Waluigi needs no introduction: you will all know him from the many games he has appeared in alongside the 'main' cast of the Super Mario franchise. Waluigi is to Luigi what Wario is to Mario, though there isn't quite as much polarity: Luigi and Waluigi are both weirdos, it's just that Waluigi is the kind of weirdo that gives you nightmares, rather than the kind who's afraid of a haunted mansion. Where you see a spin-off, Waluigi won't be far behind – his inclusion is about as traditional as those games get, to the point that he is practically the face of Nintendo's tertiary Mario sports, party and mini-games. Mario Party, Strikers, Party... you name it, he's a playable character. Waluigi even appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an assist trophy – relying on his Mario Tennis racket [a series to which he has particular affinity] and characteristic rage volley them away after drilling them into the ground. For this set, imagine the use of that assist trophy model – it's all too convenient and far too rare a commodity to waste.
STATS
Weight: 3
Fall Speed: 7
Size: 6
Ground Speed: 6
Air Speed: 6
Waluigi plays the same way you'd imagine he would from his assist trophy. For a better than vague idea of what that exactly means, I'd advise watching
a video of this PSA in action, as it demonstrates how you'd realistically use the model in motion. His one gaping weakness is his low weight due to his lanky, slim build, though he is fairly middle-ground aside from that. The last thing a guy this physically weak would want to do is throw around Bob-Ombs!
SPECIALS
Neutral Special: Bombs Away
Waluigi pulls out a Bob-Omb! Fortunately, these Bob-Ombs aren't a copy of the ones already in Brawl - they're half as big and take twice as long to start walking around or explode. Pressing the input with one already in hand allows the player to aim a throw of the Bob-Omb in any direction, though you can just throw one like a regular item as well, it travelling twice as far as a Bob-Omb would. These Bob-Ombs also don't deal the same damage as Brawl ones, clocking in at
20%, though this varies a bit if you perform different item throws, and KO's at
120%. What's going on reductions? Waluigi is as prone to damage and knockback from Bob-Ombs, plus foes can pick them up to throw them too, so spawning those regular ones could easily end in suicide. There's also a 5% chance you'll spawn a normal Bob-Omb, anyway. Still, the move is so fast and you can spam them so effectively, you won't feel like you've lost out after long. Keep in mind you can always drop your Bob-Ombs on the floor by pressing the grab input, as with any items. Your ability to spawn them ad infinitum makes it possible to do what we all did in training mode and make a line of Bob-Ombs on the ground, which
is very deadly to anyone unlucky enough to get caught in the surmising explosion. You can create as many Bob-Ombs as you want, and if you pick them up - or a normal Bob-Omb for that matter - you can then use your neutral special to make a throw.
Side Special: Waluigi Bike
A bike is spawned much in the same way it is in Wario's moveset, controlling much in the same way too. There are key differences between the two though. For one, Waluigi's bike travels about 1.5x faster than Wario's, and can perform one jump a Kirby high by doing its version of the wheelie, looking like the pictured concept art above. The bike accelerates, unlike Wario's, letting him build up momentum, and the damage it deals when it runs over foes climbs as it gets faster, dealing
7-14% damage, the same knockback being dealt as Wario's bike. The momentum is also taken into account when you make your jumps, letting you jump a platform in distance at highest speed. When disengaged, the bike acts as a great block on Bob-Ombs you've set up in another part of the stage, as well as giving you the usual items to throw around as Wario's bike does once it's destroyed. The bike functions as your fastest route of escape, and can even jump over enemy set-ups, or your own, while the opponent has to take a more indirect route. Unlike Wario's bike, Waluigi's has great traction - it can turn around super fast, but if dismounted with momentum still going, will carry on until it comes to a halt and remains a hitbox to foes. This can mean you lose the bike off-stage, or you can send it on a suicide mission to blow up some Bob-Ombs. You can hold Bob-Ombs while riding the bike, and drop them as you fly over an opponent.
