At this past weekend’s Umebura Japan Major, Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman clinically executed a “ding-dong,” a combo that has elevated DK into the competitive meta-game.
A play on words that references Diddy Kong’s “hoo-hah” combo, “ding-dong” is jargon for a combination where Donkey Kong players use his throw to launch someone up in the air, then hit them with an up-air to take them out at very low percentiles.
It’s a simple combo, and it can kill a good portion of the roster at low-percent damage, which gets even lower if the DK player has platforms to work with, like on the Animal Crossing stage “Town and City.”
Zimmerman’s variation on the ding-dong included an extra downward slap and throw for good measure, which built up enough percentage to easily out-of-bounds Sheik and earned some style points to boot.
The ding-dong has elevated Donkey Kong’s presence in the game, popularized by players like Zimmerman and Eita “Hikaru” Hoshi, who put on a clinic with the move at Civil War in March.
Other pros, like DK main Konga, have begun to work their way up the rankings with Donkey Kong now. Even Ally showed off a pocket Donkey Kong at DreamHack Austin. Welcome to the age of ding-dong Donkey Kong.