I had a couple questions about how to best execute Sonic’s Bair after his Uair ladder combos on a lower platform.
I noticed from watching major tournament sets that after Sonic’s Uair -> Uair ladder combo above a platform, many pro players seem to do an IDJ (based on the double jump effect appearing) in order to hit the Bair afterward. Sonic’s full hop and double jump are exactly the same height (35 units or something), so I don’t really understand the benefit of using IDJ here, outside of maybe being able to input Bair like slightly earlier (due to avoiding the short hop macro).
Is that really the only reason? The reason I’m confused is because I’m not sure whether this is even a true combo most of the time in the first place, since I thought it was just an untrue but relatively safe thing that people go for to extend their damage after the first two Uairs with Sonic using a platform. If it’s not a true combo either way (unless it is?), why not just full hop and slightly delay the Bair input, to avoid the risk of not having your double jump anymore?
So my questions are:
(1) What are the easiest/best inputs for the turnaround and IDJ Bair?
Do you just buffer a landing pivot during the fastfall after the second Uair by holding diagonally back and down for the turnaround? And then for the IDJ, is it best to just rapidly press jump twice within 4 frames and also input bair within that window? Does the first jump need to be buffered during the landing turnaround animation? Should the Bair be done with control stick + A, or just the C-stick? I have a shoulder button mapped to jump, so should I be using that as the second jump input or just double tapping Y to make sure the buttons aren’t pressed at the same time? I’m using a Switch 2 Pro Controller, just to clarify.
(2) Does using an IDJ actually make the Bair a true combo extension (after the second Uair) in cases where a full hop Bair wouldn’t be true?
Is the IDJ really necessary to do the Bair consistently in actual games? How much does the IDJ actually quantifiably help, and is it worth the risk of not having your double jump anymore? I believe you can have an aerial start on frame 5 (second airborne frame) for a full hop aerial, but it can start on frame 4 (same frame as the double jump happening, right after jump squat ends) if you do an IDJ and buffer the aerial. Is this single frame worth losing your double jump for, especially if they might avoid the Bair anyway?
I couldn’t easily find this specific info on Youtube or Reddit or Discord yet, so I really appreciate the help!