gets someone against the wall where he can really start putting on some pressure and combos.

### **Pros & Cons**

+ Good HP pool
+ He has great aerials, j.A being a great landing mixup or gap closer and j.X has good range and forces them to the ground
+ R+A is a very fast ranged attack that's hard to react to
+ R+B is a strong ranged unblockable that pulls the opponent towards you and starts your A combo tree
+ His unblockable is fast and has so much hitstun that you can let the animation end and start an X combo tree
+ He has some pretty good supers, AX is great as a combo ender and AB can catch landings or people turtling
+ High damage in his combo trees meaning he doesn't rely on big combos to kill
+ Very hard to escape flowchart when he has someone against the wall
+ Exceptional punish game in Accel Heat
+ X>A is a very fast and safe string that can go into full combo or wall pressure and is safe on block

- Lacks lag cancelling despite his best pressure being up close
- His support is awful
- His R+A and R+B extend his hurtbox quite a bit
- He needs Accel Heat to perform consistent long combos

## Supports

### Tashigi

Dash support. Tashigi is a REALLY bad support. Not only is her synergy with Smoker terrible, sometimes she just trips for no reason leaving you all alone feeling like your bar of meter was wasted. Her knockback can straight up ruin some of Smoker's pressure and combos. Only use her if you absolutely need assistance in neutral, otherwise keep the meter for supers or Accel Heat.

## Combos

* A>A>X, j.X, (no tech and near wall) X>A, L+(A>X)
* X>A (Wall bounce), A>A>A
* X>A (Wall bounce), A>A, \*A+X>A>X, j.X (\*this combo will only work if they're pressured into blocking the A+X)
* Accel Heat, X>A (Wall bounce), A>A, X>A (Wall bounce), A>A...

## Strategy

### **Vanilla**

Smoker needs his pressure up close since he doesn't really have a great assist or any amazing tools to abuse the chests. His power comes mostly from the damage and combos he can rack up in Accel Heat. If Smoker can keep up the pressure and starve them of coins while keeping them for himself, he can succeed.

### **Modded**

Smoker will need to follow a flowchart in his pressure throughout the match. His options in neutral are pretty straightforward. If someone is throwing a projectile, R+A or j.A through it. If you're trying to catch a landing or someone turtling from a distance, R+B. A>A and X>A will be your main tools on someone's block until you feel confident enough to open them up with an unblockable. Smoker backed up against the wall has a good neutral grab to turn the pressure into his favor and put them against the wall instead should they mess up. Accel Heat will always have more damage potential than doing supers as Smoker, but you'll need to have good positioning to maximize the damage off of it. If your opponent is giving you problems in going for Accel Heat or is knocking meter out of you too often, go for some super confirms. If you're having problems in neutral, Tashigi can help a little bit, especially in matchups where Smoker is outperformed in block pressure.

## Matchups

### **General Information**

Smoker needs his opponent to be on his level, so he'll want situations where he can fight the opponent one on one with no assists. Characters who have strong beefy assists can REALLY make him struggle since his own assist isn't too great. If he can't kill the opponent's assist fast enough or get an opportunity to damage it, he'll have an issue. If he can force the fight to a one on one, chances are he should have the advantage.

#### Kuina

Kuina for the most part is in your favor. You have ranged attacks to deal with her from a distance and you have some good pressure to get through her defenses and kill her quick. You have about similar game plans up close but you have an advantage of 800 HP. Use it. Her jabs are a bit better than yours because of her disjoints so make sure to be careful and not to take trades.