Up Special: Blue Shell
Blue shell woes begone, as Waluigi is suddenly holding onto a blue shell from Mario Kart, which tries to escape his grasp by travelling up into the air in a similar fashion to Snake's up special, if only more vertical and slightly faster, all the while Waluigi letting out his trademark '
WAAAAA!' Once the blue shell is released, it will stay at that height and attempt to home in on the player with the lowest percentage at that time, swaying left and right until the player stands still for one second. When and if they do, the blue shell stops homing in and instead descends as quickly as Pikachu's Thunder, exploding on contact with anything it hits. The blue shell itself deals
8% damage and low knockback in the opposite direction to anyone who touches it, but also creates a Kirby-wide and Ganondorf-tall blue explosion where it impacts, which deals
15% damage and KO's at
150%. Like your Bob-Ombs, this also can damage Waluigi. Essentially, this allows Waluigi to take some damage and get hit off-stage, then spawn the blue shell carefree, letting the enemy take his heat. While they are busy running away, the Bob-Ombs are likely starting to become active and force them to dodge out of their way, creating a cramped stage where they are constantly in danger. Of course, if Waluigi has the lead, he can also spawn the blue shell higher, give himself time if it triggers and attempt to dodge the blue shell as it comes down, and collide it with the opponent. The opponent can do this to you too, but Waluigi has the sole power to set its verticality, giving him control over exactly how long it will take to drop. A blue shell hovering overhead should change the momentum of the match, though keep in mind that Waluigi is just as vulnerable as Snake from below the stage when recovering.
Down Special: Loser's Aura
As Waluigi takes damage, he becomes visibly stressed and angry at his failure. When the down special input is pressed, all of that impotent rage is released, as Waluigi is surrounded by an ominous purple aura and his eyes glow an evil-looking purple too. Any opponent standing within this aura - very close to Waluigi - take constant passive damage of
1%. This makes Waluigi slightly faster, but its main use is on any item Waluigi touches - it also gains the purple aura, but now ignores any solid objects on the stage, bar the main stage itself, going through them as if a Boo. That means platforms, other stages, and projectiles or traps laying around. Most importantly, it goes through enemy shields, both props and their actual Smash shield. You can ignore everything, grab a Bob-Omb and toss it right at the opponent's face, or drive your bike right into them, unless they have a counter-attack in mind. This effect on items lasts for as long as you hold the item in Loser's Aura or for five seconds after you've thrown it away or are carrying the item but no longer under the effect. A very simple function is simply to use it in tandem with your blue shell, to let it get past platforms on a stage like Battlefield. There are downsides - like Wario Waft, the Loser's Aura is all used up once the input is pressed and only percentage built up after that counts next time you use the move. Every ten percent of damage earns one second in Loser's Aura, and unlike Wario Waft this does not carry across stocks. Items with the aura retain it until they are destroyed, which either means collision with the opponent, or with other items that have the aura - once a Bob-Omb explodes, its explosion certainly affects everything around it. While this can lead to some awesome chain reactions it can also lead to inadvertently ruining your own set-up of traps if you aren't smart about what you pick up in this form.
STANDARDS
Jab: Flurry
Waluigi punches high and kicks low, surmounting in a flurry of hits to opponents standing next to him for successive damage of
4%,
3% and
4%. It's not a particularly interesting jab on its own, but works wonders on opponents dashing towards you - creating a wall of offence that will stop them dead in their tracks, especially useful when a Bob-Omb is on their tail. They're forced either to ascend to the air (a bad idea with a Blue Shell on the prowl) or attack with their dash attack, which still stops them dead. If that fails, the move is the best way to destroy your own bike, if it has become a burden on the stage and you'd rather have the projectiles to camp. The smaller throwing parts actually are a bit more useful here, as you can use them from a distance to explode Bob-Ombs far easier due to the bombs being smaller hitboxes and potentially destroying your entire set-up of traps at once if botched, while a wheel, for example, will only explode what it actually hits.
