Grab Game

King K. Rool’s grab game is particularly strong, with every single grab and throw having some kind of use in his kit. With all the grab tech in this game (eg. Roll Cancelled Boost Grab, Instant Pivot Grab w/Extended Dash, Dash Attack Cancelled Dash Grab, etc) this makes him extremely flexible. In addition, having 3 active frames on all his grabs means he is exceedingly good at getting those grabs.

Standing Grab is about average, but the active frames give it some versatility. Running, canceling dash, then shieldgrabbing is substantially less committal than going for dash grab, and since there's more range, it can be seen as a fair option. Dashwalk -> Grab is also viable.

K. Rool’s Dash Grab is actually really good despite the range, and it's mainly because of the gigantic lunge he does beforehand. 3 active frames, with Captain Falcon’s little boost start. You can Dash Grab at the end of an initial dash and still get this due to it just being on the move itself. If you use this with Dash Attack Cancelled Dash Grab - grabbing within 3 frames of using DA - K. Rool goes extremely far, almost an entire Battlefield platform in length. This gives K. Rool a massive unreactable burst range.

Pivot Grab is bonkers: insane range and the active frames make it debatably good for ledgetrapping with. If you can make use of Instant Pivot Grab (Grab w/C-Stick) then you should have no issues using this at all. K. Rool’s Pivot Grab has long range for an Ult Grab, and it’s very good at catching landings or burst options due to this. By abusing Instant Pivot Grab (C-Stick + Grab, it’s a little weird), K. Rool should be very easily getting opponents into a grabbed state. Given he has Grab confirms in Kannonballs, Crown, and Pre-Tumble FAir and DAir, you should have little issue grabbing someone in general regardless.

General Information

FThrow is a multi-purpose throw, serving as a combo throw at Low%s and a formidable advantage setter afterwards. Due to this, FThrow is considered to be one of your primary throws from low to mid %s. It also hurts surrounding opponents, giving it Doubles utility. There are many options with this throw, nothing much wrong with it. However there isn’t a hitbox visualised as it uses opponent’s hurtboxes as the hitbox.

FThrow is generally a good throw as a "get off me" move as well, resetting neutral and allowing for some extra spacing and stall gameplay. This greatly plays into K. Rool’s favor and should be kept in mind. This move works great alongside Back Throw in this regard, forcing the opponent to predict or react.

As a Combo Throw

A great throw combo to open up with as it combos into Dash Attack at 0% to deal ~25% (~30% in 1v1) right out of the gate for immediate advantage against the opponent. This is a very strong option, especially because people usually try to read the crown. We have ranges for all of this here. You will need to practice buffering dash out of FThrow to do this properly. Some players have claimed that you can DI FThrow iDA, this is false. FThrow deals non-tumble hitstun at 0%, which cannot be DI'd or SDI'd, making training mode an accurate representation of how it works. Ergo, this isn't a case of it not working...you're just not buffering dash correctly.

You can also buffer dash and go into Jab if you know what you're doing, which, while dealing less damage, often gives a much better situation thereafter. Japanese players do this very often with success. This is a lot harder to do, but worth trying out for unstaling moves and the like.

FThrow for Situations

You can do a lot with FThrow outside of these basic scenarios, however. Tomahawking after a slight dash creates a formidable situation for the opponent, and usually leads to them going into a panic option. This even works if they don’t miss the tech or jump, allowing for a good degree of flexibility. Somo does this very well here. If you play your cards right, you can get a hefty punish out of this.

At around 15%-40%. FThrow leads into a very scary tech situation. Crownerang is useful with it as the hitfreeze is just enough to force knee-jerk reactions, which will usually be poor and of little thought. However, you can tech chase with DAir and potentially even land a DAir Lock as they miss a tech. As a result, this 50/50 plays into K. Rool’s playstyle quite well.

There is a hell of a lot of setplay with FThrow, and I encourage you all to have a look into it.

FThrow BAir

This can also link into an Attack Cancelled BAir spike at 20%, and is in fact true. Here’s an example. It requires the input technique of a GOD, but it can work and close out stocks very early. If you can pull this off consistently then your win ratio will be flying up. Onua and KirbyKid do this a lot.

FThrow into BAir, even without the Attack Cancel, is still a thing; however, it’s just not completely true. It’s mostly a frame trap used to encourage air dodges, and is very good for closing out stocks early. You see, many opponents jump out of knockback from this throw without considering that this exists. It also works against attempts to counter with aerials, thus making airdodge their only option to stop this. This frame trap works from around 20% - 90%, although it can be a larger range. It’s most effective on characters with large hurtboxes, such as Ridley, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Rosalina, and Mewtwo. However, it can even work on characters like Snake.

