Petey Piranha

General Overview
Petey Piranha. He's a pretty obscure character, originally debuting in Super Mario Sunshine as a boss. In a way he was also intended to be the final "boss" in MSC. He is the last captain you unlock and he is the champion of the Striker Cup in offline mode. Perhaps since he is the last unlocked he was supposed to be the strongest character. Although not the best, he is certainly one of the strongest.

Techniques and Abilities
Petey is a defensive-power character. He is tied for having the most devastating hit in the entire game with Monty Mole, yet his hit is arguably better since it is available in the captain zone. His hit range is outclassed by no one, and he is so wide that he rarely misses. This is extremely strong when starting on defense because it forces other power captains to pass off the start AND it extremely limits what start-offs tricksters can do when they have a massive plant ready to send them flying the moment they try to go down field. His offense is just as great as his defense. Petey can reliably score off item shots from almost anywhere on the field. Be wary though as his hit is extremely low to the ground. This often results in the ball getting pushed in the opposite direction after he hits someone. His low hit is frail in comparison to the likes of Bowser when hitting enemies that are mid-air. Naturally Petey's amazing defense allows him to create huge pressure on the opponent thanks to his captain position.

 Petey has the ability to get white charge off a red ball using a wall almost instantly. By directly facing a wall and simply spamming the Z button Petey can repeatedly chip the ball all off the wall and instantly regain possesion. This technique will successfully result in a fully charged ball after only two chips off the wall. Unfortunately this technique is not as great as it sounds. It is often very easy for the defense to stop you from getting an item off of the shot. Sure you can spam out a white shot relatively fast, but the reality is that you can get charge on the ball more efficiently with Boos and then pass up for an item shot. This technique should only be used as a mind game, or after you have used an item with Petey and you need charge on the ball.

Petey also has a good deke that always seems to last a just a little longer than expected. Petey wiggles his head back and forth repelling any steals or tackles. It is pretty standard and if used properly will result in many item shots. Like most power-defensive dekes it usually ends up in being a mind game between you and your opponent.

Unfortunately Petey is unable to wall cancel like other captains can. Usually if you slide into the ball when it is next to the wall your slide animation will be canceled as soon as you make contact with the wall. This is helpful for charging the ball and getting off quick shots but Petey's slide will not cancel. Upon sliding into the wall he will simply sit there for a moment while stuck for the duration of the full slide animation even though he is not moving. This can be a liability because Petey will be susceptible to tackles if you attempt a wall cancel with him.

Special
Mud-Slinger. This is one of the best specials in the game hands down. Petey is given a limited supply of mud with which he can spit at opponents to knock them back. Once spat the mud will remain on the field and will slow down EVERYTHING on it other than Kritter and Petey. The mud makes characters items AND the ball move ridiculously slow on it. This means that Petey can use the mud to knock down opponents and then charge up a free item shot as defenders struggle through the mud. If, however, you would prefer a free goal instead of an item shot, that too is possible. Petey's mud is similar to Waluigi's wall in that it affects chips when used with it. Petey's mud when combined with a chip at the same time will result in a chip that barely moves at all. This allows Petey to make extremely tight clam goals. When combined with the projectile mud, this move is extremely easy to get off especially as a start off. The mud has a few more interesting properties that should be noted. If Petey should choose to pass the ball, he can combine the pass with a bit of mud at the same time and the pass will then be full speed instead of his normally slow passes. This is almost useless since in most cases when your special is activated you want Petey to have the ball. In the mud characters other than Petey that are receiving passes and air passes will have a tendency to miss them completely, so be cautious of that. While Mud-Slinger allows for great offense, it can also be used as a defensive tool. In most cases you will want to be scoring a goal off this special, however if your opponent has 6 goals and they are on a start-off it might be wise to spam the mud to prevent any quick goal that might cost you the game.

Setups
Petey works well with a lot of teams but there are a few sets that he can really make good use of. 2 Boo and a Hammer Bro on offense is something not a lot of teams can utilize well because of what Hammer Bro lacks in Defense. Petey's great hit allows him to use Hammer Bro without creating too many holes in his defense. Avoid using Hammer Bro as a nerfed Birdo or Mole. Play to his strengths and he will be a great teammate for Petey. For the same reasons Petey is also a slightly better 3 boo candidate than other power-defensive characters since he can patch up the defense quite nicely, but he will not be able to abuse them as well on offense. Birdo and Mole both work great as an offensive teammate because they can seriously add to an already great defense while increasing his offense through item shots and back-slides. DryBones can function much in the same way as an offensive teammate by increasing the pressure on the other team. The amount of turnovers with the DryBones hybrid can be game changing and it makes for a viable team.

Counters
Petey users often say that a circle oriented trickster offense is the most frustrating thing to play against with Petey. The nature of Petey is an aggressive play-style filled with lots of devastating hits. And nothing is more infuriating than watching your opponent dance around you while you helplessly flail the Wii-mote up and down. As always think twice about letting Petey get off an item shot as his ratios are generally pretty good. But keep in mind that Petey often tends to be a hit spam captain. Take advantage of this and use your items extremely well against him. If your opponent wants to hit you the whole game then simply take the items and score goals off of it. Do not let yourself get locked into two items or else you will get hit spammed even harder. Keep using items effectively so that when you get hit you can always have a space open for an item. If you know that your opponent is going to attempt a chip goal with the mud, simply stay far back in the goal and come out for the block once the ball is chipped. Bombs and bananas are the only effective items to stopping Petey in the mud. Make sure to stay out of range of the mud while you are preparing to intercept the chip or hit Petey.