Dash Attack: Thin Ice
Donning his skates from the Olympic Games (not the real ones), Waluigi darts forward much faster than his own dash, dealing
10% to foes and KO'ing in a fashion comparable to Ganondorf's dash attack, but at a far weaker
200%. The skate will come to an end less than a platform from where Waluigi started, . By pressing the standard input during the attack, Waluigi will go into the foreground / background depending on what way he's facing, effectively avoiding whatever was within a Kirby in front of him, before ending the move with slightly more end lag. This acts as a great way to not accidentally push Bob-Ombs out of the way or to dodge attacks in general, though leaves you a little open to revenge. During your Loser's Aura, it lets you
not hit items you don't want to, and can help get you in close to an opponent and then start hitting them even if they're shielding if you dodge past them first.
Forward Tilt: On Serve
Waluigi sizes up what's in front of him with a tennis racket in hand, before unleashing a glorious fore or backhand, again depending on what way he's facing. The effect is the same - dealing
8% damage to opponents and hitting them slightly off the ground, but otherwise straight horizontally, KO'ing at
250%, and hitting any projectiles or items in that direction too at a super fast speed, especially useful on your Bob-Ombs. There's a sweetspot at the end of the tennis racket that sends anything it hits twice as fast and covers it in a fiery aura with the 'smash' sound a bat makes, like a charged up shot in Mario Tennis games, rewarding smart positioning on Waluigi's part. This also doubles the potency of the KO on the move, making it Waluigi's most powerful attack if you space it right. This acts as a great way to defend against enemies throwing your Bob-Ombs or other items back at you, as you can easily hit them right back at their face, forcing them to choose a more intelligent option. When you have a blue shell overhead or an army of Bob-Ombs waiting to wake up, an opponent will find themselves hard pressed to do anything but directly attack Waluigi with something that out-ranges his racket, making this somewhat of a pressure tool.
Down Tilt: Stamp
Throwing a small tantrum, Waluigi stamps on the ground in front of him once, creating a mini-shockwave accustomed to those who play Brawl. Opponents are hit for
7% and slide back a Bowser, letting you repulse them back if they are fleeing a set of Bob-Ombs chasing them. What's better is that any items on the floor a Bowser in front of Waluigi are sprung up into the air by the shockwave, giving Waluigi enough time to bat away Bob-Ombs that are now right next to his face. This is also a great way to make way for your bike, as you can safely traverse the platform in front of you before the Bob-Ombs return back to Earth. This also sets them to walk in the opposite direction when they do activate, relieving you of having to deal with that aspect of Bob-Ombs and not have the Bob-Ombs immediately walk into each other . Speaking of the bike, your bouncy wheel acts a nice barrier to basic standards from other opponents as well, and this is a great way to set that little interaction off without ever having to pick it up.
Up Tilt: Volley
Waluigi scarps with his tennis racket again, using an underhand shot to send items into the air and potentially down onto a waiting opponent. This deals
8% damage, but has low knockback as the opponent is carried into the air before being set on a course back down in an arc, having to kick out of helpless and move out of the way to avoid that. To add to raining exploding death on the opponent, this move is also the only one that lets you hits a blue shell once it's coming back down to Earth... albeit somewhat predictably and in a hard enough fashion that it's risky. If you hit the shell just as it's about to hit the ground, you'll volley it back into the air just as with any other item, but it will immediately head down once again once it stops moving fast. With your Loser's Aura equipped and a blue shell still searching for you from when you earlier had a lead in the match, you have the perfect formula for at least pressuring the foe for an opening.
