I. THE BASICS



Base Damage: 2% (per leaf), 3.8% (throw)

Base Angle: 361 (leaf), 45 (throw)

Base Knockback: 15 (leaf), 50 (throw)

Knockback Growth: 22 (leaf), 70 (throw)

Weight-based Knockback Modifier: 0 (leaf), 0 (throw)

You can have an active hitbox while shielding

You can have an active hitbox while spot dodging or roll dodging

You can have an active hitbox while air dodging

You can have an active hitbox while grabbing the ledge

You can have an active hitbox while shielding next to the ledge

You can have an active hitbox immediately before and while footstooling

You can grab and pummel while the leaves hit for extra damage

II. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUE: LEAF SHIELD SHORT HOPPING [credit: BBC7]



III. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES: B-REVERSING AND WAVEBOUNCING

IV. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUE: HEADSHOTTING

For full hop and double jump height

For “short hop” height

V. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES: COURSE CORRECTION AND C-STICKING

VI. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES: LEAF SHIELD AND METAL BLADE THROWING

VII. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUE: REVERSE AERIAL RUSH AIRDODGE (RARA)

VIII. ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUE: LEAFSTOOLING [credit: StylesX2]

IX. COMBO TECHNIQUE: LEAFSTOOLING WITH Z-DROPPED METAL BLADE AND/OR DAIR

X. COMBO TECHNIQUE: INVINCIBLADE WITH LEAFSHIELD AND RARA

XI. ADVANCED TECHNIQUE: LEDGE SLIDE



XII. APPLICATION: LEAF SHIELD FRAME TRAPPING

XIII. APPLICATION: ROLLING BUZZSAW

XIV. APPLICATION: WHIFF BAITING [credit: Z1GMA]

XV. APPLICATION: CAMP COUNTERING [credit: Z1GMA]

XVI. APPLICATION: LEAF SHIELD TECH CHASING

XVII. APPLICATION: EDGE GUARDING WITH LEAF SHIELD TOSS



XVIII. APPLICATION: MISTAKE FORCING AND LEDGE GIMPING

XIX. APPLICATION: ANTI-JUGGLE

XX. APPLICATION: COUNTER COUNTERING [credit: Z1GMA]

XXI. APPLICATION: LEAF LOCK SET UP AND LEAFSTOOL 0-TO-DEATH COMBO

XXII. SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE FROM SKULL MAN AND PLANT MAN!

Base Damage: 2% (per leaf), 3.8% (throw)

Base Angle: 361 (leaf), 45 (throw)

Base Knockback: 15 (leaf), 50 (throw)

Knockback Growth: 22 (leaf), 70 (throw)



Weight-based Knockback Modifier: 0 (leaf), 0 (throw)

Quicker start up on activation

Quicker throw (I think quicker startup, same cooldown, based on testing in Pac Maze)

More active frames

Fixed, shorter range when rotating around Mega Man

Leaf hitboxes disappear on hit

Greater range when thrown

Base Damage: 3% (per pedal), 4.2% (throw)

Base Angle: 45 (pedal), 45 (throw)

Base Knockback: 20 (pedal), 20 (throw)

Knockback Growth: 35 (pedal) , 35 (throw)

, Weight-based Knockback Modifier: 0 (pedal), 0 (throw)

More start up frames on activation

Slower throw (I think more start up frames, same cooldown, based on testing in Pac Maze)

