How do I punish Incenaroar's "Alolan Whip" (side-special)?

Question

Incineroar's side special always throws me off my game. With ranged moves like that, I'm used to shielding and punishing, which obviously doesn't work with this move because it's a command grab. I am aware that spot dodging will work, but I'm having trouble getting the timing right. It's also not enough for me to just avoid the attack, I need to be able to punish it to deter the player from using it over and over again (I had a match with a friend who ONLY used that move and it was the most annoying thing ever lol).

I don't really have a true main, but three characters I use a bunch are King K. Rool (closest thing i have to a main), Sephiroth, and Terry.

Any help is appreciated. =)

Answer 1

Why it's painful

Alolan Whip (AW) will be your worst nightmare if you're a player who loves...

• Shielding (to punish with grab, aerials out of shield, etc.)
  • AW is a command grab, so it'll get you through your shield, as I'm sure you've found.
• Spot dodging
  • This is actually not a good or reliable option--regardless of your timing.
  • Dodges stale, so depending on how much you've been dodging and how big your character is, it may be impossible to spot dodge AW.

What are the weaknesses?

Incineroar's biggest weakness is his approach. He has very slow walk/run/air speed and no grounded attacks that come out quickly. The only option he has to make approaching easier is AW.

But even AW has a bunch of drawbacks. It's relatively slow and has a lot of end-lag. If it doesn't land, you'll very easily be able to punish it. Hard.

So what should you do?

It sounds like when your opponent approaches you, your instinct is to turtle up in your shield. Break this habit! It can be great for certain matchups, but especially against Inceroar, this is your worst possible option.

Instead, work to build some other options into your neutral game. That could be things like...

• Dashing in and back out to bait options like AW.
• Short hopping when the opponent approaches to punish.
  • If you find AW is still catching you when you do this, throw a quick aerial out when you short hop. For all the characters you play, that can be nair, which'll stuff the AW out (AW--because it's a grab--has very low priority)
• Full hopping over when the opponent approaches to gain stage control and reset neutral.

Alternatively, you could change your play style entirely. Instead of turtling up, you could...

• Play aggressively (playing a rushdown character here will help, but you can still play rushdown style with Terry).
  • Be the one to initiate in interactions. AW is very difficult to use from a defensive position
• Play a zoning game (playing a zoner will help)
  • All three of the characters you play have decent projectiles. Use them! Incineroar in particular will have trouble getting in if you wall him out.

TL;DR/Conclusion

Incineroar is very slow, so playing passive is the worst thing you can do. Be more active! Try other options like dashing around, jumping or changing your playstyle to put some pressure back on the Incineroar player.

While AW feels impossible to counter, this is only a result of the turtle playstyle you're using. Work on incorporating some new options into your gameplay!

Answer 2

There are a handful of factors to consider here.

1. Your character choices. King K. Rool is a humongous character. Sephiroth is also relatively large. I can't say for sure, but spot dodging may simply not be enough; it's entirely possible that Incineroar's Side-B hitbox will still be active by the time that K. Rool's hurtbox returns from a spot dodge input. Rolling towards the attack might be a better option.

2. Consider that Incineroar's Side-B is purely horizontal. You can easily punish a spammy player by jumping and using some sort of aerial attack. Depending on the character and your positioning, forward air, down air, or back air would be ideal. For your character choices, I don't believe Terry is the best aerial fighter, but K. Rool and Sephiroth have insanely huge hitboxes in the air, so you should be able to punish repeated Alolan Whip inputs.

3. Consider that Incineroar is criminally slow. His run, certain moves, and Side-B, are just peanut butter slow. None of your character choices are particularly quick, but perhaps a faster character would outmaneuver Incineroar.