“Zsyncing” is a PM-exclusive mechanic discovered last year by LagMeester4000 and originally labbed by Tink-er. Due to some obscure quirk of Nana’s code, there exists a method to make her prioritize some inputs over others in a manner similar to SF4’s “plinking.” By inputting a normal move, and on the next frame inputting either a normal or special move as well as Z, Popo will perform the first move while Nana performs the second. The technique works on the ground as well as in the air, allowing for a variety of instantaneous desyncs to cover multiple options.

Now that our grab punish game is mostly “solved” with the CuckHold, exploring our neutral options and better understanding Nana’s behavior are burgeoning directions for the ICs meta. I believe that Zsyncing represents the next frontier of optimal Ice Climbers play. Z-syncs are a distinctly unSmash-like mechanic. They subvert the traditional triangle of block beating attacks and create frame data that looks completely alien to Smash games. Zsyncing is such a powerful and versatile technique that I can’t even begin to offer a comprehensive explanation of the setups it would be useful in- only offer a few common ones I’ve begun to incorporate and inspire you to come up with your own.

For the purposes of this guide, the player controlled Climber will be referred to "Popo" and the CPU controlled climber will be referred to as "Nana." Zsyncing notation is as follows- x/y Z-sync, where X refers to the move performed by Popo and Y the move performed by Nana. For example, a nair/blizzard Z-sync would have Popo nair while Nana blizzards.

Grounded Desyncs

• Jab/Ice block

Absurdly fast way to desync Climbers with an ice block. Not a difficult input but limits movement and requires some commitment from Popo. Faster frame-wise than Dashdance/pivot desyncs and doesn't require you to give up any space or commit to a dash.

• Dtilt/Blizzard

One of ICs fastest ways to put out a blizzard. Easier input than jab/blizzard but inferior frame-wise.

• Jab/Blizzard

Possibly ICs fastest method to put out a Nana blizzard with actionable Popo. Excellent way to start up a desync wall with very little commitment or space.

• Up Smash/Up Air

Nana will jump and Up Air while Popo charges an upsmash. Situationally useful for triggering a shield drop from an opponent on a platform, the possibility of being able to make one climber jump while the other remains grounded is a feat that could have large implications for ICs desync game if we can unravel the mystery of why this happens.

Grounded Grab Confirms

• Jab/Grab

Faster than a normal jab into grab but still susceptible to SDI or buffered options OoS. Landing a Nana grab mid-stage is also way worse than a Popo grab, making this zsync rather situational. Can be useful at percentages where you can kill with upthrow into up-b. I wouldn't really recommend this one for widespread use, high execution difficulty for little reward.

• Dash Attack/Grab -

A quick burst movement option that will result in a grab even if the opponent is able to shield the dash attack in time. The dash attack will lock the opponent in shieldstun long enough for Nana to grab them, and if the dash attack hits them Nana will grab them out of hitlag. Especially scary near ledge since Popo is actionable fast enough to handoff out of Nana's fthrow.

• Dsmash/Grab

Another unblockable. Dsmash does enough shieldstun that it will trap the opponent in shield for Nana's grab, and if they get hit Nana will grab them out of the hitlag. Unfortunately Popo is in too much lag to regrab out of Nana's fthrow if near the ledge, but he can follow up on her mid-stage upthrow as demonstrated. Not a totally optimal option since Dsmash doesn't hit in front until frame 9 and this desync covers the same options as a normal grab with worse followups. Pretty swaggy though and tacks on extra percent before the upthrow.

Aerial Zsync Grab Confirms

This is where things get silly. Usually, Ice Climbers' double aerials are balanced by having stubby hitboxes and committal movement, making it difficult for them to mix-up their opponent on shield. However, when we can make one Climber attack shield while leaving the other actionable, we run into some unbelievable scenarios that make ICs one of, if not the best character on shield in any Smash game.