GRAB GAME
Grab: Hoard
A normal-looking grab on the outset - if a little slow for a Brawl grab - Waluigi's grab can also pick up items, and multiple of them. By holding the grab input, Waluigi can not only grab items in the air, but kicks items up off the floor into his arms as he slides as if performing a DACUS. He doesn't have infinite space - he's full up once he picks up the equivalent of seven of his smaller Bob-Ombs. Waluigi waddles around with the items in his arms at the pace of Ganondorf's walk, unable to jump. Waluigi will place the stack of Bob-Ombs down on the floor if the grab input is pressed - putting an 'item' down as he normally does - but now stacking the Bob-Ombs in a triangular formation, with them balanced on top of each other. If you fall off the edge somehow or are dealt knockback, Waluigi will automatically drop the items. Combined with items like your wheel and Bob-Ombs affected by your Loser's Aura, that alone can make for an interesting dynamic, as a Bob-Omb on the bottom of the pyramid who walks out of the way causes the Bob-Omb below to drop and explode. It may seem suicidal to carry around Bob-Ombs in your arms like this against an opponent as obvious as Fox, but simply turning your back to them is enough to keep them from easily destroying your Bob-Omb pile. As well, if you carefully place an obstacle like the wheel that isn't explosive in the right place, you can easily block a stray Fox laser or other projectiles. The seven Bob-Omb limit can be avoided if you simply place one pile on top of another, though physics have to be obeyed.
Pummel: Set-Up
On an opponent Waluigi's pummel is a pretty standard combination of quick punches - it hits for
3% a go and comes out at an average pace. The animation is similar to Game&Watch's spastic movements. With items in hand, Waluigi fiddles with their ordering, being able to grab and place different Bob-Ombs or other items at the top of bottom of the heap, or completely re-arrange them to form a line or a squad with one or two Bob-Ombs on the top. With the special input, Waluigi performs a second pummel with Bob-Ombs in his stack - resetting the timer by turning back the key on their backs. By double or triple-tapping, Waluigi will set Bob-Ombs to go off a second or two after the rest, respectively. You can direct which Bob-Omb to do this to with the directional input, a free, shaking hand is left hovering over the currently selected Bob-Omb for you to choose. You can do this to every Bob-Omb in your possession in only a few seconds, and this allows you a clean slate, or to specifically set your Bob-Ombs to go off at certain key points. Setting Bob-Ombs underneath to be set off first lets them carry Bob-Ombs on top across the stage, letting you create a high, moving trap.
Forward Throw: First Service
The tennis racket in hand again, Waluigi swings the opponent into the air, dealing
8% and possibly KOing off the edge of the stage starting at
155%, knockback dealt at a forty-five degree angle. This is an intriguing option as considering your DACUS grab hitbox, you can slide into a foe that's camping near a ledge and score a tricky KO earlier in the stock than first imagined. Simply distancing the foe without any strings attached is unsurprisingly an important part of Waluigi's playstyle, gaining distance in order to keep the foe from striking back with a blue shell if they're in the lead and leaving room for some camping of his own. On items, every one is swatted away by the tennis racket, the arc and distance they travel dependent on item, but generally takes the same path as a foe. Each item takes about 0.2 seconds to launch like this and this throw can be interrupted by knockback, making it risky, but another good way to rain chaos down on the foe.
Up Throw: Fling
Waluigi flings whatever is in hand up into the air above him, dealing
10% in an erratic and awkward animation. This is similar to Wario's up tilt, only actually throwing the opponent, which actually looks more sensible. An opponent is forced to DI away left or right if a blue shell is hovering above them, though it's just as easy to just throw them right into it if it's low enough and rebound back for a potential combo. With a bunch of Bob-Ombs or items, they will fan out in the air, landing sporadically all around. This is the best way to space them onto higher platforms, create a Sudden Death-esque environment or simply create a more chaotic battlefield by covering it in more Bob-Ombs. It's also good for just getting rid of the things if the pressure of keeping them in hand becomes too much. If you're throwing the Bob-Ombs up at an opponent, they're kind of boned as the Bob-Ombs become active hitboxes until they land. A foe will find it hard to answer Waluigi going into Loser Aura mode and shooting a final Bob-Omb up at a swarm of bombs, blowing them sky high if they aren't careful enough.
