Introduction
Highly mobile and incredibly acrobatic, Decidueye is a powerful all-arounder that has tools for every situation. Boasting one of the best walk speeds in the game, combined with his unique soaring stance and divekick, Decidueye boasts some of the best mobility in the game. Paired with an incredible zoning game, Decidueye can snipe at and pester his opponent at a distance with an array of projectiles whilst punishing careless approach attempts with his powerful whiff punishers and gap closers, forcing your opponent to stay on their toes no matter where they are. If you thought that this ethereal archer would be hapless up close though, you’d be off the mark. Decidueye boasts incredible pokes up close and a myriad of mix-ups, tick throws and frametraps. To supplement his strong offense, Decidueye also boasts a plethora of okizeme options that keep your opponent guessing while remaining incredibly safe. To make matters worse for your opponent, being cornered against Decidueye leaves one vulnerable to getting wallsplatted by him, where Decidueye is infamous for being able to dish out stylish and incredibly damaging combos.
That’s not to say our favourite avian sharpshooter is without peer though. Despite his many strengths, Decidueye tends to be a little lacking in the damage department outside of his major combo starters and outside the corner. Owl’s big damage combos also tends to be gated behind more complex combos and often character specific juggles, meaning it may take some time labbing the character to understand how his juggles work and the various timings for each character. Lastly, certain characters with strong antiairs can often shut down a lot of Decidueye’s offensive pressure and force him to play a more honest grounded game. Thankfully, our feathered friend has more than enough strengths to make up for these paltry shortcomings, making these more minor annoyances than actually debilitating weaknesses.
Commonly agreed on as one of the stronger characters in the game, Decidueye has a modest skill floor with an incredibly high skill ceiling. If you’re looking for a strong character with tools for every situation, the Deciduous Deadeye Decidueye is the character for you.
Pressing R in the air or after certain attacks causes Decidueye to float above the ground in a state known as Soaring Stance. Transitioning into and out of this state enables tricky movement, as pressing a direction and R in the air will cause Decidueye to twirl a short distance in that direction before entering Soaring Stance (j.R enters Soaring Stance on Frame 11, j.6/sR does so on Frame 17, and j.4R does so on Frame 21). Additionally, while pressing R can transition Decidueye out of Soaring Stance, tapping forward and R transitions out with a short flip that can cross up the opponent, and tapping back does so with a disappearing fade back which has 1-23F Strike/Throw/Projectile invuln (SS R is Air Actionable on Frame 13, while other methods of transitioning out with R are Air Actionable on Frame 15).
Decidueye's Soaring Stance moves are the cornerstone of his gameplay. Soaring Stance Y and X form the basis of an incredibly deep combo game, and pressing A while in Soaring Stance performs Acrobatics, a diving command grab which allows Decidueye to layer on powerful mixups.