Fewer active frames

Greater range when rotating around MM, undulates in and out

Pedal hitboxes do not disappear on hit

Less range when thrown

XXIII. CONCLUSION



Leaf Shield. Worst move in Mega Man’s repertoire, and possibly worst move in Sm4sh. Right?Wrong.I’ve logged thousands of battles with Mega Man, and I can tell you that Leaf Shield isn’t a terrible move at all. In fact, it may even be one of Mega Man's more versatile moves. It enhances Mega Man’s already great ledge guarding game and gives him solid mix-ups and approach options that other characters would kill for.But don’t take my word for it. Wood Man is here and he is prepared to show you the error of your ways.Leaf Shield creates four hitboxes that circle around Mega Man. Here are the move's vitals:The leaves have normal projectile priority, even when rotating around Mega Man.When Leaf Shield is up, your only options aside from throwing the Leaf Shield are grab, pummel, throw, shield, dodge, pick up items (including generated items such as Metal Blade), throw items, and z-drop items. You can also still attack on get-up or from ledge. You cannot use any other A or B moves while Leaf Shield is active.Sounds pretty lame so far, right? But here is what makes Leaf Shield special:. Here is a list of some pretty cool things Leaf Shield can do for you:In the following sections, I’ll describe some techniques for getting Leaf Shield out and using these qualities to give your Mega Man a unique tactical edge.Ever notice how Leaf Shield freezes you in place when you activate it while on the ground? Don’t do that. You should get in the habit of activating Leaf Shield from the air at all times.One of the interesting qualities of activating Leaf Shield is that it cancels your upward momentum when jumping. You can use this quality to perform theTo perform this technique, hold down or diagonal down in the direction you would like to move, then press Y immediately followed by B. The hop is just enough to jump over most projectiles and many dash attacks, and you will be ready to use the Leaf Shield by the time you land.This technique can be performed on double jump and Rush bounce as well. Normally, characters in Smash cannot short hop their double jumps, but Mega Man actually can by using this technique, giving him still more good mix-up and fake out options. Similarly, if you don’t want to gain full height when bouncing off Rush, simple activate Leaf Shield immediately after you bounce to jump up half as high. When you do this, you'll actually cancel the landing lag you get from Rush Coil -- as soon as you land on the ground, you can begin moving without any landing delay. Pretty cool!Like most specials in this game, Leaf Shield can be both b-reversed and wavebounced. Don't know that those techniques are? Learn here. SSB4's meta seems to be moving towards using empty jumps for mind games, and I find LS is pretty handy as a "empty jump plus" that also gives you the option to instantly change your momentum. If you're going to fake someone out with an empty jump or double jump, you might as well fire up a LS while doing so because it will make your subsequent that much harder to avoid.Also, don't just b-reverse and wavebounce your Leaf Shield activation -- you can do it with the toss, too!Leaf Shield can essentially be thrown at four heights: standing, “short hop”, full hop, and double jump.:Throw the Leaf Shield just just before reaching the apex of your full hop or double jump, respectively.: Perform a full hop, then begin the throw just after reaching the apex. The timing is a little tricky but if done correctly Mega Man will complete the throw at short hop height.You want to throw the Leaf Shield at “short hop” height most of the time. When thrown at this height, the Leaf Shield projectile becomes very hard to avoid. Against shielding opponents, the leaves will shield poke and sometimes hit the exposed hurtboxes above the shield bubble. When you successfully damage an opponent who is shielding in this way I like to call it. Headshotting can be an effective long range snipe that can let you put on some pressure and open up some follow-up opportunities.Like on activation, Leaf Shield will freeze Mega Man in place if he is standing on the ground. Like with activation, you should really avoid throwing Leaf Shield from the ground whenever possible.This rule doesn’t apply when Mega Man is in the air. Mega Man retains his full lateral air mobility even during the Leaf Shield throw animation.Does it look like an opponent is going to double jump over your incoming Leaf Shield? Try moving Mega Man backward as he is throwing it.Very often the new trajectory will catch your opponent as he is in the downswing of his double jump---evasion attempt denied! This technique is also useful for avoiding your opponents’ attempts to hit you before you complete your throw animation.And keep in mind that you can use the C-stick to control which direction you throw the Leaf Shield. Try using the C-stick to throw it forward while jumping backwards!If you manage to get a Metal Blade in your hand, putting up a Leaf Shield gives you a few interesting options.If you hit A or the C-stick, Mega Man will throw the Metal Blade first. (Unless you're crouching and c-stick forward -- in that case, you'll throw the Leaf Shield).If you hit the B button first, Mega Man will throw the Leaf Shield first.I tend to prefer to throw the Leaf Shield first. As of v1.04, Leaf Shield toss -> short hop Metal Blade toss is a very solid string against most charactions. For a fun combo, try Leaf Shield toss -> Metal Blade -> Fsmash -- it creates a barrage of projectiles that lays on a lot of shield pressure and punishes spot dodges.You're probably familiar with the Reverse Aerial Rush (RAR) as a way to quickly get out turn-around bairs. But did you know that you can do the same thing with an airdodge?To perform, dash toward your opponent, smash in the opposite direction while jumping, then air dodge. If done correctly, you will perform an air dodge and switch directions in midair.This has a useful application for Leaf Shield. Mega Man can run toward his opponent, perform a short hoppedto sail safely over that opponent’s head while the leaves do hitstun or shieldstun, then land facing his opponent’s back and ready to do a grab (if the Leaf Shield is still up) or a utilt (if the Leaf Shield expired during the RARA). It's like a roll that doesn't leave you vulenrable to dsmashes.Leaf Shield gives Mega Man the option to footstool some opponents who recover low. Normally, you can’t footstool an opponent who is in the middle of an attack or airdodge. But the brief hitstun from a leaf hit is all you need to get a successful footstool. Sometimes you can even get one against a standing, shielding opponent if the leaves chip his shield enough to hit him out of it. I call thisCertain charactersthis technique. Falco, Caption Falcon, Ganondorf, Diddy, and Ness all come to mind. If the character’s UpB has low damage, long start up, and/or low priority, a Leafstool is a very good option for gimping his recovery.Be careful using this technique against characters with invulnerability frames and/or high priority in their UpBs, though. Characters like Mario, Dr. Mario, Marth, and Lucina can power right through your Leafstool gimp attempts and possibly even stage spike you.Having a metal blade in your hand can make leafstool even harder to avoid. Simply z-drop the blade while above an opponent to give you an even bigger opening for a footstool.A powerful chase, when timed right, is the leafstool to dair combo. If you short hop your leafstool and your Leaf Shield has dissipated, fast fall into a dair. If performed correctly, you’ll spike your opponent just as they are emerging out of their footstool stun. It’s a brutal offsage finisher when you can pull it off.Naturally, these two techniques can be combined to give recovering opponents a very bad day.Leaf Shield works well with most Metal Blade ATs, but it has especially nice synergy with the Invinciblade AT, which allows you to z-drop a Metal Blade and Air Dodge simultaneously. Attacking during invincibility frames is fun! Learn how to perform the Invinciblade here: http://smashboards.com/threads/ligh...discovery-thread.367985/page-14#post-17842426 It's also possible to perform a RARA + Invinciblade approach. To execute, you have to do the normal RARA motion, but then let the circle pad return to neutral before executing the Invinciblade. The timing is pretty tough, though, so good luck pulling it off consistently!Ledge Slide (which Mega Man can do with all his specials) is a technique that uses Mega Man's aerial momentum to slide off the stage into a ledge grab and optionally into a ledge grab. When done correctly, this is the quickest way to get from into a ledge grab with Leaf Shield up. Here's a video explainer:The best way to do this I find is out of a Leaf Shield Short Hopped double jump. Be careful, though, as if you mess it up you might end up self destructing. Better to err on the side of landing on the stage than miss the slide.One neat thing about Leaf Shield is that it rotatesto frame trap many attacks. Many attacks will only have time to complete the first frame(s) but not enough to complete the move before getting hit by the next leaf.So for example, if you have a Metal Blade in hand, a simple but effective approach is to glide toss the Metal Blade, then boost grab. The combined hitstun/shieldstun of the Metal Blade and Leaf Shield will often be enough to trap many opponents into getting grabbed.Another interesting thing about the leaf hit boxes is that they kill your opponent’s aerial momentum.There are some fun applications for this. For example, try jumping toward an airborne opponent and air dodging. The leaves will often catch them and frame trap their aerial/recoverymoves, leaving them with nothing to do but fall down right beside you taking damage the whole way. You can then easily grab them as soon as you both touch down on the ground (provided they are still trapped by the leaves at that point). This can be an effective way to keep up the pressure against opponents falling back to stage after an Air Shooter juggle.But be careful: some characters have powerful and quick aerials with lingering hitboxes that can catch you if you try to do this. Yoshi’s and Ness's nairs comes to mind.As mentioned earlier, Leaf Shield gives you an active hit box while you’re roll dodging. This has the effect of making your rolls safer, because your