Back Throw: Gold Bag
Out of hammerspace comes a gold bag that is often seen to represent bigger amounts of gold in Mario Party, any grabbed foe or collection of items being stuffed into the bag. A foe is spun around while in the bag as Waluigi holds onto the opening of the bag the same way that Mario and Luigi hold the legs of foes in their back throws. Waluigi's take on this iconic move is instead to spin the foe around with a slight diagonal slant, knocking the foe against the ground five times, altogether dealing
12.5% damage. The foe is at the end of the move left in prone. By pressing up during the move, the player can instead turn the move into the typical Mario / Luigi back throw by raising the foe high enough to no longer hit the ground. Conversely, to press down in the move's duration has Waluigi smack the foe more harshly at the ground and knock them vertically up, though not as high as your up throw. It's a versatile throw that gives Waluigi a big edge in positioning himself over his opponent and suitably randomizes things from the foe's point-of-view. Once the move ends, the bag dissipates immediately.
The throw works much in the same way if items are held, only Waluigi will not willingly hit the bag against the ground and instead defaults to swinging the bag around himself horizontally, with no diagonal slant. If a foe is hit by the bag, they take damage of
5-20% damage and this turns into a KO move starting at
140%, depending on how many items you had in the bag. Hitting a bag full of explosives or similar items will cause them to detonate, which can result in Waluigi damaging or KOing himself just as well as the foe. The move can end in two ways. If you press the grab input during the move, Waluigi will release the bag and let it soar through the air, affected by gravity, but otherwise left free to travel through the air until it makes an impact. The bag will dissipate, leaving the items stacked or muddled as they were when first grabbed up, or if Bob-Ombs were in the bag the items will be sent flying in all directions by the explosion depending on physics, doing the same damage as if they were thrown. If not, Waluigi puts the bag away into hammerspace again. The next time he uses the move he will have the sack full of whatever was already in there. If he stuffs a foe into the sack, he's guaranteed to hit a foe with any collected Bob-Ombs, albeit at a slight risk to his own percentage and stock.
Down Throw: Snake
Tripping the opponent onto the floor, Waluigi stomps on them once for
5% damage then kicks their body so that it slides across the floor. The opponent is forced to sit through a set two seconds of sliding unless they hit the ledge until they can get out of prone, the knockback varying depending on their percentage. While sliding they act as a tripping hitbox that deals
5% to both the recipient and victim, who comes to a standstill. A sliding foe can detonate Bob-Ombs, making this the perfect move to use if you want to bowl the foe into a set-up of items. Obviously at a high percentage this move in its basic form allows you to make distance between you and the foe, but how it plays into your blue shell is also interesting - at low percentage, the foe is set up very well for a lingering blue shell because of their lack of movement. On the other hand, a farther away opponent who has been slid will keep Waluigi out of harm if the blue shell still comes down albeit with less ease - the low amount of damage on this throw makes it a great one to use in tandem with the blue shell.
With items in hand, this move is pretty much the same, minus the damage-dealing stomp: whatever is held is squashed (Bob-Ombs for example laid down in a horizontal line) and then Waluigi pushes the items across the bottom of the stage. This is useful for transporting explosives underneath typically chest-height projectiles or perhaps into traps to set them off under the opponent's nose, or just as a general way to move around a heap of junk that you no longer need. Next to your bike, this move takes on an entirely new purpose. Waluigi simply places the items on the back of the bike (tossing them on) and they will stay there until disrupted. The bike can be ridden and the items will not fall off the bike unless it's tilted for more than a few seconds. This along with the bike's natural ability to quickly make short work of long distances, makes it easy to jump off the bike and let force the foe to retreat or be hit by a slew of Bob-Ombs or other items.
