Palutena
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- Banjo will often try to keep Palutena out of his space with his projectile specials, Rear Egg and Breegull Blaster. Palutena has the movement required to outmaneuver these, especially considering Banjo's aerial movment is relatively poor - just choose your positions carefully to slowly work your way in.
- Don't waste time and movement by trying to Counter/Reflect the projectiles, as they're not very powerful and will likely just get interrupted by another incoming projectile.
- Banjo's recovery is very linear - if he is recovering he must do it either from directly below or to the side of the stage. You cannot challenge Wonderwing, but simply dropping from the ledge and Nairing is very reliable at catching his low recoveries.
- Due to his bad air speed, Banjo is pretty weak to Palutena's juggling. If he's in disadvantage in the air, try to track his position and strike with Uairs to keep resetting the juggle. Just make sure to watch out for the occasional Rear Egg he will drop from above.
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- A strange matchup that can force Palutena to play much differently than usual. Bayonetta has some of the best aerial combo starters in the game via her specials Afterburner Kick and Witch Twist that can lead to very damaging combos at any percent. Because of this, it becomes much more risky for Palutena to threaten aerial space like she usually does. Neutral should be played slower and safer, focusing on capitalizing on the Bayonetta player's mistakes rather than trying to rush her down and oppress her with aerials.
- If one of these specials is whiffed near Palutena, she can likely start a punish, including with her own combo aerials. Make sure to understand and respect Bayonetta's threat range when possible.
- If Bayonetta is forced to recover from below the ledge, her up special Witch Twist can very often reach past the ledge before she grabs it. This is vulnerable to Dtilt and even Up Smash.
- Bayonetta's Bat Within mechanic allows her to negate knockback from moves if she is hit during the early frames of her roll, spotdodge, or airdodge. This can allow her to escape many combos that have small gaps in between their hits, including many of Palutena's Down Throw combos. Be aware of this and prepare to punish airdodges from Bayonetta players who are trying to escape after getting thrown.
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- Bowser's weight and size are very favorable for Palutena, giving her access to tools like Nair OOS and allowing her to combo him especially well. Being the heaviest character, however, means it will be difficult to kill Bowser off the top (or in general). Getting a handle on edgeguarding Bowser effectively will finish off many of his stocks without having to worry about him living to ludicrously high percents.
- Bowser while offstage is often forced to be somewhat predictable and vulnerable while recovering. Aerials like Nair and especially Bair are excellent at contesting this recovery and resetting the edgeguard situation.
- 2-framing Bowser's up special Whirling Fortress with Palutena's Dtilt is very consistent, and successfully doing it will almost always result in a combo of Dash Attack or Bair. This is an incredibly useful tool for Palutena in the matchup.
- The Bowser player will likely try to avoid this Dtilt by waiting longer than usual before using Whirling Fortress or recovering high. Be aware of these mixups and punish accordingly when possible.
- Palutena can hit Bowser out of shield relatively easily due to his size allowing Nair OOS to connect, but pressuring Bowser's shield is dangerous as well - his up special Whirling Fortress OOS is particularly fast and reliable for him. Bair and Fair can escape this punish if spaced.
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- Many of Bowser Jr's approach options can be contested and beaten with Bair, which means it is up to the Bowser Jr player to find and make openings of their own. Trying to mix up Bair with empty hops and other approaches in neutral can be oppressive for Bowser Jr if done well.
- One of Bowser Jr's main tools for approaching and closing space is his side special Clown Kart Dash, which if prepared for can be reacted to with Bair to beat it out. Aside from that, virtually all of Bowser Jr's approaching tools consist of his aerials, which generally can be beaten with Palutena's.
- Bowser Jr's Fair and Bair can outrange Palutena's Nair and Fair, but are slower. Again, mix up your approaches and try to catch Bowser Jr preemptively - right after he jumps, but before he can use an aerial.
- Trying to 2-frame with Dtilt can be dangerous, as not only is it inconsistent in this matchup, Bowser Jr players have a trick where they use their up special to recover, then airdodge past the ledge to try to catch an edgeguarding opponent unaware with the follow-up hammer attack.
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- Compared to the rest of the cast, and especially someone with Palutena's above-average mobility, Byleth is very slow both on the ground and in the air. However, many of Byleth's normals can make up for this by attacking at a distance with respectable strength and size. As Palutena, understanding where Byleth can strike at any moment and weaving around that range will allow for the neutral wins needed to take stocks.
- All of Byleth's aerials are very formidable and need to be respected. Their Fair and Bair are excellent long-range horizontal pokes, and Uair is a large multihit that juggles well and will kill. And of course, Byleth's Nair is very safe and an excellent combo starter and filler... does any of that sound familiar?
- Luckily, despite Byleth clearly taking some pages from Palutena's playbook, Palutena has the tools to work around their very solid aerial game:
- Byleth's Fair and Bair are likely the things to watch out for the most; they will outrange any of Palutena's aerials and are quite strong. However, the hitboxes are somewhat thin vertically, and Palutena can take advantage of that. Approaching Byleth from a diagonal angle will help with this, and unlike Byleth, Palutena has the air speed and jump height to position herself in that position frequently.
- Palutena can't directly contest Byleth's Uair from above, so you will need to be careful to avoid it (as well as their up special Sword of the Creator, which is a hitgrab that also cannot be directly contested). Again, Palutena has the mobility to do so, and it will likely be up to the Byleth player to find reads to take stocks while juggling.
- Byleth's Nair is actually prone to getting beaten out by Palutena's own. Since Byleth will likely be trying to use it in a similar way to Palutena - shorthopping near and around their opponent - trying to pre-empt their Nair with your own can work out well.
- Luckily, despite Byleth clearly taking some pages from Palutena's playbook, Palutena has the tools to work around their very solid aerial game:
- Byleth can be deceptively tough to edgeguard - their up special tethers to the ledge from very far away, allowing them to mix up their recovery, and because it's a tether it will be virtually impossible to Dtilt at the ledge. If Byleth is forced to recover from directly below the ledge a falling Nair will likely hit and reset the edgeguard, but other than that it may be best to stay onstage and take advantage of Byleth's poor movment by focusing on ledgetrapping.
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Palutena