opponent will frequently get hitstunned by the leaves if he tries to do something like hit you with a dsmash. It’s not 100% effective and a well-timed attack (usually a tilt) can still hit you, though, so be careful.If you find yourself backed into a corner by an aggressive player, consider firing up a Leaf Shield and rolling right through him, doing damage the whole way. Sometimes the simplest techniques work the best.One thing I like to do is fire up Leaf Shield, then roll under opponents who are recovering high onto the stage, or attempting to recover from a juggle. The leaves' hitstun will often trap them, leaving them helpless to a grab.Another thing to note here is the smash "auto-turn" mechanic. If a character gets hit from behind, he will automatically turn around and face that direction during the hitstun, regardless of whether he is in the air or on the ground. You can use this mechanic to mess with people, as rolling through someone with Leaf Shield up will often force them to turn away from you.People, even good players, tend to get more offensive when you Leaf Shield near them, because they don't want to get grabbed. They've probably met Mega Men who activate LS and simply rush in for a grab, so they'll try to attack you. Use this to your advantage to play mind games with them.Rather than simply rushing in for a grab, mix it up by shielding or dodging their attack, THEN punish with a grab. Use Foxtrotting to make your approach less predictable. Run in, then wavebounce back while throwing the Leaf Shield forward, THEN follow up with a grab or a fair. Of course, you should mix this up and sometimes go for the immediate dash grab, just to keep them guessing.Watch out for your opponent's grabs and tilts, though. A well-timed tilt can hit you through your leaves, and a well-timed grab can nab you and make your leaves disappear.Keep in mind that Leaf Shield will nullify and power through almost every projectile except for a few particularly powerful ones and transcendent projectiles (e.g. a fully charged Samus Neutral B, R.O.B.'s laser). Against some characters, you can use this to your advantage to nullify their Projectile Momentum, and give Mega Man a fresh start.This is useful when you feel the opponent currently has the upper hand in a camp-war. Fullhop, double jump, activate Leaf Shield, and throw it as you land. Many times, Mega Man will have a time-advantage after the Leaf Shield has hit the opponent or their shield, allowing him to close the distance and start his own barrage of projectiles.Just sent an opponent flying away from you and they are now in position to tech on the ground? Try short hopping into a Leaf Shield in preparation for a tech chase.If you think the opponent will tech roll toward you, the Leaf Shield will usually trap them and give you a throw.If you think the opponent will tech roll away from you, a thrown Leaf Shield will usually catch them.If you think the opponent will tech up, you can boost grab them.If you think the opponent will perform an attack wake-up, you can simply run up to them and shield, then grab them after hit confirming a leaf.If you think the opponent will not tech, the leaves can Leaf Lock them (see below), giving you a free utilt.I find that the best time to use Leaf Shield is when you send your opponent far enough away from the stage that you know he will need to use a recovery move to get back. This gives you a few options that can be useful for edge guarding and gimping his recovery.Sometimes you can put up a Leaf Shield, grab someone, immediately throw him, then toss the Leaf Shield so that it will hit him before his first IASA frame. Do this when possible because the knockback is pretty good.A thrown Lead Shield is your farthest-traveling projectile, and it will send a massive hitbox your opponent’s way that will nullify and projectiles he uses to cover his recovery (useful in the Mario, Link, and Samus matchups, for example). With the release of v1.04, you can fairly reliably follow up on this with a fair or nair, making it quite nice for stuffing characters with very horizontal recoveries (see: Jigglypuff).Also, don't forget that Leaf Shield -> Metal Blade -> fsmash combo. If you have the time to set this up, this is a barrage of projectiles that can make getting to the ledge, or up off the ledge,llyIf you think (or know) your opponent is going to go for ledge, Leaf Shield can be an effective way to disrupt that recovery route and force mistakes that can lead to punishes and KOs.You have two options here: (1) fire up Leaf Shield, run up to the edge of the stage, and shield, or (2) fire up Leaf Shield, run or Leaf Slide off the stage, and snap to a ledge grab for the invincibility frames. If necessary you can immediately get up off the ledge for more invincibility frames. Both approaches can be useful in different situations. Here are two videos showcasing how this can lead to KOs:As you can see, using Leaf Shield in this way can be a good, low-risk way to force mistakes at the ledge that can lead to early KOs and painful punishes. If you work it into your edge guard game you can catch many opponents by surprise.Did you just get knocked high over the stage by an opponent’s usmash or uair? Or did you just use Rush and are afraid