AERIALS
Neutral Aerial: Wonky Spin
Stealing Wario's neutral aerial name and essentially ripping off the move at the same time, Waluigi spins in place with his arms and legs out letting out a chuckle of laughter. The length of his arms and legs make the range of this move fairly impressive and the damage is only slightly lesser than Wario's version at
8%. The knockback is around ten frames of hitstun for the duration of the move and slightly after, where the foe is dealt a little knockback just to separate them and Waluigi. The move comes out fast, but has some unfortunately bad end lag, meaning it's a good move to initiate with, but can be punished easily by most opponents. The move is mostly good to be used to stall in mid-air, above a trap or simple just to let both you and the opponent hit the ground first, because Waluigi's air game is not that versatile in the first place, and just bad at close-range. If you manage to hit the ground during the end lag, it's cancelled, leaving the foe and you in a fairly neutral position.
Forward Aerial: Homerun!
Waluigi takes out his bat from Sluggers and delivers a perfect horizontal swing, dealing
10% damage and medium knockback, but with medium start lag to compliment it. While not the fastest forward aerial, it does have great range and a sweetspot at the end of the bat, which deals high knockback that KOs at
180%. This sweetspot allows you to perfectly hit items horizontally until they hit the blast zone or a surface and ricochet off, allowing you to basically make a straight horizontal projectile, but using say, a Bob-Omb or huge wheel from your bike, making it a reliable way to drive campers out of the air. These items will also travel very fast - twice the speed of Sonic going at a dash. On a hovering blue shell, you can use the basic form of this move to knock it away several platforms and perhaps take the heat off of you if you're in the lead, as it takes around ten seconds to re-position itself. The sweetspotted version basically turns the blue shell into a flying green shell item, which is very powerful, and under the influence of Loser's Aura, will go through shields or other defenses.
Up Aerial: Air Swim
Taking inspiration from his Swimming Return in Mario Tennis, Waluigi somehow is able to "swim" upward in mid-air using his arms and legs in a typical breaststroke pattern. This creates a circular hitbox around Waluigi's arms that deals
8% and light knockback. This move doesn't KO unless near the ceiling, but it can work well in terms of hitting the foe into your blue shell. Strange as this move, it actually does move you through the air as if in water, moving Waluigi a Kirby in the chosen direction three times per air trip, before it no longer works, making it a fantastic edge-hog move. The attack does have minor start and end lag, but enough to make it non-spammable when combo'd together, although it still works better than Donkey Kong's up aerial, for example, as a generic vertical KO move. On items in mid-air, this move volleys them upward a set distance depending on what they are, even able to rebound Bob-Ombs without exploding them.
Down Aerial: Downswing
In a simple motion, Waluigi swipes downwards with his tennis racket, dealing
12% and medium knockback. This isn't a particularly strong spike and the knockback is purely diagonal, meaning it lacks the strength of a purely vertical or horizontal attack, which is not helpful unless the foe's recovery is generally poor. The real point of the move is to hit down Bob-Ombs or other items onto a lower down foe, useful in tandem with the foe's diagonal knockback, allowing you to coax underneath platforms or hit foes on the ledge easily from a safe distance. Foe's in the air doubly act as good fodder in this same way, as they can be hit underneath platforms to the ground where there are sure to be Bob-Ombs or other traps laid out by Waluigi, or tricked into hitting your Blue Shell, which would result in them being bounced off in the opposite direction very hard, easily resulting in a KO at medium-high percentages.
Back Aerial: Dropkick
Making use of his lanky body type, Waluigi kicks out both his legs behind him to make his body completely horizontal for a moment. This is very similar to Snake's back aerial and deals the same damage (
14%) and knockback. Unlike Snake's back air, Waluigi's has no sweetspot, but considerably less lag to make up for it, being one of his fastest aerials and a good way to Wall of Pain a foe as a result. In a scurry to get back to the stage, which can happen a lot because of Waluigi's various tricks that let him recover from most situations, if not all of them, this gives you a decent, general long-range melee attack that doesn't leave you particularly vulnerable. Very useful when a foe tries to jump over something you've thrown at them considering the range as well. Because of the way the move works and its speed, it's possible to use it to attack over the top of Bob-Ombs or other items lying on the floor, if the foe is trying to approach them, potentially to make use of them. If you can manage it, you could also use the move to dodge obvious projectiles while not letting up the attack, as even more than Snake, Waluigi's thin body means when reduced to a horizontal line, his hurtbox becomes tiny.