• Up Air/Neutral Air

This was the first Z-sync Tink-er labbed that really gave us insight into how busted this mechanic is. Popo's upair will autocancel, and Nana's neutral air deals 5 frames of blockstun and optimally hits 5 frames after Popo lands. If spaced correctly, Popo ends up 7 on shield- a guaranteed grab with synced Climbers, which is essentially death. Crazy right?

• Up Air/Down Air

Useful as a grab confirm on hit as well as edgeguarding tool. In certain situations you can grab people on platforms by hitting them with a Nana dair after Popo’s upair autocancels. Offstage you can let Nana go low to hit opponents with a down air and take their jump, then cancel her endlag with side-b (Popo will be actionable since up air is a short move). Since downair deals 6 frames of blockstun, this zsync leaves Popo 8 on shield, which again is a guaranteed grab with synced Climbers. However, I consider this setup inferior since the hitboxes are more crouch-cancellable thus less likely to scare the opponent into shielding.

• Up Air/Blizzard

Tink-er's second major Zsync contribution was discovering upair/blizzard. Many characters like to platform camp Ice Climbers, since ICs have slow hitboxes in front of them in the air and a poor airspeed. Upair/Blizzard gives us a possible solution to that problem. Condition your opponent to shield when you attack from below with synced poking upairs, and next time fullhop upair/blizzard and trap them in shield. Popo’s upair will AC on the platform and you can grab them into platform handoff infinites. It is possible for the opponent to buffer an option out of shield but they’ll still get hit by the blizzard, so the optimal counterplay is to purposely get hit and try to smash DI it- but this still puts your opponent in an awful position and a player who is trying to SDI out of a wobble setup is not going to survival DI if you decide to just mix them up with an f-smash instead. .

• Nair/Blizzard- This is so stupidly good lol

This is an extremely difficult Zsync with big payoffs. Nair/Blizzard essentially allows you to take space similar to a Nanapult but without having to take time to set up a desync for the Nanapult. Popo's nair will autocancel out of a short hop, so you have an actionable Popo behind a Nana blizzard, a great way to gain stage control and set up further desyncs. Nair/Blizzard is also unbelievably good on shield- if you hit with the last 2/3ds of nair's active hitboxes, the opponent will be trapped in shieldstun until the blizzard starts. This will almost always mean a guaranteed Popo grab or at the least a punish situation.

Niche Aerial Zsyncs

• Nair/Ice Block

Really easy zsync that is a pretty interesting way to take space. I'll have to play around with this at my local but theoretically you can simultaneously take midstage while covering Popo's landing lag. The iceblock will prevent a dashdancing opponent from running back in, and can even force them to extend their dash back and give up more of stage than they originally intended. Undershoot nair/ice block could also bait the opponent into trying to punish Popo's landing lag, and then either getting hit or forced into shield- only a small sampling of the power of Zsync baits. Eventually I'll lab cross-up nair/b-reverse ice block as a method of catching options out of shield.

• Backair/B-reverse Blizzard

Ice Climbers love to use backair to make opponents respect their space midstage. Backair is fast, strong, has a good hitbox, and autocancels, making it an ideal move to space with. This zsync allows us to throw out a backair (possibly as a bait to make the opponent think we’re in lag) and immediately cover our landing with a blizzard. Since Popo is actionable only 4 frames after landing we can continue the desync wall or punish our opponent's response as appropriate.

• Back Air/Upair

Useful against characters that will mixup their drift when recovering. You can cover fade back and fade in simultaneously. Back air hitting resets the situation while upair hitting sets up for a juggle since they won’t have their jump. You can see in the gfy that this Zsync also would cover multiple spacie side-b heights as well as hitting opponents who land on platforms.

My further research into Zsyncing will try to focus on Zsyncing as combo extenders, B-reversing Zsyncs for option coverage, and using Zsyncs to bait opponents. Be sure to drop by the ICs discord if you're interested! https://discord.gg/X66SxQQ

The "How to Break Hands" title is not entirely ironic. Zsyncing can contort the hands in ways that are not conducive to hand health, and the speed of the inputs can lead to tight grips and hand pain. Please be careful while practicing and remember to stretch and take breaks. Happy Labbing!