your opponent will hit you on the way back down to the stage?Never fear, Leaf Shield is here!If you activate Leaf Shield high up, then fast fall down and air dodge, you can avoid many of your opponent’s attacks! And the leaves can help protect you against dash attacks and projectiles during your landing lag, as well. Just because it’s a simple tactic doesn’t make it any less effective.Also, don't forget about Leaf Shield Short Hop, b-reversing, and wave-bouncing. You can use both the Leaf Shield activation and the throw to suddenly change your horizontal and/or vertical momentum, which can make your recoveries very unpredictable. Unless they read you, most opponents won't react fast enough to catch you when you do this, and if they do, your leaves will often still protect you from their aerials or dash attacks.This is an effective way of getting under the skin of people who are confident with their counter-game. Because leaves are separate from Mega Man, if they get countered you can shield the Counter hit and punish it. Not that getting ountered is a scary proposition given that leaves only do 2% damage, so you're only looking at taking ~3% damage from most counters anyway.Using Leaf Shield to counter counters is more of a mix-up than a solid method, however. And it's best used when the opponent is falling down from high above, although it can be used on grounded foes as well. If you're running towards an opponent and predict a counter, you can use the RARA technique to get safely through their invincibility frames and in a superior position at their backs.Keep in mind that the rest of you leaves can reset the opponent after you've shielded their counter if you're unlucky.Mega Man cangrounded opponents, bouncing them with his Leaf Shield as long as it's out. Once the final leaf has hit or disappeared Mega Man can immediately combo into a utilt.As far as I know there's no perfect combo that will reliably set up this situation. The first half of the following video shows the best lead-in I've found, but it relies on your opponent missing an opportunity to get up after the footstool spikes him into the stage:The second half of this video shows a variation on this combo that can be used as a zero-to-death against most of the cast. Here's how you do it: z-drop a metal blade to pop a grounded opponent offstage into the air, shorthop footstool him into Leaf Shield, then leafstool him again and again until he dies. Like most 0-deaths, the chances you'll be able to pull this off against someone with a pulse are close to nil, but it's fun to do against the AIs!So, are Mega Man’s custom DownBs any good?Skull Barrier has a quicker start up than Leaf Shield, but lasts for only about 1 second. It does no damage when rotating around Mega Man and 2% damage when thrown, though oftentimes it will combo into itself, hitting twice for 4%. It doesn’t travel very far when thrown, and loses the reflect quality as soon as it leaves Mega Man's hand. It's worth nothing that Skull Barrier does not *consistently* reflect certain particularly powerful projectiles, such as Samus’s and Lucario’s fully charged (and non-staled) Neutral Bs, so be sure to use your normal shield if you see one of those coming.Skull Barrier can be useful against characters who rely heavily on projectiles, obviously. Just because a character has a projectile doesn't mean Skull Barrier is the right choice, however. Fox's and Mario's projectiles, while annoying, aren't really worth reflecting, for example. Skull Barrier's reflect-boxes serve a fundamentally different purpose than Leaf Shield, and without the hitboxes you lose the ability to do a lot of the things I described above, like Leafstooling, and that trade-off can be very real.Plant Barrier is similar to Leaf Shield, but with slight differences that can be hard to see unless you're looking carefully. For reference, here are the known differences between the two moves. Green = better, red = worse, blue = equal, purple = different but debateable.LEAF SHIELD:PLANT BARRIER:In short, Plant Barrier is stronger, slower, has fewer active frames, won't disappear on hit, has more range when rotating and less when thrown, and does more knockback when rotating (and cannot Leaf Lock) and less knockback when thrown.At the end of the day, this one comes down to personal preference. In general, I find Leaf Shield the better tool in neutral and disadvantage, which Plant Barrier seems the better tool in advantage. I usually go with Leaf Shield myself, as to me its speed and knockback specs make it just a little bit more versatile. Plant Barrier is definitely good, though, particularly if you find yourself using your Shields/Barriers primarily for ledge guarding and pressuring landings.I hope you found this guide useful. If you think there are any tricks, techniques, or applications I missed here, please reply below and I’ll try to integrate them into the guide. Also, if there are any people I failed to credit with discovering a technique—anything not credited here is something I discovered myself, though someone else may have beat me to it—let me know and I’ll fix that.And now, just for fun, here's a video of me 2 stocking a Ness in For Glory by abusing some of these Leaf Shield tricks:Happy Leaf Shielding!