General Information

BThrow is your “kill” throw. With rage it kills super early thanks to the 8.0.0 Patch, as the angle was changed into a brutal 35 degrees. Use it in disadvantage if you get the chance. BThrow will kill at around 115% on average, possibly earlier, and the angle is enough to the point that characters with poor recoveries just can't do anything. With rage, this move is just ridiculous.

The move can be used as an alternative to FThrow when aiming to space and build up damage, as it does deal more overall and can set up platform tech situations. Thus, this move can be something you use at Low %s after you’ve done FThrow -> iDA. Follow up with a jump into Crownerang and you have a generally good situation to work with. Outside of this however, BThrow kinda sucks.

General Information

The most damaging UThrow in the game, but with low knockback. It’s a very, very strong attack, used for damage building at Low%s until DThrow Jab starts becoming relevant. It doesn’t combo (-1 on hit at 0), but it’s extremely powerful.

PSA: Please stop using UThrow for killing

A common theory among the K. Rool playerbase is that UThrow is a good kill option. I am here to tell you that outside of extremely niche scenarios, this is not the case. In fact, you’re often resetting neutral and throwing away the game for doing so. This issue is so prevalent that I am dedicating an entire section in this moveset section for it. Please, just...listen here.

So for starters, UThrow kills at an average of 190.946988% on a Battlefield Stage Base. To make matters worse, DThrow UTilt kills earlier on platforms than UThrow itself. By using UThrow in these scenarios, you’re just making yourself worse off. In the scenario you want to carry someone to a top platform with UThrow, it kills at an average of 153.9501075%. DThrow USmash and DThrow UTilt both kill at this % if the opponent doesn’t DI correctly, although it can be worse if they DI down and away. Hell, iDA can kill off the side. You are literally setting yourself up to fail here. Though, you can hail mary your UAir and probably kill at a low %. Use it for that or something.

So not only is UThrow stage-specific, it literally just does not work for killing in a general sense. We simply have better options.

Now this isn’t to say you cannot use UThrow for killing. Here are some scenarios where it is definitely favorable:

• Against light characters such as Pichu, UThrow does become a decent option, killing at around 130% on a top platform.

• DI mixup with DThrow UTilt, but it can be telegraphed and reacted to fairly easily.

• UTilt and iDA are staled

• Pokemon Stadium 2 has a notoriously low ceiling which makes UThrow a legitimate threat

UThrow Frame Traps

There are three follow-ups you can do out of this, all of which rely on the opponent being reasonably stupid. This is mostly something to fight bad landing options. UTilt is by far the best follow-up for consistency as it catches a surprising amount of opponents while still being quite safe if it whiffs. It can lead into Forward Aerial after as well which is very nice, as the angle is, once again, stupid. Up Aerial can be done after to potentially juggle, but the way the knockback works is weird in this scenario. A second UTilt is possible.

It can go into UAir if the opponent attempts to challenge, which ends with some very nice damage. It can also juggle if there are platforms close by, and even kill if around 3 are landed. This sequence helps with move staling as well, helping out quite nicely.

Yes, UThrow can also lead into Propellerpack for a free stock if you have no faith in your opponent at all. Typically this is unreliable against good opponents, as it can be DI’d. It can't be SDI'd due to not having hitlag. It’s good off the top platform of BF, however.

General Information

DThrow is a very large topic with K. Rool, mainly due to how much mileage he gets off of it. Due to this, we have a lot to talk about. There is a monumental amount of setplay involved with DThrow that you must understand and exploit.

DThrow’s Buried States VS Generic Buried States

Unlike your usual buried state, K. Rool’s DThrow is not actually one of them. I call this the “Piledriver Buried State”, after the name of DThrow in-game.

Bury Throws have their own equations for Mash Frames, removing variables such as Rage and Stock Difference from the pool. As a result, DThrow is consistent with its mash frames. This is also important to differentiate it from DTilt, which is affected by these variables. I have the advantages here, should you need them.

Bury Throws also give characters different heights to your normal bury, due to the different animation. For example, Bowser is hit by u.FSmash out of DTilt but not DThrow. We have data on this for FTilt and FSmash.

Mashing: How to read it, and what to do with it

DThrow’s viability can go from absolutely broken to difficult to deal with depending on you and your opponent. The biggest part of this is mashing and you.

Button Mashing is overall slower than directional mashing, depleting mash frames by 14.4 every other frame rather than 8 every frame. If you see a button masher, expect to get kills more consistently. Upon popout, opponents suffer 12 frames of hitfreeze.

There are 3 different methods of seeing someone’s mashing;

• DThrow is absolutely blessed in that it can tell you whether the opponent is mashing before they get chucked into the ground. This shows through white sparks coming from the opponent; this is a generic mechanic you can also see during grabs and such.