SMASHES
Forward Smash: Red Shell
The red shell from Mario Kart makes an appearance in this move, Waluigi taking it out and spinning it comically around in the air behind him with one hand, continuing to do so for the duration of the charge time. If a foe is standing within a character width of Waluigi, the red shell will slide Waluigi across the stage towards them. Even during charge time, a red shell can deal damage and knockback if it hits a foe,
10% and medium knockback that KOs at
230%. The shell will dissipate upon hitting the foe and Waluigi will act confused for a moment of lag, not making this the most elegant want to use the red shell, but a nice enough way to protect your back in a FFA or team fight. Once the smash is charged, Waluigi tosses the shell forward at the speed of a struck shell in Smash Bros, either across the floor, or through the air at higher levels of charge. It will deal
20% damage and high knockback that KOs from
200-100%. The catch is that the shell can be easily shielded and is not actually that big of a hitbox, especially on the ground. You can use your Loser's Aura to bypass shields though.
Another interesting feature of the shell is its infamous homing ability - before its momentum is reduced to a standstill, the shell will sway back and forth on the floor to try and hit the first opponent it comes within a platform of. In the air, it outright homes in on a foe as a projectile and becomes impossible to dodge as it makes several passes at them, swiping back and forth in the air like the Sneasel Pokéball, before it dissipates. The shell's speed is impressive, faster than any Brawl character, making it very hard to outrun and forcing opponents to return to the ground where they may be able to defend against it. If Waluigi has Loser's Aura they are basically forced to attack, and they can attack the shell back to reduce its momentum. The average down tilt on the red shell will reduce its momentum by half, but this still lets it make one or two more passes at the foe before it stops moving and dissipates. All of this acts as both a great stalling tactic for Waluigi, and a great way to try to control the foe's aerial movements, which can be problematic for a character who doesn't massively like the air.
Up Smash: Tee-Off
Turning to face toward or away from the screen as he charges up his golf club, Waluigi takes a wild vertical swing at the end of charge time, hitting the opponent upward for
26-32% damage and KOing through the ceiling at
180-120%. The range on the move is very poor - but the damage and knockback is excellent to make up for it, and you can DACUS into the attack to pull the foe along if they're not paying attention. The move can act as a fairly good anti-air as well because of the large size of the vertical hitbox, which carries on throughout the duration of the swing. Obviously a good move to use to hit the foe into a blue shell or simply to launch them so high in the air they have to dodge around it. At such a height, it may even be a good idea to set the blue shell afterward to try and bait them away from the centre of the stage where they can easily interrupt any little set-up you're trying to make.
You can also hit items with this move which will travel upward considerably higher than opponents because of their light weight. The higher the knockback on the move the higher the item will go, and can potentially even go above the ceiling and stall for a few seconds before falling down. This means you can essentially rain Bob-Ombs down on your current location and give ample time to escape, dueling your opponent to see who does get hit by it, or simply giving both players time to regroup. Loser's Aura plays an important role here - unlike most projectiles coming down from the ceiling, especially if the item isn't sent above the ceiling, it will have enough time to drop back down and with the effects of Loser's Aura, will bypass any platforms, other items or shields in its way.
If you manage to DACUS into a group of items on the floor (essentially dash into an up smash), Waluigi kicks them all up into a vertical line and then knocks the bottom one upward. At most this accounts for three Bob-Ombs in terms of space. This can allow for some fun set-ups as you can follow-up by batting one or more of the items in a certain direction as they fall, leave them to all fall at once or hit them back up again with another up smash. This is dangerous to do with Bob-Ombs though, as they are on a short timer before exploding, but this can be a good thing if an opponent is in the air close to you. If you send up a group of explosives and one goes off, the others likely will too, creating a huge aerial explosion to hit the foe, or force them to avoid it. Simply dashing toward a Bob-Omb on the ground while the foe is in the air should be a threat in of itself.
