Bowser vs Sonic JMU Archive

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JMU Bowser vs Sonic
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Notes from Discussion
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From Cronoc:
"seeing some misconceptions about what beats spin dash. every grounded move that can realistically be thrown out will clank with it, and sonic has faster attack options out of the clank - his jab and ftilt will come out faster than anything (you could argue fortress will beat ftilt, but not jab... there's no real gain in taking that 50:50) we have
best thing to do after a clank is hold shield and hope the sonic player reacts to the clank by throwing the full jab 1-2-3, after which you can punish
ftilt similarly
otherwise it's just a reset
unless the sonic isn't pressing buttons because the clank caught him by surprise - then you could fit in a jab"

From C2F | Rucent:
RE Neutral: "Time for me to join the fray!

So, in terms of Neutral, Sonic's goal is going to be to whiff punish Bowser or out frame him. He will want to position himself just outside of Bowser's burst attack range, where he can react with shield, grab, or spins. He will be paying attention to landings, what Bowser likes to use (to punish it), along with what Bowser likes to do after whiff.

Bowser's goal I would say is to play reactionary, and commit only when he knows when, where, and how Sonic is going to close in.

The key thing for Bowser to know here is that Sonic has mediocre approach options. Spin Dash and Spin Charge end the neutral sequence which Bowser can shield and pivot grab. Aerial approaches for the most part are over extensions in neutral that Bowser can punish with Whirling Fortress OoS. Same with whiffed grabs, particularly pivot grabs or perfect shielded smashes. If Bowser has the center stage, he can figure out patterns in which the Sonic is more likely to run right past him, and intercept that too. He could corner himself however if he wants to lower the probably of Sonic wanted to run past him though, the main nerf to that though is that Bowser is now cornered, which Sonic would want to punish rolls and also evade any aggressive option.

How you move as Bowser is important, and Sonic's will try to deduce when they "have the advantage to move around" based on your movement and positioning.

To clairify this idea better, if you're more inclined to short hop during neutral Sonic is more inclined to rush in and get behind you during this sequence. Mixing this up with aerials can be a great idea in theory, but if Sonic realizes their distance away from the Bowser, they can easily predict it.  Because of this, short hopping less may be a good idea, as it is staying grounded in general vs Sonic.
Bowser has moves like his Flamethrower or some of his tilts to wall Sonic out, but for the latter he has to be careful about run in perfect shields, which Sonic can get good grabs out of. Bowser could mix up his timings with Pivot tilts or using Down Tilt, but I would guess in these situations pivot grab is much better.

This goes back to what I want to say in the end about this match up. You have to realize how you condition yourself in the match up, and make callouts whether or not Sonic is going to do the thing he sees you doing because of it."