• Once an opponent is buried and they’re about to come out, more dirt is flung out than usual and it occasionally flashes yellow. The latter only happens if they’re not mashing perfectly however.

• You can, of course, hear or look at someone’s controller in bracket. Looking is often frowned upon, though. It really depends on you for that aspect. Personally I’d say go for it: you’re playing a sub-par character, you need everything you can get.

It’s important to note that very few opponents will have TAS mashing, even less those who can buffer airdodge frame perfectly. Due to this, many untrue combos become true out of DThrow. There is simply no human who can react faster than 14 frames. This gives you a ton of leverage.

Next up, you need to know the counterplay. This changes your combo game, kill confirms and also generates 50/50s. Let’s get into it.

DThrow as a Combo Throw

DThrow as a combo throw is very debatable. However, to say it isn’t one is a misunderstanding. It just depends on your opponent. To clarify, DThrow has no true combos with TAS Mashing and buffered airdodge until around 140%. However, against a human, you definitely have stuff.

My usual way of seeing if DThrow is gonna be good is by seeing if DThrow Jab works at 50%. If it doesn’t, UAir will be my move at that %. This isn’t necessarily a 50/50 due to it being reacted to, it’s more like a DI-dependent combo if anything. You never lose.

DThrow Jab is important as a combo due to the situations it provides afterwards. It’s usually a free ledgetrap situation. From around 75%, go for it when possible for the damage and situation. It’ll also make the opponent mash more which can - while it sounds silly - tire their hands out.

DThrow UAir generally just deals a lot of damage, but the situation isn’t the greatest due to the lag. It's best used if there’s a platform to help you cancel it; BF side plats and PS2 plats are particularly nice.

Jab and UAir are very valid combos with good situations and such, but there are alternatives.

• UTilt can work, but deals less damage than UThrow and DThrow Jab. Situation is debatably worse.

• iDA deals the highest damage. It’s what, a 25% combo? However, it tends to miss. If Jab hits at 50% however, it’ll work.

• FAir on mashout gets the opponent off-stage or attains advantage. However, it deals less than UAir.

DThrow as a 50/50 Enabler

DThrow is an extremely strong 50/50 enabler. I have no idea why some K. Rool’s don’t use these, as they are very strong.

DThrow -> USmash or UAir / l.FSmash

This is the most common 50/50, and a centerpiece in K. Rool’s stock-taking. This works from 90% on the average human, although it occasionally gets forced to be done at 110%. This is, luckily a difference of a single UThrow.

The idea here is to dash in and USmash someone as they pop out as a massive mash deterrent. USmash kills at 90%, thus why we encourage using it at that %. We have Kill%s for DThrow USmash here.

Some characters require you to dash in and USmash. To do this, I suggest practicing a QCU (Quarter Circle Up) input and doing a manual USmash input with it, as if you were playing a traditional fighter. This also generally waits out the mash frames for you. We have a document on characters you are required to dash for here.

An issue with this setup is hurtboxes. Characters like Joker have extremely small hurtboxes that make it very difficult to USmash reliably. Thus, in some MUs, this confirm really gets hampered. However, it is rarely an issue unless your opponent is a legitimate god masher.

Some counterplay to the hurtbox issue exists, with the most common being...just use UAir. It kills at around the same %, and has similar frame data. Thus, if you are faced with a good masher with a small hurtbox, UAir has you covered. Very useful, don’t skip out on it for no reason.

DThrow -> a.DTilt / s.DTilt -> Sweet FTilt or s.DTilt -> DAir

Far lesser known, but still a strong confirm in its own right. This one is easier to counter with good mashing, but an average masher tends to have issues with this confirm.

This is best done near or at the ledge. If your opponent mashes, a.DTilt hits them and kills at ~120%. If they don’t at around 90%, DTilt’s bury hitbox is stored and becomes a Sweetspot FTilt confirm.

If you’re right at the edge, this confirms a DAir spike every time. BAir can be done but is less likely to hit, and thus isn’t the best option to go for.

Generally this is worse than DThrow USmash due to fast mashing ruining it, but it can kill earlier on characters at the edge. Go for it in Game 1 as a knowledge check, and if it works keep going for it. Remember, we take those.

DThrow as a Kill Confirm Enabler

DThrow has a number of “confirms”, and while they’re technically not true, they’re true on human players. Some opponents can mash out at 130%, so make sure you evaluate this and act accordingly. If they’re mashing out, use the DThrow USmash 50/50.

• UTilt - The most consistent due to being F5, kills at ~120% at the edge and ~150% midstage.

• iDA - Better UTilt, essentially, killing at around 110% at the edge.

Overall, DThrow is one of the most difficult moves to get your head around, but once you do it’s there for life.