Super Smash Bros. Melee/Fox

Short Hop Blaster
If you jump, pull out your blaster, and land, the blaster is automatically put away, as opposed to the normal half-second or so delay when normally putting away the blaster. Thus, short-hopping while using your blaster is a much safer way of adding damage at a distance.

Another technique to use is Short Hop Double Laser, abbreviated SHDL. When shorthopping press b at the very first frame you may use blaster and you can fit in another laser during the jump. This tactic is used in high levels of play to rack up damage and cover area.

Shine Spike
The shine/reflector, when used in direct contact with a victim, knocks said victim away from Fox. The advantage to this is that the shine is the least laggy move in the game - it deploys in ONE FRAME! This can be abused very nicely by knocking the opponent off the stage, then jumping after them and shining them right on the top of the head, sending them down and outwards into oblivion. If you find this description confusing, consider it like a meteor smash only less powerful but easier to use, a lot trickier and a lot cooler.

Remember that you may use this tactic to gimp recoveries, but only attempt it if they are below the stage. Using it while they are above the stage only puts them down closer to the ledge, puts them in position to attack, and allows them the opportunity to gimp your recovery attempts.

Waveshining
You should first master Fox's wavedash (see advanced techniques). With that done, note that you can "cancel" a shine by wavedashing immediately after it. This can be used to shine the opponent, wavedash after him, shine him again, and repeat to your heart's desire (until they fall off the edge). It's basically a potential infinite combo, restricted only by the fact that the victim will fall off the edge. The timing is a bit tricky. Also, note that not all characters can be waveshined, as different characters react differently to being shined. Falco, for example, falls flat on his face afterwards, and is thus un-waveshinable. Link, on the other hand, gets torn apart.

Drillshining
This technique may seem a bit daunting at first, but is actually a rather easy way to rack up some good damage with Fox. It entails using the drill kick (aerial down a), L-canceling (see general techniques) and shining immediately. It can be repeated over and over if you can time it well enough, and if you get somebody up against a wall with it it's an infinite combo.

Chain Throwing
Although Fox is not the first character who comes to mind when you think chain-throwing, he can do it to Falco and other Foxes. Simply upthrow, turn around, catch, upthrow, repeat. Eventually their damage will get too high and they will recover before you can catch them. They might also be able to DI out of it. Still, pretty tricky stuff.

Star Fox Easter Egg
While playing on Corneria or Venom in vs. or training mode, very quickly, tap, sort of like short hopping with. If done in less than 2 frames or so, Fox will eventually spin around quickly and hunch over with a clenched fist. After holding this position for about 10 seconds, a conversation among the other three Star Fox members will trigger. If Fox is hit during the hunch, it will be interrupted. This can be done only once per battle, whether it is fully executed or not. This serves no purpose other than to ensue a brief laugh, surprise your friends, or insight nostalgia from SF64.

The popular belief that mashing and  is because somewhere along the line, you'll accidentally do down on the, without trying. To make this easier you can slow down the game speed in training mode, then turn the speed back to normal once Fox does the spinning animation.

Fox Illusion techniques
Stand away from your opponent and blast them with your blaster when they get too close for comfort simply illusion through them run away and start all over again. Try just continually illusioning through your opponent, very annoying. While both of these techniques are okay your foe will soon find a way to stop them so enjoy them while they last.

Cancelling illusion
Just before Fox takes off with a whoosh, press just as you hear the whoosh. Fox will either not move forward at all or just move a little.

"Fox Trot"
With some characters, including Fox, the initial dash animation is faster than actual dashing. You can move faster than usual by initiating a dash (by tapping) then waiting a second then initiating another dash. A further advantage of the fox-trot is that you can stop the dash animation instantly without any turning animation (DDing) at any point in your movement.