Tried Naruto for the first time whilst looking for a new main/secondary..... dude's a monster!
Great setups, speed and aerial d-spec is WHEEEW!!!!

Need some help with fox. This could possibly be Naruto's worst match up due to shine and aerial priority. I usually just try to stay grounded and space my tilts but the moment i pop shield things go south. Not sure how to beat him in the neutral game either cause he's simply too fast for clones. Your aerial lack range and will get beaten by his which hinders our approach options. Not to mention the shine on clone mines.

Naruto has tools to fight Fox. They're just hard to use.

Let's simplify the matchup a bit: Most Foxes pressure with dash SH nair. What tools does Naruto have to beat dash SH nair?

Two things I know can work are 1) utilt and 2) retreating bair. I know these can work because I've pulled them off online. However, these ideas work only if you read both the Fox's intended timing and position. If you just throw out randy utilts and retreating bairs you're gonna get naired anyway.

The difficultly you have here is not necessarily that Fox outranges Naruto but that his pressure tools are difficult (impossible?) to beat on reaction. You have to win with reads and by having a plan to make something of your reads. Theorycraft and outright practice are essential here.

There's certainly a lot more of the neutral game in this matchup I haven't explained (or explored ), but thinking like this is how you would develop the matchup to a playable level.

Some advice on Naruto v Fox:

You don't need to approach: charging Rasengan should give plenty of incentive for Fox to come at you, and your projectiles can harass Fox until he approaches. Therefore, you should approach the neutral game from a defensive standpoint: what will Fox do to approach, and how can you beat it? SH aerials are obviously bread and butter for Fox, so an important question is how to beat that. Clone mines are really important in this matchup for this reason: unless they time it perfectly, Fox can't SH over clone mines without getting hit by you or the mine. This should be a priority: get a mine in front of you to control space.

However, you can't always have a mine in front of you, and Fox has other approaches. What should you do against, say, FH aerials, or FH -> JC shine -> FF aerial? Firstly, your down and side specials are really useful at beating aerial approaches, and dspec can stop approaches from far away when timed and when you use the forward option. Side special can also combo into goodies for you, so keep that in mind.

What should you do in the event that Fox gets in? SH nair/bair/uair are better than you think, but stay away from the others, because Fox is too fast to use laggy moves against. Utilt can juggle for a solid 40% if you read DI. Tech chasing is hard in this matchup because Fox can Shine on getup and requires very good reads and reaction to do, but if you feel like it, go for dthrow tech chases. Offstage, you should throw clones to recover, and you should try to intercept his recovery with fair, bair, clone -> something, or down special.


That's all I've got to say on it. Hope it helps!

Fox can shine clone mines to make them his own. If it's feasible for Foxes to pull that off in match, this idea may be risky for Naruto. Dropping mines as part of a combo might be a good way to set them up safely and with less risk of them being shined.

Anyway, what if Fox just lasers you while you charge n-specs? This gives him free damage, and he can easily PS or shine your full n-spec. I feel like in ideal play, trying to sit back and charge n-specs against Foxes loses to laser spam. (That being said, what SSF2 Fox would actually try anti-camping you?)*

I think Fox's weak nair > Naruto's s-spec and d-spec, so this might not work out so well. Strong nair certainly beats Naruto's clone spam.

^{*I keep forgetting how good Naruto is with a full n-spec. Many players will want to rush you down to prevent the threat.}

Try hit and run tactics using rolling and d-special in the air to give your self some room if you can charge a rasenshuriken and get in close Fox will be stunned stopping the reflector. A well timed Rasengan can stop the fox illusion like it can stop flowmotion and engetsuzan.

did they change the priority in his down tilt? it can clank with even jabs now.

That startup hitbox on shuriken will forever remain bull s***

Can the clone please not stun like that on shield i mean jesus.

Thats free get away for naruto :/ He can hit your shield, jump off with up b and then start setting up again. His moveset is already too annoying as is.

you can actually perfect shield the mine and it's stun properties will belong to you, kinda similar to picking up Diddy's Bananas.

Thats not really related though. This isnt a solution to the problem. Dude can smack your shield and up b off.
Naruto is a little rediculous right now honestly. The keep away is SOOOO real.

If you predict the clone you can dodge it and destroy it with a projectile. Ironically Naruto's side special is one of the better moves to take it out.

Most characters don't have projectiles that are useful for this sort of thing, Naruto ironically being one of them as you pointed out. Of the characters with projectiles, which excludes a lot of the cast, only a couple have a relatively low-risk way to use it to hit the ground, which excludes some other characters.

Who has good matchups with naruto anyways. This isnt a salt thing im just curious

Im assuming fox has advantage (shinespam>clones)

So yeah heres an idea.

You know that cooldown mechanic for his airial down b?
Why not use that for all of his specials? Should eliminate the whole spammy scrub naruto thing without nerfing him into oblivion. His clone use would be more dynamic instead of straight up campy like he is now.