Down Smash: Stampede
Waluigi takes a pose similar to his down tilt, ready to stomp the ground beneath him, but with considerably more force this time. After charging, Waluigi stomps continuously, immediately pitfalling any foe he hits on the ground, dealing
7% damage per stomp and able to perform a maximum of 5 stomps. Foes that have already been pitfalled by a stomp are guaranteed to be hit by the concurrent ones until the end of the move, at which point Waluigi is free to follow-up with any other move he wants while the foe is in the pitfall. Each stomp refreshes the pitfall, however, making sure the foe takes all the damage and doesn't wait out any of the stun. This move is quite powerful but very hard to hit with, and unless the foe accidentally walks into the small range the move has, can easily stand back or dodge behind Waluigi before delivering a counter-attack. The move has some mediocre end lag making it a bit risky, but very devastating if you can land it. On Bob-Ombs specifically, this move buries them beneath the stage and turns them into mines like Snake's down smash. Even walking Bob-Ombs can be buried in this fashion as they walk toward Waluigi, giving him a move that allows him complete protection against them. If you do bury Bob-Ombs like this, if you try to bury one on top of another, that will simply push the first Bob-Omb away from you underground and plant the fresh one in its place. This builds quite handily into your grab as well, where many moves hit the opponent against the ground or moves as simply as your back aerial, but just as with Snake's mines, keep in mind that these do affect Waluigi too.
FINAL SMASH
Fair Play
How could you let this happen? Waluigi somehow got the smash ball - probably by cheating - and uses it to summon a conspicuous-looking party-dice to the battlefield, but with a distinctive Waluigi colour and look to it. Waluigi stomps the ground once, causing every surface on the stage to quake and stun foes in place, causing
10% damage. After that, he jumps into the party dice... and scores a 10! Good job Waluigi. He then proceeds to stomp the ground another ten times, dealing the same amount of damage as the first time, potentially doing up to
110% damage altogether. Once he's finished, he lets out a signature laugh before summoning a rain of Bob-Ombs that you'd see in Sudden Death for five seconds straight, which he is invulnerable to and can be used with all of his moves that regularly manipulate items, of course. If Waluigi goes into his final smash with Loser's Aura on, the Bob-Ombs will be accompanied by raining Smart Bombs, adding to the mayhem and making it nearly impossible for the foe to not get hit.
PLAYSTYLE
Everyone is Cheating Except Me!
Waluigi's moveset necessitates that you don't play an obvious flowchart or become predictable to the foe, as your attacks, while potentially insanely powerful, can be easily counter played and beyond tricks, Waluigi doesn't have much to fall back on. You can't stick to any set of rules because you've already lost that element of surprise - there is enough of a depth of versatility to how you can lay out the bombs, whack them around or stall them in the air that you should always be able to keep the opponent guessing. In fact it may be too much to even really use all in the same stock, especially taking into account the bike, the shell and the aura, you should never find yourself lacking in a method to trip up any enemy character. That is the simple fact of playing Waluigi - don't ever show your hand, because you don't have a fantastic melee game, a great set of KO moves or good statistics, you have to rely on all of your moves coming together into a sort of mouse trap, if a lousy one. Waluigi is not for makign elaborate set-ups, in fact he can switch from one plan to another pretty much on the fly and use the tools at his disposal to make up for shortcomings that appear because of these changes in tactics. Ultimately, this character who never plays fair has a fittingly open and flexible moveset that has some quirks to it that no foe can prepare for - but unbeknownst to them, Waluigi is trying his best to survive as well!
. All jokes aside, a really cool moveset, although I seem to notice a lack of maps. I'm not sure how they could fit in, but I would be really impressed if you found a way to introduce them somehow if you ever update it. I noticed a lot of stuff that just seemed to be out-of-place, like the U-Smash and U-Throw. They didn't seem right for Tingle. To summarize, great moveset, some things missing, but classic playstyle and strangely fitting moves, with the exception of a few. [/collapse]
