How to Actually Play Iron Giant in Multiversus
I spent way too many hours on Iron Giant before I figured out what was actually going on with him. He's one of the heavier characters in the roster, which means you're not zoning people to death — you're in their face most of the time. The problem is that his movement options are pretty limited compared to someone like Harley Quinn or Rick and Morty, so you have to commit to approaches or you'll get punished. His neutral B fires homing missiles. They track, they deal decent chunking damage, and they can space people out a bit. The issue is that if you miss with your close-range options, landing these at long range doesn't do nearly enough to punish the whiff. I used to just spam these from across the stage and wonder why I was losing. You use them to control space, not to deal the kill. Save the real damage for when you're in melee range. His side B is a shield bash with a guard counter. This is where most people waste it. It's not a punish tool — it's a resource management tool. If an opponent tries to pressure you through your guard, you counter them. But if you're using it proactively to try to catch people off guard, you're going to get combo'd out of it because the recovery is generous. I learned this after losing three matches in a row doing exactly that against a Shaggy player.
His up B is the chaingun. It's a vertical movement option and a damage dealer. Charge it before you use it and you get significantly more knockback. The trick nobody tells you is that you can cancel the chaingun into a down special if you time it right. It's not reliable every time — maybe 60% success rate if you practice it — but when it lands you've got free access to his grounded combo starter, which opens up your whole kit.
Combos and What Actually Connects
Iron Giant's combos rely on landing his grab. His down B is a command grab that locks people down. Once you land it, you can chain into a neutral B for missile pressure, or follow up with chaingun for chip damage and launch. The full combo I use is: down B into dash dash forward A into neutral B into up B uncharged into smash aerial. It gets people off at around 55 to 60 percent depending on the character's weight class. Against lightweights it launches earlier, which means you can tech chase or hit stage edge easier. Here's something that threw me for a loop at first: Iron Giant's normal A attacks have longer start frames than they look. On paper they seem fast. In practice they whiff a lot against characters with invincible dodge frames like Superman or Wonder Woman. If you're going for a dash attack after a missed grab, you need to confirm the grab actually connected before committing. Don't assume it landed just because you pressed the button. I kept whiffing my dash cancels for weeks before I started training the confirmation in practice mode.
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Counters and Matchup Trouble
His biggest weakness is characters who can out-mobility him. Rick and Morty rick teleports past his options. Gotham City Joker pressures him so hard he can't setup his charge shots. If you're playing Iron Giant against someone with heavy gap closers, you want to play more passively and let them come to you, then punish their whiffs with the side B counter or down B grab. The grab is his most reliable anti-gap-closer tool because it has huge range and locking properties. Another thing to watch out for: Iron Giant has no true reversal on wakeup. If you get KO'd and respawn, your options are limited to chaingun for vertical escape or a standard up-smash. Neither is particularly safe. I recommend spacing yourself away from stage edges on respawn and using your missile B to control approach rather than trying to go aggressive immediately. It costs you stage control but it keeps you alive, which is the point.
Super Move Usage
The Giant Killer is his finisher. It requires full super meter. The mistake most people make is using it when they already have the kill secured with regular combos. Save it for moments when the opponent is at high percent but has a recovery option available. I use it primarily against characters who can wall jump or have distance-creating escapes — Superman, Batman, anyone with a mid-air dash. The beam has enough range that even if they try to escape horizontally you'll still catch them. Against characters with fast ground recovery like Aquaman it's less effective because they'll just roll out of it. One more practical tip that took me forever to pick up: Iron Giant's chaingun does more damage the longer you hold it, but holding it makes you an easy target. I stopped holding it for full duration and instead tap it for three-second bursts. The damage is roughly the same against most characters at mid-range, but you recover your movement faster and can reposition. Your DPS over time actually goes up because you're landing more chaotic bursts than one long slow one that gets interrupted.
