SSBU/Sora/Setplay

Sora

Overview

Combos

Setplay

Tech

Strategy/Counterstrategy

Matchups

Resources

Discord

Unlike combos, setplay is when the opponent does have options to respond to Sora's options, just in a disadvantagous state. This could be seen as "advantage" state, but is slightly different since advantage state includes combos. This page is just that, advantage without combos.

String setups

Blizzaga setups

There are a myriad of options when the opponent gets frozen by Blizzaga. Factors include opponents percent, character (in terms of options) and what preference the player has after getting thawed out.

The speed on being thawed out depends mashing, but also on how many hits the opponent takes. Sora can influence this timing by landing non committal aerials on the frozen opponent.
Sora can opt to do simple damage with aerials and then do U-tilt to have a high chance of sending the opponent in tumble due to multihits.
The main kill option is getting a timing read with U-Smash. U-Smash can hit twice, with its scoop hitbox, and since the frozen opponent gets thawed out more quickly with with successive hits, then it is a feasible option at times.
A less common option is to wait out the opponent or use low committal options to wait out the opponent after getting thawed out. Some players like to input a hitbox as soon as they are thawed out to get a reversal. Baiting out this reversal is one effective form of counterplay. Some of these reversals are done because they are unaffected by the aerials ability to create hitstun. In other words, it gives the opponent a window to to counter attack when Sora is mid swing for his N-Airs and F-Airs

On stage Set-ups

Side-B is solid when the opponent is at middle to high percents. Hitting this while the opponent has imperfect DI will allow Sora to pull some powerful mixups. If they miss the tech on a platform, Sora can confirm into U-Air or U-Smash depending on matchup and stage. This heavily depends on DI, and if they expect this (with proper DI) they can often counter attack due to the amount of endlag you are in. This depends on Rage and opponent percent, as well as whether Sora gets late or early hit of Side-B. Stops being a setup at very high percent (150%).
Similar to Side-B, D-Throw can setup a good situation on platforms. If they do not tech, you can get a N-Air combo starter, or a kill confirm with DJ > U-Air > Up-B. This setup is less common if the opponent is aware of Sora's mixup options and has proper DI, but it is still a mixup option against some matchups. Unlike the Side-B setup, D-Throw works even if they tech on the platform because of its lower endlag. At high percent, this will stop being a setup.
While d-throw still has sufficient frame advantage and angle for a FH U-Air, the player can choose to instead choose to go for a read on the opponents airdodge with a falling N-Air. What comes next is upto Sora.
While extremely unlikely, it has been shown that the final hit of the final frame of Thundaga can confirm into a confirm. This is only possible with drifting in. Unless Sora is getting hit for it, it is still good for setting up a frame advantage since it is positive on block.

Edgeguard

Because of his recovery capabilities, Sora excels at Edgeguarding. His Aerials all have general hitboxes and are good from stopping the opponent from getting back onto the stage. All of Sora's aerials can be used offstage for different results. You can also use the initial hits of N-Air and F-Air and choose not to use the Finisher to force them into guessing games. Kill powerwise, B-Air is his best tool for finishing stocks, while F-Air is a close second. For overall coverage, F-Air is the way to go, while if you want to be actionable as soon as possible, then B-Air is better.

Magic is also an option for edgeguarding. All three spells suspend your air movement, allowing you to float in the air even more while sending out projectiles for the opponent to navigate around. This is limited to once per spell, after that you will fall (this also goes for shooting Firaga twice in a row). All three spells can gimp the opponent, and will matchup check the opponent if they don't know how to play around them. Firaga, again is the most flexible tool for edgeguarding. This is due to its low endlag, the way it makes Sora float in contrast to his other spells, and being open to use Firaga again. There are also ways to effectively use Firaga at certain angles when going offstage, please check the tech page for ledgeslip Firaga.

Unlike most counters, Sora's counter actually stops the opponents attack on contact and stuns them before attacking. This makes it much better at stopping moves that continue past other counters like Marth and Lucina Up-B, Banjo & Kazooie Side-B, and Ness and Lucas Up-B. The detection hitbox of counter is ALWAYS in front of Sora, he CANNOT-B Reverse this move. There is a tech to work around with this limitation in Tech tab discovered by Ferps, and if you struggle to get Down-B working against certain recoveries, then checking it out is neccessary.

The other downside is that the counter doesn't cover directly below him. However, if a hitbox hits Sora's hurtbox and the detection hitbox at the same time, the counter will still activate. The counter is also coded in a way to attack the source of the attack, so characters attacking him from behind are still not safe. They still need to be in range for the counter. Some times the counter pull the opponent in strange ways, and will barely whiff. This is mostly the case with very disjointed attacks, like Sephiroth Up-B (Octoslash version) or Mythra Side-B The counter is strong, against some recoveries it means a stock, or setups a powerful situation for Sora to exploit after. This is especially true after their doublejump is gone.

Up-B can kill opponents that are close to the Blast Zone, or high enough percent so that it doesn't matter. If you manage to connect, then you will usually get back to stage first with Side-B. See the resource tab for optimal recovery distance of Side-B

Edgeguarding without going offstage/2 framing

Sora's options for edgeguarding without going offstage are different in nature. If we start with some of the previous options:

Counter can hit certain recoveries because they hit above the ledge. There are work around for every character against this, but some have more options than others, like Sephiroth in comparison to King K. Rool.
All of Sora's magic is just as viable onstage just as offstage. It merely depends on the context of the situation.
N-Air1,2 and F-Air1,2 can hit ledge hangs, and 2 frame. These are mostly used for catching regrabs since they are quite slow on startup. The reward is crazy for landing them, since N-Air1,2 and F-Air1 confirm into F-Smash

For other grounded options there are:

Dash attack has a very long lasting active hitbox and is also disjointed, making it good for covering drift in to ledge or Air dodge to ledge. Contrary to popular belief, Dash attack is not as great for 2 framing, since the hitbox extends away from the ledge and barely hits underneath for a lackluster amount of frames. It also gives Sora a hurtbox inbetween his legs as he Dash attack, making him more susceptible to certain recoveries.
In design, it seems like D-Smash was made for the purpose of 2 framing certain recoveries. It's active for 4 frames, and will kill (unless the opponent is allowed to tech) at very early percent. This move can contest some of R.O.B.'s planking mixups due to its intangibility frames and hitbox. This move puts Sora in significant lag, and is not great against recoveries that can adjust their timings very efficiently like tether recoveries like Joker Up-B and Pit's Up-B + jump mixups. It can be effective against slow startup but more timing based recoveries like Sheik Up-B.

Ledgetrap

Sora has many different options he can rotate while Ledgetrapping to force the opponent into picking certain options. All of his aerials with the exception of D-Air is great for ledgetrapping. N-Air allows Sora to cover multiple getup options, and even cover ambigious ones. The only down side is that he is stuck in lag and does leave him open to ledge getups with significant range like Sephiroth. Magic is usually when you want an option that can frame trap the opponent at range instead of risking them counter attacking when you do an option coverage with N-Air.
If Sora can manage to get past half his startup frames of Thundaga before he opponent gets to ledgegrab, then he can get to his neutral spells quicker. This strategy is more solid in matchups where Sora cannot edgeguard his opponent, like characters with teleport recoveries.